The Emperor Who Was Chapter 114 : Chapter 114

Chapter . 114

‘How do I tell Margaret…….’

How did all that happen on this cursed mountain…….

He had a bad feeling from the first ambush, but even though he witnessed it himself, the damage was so great that he still doubted his eyes.

Then encountering Duke Grimiati and the First Prince Maximilian was the worst misfortune.

‘Devils… Seeds of the devil… Blood of the devil…….’

The middle-aged Duke shuddered as he hugged the head in his arms tighter.

The First Prince Faction had also shrunk much more than what was scouted. They had already fought a battle, and it was clear their damage was as great as the Empress Faction's.

Nevertheless, as soon as they saw Desmond and Lauderdale, they pounced as if new strength had surged up. Not to find Prince Leontes and the dragon egg, but as if they ca to find and kill Desmond and Lauderdale.

Even Alexander, whom the First Prince usually provoked saying he wanted to see the Sword Master's skills, was ignored; they only relentlessly attacked the Empress Faction.

‘That is why Rhiannon too… provoked the opponents too much… carrying out such reckless sches with even lies…….’

Even so, he was his brother, yet the First Prince's face looking at Desmond overflowed with hatred. I swear, usually, it wasn't to that extent.

There wasn't even hatred on Duke Grimiati's face. Only the clear will to kill, so much so that even people around Desmond trembled together.

-Brother! Brother!

It wasn't that child's fault that Desmond was terrified.

-Calling

brother now, who are you looking for? My mother did not commit adultery like your mother?

Maximilian, pointing a sword at his half-brother, mocked him cruelly. He was definitely crazy. This mountain, all the dangerous things that happened on this mountain, the unknown power that was dangerously mysterious… all of it was driving people mad.

Normally, the Duke would not have let his nephew Prince be exposed to danger. Being ambushed on a rugged mountain instead of a plain battle, and engaging in a chaotic fight with other factions, all those defenses beca useless, exposing Desmond to danger. But because the powerful enemies attacked literally with malice…….

Even if he put a sword to his brother's throat himself, Maximilian was Emperor Lombroso's son.

He would surely have made the cold calculation beyond that madness-filled face to kill his half-brother first at this opportunity, kill all the Lauderdale knights and mages who had already suffered heavy losses, and disguise it as an unfortunate accident.

-Brother Alexander! Save !

And Desmond's scream burst out.

Not only the Empress Faction present, but also the Illegitimate Prince Faction, the First Prince Faction, knights, and even lowly mages flinched. That was because Desmond was famous for never having called Alexander brother since he started speaking.

Desmond even grew up thinking he only had two half-brothers. Until Alexander beca a Sword Master and Rhiannon taught him the truth, saying he had to know to prepare from now on.

Before that, no matter how much his older brother tried to persuade him, she was the one who issued a strict ban not only to the Lauderdale family but to the entire Empress Faction.

‘Devils… Devils to be beaten to death…….’

At such tis, Grimiati, who actively cooperated with the Empress Faction and made it more infuriating, also joined in, and the First Prince Faction kept their mouths shut too.

The Emperor, who had no interest in whether his child lived as a page unbefitting of royal blood or not, was not worth ntioning… The Illegitimate Prince Faction harbored more venom in anger, so Desmond truly had no choice but not to know…….

-So, make sure you do not make

regret choosing you instead of your real brother. Do you understand?

Recalling those words, the Duke of Lauderdale shuddered again. The face of the First Prince he saw today overlapped with his sister's face from the past. mories were jumbled. As if he himself was going mad.

-Hahaha! Didn't your mother teach you that Alexander is not your brother! How dare you betray your mother?

Maximilian laughed loudly. Grimiati's smile was picturesque. As if this blood-stained mountain was a ball filled with noble ladies.

-Hahahaha! Prince Desmond, you must be filial to your mother!

Reinhard, Maximilian's cousin, mocking the Prince while covered in blood. The First Prince's dog who treated anyone other than Leontes not even as his master's brother, in other words, not even as his cousin.

-Kuhahaha!

The branch royal knights laughing along… their laughter echoed in the strangely silent mountain. To the point where he wanted to pierce their throats with a spear.

-Alex, Alex! My nephew, please! Please save him!

And he shouted. Calling even the childhood nickna before he cut ties with his nephew.

He regretted it as soon as he called that na. He should have shouted earlier. If he had saved Desmond's life instead, Desmond wouldn't have suffered such mockery. If Desmond died here… what on earth could he say to his sister who made him a Duke when he returned?

He was worrying about all sorts of things in that situation. Would his sister even give him a chance to speak?

-Hahahaha! Alex, Alexxx!!

-Puhahaha! Alexxx! Dear Alex, your desperate uncle is looking for you!

Now the enemies' mockery was directed at him. Rather, he was glad. Laugh, laugh all you want, while the bastards mock him instead of Desmond, he would buy ti……. Until Alexander… until Alex… finally saves Desmond.

-Desmond, shouldn't you call my na and beg for your life at tis like this? Of course, although I am not your brother, if you beg desperately, my heart might be moved.

It was when Maximilian spoke as gently as Grimiati.

Desmond, who couldn't take his eyes off the blade his half-brother put to his throat, looked up at him with bloodshot eyes.

But the youngest Prince, who had been truly terrified until then, couldn't hide his hatred the mont he t his half-brother's deep blue eyes, and thus the First Prince applied force to the sword against the youngest Prince's throat—

Clang.

A single clear tallic sound rang out.

At so mont, Alexander was in front of them. He was fighting Lauderdale… none other than Edward over there in the chaos! Only after seeing his son looking blankly this way with a sword in hand did the Duke of Lauderdale realize his nephew was fighting his son. When his eyes t his son's, his son quickly ran to his side, but his hands were trembling.

‘They grew up like brothers when they were young……’

In this cursed battlefield, the chaos was that extre, but because the First Prince, with the help of Grimiati and Reinhard, disposed of all the youngest Prince's guards and aid a sword at his half-brother, even that chaos stopped for a mont. Because everyone couldn't take their eyes off those two brothers.

No one knew how Alexander broke through that distance in an instant, or how he aid a sword at Maximilian's throat even though Grimiati was right next to him.

As the initial shock passed, joy boiled in Lauderdale's heart. Indeed, Alexander did not abandon his real brother! He responded to his foolish uncle's call!

‘He, he was indeed a really good child! Like when he was young, actually unchanged!’

His judgnt believing in that child was right. So he saved his nephew Prince too. In the end, even that arrogant Grimiati who always despised him as vulgar failed to protect his nephew Prince like him, and put him in danger just the sa!

-Marquis Steiner, do you intend to kill the First Prince of this country to save your one and only brother? Your mother will be very pleased.

Then the platinum-haired devil wagged his tongue.

-Even if you are executed for treason and disappear as dew on the execution ground, she will never forget your loyalty. Even if you showed rebellious acts out of bravado due to hurt feelings until now, the Marquis has proven himself to the whole world that he was ultimately Prince Desmond's number one loyal subject.

He would sear that viper's tongue with a branding iron, pull it out, and feed it to a dog!

Lauderdale glared and hugged his son's head in his arms tighter. In his unfocused eyes staring into the void, the thick drops of sweat dripping from Alexander's neck ca to mind. More than the blade aid at his nephew's throat, he couldn't take his eyes off that mont.

-…Withdraw your sword.

Alexander gritted his teeth and said to Maximilian.

-Ah, should I withdraw my sword first? Why, because you will kill

if I do not call you brother and beg for my life too?

There was not a shred of fear in the smiling blue eyes of Maximilian.

-The First Prince of this country has no need to do such a thing. Being the one who will beco Emperor anyway, why would you suddenly pledge loyalty to your enemy until now. Such things are for those of vulgar bloodlines to do.

Even in the grey eyes of Grimiati, who unhesitatingly provoked the one aiming a sword at his nephew. Rather than instigating like that, if he helped Maximilian, even Alexander, a Sword Master, would find it hard to deal with both of them.

Only then did Lauderdale realize. Those devils were waiting. Until Alexander reacted and ca to save Desmond… While not intending to kill Desmond, just to see how Alexander would act…….

No, it was clear they predicted Alexander's rescue in the end. Alexander was the most composed and good-natured among the four royal bloodlines who inherited Lombroso's blood. To the point where he was always proud as an uncle…….

That child would never kill the First Prince as long as Lombroso was alive. He was just threatening, and both the First Prince and Grimiati knew that, so they were acting like that. Calculating even that the kindest child would never try to kill his flesh and blood in earnest like himself, a devil.

That blue-eyed devil! That grey-eyed devil!

“Uncle?”

Soone called him, but he couldn't hear well.

Because those two pairs of eyes were rging into blue-grey eyes in front of the Duke's blurring vision.

Shining like the North Star in the winter night sky, but actually an ominous star.

“…We are almost at Leontes's castle. You can rest when we get to Montova. Are you alright, Uncle? You just have to endure a little until then. If Leontes does not let us in this ti too, I will not stay still.”

Prince Leontes. Since that Prince was born, he couldn't erase an ominous feeling……. Because his mother Empress Erngarde's death only fueled his sister's ambition more. Even though she rose greatly in status from a position not even treated as a noble.

If his sister had been satisfied with the position of favorite concubine even if not Empress, his two nephews would have beco close brothers. United with brotherly love that Maximilian or Leontes could not even dream of… his two nephews… with his son like brothers… like three brothers…….

-Why approach Prince Leontes of all people, Marquis Steiner?

Was he so upset that he asked that to the nephew his sister cast out. Even though they hadn't even greeted each other properly for years.

But being on bad terms with Desmond was upsetting enough, yet getting close to Leontes, the cause of it all?

If not for him, Empress Erngarde wouldn't have died, and even if Rhiannon didn't beco Empress, Desmond becoming the only legitimate son and having his status completely split from his real brother wouldn't have happened, causing the relationship between the two brothers to collapse from the start.