Chapter 314
(Kyle Calendar Year 514: Age 21)
Child of Darkness
Translator : PolterGlast
After sending off Lugner and the others and taking
his leave from the First Prince, Harry took a breather in a room within
the detached palace. There, a dim candelabra merely cast a faint light within
the room, and the four walls were enveloped in darkness.
He took a letter from his breast pocket and was looking it
over once again.
「Heh, heh, heh. Harry, you
have done well.」
In the darkness, just as a low voice suddenly echoed, a man
clad in a pitch-black robe appeared. Convinced that there was no one else in
the room, Harry paid the respects of a vassal to the old man.
「No, Old Master, not at all. You were
in good health after all. Hearing from their words that you had passed away, I
was secretly pained.」
Before the three suspicious men came visiting, he had
received a letter from this Old Master. It was unclear when that letter had
been prepared, but precisely because of it, he had accepted the three
unacquainted men and provided them with a place to make their proposals.
Just as the Old Master before him had done for the First
Prince up until now...
「What, no one knows that I, who
constantly say 『Those
lacking caution will lose their lives,』 am more cautious than anyone else. Not even my disciples.」
When he was maneuvering in secret in various places over the
past few years, he was supposedly already in this youthful appearance. He had
merely disguised himself as an old man using Dark Magic, intentionally
resembling the appearance of a man close to his actual age whom he had prepared
as a puppet.
And the old
man whom Kyrias struck down at the
end was nothing more than a member of the Clan
of Darkness whom both he himself and others were made to believe was the Old Master.
「Then, will you remain hidden like
this for a while?」
「Of course. They seem to pride
themselves as my successors, but the 『Prince of Darkness』 was decided long ago. For the time being, I intend to gauge
their skills.」
「As you will.」
「So, how did things go?」
「Basically, the contents were in line
with your thoughts, Old Master. Therefore, in a preliminary meeting, I conveyed
some slight modifications, and His Highness accepted them as their proposal.」
「I see. Then that is fine. By the
way, are my daughters doing well?」
「Yes, the two who preserve the
bloodline of the Clan Head of Darkness are exceedingly well. Even so, although
I heard about it in a letter beforehand, you do not look like my father-in-law
at all. I am glad above all that you appear so healthy.」
The one Duke Harry was kneeling before was, by all
appearances, a man in his thirties—a countenance unnatural to be called an Old
Master. The man looked down at Harry and responded magnanimously.
「Hahaha, it is a secret art passed
down only to the Clan Head of Darkness, after all. Because we have been
continuously inheriting that wisdom like this.」
「Then... about how much of this world
has the Old Master seen?」
「Even if the vessel can be inherited,
the mind inside is not so simple. After a hundred and twenty to a hundred and
fifty years, the mind overflows and becomes senile.」
「A hundred and fifty years... I
cannot even imagine it...」
Saying so, Harry closed his eyes. Harry
himself had only encountered them a little over twenty years ago.
Harry, of
course, did not carry the bloodline of the Clan of Darkness. It all
began in the past, when he and the current Emperor destroyed the Roland
Kingdom, and a girl who was a royal princess was bestowed upon him by the
current Emperor, becoming one of his wives.
Since parting ways with the first King Kyle, the Clan
of Darkness had been attempting to gain power to oppose him. The only time
they succeeded was with the now-ruined Roland Kingdom.
Having won over influential nobles, they succeeded in
sending in a secondary consort to the royal family. They then secretly swapped
the born princess with the daughter of the Clan Head while she was still a
baby. Thereby, the daughter carrying the blood of the Clan Head gained a new
position as a princess.
「Heh, heh, heh. When the current
Emperor was Crown Prince, having my daughter marry him as a princess of the Roland
Kingdom, and then, through my daughter, inciting (brainwashing) him to
attack and destroy a neighboring country that was originally on friendly terms,
was somewhat of a struggle.」
「I, too, always thought it was
strange until I learned of those circumstances.」
Yes, at the time, the current Emperor held the position of
the Fifth Prince, far removed from the line of succession to the throne.
However, after taking the second princess of the neighboring country as his
wife, backed by abundant financial power, he seized actual control of one of
the many army corps, acquired military force, and before anyone realized it,
had even brought the influential nobles of the neighboring country under his
banner.
It was an astonishingly rapid transformation, even for Harry,
who was a sworn friend of the Crown Prince.
Following that, when he invaded the neighboring country with
lightning speed, winning battle after battle, the final Royal Capital opened its
gates in a bloodless surrender. This was because the Fourth Princess at the
time suppressed the opposition faction advocating thorough resistance until the
country perished, and guided the Imperial Army to avoid a battle they had no
chance of winning. That princess was now Harry's wife.
And with that overwhelming achievement, the Fifth Prince's
succession to the throne was confirmed, and he later became Emperor. Harry
himself was also formerly the second son of a Duke's house, and the path to
becoming the head of the family was closed to him. However, with the
achievement of backing the new Emperor, he inherited the Duke's house and made
that position unshakeable.
「Up to a certain point, 『things』 were all proceeding smoothly. The child born from the
daughter who married the current Emperor became the First Prince, becoming the
most likely candidate for the succession to the throne. And the child born from
the daughter who married you was married off as the Crown Princess. Even with
blood that had been diluted by half, if those two were to bear a child, it
would become concentrated again, and a true Child of God serving as the Clan
Head would be born. After all, only half the blood flows in the current Child
of God.」
「I am awed by the Old Master's deep
foresight and distant schemes, which took a long time.」
「For that purpose as well, as a
premise, he absolutely must inherit the Imperial throne. In recent years, all
the groundwork we laid has failed due to interference.」
「As you say.」
Even Viscount Hiyorimi, who was executed, his son Lugner,
and even Azel, the direct subordinate of the man called the Old Master,
were only informed of a limited portion of the truth regarding these
circumstances.
They were merely told, 『The First Prince of the Empire is a noble and special person
to the Clan of Darkness.』 Therefore, they consistently paid respect to the First
Prince alone as a special existence.
「Ultimately, if my grandson destroys
the Kingdom and ascends to the Imperial throne, our dearest wish
spanning five hundred years will be fulfilled, and not only the Kingdom
but even the Empire will become a country governed by the Clan of
Darkness.」
「Truly...」
Although he agreed respectfully, Harry himself didn't
truly care about such a dearest wish. However, if he could wield power in the
mighty Empire as a maternal relative of the Emperor, his own ambitions
would also be fulfilled. The dearest wish of the Clan of Darkness and
his own dearest wish ultimately walked the same path, and it would be no
exaggeration to say that was why he had consistently cooperated with them.
「However, His Highness does not know
the secret of his own birth... What will you do about this going forward?」
「He is my grandson as well, but for
the time being, it is fine if he knows nothing. He will learn the truth at the
dawn when he becomes Emperor. There is no helping it if unnecessary wicked
thoughts enter him now.」
「Understood. However...」
「What is it?」
「The pieces on the board are
assembled, but we are definitely lacking one powerful move. A move to reliably
finish off that man in the south... The fox solidifying that man's surroundings
is quite formidable...」
「Heh, heh, heh. Thinking so, I
brought a souvenir for my son-in-law (Harry). I will have the souvenir
itself come to you later.」
「Oh! Thank you very much. What on
earth is it?」
「Actually...」
Harry could not
help but be surprised by what the man called the Old Master said. This man (old
man) was always devising some kind of scheme.
「The ones I secretly sheltered also
have no homeland to return to now. Even if they returned... there is no future.
You might as well utilize them to the fullest.」
「That is a grateful proposition. With
this, together with that annoying fox...」
「O one who will become my son. I have
expectations of you...」
Leaving those words, the old man... no, the man who could no
longer be called an old man, melted into the darkness of the room and
disappeared.
「Even so, a grudge spanning five
hundred years, the darkness is... something tremendously deep.」
Letting out a heavy sigh, Harry began to write
several letters. The letters directed to the Sura Principality, the Turncoat Kingdom, and various other countries
surrounding the Empire would be released through messengers from that
day onward.
The Empire, which the Third Prince once evaluated as a 『huge monster,』 would begin to demonstrate its true nature as that monster from here on. The new world Takuhir altered merely brought about a brief tranquility.
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