The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] Chapter 1235: Poetic Justice

"Anyway," Killian began, smoothing down his uniform while pointedly ignoring the shameless display of royal affection beside him, "with the help of the information Luca provided, we actually managed to get those two to talk."

"!"

Luca’s golden eyes widened in complete shock.

"Wait, really? It actually worked?!"

"It took some time," Killian explained with a rather exasperated look in his eyes. "We had to let them stew in their own isolation for a while after planting the initial seeds of doubt. But once the paranoia started taking root, they ended up filling in most of the missing details themselves without even realizing they were doing it."

The golden-eyed cadet stared at the Chief of Staff in sheer awe.

Left to his own devices, Luca didn’t think he’d ever be able to come up with something so efficient, especially when the only weapons at their disposal were a bunch of carefully chosen words against such formidable opponents.

Still, hearing how everything had unfolded made him realize just how frighteningly effective it’d been to target the twins’ trust in each other, especially when practically all of their unshakable confidence seemed to have been built around it.

To be completely honest, Luca had had some major reservations when the plan was first brought up.

There was something deeply uncomfortable about deliberately using the twins’ past experiences against them, particularly when it felt far too similar to the unsettling mind games those two had been inflicting on everyone else.

However, the situation changed considerably once the Elders came rushing over with their preliminary findings.

__

They hadn’t even finished examining the ornate incense burner the twins had been carrying, yet they’d already discovered enough to know that something was seriously wrong with it. Worse, they were concerned that this might not be the only batch in circulation.

That possibility had been enough to change Luca’s mind.

Before the discovery, the group had still been struggling to determine exactly what charges they could make stick without directly dragging Luca and Jax into a public trial to prove something as absurd as the Luxastras’ bloodline ability.

The incense burner finally gave them something solid to work with, but it also shifted their priorities entirely.

This was no longer simply about making sure that the Aerun twins were properly punished for what they’d done.

Now they desperately needed to know what the twins believed that incense was supposed to do, where on Solaris they’d gotten something so utterly vile, and, most importantly, whether there was any more of it circulating within the Empire.

With something like that potentially hanging over everyone’s heads, Luca had eventually decided that he’d do whatever was necessary to get the twins talking.

But as though sensing the young cadet’s hesitation, Killian surprised him by explaining that they wouldn’t actually need to throw all of that painful history back in the twins’ faces.

In fact, they didn’t even need that much information.

They only needed enough to say something that would make sense to the Luxastra twins.

Luca hadn’t understood what he meant at first.

Then his husband quietly explained that for people like Lyrian and Cyrion, getting a decent confession through ordinary means would always be difficult. Those two placed an almost frightening amount of importance on the people they trusted, and if they truly believed keeping quiet was necessary to protect them, then there was a good chance they’d rather silence themselves permanently than betray anyone they considered their own.

"So the best way to deal with people who share that kind of relationship is to make them doubt their own judgment and, more importantly, the bond they trust so implicitly."

Xavier briefly wondered whether his explanation might’ve been a little too ruthless for someone as kindhearted as his wife. But when he glanced at his beloved, the returnee seemed to be genuinely absorbing every word without the slightest judgment toward their methods.

"Rather than strongly insisting that something happened, it would be better to just guide them towards it," Xavier continued. "People are far more likely to believe something they’ve grappled with on their own. And once they start questioning what they know, they may inadvertently reveal more while trying to prove their conclusions wrong."

Luca’s golden eyes slowly widened.

He was still trying to process just how frighteningly effective that sounded when Killian suddenly added in a rather chilling voice, "To be honest, I’d say the same thing officially. Personally, though, I prefer this method for its lasting effects."

"Lasting effects?"

"Yeah."

Before answering, the Chief of Staff glanced toward a certain redhead who’d nearly ended up becoming one of the twins’ victims if not for their kid’s intervention.

Just looking at Jax was apparently enough to make his blood pressure rise all over again.

"Because what does incarceration really mean to beings with lifespans as long as theirs?" Killian said. "They lose a few years? A few decades? Eventually, they get out and still have centuries ahead of them. Meanwhile, the people they targeted might spend the rest of their lives second-guessing their own judgment, questioning the people around them, and wondering whether anything they feel is actually real."

His expression hardened as a colder edge entered his voice.

"If we’re talking about justice for their victims, then simply locking those two away isn’t enough. So wouldn’t it only be fair to give them a taste of their own medicine?"

Well, apparently so.

Because judging by Uno’s latest report, the results had considerably pleased certain individuals who still had a massive bone to pick with those twins.

By that point, Lyrian and Cyrion had become so thoroughly distraught that neither of them even wanted to speak to the other, with those poisonous little seeds of suspicion festering so deeply that solitary confinement had somehow become a preference rather than a punishment.

Of course, something like that could never truly compare to the nightmare they’d inflicted upon their innocent victims.

But for two people who’d spent practically their entire lives believing that they only had each other in this world, being left isolated and forever wondering whether the one person they trusted most had actually betrayed them was probably the closest thing to poetic justice they could reasonably get.

And best of all, nobody had truly needed to stoop to the same level as a pair of criminals who’d knowingly carried around something so particularly shady for the express purpose of taking control of other people’s minds!

Still, poetic justice wasn’t the only thing they’d gotten out of it.

The psychological warfare had produced a veritable treasure trove of critical information, including exactly why the twins had targeted Killian out of everyone they could’ve chosen and the rather disturbing revelation that Lyrian and Cyrion seemed perfectly capable of using their insidious abilities on each other.

That particular discovery had practically confirmed itself the moment their suspicions took root.

After all, how else were they supposed to interpret the frantic way both twins immediately started avoiding each other’s eyes once they stopped feeling completely certain of the other’s loyalty?

Yet somehow, even that revelation failed to rank highest on their rapidly growing list of concerns.

That particular honor belonged to the moment the thoroughly rattled twins finally revealed something nobody in the room had been expecting to hear.

"Believe it or not, that incense wasn’t even from our own faction..."

"!"

"And if you want to know more, then wouldn’t it be better to go ask the Elves?!"