episode_0059

Teldoan Schleyn.

Seated inside the mansion.

He ruthlessly crumpled the note he was holding.

“Belkreed, this bastard is for real!”

Thud!

The wrathful edge of the sword was aimed at the Emperor of Mersenne.

He was so heated that he had even forgotten that the Crown Prince had joined in.

Observing Teldoan in such a state, a golden bird with ruby eyes and a white bird with amethyst eyes simultaneously nodded their heads.

One brought the imperial decree.

The other carried testimony sent by his father, Count Schleyn.

The words written on the already crumpled imperial decree were beyond comprehension, no matter how much he pondered over them.

No.

It was something he couldn’t accept, even if it meant feeling unjust.

Accepting the imperial decree, he hurried back to the capital with his weary body.

Every time he visited nearby territories to borrow provisions, the gazes that met him resembled those looking at a beggar’s face.

It was utterly humiliating.

He felt so disgraced that he could almost trample the territories underfoot.

Yet, he continued silently towards the capital, solely to abide by the imperial decree.

Of course, ever since deciding to return, the magical attacks raining down from the sky had ceased, allowing him to sleep well.

However, filling the empty stomachs of his troops was challenging.

The accumulated exhaustion only grew, offering little relief on uncomfortable bedding.

Leading the army tirelessly onward.

The capital was just a day away now.

How he longed to arrive quickly, he couldn’t say.

But this morning, both the Emperor’s and his father’s testimonies arrived almost simultaneously.

Could one not be enraged?

Just one more day.

Just one more day, and they would reach the capital.

But what’s this?

Split the army to uphold the changes?

When he’s this exhausted? Not even allowed to rest?

He felt an urge to lead the army straight into the capital and overthrow the Emperor right away.

“Sigh….”

Teldoan.

With a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, he examined the Count’s testimony.

The rolled parchment was much broader than the imperial decree, densely packed with writing.

Yet, the contents were truly bizarre.

“The Crown Prince is alive…? How, how can that be…!”

A few days ago, a strange testimony had come from his father.

It arrived the day after the decree to return.

The Crown Prince of Perem had sent an envoy.

Their purpose was to offer grace to the Crown Prince and propose an alliance and gemstone trade.

How shocked he had been upon reading that.

Showing grace to a supposedly dead Crown Prince.

It was truly absurd, so he promptly replied that he had personally killed the Crown Prince and was even keeping the body.

Despite double-checking the corpse, it undeniably belonged to the Crown Prince.

So, there must have been some misunderstanding or perhaps involvement from Perem’s Count.

If not that…

“Could it be that the one I killed was a fake…?”

He couldn’t rule out that possibility.

Even after all this time, the bloodied Glentino had insisted that the body was indeed the real Crown Prince’s.

In such dire circumstances, where his life was at stake and after enduring prolonged torture.

Those hyena-like creatures wouldn’t risk lying even with their lives on the line.

Still, he remained uneasy.

Deciding to finish reading the missive first,

Teldoan resolved to read through the unread portions continuously.

To his surprise, the lower section contained even more astonishing content.

Why split the army?

Because the Crown Prince has declared war again…?

Teldoan’s wide-eyed, trembling gaze turned towards the serene Servis, who stood by like a statue.

In the previous letter, it was written that Ferum’s army had been mobilized due to the Crown Prince’s declaration of war.

However, unless he was truly a fool, it was unlikely that he would send such an absurd letter.

“Your Highness, did you declare war on Ferum?”

He even asked Servis just in case.

Servis responded with a look that seemed to question how someone could fluently spout such nonsense.

“……”

His expression now was similar.

What kind of words had he heard this time to make him stare at himself with such eyes?

Terdwan read the sentence again.

It was undoubtedly a declaration of war spread to various countries in the empire, unmistakably written in Servis’s handwriting, with the Crown Prince’s seal stamped at the end.

The Crown Prince’s seal.

Was it possible to steal the Crown Prince’s seal from the imperial palace where the influence of the Empress and Duke Shleyn lingered everywhere?

That was absolutely impossible.

“……”

Silence fell upon Terdwan’s wavering pupils.

It wasn’t just once; it had happened twice.

Eventually, his mind filled in the gaps with its own lacking logic.

“At eighteen, it’s not unusual to get into trouble.”

Indeed, the easiest excuse was the lack of experience due to his young age.

No matter how astute the Crown Prince was, the conclusion was that a youthful heart could easily commit such reckless acts.

As his thoughts converged, a shadow fell over Terdwan’s face.

And if that was the case.

All the suffering he had endured so far was because of this naive Crown Prince before him.

“Your Highness.”

The previously calm voice now carried a threatening growl akin to a predator whose prey had been stolen.

“Speak.”

“What in the world have you done?”

“What have I… What should I have done? What should I have been doing?”

The Crown Prince’s voice, unlike usual, was cold and devoid of warmth.

Faced with his absurd response, Terdwan’s anger surged to the point where he crossed a line he shouldn’t have.

“Servis, why did you commit such a foolish act?”

Though he was addressing the Crown Prince informally, given their relationship, it was not an unusual occurrence between the two.

If one were to set aside their status, Terdwan was clearly the superior as the stepfather.

“……”

Therefore, Servis remained unfazed.

From the days when the young boy frolicked in Duke Shleyn’s garden, their relationship had always been like this, devoid of any aversion.

Like a fatherly stepfather.

No, he wished he were a fatherly stepfather.

But in the end, he was a fatherly stepfather.

“What are you talking about?”

Servis’s violet eyes met Terdwan’s violet eyes.

Their gazes clashed intensely yet silently in mid-air.

“You fool! All because of you!”

Seeing Servis still unwilling to admit his mistake, Terdwan finally raised his hand.

Smack!

Given the narrow table, it was possible.

Servis’s head jerked back from the force of the slap, but his seated body remained as immovable as a deeply rooted tree.

“What are you thinking? Are you planning to bring down the empire?”

“Haha.”

Turning his head back, Servis chuckled leisurely.

He seemed as if he had just heard a funny joke.

“Although you may be the heir to Duke Shleyn, isn’t it a bit much to raise your hand against the Crown Prince?”

Enraged, Terdwan slapped him across the cheek again.

Smack!

As Servis turned his head once more, Terdwan, still seething, stood his ground.

“Do you think you can become Emperor with such poor judgment? Even after all this, you dare to touch my…!”

Terdoan, who had been blurting out in a fit of anger, stopped speaking abruptly, realizing his mistake.

It was a clear error.

Due to accumulated fatigue from enduring for too long, it seemed that his nerves had become extremely sensitive.

Fortunately, he stopped at the most crucial moment.

So now, if he just ended the sentence with the word “nephew,” there shouldn’t be a big issue.

“Ne-”

“Are you calling him your son?”

Before he could even recover from the interrupted words, Servis concluded the sentence by using a word that should never have been revealed.

“….”

For a moment, Terdoan’s mind went blank, losing his words.

The words “Did you know?” rose to the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud.

He knew better than anyone that the weight of those words was far from light.

Servis slowly rose from his seat.

And.

Shiiing! With lightning speed, he drew his sword and thrust it into Terdoan’s silent heart.

“Ugh… Ugh… Gah…”

Terdoan, who collapsed in his chair, had a face filled with astonishment.

He couldn’t understand why he was being killed. The reason was utterly beyond his grasp.

His curiosity was so overwhelming that he even forgot about the pain.

“Why? Did you think I wouldn’t know? No. Could there have been a chance I didn’t know? You even blurted it out at the Imperial Palace.”

“Hah… Ah… Cough!”

Amidst excruciating pain, just as Terdoan began to grasp the meaning, he belatedly realized that his life was slipping away through his chest.

Servis softly spoke into Terdoan’s ear, who was writhing in despair.

“Well, if I were to become your father, I should have become the emperor long ago… What a hassle is this?”

“Ugh, ugh…!”

A deeper despair than having his heart pierced painted Terdoan’s face black.

It was because he finally became certain.

Just as he had planned to kill the crown prince.

Servis, too, now realized that he had planned in advance to kill his own father.

“If you all disappear, who would know that I’m not the emperor’s true son? I will soon send away my uncle and mother, so please wait a little, even if you’re lonely.”

Even after killing his own father, Servis showed little remorse on his face.

His voice remained cold and unchanged, devoid of any emotion.

Finally, looking down at the sprawled Terdoan with wide eyes.

Servis ruthlessly wiped away the blood flowing profusely along the blade from Terdoan’s heart.

His subordinate, who entered late at Servis’s call, seemed momentarily shocked, but he didn’t miss the fact that the longtime enemy of Shulayne was lying dead.

The crown prince’s face and body were stained with blood.

Clearly, Terdoan was the owner of that blood.

But the moment he spoke the truth, he, too, would inevitably fall as a cold corpse.

“An assassin… killed the Grand Marshal and fled…”

“You seem quite capable.”

“I command all forces to capture the assassin immediately!”

Servis nodded once before sitting back at the table, examining the letters sent by the Emperor and the Duke.

“What… Am I declaring war? Have these lunatics seen such madness?”

Servis’s mind quickly raced.

It appeared without a doubt that he had fallen into a trap.

But escaping that trap…

Didn’t seem all that difficult.

“It’s similar.”

For now, maintaining his position as the crown prince was paramount.

To do so, he would have to somehow protect Mersen according to the imperial decree.

That was also a way to protect himself.

If he were to return to the palace now, all that awaited him was punishment.

However, by defending the borders and achieving significant military feats, he could shape public opinion to believe that all those declarations of war were manipulated by someone with ill intentions.

Perhaps, even if one were to face punishment for failing to dispel suspicions, it would be possible to somewhat lower the intensity.

With that, Service’s head tilted slightly.

It was because recent events and the contents of the letter seemed oddly relevant.

The mysterious sorcerers who persistently obstructed his path to Eisen.

And someone who had falsely accused him, making an absurd declaration of war against him.

Undoubtedly, they must be on the same side.

But why exactly?

He had lived his life establishing a formidable reputation from a young age, wandering battlefields.

There were no rumors of him backing down yet.

Naturally, what came to mind was the face of Prince Eos.

If the Crown Prince himself suffered losses, the person who would benefit the most.

That despicable wretch who shamelessly seized victories using Elven abilities in the tournament, that trash-like scoundrel.

Service was certain.

There was no doubt.

He would be behind all of this.

“How amusing. Quite amusing.”

Next, Elaine’s face came to mind.

“Shall we give it a try? Eos. A game where the winner takes all, risking everything.”