“From now on, what I say should not leave this room. Those who cannot keep a secret may leave now.”

“……”

The conference room went dead silent. I briefly considered using his words as an excuse to leave, but it didn’t seem effective, so I stayed put.

Seeing that no one was standing up, Hades calmly began to explain.

“I noticed something was off with Byeonbaek who arrived early with the envoy. I’ve already fought alongside him, and I know the character of this Shujechin Byeonbaek.”

Hades’s gaze briefly lingered on me.

“But people change, so at least in the beginning, I did not suspect him. That is, until he started intimidating the Saintess.”

“Is that true?”

One of the bureaucrats asked in surprise.

“How could he intimidate the Saintess…”

“I witnessed it myself.”

Hades shook his head gravely.

“He said, ‘She’s just a commoner, so it doesn’t matter.'”

Shujechin Byeonbaek sighed.

“My brother did a good job mimicking me but couldn’t emulate my thought process.”

“Probably couldn’t.”

Hades stared at him.

“I still wanted to believe. The fact that another came posing as Shujechin Byeonbaek meant that the real one had suffered greatly. So I sent an informant to the Empire.”

Hades faintly smiled.

“And I made sure the imposter couldn’t leave with the envoy by creating a snowstorm.”

The conference room erupted into chatter.

“Was that Your Highness!?”

“You idiot, I told you! This can only be explained by His Majesty’s power. Have you been living aimlessly in the North?”

“I was right. But next time, please go easy. Do you know how hard it was to clear the snow?”

“…I’ll go easier next time.”

Shujechin abruptly interrupted.

“From now on, I’ll explain. I was confined to a farm by my brother for half a year. I tried to escape, but couldn’t due to the spells he prepared.”

“But there was one thing my brother Shujechin Byeonbaek overlooked. Someone would come looking for the real Byeonbaek.”

“Yes.”

Shujechin faintly smiled.

“The security measures my brother painstakingly prepared focused only on preventing me from escaping. They quickly fell apart when someone started suspecting he was an imposter and began looking for me.”
He spoke slowly and deliberately.

“Thanks to His Grace’s spies, my release was anything but smooth. In the meantime, my younger brother gained access to His Majesty and conducted some devious tricks.”

“Hmm.”

Viscount William emitted a sound as if he was taken aback.

“So, the engagement too…?”

“Of course it wasn’t me.”

Byeon Gyeongbaek shook his head.

“What do you take me for? My brother courted the Princess, not me.”

“… ”

I could only blankly stare at him. So, the fake engagement with the Princess was also the work of my scheming brother.

“Even the Holy Sword must have been his unilateral decision. I’m not sure what he intended to do with it.”

The conference room was buzzing for the nth time at Hades’ words.

“The Holy Sword… Your Grace, what do you mean?”

“The fake Byeon Gyeongbaek tried to take the Holy Sword from the archives. Naturally, he failed.”

“Such atrocity…!”

A minister cautiously spoke next to the irate Viscount William.

“How could the imposter have accessed the archives? Only a select few know how to open it.”

Hades responded nonchalantly without changing his expression.

“He’s skilled in special magic; he must have had his ways. I have since strengthened the security around the archives.”

But there was a lingering issue.

‘If they are identical twins, neither is illegitimate. Then why the strong aversion to imprisoning Byeon Gyeongbaek?’

The question was soon answered by Byeon Gyeongbaek himself.

“It seems many still harbor suspicions because they have not heard about my brother.”

He sighed.

“It’s all due to an old family myth. According to a legend passed down through generations, the secondborn twin is considered evil and should be killed.”

I bit my lip, anticipating where Byeon Gyeongbaek’s story would lead.

“My brother almost died as soon as he was born. But my mother couldn’t bring herself to kill an innocent, and pleaded with my father to keep him locked away in the house.”

Byeon Gyeongbaek’s gaze wandered.

“I thought that once my father passed, my brother would be set free. At least, until he completely lost his mind.”

‘Wait.’

I was stunned. Others may have only found the story intriguing, but something struck me.

An old family with generational myths about twins.

And a twin brother who did go mad according to those myths.

‘I remember now.’

I had completely forgotten this minor character. But listening to Byeon Gyeongbaek, it became clear.

His runaway brother would eventually…

Meet the protagonists as the Devil King’s righthand man.