Reincarnated as an Energy with a System

Chapter 1943: A Request

Ning remained seated. With what the princess had just said, he couldn’t exactly do what he had in mind.

"My attendants know I came to speak with you, several guards watched me enter this wing, and my brother knows I intended to visit you this morning," she continued. "If anything happens to me while I am inside this room with you, it will become a national problem between Veronoth and Conjora."

Ning stared at her with quite a bit of curiosity.

The princess had come prepared, which was funny given the fact that the threat could hardly work on him. Still, he decided to see how things worked out, given that she had come to him all on her own.

She must have some sort of plan to be revealing this.

Elowen watched him carefully.

"Are you willing to take that risk?"

Ning leaned back in his chair, causing the princess to relax.

"So, what do you want from me?" he asked.

"I want to become the Queen."

Ning almost laughed at how simple the answer was.

Everything she had told him returned to that single desire.

"If you help me become Queen," Elowen said, "I am willing to give up my position among the Numbers."

Ning blinked. "You are one of the Numbers?"

The woman nodded. "I am Number 2."

Ning was genuinely surprised now. Never in his life would he have expected the princess to be a Number.

"How do you want me to make you a Queen? Do you want me to stand behind you while you declare your intent to fight for the throne?" Ning asked.

"Nothing so convoluted," the woman said. "The only thing standing between me and the throne is my brother. To make me the Queen, you just have to kill him."

Ning laughed.

The sound escaped before he bothered stopping it, because after everything the princess had said, the simplicity of the request was almost amusing.

She had joined Tritus, become one of his Numbers, and approached Ning under the protection of her royal status only to ask him to murder her younger brother so that she could inherit the throne.

"How long ago did you join the Numbers?" Ning asked her.

"A little over 5 years ago," the woman said. "Why?"

"Well, I’m just curious. Given you are part of that group, why can’t you just do the job yourself? They can sneak in easily after all. Even Number 4—"

Ning paused.

"Ah, it must’ve been you who helped her in."

"Yes, it was," she said. "And no, it is not so easy to kill my brother. My brother is one of the highest-ranked individuals in the entire world, though no one knows of it because he has never bothered to reveal it before."

Ning chuckled slightly. "Higher than me? I’m Rank 9."

The princess looked at him with a serious look. "He’s Rank 10."

Ning couldn’t help but be surprised again. "Are you serious? Rank 10?"

The woman nodded. "He’s not someone just anybody can kill."

"What power does he have?" Ning asked.

"I... I don’t understand it myself," the princess said, scratching her head. "But it’s like he can survive any sort of attack. There have been a few assassination attempts on his life, but none have worked until now."

"So you’ve tried to have him killed before," Ning said.

"Of course. It’s my throne he vies for, so I need to do something about it," she said. "You are a strong individual. Maybe you can success where others have failed."

"That’s not happening," Ning said, refusing outright.

There was no chance he would kill the prince just because of this.

Elowen’s expression hardened, but she did not appear surprised. Perhaps she had known from the beginning that he would refuse.

Ning looked at her for another moment before deciding there was something far more useful he could ask while she remained willing to talk.

"What is the promised day?"

The princess froze.

Her reaction was small, but Ning noticed it immediately.

"How do you know about that?"

"Number 4 mentioned it before she died."

Elowen remained silent for several seconds.

Ning could tell from her expression that the phrase meant something important, perhaps far more important than anything Number 4 had revealed during their confrontation.

Unfortunately, whatever loyalty or restriction kept the Numbers from revealing Tritus’ plans remained strong enough to stop her.

"I can’t answer that," she said.

Ning had expected as much.

He could force the information out of her if necessary, or simply ask the System, but neither option interested him yet.

The fact that she had reacted at all confirmed that the promised day was real and that Tritus had been preparing for something specific.

Ning leaned back again.

"Is that all you wanted to talk about?"

"Not precisely," she said as her voice suddenly grew deeper. "Elowen is done speaking, but I am just getting started."

The transformation was immediate enough that Ning initially thought someone else had spoken from somewhere inside the room.

The princess’s posture remained exactly the same, her lips moving as before, but the voice that came from her mouth was deeper and unmistakably masculine.

Captain Maelis lowered her head in that moment.

Ning’s expression slowly changed as he looked at the princess again more carefully than ever.

The princess smiled, but it didn’t look like her at all. Someone else was looking at him through her eyes.

"It has taken us far too long to finally sit down and talk," the masculine voice said.

It was then that Ning realized who was speaking to him.

He couldn’t help but smile.

"Tritus."

After all the Numbers sent after him, all the attacks carried out through other people, and all the months Ning had spent waiting for the Constellation to finally reveal himself, Tritus was finally contacting him first.

Ning grinned. "I would say the same, but you aren’t really here. Why don’t you come here directly so we can actually talk to each other one-on-one?"