The sudden appearance of a mysterious figure named Ryujeen, who single-handedly solved both the invasion of the Chagamga Republic and the Demon invasion, all at once, was suspicious to Rodan.

The timing was too good.

Besides, everything had been resolved by Ryujeen alone.

The Duke and his sons had never actually seen Ryu fight. And logically, it was understandable that they wouldn't believe that one person could defeat an entire army or force Demons to retreat.

So, Rodan, the Duke's eldest son, thought that Ryujeen was actually a spy for either the Chagamga Republic or the Red Demon Empire, or perhaps both.

He considered the fact that Ryujeen single-handedly negotiated with the enemy and drove them away as proof. (Rodan couldn't believe that he could defeat a large army alone, so he assumed that he must have negotiated with them to make them retreat.)

Rodan genuinely suspected Ryujeen, but separately, the Duke was planning to marry one of his sons to Sophie. (This was also a wish of Rodan, who was smitten with Sophie.)

Then, he planned to eventually overthrow Prince Rezild and put his own son on the throne.

However, King Largo, the Duke's brother, had mentioned the possibility of marrying Sophie to Ryujeen to secure his alliance.

This was something the Duke's family, aiming for the throne, couldn't ignore.

To eliminate Ryujeen, the Duke adopted his son's spy theory.

Duke Joldo was a very smooth talker. He was also very intelligent and could skillfully manipulate people with his words.

But at his core, he was selfish and self-centered, not fit to be king.

The previous king, who had seen Joldo's true nature, had chosen to abdicate in favor of his brother, Largo, instead of his eldest son.

But Joldo wasn't happy about it. He didn't think he was unfit to be king.

He believed that he, as the eldest son, was supposed to inherit the throne. He thought his brother had skillfully manipulated the previous king and stolen the throne.

So, he had been waiting for a chance to reclaim the throne ever since.

The opportunity had finally arrived. Many princes had died, leaving only the First Prince, Rezild, and Sophie. It would have been difficult to put his own son on the throne when there were five princes. But with just one left, eliminating him wouldn't be that difficult.

Following his plan, the Duke waited for the chance to marry Sophie to Rodan and eliminate the last remaining prince. But first, he needed to get rid of this Ryujeen, who had the potential to marry Sophie. So, the Duke started spreading conspiracy theories within the palace, using his eloquent words.

Joldo was certainly a smooth talker, but his words held no truth. So, perceptive people wouldn't be fooled - like the previous king.

However, in every world, there are a certain number of people who fall for superficial words.

Especially when people are blinded by desire, they misjudge situations. The Duke was skilled at seeing his targets' desires and stimulating them...

He understood what they wanted and promised to give it to them, quickly gaining support for himself. Soon, those who believed in Ryujeen became a minority, including the King, Sophie, and Reynard.

The First Prince, Rezild, also aligned himself with this movement, which could be called the Duke's faction formation.

Rezild had seen Ryujeen annihilate the enemy during the war against the Republic, so he knew his strength. Therefore, he was skeptical of the conspiracy theory that Ryujeen was a Republic spy.

But he couldn't say the same about the Demons.

After all, the prince had never seen such things as Demons. The Duke had subtly planted seeds of doubt in his mind, making him wonder if it was all a lie.

The wise learn from history and make the right judgments from the information given to them. The foolish only believe in what they see and experience.

(Considering that there are people who don't learn even from their own experiences, those who can learn from experience are better off.)

King Largo possessed the judgment to discern the truth of the information and give instructions. But Rezild was the type who only believed what he saw.

However, Prince Rezild didn't completely believe the Duke's conspiracy theory. He believed in Ryujeen's power because he had seen it with his own eyes.

But because of that, he saw Ryujeen as a danger.

A human with the power to destroy an entire army on his own. His power was like that of a god. If such a person existed... what if that person got arrogant and ran amok?

The King seemed to agree with Sophie's idea of marrying Ryujeen to bring him into the royal family to prevent him from becoming an enemy. But if someone with such power became a member of the royal family, it could threaten his own position as heir to the throne.

He had the right of succession, but if he turned this person into an enemy, it could lead to the destruction of the kingdom. No one could stop such a person from becoming king.

Even so, it would be good if this person became a benevolent ruler. But what if he became a tyrant?

Rezild noticed the Duke's insidious nature, but he considered it a necessary evil. He thought that it was essential to control him while governing the country.

So, he decided not to deny the Duke and his sons' claims of espionage and to use them to his advantage.

The King didn't believe that Ryujeen was a spy. But he was pressured by the prince, the Duke, his sons, and the officials who handled practical matters, and he could no longer ignore their claims.

In an absolute monarchy system, the King could ignore all of them and use force, but King Largo was too good-natured to ignore everyone's opinions.

Sophie, of course, objected, but being young, her position was weak.

The Duke even claimed that Sophie had been tricked. He said that she was easy to deceive because she was young. Even though Sophie insisted that she wasn't, it was true that she was young. Officials from the Duke's faction echoed the sentiment, saying that Ryujeen must have been deceiving Princess Sophie to claim the king's throne for himself.

Ryujeen, suddenly accused of being a spy.

Duke Joldo and his sons demanded that Ryujeen be captured and interrogated.

But no one could capture Ryujeen. Even Prince Rezild understood that.

So, they decided to summon Ryujeen and have King Largo and Prince Rezild talk to him.

To be Continued...

Next Time

"I'll test your strength."

Rodan challenges Ryujeen...

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