Avoid The Lead, No Matter What!

41. The Trap

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"Goodbye, Crown Prince Tazeus," Grand Mage Pariel sneered, but as Taze’s lifeless body fell forward, it disintegrated into a clump of twisting vines.

"A clone?!" Grand Mage Patiel gasped, his voice sharp with disbelief. "Damn it! We need to get out of here!"

But it was already too late.

A brilliant green light fanned out from the clump of vines, expanding rapidly and forming a translucent dome that trapped the two impostors within.

They unleashed a barrage of spells against the barrier, but their efforts were in vain. Each spell was absorbed by the dome, only to be redirected back at them with even greater force, forcing them to dodge frantically.

"Yo. How could you say there’s no point in telling me all this?" Taze's voice echoed from outside the dome, and the impostors whipped their heads around to see a cloaked figure approaching. "If you don’t tell me these things, how will I report them to my father?"

The figure stopped just outside the barrier, pulling back his hood to reveal Taze, alive and very much aware of the situation.

Despite his tired appearance, with dark circles under his eyes and a shadow of stubble on his chin, Taze gave a triumphant smile.

"Crown Prince Tazeus!" Grand Mage Patiel stammered, his face contorted with a mix of surprise, anger, and sheer disbelief. "How can this be?! I’ve had eyes on you since the moment you were summoned!"

"You thought you had eyes on me." Taze corrected with a knowing smirk. "I was fully aware of the many ways you've been spying on me, from the sparrow on my sky window, to the cat just outside the East Wing, and even the maid with a pink ribbon right in my Wing.

"But who you spied on is what you just killed. He's also the one who attended the summons."

"So, since that time-?!"

"Yes, exactly. After I guessed what the summons were about, I didn’t waste time playing your games. I slipped away and came straight to Aedian while leaving my clone behind to dance with you."

"Impossible! No one can maintain a clone for that long!" Grand Mage Pariel interjected, his voice laced with skepticism.

"I’m not just anyone." Taze retorted. "You underestimated me from the start, and that was your downfall." He turned to Grand Mage Pariel.

"You think I never suspected you? You’re good at transformation magic, but you forgot one thing... I’m half-fairy-. No, it's not that you forgot.

"You tried using it against me, and you deliberately let me sense the fairy aura on Grand Mage Patiel. But you didn't account for how powerful my fairy-half is. It's powerful enough to sense it on you as well, no matter how well you hide it."

Back then, Taze's clone had picked up on multiple fairy auras in the throne room, not just from Grand Mages Patiel and Pariel, but also from other members of the Magic Council.

Now there were two actual fairies on the magic council, but Taze was so familiar with their auras that he instantly identified the strange auras as different fairies.

"At first I gave you all the benefit of the doubt, but I needed a way to investigate..."

In the Throne room, Taze's clone had warned his father using telepathy. ~"Father. Several Council members, including the Grand Mages Patiel and Pariel are surrounded by fairy auras!"

From then, he and his father mentally planned together to seize the magic council from Grand Mages Patiel and Pariel, and what better way to do it than send them on an expedition.