This was karma.
If there was anyone to blame for this misunderstanding...
It was himself.
No one else.
Ever since his encounter with Al, ever since he learned there was no known way back to Earth, he had stopped thinking rationally. One emotional decision had led to another until they piled together into a mountain of consequences.
First...
His outburst in the royal castle.
His pointless fight with Tristan.
Then came the day he severed his ties with the Emilia Camp, choosing isolation over trusting the people who had welcomed him into their home.
And finally...
His childish argument with Crusch.
Back then, after feeling as though she were interrogating him with her Divine Protection, he had deliberately decided to toy with her.
He had casually mentioned his family's status.
He had even spoken about events that had only happened in another timeline...
Rem's death.
Thinking back on it now...
He wanted nothing more than to bury his face in his hands.
What the hell was I even doing...?
The truth was...
His mother's homeland, Lichtenstein , was a small and prosperous nation located in the middle of the continent, between Switzerland and Germany. His parents had only spoken about it once during dinner many years ago.
He still remembered the conversation.
His father had described it as a wealthy kingdom famous for its breathtaking mountain ranges, untouched forests, and one of the highest standards of living in the world.
Then, almost as an afterthought...
His father had revealed that Tanaka's mother had once been a princess there.
Naturally, the young him had exploded with excitement.
"Seriously!?"
"Then that means Mio is a princess too?"
"Can we go visit?"
He had bombarded them with questions until his mother simply smiled awkwardly.
Only afterward did he learn the truth.
Her relationship with her family had completely fallen apart after she chose to marry his father.
From that day onward...
He never brought up Lichtenstein again.
Never asked about his grandparents.
He completely dropped that topic, pretending as if he had never heard the conversation.
So why...
Why on earth had he decided to tell Crusch about it?
Even if he had kept the explanation vague, even if he never intended for it to become a rumor...
It was so dumb...
He sighed inwardly.
I really brought this on myself...
With how little anyone knew about him other than that dramatic narration he had...
And considering Tristan had apparently spent over a year searching for him...
It wasn't strange that someone had eventually concluded he was some hidden prince.
"...What is that?"
Zarestia's curious voice pulled him back to reality as she stared at the dragon-shaped badge in Tristan's palm.
"Isn't that the dragon insignia?" The one who spoke up was Misère.
As a Lugunican Nobility, he was very aware of the significance of that item, he even attended the first candidates presentation for the royal selection.
And now connecting the strings between the current situation and the fact that Tristan was referring to Tanaka with such respect. He widened his eyes in shock, "Tristan-Dono, you can't mean..."
But before he could continue, Tanaka spoke up first. "Tristan... before we go any further, I think there's been a huge misunderstanding."
Tanaka rubbed the back of his head in frustration, this was such a mess.
He let out a small sigh, "I'm sorry, but if you've been looking for me because you thought I was royalty..."
"I'm wasn't looking for you just for that. But in any case, I wasn't talking about your current status, from what I heard, you said that your mother was a princess..."
"Wait!"
Shion suddenly gasped dramatically.
"Does that mean Tanu is actually a prince!?"
"I'm not!"
Tanaka immediately shot back before sighing.
He turned back toward Tristan.
"My mother, Kazuki Luna was born into a royal family, that's true. But it has absolutely nothing to do with Lugunica."
"She belonged to the monarchy of a country you've almost certainly never heard of. I mentioned it to Crusch-San once because... well... I was acting like an idiot."
"But it was never my intention for her to think I have a connection to the Lugunican Royal Family."
"So if that's the reason you've been searching for me..." He bowed his head apologetically. "I'm sorry to disappoint you."
Tristan quietly listened until he finished.
Then he slowly shook his head.
"You misunderstand, Tanaka-Sama. My orders did not come from Crusch-Sama. They came directly from Mycroft-Sama."
Tanaka blinked.
"...What?"
"My assignment was to find Kazuki Tanaka and ensure his safe return to Lugunica."
Tristan's golden eyes remained unwavering.
"Whether you are royalty or not is irrelevant."
"My orders have not changed."
He placed a hand over his chest in a knight's salute.
"I intend to fulfill my duty until the very end."
Silence lingered between them.
Tanaka stared at Tristan for several long seconds before letting out a small, helpless smile.
"...Then I'll gratefully accept your offer."
Whatever Mycroft's reasons were, they could wait.
As long as Tristan no longer believed he was some hidden prince or long-lost noble, Tanaka had no issue accompanying him back to Lugunica.
Slowly, he reached toward the dragon-shaped badge.
"..."
The moment his fingers wrapped around it...
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
"Huh?
The room fell completely silent.
*********************************************************************************************************
"Tristan Priam."
"My orders are simple."
Lord Mycroft's calm voice echoed through Tristan's memories.
"Track down Kazuki Tanaka..."
"...and rescue him."
"He may very well be the last surviving member of the Lugunican royal bloodline."
Even after hearing both Lord Mycroft's explanation and Duchess Crusch Karsten's testimony...
Tristan had remained skeptical.
The story sounded too unbelievable.
A princess abandoning the royal family to marry a commoner.
A son raised in complete obscurity.
A young man with neither the crimson eyes nor the golden hair that had distinguished Lugunica's royal family for generations.
Then, after finally finding Kazuki Tanaka...
The man himself denied everything.
There had been no reason left to believe that absurd theory.
None whatsoever.
...
Except for what was happening right before his eyes.
The dragon insignia...
Had responded.
The moment Kazuki Tanaka touched it.
Shine.
The gemstone embedded in the dragon insignia erupted into a brilliant red light.
It wasn't a faint glow.
The jewel blazed like a tiny sun resting in Tanaka's palm, illuminating every face inside the room.
"..."
Tanaka stared blankly at it.
His mind stopped working.
The next instant...
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Without exchanging so much as a glance, Tristan, Misère, and every servant in the room immediately dropped onto one knee.
"Your Majesty!"
"WAIT!"
Tanaka nearly threw the insignia across the room.
"Wait! Wait! Hold on!" He frantically waved both hands. "This has to be some kind of mistake!"
His eyes darted between the glowing jewel and the people kneeling before him.
"No! Seriously! This thing is broken!"
It makes absolutely no sense.
He immediately shoved the insignia toward Zarestia.
"Here! You hold it!"
Zarestia blinked.
"...Alright?"
The moment she grabbed it...
The light disappeared.
"...It didn't react."
Tanaka immediately snatched it back.
The jewel lit up again.
"...No."
He turned toward Nora.
"Nora! Your turn!"
She accepted it.
Dark.
Nothing.
Tanaka grabbed it again, Red light flooded the room once more.
Like a man possessed, he began passing the insignia from person to person.
Mikli.
Nothing.
Zank.
Nothing.
Shion.
Nothing.
Misère.
Nothing.
Each time the badge changed hands, the light vanished.
Each time it returned to Tanaka...
"This has to be defective."
"It has to be."
He looked as though reality itself had begun falling apart.
Meanwhile...
Zarestia tilted her head.
"So... Does this mean we're getting a castle?"
"Like hell we are!"
Tanaka immediately snapped back.
"T-Tana..."
Tristan struggled to speak.
"T-Tanaka-sama..."
"P-Please..."
"C-Calm yourself..."
Ironically...
The one trying to calm Tanaka was trembling far more than he was.
Sweat dripped down his forehead.
No one in the room remained composed.
Not even Halibel looked particularly relaxed anymore.
A bomb had just been dropped in the middle of the room.
"But this is impossible!"
Tanaka protested desperately.
"I swear I'm not trying to deceive any of you!"
This was absurd, a year and a half ago I didn't even know Lugunica existed.
He was from another world for crying out loud.
Nora cautiously raised a hand.
"...Couldn't there be another explanation?"
Everyone looked toward her.
"There are already five Royal Candidates. Couldn't he just be another candidate?"
Halibel slowly shook his head.
"That isn't possible."
"The five candidates are all women. They bear the title of Dragon Maidens. They used to serve as mediators of the covenant between the Divine Dragon Volcanica and Lugunica. But after the death of the royal family, the prophecy dictated that in such a case, a dragon maiden shall ascend to the throne."
The dragon insignia was an item which proved a person was acknowledged by the dragon, and the acknowledgement was only gained through status. That status in history was either to be chosen as a dragon maiden or to be part of the family that created the covenant with Volchanica himself.
One obvious fact is that he wasn't a maiden.
Which makes the only possible answer that he actually belongs to the Lugunican royalty.
But still...
"I don't even resemble the royal family."
Blond, golden hair a crimson eyes, those were the characteristics of the royal blood which Tanaka did not possess.
Misère suddenly spoke. "What about Luna-Sama?"
"Stop with the Sama, it's confusing the hell out of me in this context..."
Hearing his mother's name be uttered casually by others felt off. But this was a slip of his because of the absurdity of the situation, so he couldn't complain much. "I mean... She does have blonde hair but her eyes are blue. And the hair having that color isn't uncommon so still..."
Misère remained thoughtful.
"...Kazuki is your father's surname?"
"Yes."
"...And your mother's maiden name?"
Tanaka froze.
"..."
"I..."
"...don't know."
The answer surprised even him.
He had never asked.
Not once.
But then again...
After learning her relationship with her family had collapsed...
He had deliberately avoided bringing them up ever again.
A father who clawed his way out of poverty to become one of the country's wealthiest men. A mother who abandoned royalty and supported him all the way, an elderly butler who had fought in two wars and practically helped raise him, two siblings who survived a kidnapping and carried the scars of that trauma for years afterward.
And finally with him now accidentally getting transported to another world.
It was already an unbelievable family history.
But this...
This was beyond absurd.
We are talking about a parallel world for god sake! To even assume that his mother was a part of royal family from a parallel world.
No it's stupid, insane and plain wrong.
Lichtenstein existed.
People vacationed there every year.
It wasn't some mythical kingdom hidden from the world.
It was a real country on Earth.
Only one person could possibly explain what in the world was happening.
Cepheus!
Tanaka called out inwardly, his thoughts practically screaming.
Cepheus, you piece of shit! Explain this! What the hell is going on!?Before he let himself spiral any further into increasingly absurd theories, he needed answers.
Because right now, nothing made sense anymore.
It all felt like someone had taken reality, thrown it into a blender, and expected him to somehow understand the result.
"Master?"
Hugo floated closer, "...Who are you talking to?"
Tanaka blinked before realizing that Hugo can hear him too.
His gaze immediately shifted toward the green-haired elf standing nearby.
"Shion."
"What is it?"
"I need you to find... you know who." He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "And ask him what the hell is going on."
Shion tilted her head.
"I can try..."
Before she could move, "That reminds me!"
Her expression suddenly changed.
"It's my turn now!"
A burst of light enveloped her.
The green haired elf vanished, replaced by another elf but purple-haired girl with a different set of clothes.
Lilac stretched her arms over her head before pouting.
"Seriously, Shion. I wasn't finished!"
"Huh?"
Tanaka stared blankly.
"...What were you even doing?"
Lilac answered blankly, "Watching that... Nen... Nenjago... It's a bit hard to spell."
"..."
"I borrowed your memories. The one with the spiky brown hair is obviously going to become the Green Ninja."
Tanaka opened his mouth.
Closed it.
He genuinely had no response to that.
After several seconds of silence, he simply sighed.
"...We'll discuss your questionable usage of my memories."
"For now..."
His expression turned serious again.
"Can you reach him?"
Lilac immediately understood who he meant.
"Oh."
She closed her eyes.
Several seconds passed.
Then half a minute.
Finally, Shion frowned.
"...No."
Tanaka sighed, "I figured..."
His eyebrow twitched.
That bastard.
Once again, when he desperately needed answers...
Cepheus conveniently decided to disappear.
Before his frustration could boil over again—
Clap.
Halibel brought his hands together once, the sharp sound drawing everyone's attention.
"The whole 'Tanu-san secretly being royalty' thing is definitely interesting."
He smiled casually.
"But I think we've got a much more pressing issue to discuss."
The atmosphere immediately shifted.
Marchioness Tiriena gave a solemn nod.
"Sir Halibel is correct."
Her deep, composed voice carried throughout the room.
"The current state of Gusteko is far more urgent and... It is no longer a problem that concerns only our kingdom."
The atmosphere instantly grew far heavier than before.
"The crisis unfolding will also make it's way towards the other three nations."