Chapter 62
Late at night, inside the Fourth Prince’s private chamber.
The Fourth Prince was speaking with soone through a Magic Mirror.
“Have you been in good health, ‘teacher’?”
“What is there to say about being in good health or not? This old man has always been the sa. Has His Highness been well during that long journey?”
“Wherever I go, the Lord watches over , so I am quite fine.”
“Haha, is that so. But considering the South is a region full of heretics, one cannot help but worry.”
“There has been nothing to worry about. And there will not be in the future.”
The two exchanged greetings warmly, as if they were well acquainted.
“So, Your Highness would not have contacted this old man at this late hour rely to ask about his well-being… For what matter have you reached out?”
“I wished to ask after Your Eminence the Archbishop, and also because there is sothing I must tell you.”
“For His Highness to say he has sothing to speak of first… I cannot help but listen. Would you tell what it is?”
What important matter did he intend to discuss? The Fourth Prince took a breath before beginning the real conversation, lowering his voice with caution.
“…I am thinking of doing that.”
“If it is that, then…?”
The sa thought surfaced in the minds of both Fourth Prince Mariel and the Archbishop.
“Yes. I speak of using the sacred relic of the church that I brought before.”
“Hm… His Highness also knows well what the relic is capable of. It may be dangerous—are you certain it is all right?”
“No dangerous incident will occur. rely… perhaps a small disturbance.”
The Fourth Prince curved his lips in a smile impossible to decipher.
The Archbishop seed to catch his intention and nodded.
“Your Highness continually takes the lead in enlightening the ignorant. Watching you, I cannot help but feel ashad of myself—already nothing more than an old man tucked away in the back room.”
“Please do not say such things, teacher. It is thanks to your unreserved guidance that I am even standing where I stand.”
“Heheh, I am grateful Your Highness says so. Very well. Proceed. This old man shall pray for the success of Your Highness’s plan.”
“Haha, if it is Your Eminence’s prayer, the success of the matter is already as good as guaranteed. Then, I shall return to the Capital with good news and greet you again. Until then, please take good care of your health.”
“Lord Lehl shall surely see Your Highness’s devotion and watch over you. Then, I look forward to the day we can et again with smiles.”
After ending the magical communication, the Fourth Prince returned to his seat and sat at the head of the bed. He then took a small box from within his garnts.
Click—
The Fourth Prince opened the box and looked inside. Within lay a red gemstone about the size of a man’s thumb.
Its color was distinctly different from gems used for ornantation. It was a crimson jewel that was clearly no ordinary object, even at a glance.
‘If I use this….’
Indeed, it was the sacred relic of the Church of Lehl. Even in darkness, the jewel emitted a strange radiance.
Its eerie glow seed capable of ensnaring a person’s soul just by being looked upon.
As if bewitched by it, the Fourth Prince’s gaze remained fixed upon the jewel.
‘The youngest one who knows how to wait for the right mont is the worst opponent. Perhaps not now, but eventually, he will beco the greatest obstacle. If ti passes like this, he will undoubtedly grow even further. Here in this distant South, I shall crush his budding sprout.’
The crimson shimr of the jewel flickered against the Fourth Prince’s pupils. His two eyes glowed red, the sa color as the jewel.
The three-day leave granted to the Subjugation Forces before their return to the Capital passed in the blink of an eye.
Before they knew it, the Subjugation Forces were set to depart the next morning.
Thus ca their final night in the South.
A simple farewell feast had been prepared for the Subjugation Forces.
Having finished their preparations early and rely waiting for departure, the mbers of the Subjugation Forces gathered at the feast with considerably lighter hearts.
It was quite different from the feasts they were accustod to.
No—so different that one might hesitate to even call it a “feast” as they knew it.
“Um… Is this how feasts are normally held in the South?”
“I… I guess so?”
What welcod the Subjugation Forces, who had dressed themselves up for an enjoyable evening, was a massive fla.
A single large bonfire set ablaze simply to honor the dead.
The wide clearing itself was the splendid stage, and the open night sky was the ceiling. The starlight pouring down from above stood in place of chandeliers.
There was alcohol and conversation, but neither music nor dancing.
The crackling of logs burning fiercely served as their music, and the flas swaying in the wind were their dance.
Many among the Subjugation Forces seed flustered, unsure whether this really counted as a feast or whether they had co to the right place.
But with the locals’ explanation of, ‘This is simply how we do it here,’ and their comfortable enjoynt of the feast, even those unfamiliar with Southern culture gradually relaxed and began to enjoy themselves.
Yuwon was also new to such a feast, so it felt sowhat awkward at first, but he quickly blended in.
After all, Yuwon had always been more accustod to places like this rather than the flashy feasts of the Capital.
‘The South may look rough, but there’s a certain romantic charm in things like this.’
Yuwon let out a small chuckle to himself. He found the Southern-style feast rather to his liking.
There was a charm distinct from the feasts the Subjugation Forces knew—quietly chatting with others while watching the flas.
“Hooah…! Finally, we can say goodbye to this damned South.”
“That’s right. We’re finally going back.”
At first, the Subjugation Forces had felt awkward with the lack of proper chairs, but after long months of camping on their way to the South, they had beco used to it.
Now everyone plopped themselves down on the dirt without hesitation and enjoyed the feast.
“I’m glad I joined the Subjugation Forces this ti. I finally realized how narrow my perspective has been. When I go back, I’ll have to train harder for next year’s Houkijisu Tournant and for the possible Subjugation recruitnt next year.”
“And how long will that resolve last…?”
“Oh? You saying it won’t? Want to make a bet?”
“A bet? Why not. All right, what shall we wager?”
The Subjugation Forces sat gathered in small groups around the bonfire. Warm conversations continued everywhere.
The atmosphere was quite different from when they had first departed. And that was not the only thing that had changed.
“Oh, Your Highness! Have you been well! Your Highness ca out as well!”
Now, the number of people who greeted Yuwon warmly had increased beyond comparison to before.
“Ah, I had nothing in particular to do, that’s all.”
“You always seem busy, but please take the chance to rest a little at tis like this. I have a feeling that on our way back, Your Highness will be constantly pestered by us. Haha. My friends and I—we’ve all been counting down the days until we can receive Your Highness’s personal instruction again.”
“Goodness… even ten bodies wouldn’t be enough for that.”
“Haha, but who would believe that from soone who once instructed dozens in a single night?”
Those who had crossed swords with Yuwon and received precious lessons from him spoke to him with ease. Yuwon was never soone difficult or frightening to approach in the first place.
Every ti Yuwon turned his gaze sowhere, there were several n who bowed with bright smiles toward him.
All of them were those who had faced Yuwon’s sword at the Valaris training hall. Yuwon was busy returning countless greetings with small nods. Even that effort felt pleasant to him.
‘Guess I should say the hard work paid off.’
Yuwon had expected that teaching the sword to the Subjugation Forces would naturally yield so positive results, but he had not expected the effect to be this great.
‘Is it because this is a nation built on the sword?’
Now, except for the few who proclaid themselves the left and right hands of each Prince’s faction, most saw Yuwon in a favorable light. At the very least, there were no longer those who avoided even eting Yuwon’s gaze out of fear of how their own Prince might react.
Every smiling face turned toward Yuwon was a testant to the results he had achieved in this Subjugation.
‘It took long enough.’
Seeing their smiles whenever his eyes t theirs made Yuwon smile as well.
Among them, soone caught Yuwon’s attention. Yuwon quietly called the man who stood beside him.
“Terrien.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Since tonight is what it is, go have a drink or two. When I saw earlier, it looked like you had a few friends from your Academy days here. Go share a drink with them.”
“Then… since it is as Your Highness says, I will not refuse and drink just one cup.”
“You can drink more.”
“No, Your Highness. One cup is enough. To beco dull from drunkenness is sothing I must decline.”
“Well, I can’t force you. Do as you will. If you don’t rest on a night like this, when will you?”
“Then, I shall leave for a mont. Your Highness, please rest comfortably.”
Terrien did not refuse and temporarily stepped away. The mbers of the Subjugation Forces were all gathered in small groups with like-minded friends, leaving Yuwon alone. And as if waiting for the exact mont Yuwon was alone, a man slid in beside him.
“Got room?”
The Second Prince, Arencar, stood next to Yuwon.
“There is not.”
“Then spare a mont.”
“Well, it’s awkward to stand, so let us sit and talk.”
Yuwon sat down before hearing Arencar’s response. Arencar did not reply either. He simply sat beside Yuwon.
Yuwon and Arencar—two Princes sitting side by side before the flas.
“Your arm… Has it gotten any better?”
“Kek, my arm? As you can see, it’s just hanging there.”
Arencar lifted his right arm and waved it before Yuwon. His right arm, nothing but thin bones, swung limply like a dead branch.
“It’ll be better once we return to the Capital than here in the South. It can be treated.”
“Well, let’s hope so. Otherwise, I’ll just keel over and die.”
“Haha, that tone of yours hasn’t changed.”
“My arm got wrecked, not my head.”
The feeling of a knight who had trained with the sword all his life losing an arm—Yuwon himself struggled to imagine such despair, yet the Second Prince seed to have already overco it, looking just as Yuwon rembered him.
“So, what brings you here? I doubt you ca to simply chat with .”
“I’d rather not do that either, so I’ll get to the point. Yurion, you’d better be careful of Mariel. That bastard is plotting sothing.”
“Fourth brother?”
“Yes. He ca to asking to join hands, but maybe he didn’t trust —he didn’t tell much. But it’s clear he’s planning sothing. Even that supposed deal… I got the feeling he’d use and throw away, so I refused.”
Fourth Prince Mariel was targeting Yuwon? Yuwon had already expected Mariel was not rely a good person. However, learning that Yuwon would be the first target once Mariel acted—this was valuable information.
“Then why tell this?”
“Just acting how I please. I hate that fourth one. And… as humiliating as it is, I owe you a debt.”
“Hm… I thought I’d earned quite a bit of his resentnt, but he irritates you even more?”
“Yes, for now. The bastard who used to call ‘brother, brother’ all the ti cos to the mont my arm becos useless and dares to bargain over its treatnt? I almost ripped his mouth apart right then and there, but my arm’s like this, so I held back.”
The Second Prince spoke of brutal things in an indifferent tone. Perhaps because of that, his words sounded even more chilling.
“I knew all our brothers had rotten insides, but I didn’t think even that one—the one they called a saint—would be like this. I always joked that the one pretending to have no interest in the throne was the most vicious, but turns out it was true. Heh-heh.”
“In any case, I understand. I don’t know what he’s plotting, but I’ll be careful. Thank you for the valuable information.”
“A duller reaction than I expected. Aren’t you afraid of the fourth? He hid his intentions just as thoroughly as you.”
“What is there to fear? It simply ans there’s one more enemy for to cut down.”
Yuwon smiled calmly.
There was not a trace of fear or bravado in that smile, which sent a chill down the Second Prince’s spine.
‘Madman…’
It was the greatest complint he could offer.
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