48. Foreshadowing (3)
I almost spit out the car.
I let my guard down and it came rushing in. Speaking of you, what is this?… As I
froze, unable to adjust to the suddenly heavy content of the conversation, the crown prince continued speaking.
“I have no choice but to sit in the crown prince’s position due to my position, but people know me, right? The age difference between Your Majesty and me is only 8 years. “When your Majesty gets old enough to retire, I will also be old enough to prepare for retirement.”
8 years difference.
Crown Prince Elpidius Desert is 20 years old and is 8 years older than the 28-year-old Emperor.
Occasionally, envoys from other kingdoms who came without properly researching the information will tilt their heads and ask those around them if he is their biological son, but is that
possible?
The crown prince is the emperor’s nephew.
‘No, but why are you telling me that?…’
I don’t fit into this kind of heavy personal history.
There was no way he couldn’t see my expression full of trouble, but the damn prince didn’t care and continued talking.
“If the day comes when I ascend to the throne, it will mean that a problem has arisen with Your Majesty’s life. “I don’t want that.”
“….”
“And more than anything, I definitely realized it when I saw His Majesty working. “I can’t do it like him.”
There was a mixture of unknown emotions in the eyes of the crown prince who said that.
What I can be sure of is that it was by no means a negative emotion.
‘….’
Considering that the emperor killed all of his brothers and even killed their children to avoid leaving behind any successors, it would be strange not only to not understand the nephew’s existence, but also for the nephew to not hate his uncle, but it is possible. There was a reason.
Because there was only one brother who did not die at the hands of the emperor.
When the emperor, who was the 9th prince, drew his sword, his only brother, the 1st prince, was already dead.
I don’t know much, but seeing the story going around that ‘If the 1st prince had been alive, the 9th prince would not have drawn his sword’, it can be concluded that the relationship between the two must have been quite good.
Aside from that, there were many rumors about the first prince.
A royal family who is not like a royal family but like a brat. The only blood relative who was kind to the 9th prince, who was in trouble.
Even after getting married and giving birth to a child, he visited her every day and took care of him and his children together, so it is not surprising that the current emperor is good to the crown prince and princess, who are the children of the first prince and his niece.
You must have felt that much affection. Perhaps he felt like his own child or brother.
So, they would actually be recognized as ‘crown prince’ and ‘prince princess.’
“So, please take good care of Your Majesty.”
“Yes… Yes?”
I raised my head in surprise.
There was an inexplicable trust in the eyes of the crown prince who dared to meet him.
‘I wanted to say this earlier… What is this endless trust? ‘Isn’t suspicion a virtue when it comes to royal family?’
Even the person asking for a favor is the emperor. The same emperor who personally drew his sword and swept the battlefield to conquer territory during the Eight Years’ War!
I’m so dumbfounded.
“Brother, Count, why bother saying such a thing!”
“Your Highness the Princess….”
“Even if I don’t have to say it, the Count will do well!”
Absolutely not. So don’t look at me like, ‘Did I do well?’
Why is the Crown Prince nodding his head!
“I was rude.”
“Oh no.”
I decided. I guess I should run away. If things continue like this, it seems like only burdensome topics will continue to come up.
Since you can’t just jump out without saying anything, it would be better to make a good excuse, get away, and then come back. Then at least the atmosphere will change.
I happened to drink too much tea and needed to go to the bathroom, so I could use that as an excuse to leave.
I cautiously opened my mouth, observing the prince and princess’s looks.
“Can I go to the bathroom for a moment?”
“Now that I think about it, I drank a lot of tea. “Please come back.”
I bowed once towards the prince and princess who were waving their hands and hurried out of the garden where tea time was taking place.
‘I survived! I thought I was suffocating to death.’
When I think about going back there again, the future is dark, but once I get out, there is something!
I walked down the corridors of the imperial palace at a brisk pace, thinking that I should walk a little more slowly when I returned from my errands.
And, despite my exciting walk, I thought,
‘…Where am I?’
I got lost.
Don’t feel pitiful that you’ve lost your way because you’re frequently in and out of the imperial palace.
I would always meet the emperor immediately and return home immediately without having to take another route.
So, do you have the ability to know another way?
‘It would be difficult to keep the royal family waiting for a long time…’
My life is in trouble.
If by some chance they think I cheated on them, wouldn’t it be a big deal?
I hurriedly looked around in confusion.
Fortunately, it wasn’t long before I found an attendant standing in a corner of one hallway.
“there!”
“…!”
Oh, I was so happy that I almost shouted.
I was startled and looked at him with wide eyes. I smiled slightly out of apology, but for some reason he started shaking.
…Maybe it’s an illusion.
Fearing that he might run away, I didn’t erase my smile but widened my stride and approached him with a stride.
I was a little concerned about the anxious expression on his face, perhaps because of my reputation, but I was more in a hurry now.
It feels like it’s going to explode. I think it will be cheap like this.
I won’t even tell you what it is.
“Here—”
“Aaaaa!!”
…Where is the bathroom? You crazy person.
I looked at the guy who suddenly took out a knife and rushed at me with an expression full of bewilderment rather than surprise.
***
“You’re gone.”
“Iknow, right.”
He probably ran away. It seems like the conversation was quite burdensome.
‘Honestly, it was sudden.’
But I couldn’t help it because I knew there was no way we would have time to talk like this easily.
Crown Prince Elpidius smiled faintly as he quietly lifted his teacup.
I’m sorry for putting a burden on you, but I have no intention of taking back what I said.
Unlike the peaceful surface of the water, there was a shady movement going on underneath the water, and its blade was clearly pointed at his uncle, the Emperor.
A movement that has continued from the moment my uncle became emperor until now.
[We will allow you to sit on the supreme throne.]
[If this continues, you may not be able to sit on the emperor’s throne for the rest of your life.] [
The nobles’ opposition is growing stronger.]
[Please punish the tyrant.]
The eight-year war is over. Even in the heat of the moment, they continued to visit him.
That doesn’t mean I’m shaken by those absurd words, but I can’t even guarantee how long I’ll be able to maintain this feeling.
They may come and shake you with weaknesses you didn’t know about.
Is a weakness a weakness for nothing? If that moment comes, he will probably…
‘….’
It has been 10 years since the position of the monarch changed. Even if you couldn’t do the trick during the war because you didn’t have enough time, you still had enough time to find a weakness or two if you wanted to.
Until now, the crown prince has served as a strong defense for the emperor.
To bring down an emperor, one needs not only a plausible cause but also an ‘imperial family member’ to sit on the empty throne, so if the crown prince does not agree, their actions will end in mere rebellion.
You could replace it with the princess, but the crown prince would have more power to convince others, and she wouldn’t agree to that either.
The ‘actions’ of subversive elements had no choice but to continue to be pushed back.
But this too is now limited. No, the limit was already reached.
It’s been two years since their actions began to change from ‘appeasement’ to ‘threats disguised as appeasement’.
As a crown prince who did not know when he might be caught in a weakness and take an unwanted action, he had to hurry up and come up with a prepared plan.
Therefore, it was natural for the emperor to pay attention to Deonhardt, a hero he particularly trusted.
‘I’m glad you didn’t say that though.’
He couldn’t overcome the burden of those words and ran away. If he had heard these words, he would have probably run out of the imperial palace. He probably didn’t want to see me for the rest of his life.
‘If there is anything that gets in the way of assisting the emperor’,
even if it is a member of the royal family.
‘…Kill him.’
He gave the princess some cookies and smiled sweetly.
The princess made eye contact and then nodded, folding her eyes like a crescent moon as if she knew. The sight of him nodding his head in response seemed to anyone to be a kind brother.
As always, the crown prince’s day went by peacefully today.
***
Until just a few minutes ago, Ireon’s spy was firing off congratulations alone.
This is because while the emperor was away dealing with visitors, he sneaked into his office and succeeded in copying and stealing important documents.
In that ‘Empire’! Just a spy for a small country! That incredible feat was accomplished!
Of course it wasn’t easy.
Even though they did not even dream of entering the emperor’s office and instead aimed for the chancellor’s office, security was tight.
It was more difficult because the limit of the preliminary investigation time was set at one week, considering the possibility that the tyrant emperor would start a war in response to the shameless demands of the Kingdom of Ireon without even weighing the profits and losses.
‘I’m going back to my home country now, you damn bastards!’
Now that I have achieved my purpose here, all I have to do is go back, but it seems that things in this world don’t go that easily.
“there!”
“…!”
A loud voice clearly calling this way.
Could it be that he noticed?
The spy, who unconsciously shivered greatly because he was being stabbed, belatedly made an expression of regret.
It was just a call, but the attendant was so surprised. Isn’t this suspicious to anyone?
‘What do we do?’
There are still important documents in my arms. If you get caught like this, you won’t be able to get rid of it.
Should I run away? But that’s like shouting out loud, ‘I’m a suspicious person.’
‘No, calm down. He may be a surprisingly dull person.’
First of all, I checked the other person and realized that this wasn’t going to work. I need to run away.
I tried to straighten my rapidly tired face.
Red eyes white hair. It’s unlucky. Even if you get caught, it’s ‘Deon Hart’.
He is famous for being crazy about blood. Since ancient times, there has been historical evidence that crazy people have good senses, and wouldn’t the same be true for the person in front of us? He even spent eight years on the battlefield, so his animal senses must be unrivaled.
Still, I tried to place my hope on the possibility of the unknown, but…
‘Is that… he’s smiling right now?’
A smile as if he had clearly figured out this person’s identity.
The spy closed his mouth and chewed the inside of his cheek as he smiled leisurely, as if no matter what I did, you were in the palm of my hand.
You should never deal with it. The moment you deal with it, you will definitely become that bastard’s toy.
‘You can’t just run away.’
One of the few people qualified to bear arms before the Emperor is Deon Hart. He must still be carrying a weapon.
He is known to be good at not only swinging a dagger but also throwing it to hit a target, so there is no way he would just turn his back and leave this guy running away.
Probably, as soon as you show your back, a dagger will fly.
Deon Hardt, as if sensing his complicated feelings, strides towards him with a smile on his face.
Does that mean they won’t give you any more time to think?
The spy’s mind raced to somehow come to the best conclusion.
Pretending to be a servant and dealing with him would be playing into that bastard’s will, and just running away would be the same.
In that case, the only way left is to ‘attack him’.
‘Of course he won’t be our opponent, so let’s aim to embarrass him.’
The easy-going thought that a clumsy spy who was even showing signs of surprise would not dare attack him. You have to use that thought.
If it were a sudden attack, no matter how much I did, I would be shocked. If so, there will be a momentary gap. Take advantage of that gap and escape.
Once the plan was made, there was no need to worry after that.
‘First, check to see what he’s going to say, and if the first word seems strange, attack right away.’
When I’m talking, my guard tends to soften without me even realizing it.
After thinking that far, the spy raised his head and faced Deonhardt.
A subtle tension flowed, and Deonhardt slowly opened his mouth.
“Here—”
“Aaaaa!!”
There was no need to listen to the end.
The spy, who immediately took out a knife, rushed forward without delay.
‘How dare you tell me where this is.’
If you’re going to listen to something like that until the end, it would be much more profitable to take advantage of the moment when you let your guard down by talking.
