Abandoned Bastard of the Royal Family Volume 1 Chapter 38 (Patreon)

Chapter 38 – The Mastermind Behind the Curtains

In a closed, dimly lit room, three were people having a meeting.

One was a middle-aged man, one was also a middle-aged woman, and the last one was an old man.

They were arguing with each other, foreheads almost pressing together in a serious manner.

“I had already suspected this would happen. I never should have entrusted my daughter to you in the first place!”

The woman who had gone hysterical shouted first.

She was around forty years old. Although she had aged, she still looked like she was still in her prime as she still had that youthful beauty.

However, no matter how gorgeous the dress she wore or how well her make-up was, it still wasn’t enough to cover up the stern expression she was making right now.

“My sweet Serenea! My darling daughter! And now, of all times, I’ve lost her to that witch Cymbium! What’s the meaning of this, brother? You said that Serenea was absolutely safe in their hands!”

The man who stood in the face of thorough criticism from the woman was even older, almost fifty years old. However, he didn’t have the dignity of a man of his age, only a vibe of an unreliable official.

“Y-you’re saying that, but……father……!”

A middle-aged man turned his head to the elderly man sitting at the far end of the room as if asking for help.

The old man was the previous head of the Oscars, one of the three most prominent noble families of the kingdom.

“……The plan has completely backfired.”

The old man looked over at his children with disappointment in his eyes.

He had given up his position as head of the family when he retired, thinking that his incompetent son will learn the ways of being the head once he inherited the title. But, unfortunately, he was still unsteady and unreliable, much to his dismay, that even the daughter, whom she had sent out as the second queen and had given birth to Serenea, looked even more capable than him.

However, the said daughter is also in hysterics right now because her beloved daughter has left her.

The fact that the old man is retired but still has to exercise his influence as the once shrewd head of the family is also due to the unworthiness of his children.

The Oscar family is the most prosperous of the three aristocratic families, but once you look at it on the inside, you will see that it is hollow.

(Before I die, I have to do whatever I can to get Serenea on the throne as queen and ensure the safety and stability of the Oscar lineage……)

The retired man, who had been losing more and more of his freedom lately, couldn’t hide his impatience.

This was also the main reason he formulated this plan – of forming a monster extermination group which was led by the knights of the kingdom as early as possible to beat the initiative against Cymbium’s faction.

The monster extermination achievement was supposed to become the foundation for selecting Serenea as a more ‘capable’ queen.

However, never had he thought that this move would backfire, even to the extent of causing the beginning of the demise of their House instead.

“Please take her back! Please take back my lovely Serenea right now! I don’t care how; I don’t care in what way! With the full power of our Oscars, that little girl of the Ryngberg family is……!”

The Ryngberg family is the family of the First Queen, the mother of the First Queen Cymbium.

Although It is one of the three prominent noble families, and it has the backing of Princess Cymbium, its influence is inferior to that of the Oscars.

“You can say that, but ……, our House is in quite a predicament because of this failure. It is inevitable that we will be held responsible for the destruction of the Order, as most of those that died were knights that joined our cause!”

The bereaved families will resent the Oscar family and may even turn to Cymbium.

The biggest powerhouse in the kingdom…… fell apart in a single morning.

“All of this, all of this started with a single miscalculation.”

The old man’s uncharacteristic gaze pierced a point.

The current head of the family and the second queen trembled at the gaze, but then they realized that the gaze was not directed at either of them.

It was on another point, on a certain cane that was ‘standing’ there.

The cane stood upright as if it was impaled on the floor.

But it was not a cane.

It was a ‘person’ as thin as a cane.

The cloak ‘it’ was wearing made ‘its’ silhouette look more and more like a stick, but it was still a ‘person’.

This ‘person’ was the fourth existence present in the closed room of the Oscar family.

“You will gather the monsters, and we will defeat them with our own forces. Wasn’t that the plan?”

The ‘cane man’ silently nodded to the retired old man’s soft question.

“The monsters were gathered by you, so they will obey your orders. If you order them to shut up and be cut down, they will obey and die, and there will be no danger, will there?”

In other words, a rigged match.

The monster swarm outbreak was a match-pump from start to finish that the Oscar family had set up in order to gain real power…… by enlisting the help of this mysterious collaborator they had found in their way.

Clunkclunkclunkclunkclunk……

The room reverberated with a strange sound, like raw wood being knocked together.

However, this wood clunking was the laughter of the ‘cane man’.

It was so eerie that the current head of the family, even the second queen who was being hysterical earlier, had shuddered as they watched this ‘person’ crackle from the side.

“You’re right. But that was unexpected for us as well.”

The ‘cane man’ finally spoke.

“Unexpected?”

“You were all too weak.”

Of all the humans in the room, only the retired man was willing to sit down and confront the ‘cane man’.

“It’s no good if those watching from the outside can also see that it’s a rigged game.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Even if we’re on the losing end, we still need to put on a good show of fighting before that. But your forces were easily crushed by our theatrics, so it’s all your fault it came this way.”

This contemptuous tone of voice irritated almost everyone in the room except the old man.

(In our long peace, it has been pointed out for some time that the Knights’ abilities as professional fighters were deteriorating, but was it more severe than I had imagined?)

“I too panicked and tried to tell the monsters to cut corners, but by then, it was too late, and the battle situation could not be reversed no matter how I tried. The only way to make the Knights win from there is to make the monsters commit suicide. “

That, at least, would keep the monsters from killing the princess, and together with that, the knights will all grab the chance to rescue her and become her hero……

“But then the Subjugators came in.”

“……Yes.”

What the situation became after that was already widely known to everyone in the room.

This planned warfare that the Oscars have painstakingly set up in order to gain the influence of Princess Serenea’s faction……

“……has become to what it is now.”

The old chief said gravely in a tone that didn’t lose his composure.

“We will handle the aftermath of this matter. We will not be needing your help, but you may stand by us until we have another task for you.”

“You’re not going to cut ties with us?”

“You have many abilities that we do not. The key to staying in power is to keep a large number of useful pawns.”

“…… I’m sorry to hear that. If you need anything else, please contact our master, as per usual.”

That was all ‘it’ said, and the cane-man vanished like a haze.

“Are you sure, father? Letting that kind of person have any more to do with the Oscars……won’t it lead to an even more disaster?”

“It was you who brought it into our home in the first place, you dolt!”

The old man gave a stern rebuke to his eldest son, who succeeded him as head of the family.

The current head of the family and that mysterious cane man conspired to create a monster swarm outbreak heading to the capital. But, unfortunately, it was only after the plan was put into motion that the old man learned its inner workings.

The old man is now regretting his decision of retiring and passing his position to his son because of old age.

“Whatever that is, that person is dangerous in the first place. Judging from that person’s ability to manipulate monsters at will, that one is definitely a demon.”

(If we cut ties with that ‘demon’ now, we will completely lose the means to find out their movements. If that was the case, it would be best to maintain control of the cane man, even if it meant burying this poison in my body.)

“Why don’t you just kill them and expose them as the main culprit this time? Not only would it save us, but it would also redeem your honor by giving you credit for taking down the current state of the racket, father.”

The third daughter of the old man, who is now the second queen, spoke up.

The sharpness of her judgment far surpassed that of the eldest son who had succeeded to the throne. It was both encouraging……and very frightening as well.

“We couldn’t even defeat the monsters that are his hands and feet, and you still think we can do anything to him? The only thing we can do now is sitting back and watching them unfold.”

Power that was not guaranteed by military might was only a tower on the sand.

Even though the Oscars are still the most powerful in the palace, this influence right now is getting smaller and tamer and more unreliable, that even the much smaller faction of Princess Cymbium, who had somehow already made the Subjugators Guild hers, was even proving to be more capable right now.

(Putting aside investing on the wrong pawns, our enemy has grown to a threat that is now too difficult to ignore.)

“I’ve underestimated you too much, little girl.”

In order to rewind this situation, it is necessary to break out the trust between Princess Cymbium and the Subjugators Guild.

(Is there a way to do this?)

“…… Speaking of which, I heard there’s a subjugator who’s made quite a name for himself in this war?”

“Yes, there are two of them, actually. One of them is a daughter of the Leschbeins…….”

The Leschbeins.

They were a huge noble family that once boasted power along with the Oscars.

(Despite falling down their ranks, their influence outside the capital is still great. It will be difficult to garner them to our side……)

Then,

“Wait, two, you say? And the other one is……?”

Translator Notes:

Annnd, that’s the end of this volume 1. It may sound abrupt, but there’s quite a long Author’s note on this in the end, discussing how the story will go on after this and putting options the readers would like for future developments. Well, since the story in the raws has long ended, it’s already irrelevant to take them seriously.

Anyways, here are the ‘routes’.

1. Royal Court Politics

A continuation of the usual story. The story will center in the political struggles against the Oscar family, who is trying to break up the order of nheritance, while having sex with celebrity female characters related to the royal court.

New characters to be added: nun, female secret agent (assassin?), female royal court official, etc.

2. Royal capital life edition

Serious battles will be put aside and the story will revolve around Schild enjoying the life in the royal capital. Enjoyment = sex with women.

* New characters to be planned: widow, daughter (oyakodon?), prostitute, dancer (or diva?), Etc.

 3. Flashback of his Wandering

The story will go back in time from the main story, where Schild eats out female subjugators in the same job while fighting against strong monsters as a wandering warrior.

* planned new characters: female warrior, female lord, female samurai (ninja?), Etc.

4. Demon Clash Edition

A full-scale war with the demons who lead the monsters.

* Scheduled new characters: female demons, female monsters, monster queens, etc.

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