Grandeum Imperial Palace.
Second Prince’s bedroom.
“…”
The eyes of a man with murky blonde hair slowly opened.
The man, who had pulled out the syringe needle from his arm, sat up and called for someone.
“…What’s happening?”
The attendant next to him began to speak.
She had held her position as the Emperor’s close aide for decades and had been serving the Second Prince in his later years.
The task that the Second Prince had secretly entrusted to her was nothing more than a matter of course for her, something she had done as easily as breathing.
After listening to the attendant’s explanation until the end, Elius organized the information in his mind and uttered a conclusion.
“Still going according to plan.”
“However, the First Princess has stepped in too quickly. At this rate, everything may fall apart…”
“That’s something we don’t need to worry about.”
The Second Prince interrupted the attendant’s words.
“After all, that part is beyond our control. Didn’t we already delegate all authority in the shadow forces to the First Princess?”
His fate now lay in the hands of the heavens.
Whether he would be recorded in history as a notorious tyrant who nearly destroyed the continent or as a man who gained something precious, though everything else was lost.
That was something no one knew.
“And if those religious fanatics have taken that much, they should pay their dues.”
When had that been?
It had been nearly ten years since he recognized the identity of the mysterious religion operating in the shadows of the empire and made contact with them.
If he remembered correctly, it was long before he lost his precious lover to his respected older brother, First Prince Gerard, and fell into a stupor of alcohol day by day.
On a day long ago, he met an old boy who was floundering in the swamp of love, in a similar situation.
*****
Ten years ago.
“Your Highness! Your Highness! Wake up!”
“…?”
Elius rubbed his sleepy eyes.
Had he dozed off for a moment?
He hadn’t been getting enough rest lately, so fatigue had piled up.
“If you’re going to sleep, drink this! It’s tea that’s good for recovering from fatigue.”
Clank—
His female attendant, Fiona, set a cup down on his desk.
And then.
“Gyaaaaak-!”
With no warning, she slipped.
Her long skirt, made longer than usual, had caught on something.
“…You should be more careful.”
Elius waved his fingers and used magic.
Though he wasn’t as skilled as the mages of the Imperial Mage Society, it was easy for him to levitate a girl who had just turned into an adult.
Fiona’s body floated in the air.
Eventually, after safely landing on the floor, she looked at Elius with a tearful expression.
“Thank you, Your Highness!”
“Be careful. You should also make your skirt a bit shorter.”
“Yes!”
Fiona answered boldly.
Elius knew she wouldn’t be able to correct her clumsy habits for quite some time.
He understood she wouldn’t be able to fix her skirt by herself either.
It couldn’t be helped. Mistakes would lessen with experience, and to fix her skirt, she would need to learn how to sew.
However, she had become a servant in the Prince’s palace without gaining either sewing skills or experience.
If you were to ask why this happened, the story drifts back a little further into the past.
Fiona was the daughter of a baron from a remote area, but her mother was a sl*ve who had been mistreated.
As a result, she endured countless hardships and received no proper education, not even being treated as a noble.
The more Fiona grew, the more she felt the discrimination against her, prompting her to leave home, and by chance, she became a servant in the Prince’s palace due to a connection with a certain count.
Since he was a count with whom she had often gotten along, she thought nothing of it when he willingly accepted her as a servant, and now Elius regretted it deeply.
It was only natural that someone who hadn’t been educated wouldn’t be suited for the servant job.
Rumor had it that she was nothing but a troublemaker who made mistakes all day long.
Still, since it was the earnest request of a close count, he allowed her to gain experience under the attendant’s guidance, but the results were evident in her current state.
“Well then, I’ll take my leave… Gyaa—!”
“…”
Fiona tripped over her skirt once again.
This time, Elius did not use magic to prevent her from falling.
People tend to take favors for granted.
Since all humans are such beings, Fiona would be no exception.
If he continued to help her, there would come a day when she might ask, “Why didn’t you help me?”
Elius was drawing a line in his heart regarding Fiona.
He made his approach clear so that Fiona herself could recognize it.
Fiona sprang to her feet.
“Hehe. I’ll be going now!”
She laughed foolishly.
With a pure face, free of worldly worries, she bowed and set off to find her tasks.
“…”
*****
It had been half a year since Fiona began her work as a servant in the Imperial Palace.
Winter was approaching, a time when snow fell, and the water from roofs froze, causing many citizens of the empire to suffer.
Elius was working tirelessly, day and night, to fulfill his mission given by the Emperor: “Enrich the lives of the citizens.”
He supplied drinking water to regions where groundwater had frozen, dispatched mages to areas buried in snow where movement was difficult, and sent soldiers to regions suffering from hungry beasts.
Despite the limited resources due to continuous wars, Elius squeezed out efficiency with superhuman calculation abilities.
He ensured that necessary supplies were provided and cut off what needed to be eliminated.
In areas where food had become scarce due to war, he would supply food but also ensure that they had sustainable means to acquire food without relying on the royal family.
He would drive away winter beasts while also strengthening the citizens’ own capabilities.
Though he wasn’t as talented with the sword as his brother, his innate administrative skills were no less than those of the Emperor.
Elius was the self-proclaimed best swordsman of the Empire, but he was a man who did not have as much greed as his ability.
He wouldn’t mind at all if his brother took the imperial throne.
What need was there for such a hollow position?
He simply wished to live as he did now.
Holding the pen for the subjects of the empire, dealing with greedy nobles who only sought to fill their own bellies.
“Your Highness! Please try this! It’s my new creation! I put in lots of ingredients that help recover from fatigue!”
He would taste the strange dishes made by Fiona.
“It’s disgusting.”
“What!? No way!”
“Attendant. Take Fiona away. I can’t relax with all this noise.”
He merely wanted to live quietly, like a calm lake without ripples.
“Liar—!!”
“Ugh, so noisy.”
He closed the door from which Fiona was being dragged out.
Again today, he was met with Fiona’s ear-piercing screams.
“Hoohoo.”
Elius smiled and continued to eat the pie in front of him.
“Ugh….”
Was it apple pie, strawberry pie, or maybe grape?
He kept putting into his mouth something that looked delicious but was just a mixture of everything that was thrown together, taking the form of a pie.
It was a flavor he would never taste again in his life, but strangely, he found himself addicted to it.
“It’s food just like you.”
After finishing the pie, he spent time scribbling down his remaining tasks.
Before long, the day faded away, and the stars and moon rose high in the sky.
The attendant, who had said she would be back shortly, returned with some unusual news.
“Your Highness. A guest has requested to visit the Prince’s palace.”
“A guest…? Who are you talking about?”
“Well… it was a white-haired old man.”
“Are you joking? You want me to welcome an old man whose identity I don’t even know?”
At that moment.
“Goodness. How petty of you, Your Highness. Isn’t it sad that a member of the imperial family, responsible for the subjects of the empire, can’t spare a moment for a poor old man?”
With a hearty laugh, the old man appeared.
Standing beside him was a man who looked like a guard, whose aura of strength sent chills down Elius’s spine, even though he was hardly sensitive to displays of power.
“Who is it?”
Elius asked, straightening his back, his chills gone. While the man didn’t possess enough strength to overpower him, he was still a genuine prince of the empire.
The moment he laid a finger on him, the knights and the Mage Society would pursue the old man and the man with all their might.
If the old man knew anything about the world, he wouldn’t dare act recklessly in front of him.
Elius was certain of that.
“Who do you think I am?”
“I wasn’t looking for such an answer.”
Elius looked at the old man while activating his eyes.
He had no gift of the sword, no gift of magic.
But he had the ability to see through a man’s thoughts at the cost of his lifespan, a gift passed down to only a few of the imperial family’s bloodline.
“If you won’t tell me, then I have no choice but to extract it myself.”
*****
Whether this was the right decision, he did not know.
It was a judgment made partly on impulse, and thus it was not rational.
However.
‘I don’t regret it.’
Even if the moment of choice came again, he would make the same decision.
Imagining Epherna’s figure from his childhood made him feel this way naturally.
He knew he would get an earful upon returning, but it couldn’t be helped.
“Team 5, do you read me?”
– Yes. Loud and clear, you damn commander.
“Ah, I’m sorry about that.”
Ray Salessin, the leader of Team 5.
Having worked together the longest and having similar combat styles, he was selected as one of the two teams to infiltrate the Evergreen stronghold.
– If this mission goes well, you’ll let me retire, right?
“I’ll make sure to tell the Supreme Commander myself, so yes. Are you surprised? I’m the next Empress’s personal guard, kid.”
– Really? I only trust you, Commander.
“Have you ever seen me lie about something like this?”
