Ch.268268. Hanyang (3)

Between the current King and Queen of the Kingdom of Kore, a total of four sons and three daughters were born.

While seven children was not necessarily a small number even by the standards of this era, the times were such that even those of royal blood could die for absurd reasons.

It meant that just as magic could be used to defend against various forms of death, the possibility of dying by magical means or methods could not be ignored.

Therefore, having multiple children was the primary method to prevent the worst-case scenario for nations of the Eastern Continent—the extinction of the royal bloodline.

The bureaucratic system of the Kingdom of Kore had been established long ago, so to put it rather extremely, as long as the monarch wasn’t a complete fool, they could make a significant contribution to national stability just by sitting on the throne.

Therefore, the Kingdom of Kore would have traditionally followed the principle of primogeniture, appointing the first prince as crown prince, but…

Their greatest fortune was that this first prince, who would establish the principle of primogeniture, was a once-in-a-generation genius.

His academic achievements as a scholar handling “National Magic” were impressive enough, but what the first prince truly devoted his attention to was gunpowder weapons.

The Kingdom of Kore already emphasized long-range firepower and focused on projecting firepower, to the point where jokes circulated about their fanatical obsession with ranged firepower being a national policy.

But the first prince, the crown prince, had a particularly unparalleled interest in this area.

He chose gunpowder as an option to fill the gaps, knowing that magic, which had developed under the current king, might seem omnipotent but ultimately had its limitations.

Moreover, well aware that his interests caused concern among his ministers, he also didn’t neglect cultivating his academic achievements and qualities as a ruler.

In any case, with the legitimate heir to the imperial throne building his capabilities without any particular health issues, it was inevitable that the positions of the remaining children would be considerably shaken.

This was especially true for the second prince, who had essentially become the primary risk factor and his brother’s first reserve at this point, unlike the younger siblings who were too young to even be perceived as competitors for the throne.

The second prince, Prince Jinseong. While his brother was the typical genius model student type of prince, Prince Jinseong was the popular type that exists in every class.

He was the type who played well but wasn’t particularly negligent in his studies, had a wide circle of friends based on his distinctive personality, and was generally well-liked and popular.

Because of this, Prince Jinseong might have been given his own opportunities, but…

As fate would have it, his competitor was none other than a once-in-a-generation genius.

This overwhelming gap, where competition itself couldn’t even be established, crushed his self-esteem and left a deep wound in Prince Jinseong’s heart.

It was enough of a catalyst to twist his mind, which had once been full of free-spirited artistic temperament.

And so, Prince Jinseong deliberately began to act out.

There was an aspect of it being a survival tactic—intentionally destroying his political competitiveness to survive—but more than that, he had simply resolved to live his one and only life recklessly.

He frequented not just relatively decent gisaeng houses but also brothels without hesitation, relied on his background to associate with bad crowds, and committed all sorts of misconduct and atrocities through his delinquent behavior.

And… his actions were incredibly effective.

How effective? So effective that his mind became stained by the delinquent acts he had initially committed merely as a survival tactic.

His reputation, which had been ambiguous to begin with, plummeted as he wandered through the capital’s pleasure districts committing lewd acts and atrocities.

Clearly, being a prince (royal family member) granted him a certain degree of immunity from arrest, but things had gotten so bad that there was talk among ministers about stripping him of his royal title.

However, this man, whose childhood intelligence had manifested in the worst way, would temporarily restrain himself and maintain boundaries whenever such public opinion grew stronger…

But even this act of maintaining boundaries eventually led to the worst outcome as the lines gradually loosened and became more permissive.

One day, Prince Jinseong was summoned to the Grand Palace at the behest of his mother, the Queen.

The reason was that despite his political survival tactics of avoiding entanglement, his increasingly severe delinquent behavior had reached a point where such justifications could no longer be accepted.

“You, really…!”

“…”

The second prince, Jinseong, was her sore spot, but how could she ignore it when that sore spot was causing severe damage to the royal family’s reputation?

Thus, Prince Jinseong was reprimanded by her, but… having already lost his mind due to various factors piled up over time, he had no intention of listening to what his parents had to say.

But that’s not to say Prince Jinseong felt nothing at all. This burning filial son, who had become twisted from his immersion in delinquent behavior, blamed his parents as he wandered the palace corridors…

‘…Hmm?’

Upon seeing a woman of foreign appearance whose presence in the palace was inexplicable, he suddenly had lewd thoughts about her beauty.

Judging by the fact that nothing major seemed to have happened (as far as he knew), she didn’t appear to be very important, and since there was someone who looked like her companion beside her, he thought he’d try to provoke them.

Of course, needless to say, this was a thought only an empty-headed fool would have, but if he had been the type to realize that, he wouldn’t have fallen this far in the first place.

So he stood in what he thought was a dignified posture and called out in what he believed was an authoritative (but was actually just harsh) voice.

“You two there! Stop right there!”

“…?”

They stopped momentarily, perhaps curious about what he had to say, but Prince Jinseong, who had lost his senses, believed it was due to his authority (which he didn’t have) and stepped forward confidently.

Of course, what followed was far from what Prince Jinseong had intended.

“You, woman! State your name!”

No matter how confidently he shouted, who would listen? Within the kingdom, he might be a prince and the second son, but how much would that authority work on outsiders with their own authority and positions?

Far from the reaction he expected, he received only cold glares as if looking at a fool. At this point, this beast who had lost his reason began to act out in earnest.

His perverted hobby was to deliberately behave rudely or disgustingly, then use his position as a prince to either suppress or force his way through, enjoying the reactions of others.

But it was questionable whether that would work properly here. To properly provoke the people before him, he chose one extreme method.

“What are you doing? I’m offering to make you my concubine, so why aren’t you telling me your name?”

And this was the greatest mistake and misstep of his life.

-WHACK!!!

“…Insolent bastard.”

The foreign woman approached him at an unbelievable speed and punched Prince Jinseong directly in the face.

Her punch, full of anger, connected, and the recoil sent Prince Jinseong flying backward.

It was actually his greatest fortune that she had exercised her final restraint and controlled her strength so that his head didn’t burst open from the punch.

But not knowing this, he got up and shouted:

“W-what are you doing?! You insolent fool! How dare you strike me, a prince?! Even my royal father has never hit me!!”

His shameless and rude attitude, with no awareness that he had started the situation himself, and his irritating way of speaking began to anger them, and they didn’t hold back.

“So that’s how you were raised at home, which explains your current state.”

“W-what? How dare you insult my royal father—”

At this point, he couldn’t continue speaking. Because others could no longer tolerate his behavior, filled with false accusations and self-justification.

-WHACK!

“Ugh!”

Another punch landed on his face, and with a direct hit causing his nose to bleed, he fell to the ground and began blaming others.

More precisely, he tried to blame others.

-SLASH!

With a crisp sound of meat being cut, his right arm, which he had used to point fingers, fell to the ground.

Additionally, there was a strange phenomenon where blood seemed to burst from the cut surface but then diminished, but why would the prince pay attention to such details?

“Ah, aaaah—aaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

Pain, pain like fire rising from the cut surface.

Unfamiliar with such pain as a pampered prince, Prince Jinseong screamed and rolled around on the ground in an unseemly manner.

And while the prince was rolling around on the ground so disgracefully…

“What’s happening?!!”

The surrounding eunuchs and court ladies, who had heard the screams erupting from the prince, came rushing in, and this incident finally surfaced.