[Translator – Vine]
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[Proofreader – Sato]
Chapter 1. A Beauty That Could Topple a Nation
The nation is on the brink of collapse.
The moment the army visible beyond that ridge reaches these walls will mark the end of the thousand-year Ortair Empire.
The empire had almost no troops left.
The elite knights had all been trampled by that army, their heads flying off. The soldiers and citizens who rose up to defend the country had been taken prisoner or mercilessly killed.
When you’re at the point of pulling prisoners out of jail to use as troops, can you grasp how serious this is?
And by now, someone must have noticed.
That’s right.
I am one of those prisoner soldiers.
And even this prisoner soldier is now on the verge of death.
Lost in thought, the commander spoke.
“No matter how I think about it…”
“What nonsense are you about to spout now?”
“If I had become emperor, the country wouldn’t have fallen like this.”
Here we go again.
It’s really annoying to hear, but it’s not entirely nonsense.
Golden, disheveled hair and dull blue eyes.
With his scruffy beard and body covered in scars, he looks just like a homeless person, but believe it or not, this man was once the crown prince of the empire.
At the same time, he’s also the empire’s last Grand Master, the reason we’re still alive even after all the elites have died.
“Lieutenant, don’t you think the situation would be better now if I had been emperor?”
I know his words, spoken with a chuckle, are nonsense.
That’s why I responded with nonsense of my own.
“Bullshit. If a man who neglected all his duties because he was obsessed with one woman had become emperor, the empire would have fallen even faster than it has now.”
“How harsh.”
“Am I wrong? It’s not just you. All the supposed future leaders of the empire became fools, swooning over one woman.”
Thinking about it makes me angry again.
That was the reason we lost this war.
About 20 years ago, I guess. This is a story from when I was still a noble youth and this man was the crown prince.
The crown prince fell for some commoner woman and neglected his duties.
He didn’t receive imperial education, didn’t train in swordsmanship, and even skipped public events like banquets.
And all he did was use his power to please that woman.
How do you think it ended?
This man lost his qualifications and was stripped of his position as crown prince.
Harboring resentment over that, he lashed out and was thrown in prison. It’s only now, when the war has become irreversible, that he’s been released under the idea that even a cat’s paw could be useful.
The others were the same.
The legitimate son of the duke guarding the northern front, the lord of the underworld, the saint of the Papal Office, and the next head of the magic tower – they all fell for that woman and were ruined.
This is the result.
An empire left with only weaklings, collapse due to invasion.
If I had to describe it… right.
“That woman was a beauty that could topple a nation.”
She was a woman who shook the country.
The prince laughed at my words.
“She wasn’t that pretty. Just cute-looking, that’s all.”
“But she did shake the nation, didn’t she?”
“She shook the nation with her cuteness.”
“What happened to that damned woman in the end? Didn’t she end up with some commoner man and have a child…?”
“…She lived well. Still, she was a pitiful woman. Getting caught up with men like us.”
He’s still like this.
Whatever that first love was, he smiles bitterly like this whenever I curse that woman.
I don’t know if it’s due to guilt or lingering attachment.
Anyway, what’s the use of talking more about the past?
“…I owe you a lot for all this time.”
I spoke my final words to the prince.
He may have been the worst royal who brought down the country, but thanks to him, I’m about to die fighting for the country.
It’s because I learned secret sword techniques from the prince in prison and reached a higher level.
The prince laughed.
“Owe me? I’m just sorry. You ended up in prison because of my youthful recklessness, didn’t you?”
“That’s all in the past… forget it.”
“Still, I’m sorry.”
It’s not much of a story.
The reason I ended up in prison.
During the time when the crown prince was obsessed, I slapped that woman’s cheek, which incurred the prince’s wrath.
Clearly, I spent half my life in prison because of this man, but I didn’t resent him for it.
After all, the crimes I was charged with when I entered prison were ones I had actually committed.
“If it weren’t for Your Highness, I’d still be an immature brat. I was quite the scoundrel, wasn’t I? Spending so much time alone thinking in prison, that’s when I finally came to my senses. Realizing I had been living wrong.”
I was a bastard.
Despite being the heir to a great family, I was a hopeless case who enjoyed only rights without responsibilities.
A man whose crimes, if listed, would require more paper than available.
What awakened me was the time in prison, and what completed me was the prince.
I didn’t feel any particular resentment now.
Rather, there was no time left for resentment now.
“They’re coming. The barbarians.”
“So they are.”
In the distance, the barbarian king leading their vanguard was now visible to the naked eye.
Izak la Bodeta.
The Great Soul or whatever they called him, the copper-skinned muscular man was grinning irritatingly brightly.
“Your Highness, that bastard is smiling.”
“Leave him be. Let him dream about taking the imperial palace.”
“Are we really leaving him alone?”
“No.”
The prince stood up.
“I can accept the empire falling, but I can’t accept that bastard sitting on the throne.”
A blindingly bright golden aura gathered on his sword.
It was a destructive energy, no matter how many times I saw it.
The empire’s last, and the second Grand Master to appear since the founding emperor of the empire.
Such a man spoke to me.
“I want to turn back time.”
“Suddenly?”
“Yes, I had such a thought today. I want to go back to the past, before I fell for her.”
“Wouldn’t you just fall for her again?”
“I thought about that too. So, after much consideration, I’ve found the perfect solution.”
“What is it?”
The prince looked at me with a grin.
“I’ll send you to the past.”
“…Pardon?”
“You’ll go to the past and beat me up. To knock some sense into me, that is.”
Wondering what nonsense this was, I looked at him, and the prince said with a mischievous smile:
“Your mouth is quite free, isn’t it? Even though it was in prison, I was shocked when you asked me if my mother was a whore. I was amazed that someone who insulted the Empress was still alive.”
“…You insulted my family first.”
“Anyway, I need someone with a mouth as free as yours. Everyone around me only looked up to me. That’s why I couldn’t come to my senses. I was drunk on admiration, you see.”
Tap, tap!
The prince tapped my shoulder with his sword, charged with energy.
“So it’s you. You who know me best in this land, and who can defy me and still live.”
Even though it’s just nonsense, it’s still quite an interesting topic, so I answered:
“Why should I do that?”
“I taught you swordsmanship, didn’t I?”
“Taught me? I just got used to it because I was beaten with that swordsmanship almost every day.”
“It was sparring.”
“Don’t bullshit me, Your Highness.”
“Thanks to that, you became a Sword Master too, didn’t you?”
“So what? I still can’t beat you.”
The prince was a terrifyingly strong man.
To the extent that his words, “Even if the empire falls, I must take that man’s head,” seemed more than just determination.
To get involved with such a man again? I’d refuse even if I were dead.
“I won’t do it. Get lost.”
Then the prince said:
“No, you will do it. When you see my young face, you’ll curse at me even if it kills you.”
“I can’t argue with that.”
That was the end of our conversation.
The only difference from usual was one thing:
That we were now going to die.
Also,
“…Your Highness?”
The prince’s eyes turned a blindingly bright… golden color, like his sword aura.
The prince walked towards the front line.
As he did so, he said:
“I’m counting on you.”
I don’t know what he’s counting on me for.
But there’s only one thing I remember.
The prince fought with the barbarian king.
Strong winds blew, earthquakes occurred, and the sky split open.
I, a mere swordsman, struggled desperately to take down even one more enemy in the midst of it all.
Explosions and screams, steel and blood.
Such things shook my body and soul, making my mind hazy.
At some point, even my senses disappeared.
‘Ah.’
I’m dying.
This is how I end.
After finally realizing my end like that.
And after quite some time had passed after that.
At last, when my senses returned, I tilted my head in confusion.
“Yuren Paros. Now, if you have anything to say, I’ll listen. Go ahead, try to explain yourself.”
The place was an abandoned warehouse.
In front of me was the young prince from when he was still the crown prince.
My body was tied up.
* * *
Once, a subordinate who had retired after losing his entire lower body said something like this:
– When I was pushed to the brink of death, the moment I regretted most in my life appeared like a dream.
Looking at it now, those words seem to be true.
Me, tied up in an abandoned warehouse. The prince, Kalios van Ortair, smiling at me.
This was the scene from the day my life hit rock bottom.
On this day, I slapped the cheek of the commoner woman who had captured the prince’s heart, and for that reason, I incurred the prince’s wrath and was thrown in prison.
In terms of timing, this was right before I was imprisoned.
It was the time for final plea given by the prince who had come to find me.
“Do you have nothing to say? I’m willing to listen to anything.”
Thinking it was a dream made me feel at ease.
I examined the face of the prince… no, at this point, he was still the crown prince.
Looking at him like this was truly surprising.
‘This face becomes that homeless-looking mess…’
Right now, the crown prince’s face was, to borrow the expression of some noble lady, ‘a face that seemed to embody all the fantasies of every young girl.’
Honestly, from my perspective, it was a look that only a homosexual would go crazy for, but still, I couldn’t deny its handsomeness.
‘But how cruel time is.’
How does this face end up looking like that homeless mess?
The feeling of transience was only momentary.
“Can you not hear me?”
The crown prince spoke, furrowing his brow.
I didn’t feel much emotion about it.
Even if he tells me to speak…
‘…It’s just a dream anyway.’
I thought about what happened in the past.
What did I actually answer back then?
– It’s just a commoner wench! Your Highness! I’ve been wronged! You should be defending me, not that woman! I am the heir to a great family! I am Your Majesty’s ally, damn it!!!
…Well, it wasn’t a very good answer.
Thinking about my scoundrel days still makes me feel ashamed no matter how many times I recall it.
Anyway, if it’s a dream, I hope it ends quickly.
I might not have lived a great life, but I died defending the country, so shouldn’t I go to the Lord’s embrace?
I want to live there leisurely, eating delicious fruits and drinking good wine.
Having spent half of my life in prison, and half of the remaining half on the battlefield, I’ve never longed so much for freedom and peace.
‘When will this end?’
It was at that moment when I thought this.
“Hmm, no answer. Are you scared? How could someone with such weak nerves use violence against a woman? Or is your strength so pathetic that it can only be used against the weak?”
Those words made me laugh derisively.
‘Have I ever swung my sword at someone weaker than me?’
I can say with certainty that I haven’t.
Of course not, the person who faced my sword the most was the future version of this man.
Other than that, the only ones I’ve swung my sword at were the barbarians obsessed with war.
Come to think of it, it’s this man who swings his sword at the weak.
On the battlefield, there was no one who swung their sword as much as this man, except for the barbarian king.
When I looked at the crown prince with an expression that said ‘this isn’t funny at all’, the crown prince smiled coldly.
His intention to provoke me was too obvious.
‘Sigh.’
I can endure this.
I’m not a child, how could my composure be shaken by the words of a crown prince who hasn’t even fully grown up?
This level of provocation isn’t even half of half of the future prince’s insult, “You have neither mother nor father. Do you even remember their faces?”
…If only the next words hadn’t followed, it surely would have been so.
“What a coward. No guts and no answer. To think that such a thing was supposed to be one of the empire’s futures makes my skin crawl. Removing you today must be a choice for the empire’s sake.”
My body froze suddenly.
It felt like something hot was settling in my head.
You could call it deep anger, or perhaps indignation.
That phrase ‘a choice for the empire’s future’ really rubbed me the wrong way.
‘This guy worried about the empire’s future? At this time?’
What utter nonsense.
I’m certain of this because I heard the answer directly from his own mouth.
-At that time, I was as if bewitched. I couldn’t see anything. Nothing but her…
Maybe that’s why.
My mouth moved on its own.
“Is that something that should come out of Your Highness’s mouth?”
“?”
“Is it right for a man who neglects state affairs because he’s infatuated with a commoner wench to discuss the empire’s future… Is this correct?”
In fact, this level of speech could be punishable for blasphemy, but I didn’t care much.
‘It’s just a dream anyway.’
Let’s just go for it, might as well vent while I’m at it.
With that decision, my mouth started moving freely.
It was words that had been pent up for quite a long time.
“Your Highness, please come to your senses. I’m begging you to separate your lower body from your thought process. Or should I do it for you?”
The crown prince’s expression froze solid.
Ah, that feels good.
[Translator – Vine]
Novel Pro
[Proofreader – Sato]
