SSS SKILL: DUPLICATE

Chapter 14: Trojan Horse Roy

The king was not surprised by what the prince said because he expected it when he heard his changes yesterday. The queen, on the other hand, is shocked. The prince fooled everyone for 10 years. Edgar is kneeling while looking down, and his tears continue to pour down. His acting continues.

"As you know, Duke George was very powerful before he was destroyed by father. His power rapidly expanded because grandfather trusted him. He wanted to control the royal court through father by closely cooperating with you. When you finally sat on the throne, you severed your cooperation with him. The duke was furious and I was assassinated. You took revenge and warned the duke.

At that time, I realized how powerful the duke and I will keep suffering assassination because the duke does not want a wise heir. When I was approached by sons of nobles, I realized the chance to slowly change and become incompetent prince because I knew that those nobles were sent by the duke. I am your only son, the duke wants me to become stupid to control me when I become king!" Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m nov𝒆lb(i)n.c(o)m

The king and queen are shocked that the prince was already very wise when he was young. The queen has teary eyes. She feels sorry for the prince. She can't imagine how much suffering and humiliation the prince has endured. Why did we not see the true intention of the prince? This question is running through the king and queen's minds.

"We are very sorry that you have been suffering alone for so long. Why did you not tell us? Your acting has no flaw. No one can tell that you were just pretending." The queen's heart is aching.

"There was no flaw because Van was not acting!" thought Edgar. He is amazed that Duke George succeeded in turning Van into a waste. The prince was diligent until he was 10 years old but changed when he was influenced by the noble's sons under the deliberate arrangement of Duke George.

"Mother, the duke had many spies. If I want to fool him, I must fool my own family first." Edgar's reason is really convincing. The only flaw now is his advanced knowledge, like the extraction of oil from soybeans, but he already has a quite acceptable reason.

"Where did you learn how to produce oil using franbeans?" The king was also surprised when he learned it. He is worried that someone gave the method to the prince in exchange for interest, which is not good for the kingdom.

"Father, when I was young, a prophet approached me and gave me a small book. He said that the book contains advanced miscellaneous information from the future, like the extraction of oil from franbeans, but it does not have any information on powerful magic skills or future events. He said that I have an important destiny in the world, so he is willing to help me," Edgar said with a serious face. In Van's memory, there are prophets who predicted disasters, the rise and fall of kingdoms, and heroes. Edgar has many advanced ideas that he will show in the future, and he can only pretend that he learned them from a book given by a prophet.

The king and queen doubt it, but they still let it go as long as it is not harmful to the kingdom. They warn Edgar that he should be careful of the prophet. He asked them if there is a god in this world. They are bewildered by his question, but they still answered and said they don't know. Edgar asked the king why his condition worsened. The king said he was forced to damage his body and mana core when fighting with Duke George to win. The damage is so severe that potions and healing magic cannot fix it. If Edgar did not become Van, the king would probably not pass away peacefully.

They continue to talk for a while, but the king felt tired, so Edgar decided to leave. Before Edgar left,the king reminded him that the force behind Duke George has the shadow of the Maginev Empire, and two dukes in neighboring kingdoms are secret allies of the Maginev Empire. Edgar was quite shocked, but it is not surprising for an empire to subdue dukes of kingdoms. He had seen these strategies many times in TV shows and stories on the internet.

Edgar returned to his room. He took a long breath, then lay on his bed. He feels very tired. His acting put too much stress on his mind. He quickly fell asleep.

In the morning, Edgar adjusted his layout for two kingdoms because of what the king said yesterday.He went to the intelligence department and read the intelligence report Duke George had on two dukes that also had cooperation with the Maginev empire. Edgar feels glad that Maginev empire is currently at war with Morowind empire. The special geography of central continent became a fuse of the war between the two powerful empire.

The eastern and western parts of the central continent are separated by mountainous areas. Many dwarves live in mountainous areas near the Maginev empire.

In the east of the central continent are the Maginev Empire, Ru, Fran, and Baynard kingdoms. In the west are Morowind, Allied States of Sorranians, Deserted Land, Grassland, and eight other countries north of grassland.

The Allied States of Sorranians are composed of ten countries. It is separated from Morowind Empire by a vast deserted land. Orcs, goblins, and some beastmen live on deserted land. North of Morowind is vast grassland where barbarian tribes live. The barbarians are tall ogres with red skin, a muscular body with tattoos, and sharp teeth. They are very strong but small in population. They ride tall horses. They come as fast as wind and leave as fast as wind at the borders of countries near the grassland. The eight other countries are located north of grassland.

The mountainous area that separates east and west has a part with large flat and dry ground. The area is called Gap, an area both on the border of the Maginev and Morowind empires and the cause of the current war between the two empires.

Edgar went back to the castle and wrote his plan. Later, he met Albert and an eloquent man that he ordered to find.

"Your highness, it is my honor to meet you. My name is Roy." He looks like a gentleman. Although he is not a noble, he has the air of a noble. According to Albert, he met him in a restaurant when Roy visited the capital for an errand. Roy's mouth has the power of persuasion.

"You will become a hero to the kingdom and your name will be immortalized. I will give you honor and wealth. The kingdom will protect your family for many generations. I can promise you all these if you succeed in your mission. The mission is very dangerous. Even if you fail, I will still protect your family and give them wealth. I will only tell you the mission if you agree," Edgar said seriously.

"Your highness, I am willing to go through fire if I can protect the kingdom. I have no talent in mana and aura. I am just an ordinary person who is good at talking. Your highness gave me a chance to prove myself. Either I die or succeed in my mission," said Roy. He is kneeling and crying. He did not expect the prince to put a very important matter in his hands as an ordinary man.

"Good! Stand up first and return to your seat." Edgar helps Roy stand up. His first impression of Roy is good.

"Your mission is to pretend to be a secret descendant of Duke George. We will pretend that you gave me the method on extracting oil from soybeans to get my trust. You will make contact with dukes in Ru and Fran kingdom. You will be in charge of cooperating business with those dukes. It will be easier to cooperate with those dukes because they are allies of Maginev empire like Duke George.

You will sell wholesale cooking oil and let them be distributors. They will entice and threaten you to share the method of making cooking oil. Drag it first then you will share it later to gain their trust but make sure to keep the interest of the kingdom. Buy spies on their side. Put our spies in their kingdom. Gather information on people that could become our ally. Make contacts with their spies in our kingdom so we can feed false information and remove them later," Edgar patiently explains the strategy. Albert and Roy admire the vision and plan of Edgar.

"I will teach you business knowledge. You can move in and out of the castle to fool spies and prove your story."

Edgar showed the written strategy to Albert and Roy. Edgar and Albert discuss if there are omissions. Edgar finalizes the strategy, and Roy memorizes it. Edgar casts fire magic, and the papers that will shock the world are turned into ash. His memory is very sharp since he became a magician. He completely remembers the written plan. He plans to teach and train Roy for a period of time until he becomes a qualified Trojan Horse.