Chapter 447
(Kyle Calendar Year 516:
Age 23)
Unwanted Truth
On this day, Glorious was summoned to the bedchamber
of his mother, who had slipped out of the Empire's inner palace together
with him. The place was... underground, so there were no windows for lighting,
and the light from the candlesticks had been intentionally reduced, making it a
gloomy, damp-feeling room. The First Prince, who was beckoned silently,
entered the room and was met with incense with a strange scent burning, and he
instinctively frowned at the strong fragrance.
「Mother, I heard you summoned me on
an important matter today, but... it seems the air in here is poor. Shall we
change rooms to talk?」
「This is an important matter for us.
This room is also 『appropriate』
for you. Sit down there silently.」
The woman who was once the Empress simply ordered him
indifferently without listening to Glorious's words. In truth, Glorious
was uncomfortable with this mother. Since childhood, he had never been showered
with motherly affection, and his father, the Emperor, was infatuated with her,
never letting her leave his side for even a moment. And... around the time he
became aware of his surroundings, his father, the Emperor, gradually changed.
As Glorious grew, he abandoned his government duties and began to lead a
self-indulgent life daily in the inner palace with concubines prepared by his
mother. 『The woman who cajoled and corrupted
the Emperor-heika, a witch who
seemingly embodies the grudge of the destroyed Roland Kingdom』 He secretly evaluated his mother as such in his heart. Of
course, he had absolutely no affection for his mother. Rather, it is no
exaggeration to say that in his heart, he even harbored fear and hatred.
Actually, the reason he persistently aimed for the imperial throne was because
he wanted to abolish the corrupted Emperor and his mother who caused it, to
reform the Empire and return it to a proud state. Looking anew at his
mother's face, whom he faced slowly for the first time in a long while, despite
already being in her mid-forties, her bewitching appearance showed no signs of
decline, maintaining a mysterious, demonic beauty that made her age seem
unknown. She truly deserves to be called a witch; he felt that anew in his
heart.
When such a mother smiled suspiciously, she knelt toward a
dim corner in the upper part of the room. 「I
humbly report to you. The preparations are complete.」
With those words, the corner of the darkness wavered, and a
familiar suspicious man appeared from the darkness. 「R-Rude
fellow! Where do you think this is! It is my mother's bedchamber; it is not a
place for a lowly person like you to visit!」
He instinctively tried to reach for his sword, but he had
intentionally not worn his sword when visiting his mother's bedroom. If he had
been wearing his sword, this man's actions were worthy of ten thousand deaths,
and he would have swung the sword down without allowing any argument. However,
the man did not flinch at all against the intimidating First Prince.
「Fufufu... why don't you ask your
mother whether it's rude or not.」
「Wha! M-Mother... w-why...」
Glorious, who looked at his mother receiving those words, was
astonished. Because his mother, who was the Emperor's legitimate Empress and
who was said to need to kneel to no one but the Emperor, was kneeling towards
the man and deeply bowing her head.
「I am a person worthy of your mother
kneeling to, that's what it means. To begin with, there's nothing rude about a
father visiting his daughter's bedchamber.」
「Daughter, you say? Enough with the
nonsense! No matter how I look at you, you are younger than my mother!」
Saying so, the man laughed eerily, but no matter how he
looked at him, the man was around thirty, seeming to be only around the same
age as himself. Therefore, he thought it was excessive nonsense to call himself
the father of his mother in her forties.
「You only try to look at the surface
of things... that is exactly why you have been defeated time and time again.
Even though you are my grandson, you are pathetic.」
「Silence! Enough with the nonsense!
My father is the Emperor of the historic Empire, and my mother is the
Second Princess of the Roland Kingdom, there is no way the blood of a
fellow like you is mixed in!」
「Fuhahaha, the first half is probably
correct. But... what about that Second Princess? What happens if the Second
Princess was swapped with someone else before anyone knew it? It's not just the
Second Princess. The same goes for the Fourth Princess, your wife's mother.」 「Wh... What did you say!」
When he heard this story, the story of the fall of the Roland
Kingdom he once heard from Harry crossed his mind. He had certainly
heard that his mother, who was the Second Princess, supported the attack on her
homeland and divided the nobles, and his aunt, who was the Fourth Princess,
went around advocating a bloodless surrender to avoid futile resistance.
「The Roland Kingdom was not
destroyed by your father. Because originally he was nothing but a Fifth Prince
who couldn't even hope for imperial succession, and hadn't achieved any
military exploits until then.」
「But even so, the Emperor-heika achieved a great military
exploit! The likes of you couldn't possibly know, but rank has nothing to do
with imperial succession! Everything is decided by military exploits.」
「Military exploits, you say? Whose
military exploit is that, I wonder. The fall of the Roland Kingdom was
nothing more than us meticulously arranging the stage for it to collapse from
the inside, and as a result, it fell as it was meant to fall. By us... the Clan of Darkness ruling the demonic
people.」
「Clan of Darkness? Don't tell me... you people are from the Kyle Kingdom?」
Through repeated battles, the First Prince had also
investigated information on the Kyle Kingdom, his sworn enemy—the
establishment of the Kingdom and the fact that the Twelve Clans occupied key
positions as heavyweights supporting the nation—and had also heard a little
about the Clan of Darkness.
「Hmph, I care nothing about the
country of the man who stole the ruling power over the demonic people from us.
Until now, I have given you opportunities time and time again, trying to
destroy the Kingdom by the hands of someone who draws my blood, but it was
somewhat disappointing.」
「C-Could it be that eerie old man
too...」
He remembered well the eerie old man who visited the Empire
many times, manipulated schemes, and maneuvered secretly to degrade the Kyle
Kingdom without dirtying his hands. And for some reason, Harry,
despite being in the position of a Duke, paid respect to that old man...
「That was my previous appearance.
Because we can also exercise superhuman techniques through the dark magic we
have mastered.」
「Guh, a monster who inherits the
power of monsters...」
Faced with not only eerie speech and behavior but a
superhuman being capable of doing such things, the First Prince felt an
uncomfortable sensation of cold sweat running down his back.
「Fufufu, I shall dare to tell you the
『unwanted truth』. In truth, half of your blood is
that of a 『monster』
as well, don't you understand?」
「Half? What does that mean!」
「Fufufufufu, the truth is a cruel
thing. What flows in you is only half the imperial bloodline, the other half is
the blood of us demonic people. In that sense, the Third Prince who
newly obtained the Emperor's seat can be said to have a much more legitimate
bloodline.」
「S-S-Silence! No matter what anyone
says, I am the legitimate successor to the imperial throne!」
His only remaining foundation—the thought that he drew the
historic, noble bloodline of the Emperor of the Griffonia Empire and the
Princess of the Roland Kingdom—began to collapse with a crash within Glorious.
Before he knew it, he had unconsciously fallen to his knees on the floor and
begun holding his head.
「By what do you call yourself legitimate?
An empty bloodline that is not the fact you had relied upon until now? Military
deeds where you couldn't achieve any battle results due to continuous defeats?
Still putting on a false show of courage while being a wanderer who lost the
soldiers you led and the people who were your allies?」
「Silence, silence, SILENCE!」
「There is only one path left for you
to live on anymore. Dye yourself in the power of darkness, and as a vessel to
birth a new child of darkness, burn yourself in revenge. Sink the country of
the abominable brat (Takuhir), the Kyle Kingdom, and even the Empire
that abandoned you into hellfire.」
「Guh... I will... them...」
Having his heart, like a grudge he secretly harbored, laid
bare, the First Prince choked on his words. Seeing that, the man floated
an eerie smile.
「Fortunately, in this Isra,
there is also a means (the church) to awaken the power sleeping within you.
Surrender yourself to despair and disgrace, hatred and envy. If you do, I will
give powerless you the power for revenge.」
「I hate them! It's frustrating! Those
who stole what I was supposed to obtain! I, I...」
Unleashing his words giving himself up to the torrent of
emotions, the First Prince collapsed onto the floor just like that and
cried and screamed. His heart disturbed by the unacceptable truth, various
thoughts jumbled together...
「That is fine, the negative emotions
swirling within you are precisely the source of the 『Baptism
of Darkness』. Now is the time to awaken to the
true darkness.」
Saying so, the man reached out his hand to the head of the
man crying and collapsing, about to exercise dark magic. However, at that
moment, only the eyes of Glorious, who seemed to have lost his ego, were
not dead. And... he resorted to an unexpected action. Grabbing the hand of the
man who reached out to his prostrated head, he pulled it forcefully, and the
two bodies collided violently.
「Guh... wha-, why...」
The astonished man spat bubbles of blood from his mouth, a
dagger the First Prince had secretly concealed in his breast deeply
pierced his chest, and the flowing blood began to dye his black clothes even
darker.
「You let your guard down at the end.
He who plays with schemes drowns in schemes. I'll teach you an 『unwanted truth』 too.」
The First Prince, whose face had become like a
different person's from earlier, separated his body from the man and smiled
fearlessly.
「Looking down on Harry, that
was your blunder. That man... was a loyal subject who truly worried about the
future of the Empire.」
On the night he once wrote the letters urging the four
countries to participate in the war, Harry had also drafted a letter
addressed to his own daughter. 『If something should happen to me, be
sure to hand the enclosed letter directly to the First Prince.』 Reminding her strongly...
「After writing down the circumstances
of the matter, Harry also said this: 『The
beings of darkness only use us; even if we use them, we must never trust them.』 Through the letter Harry left behind, I had roughly
heard the circumstances of the story you just told, and it is not worth being
surprised at all. Of course, that includes the poison woman (mother) who
continued to harm the Emperor-heika
too. It was you people who murdered Heika, wasn't it!」
「Gu... You... on purpose...」
Saying only that, the man could not spit out any more words.
The man, heavily pierced in a vital spot, was prostrated on the floor and was
already breathing his last. The sight reflected in his eyes was... the Empress
(his daughter), who went mad and brandished a sword for self-defense at the First
Prince, had her sword snatched by the First Prince who dodged her,
and had her neck instantly slashed, passing away.
「Mother, your sins are also
unforgivable. It was you who took Heika's life, wasn't it. The crime of
assassinating the Emperor-heika
is worthy of ten thousand deaths. Even if it is the Empress.」
Saying so, he merely looked down expressionlessly at the
figure of the already deceased woman and the man passing away at this very
moment.
「Harry, your unfounded fears were correct.
It must have been truly painful to purposely stand in their lower wind,
worrying about Heika (Father). With this, Heika's enemy is
avenged...」
Harry, who guided this outcome, knew a story he shouldn't have
been able to know under normal circumstances. Because... he had heard all the
circumstances from the Fourth Princess of the Roland Kingdom who became
his wife. Decades ago in the Roland Kingdom, the one swapped just after
birth was the Fourth Princess, and a while after that, the Second Princess who
had grown to a certain extent was also swapped by the Clan of Darkness. Meticulously applying suggestions through dark
magic to the people around them, taking care so that no one would notice...
This was precisely the double scheme laid down by the Clan of Darkness, but this time it brought about the ironic result
of backfiring. The Fourth Princess, raised in the Royal Palace believing
herself to be a Princess of the Roland Kingdom from infancy, was guided
to the darkness by her older sister the Second Princess and the maids since she
was young, but in her heart, she wavered between herself as a Princess and
being a dependent of darkness who received a mission from the clan her sisters
spoke of. Perhaps she, who lived as the Fourth Princess, hated the Clan of Darkness and her older sister
the Second Princess who led her homeland to ruin at the bottom of her heart.
That is precisely why she dared to choose the path of surrendering to the Empire
in accordance with the pre-drawn scenario. Because she knew that the nobles of
the Kingdom had already been divided by her sisters' schemes, and if they
resisted, it would become a great war involving many citizens and the country
would be destroyed... Her homeland surrendered bloodlessly to the Empire,
and she, who protected the lives and livelihoods of the citizens to the end as
the duty of royalty, married Harry according to the prepared script. As
the former Fourth Princess of the Roland Kingdom... After that, she worried
about the future so that the Empire would not repeat the same mistake as
her homeland. Therefore, she told the truth only to her husband Harry,
and of course, she did not dye her daughter in the schemes of darkness.
「I will not... become a monster
trapped by past grudges like them! Looking at you people, I understood that
ugliness well. In order to respond to Harry's loyalty, who worried about
my unworthy self to the end, and... to give a future to the people who followed
me like this to the end, too.」
Muttering so with a lonely expression, the First Prince
raised his face and stared ahead. That face had lost the hatred and envy he had
continued to harbor until now, and was very radiant.
※
From this day forward, he discarded his status as the First Prince of the Empire drawing an abominable blood, and changed his name to Harias. At the same time, he had it announced that the First Prince of the Empire who repeatedly fled had fallen by the hands of an assassin, and began walking a new path as a mere general. To bring a future to those who followed him this far, and, to bid farewell to his own abominable blood and destiny... That was... The moment when the origin of the Ist-Harias Holy State, which would later rise with a unique governance system of a dual political-religious monarchy, was born.
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