Is this really a Game?!

Aragos, the second-in-command of the Elais army, the grandson of Azkaran, the king of Elais, and the person many believe to be the bastard son of the king of Irason and the eldest princess of Azkaran.

Reign and the others immediately widened their eyes upon seeing him before drawing their weapons and getting ready for a battle, but to their surprise, Aragos quickly lifted his arms.

"I have not come here to fight you."

"On the contrary." Aragos suddenly drew his sword before throwing it forward.

"I came here hoping my suspicions were true."

Reign and the others glanced at one another before Aragos suddenly sat down and stared at the prince.

"Brother … that still seems to weird, calling a person I barely even know by such a name, a person I'm not even sure is my brother at all."

"Please, all of you, sit down, I have come here for the same reason as you have."

The unexpected revelation of Aragos's presence left both teams and the royal heirs in a state of disbelief. As they cautiously lowered their weapons, the atmosphere shifted from tension to confusion. Reign and Nayle exchanged wary glances, unsure of Aragos's true intentions.

"I was born amidst secrecy and whispers," Aragos suddenly spoke. "Rumors circulated about my parentage, linking me to the royal families of both Irason and Elais. The circumstances surrounding my birth were shrouded in mystery, and as I grew older, I felt the weight of expectations and suspicions."

"You were not the only people searching for Elyndor, you know?"

"I met him as well, and the meeting, one that I had hoped would give me answers, gave me more questions instead."

Aragos continued to explain how he had embarked on a personal quest to uncover the truth about his heritage. His journey led him to Elyndor, the elusive diplomat who had vanished from court during the early stages of the war. Elyndor, recognizing the significance of Aragos's quest, had provided him with crucial information that hinted at a conspiracy involving certain nobles.

"I learned that there were those within the courts of both kingdoms who sought to manipulate the narrative for their own gains," Aragos revealed. "Elyndor warned me of the dangers, and that's when I decided to take matters into my own hands. The Whispering Falls served as a sanctuary where I could gather my thoughts and plan my next moves."

"For many years, Elyndor had been a teacher to me, perhaps he had done so because he wished for this mad war between the two kingdoms to end, perhaps he had done it out of guilt, for not being able to defend my mother."

"I don't know his true reason for doing so, but I am indebted to him, that much is certain."

"That is why I have always made sure to keep an eye on the nobles, as well as my uncles and aunt, after all, I had to make sure people wouldn't locate Elyndor, and on the off-chance somebody might start talking about what happened that night."

"So, when I overheard you and Elara talking, and how you were sweet-talking her into getting more information, I immediately became suspicious of you and your team, luckily, I simply continued monitoring you without doing anything," Aragos said with a sigh.

"I couldn't be certain if you truly were hoping for peace, that that was your real challenge, or if you were trying to make the situation worse, I do know of your goals now, however, which is good."

Reign and Nayle exchanged glances, absorbing the unexpected revelation from Aragos. The intricacies of his background, coupled with Elyndor's involvement, added a layer of complexity to the already convoluted situation. As Aragos shared more details about his quest for truth, a sense of shared purpose began to emerge among the teams.

Realizing that Aragos's objectives aligned with their own, Reign decided to extend an olive branch. "If our goals are the same—to uncover the truth and bring an end to this conflict—then perhaps we can work together. The whispers of the past have haunted both our kingdoms for too long. Cooperation may be the key to untangling the web of deception."

Aragos regarded Reign with a thoughtful expression before nodding in agreement. "Indeed, if we join forces, our chances of exposing the conspiracy and revealing the truth increase. Elyndor's guidance has been invaluable, and with our combined efforts, we might finally bring justice to both Irason and Elais."

"Now, unfortunately, I have not been privy to too much information about what happened that night," Aragos said as he stared at them.

"All I know is that my mother was attacked that night and that she saw the person that did so, and she was certain it was the king of Irason."

"Not to mention that she was injected by something, something they say only the kingdom of Irason has," Aragos said as he stared at Adrian, who sighed.

"Yes, it's … it's a drug, one that has been banned for use, but we still have some locked away."

"It's called 'Ulbvar', and it's a simple one, it will cause the person that has received the drug to give birth quickly."

"So quickly that it will happen in the next 24 hours, the price one needs to pay for that is usually death, even powerful mages and warriors will suffer immensely after the drug is given to them as they will lose a lot of their vitality and power, just like the princess has."

"The drug was created to improve the birth rate of our kingdom, but it proved too dangerous, thus it was locked away and banned to be produced, but research on it is still continuing as it can potentially help improve the fertility of our race."

"The drug is held in a secret vault that only my family, as well as some top individuals of the kingdom, have access to, every single vial in it is closely monitored and documented, and it is nearly impossible to steal one."

"I say nearly because one clearly has been stolen," Adrian said as he sighed.

"The reason your mother looks much older than she is, and the reason why her mind is no longer stable, is because of that drug and your birth, which almost cost her life."

Reign and the others glanced at one another, shocked at the reveal.

Such a drug, it truly deserved nothing else but to be destroyed and never used anywhere in the universe.

"So that is how it is, they wouldn't tell me, even grandfather was not willing to speak of it."

"Each time I brought it up, he would get mad and stay silent before telling me that it is better for me not to know what happened," Aragos said with slight anger on his face.

"I trained hard, harder than anyone in the kingdom just so that I could rise through the ranks, and earn a solid reputation so that nobody could say I am where I am because the king is my grandfather," Aragos said with a burning gaze.

"I did all of that just so that I could find out who I truly am, who my father truly is, and to claim his life in the end, to make him pay for what he had done to my mother."

"And yet, no matter how many battles I won, no matter how many people I killed, my grandfather and the rest of the family still acted like I was too young, too fragile to know more."

"Elara, she is one of the people I suspected to be involved in what happened to my mother back then, but that was only because of my anger because they were still treating me as a child."

"Why is the king so certain that it was the king of Irason who forced himself on your mother?" Reign asked Aragos who sighed.

"After my mother gave birth to me, and upon being certain that she wouldn't die, grandfather was mad in anger and immediately charged at the capital of Irason."

"The king had been there by that time as almost two days had passed since the incident, and upon reaching the kingdom, he burst into the capital and demanded justice."

"The two argued as the king of Irason acted like he had no idea what had happened, at least that's what my grandfather believes, and to make sure, he asked for a drop of his blood, that was all that he needed to confirm it."

"A drop of blood?" Mia asked, to which Aragos nodded.

"The royal family has a way of matching the blood of people, by utilizing an array, they can use the blood of a person and another person and see if it matches if they are related."

"My blood and the blood of the king was a match, it resonated strongly, which meant that not only were we related, but we were very close, which meant he was my father."

"That is why he will not stop the war until the king is dead, and the kingdom of Irason will not allow that to happen and the king is fighting because he still claims to be innocent.