* * *

Alongside Lante Agrece, the grand feast attendees were always the three children who performed the best during the previous month’s evaluation. It was promoted as something special, but in reality, it was basically a lavish dinner for those four people to talk and eat together.

Various topics were discussed such as the Agrece clan’s accomplishments, future plans, the affairs of the outer realms, the progress of the attendees’ educations, their future prospects, and so on. Once in a while, our father would pose a question that we were expected to answer. However, sometimes a completely useless topic made its way into the conversation, much like this time.

“A bunch of mongrels is what those Pedelians are!” my father declared with venom in his voice.

Upon hearing his outburst, my first thought was, “And so it begins.”

Lante Agrece’s repeated airing of grievances with the Blue Pedelians at each and every monthly feast was further proof to me that I was living inside of a fictional story.

“Why is that? Are they hounding you again?”

I imagined Jeremy asked this because, like me, he was lukewarm about the topic. He had managed to attend the feast this time after earning third place in last month’s evaluation. Unlike first and second place, which the same two people had retained for the last few years, the competition for third place was more unpredictable. The perennial number one was one of my other half-brothers, Deon Agrece. Among those older than me, I had one half-sister and two half-brothers who had yet to be disposed of. Deon was the younger of the two.

He happened to be away at the moment on official business. Even before I had secured an invitation to the event, Deon had already been at the top for some time. If I remember the story correctly, Jeremy would eventually become number one. However, at present in this world, Deon and I had settled into the top two spots for quite a while. In about three years, I believe our story’s lead evil character, Jeremy, will become the most powerful among us.

Anyway, I never cared much for Deon, so his absence was far from a disappointment. I always felt like gagging while having to sit opposite his ugly mug at these dinners.

“It’s what those sons of bitches do! Always yipping away! I’d be a happy man if I could tear out Roussel Pedelian’s tongue with my own hands one day.”

Roussel was Cassis Pedelian’s father as well as the head of the Blue clan. Needless to say, hostility between the two clan heads ran deep. It was so bad in fact that it was commonplace for them to exchange blows if they so much as crossed paths. Even so, kidnapping and killing the other’s son as retribution crossed the line in my opinion. Going that far was practically begging for the other side to truly despise us.

“Still, you look more cheerful than usual today,” I stated casually while placing my cutlery on my plate. Then I offered a soft smile to Lante before starting in on the topic I actually wished to discuss. “My guess is your improved mood is due to the prey you captured and brought home recently. Am I right?”

Lante turned his gaze to me. That frightful scarlet stare of his seemed to pierce straight through me. Then his lips turned up at the corners into an appreciative grin.

“You are so perceptive, Roxana. You must get that from me.”

The last thing I needed was his stinking praise. I did my best to retain my smile while lashing out at him in my mind.

“Why? What’s so great about the new toy?”

Jeremy, who had been eating his dinner with a bored look on his face, suddenly turned his attention to our discussion. Lante leaned back in his chair with an expression like that of a predator in repose after a successful hunt.

“I heard today that the Pedelians are beyond desperate now.”

Lante’s face as he said this brimmed with malice. Gosh... How could a human being laugh with such evil and wickedness? Even I have to admit that was indeed a pretty impressive talent of his. I often imagined he had an “Evil Villain” sticker stuck to his forehead.

“But no matter how hard they search and strain their tiny brains, they’ll never be able to find someone who’s locked away in an Agrece dungeon.”

“Who exactly is in the dungeon that would make the Pedelians search that desperately for him, Father?” Jeremy asked cautiously.

Lante looked at me as if to signal that I should tell him, so I did.

“The Blue Heir—Cassis Pedelian.”

The shock in Jeremy’s face was clear as day.

“Seriously?!”

He then turned toward Lante as if to confirm that I wasn’t teasing him. Our father simply smiled in satisfaction. It was a smile that suggested he was proud of me for guessing correctly.

“Wow, father. Just wow...”

Jeremy almost guffawed in surprise. He seemed genuinely impressed by Lante’s unbelievable, yet brazen exploit. Satisfied that it was probably safe to ask, I seized my chance.

“May I ask in which direction you plan to go in with the prisoner’s education, Father?”

Now that I had directly mentioned the boy, Jeremy turned his gaze toward me. My father also turned to face me, then opened his mouth somewhat lazily as he spoke.

“If you have a suggestion, Roxana, please do share it with us.”

There was no doubt Lante was in a chatty mood. Perhaps it was spillover from his satisfaction at knowing Roussel Pedelian was at his wit’s end in search of his lost lamb.

“Well, even I must admit that I have taken an interest in our latest toy.”

I spoke in earnest as I already knew it would pique Lante’s interest.

“Pedelians are generally reputed as honest and just. Yet even amongst themselves, the Blue Heir bears the mantle of being the most upright and stalwart Pedelian.”

As I spoke, a hush settled over the table. Lante seemed to be hanging on my every word. It was the right moment to roll the dice.

“To have someone as noble as Cassis Pedelian...” I whispered in a quiet, singsong voice as I grinned in a conniving way that likely resembled Lante. “...moaning and squirming under my feet like a timid, lovesick mongrel in heat, I believe could be a most interesting development.”

* * *

In a nutshell, Lante was sold. His response was that he would have to think it over, but knowing the telltale signs to look for in his expression, I knew he would hand Cassis over to me sooner or later.

As I returned to my room, I reflected on all the conversations at dinner when a bitter taste suddenly flooded my mouth. I assumed it came at the realization of how evil I had sounded. Of course, I absolutely didn’t have any lewd or ill designs on Cassis. Had I harbored any such thoughts, even succeeding in getting him out of our compound wouldn’t be enough to guarantee that he wouldn’t seek revenge against me later for the insult I would have dealt his ego.

The only reason I said what I said was to win over Lante. I knew that such an evil man would enjoy nothing more than to see the Blue Heir disgraced. If Cassis Pedelian—a symbol of righteousness in both mind and body—could be made into a vile cretin, that would prove far more entertaining to Lante than simply torturing the boy.

“Are you really going to handle the new toy’s education yourself, Xana?”

In my musings I had almost forgotten Jeremy had been walking back alongside me. He seemed a bit down. Actually, he had seemed upset ever since I mentioned Cassis’s name to Father at dinner. I found it odd that he felt this way when he had already known I was interested in Cassis, but he was still only a kid. My best guess was that he feared my attention would get diverted to the new toy and away from him.

“Mhm. I think I’ll finally try playing with the toy for once.”

There was a sudden movement behind us. Jeremy and I whipped around at the same time.

“Did I hear you correctly? You’re going to train the new toy, sis?”

My younger half-sister Charlotte had snuck up behind us. Her fiery auburn locks and hazel eyes made her appear more demure than she should at the tender age of 13. Although she hated the fact that she didn’t at all resemble our father, I was rather envious of her for that.

As I looked upon her cute, frowning face, I could tell she had overheard everything Jeremy and I had discussed since leaving the feast. I was fairly certain why she had been hanging around the venue in the first place, so with an amiable smile I said, “That’s right, Charlotte. I’m just coming back from telling father as much.”