The stars, but they become the gray wind

"Yo yo, after many years, I'm back, hello everyone!!!"

As he waved to the crowd, his admirers on both sides cheered. Several excited young ladies even showed crazy expressions, waving their handkerchiefs and shouting at him, hoping to get his attention.

"Your Highness Richard!!! Please look here!!"

"Wow! His Highness Richard is so handsome!!!"

"Please look here!!! Your Highness Richard!!!"

"His Royal Highness Richard is awesome!!!"

Looking at the ladies around him who looked like they were infatuated with each other, a middle-aged man in a suit and a top hat who was squeezed in the crowd sighed helplessly.

"Really...what the hell is all this fuss about?"

"It's said to be a homecoming parade. Look... the third in line to the throne, Prince Richard, Duke of Arkham."

"It is said that he has been serving as the governor of the New World of Yiqipapalinqilui and has not returned for five years."

A middle-aged gentleman who was also squeezed in the crowd explained to him.

…………

At the same time, in the palace, Prince Edward, the first heir, was complaining to the Queen in front of him.

"Alas...his overly flamboyant personality is such a headache."

The old queen raised her teacup and took a sip of tea, then calmly replied, "Never mind. After all, he has suffered a lot in the New World. Let him be."

"But...Alas."

Edward wanted to say something but finally decided not to criticize his brother's flamboyant personality. He just picked up the teacup and took a sip of the black tea in it.

…………

Just as the royal band marching on the street was playing solemn and festive music, and the third prince, the Duke of Arkham, who was sitting in a car behind the cavalry, was waving his hands happily in response to the enthusiastic people, a burly man with an Indian appearance and a cowboy hat appeared silently on the roof of the street to the left of the royal parade.

He held a bolt-action rifle with a high-magnification scope under his arm, climbed to the edge of an attic on the roof, knelt on one knee skillfully to set up the rifle, pulled the bolt to load the bullet, adjusted the scope, put one eye to the scope, and pointed the muzzle at the Duke of Arkham who was marching on the street below.

After confirming that he was aiming at the opponent's shoulder, which was not a vital part, the man with an Indian face pulled the trigger without hesitation. With a gunshot, Duke Arkham, who had just been waving and cheering happily to the people, was hit by the bullet. The impact of the bullet caused him to fall backwards, out of the car, and fall on the road behind the car. A large amount of blood gushed out from his shoulder, staining the ground beneath him red.

When they heard the gunshots and saw Duke Arkham falling to the ground, the enthusiastic people and the calm guards on both sides of the street suddenly showed shocked expressions.

"Ahhhh!!!" A timid lady saw this scene and started screaming in panic.

Just when the gunshots rang out, the stunned guards reacted immediately with the screams, and a large group of guards ran hurriedly towards the Duke of Arkham who was lying on the ground.

"Your Highness!!"

"The Duke of Arkham!!!"

"The criminal must not have gotten far. Go and search him quickly."

A leading guard, Master Lingwu, quickly gave orders to his men.

"The gunshots seem to be coming from over there!!"

"Take His Highness to a safe place!"

At this time, the burly Indian man who was hiding in the attic and pulled the trigger, after making sure that his shot had hit the other party, immediately jumped along the roof to the neighboring house and quickly left the scene.

Everything that happened at the scene was fully recorded by an invisible drone hovering above the street.

"To be honest, if I didn't know the true identity of the Duke of Arkham, I would have been really impressed by his realistic acting."

Yuki sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, holding a glass of freshly squeezed lemon juice while watching the holographic image transmitted by the drone and commented.

"When I saw that guy being shot down, I immediately thought of sending a drone up to shoot him again."

Kalisi, who was sitting opposite Yuuki and sipping a glass of iced cola, said calmly.

"If you really send a drone up and shoot him again, this guy might not even have ashes left, let alone a complete corpse."

"That's right... If we let the drone take him down right now, we'll have no fun watching him!"

"Let's see what fun things this Duke of Arkham can bring us."

"Since the Duke of Arkham has prepared a big surprise for both the Republic and the Kingdom, let's also prepare a small gift for everyone that will scare them into cardiac arrest." Carissa clapped her hands together, revealing a very sinister and somewhat insane smile.

"Uh... could you please stop making us sound like the mastermind and evil villain who controls the world?" Yuki said, wiping the non-existent sweat from his forehead.

"Ah? Aren't we?"

"Come on, you idiot, be reasonable!!! Don't really think of yourself as an evil villain who wants to destroy the world!!!"

The Queen and Prince Edward were leisurely enjoying afternoon tea in their bedroom in the palace when the door to their room was suddenly flung open. A frantic attendant, trotting over, gasped and said to them, "Your Majesty! No... This is bad. His Royal Highness Richard was assassinated in the street just now."

After hearing the report from the attendant, the Queen and Prince Edward, who had just been calmly enjoying their afternoon tea, suddenly stood up from their chairs in shock.

After the Duke of Arkham was shot in the street and rushed to the hospital,

Standing by the window, listening to his secretary's report on the matter, the Duke of Normandy, who almost always had a serious face, simply asked calmly, "Is he okay?"

"The person has been sent to the hospital, but his life or death is still unknown." The female secretary of Indian descent replied.

"The killer escaped along the rooftop after the attack and the search is still ongoing."

"Okay... If there's any progress, please report it to me. You can leave first."

"Yes." The secretary of Indian descent bowed and left the room.

After she left the room, the Duke of Normandy, the kingdom's Secretary of the Interior, turned his head, thought about what was happening in front of him, and frowned at the window in front of him.

Chapter 44: Carlisle continues to indulge in being a riddle man

On the night that Prince Richard was assassinated, all royal members of the Kingdom of Albion were urgently summoned by the Duke of Normandy to the palace where the Queen was.

Late at night, the Duke of Normandy, who had summoned all the royal family members, was reporting the current situation to the Queen and other royal family members in the reception room of the royal palace.

"I'm really sorry for suddenly calling you all together tonight." The Duke of Normandy said with his hands behind his back and a tense face.

"Uncle, you don't have to apologize for this." Prince Edward, who was sitting on the sofa nearby, said in a very understanding tone.

"So, what happened to the child?" the white-haired queen, who was sitting on the tallest chair in the middle of the room, asked anxiously.

"Fortunately, the bullet only penetrated the right shoulder and his life is not in danger."

"I guess I'll be able to visit soon."

When the Queen heard the words of the Duke of Normandy in front of her, she breathed a sigh of relief as if a huge stone that had been hanging in her heart had fallen to the ground.

"Then all that's left is to hunt for the murderer." As soon as the Duke of Normandy finished speaking, Prince Edward said.

"Maybe it's just like last time, it's the reactionary forces at work again..."

"Okay, stop talking, Edward, the children are still listening." The Queen said in a reprimanding tone, turning her head to look at the young princesses and princes sitting on the sofa on the other side of the room, who looked uneasy. Among them was Charlotte sitting next to Mary.

"But they should face reality. As members of the royal family, they can't avoid encountering such things. Isn't it the same for their parents?" Edward said, looking at Charlotte and Mary who were sitting together.

Mary, who was being stared at by Edward, showed an expression of uneasiness and fear. Seeing the uneasiness revealed by her sister beside her, Charlotte gently placed her palms on Mary's knees, her hands that were shaking with fear, and gave her younger sister a very gentle smile.

"Don't be afraid, I'm here."

"Enough! Edward, stop talking!" The Queen on the side scolded in a more severe tone.

"We have now found out the location of the sniper attack and arrested several suspects. If it was an organized action, the organization behind it will definitely be uncovered." Seeing Prince Edward embarrassed after being scolded by the Queen, the Duke of Normandy on the side calmly changed the subject.

"Could it be the Republic's doing?" Edward asked seriously.

"This possibility will also be given priority consideration during the investigation."

"Also, the other party may continue to attack, and everyone here may become a target."

Hearing the Duke of Normandy's words, Charlotte remembered the warning letter filled with the names of royal family members that Carlisle had quietly placed in Ange's spy base yesterday. A deep worry suddenly surged in her heart.

[How did that girl know in advance that a member of the royal family would be assassinated? What exactly does she want to do? Why did she remind us?] A series of questions popped up in Charlotte's mind, and she became more suspicious of the real purpose of that person, Carissa, reminding her.

The next morning, in a bar on the streets of London, a bartender was scrubbing the floor with cleaning tools when suddenly a strange woman pushed open the door and walked into the bar.

"We're not even open yet."

“I heard there’s Lockroy’s Single Grain here.”

Hearing the code word from the woman in front of him that only the Republic's intelligence personnel could understand, the calm bartender calmly pointed to a private room at the back of the bar and said the corresponding code.

"Please go to the box inside."

After receiving the secret code and instructions from the Republic intelligence officer disguised as a bartender, Dorothy came to a private room at the innermost part of the bar, where a gray-haired uncle with a cigar in his mouth and a newspaper had been waiting for Dorothy for a long time.

Dorothy walked silently into the private room and sat down in the seat opposite the gray-haired man. The gray-haired man opposite Dorothy, who was called L by his spy colleagues, pushed a briefcase full of documents in front of Dorothy without saying a word.

"Is it about those assassination attempts on the Third Prince?"

"No, that matter has nothing to do with the Republic."

Dorothy opened the briefcase and began to take out the documents inside. She pulled out a black and white photo on the top layer of the briefcase. The photo showed a strange-looking spherical device.

"This is?"

"Anti-gravity material bomb (Cavorite)."

"Both the Kingdom and the Republic are conducting research and development, but we have taken the lead in entering the practical application stage."

"Not long ago, three completed anti-gravity bombs were stolen and secretly transported to the kingdom. Their whereabouts have been unknown since then."

"Was it the Kingdom?" asked Dorothy, shocked that such a terrible new weapon had gone missing.

"It's still impossible to say for sure. There's no movement within the Kingdom's army at the moment."

"We are concerned that the person who stole the bomb may be from the same group as the assassin of the third prince."

"If the bomb is used to assassinate a member of the royal family, the Republic will be the first to be suspected, and the long-standing peace between the two countries will be shattered?" Dorothy said what L was about to say next.

"That's right. The Republic's top brass is worried that this bomb will become the fuse that ignites a war between the Kingdom and the Republic."

As L said that, he took out a photo from his breast pocket and handed it to Dorothy. Dorothy took the photo. The photo showed a strange middle-aged man in a suit.

"Who is this person?"

"The residence of a key figure suspected to be involved in the clandestine transport of the bomb into the Kingdom has now been located."

"But we have doubts about this information..."

"Because the loopholes in this intelligence are too obvious...is that so?" Dorothy frowned as she looked at the middle-aged man in the photo.

"That's right. Your next mission is to search for and recover the bomb and its core control device. Start with this person's residence."

"I see," Dorothy said after putting the photos and information away.

Wuyi Qiba Lingqi Liuyi

"So we're looking for bombs?" Beat asked in surprise when he heard that his mission this time was to find the powerful weapons that were stolen.

"Is that group of people planning to use a bomb to assassinate the princess and the others?"

"Our mission this time is to prevent this from happening." Dorothy, who was standing beside the table, answered and took out the photo of the suspect that L gave her from her pocket and placed it on the table where everyone was sitting.

"Johnson Carter, the show's manager, lives at B-52, Liyilin Lane. He seems to be connected to the bomber."

"Have you checked it clearly?" said Princess Charlotte, holding a cup of tea.

"Yes, but this is the suspicious point, which makes those in the control room more cautious."

"Now that we know his address, isn't it easy? Just rush in and force him to confess." The Japanese ninja girl Chise said simply and rudely.

"But that also requires the information to be true."

"Anyway, I, Chise, and Anjie will investigate first."

"I understand." Anjie answered without hesitation.

"Princess and Beata don't need to go out this time."

"Really...?" Charlotte showed a puzzled expression.

"Until the assassination attempt is settled, the whereabouts of the royal family members will be strictly monitored. It is better not to act rashly for now." Angel, who was sitting next to Charlotte, explained to her understandingly.

"Well, that's it, Beata. The princess will be in your care while we're gone."

"Well, leave it to me." Beata answered confidently.

Just as everyone was about to go about their business, there was a sudden knock on the door, followed by a familiar voice coming from outside the door of the stronghold.

"Hello everyone, I have something important to talk to you about!"

Hearing this familiar voice, Anjie frowned, stood up, walked to the door and slowly opened it. Standing outside the door was the purple-haired girl, Calisi, who Anjie always found unfathomable.

"What are you doing here?" Anjie frowned and said to Carlisle in front of her in a bad mood.