I regressed and became the Sword Ice King

A brief silence suffused the air around them, as each retreated to their thoughts until Gloria broke that silence.

"Hm. I always thought he was suspicious, but a devil in human form is hard to come by" She said. Their attention turned towards Gloria in unison.

"....well, there are cases where it's possible, but their class and rank have to be high to achieve that," Fiona explained, their expressions turning complicated.

While his sisters contemplated what he had just said, his thoughts were occupied with something else entirely.

He found it amusing and maybe weird that his sisters believed him instantly instead of questioning whether or not he was telling the truth. Was it that they trusted him enough or something else? He wasn't sure.

Of course, he wasn't lying, but he expected a little bit of doubt.

With those thoughts in mind, he decided to ask.

"...you girls believe me?"

They turned towards him in unison, their gazes laced with amusement and surprise.

"Do you have a reason to lie about something that serious?" Gloria asked.

"Raph, your eyes literally see through all, don't they? You used it to control Ciara, I think I would be a fool if I underestimated the extent of your ocular abilities" Fiona said with a wry smile. "besides….we've had our suspicions"

"...Yeah, I felt uncomfortable on the first day we met," Morganna interjected, a smile on her face as she patted her brother. "We trust you, and we trust in each other. We need that much trust if we're going to go through this".

'....strong bonds, huh?' Raph thought, a small smile growing from the corner of his lips. "Alright. We'll have to discuss this another time, don't you think?" He said, turning towards Gloria. "These eyes of mine have spotted a lot of nobles that are trying to approach us. Go attend to them, we'll wait at the pavement leading to the Gate".

Gloria turned away from them to find some nobles glancing at their side. It was obvious from their expressions that they wanted to form a connection with the new head of the Jun household.

After what seemed like a few seconds of silence, she turned towards her siblings, gave them a curt nod, and then walked away towards the incoming Nobles.

"....did she just take a moment of deliberation?" Raph asked in an amused tone laced in his voice as he glanced at them.

They shrugged in unison, giggling as they headed towards the exit of the Courtyard.

'Guess there are some things that scare even Gloria, ' Raph thought, amused by her reaction. 'How cute'.

****

Time continued to flow in its endless forward direction, as the Trail of the Jun household had finally come to an end.

This day would be known for many things, but one would be the death and burial of the King's Advisor, Dugu Jafar, and another would be the rise of the Jun knights.

It left a lasting impression on the Nobles, and the Patriarchs had no other choice but to give them face. Of course, many were disappointed with the results and stormed out of the palace as soon as the trial had been adjourned, while a few others continued to remain neutral in the matter, but time continued to tick, indicating that this had passed.

It was almost late afternoon, and the intensity of the sun began to increase steadily, causing an uncomfortable sensation of heat to wrap around the people going about their activities outdoors.

While this was going on, the five Jun's seated around a large fountain, consisting of the statue of a majestic swan on a white marbled pavement, surrounded by a beautiful garden.

All this time, they had been silent, making small talks here and there and greeting some nobles that had walked by until now.

Hearing some familiar footsteps, the five Jun's turned towards the tall flight of white-marbled stairs that led to the Castle, and their expressions beamed brightly on recognizing the individual.

"Sorry for making you wait…it took longer than anticipated" Gloria's voice, dull and deprived of the vibrant tone it once shook the five Jun's seated.

"Wow…your voice changed," Thalia said, as they stood up in unison.

"Did it take that much energy? All you had to do was introduce yourselves and form some useful connections," Fiona commented, an amused smile formed on her face.

"You should have been there. Those pricks kept giving me their 'blessings' for a successful marriage. Bunch of vagabonds".

Gloria said; the vibrancy returned as she walked past them, while a bulge of veins popped on her forehead.

Her siblings chuckled, then laughed.

Raph shook his head as he did so, as he said. "guess you see people like that now and then".

"Indeed" Gloria nodded, her cheeks red in embarrassment. "People that try to sulk up to you just because of a little 'position,' and I don't even want that position."

The laughter died down, and they began to walk towards the large gates of the castle.

It's slender iron glistening silver with the beams of the sun.

"So, what are we going to do about this? We aren't going to let that good-for-nothing have our sister, right?" Fiona asked, her tone laced with seriousness, as they turned towards her.

"Well, we can't exactly fix this issue now, and the issue itself is much more deep-rooted," Thalia said with a sigh.

"True, it would have been easier to deal with if Raph was of age; we could have used him as an excuse and married him off to a good wife," Fiona said, and all sisters seemingly nodded in unison while saying.

"hmmm~"

Raph raised a brow at their statement, his head slowly calculating the meaning of what they just said, and like a cash register, something clicked as he turned towards them and yelled.

"The fuck are you girls talking about?! Marry off who?!"

His sisters bursted out in laughter in unison, beads of tears forming in their eyes after a few seconds.

"What took you so long to process that?!" Morganna cried out, laughing in between her words.

"Yeah really, it took you nearly ten seconds to understand that?!" Fiona interjected, laughing out the hardest.

"It–It's not funny" Raph grumbled, his cheeks slowly turning red in embarrassment.

"Yeah, Yeah".

The laughter began to die down as they nearly reached the gate, and a brief silence descended upon them as they walked forward, their thoughts reeling in.

That was when Raph found it in himself to say something he had been thinking about for a long time since today.

"Hey Fiona, there's a dome blocking our conversation from reaching others, right?" He asked, his gaze slowly shifting upwards.

Fiona raised a brow, nodding as she replied. "Of course, since the Court."

"Alright, I have an announcement to make". He said, gaining their rapt attention.

'Should I?' He thought, but this was something he already had an answer for. There was a bond he shared with his siblings, meaning his actions would affect them in ways he would never know, and unless he reached out to them, there would be things they would never know about him.

He wouldn't have had to be worried about implicating his sisters; in fact, this was something he had never thought of because he had never seen the reason until today.

'....the King is not a king, and his princes are even lesser….but they still have a saving grace….'

Something that could be helpful for people and not detrimental or risky–The ruler needed to be changed.

"The second princess is planning a revolt, and I agreed to join in".
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His sister's eyes widened in shock, as they glanced at each other before landing it back on Raph.

"....Are you…serious?" Morganna asked, her tone shaky and low.

"....We need a new ruler. What King Marcello is doing is wrong, and what his sons would do will be even worse.

For the sake of the people–no, not even the people, but my family. I will cut him down if I have to".

"...Br…Brother, do you know what a revolt is? There will be war and strife, and people will die". Morganna said. She seemed insistent, slowly placing her hand on his shoulder.

"...There is already war, strife, and death; just one more would mean nothing," Raph said, his voice sounding like a hot venom as he said those words, his brows furrowing at the same time as he bit down on his lips.

His sisters remained silent, even stopping themselves from walking forward when Fiona smiled as she asked. "I had the same thought too you know, just didn't dare to bring it up".

"Huh? You told me not to wage war," Gloria said, her tone high-pitched and taken aback.

"It's different. You can't take down a King with just ourselves. We would need allies, and we don't have any of that at the moment".

"....You have a fiance". Rebecca said with a raised brow, in fact, they all stared at their sister in unison, their brows raised at the same time.

Fiona coughed awkwardly in response.

"A–anyways, we aren't strong enough either."

This time, they all turned to Morganna in unison.

She blushed, turning away. "Is–I'm not weak. You guys are just ridiculously strong!".

They glanced at each other, then laughed out loud.