My Second Brother. Valerius. The spare.
Not the Crown Prince, who was bound by law. Not the dandy Fourth Prince, who was a known degenerate. Valerius, the ambitious, overlooked second son with a massive inferiority complex and a network of spies.
He was the perfect vessel for a corrective force. He had the royal bloodline, the ambition, the resources, and a deep-seated jealousy of everyone around him. The world's destiny, robbed of its demonic protagonist, was now trying to bootstrap a "legitimate" one.
This was a fascinating, dangerous, and utterly perfect development. It meant the game was becoming even more complex. I wasn't just fighting my siblings for the throne anymore. I was fighting a cosmic narrative that was actively trying to empower one of them.
My smile was pure ice. Fine. Let the world choose a new hero. I would enjoy breaking this one even more than the last.
But first, Lyra.
Her attempt to see Lin Feng was a desperate move, and it gave me the perfect opening. I didn't go to Valerius to block her request. I went to a higher authority.
I found my father, the Emperor, in the Hall of Ancestors, staring at the portraits of long-dead kings.
"Father," I said, my voice filled with a somber gravity.
He turned, his eyes weary. "Kaelen. What is it now?"
"The prisoner has begun to talk," I lied, my expression a mask of grim satisfaction. "It is as I suspected. He was not working alone. There is a conspiracy, a deep-rooted faction that seeks to destabilize the dynasty."
My father's eyes sharpened. "Who?"
"He has not given names yet," I said, lowering my voice. "His will is strong, and he is protected by strange spiritual arts. Breaking him will take time, and absolute secrecy. Any contact with the outside world, any hint that he is cooperating, could alert his co-conspirators. They might try to silence him."
I let the implication hang in the air.
"My sister," I said, my voice laced with sorrow. "Lyra has formally requested to see the prisoner. She claims it is out of 'family concern'."
My father's face darkened. I had planted the seed of suspicion against Lyra, and now, her own actions were watering it. To his ears, this sounded exactly like a conspirator trying to check on her captured asset.
"She means well," he said, but his voice lacked conviction.
"I know she does, Father," I said soothingly. "But she is naive. Her compassion could be used against her, against us. The conspirators could use her visit as an opportunity. A message could be passed. The prisoner could be silenced with a hidden poison needle. We cannot take that risk."
I went in for the kill. "To protect the integrity of this investigation, and to protect Lyra from her own innocence, I must ask for your absolute authority. Decree that no one is to have contact with the prisoner. Not Lyra. Not even the Crown Prince. Only me. Until I have uncovered the entire plot."
It was a brilliant political maneuver. I was framing my power grab as a protective measure. I was isolating my enemies while making it look like I was securing the safety of the state.
My father stared at me, his gaze weighing my words. He saw the cold, ruthless logic. It was the logic of a ruler. It was the logic he understood.
"Granted," he said, his voice a low rumble. "I will issue the decree myself. No one is to go near the Black Cells but you. Find me the traitors, Kaelen. Expose them all."
"I will not fail you, Father," I said, bowing low.
I had just been given absolute, unchecked authority over my rival and had simultaneously checkmated my sister's attempt to interfere.
I let the official decree from the Emperor's office be my response to Lyra. I could imagine her rage upon receiving it, being blocked not by me, but by our father, all under the guise of protecting her. The frustration would be eating her alive.
With Lyra temporarily neutralized, and Lin Feng stewing in his powerless, system-less state, it was time to focus on the new board. Valerius, the spare hero. And Seraphina, the hidden player.
I spent the next two days in quiet consolidation. I used my new authority to place guards loyal only to me around the Black Cells. I spent a significant amount of my System Points in the store, not on flashy items, but on subtle ones.
[Item Purchased: 'Ears of the Whisper Rat'] - Cost: 1,200 SP
Description: A set of three, nearly invisible enchanted trinkets. When placed, they will record all sound within a 30-foot radius and store it. Can be retrieved to review the recordings.
[Item Purchased: 'Mark of the Shadow Hound'] - Cost: 1,800 SP
Description: A single-use tracking sigil. When placed on a target, it will remain for one month, allowing the user to see the target's general location on their system map.
Information was power.
I used my authority as the Emperor's "special investigator" to move freely through the palace. My first stop was my Second Brother's residence. Valerius was out, attending to his duties. It was the perfect opportunity.
Using [Shadow Stealth], I became a ghost, slipping past his guards. His study was opulent, filled with maps and military histories. I placed one of the Whisper Rat trinkets under his desk. I wasn't sure what the 'Corrective Force' empowering him would entail, but I would be ready to listen in on its first whispers.
My second target was more delicate. Seraphina. Our alliance was a dance of daggers in the dark. I needed to know her movements, to verify if she was truly holding up her end of the bargain by monitoring Lyra, or if she was playing a deeper game.
I found her in the Imperial Library, poring over ancient texts. I didn't approach her. I waited until she was distracted by a librarian. In a flicker of movement, a ghost in the stacks, I managed to place the [Mark of the Shadow Hound] on the silken ribbon tied in her hair. It was a risky move, but my stealth skill was more than sufficient.
Now, a small, violet dot, representing her, appeared on my system map. I could track her.
With my surveillance in place, I felt a measure of control return. I had eyes and ears on all my rivals.
I spent the next several days "interrogating" Lin Feng. The sessions were brutal. I didn't need information anymore; this was purely for my own satisfaction, and for a more practical purpose. I used him as a training dummy, practicing my new Netherworld skills, honing my control over the abyssal energy. I kept him starved, weak, and on the brink of madness, a perfect whetstone to sharpen my own power. My past life's wish was being fulfilled, not through sex, but through absolute, soul-crushing domination. He would beg for death long before I was done with him.
On the third day, my new listening device paid its first dividend.
I retrieved the Whisper Rat from under Valerius's desk. As I played back the recordings, I listened to hours of boring, mundane political maneuvering. Then, I heard it. A conversation between Valerius and his most trusted aide.
Aide: "Your Highness, the Fourth Prince's new authority is… unsettling. He has the Emperor's ear."
Valerius: "Kaelen is a snake. But he is a useful snake for now. Let him root out Lyra's faction. When our siblings have weakened each other, we will be the ones left standing."
Aide: "And what of the prisoner?"
Valerius: "Kaelen thinks he is in control. But I have my own sources. The Alchemist Guild is in an uproar over Jian Yue's 'fall'. They want justice. More importantly… I just received a message. An old master I once knew, a reclusive elder from the 'Jade Scepter' sect, has taken an interest in the boy, Lin Feng. He says the boy has a 'righteous spirit' and a 'sturdy foundation'. He is sending an envoy to the capital to 'inquire' about this new talent."
My blood ran cold. The Jade Scepter sect. A powerful, self-righteous faction from the Eastern Continent. The 'Corrective Force' wasn't just empowering Valerius with vague destiny; it was actively summoning powerful allies for him, painting the demonic protagonist as a wronged, righteous talent.
The world was already moving to save its new hero.
But as I processed this new threat, a second, more urgent notification appeared. It was from the tracker I had placed on Seraphina.
[Shadow Hound Alert]
[Target 'Seraphina Vane' has entered a high-security, restricted area: The Sky-Cell Spire.]
The Sky-Cell. The place where Lin Feng had originally been held. The place that was now supposed to be empty.
Why was she going there? Was she meeting someone?
Then the final, chilling twist landed, a puzzle piece I could never have anticipated. Her tracker dot on my map wasn't alone. Another dot, this one colored a pale, ethereal blue, had just appeared in the Sky-Cell, waiting for her. It wasn't Lyra. It wasn't Valerius. It was someone who shouldn't have been in the palace at all.
The system provided the identification for the new dot, and I stared in disbelief.
[Target Identified: Jian Yue - The Alchemist.]