721. [Side Story] Lake Kingdom (2)
The day after the victory declaration ceremony.
The capital of the Lake Kingdom. Throne room.
“….”
The king, who had been full of dignity and joy until yesterday, was now sitting on the throne with a dark face.
In front of the king, who was filled with water, a young-looking woman and a man stood one by one.
The woman was Princess Ariel, and the man was…
“Christian.”
It was Prince Christian.
The prince, who had beautiful silver hair and turquoise eyes like his younger brother, gave off a somewhat dangerous aura.
The king reprimanded the prince.
“Why didn’t you attend the victory declaration ceremony yesterday?”
“….”
Christian, who stood silently, did not respond. The king’s fist slammed into the armrest of the throne.
“Don’t you know how important yesterday’s event was? “Emissaries from all major countries around the world have come to visit!”
“….”
“This is an opportunity for you, who will inherit the country in the future, to greet them and make your presence known! Why is it so strange that you can’t even see it! Do you really want to upset this father and make him explode?”
Christian remained silent. The King placed his hand on his forehead and shook his head.
“Didn’t you almost end up humiliating the country in a place that was created to save the country’s prestige?…” “….” “
In
the end, Ariel took over all the work you had to do. Ariel did it perfectly, without any shortcomings. “It’s a shame!”
Christian’s eyebrows twitched as he was listening silently, and a harsh voice came out from his tightly closed mouth.
“Then shouldn’t you just leave it to Ariel from now on?”
“…what?”
Christian chuckled at the bewildered king.
“The position of the next king. You can give it to your good brother, not me, who is bad. “If it were Ariel, she would have done it perfectly, without any shortcomings, than me, who is such a helpless fool.”
“you…! “What can you say like that…!”
Not only the king, but also Ariel, who was standing next to him, looked at Christian with a pale face.
It was a time when the enraged king was about to yell something at his eldest son.
“Cluck, cluck, cluck!”
Instead of a roar, a weak cough came out of the king’s mouth.
The King covered his mouth with his hand and coughed repeatedly. Spilled blood flowed from the cracks of his fingers.
“Abama?!”
A startled Ariel ran to the king, and Christian, who was embarrassed, couldn’t move and just watched his father coughing up blood.
“Hahaha….”
The King finally stopped bleeding.
Ariel held back tears and wiped her father’s mouth with a handkerchief. While being nursed by his daughter, the king quietly looked at his son.
“I don’t have much time left to live, Christian.”
“….”
“Look. Even if you defeat all the monsters in the world and become the king of the most powerful country on the continent, life is so vain.”
The King shook his head.
“Don’t waste your life, Christian.”
“….”
“It’s not too late. If you continue to take succession lessons even now, you will become the next king of this country…”
Whip!
However, Christian did not listen to his father’s words and turned around and stormed out.
“Christian! Christian…! “Cluck cluck!”
The king, who was shouting his son’s name, coughed several more times. And he chanted with bloody lips.
“That stupid guy… I don’t have much time left to cover up for his foolish actions.”
“Abama….”
“I can’t help it, Ariel. Your brother is like that… If he doesn’t change his mind in the near future, I will make you crown princess. You become the next king…”
But Ariel shook her head loudly.
“Abama. “Even though my brother is shaking right now, if good people support him, he will definitely become a good king.”
“….”
“I will assist you well. So don’t worry about that and focus on recovering your health now.”
The king looked blankly at his daughter’s smiling face, then smiled bitterly and lowered his head.
“Please take care of me, Ariel. “Your brother and this country….”
As a king and a father, he was unable to hide his complicated feelings.
***
From the time he came of age, Christian was irritable.
This was because he realized that his younger brother Ariel was better than him in every way.
And this was because he realized that he was inferior to his younger brother not only in terms of the talent needed as a king but also in his mentality.
“I just think it would be better if I were gone.”
Magic Tower Street.
True to its reputation as a magic kingdom, the Lake Kingdom was filled with various magic towers and research centers. Christian was in the ‘Magic Research Institute’, one of the largest facilities among them.
Christian grumbled while lying down on the large sofa in the laboratory director’s office.
“It’s painful for my father to hesitate because I’m there for no reason, and I think Ariel is living oppressed, unable to spread her wings.”
“Don’t say that, prince.”
Research Institute Director Diran Dahi smiled awkwardly and pleased Christian.
“His Majesty the King and the Princess. “You all know how much you care and love the prince.”
“Fuck yes. I know. Because he loves me, he protects me even if I live in a different way. But…”
Christian sighed and stood up.
“That’s even more miserable….”
“Prince.”
“I want to be recognized fairly. But the more you try, the more you learn. “Ariel is more worthy of being a king…”
Dirandahi suggested cautiously.
“Then… how about making merit?”
Christian opened his eyes wide.
“ball? “What kind of ball?”
“A great feat would be enough to be recognized as a king’s treasurer.”
Diran Dahi scratched his chin awkwardly.
“However, the Lake Kingdom has now defeated all monsters and has taken over world hegemony… There are almost no enemies left to defeat or feats to accomplish.”
“….”
“But isn’t there one urgent matter?”
Dirandahi looked around and lowered his voice.
“Your Majesty’s health.”
“…!”
Rumors about the king’s health have been spreading secretly for several years.
I tried everything I could to treat my illness, but there was no improvement at all. The king was dying quickly compared to his young age.
Dirandahi lowered his voice even further.
“This is a story I heard from a family of shamans from the Eastern Continent…”
Christian’s shoulders trembled at the next words.
“It is said that on the other side of the Eastern Continent there was a magic of immortality.”
“what? “Everlasting?”
“yes. There is also a rumor that the destruction of the Eastern Continent was due to that magic. So, our lab has continued to investigate… and this is quite credible. “We have also narrowed down the expected discovery area.”
Dilandahi looked at Christian with a subtle look.
“If the prince can find this magic of immortality…”
“…!”
Christian trembled.
If only I could truly find the magic of immortality.
‘Father… will approve of me.’
My father, who always had a warm look towards my younger sister, only had a cold and stern voice towards me.
My father always criticized and scolded me for my shortcomings.
This may be the first time that your efforts are recognized and praised.
‘Furthermore, if you can bring about the magic of immortality, you can not only restore Abamama’s health… but also gain recognition from all the wizards in this country.’
There is only one thing that the Lake Kingdom, currently a magic powerhouse, cannot overcome.
hour.
And the resulting aging and death.
If he could truly bring about the magic of immortality, all the wizards in the Lake Kingdom would praise the feat and obey Christian.
Christian, who had been immersed in hopeful thoughts, soon sighed with a dark face.
“…But I can’t leave.”
he is a prince There is a high possibility that he will become king in the future.
If I were to leave for the East Continent, which was nothing but ruins, there was no way my father would give me permission.
But Dirandahi grinned, as if he had expected Christian to say this.
“In that respect, we found an interesting test subject this time.”
“huh? “Interesting test subject?”
“yes. “Please come this way.”
Let’s follow Dirandahi’s instructions and head to the basement of the lab.
There was a boy trapped inside a glass wall with a blank face.
Dirandahi said, gesturing towards the boy behind the glass wall.
“I am a non-citizen living outside the outer city. I went to the sewer to get magic ingredients and found it. “As soon as I saw it, I was so surprised that I quickly ‘purchased’ it and brought it home.”
“What’s funny about this non-citizen?”
The humans of the Lake Kingdom were divided into ‘citizens’, a class that could use magic, and ‘non-citizens’, a class that could not use magic… and were ruled like livestock.
The ‘people’ were also divided into ordinary citizens and nobles and royals. For Christian, the highest-ranking royal family, this situation of observing a non-citizen boy was unfamiliar and uncomfortable.
But what followed was even more absurd.
“Isn’t it similar?”
“…what?”
“The prince. “They look exactly alike.”
Dirandahi burst into laughter and touched the magic panel installed on the glass wall, and the hair and eye colors of the boy trapped inside began to change.
The boy who had dark gray hair and dark gray eyes changed to silver hair and turquoise eyes in the next moment, and then…
“…is this possible?”
Christian muttered in surprise.
To my own surprise, this non-national boy resembled Christian. In particular, not only their appearance but also their unique atmosphere were surprisingly similar.
“If we just cast a little perception-impairing magic here, most people will think this guy is the prince himself.”
“….”
“The prince doesn’t do much outside work anyway, so if you’re a little more careful, you won’t be caught.”
Christian, lost in thought, glanced at Dirandahi.
“Search the Eastern Continent. “What is the expected deadline?”
“We expect it to be a month.”
Dirandahi nodded.
“In other words, this fake will only have to wait a month.”
“…good.”
Christian, who had made up his mind, nodded.
“Let’s do it, Dirandahi.”
“Yes, prince. “I will prepare right away.”
Christian shouted after Dilandahi, who was trying to leave the underground room.
“Thank you Dirandahi. “I will make sure to repay you greatly later.”
“Hehe. It was nothing.”
Dirandahi smiled kindly.
“The prince’s joy is my joy.”
After Dilandahi left, Christian turned his head towards the boy inside the glass wall and slowly approached the glass wall.
Christian gestured to the boy who was embarrassed by his sudden change in appearance.
“Hey you.”
“yes yes?”
“name is?”
The boy hesitated before answering in a crawling voice.
“Uh… none.”
“what?”
“Non-nationals usually do not have names. “I’m sorry for that sin…”
Christian clicked his tongue in frustration and raised his voice in front of the boy who spoke in a quiet voice.
“From now on, your name is Christian.”
“yes? Ha, but…”
“While I am away, you act as my shadow, as a substitute, as a fake…” “I have to pretend to be myself.”
Christian asked coldly.
“Can you do it?”
There’s no way you can say you can’t do it.
If the people tell us to do so, we follow. That was the life of a non-citizen of the Lake Kingdom.
If you don’t follow orders or fail…
you have no choice but to die.
The boy closed his eyes tightly, trembled, and prostrated himself.
“I’ll just do as you’re told, prince….”
***
A few days later.
Christian went on an expedition to the Eastern Continent on a ship prepared by Dilandahi in search of the magic of immortality.
And the nameless boy, who received short-term training as a substitute for the prince, was secretly brought into the royal castle.
– Keep in mind. The moment you get caught, you die.
Diran Dahi, head of the Magic Research Institute, made several threats.
– Imitating a prince is easy. No matter what anyone asks, don’t answer and just make an angry expression. Because the prince is a recognized fool, no one will easily talk to him. Just stay in your room like you’re dead. Do you understand?
Finally, Dirandahi gave the boy a firm squeeze on the shoulder.
– If I do this job well, there will be no problem at all making a living in the future.
Wearing a necklace with an awareness-reducing spell around his neck, the boy stood in the center of the prince’s room.
‘How did this happen…’
It was still difficult to tell whether this was reality or a dream.
He, who was cleaning up rat carcasses from the sewer just a few days ago, is pretending to be the prince of this country…
‘But it’s not a difficult task. All you have to do is hold on quietly for about a month.’
It was then that the boy, who had made up his mind, nodded his head.
“Brother!”
The door burst open and Princess Ariel ran into the room, smiling brightly.
“Ice crackers have arrived from the north! Let’s eat together. I also prepared ice strawberries, which you like!”
“….”
The boy, who was frozen in shock, soon came to his senses.
It was Ariel, the younger sister of whom the prince had told him to be most careful. Did you say that the prince, the royal hedgehog, is the only one who treats you kindly?
‘It’s okay. As practiced. ‘Let’s just do what we practiced.’
The boy looked back at Ariel with narrowed eyes and the cold expression he had been practicing for the past few days.
But before I could say a single word-
“…!”
Sreung!
Ariel, with a straight face, pulled out a sword from her waist and pointed the blade.
‘Eh?’
Ariel shouted in a confident voice, pointing the tip of her sword at the boy who stiffened in embarrassment.
“Who are you?”
“…?!”
“You are not my brother! Who are you?”
It’s been less than an hour since I entered the palace and started acting as a pinch hitter.
I didn’t do anything, but I got caught right away.
Feeling unfair and embarrassed, the boy swallowed back tears without realizing it.
