episode_0032

Looking at the crimson-stained sky.

Sip-

Empress Herphina was drinking tea at the moment.

Intoxicated by the strong tea scent, she was reflecting on yesterday’s events.

Prince Eos, who came to rescue Elaine.

I never thought he would come to the empress’s palace…

How did he find out?

Even if it was luck that allowed him to know.

Can one have the heart to save someone while being in a state of terrible poisoning…?

Before she knew it, the empress had closed her eyes.

Of course, it wasn’t impossible.

If you truly love someone, there is no poison more deadly than love, so there was nothing she couldn’t do if she really loved.

Yet, she couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling.

“Surely, she hasn’t recovered from the poisoning….”

But if that were the case, there would be no reason for her to cruelly assault a maid in the empress’s palace.

Even a child could easily understand how far-reaching the consequences would be.

If the prince had his wits about him, it was a role he couldn’t help but play.

In fact, yesterday’s events were already circulating incessantly among the palace residents.

It would already be spreading far and wide throughout the empire.

As the notoriety of the prince increased, his son, the crown prince, would receive even more love.

Anyway, there was nothing to worry about.

She had already confirmed Elaine’s usefulness, so it could be seen as a situation to welcome.

As long as she used Elaine appropriately from now on.

Regardless of time and place, she would be able to freely extract the prince’s wickedness.

Sip-

The empress took a sip of her tea.

Despite having been brewed for quite some time, it still retained its warmth.

The deeply brewed tea water was steeped with the fresh fragrance of precious tea leaves.

The empress looked at the sunset again.

Before she knew it, the darkness began to suppress the red aura.

The fading sun, losing its light below, somehow resembled the appearance of the emperor, whom she once passionately loved.

“You are still a foolish man, then and now.”

Come to think of it.

The emperor’s health seemed noticeably improved recently.

I haven’t seen it myself, but I heard that he even ran inside the palace with the court physician.

Why on earth would he do that?

“The poison is still being transmitted through medicine…”

There was no way the maid carrying the medicine would betray him.

She must have known that betrayal could lead to the death of her family, and the rewards of loyalty were substantial.

Above all else,

The poison that had seeped into the emperor’s body had no antidote.

It had been so many years of poisoning; it was difficult for him to even walk, let alone run.

If not for the court physician, he would have collapsed and wandered in agony long ago.

Yet he ran…?

Perhaps it was one of those moments when people near death experience a sudden surge of strength, a flicker of vitality.

It wasn’t certain, but at this point, there was no other conclusion to draw.

In fact, it was strange enough that he ran with the court physician, but what was even more peculiar was the recent behavior of the emperor.

Now that his reign was over, it was understandable that he wanted to bestow some authority upon the crown prince.

Still, it seemed a bit excessive compared to expectations.

Strangely enough,

I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was trying to assert his dominance.

Rather than simply offering an escape for his son, who had lost everything and become a pauper.

For some reason, it felt like he was belatedly trying to regain the power he had ignored since the death of the former empress.

Just by sending the crown prince to the border, it felt that way.

He even tried to deceive us about the confrontation with the elves until this morning.

If he hadn’t planted a spy among the Tenafel Changelings, we wouldn’t have been able to respond at all.

Anyway, it was strange.

To solely push the opportunity to prevent war onto a crown prince with no ability.

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t shake the oddly forced and excessive feeling.

“Could it be that he’s trying to pass the throne to the crown prince…?”

…Could it be.

At that absurd and ridiculous thought that came to mind without my knowing, a bitter laugh escaped me, and my head shook so naturally.

Trying to reinstate such a notorious figure as the crown prince?

That was absolutely impossible.

It was too far gone to erase all those crimes as if they never happened.

Moreover, what means are there to pull down the prince who is currently traveling throughout the empire, raising his reputation?

Gulp-

Well, the reinstatement of the exiled prince is truly unthinkable.

So in the end, the reason for making a move was to provide the minimum justification for bestowing the title of Grand Duke… That in itself was strange.

How can that incapable and emotionally uncontrolled exiled prince possibly prevent a war?

Because of the mixed blood of humans and elves.

Even when Wiblea was alive.

The exiled prince was a being who could not be loved by either humans or elves.

From the moment of birth, it was fated to be hated by both humans and elves.

How could such a being mediate between humans and elves in a standoff?

It was likely to result in nothing but exacerbating the anger on both sides, leading to a tragic outcome.

Yet, the emperor…

He stubbornly insisted as if the exiled prince could definitely prevent a war just by going to the border.

And if that didn’t happen, he even made extreme statements about handing over the throne to the crown prince, insisting on imposing his will on his subordinates until the very end.

So there was only one answer.

Because he loved his daughter so terribly, he must have already reached out to the elven king, who, being exceptional in his affection for his kin, would surely shed tears the moment he saw the silver hair and green eyes so reminiscent of Wiblea.

Ironically enough,

That was perhaps the only reason why they had to spare the exiled prince.

“As long as we hold him as a hostage, there will never be a war with the elves.”

Therefore, giving him the title of Grand Duke and sending him outside the palace was absolutely out of the question.

Prince Eos had to be kept locked up in the palace until his death.

And establishing power meant that soon enough, his son, Servis, would become the emperor.

But Servis was far away at the moment.

It would take quite some time to reach the southern border.

No matter how much they hurried, they could not be faster than the exiled prince.

That’s why they had reached out to the guards beforehand.

With a dozen knights, there would be more than enough to keep the crippled prince from escaping.

Of course, Astia, known for her considerable skills, was a bit concerning, but overcoming the absolute numerical advantage was not an easy task for anyone.

No matter how great Astia was, she wouldn’t be able to win against ten people.

Still, just in case, she had prepared a way to provoke a battle with the elves in the worst-case scenario.

In any case, the Crown Prince should not make a move.

Of course, it probably wouldn’t come to that, but even if a battle broke out, there was faith that the Elven King would intervene.

Regardless of what happens, ultimately, the credit for preventing the war would be solely claimed by her son, Servis.

Horrk-

Finally, a deep smile appeared on the Empress’s lips as she emptied her teacup.

Her eyes, gleaming with delight, turned towards the dim sun, barely visible above the building now.

“I will make sure to eat the meal you have prepared, Your Highness. However, I will spare my son’s life, so please do not resent me too much.”

***

Before long, night had fallen upon the world.

Those who had been running tirelessly, including myself and my companions, all lay down, wrapping themselves in blankets, except for one.

One person stood guard, rotating every hour among the ten knights who had come as our escort.

Tap!

A thick branch placed on the bonfire finally gave in to the heat, emitting a cracking sound like a scream.

Astia, Glentino, and I lay around the bonfire, while the knights took their positions outside, surrounding us without any gaps.

They were so close together that it was almost impossible to slip through them to attend to any business.

Perhaps they intended to wake up immediately and prevent anyone from escaping at the slightest movement beyond someone’s body.

I had known from the start that these guys had some other hidden agenda.

But even so, arranging our sleep in this manner was not only discomforting but also somehow repulsive.

Nevertheless, I closed my eyes and tried to sleep.

It seemed I couldn’t help but meet their expectations, as if they were waiting for me to do just that.

Unknowingly, I drifted off to sleep.

I slowly opened my eyes at the urgent cries of the spirits echoing in my mind.

The bonfire had long gone out.

Under the chilly moonlight, Astia stood with a drawn sword, emitting an overwhelming presence.

“If you stop here, I’ll spare you.”

Approaching her with a smile was Rufus, drawing his sword.

“Astia, for the crime of attempting to assassinate the prince, I will arrest you. So, drop your sword.”

Was this his intention from the beginning?

Framing Astia to restrain her and returning to the palace under the pretext of being in danger of death. It seemed like something the queen and Duke Shurain would want.

It was far less noble than expected, but I had no intention of yielding easily.

Well, it didn’t seem necessary for me to intervene.

I had prepared for this, thinking it might happen.

During this time when the queen was intent on killing Duke Felios, I wasn’t just idly standing by.

I secretly killed several of Shurain’s irreplaceable herbs and gathered various items that would help in my future clandestine activities.

Among them were herbs with properties that disrupted the circulation of mana. I had already extracted their juice and brewed them into water long before setting out, not knowing when I might need them.

And using spirits, I had been steadily carrying minute amounts of the juice right up to the noses and mouths of the knights throughout our journey here.

Unaware, they had gradually become addicted without even having the chance to notice any changes just by breathing.

Not knowing that, the knights who used to torment Astia were now even mocking her.

“How pathetic.”

“When did you ever dare to try to kill the prince?”

“Yeah, if it weren’t for his highness, you wouldn’t have become a knight, wench.”

“You pretended to be so upright, but you were just trash.”

Tsk tsk. It won’t be easy to handle this situation.

In the end, Astia’s eyes turned cold.

Even with ten knights in front of her, she fiercely charged at them like an eagle swooping down on its prey.

Clang! Thud!

“Argh!!”

Rufus, who was closest, lost an arm along with his sword.

Unlike usual, it was because he couldn’t draw any mana at all.

Other articles hastily drew their swords to raise their mana, but they couldn’t do the same.

“Huh, why is the mana…?”

“Seriously, what’s going on…!”

Swish.

Astia, realizing the situation, simply drew her sword and began to strike the knights with her bare fists.

Thud! Thud!

It was a one-sided outburst, much like a human trampling an ant colony.

Crash!

As the knight flew through the air after being struck by Astia’s fist, spinning like a top around his spine, the other knights looked on in dismay.

“I-I’m just following orders from Lupus-”

Whack!

When a small fist struck the stomach of a much larger male knight, his metal armor crumpled like paper, and he soared into the air before plummeting to the ground.

Clang-

“Ugh….”

Those who could use mana and those who couldn’t.

It was a sight that clearly showed the gap between the two.

Regardless of gender or age, Astia distributed her punches fairly.

“D-Don’t do this! We’re c-comrades!”

“Ridiculous.”

Thwack!

“Eek!”

“Come on, it was just a joke, I was just teasing for fun! Stop it right now!”

“Nah~ I don’t think so.”

She fed each of those who couldn’t even think of running away a punch, then lifted up the fallen ones, thoroughly venting her anger.

And then, I fell asleep again without realizing it.