episode_0010

Nevertheless, the escape itself was not that difficult.

The Marquis flying away caused a tremendous confusion in the Marquisate’s command system. Furthermore, the Marquis had disappeared without telling anyone and had moved with the people from the other world, and since the explosion had shattered his body into pieces, his disappearance was initially considered as ‘missing’ rather than ‘death’. Only a few of the Marquis’s closest aides knew where he had gone and what had happened to him, but not many could openly talk about it.

As a result, the Marquisate officially began searching for the culprit who murdered the Marquis three days after it was confirmed that the Marquis had died on the day of the explosion.

It was barely deduced from the clothes found with the shattered body and some parts of the Marquis’s facial skin.

“….”

And I was reading about this process in the newspaper.

“You chose a very grand way.”

As I turned the newspaper page expressionlessly, Lucas sitting next to me said so.

Of course, I changed my clothes and left the Marquisate immediately when the Marquis died.

With vast territories, there were many people living in the territories, and as a result, productivity increased. Since the Industrial Revolution, factories were built everywhere, entering the era of mass production, but many workers were needed to operate those factories. And most of these workers were commoners living in the territories.

No matter how wealthy commoners – referred to as bourgeoisie – were in the era of building factories and employing people to make more money, in the end, nobles and commoners were the starting point. The nobles who originally owned both land and money established their own companies and built factories. Even if commoners wanted to build a factory, the landowners where the factory would be built were mostly nobles.

Therefore, nobles like the Marquis, who had vast territories, often had a group of wealthy followers that even wealthy commoners could not easily catch up with.

“It’s obviously a murder with a chain explosion of carriages, not cars.”

Of course, Lucas, who made such a comment, did not blame me. The crazy bastard didn’t care how he killed people.

Of course, if Lucas were to kill someone, he would almost always choose to use a sword.

Someone as prominent as the Marquis is murdered by someone. In such cases, the family of a person as prominent as the Marquis cannot easily retaliate or have strong supporters who cannot be doubted.

And those higher than the Marquis are only the Duke and the Emperor.

Even if they are called Dukes, they do not always have a better political position than the Marquis. The distinction between Dukes and Marquises is simply a matter of not having royal blood, and the Marquis may have more power in terms of the size of the territory and actual power. Of course, ‘generally’ the power of a Duke is much stronger, but sometimes the power of a Viscount can be stronger than that of a Marquis.

Even so, a Duke does not have a social status that allows them to easily kill a Marquis. Ultimately, a Duke is just a noble of this country. In the midst of the sharp division between the Emperor’s faction and the noble faction, if a Duke were to kill someone without trying to pull them to their side, they would only be strengthening the opposing faction.

Therefore, the only one who can kill this Marquis ‘in circumstances’ is the Emperor.

The problem is that it is just ‘in circumstances’ and there is no evidence at all.

From ancient times until now, the Emperor’s power has been strong. It is to the extent that one can say ‘if you go against me, death is the only option’.

Moreover, without any solid evidence, blaming the Emperor just because ‘it seems likely’ was too risky due to the Emperor faction’s strong position.

In fact, the only ones who believed in this were the nobles who extremely hated the Emperor.

When the Emperor ordered me to remove the Marquis, the evidence of the Marquis’s wrongdoing was already in the Emperor’s hands. Therefore, if the Marquis’s associates come to confront the Emperor, he would simply show them the evidence. If you don’t want the situation to become more shameful than death, the Marquis of Crowfield should keep quiet for at least a few years.

Even his daughter didn’t know why her father had died.

“A boiler explosion is different from an explosion using a bomb. Even if an explosion occurred in a car, if a bomb was used, it would be easily discernible.”

All transportation vehicles that use steam engines are equipped with boilers. They are filled with coal mixed with mana stones, or pure mana stones, which always pose a risk of explosion. In fact, explosions often occurred.

The car that Lucas and I were riding in also had such a risk of explosion. However, the explosion of a boiler or mana stone is different from that of a conventional explosive. Well, I’m not an expert on the subject.

When I tried to casually respond, Lucas shrugged his shoulders.

“No, well, I didn’t mean to say that… well, forget it. Your father probably wanted a ‘warning’ in that way. He probably knows why Jayden finds you so adorable… well, it’s a bit unsettling when he speaks like that.”

As Lucas raised his hand as if to pat my head, I quickly pushed it away.

*

“Excellent.”

The Emperor said to me.

“Even though I didn’t specify how to kill, you acted according to my will. I believe that you would have followed my instructions no matter how I told you to kill.”

“Thank you.”

The Emperor’s words were both right and wrong.

Considering my ability to extract the results of countless attempts until I succeeded, theoretically, I could kill in any way the Emperor instructed. I could also escape unscathed and not be caught by anyone.

“Indeed, she is my daughter. Her father is proud.”

“…”

To ask a twelve-year-old to kill someone, praise them upon completing the task, and then call them back like this.

Even thinking about the character of the Emperor seen in the game, those words must be sincere. The Emperor is not one to lie.

“Thank you.”

So, I just thanked him for those words.

“You’ve had a hard time traveling. Listen to the detailed report after you’ve rested.”

“Understood.”

I bowed deeply once again, turned around, and left the room with the military-like steps I had practiced many times.

Every movement was restrained and elegant. The tone was always formal. The face was expressionless. That was the ‘character’ I had adopted. Since there were only monsters who could read emotions through people’s facial expressions and body movements around me, it was a protective measure I had created to protect myself as much as possible.

And although I had killed the Marquis openly, I had not spoken about it to anyone, not even the common guards or maids.

Well, I wondered if there was anyone left in my circle who could fight and win against the Emperor one-on-one.

Therefore, we were accustomed to opening and closing the door ourselves in this ‘family-only’ private chamber.

“Oh, excuse me! I have to see Abamama.”

“Whoa, calm down, Your Highness. Princess Silvia is currently arguing with the Queen—”

“I am the daughter of Abama! Whoever is inside, I have the right to enter, right?”

“Your Majesty has ordered not to let anyone else in, right?”

“….Ah….”

As I opened the door and stepped out, such a conversation was unfolding.

“Princess.”

I immediately bowed slightly towards the ‘princess’ in front of me.

And the ‘princess’ also looked a little embarrassed when she saw me.

To explain once again, both Lucas and I are ‘children of the emperor’. Naturally, our formal titles are princess and prince.

However, that doesn’t mean that all of us ‘children’ are treated as real princesses or princes. Even though we were officially adopted children, we do not have the right to inherit the empire.

The true right to inherit the empire belongs only to those who truly inherit the blood of the emperor, in other words, the real ‘children of the emperor’ like the princess in front of me.

We, like Lucas and I, are basically nothing more than the emperor’s personal assassination squad. Well, they may think of us as real children, but our purposes are different.

Unlike me, with completely black hair and eyes, who cannot even claim to have the blood of the emperor, the princess in front of me had long, shining golden hair with a noble touch at the ends.

Well, my appearance is somewhat noble too. But still, the difference was huge compared to the princess who was born into the imperial family. Even though I had been under the emperor’s care since I was five, I, who was no different from an adult man in terms of content, could not compare to the princess in terms of noble aura, even if I tried to act like a soldier recalling my training days, I couldn’t match her level of nobility.

With her seemingly untouched white skin and clear deep blue eyes that seemed like they had never seen sunlight, this girl truly seemed to be the emperor’s daughter.

“….”

In this world, the princess, Alice Pangriffon, who was the same age as me, looked at me with jealousy in her eyes. It was understandable.

Even though she was a princess, she was still a child. Even though her father, the lord, poured his love on her, calling many other children ‘his children’ and spending much more time with them than with her, it was strange if she didn’t get angry. On the other hand, it was abnormal for me to assassinate people and return without any feelings.

“….Can I go in now? The scolding is over.”

And Alice, who was particularly sharp, was directing her sharp words at me.

We were of similar age and gender, but our actions were completely opposite, and she didn’t even listen to the scolding she occasionally received. It was enough to make her jealous with her young heart.

… And this was similar to the relationship between Claire and Alice in the original work.

Hmm…

“Yes, of course.”

I politely said to Alice and turned my body to step aside and open the door. And my actions seemed to further provoke Alice’s anger. Well, I was getting annoyed, and if the other person remained calm, it would only make me feel worse. It was similar to the reason why the laid-back villain in subcultures gets angry.

In a way, I was also a villain now.

The girl who acted like this would eventually reconcile with Claire as she grew up.

But that reconciliation event was when Claire died.

…

Could it be that I will die too?

“….”

Alice gave me one last glare and then raised her chin as she passed by my side.

After Alice entered, she slowly and carefully closed the door. It seemed like right before closing it, a voice shouting “Mommy!” could be heard.

“You’re so gentle with that kid, while being harsh with your other siblings,” grumbled Lucas.

…Are you really jealous of a twelve-year-old when you’re twenty-two?

“Pitiful, isn’t it?” I said, not bothering to explain in detail.

“Sigh…”

Lucas made a sound as if he couldn’t believe how he interpreted my words.