Translator: AkazaTL
Pr/Ed: Sol IX
***
Chapter 71 : There is a Fitting Way
‘Why did it turn out like this?’
While leaving the Reichart territory and coming to Abysin, the question he had recalled over a thousand tis was still filling Redin's head.
‘If I hadn't let my guard down that day I was attacked.’
‘If I had refused His Majesty's order and stayed in the territory.’
There weren't many things he had wanted throughout his entire life.
Protecting Zodiac and protecting the family's honor.
But the Royal Family and the capital were smashed, and his family had started a war against the nation.
The fact that all of this was caused by the hands of the child he had with the only woman he loved made Redin's heart ache even more.
“I greet you, Father. It is truly a relief to see you in good health.”
Then, the door opened and I, Hein Reichart, revealed myself.
Toward the son who had grown so much in the past few months that I was beyond his reach, Redin asked.
“Did you really have to go this far?”
A question difficult to answer readily, containing truly many anings.
“Yes. I had to do this.”
However, my answer was far too concise.
“I am asking if there was no…… other way.”
“There was none. I thought this was the best way, and that thought remains unchanged even now.”
What was most deeply imbued in Redin's voice throwing the question was not anger or reproach, but resignation.
In fact, Redin already knew too. That the situation could not be reversed.
But despite that, he…….
“The enemies in the capital persecuted Father and , the family's dependents, and the territory people, and tried to tarnish our honor. As the successor of the Reichart family, I have not a shred of regret for my actions to protect the safety of the territory's people and the family's honor.”
Perhaps he wanted to receive confirmation from one more ti.
“Did you not think that proving your honor with your own life was loyalty to His Majesty?”
Rather than a rebuke, a question is more like a final struggle.
“If it was a loyalty that could be proved only by Father's death, I might have done so.”
This bounced off without leaving any scratch on .
“Don't you know? That this is not sothing that will end with just Father alone.”
If I had tried to protect honor in Redin's way, the Reichart knights and their families, and the territory people would have had to suffer terribly harsh things.
As the predatory intentions of the nobles had already been proven by their ambush on Redin.
“I thought there were things much more precious among what I had to protect than loyalty offered to a foolish monarch.”
“…….”
“I could not give up all of that for the sake of loyalty that belongs only to Father. Please forgive .”
I rose from my seat and bowed my head toward Redin.
But Redin's empty gaze was only directed at the ceiling, not .
“I will return this. Since it was not mine from the beginning.”
I unfastened Axion, which I was wearing on my waist, and placed it in front of Redin.
“If you have nothing more to say, I will take my leave.”
Having finished everything I had to say, I turned my back without waiting for Redin's words.
“……Where are you going?”
“I am going to have an audience with His Majesty. Because there is important news I must deliver.”
When the na of King Alpencius III of Zodiac ca out of my mouth, Redin's eyebrows twitched for a mont.
But soon, Redin closed his eyes.
Just like he felt when he first saw in this room.
Now, nothing could be stopped with his power.
Neither the current situation, nor , all of it.
“Have you heard the news regarding Mother?”
Redin's tightly closed eyelids trembled faintly.
“Helkane has hidden his tracks, but Mother is remaining at the Vispon residence and resisting. Since she declared she would detonate the bombs in the basent of the mansion if we approach carelessly, we are having difficulty securing Mother's person.”
I did not hesitate to call Helkane's na in front of Redin, but I still used the title of Mother for Rishu.
“If the situation does not improve by the ti I return from having an audience with His Majesty, I plan to visit Mother personally.”
Thud.
With these words, I left the room.
Redin, left alone, let out a truly heavy sigh repeatedly.
A mont later, Redin, who had looked lethargic all along, bit his lip and rose from his seat.
He thought that everything happening in the capital was out of his reach.
But there was still one thing left that he could finish, no, that he had to do.
“I will go to the Vispon mansion. Tell the inside of the mansion that I have co.”
***
“Is His Majesty in his quarters?”
“T-That is so.”
Even though it was a sudden visit that was not arranged in advance, the audience procedure proceeded swiftly.
The soldiers guarding the entrance to the King's quarters, and even the attendants, were busy making their way without daring to block my path.
“P-Please wait a mont. I will inform His Majesty right away.”
“It is a matter that disputes ti. I will visit His Majesty personally and speak to him.”
“W-Will you do so? Please follow this small one. I will escort you.”
Even if I said I would have an audience with the King while wearing a sword, there would have been no one to block my path.
These people already knew too well.
In whose hands all the power of this country had fallen.
“I have sothing urgent to tell him, so leave the room.”
“We will do so. Please talk at your leisure.”
At my single word, the attendants who had the duty to guard the King's side quickly vacated their spots.
Having easily achieved a private eting with the King, I opened the door just like that.
“I, Hein Reichart, greet Your Majesty.”
“Who is this? Isn't it the hero of the country who saved the nation from the hands of evil nobles, the Grand Young Master of the Reichart family?”
King Alpencius III of Zodiac welcod with a face full of mockery.
Since he was virtually under house arrest ever since Abysin fell to Reichart, the King's complexion was not good.
But perhaps unable to hide his excessively violent and arrogant nature, a sharp malice dwelt in the King's eyes glaring at .
“I had urgent words to report, so I risked rudeness and ca for an audience.”
“Is that so? If our hero of the country has sothing to say, I must gladly listen, indeed. Of course.”
Perhaps intending not to be pushed back in the battle of spirits despite the overwhelming difference in power, the King glared at while bluffing as much as he could.
However.
“A short while ago, His Highness the Crown Prince committed suicide.”
“Su…… icide?”
The mont he heard the words that Luplan had taken his own life, Alpencius III's spirit collapsed in an instant.
“Y-You bastard, d-did you say suicide just now? Luplan committed suicide?!”
Although Alpencius III was famous as a dissolute tyrant, his affection for his child alone was terrible.
To the extent that he ran all state affairs according to the Crown Prince's will.
To him, the fact that Crown Prince Luplan took his own life was a shocking event as if the sky was falling.
“That is correct. He felt responsible for falling for the sches of foolish people and plunging the nation into a crisis of turmoil, and chose to take his own life.”
I strode toward the King and thrust Luplan's will into his face.
“Haa, aah…….”
An indescribably turbid breath leaked out from the mouth of the King, who accepted the glass box containing Luplan's will with trembling hands.
“Heuu, euu, euuuk!”
Eventually, the King vomited a handful of dark red blood.
“Lu-Luplan…… My son…….”
Alpencius III eventually burst into tears while clutching Luplan's will with hands soaked in the blood he had vomited.
Since he was a tyrant but not a dullard lacking the ability to grasp the situation, it was not that difficult to guess what had happened to Luplan.
“Hein Reichart, are you not afraid?”
The King howled toward with a blood-covered face.
“I am asking if you are not afraid of the curses of the Late Kings and guardian spirits that will fall upon you bastard for trampling on the Royal Family of Zodiac so miserably!”
“I will pray for the repose of the deceased Crown Prince once again.”
Unlike the howling King, my answer was calm.
“Because the one who should fear the curses of the Late Kings to be bestowed for the cri of trampling on the Royal Family's honor will probably not be .”
“W-What did you say! Uuk!”
Eventually, unable to overco his passion, the King vomited blood once again.
“Euhahaha, right, you an my son knew sha and committed suicide? My cute son Luplan committed suicide!”
Soon, mad laughter burst out from the King's mouth.
“Although I am an unworthy father who couldn't protect a single son, I cannot let Luplan go on that lonely road alone! Hahaha! Wait a mont! I will follow you soon!”
The King, who was bursting into laughter as if having a seizure, pulled out a sword hanging on the wall and aid it at his own neck.
And just before the sword pierced his neck,
Clang!
At the wind caused by my hand, the sword fell and rolled on the ground just like that.
“You bastard, do you intend to mock to the end!”
“I have no intention of stopping Your Majesty's choice. But if a scar remains on the corpse of a nation's King, it would be too great a tragedy for the entire country.”
“Tragedy! How dare you……!”
“And a father with a hole in his neck. Wouldn't His Highness the Crown Prince also be sad?”
When the word Crown Prince ca out of my mouth, the King, who was trying to pick up the sword, stopped his movent.
“I heard that there is a fitting way for a monarch.”
My gaze headed toward the belt Alpencius III was wearing.
“……Is that so? Kukuku, alright. There is indeed a proper thod for what a King does!”
Alpencius III burst into mad laughter once again and pulled out his belt. He had recalled the fact that so of the past Kings of Zodiac had hanged themselves with their belts.
“Then I will take my leave now.”
“There is nothing to leave behind, so it would be better not to waste your effort. Because I do not want to be played by a lowborn like you until the end.”
Capturing the image of Alpencius III taking out his belt in my gaze, I left the King's bedchamber just like that.
“…….”
I leaned against the room door and closed my eyes.
And after enough ti to drink a cup of tea had passed, I opened the door again.
“Royal Physician, where is the Royal Physician? His Majesty has hanged himself! Bring the Royal Physician imdiately!”
A voice announcing the King's lonely death rang out in the hallway where only silence hovered.
***
“The Grand Madam has been waiting for a long ti. Please go inside quickly.”
The old head servant, who was guarding the Vispon mansion alone after everyone had left, welcod Redin with polite movents.
“Waiting…… for ?”
“That is correct. The Grand Madam said that His Excellency the Duke would definitely co here, so I must keep guard here. Please follow . I will guide you to Grand Madam.”
Redin followed behind the head servant with a complicated expression.
Thud thud.
The Vispon mansion that had always ford a bustling crowd with visitors.
But now it was so desolate that the sound of footsteps heading to the top floor was all that could be heard.
“The Grand Madam is inside.”
How long had he moved his steps like that?
The head servant, who guided Redin to the entrance of the hallway heading to the innermost part of the top floor, bowed his head politely.
Creak.
Soon, Redin hid his figure inside the hallway.
“Lady Grand Madam. Please forgive this unworthy one for leaving first without serving Madam to the end.”
The old head servant, who had fulfilled his final duty, took out a sharply sharpened dagger from his bosom.
Thuck
Before long, a sound digging into flesh filled the empty mansion, and
Trickle.
Liquid redder than the red carpet soaked the floor of the mansion.
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