Chapter 85: Mask of the Jester King (3)

The tunnel went on forever and ever.

Simon knew Frightwall was full of secret passages and hidden chambers since he had had the displeasure of discovering his mother’s acid-filled ‘tomb’ in a previous reign, but he didn’t understand just how deep the castle went until Shabram guided him down secret stairs that seemed to go on forever for dozens of floors. The walls there were black and akin to petrified flesh, with the occasional mummified face embedded in the stone, smokeless ghostfire burning in their open mouths. These must have been the victims of Mardok’s infamous Walling of the Saints.

“How far down does the castle extend?” Simon asked Shabram. Although they had eventually stopped their descent at some point to walk through a horizontal tunnel beneath Frightwall’s lake-moat, the stairs continued down into the darkness. He had to cast a Hellfire spell to keep the path alight.

“Beyond eight thousand feet, according to your father,” Shabram replied, which shocked Simon. “The Manatree root network usually extends at a depth between two and eight thousand feet, so Mardok wanted to pierce through that entire layer to prevent an attack from below.”

“What do the deeper chambers contain?”

“I’m not sure, though your father discouraged me from exploring beyond a certain depth. Castle Frightwall is a nexus of demonic power, and there are things down here that have existed since Mardok’s time.”

Now Simon was morbidly curious. His Lord of the Demon Castle Perk continued to buff him until they took the current tunnel, which extended below the surrounding lake. This meant his powers should remain effective even in the lowest levels. Perhaps he should invest a reign in uncovering Frightwall’s buried secrets.

“Is this the only tunnel leading inside the castle?” Simon inquired. “That is quite the security risk.”

“It is the only one I know of, and a mechanism can cause the entire tunnel to collapse in a moment’s notice,” Shabram replied, “This particular pathway was meant to serve as a secret exit or way to supply the castle should it be besieged. Your father allowed me to use the manse it leads to as a secondary residence, and I hope Your Majesty will allow me to keep it.”

“You may,” Simon replied. Shabram had more than earned his trust over the various reigns.

“Thank you.” They eventually reached a seemingly dead end, at which point Shabram pressed a few stones to reveal a staircase hidden behind a wall. “Here we are. You should drop your disguise. It would raise too many unfortunate questions if the sitting Overlord were to appear in my home.”

Simon cancelled his Fiendmask and followed her lead. They eventually emerged inside a wine cellar, then walked up into a beautiful mansion’s main hall bathed in light from great windows. Shifter maids with the same Navarran eyes and hair as Lady Shabram herself politely bowed at them once they emerged.

“Go fetch Aegio,” Shabram ordered one of her maids. “His brother wants to meet him.”

“Yes, Guildmistress,” the staffer replied. Simon noticed she didn’t make a noise when she walked, which suggested she held a Rogue-type Vassal Class of some sort.

“Are these people trustworthy?” Simon inquired.

“They are,” Shabram replied with confidence. “They have been in my employ since before I joined your father’s service.”

“Oh?” That caught Simon’s attention. “It suddenly occurs to me that I don’t know mùch about you beyond your occupation and the fact that you command over a dukedom in Navarre.”

“There isn’t much to know. House Gremory used to be a Navarran assassin guild before we sided with the empire during your father’s conquest.” Shabram smiled ear to ear. “Your father rewarded us by crafting a dukedom out of our former rivals’ territory and allowing us to transition into a true noble house.”

It somehow didn’t surprise Simon to learn that she used to run a glorified criminal enterprise, before catching his father’s eye. “So your son will become a duke?”

“Not quite. My House, like the guild it used to be, elects its leader. Perhaps Aegio will follow in my footsteps, or another one of my apprentices will take the lead. Either way, Your Majesty’s successors will find no better spymasters than my clan’s operatives.” Shabram’s head perked up to the stairs. “Here he comes.”

Simon looked up to find two maids escorting his half-brother down the stairs.

Aegio Gremory was a scrawny little boy no older than little Henry Eligos and dressed far more plainly, but his origins were clear for all to see. His short hair was the same red shade as his father, his teal eyes a mix between Shabram’s emerald and the Magnos line’s cold grey, and his wolfish ears marked his half-shifter origins. Still, the excited, childish smile he showed his visitors was unlike anything Simon had seen among his family.

“Mother, you’re back!” Aegio rushed to Shabram, who happily kissed him on the forehead.

“How good to see you again, Aegio,” his mother replied with a gentle smile. “Let me introduce you to your older half-brother, Simon.”

“My brother!” The child smirked at Simon, waving his hand at his elder. “Hello Simon, I’m Aegio! You’re so big and tall!”

“So are you, Aegio,” Simon replied warmly. He couldn’t explain it, but the mere sight of the boy filled him with affection. “How old are you?”

“I’m six!” Aegio shyly put his hands behind his back. “Hey, hey, do you have a Class? Are you a warrior?”

“I’m a magician,” Simon replied, knowing better than to show off his Class to a child. Spells could be taught to everyone, though.

“Awesome!” the kid replied excitedly. “Can you shoot lightning from your eyes?”

Simon chuckled, raised his hands, and then cast a Hellthunder spell causing lightning bolts to crackle from one palm to another. The look of wonder on Aegio’s face washed away all the disgust Simon had felt when he finished Balzam’s letter to Thalas.

This was a Magnos child that his father didn’t have the time to twist.

“So cool…” Aegio then began to bombard his sibling with questions. “Can you fly?! Can you breathe fire?! Can you teleport?!”

A true spymistress’ son. “I can do all of those things,” Simon replied, snapping his fingers to create a brief burst of Hellfire. “I could teach you a thing or two.”

“You’re serious?!” Aegio all but jumped in place in excitement. “I’ll become a wizard!”

“Everything in due time, Aegio,” Shabram said softly. “Prince Simon is a very busy man, and you need to practice your swordsmanship first.”

“Aww…” Aegio deflated, but children his age were bottomless wells of energy, so that didn’t last long. “But you’re coming back soon though, right Simon? You’ll come back and teach me?”

“As soon as I can,” Simon replied warmly. And as often as I can. “If you can show me some cool sword techniques, I’ll teach you a spell.”

“Sweet! I can’t wait!” Aegio waved his hand at him with a big grin. “See you soon, Simon!”

Simon waved him goodbye as maids took his half-brother away. It would be such a delight to watch him grow up, once he had figured out how to navigate the civil war and the Zodiac Parade.

“Allow me to give you a tour of this estate,” Shabram proposed. “No one is aware of its existence besides my own organization, and your father outfitted it with the best anti-divination measures available. No one will notice should Your Majesty decide to turn it into their secondary Dungeon.”

Good. The mess with Euphemia had taught Simon the value of having a secondary safehouse he could teleport to in a pinch. This should do.

“How many other children did my father have?” he asked Shabram as she gave him a tour of the estate. It was relatively large, being a three-story tall mansion with its own stables, walled gardens, a library, training grounds, and even its own well.

“At least twenty-four if we include your trueborn siblings, from nearly every tribe. Your father had a pathological obsession with siring powerful children. I have files on them if Your Majesty wants to investigate them.”

Wise. Simon guessed his father had learned his lesson about bastards coming to ruin his day.

Still, Balzam Magnos seemed obsessed with siring a powerful heir capable of taking the role of Overlord and keeping the Class in the bloodline. His attempts to alter Norbelle in the womb to increase her power and his disdain of Thalas made that clear.

“But Aegio didn’t mention my father,” Simon noted. “He never visited him, did he?”

“No, and I was careful to keep our son away from court. Empress Euphemia would take offense at Aegio’s mere existence, and neither would she tolerate my presence at the High Council if she knew.” Shabram scoffed. “Moreover, I saw how your father treated Thalas. His attention was worse than his neglect.”

“You don’t say.” Kill them all, his father had ordered Simon through the Keeper. The trueborn and the bastards both. “Was Aegio’s birth… well–”

“Consensual?” Shabram seemed vaguely amused by his hesitation. “Yes, it was. Your father took me as his mistress since I became his spymistress. I wanted a child, and what better person to sire it than the most powerful man in the world? I didn’t completely understand what kind of man your father was back then, so I thought bearing him a son would solidify my house’s position.”

Simon scowled in distaste. “That is a rather cold way of putting it.”

“Do you fault me for it?” Shabram shrugged as she guided him up a set of stairs to the mansion’s highest point. “I’m no fool. I know there’s a war between the Oracle and Overlord Classes for control of the world. Each of them possesses a strong foresight, yet aims for different futures. The Overlords are winning handily so far, and I will enjoy their protection so long as I am useful to them.”

“Why not simply seize the Class yourself?” Simon inquired. That part still escaped him. “You’ve seen for yourself that my father wasn’t invincible, and you have both the intellect and resources to slay me.”

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“I am flattered… but to become the Overlord is to make an enemy of the entire world, Your Majesty,” Shabram replied with far more wisdom than most. “You’ve seen that yourself, and your father learned that to his detriment in spite of his vast power. My position offers me great privileges with few of the risks associated with your Class.”

“Hence why you showed me my half-brother.” Simon was no fool either. Shabram had always refused to tell Simon about her motives unless he stayed in Frightwall to rule, and the reason was now clear. “You know my father wanted me to purge all of my siblings.”

“I had guessed as much,” Shabram admitted, though she was too good a spy to show unease. “Once one of his children ascended to the Crimson Throne, the rest would become potential rivals. I feared you might have received a directive on that front.”

“So you hoped that seeing Aegio would make me reconsider,” Simon guessed before shrugging. “You need not fear for his safety. I’m not Louis, nor my father.”

“I am relieved.” They entered the highest room in the manse, an office with a desk and a single window that Shabram probably used to work at home. “Your Majesty can count on my loyalty. I am very content with the current situation. So long as things stay as they were under your father, I shall serve you as faithfully as I served him.”

Simon scoffed. “You want to keep the mistress part too?”

“If His Majesty desires it.” She sat on a nearby desk and crossed her legs lasciviously. “I could give you a private dancing show. Your father was very fond of them.”

“I have no desire for any romantic entanglement for now, but duly noted.” Simon was considering marrying Anna once he officially inherited the Overlord Class from his ‘soon-to-be-departed’ father, and she had threatened to hang any woman she found in his bed after the wedding. Besides, the idea of sleeping with one of his father’s mistresses felt… weird. “I have other work for you. As a shifter, you count as both a humanoid and a beast type, correct? How does it look in your stat interface?”