Chapter 1657: Chapter 1657

Jenkins wasn't gone for long. Under the moonlight, the princess and the cat had only been waiting for about ten minutes when they saw the writer jogging toward them from the other end of the path outside the wall.

Dolores asked urgently, seeing the lingering surprise on Jenkins's face.

"Your father... he's quite a remarkable man!"

Jenkins exclaimed, then summoned the [Book of Memories], imprinting the scene he had just witnessed onto its pages to show Dolores.

It was the mansion's drawing room, where the duke and another middle-aged man were seated in armchairs, deep in conversation. Although only a side profile of the other man was visible, it was a profile Dolores would never mistake.

Sitting with the duke was none other than the king of the entire nation, Salhir II.

To figure out what was going on, after returning to Alexia with Dolores, Jenkins made a special trip back to Nolan. He spied on Salhir II long enough to confirm that the king was, indeed, in Nolan.

He sat with the two Stuarts and Alexia, all gathered together.

"I can confirm that the one in Nolan is the real person, while the one here in Ruen is a double created by supernatural power."

He could tell just by looking at their auras.

"But I don't understand how it was done. While there are certain special items that ordinary people can use, it's absolutely impossible for a normal person's consciousness to control two bodies at once. That's completely out of the question."

When Jenkins had entered the duke's mansion earlier, he'd eavesdropped on the conversation between the duke and Salhir II. The king had mentioned the current situation in Nolan, which made it clear that the king in Ruen and the king in Nolan shared the same memories.

"Is Dolores's father an Enchanter?"

Alexia asked Jenkins.

The king in Nolan had no aura whatsoever.

"Which means an Enchanter must be involved—and a highly skilled one at that..."

Alexia mused. "I know of a few methods that can achieve a similar effect, but the required materials are incredibly expensive, and the ritual's demands are extremely strict. For an ordinary person, death is almost certain once the effect wears off."

Dolores pressed her lips together and stared out the side window, hiding her expression from her tutor and Jenkins. Angelina fiddled with the ends of her hair with her left hand and lowered her head to look at her shoes, her own face equally unreadable.

Both princesses knew their father well enough to understand that if the method Alexia described truly existed, Salhir II would not have hesitated to use it. But that meant their father was certain to die soon. Although his brain tumor already made that a foregone conclusion, Dolores had once hoped that after she took the throne, she could ask Jenkins to try and help...

Even if their relationship with their father was distant, the princesses didn't want him to truly be gone. No one wants to be a fatherless child, especially at their young age.

Alexia sensed the princesses' mood. She shook her head, stood up, and walked out of the room, with Jenkins following right behind her.

"That organization, the Tree House, couldn't possibly be uninterested in the [King Soul]. I remember you once said they've shown up in nearly every struggle for a Savior's Emblem."

Alexia stated her opinion directly. The two of them stood side-by-side in the hallway, gazing at the bright moonlight outside. The red and blue twin moons cast their shadows onto the opposite wall, making them seem intertwined.

"Are you saying Salhir II got help from the Tree House? That makes sense. A few months ago, I was still puzzled about why they would want to help Dolores's sister contend for the throne. It didn't seem to align with their goals at all. After all, from the standpoint back then, controlling a secular throne seemed completely unrelated to the conflicts surrounding the Saviors."

He had confirmed that at least two of the Stuart children had received direct help from the Tree House. One, Yani Stuart, had since "seen the error of her ways" and cut ties with the organization, while the other, Lack Stuart, had died in the Ice and Snow Festival riots. It showed the Tree House had a very strong desire to interfere in the Hamparvo Kingdom's succession.

"That explains everything. The Tree House is interested in secular power because they learned about the Savior ability [Uncrowned King] in advance. So they made their moves early, trying to control the three major kingdoms to find the bearers of the King Souls. After all, they can't see the King Souls directly like I can."

At this, Jenkins narrowed his eyes.

"I received word from the Church that the upper echelons of the Cheslan Kingdom show signs of being manipulated by the Tree House. And the Tree House's shadow looms over every aspect of the Fidektri Kingdom's succession struggle. So that's it. They don't care about power; they're also searching for the King Souls. But why... how did the Tree House learn about the King Souls so far in advance...?"

"The Difference Engine beneath Nolan didn't just recently awaken, did it?"

Alexia reminded him, agreeing with his analysis.

"You said it yourself—the Tree House and the Gearsmiths' Guild are allies now. With the capabilities of that Difference Engine, it might not be able to predict the exact nature of the Savior's Emblems, but it could at least calculate that they might be related to the throne. Since it's the source of all intelligent machinery, it's plausible it would have such an ability."

If their analysis was correct, then Salhir II possessing a "double" had to be the Tree House's doing. They remembered that earlier this year, after the riots during the Ice and Snow Festival, Salhir II had driven all his children from the palace and lived there in seclusion, his activities a complete mystery.

Jenkins refused to believe he was simply recuperating in the palace. Something must have happened during that time to lead to the current situation: the royal family far from the kingdom, and the king's double controlling Ruen.

"How utterly fascinating."

But a challenge was welcome. If everything went too smoothly, Jenkins would suspect he had unknowingly walked into a trap.

"At least we know Salhir II's trump card now. I have to say, anyone who can hold onto a throne for that long really can't be underestimated."

He remarked to the short girl, while Alexia's thoughts turned to the queen who had reigned for fifty years. Salhir II's dabbling in supernatural powers was a clear violation of the High Tower Accord. While the accord restricted the Church from interfering with royal authority, it had even stricter regulations against the royal family meddling with the supernatural.

If Salhir II could do it, then Queen Isabella of the Fidektri Kingdom hardly seemed the type to obediently abide by a treaty—especially not under the current circumstances. Her favor toward Jenkins wasn't genuine; she clearly had other plans.

Dolores was dispirited and didn't feel like dealing with anything else that night. And now that they had discovered the secret of the dying king, Jenkins and Dolores didn't want to make a move and risk tipping their hand.

So, after bidding the young princess farewell, the three of them returned to Nolan. Jenkins comforted the downcast princess and, at Alexia's prompting, even gave her a hug. Only then did he take the maid home, by which time the lights in his own house had long been extinguished.

He returned to his room, changed into his pajamas, and felt the stuffy heat in the bedroom. Musing over the night's events, he casually used [Ice Solidification] to condense the moisture in the air and cool the room.

The cat leaped happily onto the bed, then suddenly let out a threatening "Meeeooww~," the same sound it made in the Evergreen Forest when "battling" the squirrels that dared to provoke Jenkins.

Jenkins turned his head and saw a blonde-haired girl in pajamas lying on the left side of his bed. She smiled and patted the right side. He had been so lost in thought when he'd entered the bedroom that he hadn't even noticed someone was in his room.

"Coming home so late?"

Briny asked with concern, lying on her side. Her blonde hair spilled out behind her, making her look especially slender.

In the next room, Hathaway, who had heard Jenkins come home, now wore the exact same expression as Chocolate.

(Finney is praying...)

Although Salhir II's preparations and arrangements were unexpected, his double was, in the end, just a creation of supernatural power. Having it remain in Ruen would certainly affect Dolores's plans, but Jenkins didn't consider it a particularly troublesome problem.

The next day was Saturday. When they met in the morning, Dolores seemed to have accepted the fact that her father had borrowed an Enchanter's power at the cost of his own life. Though she acted normal and appeared philosophical about his impending death, even the dense Jenkins could tell the princess was not in good spirits.

He had planned to take Dolores to the theater that evening to lift her spirits, but that afternoon at Pops Antique Shop, he heard some major news.

"It's confirmed! The Tri-King Summit will be held next Wednesday, the 19th of June!"

Pops strode in from outside, newspaper in hand, startling awake Jenkins and the cat, who had been dozing off together in the warmth of the summer afternoon.

"Next Wednesday? So soon?" Updates are released by NoveI-Fire.ɴet

Startled abruptly from his drowsiness, Jenkins's arm, which had been propping up his head, slipped to the side, and he nearly crushed Chocolate, who was sleeping by his elbow. The cat let out a frightened cry and burrowed into Jenkins's arms, letting him soothe it.

The last remnants of sleepiness were finally dispelled, and he quickly understood what Pops meant. Cradling the cat with one arm, he took the newspaper with his other hand. After a quick scan of the page, a puzzled expression appeared on his face.

"Why was this decision made so suddenly? Neither Miss Windsor nor Dolores mentioned anything about it. I thought something would be announced at least half a month in advance."

Pops knew Jenkins was preparing to contend for the throne, so he had no questions about the two names he mentioned.