My Villains Episode 398
63. Knights of the Silver Prince (5)
2 weeks ago High Castle.
‘Jung Then… is there someone who can help me understand the scriptures?’
In order to hear the answer to this puzzling statement left by Princess Theodora, I followed her gaze and headed for the residence.
I was greeted by Sir Gisela, the proud daughter of the renowned knight family ‘Wingd’ and also known as the ‘Bird Hawk’. As if she had expected my visit, she took the lead in silence. The place I arrived at was a small study that was estimated to be 6 pyeong at most.
“……majesty?”
Prince Ulkar sat alone at a desk strewn with a couple of bundles of papers bound with string and rolls of parchment. He smiled vaguely over the flickering candlelight.
“Sir Phoenix.”
“No- when did you wake up?”
“Well, maybe an hour or two?”
“What about the body? Are you all right?”
“It’s okay, there’s nothing to do. It was just accumulated fatigue.”
I groaned a little as I pulled a chair near the bookshelf and sat across from the prince.
“Lord Ankir wanted to do something stupid, but it was Your Highness’s order. Please at least listen. Did you get a fever for no reason?”
“It was too late for that
.” “What does time matter when a large army is right in front of you?”
“I thought you might need some rest too.”
“Hi, our prince is very considerate. I am so grateful that I don’t know what to do.”
Ulkar said with a low laugh.
“Don’t be too upset, as the enemy’s tribals would have been fooled by your acting that wasn’t yours.”
“Is that your purpose? To deceive the enemy’s tricks?”
“Rather than the purpose, let’s say it was faith.”
“Faith?”
“Yes, believe me. I believed that even if I didn’t know the secrets of the wonder, it wouldn’t ruin things.”
When the prince smiled broadly like that, I twisted my face.
“…My prince is not only considerate, but also speaks very well. Did you go to an oratory academy?”
“I was born and raised in a place where the tongue is the most powerful weapon, so I should do this.”
“Where the tongue is the most powerful weapon?”
“I mean the palace. Even if you look at it like this, I’m a prince, did you not know?”
“……Ughhh.”
As I sighed in irritation and crossed my arms, Ulkar laughed again.
For a moment he tapped a wad of papers.
“I was just checking the battle log written by Sir Ariad and Sir Lyam. Your performance was great.”
“Is it a day or two?”
Even the assassins hiding in the city, the dragon knights who flew in the night sky and scattered runes, and the mercenaries who attacked through the runes.
While talking about the battle in the castle, the prince asked a question with a slightly hard face.
“…I heard that the Lord avenged the enemy of the Marquis Landry.”
” ah.”
It’s about the sword master. I scratched my eyebrows and nodded.
“Yes what. To be precise, it was Rannon who killed me, not me.”
“Lannon?”
“Ah, that’s the new name for Mungchi. Do you know the bundle?”
Ulkar nodded slowly.
“You mean the assassin nicknamed the ‘Black Lady’ that Kyung has. Then, will you convey my thanks to her, Rannon?”
“Yes, of course it should.”
Next, the prince gently touched the desk as if to recall the deceased Marquis Landry.
“I didn’t have a very good first impression, but he was an honorable and good man. He was the first lord to support me and a reliable ally. He loved his family and his estate more than anything else…
Ulkar slurred and closed his eyes. I quietly followed him.
“…His family and heirs will be protected by me forever.”
“I will help too.”
“I’m glad you said that.”
The prince cleared his throat with a few coughs and continued the conversation.
“It’s the same for Rannon, but I’ll have to give a separate reward to Lord Hatanka in particular.”
“To Utequai?”
“exactly. If it hadn’t been for his performance, we wouldn’t have been able to block the enemy’s offensive so easily, so we should give him a reward.”
“…Uh”
I tilted my head with an ambiguous expression.
“well. I don’t think you’ll like it very much.”
“Don’t you think you’ll like it? Why are you talking?” “Maybe it’s because he killed his own people, he’s a bit gloomy.”
“…Well, there were quite a few tribes from the grasslands mixed with the slave army of Burcard.”
“Right. Because he’s not a guy who wants to kill his own people and get a prize. It seems that now is not the time.”
“Thanks for the advice. I’ll have to think about that.”
Ulkar narrowed his brows and
tapped the armrest.
“’An army led by the peace-loving Alzenberg Viceroy and the Lord’. After all, the Alzenberg family is a family that you can’t get along with.”
“So… is there any way to free them?”
“How to free the slave soldiers?”
“Preferably, even the magicians. They said they were all brainwashed too.”
He seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, then shook his head.
“It sounds like it would be difficult. I heard that the Alzenberg family brainwashing is as secretive and sophisticated as it is evil.”
“I heard that they use magic and some kind of medicine, but is that enough?”
“I’m an outsider, so I don’t know exactly, but they say it’s like using drugs to close the consciousness and injecting commands into the unconscious through dreams. In fact, it is no different from forcibly creating a disability, so I know that it is extremely difficult to deal with it or treat it.”
“O uh”
—S3
In a world full of mysteries such as magic, shamanism, and necromancy, there must have been all kinds of brainwashing methods. Therefore, it was impossible for the culprit to infer what kind of trick the Alzenberg family, which boasts a history of 800 years, might have developed.
I clicked my tongue in regret and then suddenly raised my head.
“Right, you have nightmares?”
“…ah. exactly.”
“What kind of nightmare are you having?”
“Hmm, that’s a bit of a sudden question.”
“I’m thinking of you because the dream comes up.”
Ulkar shook his head in embarrassment.
“As a Kwangmyeong cult, I don’t like talking about things like that.”
“Don’t do that, tell me. I am also an expert on dreams.”
“expert? Wonder?”
“Yes, I am. After all, isn’t he the one who received the Holy Son’s revelation through a dream?”
It is a story that everyone in the know knows about the death of Saint Abel in the Seteniora Monastery and leaving me a revelation.
Not only the high-ranking priests of the Church of El Ganore, but also the bright nobles must have heard the news. And Prince Ulkar, like the best warlord in the kingdom, had quite good intelligence.
“I’ve heard about him, but I didn’t know he had a knack for interpreting dreams.”
“Do you really not believe me? Do you think I’m talking nonsense?”
“Aren’t you very talented with that?”
“Who? me?”
“It is one of the Lord’s specialties to dazzle and surprise opponents with words.”
“Your Highness, Child!”
The prince giggled lowly as I threw a tantrum. For a moment, he opened his mouth with a slightly awkward expression.
“Strictly speaking, it’s difficult to call it a nightmare…
“Why?”
“…because it’s a dream about a certain moment in my childhood.”
“If you were a kid-”
I quickly shut up, remembering that his childhood wasn’t so pleasant. Ulkar waved his hand.
“I have happy memories too. In fact, quite a lot.”
The prince leaned against the backrest and, out of habit, tapped the armrest.
“Do you know about the royal garden?”
“no. I’ve never been to the royal capital before. He’s such a country boy.”
“It was a pity. When I get a chance someday, I’ll show you around.”
“There must be only one or two things to see in the capital, so why not take a look at the garden?”
“You said it was the garden of the palace. It’s not the ordinary garden you think it is.”
“The garden is all over there.”
“I bet it’s not common to have a garden where deer live in herds.”
“…is there a herd of deer living in the garden? Aren’t you talking about the hunting grounds?”
Ulkar smiled and nodded.
“Your garden looks very large.”
“exactly. It is wide enough to be compared to the Zeln Tree.”
A garden as wide as the battlefield where thousands of troops clashed. The palace in this country is…
“I liked the garden the most in the palace. Running through the garden until I was out of breath was the easiest way to avoid people I hated.”
“Occasionally I was put in minor danger…but it was worth it. It was worth it.”
A candle flickered in her blue eyes. His eyes, wet with the weak warmth, grew a little drowsy.
“My brother also liked the garden. mother too. He especially liked the pond in the forest I found. Except for my mother and Yuril, by that cozy pond where only rabbits and sparrows visit… The three of us used to have picnics there. It didn’t happen very often, but no, that made it all the more precious.”
For a while, the prince pressed his temple and shrugged.
“How can you call it a nightmare to appreciate that friendly scenery?”
It was an unpredictable finish.
Did I expect the devil to seduce me without even realizing it, or the corrupt knights in the palace that became a killing factory? I was a little embarrassed and cautiously opened my mouth.
“His Highness… You looked very distressed.”
“I guess so.”
“…uh”
“It’s a landscape that we couldn’t protect and couldn’t get back. It’s natural to feel pain.”
Ulkar’s tone was extremely calm. It is hard to imagine him as a prince who thinks of the queen who died alone and the princess imprisoned in a convent. I kept my mouth shut.
The silence didn’t last more than a minute. The prince couldn’t enjoy that much leisure.
“Now let’s get to the point.”
“If you say the main point.”
“Didn’t I tell you before? That there will be an opportunity for a counterattack. Now is the moment to seize that opportunity.”
Before he knew it, Ulkar had the face of a confident warlord.
“Do you have any plans?”
“There is a strategy suggested by Lord Ariad. Of course I tweaked it a bit.”
It’s the viper’s operation.
The prince spoke in a relaxed tone to me as I straightened up with redness.
“Before we discuss that, I have something to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“About your family.”
“……yes?” As I blinked my eyes stupidly, Ul Kar leaned over and said,
“Isn’t it time to open up, Sir Phoenix? No Phoenix of Zaharkar.”
