Let us turn back the clock a little.
All thirty-seven Orbital Knight clans stationed in Earth's orbit received word of Princess Asseylum's assassination almost immediately.
They erupted in fury, swearing to avenge the princess and eradicate the backward humans of Earth.
But how much of that anger was genuine, and how much was merely an act?
The moment the declaration of war was issued, several impatient knights ordered their Landing Castles to descend toward the surface.
The thirty-seven clans acted independently, without any unified commander. The Vers Empire's military power was divided among its noble houses, with each lord commanding their own forces.
None of them was willing to submit to another's authority.
The reason some were in such a hurry to land was simple. They wanted to seize as much territory on Earth as possible.
They had never considered Earth's military a true opponent. Their real rivals were their fellow Orbital Knights.
That was why they rushed their Landing Castles toward the surface, each hoping to claim more land before the others.
Count Saazbaum, the man secretly orchestrating everything, merely watched the nobles scramble for territory with a cold sneer.
He was in no hurry to descend. His goal had never been to expand House Saazbaum's territory.
All he wanted was revenge.
He would happily watch the Orbital Knights tear one another apart, occasionally giving them a subtle push from the shadows.
However, an unexpected transmission from the surface quickly darkened his expression.
Princess Asseylum was still alive, and she intended to broadcast a declaration across the entire world.
She would openly expose the conspiracy as the work of the Orbital Knights and order them to cease all military operations.
There was no chance Saazbaum would obey.
He had spent fifteen years preparing for this day. Since the princess already knew that the plot had been devised by her own people, she had likely obtained evidence against them.
If he backed down now, he might never get another opportunity.
The invasion would proceed by force.
Fortunately, he had anticipated such a possibility and planted his own people within the Moon Base.
They used the base's systems to intercept the princess's signal, preventing it from reaching the other Orbital Knights.
After all, some foolishly loyal knights still remained devoted to the incompetent royal family.
Those knights would undoubtedly attempt to stop the invasion.
The clans that had not immediately begun descending included several houses loyal to the royal family, as well as a number of opportunists still watching from the sidelines.
Those observers coveted Earth's territory just as much as the rest. They were simply more hypocritical about it, preferring to wait and see how the impatient vanguard fared.
If the invasion went smoothly, they would immediately join the scramble for territory.
Saazbaum also informed the Orbital Knights already heading toward Earth that Princess Asseylum was still alive.
Those knights were his co-conspirators, the very people responsible for planning the assassination.
Once they reached the surface, their first task would be to "confirm" Princess Asseylum's death and ensure that she truly died this time.
"Understood. I will protect the princess as carefully as a rose."
Count Cruhteo, head of one of the thirty-seven Orbital Knight clans and a knight fiercely loyal to Princess Asseylum, was also preparing to descend.
Before doing so, he intended to send the Second Princess to Saazbaum and entrust her protection to him.
That suited Saazbaum perfectly. His future plans required him to make use of her.
...
Inside Cruhteo's Landing Castle, Lemrina Vers Envers still could not believe that her elder half-sister had been assassinated so suddenly.
She hated her sister. She was jealous of her. By all rights, news of Asseylum's death should have made her happy.
After all, Asseylum was considered the legitimate heir of the Vers royal family, while Lemrina was merely an illegitimate daughter born between their father and a woman from Earth.
Because she had inherited what the Martians considered inferior Earthling genes, Lemrina had been born with disabilities in both legs.
That bloodline also caused others to look down on her. She had endured discrimination and rejection for as long as she could remember.
That was why Lemrina had always envied and resented her sister.
Now that Asseylum was dead, Lemrina was the royal family's sole remaining heir.
She should have been happy.
So why did she feel no joy at all?
Why did her chest feel so unbearably heavy?
Why did memories of all the times her sister had treated her kindly keep resurfacing?
She did not want to remember them, yet she could not stop them from returning.
"Princess Lemrina, the transport is ready. Please proceed to Count Saazbaum's castle. I will descend to Earth and avenge Princess Asseylum."
"Huh?"
Lemrina stared blankly, still lost in her thoughts.
At that moment, an alarm suddenly blared.
"What's happening?" Cruhteo demanded.
"Count Cruhteo, we're under attack!"
"I know we're under attack. Who is firing on us?"
"It's Count Klancain's Landing Castle!"
The report left Cruhteo momentarily stunned.
He had no feud with Klancain. Why would the man launch a missile at him from such a great distance?
As far as Cruhteo knew, Klancain was a remarkably good-natured man.
Could he be blaming Cruhteo for Princess Asseylum's death?
Klancain was deeply loyal to the princess, and she had traveled to Earth aboard Cruhteo's Landing Castle. Perhaps he believed Cruhteo bore some responsibility for her death.
If that was the case, Cruhteo could no longer begin his atmospheric descent. If Klancain attacked him from above while he was entering the atmosphere, defending himself would be extremely difficult.
Cruhteo immediately ordered his men to establish communications.
"We can't contact him? Why not?"
"Our communications appear to be jammed."
"Jammed?"
Cruhteo had just finished communicating with Saazbaum. How had his channels suddenly been disrupted?
And who was responsible?
It could not be Earth's military. That left only another Orbital Knight.
"The jamming signal appears to be coming from the Moon Base."
Cruhteo's brow furrowed even more deeply.
"Count Cruhteo, we're receiving a laser transmission. It's coming from the missile!"
"The missile Klancain fired?"
They had already prepared to intercept it, only to discover that the missile was carrying a laser communication system.
Direct laser communication between the two Landing Castles was impossible because Earth's atmosphere lay between them.
The planet itself did not completely obstruct their line of sight, but any laser signal would still have to travel through a thick layer of atmosphere, causing severe interference.
Furthermore, orbital space was cluttered with countless pieces of debris, particularly fragments of the shattered Moon.
Cruhteo immediately ordered his men to receive the data carried by the missile.
It contained a recorded message from Klancain.
He opened it.
"Count Cruhteo, I can only hope that your loyalty to Princess Asseylum is genuine. If you had any involvement in her murder, I will never forgive you!"
Cruhteo's pupils contracted.
Klancain had called it murder.
"When Princess Asseylum traveled from Mars to Earth and boarded your Landing Castle, she secretly contacted me. She entrusted me with a special message that I was only to open if something happened to her during her visit to Earth."
Cruhteo's expression changed.
"Count Klancain, what do you mean?" Lemrina asked, her voice trembling slightly. "Did my sister know something would happen to her?"
Then she suddenly realized something.
She had thought it strange that Asseylum had insisted on taking away her first opportunity to visit Earth.
Asseylum had known that something might happen during the visit.
She had taken Lemrina's place because she did not want her younger sister to go to Earth.
"Klancain, what exactly is going on?" Cruhteo demanded, forgetting for a moment that he was speaking to a recording. "What conspiracy are you talking about? Are you saying there are traitors among us?"
He placed particular emphasis on the word "traitors."
He found it nearly impossible to believe that such people could exist among the Orbital Knights.
"Yes. There are traitors among the Orbital Knights, and Princess Asseylum knew who they were."
"Who? Which bastard is it?"
"If you want a precise answer, I can only tell you that there are many of them. At least half of the Orbital Knights are involved."
"That's impossible!"
"You were about to say it's impossible, weren't you, Count Cruhteo? How many years have you been stationed here? Can you honestly claim not to know how many knights have always dreamed of conquering Earth?"
"For the past fifteen years, they have been preparing for war. If the princess's peace mission succeeded, all their ambitions would be crushed. Yet the princess's arrival on Earth also gave them the perfect excuse to start that war!"
A chill ran through both Cruhteo and Lemrina.
"I understand. I'll inform Count Saazbaum immediately..."
Cruhteo had once again mistaken the recording for a live conversation.
"If you're thinking of contacting Count Saazbaum, do so only if you wish to die!"
The abrupt warning made Cruhteo's expression darken further.
"You mean..."
"Yes. Count Saazbaum is one of the conspirators."
"That can't..."
"He is the mastermind. In fact, he is the only conspirator Princess Asseylum specifically named to me."
As soon as Klancain finished speaking, a new window appeared beside his image.
It contained a recorded message from Princess Asseylum herself.
The recording stated that if anything happened to her on Earth, Klancain was to contact Cruhteo, ensure Lemrina's safety, and escort her back to Mars in preparation for what came next.
The man responsible for everything was Count Saazbaum.
The princess's message continued.
She warned them not to allow the Landing Castles to descend to Earth.
If she was still alive, she would have special assistance capable of stopping the conspiracy.
Any Landing Castle that attempted to land would become a target.
Cruhteo was bewildered.
What power could the princess possibly have on Earth that was capable of stopping the Landing Castles from descending?
He immediately ordered his subordinates to report on the current situation.
Eleven Landing Castles had already begun entering the atmosphere.
There was no longer any way to stop them.
No way at all...
"Hm?"
Cruhteo's eyes widened.
A beam of light suddenly erupted from Earth's surface, pierced the atmosphere, and vanished into deep space.
The beam seemed to punch a hole straight through the atmosphere, creating an awe-inspiring sight.
And the point it had pierced appeared to be the exact location of one of the descending Landing Castles.
A new report arrived almost immediately.
Five such beams had appeared in total, each one passing through the coordinates where a Landing Castle had entered the atmosphere.
The nearest Landing Castle had been struck by a blue beam. When the footage of that region was enlarged, Cruhteo fell silent.
The Landing Castle was gone.
Nothing remained but tiny fragments falling through the atmosphere, where they would soon burn to ash.
Clearer footage of the beam was soon obtained. It had traveled too quickly for even their ultra-high-speed sensors to track properly.
Calculations indicated that its destructive power was sufficient to shatter the Moon.
Before such a weapon, a Landing Castle was more fragile than porcelain.
Was this the special assistance Princess Asseylum had mentioned?
(End of Chapter)
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