Episode 6 Episode
4. Yuma, the future empress, put the sword Haka had given her on her back and moved on. He knew the way to the capital.
Forty years ago, I had passed this road in a carriage sent by the capital.
As soon as Mero put in the eunuch recommendation, the carriage arrived less than a month later. Yuma never thought that Mero would recommend him as a eunuch.
At that time, I looked at the scenery outside, feeling like a cow being led to the slaughterhouse.
It was the moment when all my dreams of becoming a soldier and changing the world even a little bit disappeared.
Anyway, the limitations of being a commoner were clear.
For a while after becoming a eunuch, Yuma couldn’t feel any emotions.
Even when he saw famous knights and many noble ladies, when he ate all kinds of high-end cuisine provided by the imperial castle, or when he pretended to hold a sword in a corner of the eunuch’s quarters.
Yuma never smiled once while learning the duties of a eunuch.
Until he met Hella Rose, who was the princess at the time.
In the end, after the Dragon Horse War, the Empress, who went a little crazy, accused him of being a traitor and punished him.
‘The past is already constantly changing.
We have to prepare for the dragon horse war, and to do that, we have to stop the nobles from killing the talented, we have to lower the class system, and we have to use some red pepper… No, what are you thinking about this. Rather, if the past continues to change like this, can I change myself?’
It was a problem that I thought about nonstop for days until I arrived in the capital.
Even though he was a 16-year-old commoner, he laughed at himself thinking about what a king or prime minister would do.
Anyway, thanks to eating the fruit of return, it was Yuma who knew about the next 40 years of imperial history.
In addition, there are many knowledge that I learned thanks to my long life as a eunuch. Yuma felt a sense of responsibility.
‘First of all, you have to go to a position where you can use power. It could be one way to gain power by hitting the peak with force, but it’s not enough.’
Malone, who was regarded as the best in the history of the empire, had no choice but to give in to Yuma until he was sixteen.
If it was Yuma, he would be able to obtain the title of Sword God faster than Malone.
However, even after Malone obtained the title of swordsman and saved the empire from the Dragon Horse War, he could not change anything at will.
The higher the prestige, the more blatant and vulgar checks from the orthodox aristocrats.
Of course, Malone’s demeanor and brain were a bit foolish, but the limits of being a born-again soldier were clear.
It was the oil-faced aristocrats with good bloodline who really controlled the empire.
When he was a young eunuch, Yuma saw many cases where the elders of noble families whom he had never heard of, rather than the heroes who saved the country, were in power.
‘Marlon will definitely become the center of the Black Wolf in a few years. It is a much better hand to use than becoming a knight or knight commander in the empire. The Black Wolf Team is essential for the Dragon Horse War. As long as that idiot doesn’t do crazy things in the mercenary corps.’
It was much easier to use power the less exposed it was, unless it was a noble family with a long history or a grand duke who was the husband of an empress.
Flashy modifiers such as swordsmen and archmages were bound to receive much more light. It was poison to the common people.
Of course, it was the best way to live if you just wanted to enjoy personal wealth and fame.
‘It’s a way for me, a born-in-law, to be able to move power without making a big deal out to the world… I’m Zero. The eunuch is just right, but I can’t cut it again. The eunuchs have clear limits.’
Yuma wiped the sweat from his forehead. Hale Castle was visible in the distance.
Hale, where the eunuchs had been working for over 40 years just recently.
“First of all, we have to solve the Mero problem. It is good to be young.”
When Yuma arrived in Hale, the capital city, three full days had passed.
Even though they moved secretly, keeping in mind the pursuit of the garrison, there was little fatigue. It is not an old body that used to tremble when you wake up in the morning.
“It must be about this…
Yuma wandered around the castle. This was because as long as you were holding a weapon, you could not pass through the gate without identification.
Yuma put her hand on the wall and pressed several places with all her might.
rattle!
“oh!”
It was the lock on the secret passage.
It was made when Hale Castle was first built, but no one used it.
Because the passage is terribly cramped, and there are five more secret passages that are much more efficient.
This passage was, so to speak, a design error. There was even a story that it was made for an ancient Dwarf who was one of the founding contributors to the Kyle Empire.
The Empress once told Yuma this passage and said,
-If you need to escape within the castle, run through this passage. Even if it’s country.
It was said in a joking tone, but Yuma remembered it.
Yuma crawled along the aisle for a long time, jumping in a prone position.
When I came out, the bright light dazzled my eyes. A secret passageway led to an excreta disposal facility near the imperial castle.
‘You’re already committing a few crimes from the start. Attempted knight murder, blasphemy, trespassing into the imperial castle… I won’t be able to say anything even if I get ripped off limbs right away.’
Nobles and commoners all smelled the same shit. Yuma walked away, covering his nose from the terrible stench of defecation.
‘…would you like to take a look? I don’t know when I’ll be able to hear the Hwangseong again.’
When Hella Rose was a princess, she liked to take walks in the central garden alone.
The treasure of the beautiful and intelligent princess Kyle. An existence praised by all Kyle.
Hella Rose, the wise monarch who saved the lives of Yuma and Marlon several times before going mad.
Yuma wanted to see her in her youth, even from afar.
It was a certain passion as a person to person that is difficult to express simply as loyalty or love.
Yuma climbed a low mountain near an excreta disposal facility. From the top of the mountain, the imperial castle was overlooked.
It was so far away that even if a person stood in the central garden, it would look like a dot.
When he climbed the mountain, Yuma had to face a sword pointed at his neck in an instant.
“Who are you?”
A man wearing golden armor, the symbol of the Imperial Guard Knight.
As soon as Yuma saw his face, he almost freaked out.
He was a barris who later became the head of the Royal Guard Knights under the appointment of Hella Rose.
The person who took the lead in the purge of the three families and came to the eunuch’s quarters with the empress to kneel.
‘Followed. I did something crazy, not Marlon. If the first princess and the royal guards were caught trespassing the imperial castle without permission, they would die.’
He never thought that he would face the first princess and Varys here.
It was because, as far as Yuma knew, no guards were stationed near the waste disposal facility.
It was even more absurd to encounter the Imperial Guard, who were not ordinary guards.
“I asked who are you? For what purpose did you come?”
“That’s…
“Varis, pause.”
As soon as he heard the command, Varys drew his sword and maintained a vigilant posture.
The owner of the clear and elegant voice was none other than Jischka Rose, the older sister of the 1st and 2nd Princess Hella Rose.
‘Why are Baris and the first princess here together?’
The top of a small mountain near the waste disposal facility was a land no one was looking for.
Even when Yuma was a eunuch, only Marlon and Yuma came up very occasionally to drink comfortably.
He couldn’t understand that Varys and the first princess were together. Because they were completely enemies politically.
“Be polite to me!”
Yuma immediately fell down and hit his forehead on the ground.
But I didn’t flinch. It was because he knew the erratic personality of Zika Rosé.
If I shuddered and showed fear, I could have died without saying a word.
Varys ripped off the sword from Yuma’s back with a violent hand.
“Raise your head. What is your name?”
Even if Mero had reported it to the garrison, the news wouldn’t have reached the capital yet.
Yuma pondered for a moment whether to tell her her real name.
However, even if the news reached the capital, it didn’t seem like the first princess or Varis would care about Mero.
“My name is Yuma, low.”
“Were you someone’s bastard?”
“A commoner is coming.”
“It’s strange that commoners look familiar.
Why are you here?”
Yuma pondered for a moment about what answer he would have to give to survive.
Zishka Rose was a princess with a strange personality.
Sometimes infinitely merciful, sometimes infinitely ruthless.
The reason why the second princess Hella Rose, not the first princess, took the throne as empress was because of the anger caused by her personality.
“I came to the imperial castle on business.”
“Oh, that is very rude. You said you came all the way here because there was work in Hwangseong. And that’s not the front door, but to the back mountain like a rat. What is it?”
“When I was seven years old, my parents were killed by a magic bombardment. I was also destined to die, but I heard that a wizard saved our village. I heard that the magician was an imperial magician, so I came all the way here to pray toward him.”
Zishka Rosé snorted as if it were absurd.
“That is an interesting story. Is that why you came all the way here wearing a sword? If it’s prayer, can’t you do it anywhere?”
“I brought the sword to sell. I wanted to pray in a place where I could see the entire imperial castle.”
“The princess is a suspicious person. I have nothing more to say.”
“Lord Varys, why do you set my right to speak?”
“I’m sorry, Princess.”
When Varys lowered her head, Zishka Rose suddenly giggled and waved her hand.
“It’s a joke, a joke. Did you know the name of the imperial mage who saved your village?”
“Yes, I heard Adeline Woods.”
“Ah, that’s Adeline from the Ouse family.
An excellent wizard. I will tell her what you have written about. Don’t even come close to this place again. Trespassing the imperial family is essentially a summary execution.”
“Thank you lower!”
When Varys returned the sword, Yuma bowed three times and quickly descended the mountain.
“I will follow you.”
“Don’t do that. He just seemed like a naive boy. Seeing how calm he is, it doesn’t seem like a lie. Instead, starting today, you should place security personnel here as well.”
“All right.”
“…My brother must be at ease in the garden right now.”
“The second princess doesn’t seem to have any will for the imperial power.”
“That’s something you don’t know…
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