Emperor Valentin's question made Kazimir and Antoine's hearts plummet down to the ground.
Alas.. they do not know how to answer this question at this moment.
Emperor Valentin had a thoughtful expression as he observed his sons. Without hearing an immediate answer from them, he waved his hand and said, "This question you may not answer now, but you'll need to answer in the near future."
Then his crystal blue eyes pierced deeper into the shaken Kazimir and Antoine, "When that time comes, remember that you are a Seirende… Unless you choose not to."
Emperor Valentin's voice was no longer gentle and calm, it was unfamiliarly deep and cold.
"Alright. Moving to the next topic. Due to the high possibility of having a traitor in our ranks, I may require you to work with me for the next few days to come." General Farauld felt that the atmosphere became uncomfortable for the two princes, so he tried to reset everyone's mood by talking about the next steps.
Soon the men discussed the details of the plans the General had in mind. As the two princes heard the extent of their works, they became extremely excited.
It was because they were basically working under General Farauld's tutelage!
This was something that they never experience even with their identity as the princes of the Seriende Empire. Only their youngest brother had the privilege to work under him, but now… it was a surprise to know that they will also have an opportunity!
Before the meeting came to a close, Antoine raised a question that has been lingering in both of the siblings' minds.
With a tone that is both careful and full of respect, he asked, "His Majesty, His Excellency, may I ask the whereabouts of the Third Prince during this time?"
"Your youngest brother? I have given him the task to investigate who the traitor was!" Emperor Valentin answered straightforwardly.
Kazimir and Antoine were shocked to hear Leon's mission. Just when they thought that they finally received a highly important task, Leon was already working on something deeper and crucial.
It made them think that the level of trust their father emperor had with Leon was far from what they could earn from their father. They were close to accusing their father emperor of showing favoritism towards their youngest brother deep in their hearts.
If not for them seeing how distant and stern their father emperor was treating Leon, they would have voiced out their suspicions.
However, they couldn't, especially after meeting their father emperor's eyes who seemed to have already figured out what they were thinking.
"You two should not think that much. Between the three of you, he was the only one who did not have any drop of support coming from the nobility. Tell me, if you were in my position, who would you choose to investigate the traitors within the nobles?
I can only tell you this, even if you offer an oath of loyalty to me today, there is no way I will choose the two of you simply because of your maternal background." Emperor Valentin explained his side with an unwavering tone, his authority exuded as he looked at his dumbfounded sons.
'This old man! He didn't spare even a bit of pride for his sons… Aiyooo how cruel could he be as a father.' General Farauld couldn't help but lament in his heart.
He never thought that once his friend decided to no longer keep their family together, he would be a ruthless one.
These sons of his take pride in their maternal heritage the most. That is why they deeply looked down on the Third Prince Leon, who was of commoner origins.
Now Emperor Valentin just said straight to their face that he was almost excluding them because of their background.
General Farauld knew what his friend Valentin was trying to do. He wanted to teach these two sons a lesson. He wanted to make them feel that there will be a time when their seemingly goldy origins can also give them a huge disadvantage and unjust.
Realizing this, General Farauld could only helplessly shake his head in Emperor Valentin's actions.
True enough, Kazimir and Antoine were now experiencing the biggest blow to their pride upon hearing their father emperor's words.
Their hearts tightened because of the stifling feeling of embarrassment. What's more, they couldn't direct their shame anywhere but their very own identity.
They were not able to recover even after Emperor Valentin and General Farauld already exited the room. How are they supposed to console themselves?
Even so, they have to compose themselves before getting out of the meeting room. As it was already nighttime, it was Kazimir's turn to oversee the night patrol.
On his usual observation spot, he stood still with his mind occupied by the things he learned during the meeting. The fact that there was a traitor in the empire was something that bothered him greatly, for he was now closer to believing that his maternal family was being suspicious.
Shiiing!
Just as his mind was wandering deeply into his thoughts, a notification paper jolted him awake. He immediately took the paper and read the contents.
"His Highness, we are in pursuit! There is a suspicious movement here in the third district!"
His gaze went a few shades darker, he immediately informed them that he would head out immediately, before notifying Antoine of the movement.
Allowing a good amount of mana to consolidate in his feet, Kazimir leaped into the air and swiftly jumped from roof to roof, heading towards the direction of the Third District.
The position of his observatory was strategically near the city; However, it was quite a bit far from the residential area of the noble estates.
Thus, he had to use his mana to speed up his traveling time in hopes to reach the third district on time. But even after using his maximum abilities, he could only reach the place in five minutes.
Halfway through the journey, he noticed that the sky glimmered in faint red - a distress flare had been deployed!
"Not good!" Kazimir gritted his teeth and took one of his precious magical tools - The Wing of Zephyrus. This was a famous flight tool that was gifted to him by his Father Emperor during his knighthood ceremony.
The Wing of Zephyrus only works on mages with the affinity to the wind element, like Kazimir. Using this magical item, his flight speed increased by five times.
But the downside of this one was it consumes precious mana stone. The reason why Kazimir only uses this sparingly is that he had limited sources of precious mana stones.
In a blink of an eye, he reached the location where the flare was deployed, it was the road towards the estate of the Villard Baron, a vassal of the Astaze March.
The situation in the area was chaotic.
The knights were desperately defending against the mysteriously hooded men, while a part of his men was doing their best in keeping the passenger of the carriage with the Villard's crest.
The group of knights that were engaged in the fight was a combination of Kazimir and Antoine's knights.
But the moment Kazimir saw the faces of the knights, panic rose in his heart. The knights were visibly wounded and their movements were sluggish.
Even if he did not personally know the abilities of Antoine's knights, he knew that they were also as strong as his very own knights. But they were simply struggling against a group of five hooded figures who only wielded purplish short daggers.
They were already breathing heavier and their eyes unfocused. There were also subtle traces of purple veins creeping into their bodies as if a poisonous substance were injected into them.
Without hesitating, Kazimir's eyes darkened and he executed an explosive wind spell to disrupt the momentum of the mysterious criminals.
"Wind Blast!" He uttered while jumping between the wounded knights and the aggressive hooded men.
"His Highness, First Prince!" The knights shouted as they saw him like he was their only hope.
Out from his scabbard, he unsheathed his sword and wrapped it up with wind magic as he ordered, "Take the target victims and our wounded comrades, I will hold them back until the reinforcement comes!"
Without waiting for their answer he immediately charged at the men who were surprisingly hesitant to answer his attacks.
But who was Kazimir? He is the proud first prince of the empire, how could he hesitate to attack the criminals?
And so without mercy, he brandished his sword and targeted the man closest to the knight's proximity, while he threw a wind blast on the ones that were far from him.
"Tsk…" One of the hooded men, who seemed to be the leader in the platoon, clucked his tongue with annoyance.
He simply took out a bizarre magical tool and threw it toward Kazimir.
Knowing that it might be dangerous, Kazimir tried to evade the item thrown at him however, the thing suddenly expanded into something like a net, capturing him effectively.
"Get him and we fall back." The leader of the criminals ordered while he conjured a strange portal.
Without delay, two of the men captured Kazimir as they start to step inside the portal too.
"First Prince!!!" The knights ran towards Kazimir with desperation in their voices.
