Chapter 158: The Past

“It’s okay! I never cared about the throne in the first place!”

“…Huh?”

Confused by his unexpected response, I initially wondered if I had misunderstood something.

Maybe his mother hadn’t died, but some incident had pushed him down in the line of succession, and the rumors had twisted it into his mother’s death.

Having been reincarnated, I don’t have particularly strong feelings about the concept of parents. Even in my past life, I wasn’t close to my parents due to various circumstances. Still, this reaction seemed odd to anyone.

Expecting him to clarify, I waited. But his next words completely defied my common sense.

“I feel bad for Nana and the other retainers, but in a way, I think it might be for the best that mother passed away. There’s nothing more tragic for the people than having a king who has no desire to rule.”

“…How is that for the best?”

Euclid tilted his head, seemingly unable to understand my confusion, while I tilted mine in disbelief.

This conversation wasn’t going anywhere. I was about to ask Euclid directly about the rumors when…

Ding!! The school bell echoed through the corridor, as if sensing the awkward atmosphere between us.

“Oh? It’s that time already. Well, Ian, I’ve got to get to class. See you later!”

“Uh…”

As Euclid waved enthusiastically like a child and headed to his classroom, I stood there dumbfounded. Nana, who had been silently observing, tapped me on the shoulder.

“I need a moment of your time. It won’t take long.”

“…Alright.”

Since I could always skip class if needed, I followed Nana, prepared for a serious conversation.

We stopped at a quiet corner of the campus where no one was around due to ongoing classes. We sat on a nearby bench.

Unlike usual, instead of the cheerful chatter of students, only the chirping of sparrows could be heard in the peaceful garden. Nana fidgeted with her hands, struggling to speak.

She seemed hesitant to reveal what might be her master’s private matters.

But after a moment, clenching her fist as if making a decision, Nana turned to me and spoke:

“First… Is the rumor you heard about His Highness’s mother passing away?”

“Yes. Why? Am I misunderstanding something?”

“No, the rumor is correct. She did pass away.”

Although Euclid had already confirmed this, hearing it again from Nana was still somewhat shocking.

I couldn’t understand how Euclid, who had always been bright and kind to everyone, could secretly be happy about his mother’s death.

“If you don’t want to talk about what happened, you don’t have to.”

Whatever had occurred between them must be uncomfortable to discuss. When I said this, Nana looked at me with surprise.

“…You’ve changed a bit.”

“How so?”

“In the past, I wondered how this lunatic had survived so long without getting his head bashed in. Now, you seem… softer? More mellow than before.”

“Is that how you’ve been seeing me all this time?”

“Think about all the things you’ve done. How else should I have seen you? If anyone didn’t see you that way, it would only be His Highness.”

Between Jessica and Nana, I really couldn’t understand what I’d done in the past to make them talk about me like this.

“Anyway, if you’re asking about what happened between His Highness and his mother, there’s no need to keep it secret. I don’t think you’d go around spreading it…”

“Thanks for trusting me on that. So, what happened?”

“I only know what I heard from my predecessor, but it seems His Highness has been severely abused by his mother since childhood.”

“Abused?”

I tilted my head at one of the words least likely to be associated with royalty in this world.

Regardless, Nana continued, her voice tinged with regret as she looked off into the distance.

“That woman was determined to make the 5th Prince Euclid the king.”

As the fifth in line, Euclid was far behind his brothers in the line of succession. To make up for this difference, he had to give his all.

Starting with the study of kingship, then economics, territory management, history, etiquette – the list of subjects was endless. A child not even ten years old had to handle this vast amount of study.

Naturally, Euclid, being neither a genius nor anything special, couldn’t manage such a brutal amount of study. Each time he failed, he was punished.

Of course, it wasn’t Euclid who received the punishment, but the servants attending to him.

In a way, this was even more malicious than direct punishment. Rather than being beaten himself, Euclid had to watch innocent servants being beaten in his place for his mistakes.

I couldn’t even imagine how the young Euclid felt watching a servant being whipped until their legs bled, all because of him.

“While making him watch the servants being beaten, she would whisper in his ear, ‘This is what happens to your retainers when you make mistakes.’ Honestly, it’s a miracle that His Highness didn’t end up twisted and grew up to be who he is now.”

“Huh… But good education alone doesn’t make someone king. Was there really a chance for him?”

“…Surprisingly, there was.”

His mother’s family had considerable influence, and more importantly, she had a talent for gathering people.

She united those who hadn’t aligned with any faction or were waiting to see how things played out, forming her own power bloc.

Add to that her marriage into the powerful Sword Saint family, and the number of people wanting to join Euclid’s faction grew day by day.

As more people pinned their hopes on him, Euclid’s burden grew heavier. Soon, he began to tremble with anxiety at just the sound of his mother’s voice.

“So now that she’s gone and people are leaving the faction, he must feel relieved.”

Since the faction was formed more by Euclid’s mother than by his own abilities or charisma, it was bound to fall apart once its central figure disappeared.

“The feeling of liberation from his mother’s shackles probably outweighs any sense of loss. Given these circumstances, please don’t think too badly of His Highness.”

“It’s not something you’d say when a friend’s mother dies, but she sounds like someone better off dead. But what about you? It looks like your career path has been blocked too.”

“My appointment to the knight order has been canceled, but it’s not like we can bring back the dead. And… while she gave me an opportunity, honestly, I never really liked her.”

“Sounds complicated for you too. One last question – what was her cause of death?”

“Cause of death?”

Nana looked puzzled by my question but answered anyway.

“…You could call it death from overwork.”

“…Death from overwork?”

“She was as hard on herself as she was on others. Technically, it was an accidental fall, but if she hadn’t been running around so much to the point of exhaustion, it wouldn’t have happened. So you could say it was death from overwork.”

“…Is there no possibility that someone staged it as an assassination?”

“No. Do you think they’d be careless in investigating the death of a royal family member and the head of a faction?”

There was no slippery substance like oil on the stairs, and no trace of mana was detected on the body or in the surrounding area.

Moreover, the royal healing wizard and priest testified that she had been complaining of fatigue-induced dizziness for days before the accident. There was no reason to doubt it was an accidental fall.

If this was an assassination, it would be the most perfect one in this world.

“The chances of it being an assassination are close to zero, then.”

“Yes. It’s ironic that someone who burned with such ambition met such an anticlimactic end, but isn’t that how life goes sometimes?”

Something still felt off, but I suppose even a valiant general could die from a meteor strike in his own backyard. Death from overwork leading to an accidental fall seemed plausible enough.

“Why are you suddenly asking about this?”

“Huh? Oh, I was just thinking if someone had assassinated her, Euclid might be in danger too…”

“I appreciate your concern, but there’s no need to worry. I’m by His Highness’s side.”

As she got up to leave, Nana spoke to me in a low voice:

“I know His Highness’s behavior seems strange right now. But please, don’t distance yourself from him because of this. I’m asking you.”

“Everyone’s family situation is different… I’ll treat him the same as always, so don’t worry.”

“…Thank you.”

Nana bowed her head slightly and left, leaving me alone on the bench in this vast, quiet garden.

Was I overthinking things?

After all, there was no guarantee that they even knew about the demon sleeping inside Euclid. Maybe I was worrying for nothing.

‘But I can’t let my guard down.’

As long as their leader was a Possessed, our fates were bound to clash again someday.

I stood up, vowing to remain vigilant until that time comes.