King candidate Sharrkan coughed into his hand to get rid of the laughter rising up his throat and explained what had truly happened with the carving of the sarcophagus, he said it was his name. For generations, before a king dies, a mason would be summoned and carve the name of the king's successor. As it is forbidden for any living person to know the name, the Mason must die with the king.

In this case, the Mason begged to live on account of having a wife and child. Finding the behavior unforgivable the Mason was beheaded in the end. It was said to be Sharrkan's name that was carved into the sarcophagus.

The vizier and the Queen were more than happy to hear about this, "wonderful! If that's true, then you are, without a doubt, the legitimate heir to the throne!" The Vizier exclaimed as he looked to Prince Sharrkan.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?!" She asked with an excited tone.

The Vizier continued, "if that's true, then we must prepare you for your formal investiture at once... And we must take a formal announcement!"

"STOP THIS FARCE!"

Everyone looked shocked to see it was King Armakan who made the outburst, it was shocking because he was usually so calm and quiet. He seemed flustered, "how foolish... You want the throne so badly that you're willing to go that far," he said with a tone of disbelief, "you're a disgrace to the royal family! Never show your face in front of me again!" He boomed making everyone flinched slightly at the tone and volume he was using.

"... Your majesty! P... Please wait a minute!" Narmes called as Armakan strolled out of the room. Sharrkan seemed to have felt something on account to how his face lowered to the ground, like if he was guilty.

Kimi turned to look at Sharrkan in pity and then felt her eyes going back and forth between changing color and staying normal. She wanted to run up to the queen and Vizier and slit their throats. Sera noticed Kimi covered her eyes with her hands and taking deep breaths. She felt the air became cold again, to the point Sinbad shivered, and turned to Kimi, Was it coming from her or was it her imagination. She'll have to ask her djinn later. She did ask her djinn if he could check if Kimi was a metal vessel user like them, but he sensed nothing.

That's what he thinks....at least?

The Vizier scoffed, "hehe... How typical of the young King to lose his composure," he said in a slightly mocking tone.

The Queen Dowager agreed, "that's right. At any rate, with this, it's decided that Sharrkan should be king," she said, pleased with how the events have been going.

"Shut up old hag...you know nothing....." Kimi mumbled quietly, as she kept her hands on her eyes and kept taking deep breaths. She felt Sera lay a comforting hand on her shoulder which helped her slightly.Masrur turned to her and stared. Her scent was changing from cherry blossoms to......something...almost deadly.

The Vizier seemed to be pondering on something as he turned to Sinbad's group, his gaze shifted to the ground for a bit until he perked up. "Travelers, you said you know something about that mysterious structure?" He asked as Sinbad nodded.

"Perfect," he smiled, "I'll give you a special mission. Get rid of that "dungeon" and return the location to the way it was before. Make it so that we enter the royal tomb," he demanded. Sera's eyes narrowed at the tone he used, he almost treated them like servants.

Kimi was still taking deep breaths. She needs to control her anger or she will expose she is a djinn user.

He listed the reward which benefitted Sinbad on account to having trading rights with Heliohapt, something that left Sera skeptical given that the former king's faction didn't like having foreign.

"... Understood. Please leave it to us," said Sinbad.

The Vizier turned and walked off the Queen Dowager, "then we'll come to collect you tomorrow morning. Now we must make the necessary preparations the investiture and inform the king's faction of our victory!"

Hinahoho narrowed his eyes at them, "is it really okay to help them, Sin?" He asked with a raised brow.

Sera nodded, agreeing with Hina, she grabbed Sin's arm, "he's right Sin. After all, the former King's faction never liked having foreign affairs and if what Narmes said was true I wouldn't put it past them to kill us after all of this," she explained, her grip going a bit tighter.

"... Yeah," he said, answering Hinahoho, "if it was a "dungeon" I intended to conquer it from the very beginning... Domestic affairs have nothing to do with us, so it's not our problem. More importantly..." His voice trailed off as he looked to Prince Sharrkan.

Serendine spoke up, "how unexpected. I must admit I'm curious about all of this."

"... Oh?" Asked Sera, crossing her arms.

"Must be... My royal intuition."

Sera rolled her eyes and resisted to urge to comment on that. As they all stood there, pondering on what had happened, the Prince had walked over to them quite timidly, "I also have something I wanted to speak with you about..." He started, "I'm grateful to you foreigners... Thanks to you, I was able to divert my mother and Gafra's attentions..."

According to him, Gafra, the Vizier, and his mother keep him under strict watch limiting him from expressing anything at all. Given that they could not gain control of Armakan, Sharrkan was the next best thing to them.

"Even though I know that there hasn't been anything I could do to stop them... What I said before," he said referring to the story with the Mason, "it was all a lie."

Serendine spoke up once more, "I thought it was strange. If it was the truth then it made no sense to have kept it from the Queen Dowager and the Vizier," she said, "why did you tell such a lie?" She asked.

Sharrkan hands began to shake slightly, "because if I didn't say something, then mother and the other wouldn't have let you anywhere near the mysterious structure... Asking complete strangers... And foreigners on top of that... For help may be a mistake. But there's no one else I can ask. Please... Get rid of that "dungeon"."

Ja'far stepped up and spoke, "prince Sharrkan... Of course, we intend to do so... But, there's one thing..." He took in a breath, "if it turns out that your name is not the one engraved on the sarcophagus in the royal tomb, the one that will be put in a precarious position is you, isn't it, Prince Sharrkan?" He asked.

Sharrkan's eyes trailed down to the floor, "...I know," he said as his eyes grew soft, "ever since we were born, my brother and I have constantly been forced to oppose one another... I had to bear the weight of the situation."

He sighed, "but the ones who wanted the conflict were the ones around me... I never wanted that-" the grip on his staff tightened- "the truth is... I wanted something more normal... I don't care if I'm hated... As long as Heliohapt can return to being the way it should be."

The next thing he said made Serendine look down to the ground in what looked to be shame, "that's my responsibility... as royalty. Please help us. Please bring the conflict in this country to an end..."

Sera smiled and kneeled down in front of him, he flinched slight but relaxed at the kind look in her eyes. "I promise that we will do everything we can to help," she said, "but... I want you to promise me something."

Sharrkan looked to her, curious as to what it might be. "Once this matter is resolved, no matter whose name is carved in that sarcophagus, I want you and brother to make amends," she rested a hand on his head, "can you do that for me?" She asked, ruffling his hair a little.

Sharrkan gave her a small smile and nodded, Sera smiled back and gave him a small kiss on the forehead. Sharrkan seemed surprised as he rested a hand on his forehead and began to blush, "y-yes..."

Kimi smiles, finally having calm down and.....hugs Sharrkan like a plushie...between her chest. Sera giggled and saw Sinbad staring at them. Kimi put Sharrkan down and placed her finger on his heart.

"To the eyes of others, you may seem like a weak child, but you have the heart of a lion. Never be afraid to do the right thing. No matter what road you take, no matter what path you choose, and not matter what part of the world a person is, your feelings, your bonds, are always connected in a way. Don't ever doubt that Sharrkan. I know you can do it. I believe in you." Kimi smiles at him warmly.

She stood up and walked back to the others.

Sera giggled and walked back to Sinbad, soon after they were all escorted to their hotel. Along the way, everyone thought it funny to tease Sera about that small affectionate gesture towards Sharrkan. Weirdly enough, Masrur was inching closer to Sera the entire way.

She smiled down at Masrur, "Masrur, were you jealous~?" She asked in a slightly teasing tone, Masrur didn't say anything and only stared down at the ground. Sera giggled and knelt down to give him a small hug, "if you wanted a kiss you could've just said so." She pressed a small kiss to his forehead and got up to see Sinbad with a smirk.

"Masu, don't worry. You'll always have Sera's love!" Kimi giggled.

"Would you like to give me a kiss, Sera?" He asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

She giggled and rested a hand on his chin, "if you don't let me go in the next five seconds-" her nails grew sharp and gripped his chain tightly- "I will end you," she said threateningly.

"Sera, let me pluck his eyes out! I hate womanizing scumbags like him!!" Kimi said with her teeth showing. They looked like fangs.

Sinbad paled and quickly let go, and backed away from the two. The two girls smiled and walked past him. Ja'far, who had said nothing, sighed. "You're an idiot," he said.

*~*~*

Everyone looked at the structure in front of them with impassive looks, it was normal after all. They had all seen a structure of this kind before, besides Mystras and Masrur.

The Vizier spoke, "this is the royal tomb," he said, "... Or it should be, but now it's just as you see. The mysterious building called the "dungeon"."

Sinbad examined it for a moment and then turned to the Vizier, "no problem. If I conquer the dungeon, it will disappear and the royal tomb will return to the way it was before," he explained.

The Queen cackled, "that's a relief. I can look forward to King Sharrkan's investiture!"

Everyone grew quiet until Sera spoke up, "well, you can't just assume that so quickly," she intervened. The Queen sent her a dirty look to which Sera returned. The tension had begun to grow and it didn't help as Sera had a glaring match with the Queen.

It seemed that even Narmes wanted to intervene, "... Lord Armakan," he said as if asking for permission to defend the rightful King of Heliohapt.

"Don't say it, Narmes," he snapped.

Ja'far looked between the two, "it's right after yesterday, so they both still have some lingering ill feelings, huh...?" He asked himself, "but both of them want the royal tomb returned to its former state, so this outcome should be good for everyone..."

Everyone's minds went back to the conversation they had with Sharrkan yesterday about how he only wanted something normal with his brother and not this whole debacle.

"Let's make sure he's repaid for thinking that way," mumbled Ja'far as they got ready to go into the dungeon.

Sinbad nodded, "yeah... Let's go!"

Everyone else nodded and they walked towards the doors of the dungeon, the familiar bright light is shown as the doors opened blinding some of them slightly.

Fortunately, they all ended up together. "... All right. We're all here," spoke Sinbad as his eyes scanned over the group.