episode_0168

“I have something I must confess first.

It’s not a tremendous mistake that shook my life, nor a sin that would defile the names of God and Naifrantz, much less a small error committed in my snot-nosed days.

It’s simply that I am but a mortal, inheriting the blood of kings.

I am not proficient in magic like the first King Julius Naifrantz, nor skilled in martial arts like his son, Fernando Berserk Naifrantz.

I’m not even a strategist who can grasp and unravel chaotic situations like my father, Steil Nicolon Naifrantz.

I have no talent.

Since childhood, I’ve never accomplished anything decisively. I was always full of mistakes, constantly receiving my father’s reprimands for failing to produce proper results.

So, I listened, and I heard.

My father, possessing the greatest wisdom in the kingdom’s history, always told me:

A king doesn’t need to be superior to others.

If he lacks strength, he can employ strong warriors.

If he lacks intellect, he can employ brilliant strategists.

And if he lacks even cunning to encompass all of that, he may summon his ministers to gather their opinions.

For a king standing at the apex, it is not about offering opinions, but about deciding upon them.

His role is to possess the resolute heart and resounding voice to lead everyone, to make firm decisions, and to bear the responsibility.

From the time I realized my shortcomings and sought my father’s guidance, through the moment I sadly ascended the throne after his passing, to this very present moment, I have never forgotten his teachings.

To become a successful monarch, one needs either good fortune or commensurate effort.

Thankfully, thanks to the bright history built by virtuous rulers, I have led a peaceful era without much effort.

This, as my father, now turned to dust, would say, was due to heavenly fortune, but also because I poured relentless effort into even the smallest incidents.

Even the subduing of the ‘Devil’s Sea,’ the greatest issue of my time, was due to sincerely reaching out to the hero, Lea Flora, who appeared like a comet.

It was due to fully accepting her willingness to join me and allowing her to fulfill her duty.

Because I seized the stroke of unbelievable luck with every ounce of effort, without the slightest hesitation.

I am a mortal without a single talent… yet I will be remembered as the king who led a peaceful era.

However, if I have one wish,

along with the assessment of a virtuous ruler of a peaceful era, I also wish it to be explicitly stated that I was a rather unremarkable human being.

Should my children someday face the same dilemma, I want this story conveyed to them.

The virtues required of a king are undoubtedly different from the outstanding abilities required of a hero.

Strength, intellect, and cunning are not important.

Inherit the blood of past kings, and freely pursue your ambitions like them.

The results will follow naturally…

I, Ulysses Pertus Naifrantz, having slightly understood the greatest wisdom of the Naifrantzes, declare:

That is the qualification of a king.”

…

Perhaps it was because this summer felt so long.

It’s only that the sun was setting a little earlier and a cool breeze had begun to blow, yet I felt the change of seasons, fresh and breezy.

*Thud-*

I closed the book’s last page and took a sip from the teacup on the table.

“Gulp-”

As the rising steam warmed my face, the early autumn’s cool breeze swept away the heat.

Beyond the railing, below, the trunk of the tree standing tall in the courtyard swayed this way and that.

A single leaf soared up to the second floor of my room, only to dart away toward the capital at breakneck speed.

Now, the nights are getting a little chilly.

Stepping onto the veranda clad only in a bathrobe over my damp skin, I get the distinct feeling that I might catch a cold.

I shook my dry hair vigorously and returned to my room with the book.

*Click-*

As I was about to close the outer door, I caught sight of Naifrantz’s royal palace standing tall in the center of the capital in the distance.

It’s absurd for an ordinary person to see the palace from this distance.

But now, having slightly transcended the human realm, seeing the palace, a couple of hours away by carriage, with my bare eyes isn’t that difficult.

By applying a thin veil of ether to my cornea at regular intervals, even if I cannot see human figures, I can clearly see the lights that enter the watchtower.

“Such outstanding abilities aren’t necessary…”

The words from the book I just read suddenly came to mind.

The heart possessed by my father—a king, not simply a man—something I’d never heard before.

Unfortunately, when I had the will to receive training to succeed him, I wasn’t old enough. Once I was old enough the will was gone.

Due to various setbacks in timing, the label of royalty gradually faded, and now I enjoy my freedom, free of rights, duties, and responsibilities.

Honestly, that’s not all.

I prefer to develop my own abilities and lead, rather than putting strong subordinates in front.

Rather than borrowing others’ wisdom, I prefer to rack my brains and devise my plans. I even have a knack for employing quick thinking and instincts.

For me, someone who chases momentary happiness rather than money, fame, or power, focusing on the process itself.

I am simply not fit for the king’s role, which values results over its beginning and end.

It’s a mismatch from the start.

There was never the opportunity, the ability, or even the desire to continue the role.

I have not even a speck of the qualifications of a king.

“But why… did Mother tell me to read this book?”

That made me strangely angry.

Surely Father also regarded Mother as a blessed benefactor, and they loved each other equally, without an advantage to either side. So why did he gradually push her away, banish her from his sight, and later even erase her from history?

I want to rush to the palace and grab her by the collar to demand answers.

Why did you abandon Mother?

Why didn’t even cast your eyes upon me, her son?

“Huu…”

I leaned slightly against the crack in the door, letting the breeze cool my head.

Perhaps it was only natural.

Because my father knew his own shortcomings, he would have wanted to have a successor to raise into a more capable king. And if he had a child with the same problems, he’d want to teach them what is ‘the qualification of a king’.

He must have been afraid.

He was afraid of not seeing the fruits of his relationship with Mother, so he quickly took a concubine.

And even if a legitimate child was born later, he was afraid of succession disputes driven by age and legitimacy, driving Mother completely away.

To me, coming from modern times, this political power struggle is so complex that if you ignore it, you lose your mind.

I don’t want to even get involved, and I don’t think I can handle it.

But.

“…I’ve grown up now, haven’t I?”

My temperament won’t allow me to back down from fear.

Isn’t changing your words a politician’s specialty?

Even the succession rights I’d given up… the legitimate heir, with the blood of the true queen.

So what if I’m the youngest?

I’m still better than a worm like Glenn.

*Beep-*

『ㅎㅎ』

As a positive message appeared on my status window, my mother certainly meant that much when giving me this book.

My father’s hidden thoughts I didn’t know. A semi-honest story omitting his most important thoughts.

I might not have understood as a child, but now I do.

If he had intended to do me harm, he would’ve killed me rather than ignore me.

I closed the veranda door, returned to the room, and lay down on the bed.

“…I’ve made up my mind.”

The cage my father carefully built to protect me will be utterly smashed. I’ll make my way to the world.

I now have the strength, the will, and the wit. Whatever obstacles block my path, I will surpass each to reach the end of my story. That is my promise.

Not yet the throne.

To become a ruler of a country, I need to get my act together at the academy first.

Two days till the start of the semester. I’ve been preparing very well, so the time spent was very fruitful. Despite so little time left, I’m restless.

I felt an overflowing energy, and impulsively threw my robe off and kicked the blankets.

“Ugh— Let me sleep, unni…” “Oops- Sorry…”

Things seem to be going smoothly, I guess I lost my senses for a moment.

I didn’t even notice Yuri lying beside me.

I immediately hugged my dearest Yuri, stroked her head soothingly, and drifted off to sleep.

And then it occurred to me.

The contents of that book my father wrote. If he had something he wanted to surely he’d have said it… to my siblings, for instance.

Writing it down in a book means that maybe…

He wrote it while thinking of me, yet to be born.