Chapter 264 – A Preposterous Guess

While Lyra was having a mind-blowing realization that made her feel like wanting to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming, apparently, another person was quietly having their mind being blown by another reason.

A few days after the day he last saw his friends, Manasye recovered from his predicted fever. 

There was no lingering effect that usually would be apparent if the fever was due to a virus or bacteria, but since he was often sick without prior notice, people around him just took it as usual.

The morning that he felt like he had recovered, he quickly checked his friends’ schedules and sprinted to where they would be at.

“Luca, Kiri, Altaire! You’ll be having independent study after this, right? Can I go with you?” 

The little prince asked after barging in. 

“Manasye, where are your manners?” King Deus facepalmed. 

“Ah… Father, you’re here too! S-sorry, I thought you weren’t here…”

“That’s not the issue here. No matter who is present, you need to have the proper etiquette as a prince, alright?” 

“Y-yes… I apologize… I was so excited that I’m finally able to see them again after a while,” Manasye said with his head hung down.

“Greetings, Prince Manasye. I heard you had a sudden fever. Are you alright now, Your Highness?” 

“Ahh! Big Sis Michiyo! You’re here too!” 

Celeste, who was under the guise of Fumitsuna Michiyo, approached Manasye and looked at him with concern.

The little elf prince was too focused on finding his friends to continue the secret discussion that they had last time that he missed seeing that his father was here, and even his favorite big sister Michiyo was overlooked. 

While he was surprised and then scared to see that his father was also present as he knew his attitude would warrant a scolding if he were to be seen like that, Manasye’s surprise seeing Celeste was quickly replaced with a clearly apparent joy.

Everyone around could tell, let alone his father, King Deus. Everyone shot King Deus a look of sympathy, meanwhile King Deus indeed felt a little complicated that Manasye’s response was warmer towards Michiyo rather than himself.

He only sighed and shook his head.

“Why are you running around like you were never sick before? Are you sure you should be running around like this?” Celeste continued to question the little prince.

“I’m perfectly fine now! Ah…,” Prince Manasye seemed to realize something and his dilemma showed in his face.

He was indeed friendly with this cousin of his even before he knew their ties to each other. At first, he only thought of how this ‘Michiyo’ seemed familiar, perhaps because she reminded him of his own sister. 

When they interacted, this cousin of his was kind towards him, and he thought of her like a big sister that he dreamed of.

Perhaps because his age difference to Phoebe, his big sister, wasn’t too far, he sometimes dreamed that his age difference to Phoebe would be a little bit far, just like the other elves he saw that had a big sister with a considerable age gap. He would sometimes dream that his sister would treat him lovingly and kindly like this, not the kind of love-and-hate relationship he had with his own sister.

Manasye loves Phoebe, his sister, but due to their close age gap, they would often fight. There were also times where Phoebe showed care as a big sister, but it was in a different, more childish way. It was only natural as both were children, but in short, this cousin of his treated him exactly like how he imagined Phoebe would treat him if Phoebe were a tad bit older and more mature than him.

He understood now that it was probably because Celeste already knew about their relations.

At this moment, Manasye was in a dilemma because he just invited Kiri, Luca, and Altaire. But he left out this ‘Michiyo’, although he was on good terms with her.

Still, he knew he couldn’t invite her to see Eneida and to continue the discussion he was having with the others, at least not now.

But ‘Michiyo’ was of same age with Altaire, so it didn’t make sense for Manasye to make the lousy excuse of ‘only wanting to hang out with the delegates of close age gap with him’. Because he still excluded Michiyo that way.

If he were to exclude her due to her gender, saying that it would only be a boys’ hangout, that was possible but he was afraid his father would misunderstand his words. He was never misogynistic, so he was afraid his father would reprimand him. Another scenario would be about how his father might misunderstand that he wanted to consult something only boys could listen to, and his father might want to question him later on about that, encouraging him to open up to his father.

Either option seemed like it would be risky either way.

So, Manasye felt really guilty and unsure on what he should do. 

“Your complexion looks better and I know you wouldn’t be able to run around merrily like that if you’re still sick. That’s alright, go and take your three friends with you. But you can’t invite Michiyo out too. Your father has a prior arrangement with her. Would that be alright?” King Deus asked.

Manasye was surprised to hear his father’s words, but he was secretly relieved that he wouldn’t need to find an excuse.

“Aww… too bad. Alright then, Father,” Prince Manasye still feigned disappointment anyway.

As Prince Manasye went out with Altaire, Luca, and Kiri, he turned to look at his father who was conversing with his cousin.

Is it true that Father is trying to spy more on the delegates and the Riviera country through my cousin? And my cousin will snitch? What is actually happening?

Manasye hoped he would know the truth soon.

***

The four boys talked a lot during their way, with the highlighted topic being Prince Manasye’s health. Manasye felt warm to hear that his new friends seemed to be concerned about his condition. 

They knew they couldn’t go to the Tower of Exile right away, so Manasye once again took the three boys to tour around the castle, after stopping by to fetch ‘Ralph’ first.

They knew that the servants of the castle were told to keep an eye on them, so they didn’t really talk too much for now.

Thankfully, everyone knew that Prince Manasye seemed to like going to Tower of Exile to chat with the ‘cursed girl’, so nobody tried to stop him, nor did anyone bother following them all the way there. 

During the palace tour, Prince Manasye naturally introduced his favorite areas, and then lastly went to the Tower of Exile.

Even then, he knew not to stay there for too long, or it would be too suspicious.

After arriving at Eneida’s chamber…

“Manasye!! You’re here too! Are you alright now? Did you really have a fever?” 

“Eneida! Yeah, I’m alright now. I had the fever as predicted, but I don’t look like I was sick anymore, right?”  

Eneida’s worried voice greeted Manasye. Only after Eneida scanned Manasye from head to toe that she feel relieved.

“How’s everyone doing? We parted ways after an important discussion, so I’ve been wanting to quickly meet with you guys again to discuss things more. Ah, I wonder when Maiara will be back with Lyra and the others? I wonder if she’s cured?” Manasye opened their session.

“Maybe the treatment takes time. I mean, a recently recovering patient would be advised to take a rest before going on a journey. We can only wait,” Clavis said.

“Yeah… Our parents have realized what was happening and they were so worried in their letter,” Altaire said.

“It should be the start of the semester again now, right? Holiday’s up just like that… We’re fine since we are delegates, but I wonder if you guys will be fine since you sneaked here?” Kiri asked Clavis.

“The plan was to be back before holiday ends, but we got caught up, so…,” Clavis nervously answered.

“…”

Talking until this point, they finally realized that Luca had been silent. 

He was just sitting there with his arms crossed, his eyes closed. It seemed like he was deep in his thoughts.

“Luca? What’s wrong?” Kiri then asked. 

Being called out, Luca finally opened his eyes and saw that everyone’s attention was on him.

He scanned them all one by one, before his gaze stopped at Manasye.

“I just had this wild guess…,” Luca started talking.

“Hm?” Manasye tilted his head at Luca.

“After our last meeting, I spent some time researching and thinking about your condition,” Luca said to Manasye.

“And? Did you find something?” Manasye asked. 

“Well… I went through some medical textbook that explained how it was impossible for pure elves to be able to wield Dark magic. It’d be different if at some point, the blood was mixed with another race’s. I checked the history of Cielle kingdom and the royal family’s records to see if there was a point in which a different race’s blood was mixed with the royal family’s, thinking that it’s a case of atavism.”

“Atavism? What is that?” Manasye tilted his head.

“It’s a phenomenon where a characteristic from past generations that hadn’t showed up for a long time, suddenly and randomly showed up again in the latter generation,” Luca tried to word it in a way that would be easy for Manasye to digest.

“Ah… I see. Then, is it the case for me?”

“Hmm… Unfortunately, the record that I am able to read didn’t seem to mention any mixing with a different race. Unless the record’s manipulated to hide that, of course,” Luca noted.

“Hidden record… it might be plausible,” Altaire commented.

“While I was at it, I tried to look for any information related to the fire incident as well,” Luca said.

“Hm? The topic’s shifting, isn’t it?” Clavis asked.

“It might seem to shift, but listen to me first. It’s still connected.”

Everyone seemed to show the same confusion as Clavis, but they decided to hold off their questions and listen to Luca first.

“Then, I noticed a trivia. Manasye, you’re born several months after the fire incident, right?” Luca asked.

“Yes. My birth is seen as a joyful occasion that comes after the tragedy. Oh, but I was born sickly and that worried everyone at first. Is it because Mother was stressed or worked too hard due to the aftermath of the incident?” Manasye noted.

“Hmm… But if we connect it to your ability to use Dark magic… What if… your identity isn’t as what you know it is?” Luca seemed to hesitate a bit.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Manasye looked confused.

“Uh… You don’t think what I’m thinking, right?” Altaire seemed to have caught on, and asked Luca with a bewildered look on his face. He shook his head and said, “But that’d be too messy.”

“I did think it was such a wild guess on my side. I wanted to keep it to myself, but then, I saw your interaction with Celeste today. And this time, I observed more than I usually do. Your appearances, your behavior, and Celeste’s attitude towards you…,” Luca said as he looked closely at Manasye.

“Uhm… Yeah, she knows I’m her little cousin, that’s why, right? And?” Manasye asked.

“…You see… There’s a guess that’s really, really wild, but it will explain why you can wield Dark magic. It seemed too far-fetched, but I think that might be a possibility we can consider, right? We’re still missing a few links, but…”

“Stop beating the bush and just explain?” Manasye pleaded.

Luca took a deep breath before he opened his mouth.

“I think you are Celeste’s little brother, not cousin. If you are born from Oriel and Nagare, an elf and Oni, you’ll be able to wield both Light and Dark magic. And that will explain why you can look similar to King Deus and Princess Phoebe. Because you are still related, and your look happens to pass as King Deus’ son. Thankfully, your eyes and hair color took after your mother, Oriel.”

“…”

“W-w-whaaa?!”

The room was enveloped in silence before Manasye’s surprised voice broke out.

“B-but… I don’t have any Oni characteristics other than being able to wield Dark magic! And… I get sick every time that happens. If I am indeed half-elf and half-Oni, won’t Oni characteristic show in my appearance? And won’t that mean I can use Dark magic without any repercussions because it’s innate to me? I don’t understand…”

“I’m wondering about that as well… About Oni characteristics not showing in your appearance, could it be because it’s not yet time? And theoretically yes, you should be able to use Dark magic without any repercussions, but… remember that there are not many half-elf and half-Oni beings yet,” Luca explained.

“Huh, right, I mean, it kinda makes sense…,” Kiri blurted out.

“Eh? But Celeste never said she had a little brother… She kept looking for only her mother,” Altaire added.

“There are two possibilities. One, she didn’t know before and somehow discovered the fact after coming here… or maybe she simply thought of Manasye as a little cousin. Two, she was hiding stuff from us. We aren’t unsure yet what’s the deal with her suddenly becoming close to King Deus, right? Maybe we’re deceived. That is also a possibility,” Luca stated.

“Urgh… Right,” Altaire got tongue tied. 

“Uhm… Suppose that assumption is correct… As we currently don’t have any other explanation… b-but… does that mean… My father–I mean, King Deus murdered my mother? Why keep me as his son, then?! It doesn’t make any sense!!” Manasye was confused.

“… If it’s correct, then Oriel shouldn’t have died during the fire. She must have survived long enough to deliver you, and–”

“But that doesn’t change the fact that my fa–King Deus tried to harm Oriel, who we presume to be my biological mother, right?” Manasye asked. He looked overwhelmed as he continued with his trembling lips, “He never told me about the fire incident that involved my aunt, Oriel before. Then I found out that most people thought that King Deus was the one who harmed Oriel for the throne. I-if that’s the case… that doesn’t make any sense. Why not kill me as well?” 

“Manasye…,” Eneida couldn’t bear looking at her precious friend like that. 

Though she hesitated at first, she then approached Manasye and patted him on his back, through a bit of distance.

“As I said before, there are still too many missing pieces that I was unable to explain. We need to confirm what really happened to be able to connect the dots,” Luca answered.

“T-then… suppose everything’s true, why would Celeste, my sister, side with King Deus, who tried to harm our mother, then? I don’t get it at all…,” Manasye trembled at the thought.

“I… still want to believe in Celeste. She must have her reasons. And I want to find it out… If only she wasn’t so stubborn and would tell me what was happening when I asked…,” Altaire said.

“A-and… suppose that’s true, then who knows about the fact that I am not my mother and father’s biological child? Is everyone in my family hiding the truth from me? What about my nanny, Maiara?” 

Tears welled up in Manasye’s eyes.

Although he kept saying that Luca’s idea seemed wild and preposterous, he somehow had a feeling that it might be the truth, since nothing else could explain why he was able to wield Dark magic, and not one at a weak level, on top of that. 

After all, for Dark magic to be able to activate subconsciously and protect him from danger, he understood that it couldn’t be a miniscule compatibility. 

If it were true…

Then he would become a child who had to look for his missing mother, who might be murdered by the one he considered as his father for all his life. 

They were families, and still had blood ties regardless… but if it was true that his biological family were harmed by the family that had raised him, what should he do?

Even if the wild guess wasn’t proven to be true yet, right now, he felt as if the world that he knew was a lie. 

Doubting one’s identity that one had been raised to believe in was something terrifying. 

“Manasye… I can somehow understand your feelings. When I first awakened as a Werebeast… I doubted my identity as well. Although it was a mutation that happened to me, it still shook my identity to the core at that time. But… you know, we can’t be certain of anything yet. Don’t let it get to you too much, okay?” Clavis tried to comfort Manasye. 

Manasye tried to calm himself down.

After he was calm enough, he nodded at what his friends suggested he should do. Keep it as a possibility, but do not act or think too much before it is proven true. 

Still, a seed of doubt, once planted, was bound to haunt one’s mind.

Even more so when it involved his core identity… and a possibility that his loved and trusted ones might have been deceiving him.