Chapter 15 : Not a Deception
What remained on the cliff where the Duke disappeared was a taut tension, and a vivid fear digging in between it.
Everyone must have clearly understood this.
What it ant to go against the will of the Imperial Family, and that they had the power to make anything happen.
The Duke was a hero who had led countless wars at the forefront. One who knew how to use Manis, however little.
Having seen such a person die without being able to lift a single finger, it was understandable that their fear reached its peak.
Even a hero to all was just a trivial life in front of them.
To die so easily.
If so, what about ?
The flow of consciousness was revealed raw on the crowd's faces.
“We shall send the tribute offerings dedicated by the winner of the Hunting Competition to the Ducal family, conveying our condolences.”
The Emperor left words that were no different from a sneer and rose from his seat.
Everyone bowed their heads.
I was the sa.
Between the lowered heads, I saw the Duke's Aide collapsed among the people.
The Knight who had been with the Duke was supporting him and helping him up.
The weak-hearted man, perhaps having fainted, laboriously lifted his listless body and was glaring at the disappearing Emperor and 1st Prince.
Tollin soon bowed his head like the others, as if to hide his venomous eyes.
But the blood flowing from between his tightly clenched fists showed that he had not bowed his heart.
The Emperor and Rasia left their seats, and I followed behind them along with my brothers and sisters.
When I glanced back, I saw the scene of the nobles still bowing their heads.
And Tollin, standing among them, had risen and was glaring back here as if he would tear it to shreds.
I knew well what path he, who had to protect the death notice of the Duke who left not even a corpse behind, would walk from now on.
It was the completion of a perfect hidden episode.
***
The place where an individual's taste is blatantly revealed is likely the most personal space.
In that sense, Rasia's room was a place where his personality was honestly visible.
Things like the furniture boasting an oppressive size, the taxidermied specins of magical beasts and animals that I couldn't tell if he hunted them himself or if they were tribute offerings from soone, and the subtle harmony of the wallpaper boasting vibrant colors were enough to tire my eyes, which had grown accustod to the simple 7th Prince's room.
Co to think of it, for the savage temper described in the novel, the 7th Prince's taste in furniture was quite subdued.
No, did he just not have the luxury to reflect his preferences?
Since Sein secretly embezzled the funds allocated as the 7th Prince's share.
Thanks to that, there wasn't a single ornant in the 7th Prince's room worth taking when running away.
Compared to that, Rasia's room had many things worth using as ergency funds when fleeing.
Even just that blue jewel holding the curtain looked like it would fetch a good price if sold.
While I was scanning for things I could snatch from the room's owner, I heard the sound of the door opening from behind.
“You're late.”
“Uwaaaaak!!!”
I, who had turned my head from my seated position to greet the room's owner, furrowed my brows slightly at the shriek he let out.
“Be careful. If soone heard that, they might think the next Emperor was being assassinated in his room.”
Neither he nor I wanted anyone to co.
Understanding my words to shut up and co in, Rasia covered his mouth with his hand and roughly closed the room door.
“Wh-what?! How did you get in here again?!”
The thoroughly flustered guy pressed , even stuttering.
“Why are you so surprised? Is there perhaps a problem with being here at this hour?”
“……”
Rasia's gaze grew sharper.
“Stop testing when you know everything. It's unsightly.”
It was funny how he spoke as if my appearance was ever tolerable, so I laughed a little, and the corners of the 1st Prince's eyes crumpled further.
His angry appearance wasn't particularly pleasant to look at either, so I got to the point.
“Recall the people you sent to my room. Stop doing useless things.”
Rasia, having confird his strength had returned, wouldn't just leave alone, knowing his secret.
By now, several able-bodied n he sent would be at my Castle, struggling to carry out Rasia's order to bring secretly.
Though there was likely nothing they could do in an empty room.
“If mbers of the Imperial Family kill each other, they'll have to stand trial before the Emperor, so don't do anything foolish.”
At my words, a smile spread across Rasia's face for the first ti.
It wasn't a smile that made feel good, as the intent to mock was too blatant.
“Does anyone even count you as part of the Imperial Family? You haven't inherited a single thing, yet you receive treatnt beyond your station, so you've lost your mind.”
It was a malicious remark sent with plenty of ill will, but surprisingly, it dealt no damage whatsoever.
Of course there wouldn't be.
What would I think, when this guy who suddenly beca my older brother tells we don't share the sa blood?
I just wanted to say, 'So what?'
But my personality wasn't so good as to pretend I didn't notice the ill will passed to .
“Then try to harm right now.”
“What?”
“For soone who supposedly doesn't care, sending people secretly like a rat seems quite conscious of prying eyes. Would you even dare to harm out of fear?”
The word 'rat' must have greatly displeased him.
Rasia's gaze changed to resemble how it was when he killed the Duke.
aning, he glared as if to kill.
With those glittering eyes fixed on , he spat out as if grinding his teeth.
“You. You seem to have gotten arrogant just because you saved my life once. You should know your place. You didn't expect to prostrate myself while thanking an insect, did you?”
Seeing him raise his hand as if to threaten , it seems people don't change easily.
Just a short while ago, he acted as if he would do anything, and now his attitude changed like this.
I knew it from reading the book, but as expected, that guy wasn't Emperor material to rule the world.
“Of course not. I haven't even saved you yet.”
I didn't bother adding the implication that there was nothing to be arrogant about.
A faint bewildernt surfaced on the 1st Prince's face.
“What does that an? My body is back to normal, and I can use Manis freely! Wasn't I all cured?! You're the one who said it was done!”
Rather, I wanted to ask.
Why did you think it would be cured so easily?
As I remained silent without answering, the guy grew more agitated and started raising his voice.
“Did you deceive ?!”
“I never said I cured you completely from the start.”
At my calm reply, the guy's expression turned more vicious.
In the first place, if it was sothing that could be cured instantly, he wouldn't have died so miserably in the original work.
The guy, who couldn't know such circumstances, seed furious to the tip of his head at my silence.
Well, he thought he had died and ca back to life, only to find out he wasn't fully alive yet and that I held his lifeline; it was a situation worth getting angry about.
Still, isn't attacking right away too much?
The 1st Prince imdiately raised his hand, not fearing a nosebleed like that night, as if to prove his body had truly regained its condition from the last treatnt.
A sharp arrow made of water flew toward at high speed.
Such an impatient personality.
“What the?!”
Fortunately, the mishap of his ferocious attack piercing my body did not happen.
Because the arrow of water he shot out was absorbed into my hand as if a vacuum cleaner was sucking up dust.
Rasia's eyes, filled with astonishnt, turned to .
No, to be precise, they turned to what was in my hand.
“Didn't you say that was necessary to treat ! Did you lie to ?!”
He said, trembling with betrayal.
I lightly tossed and caught the lump of stone that looked unremarkable.
It looked so ordinary it was indistinguishable from one commonly seen on the road, but it was the sa as the ones I had given Duke Piteos a handful of.
“It is true that it was used for the treatnt. If I had no intention of treating you from the start, I could have just let you die. Then I wouldn't have been attacked like this.”
The 1st Prince's expression seed to say, 'Then explain what the hell just happened,' so I sighed and continued.
“It wasn't a lie. I had to suck out the contaminated Manis roaming inside your body. With this.”
When I lightly lifted the stone, the 1st Prince flinched as if it would suck up all his Manis and retreated a few steps.
This thing in my hand is the only ans to harvest the Manis eating away at the 1st Prince's body, and it's the relief supplies I handed over to the Duke.
It's originally an item that appears late in the original work, but I only brought and used a tiny bit.
It wouldn't be bad for the protagonist anyway, so it should be fine to use this much.
Of course, it's not an all-powerful item that absorbs all Manis.
A few conditions must be t for its activation.
The 1st Prince's condition was a perfect match for experinting with this.
On the night of the banquet, the day the 1st Prince asked what he had to do to live, I showed him this shabby equipnt.
-Pour your Manis into this. Until the stone no longer absorbs Manis. When you're done, do it again with the next one, and again.
-What? Into this damn pebble? Are you mocking right now? Besides, a stone sucking up power? I've never heard of such a thing. It should break if anything…….
The 1st Prince was very talkative that night, too.
-If you can't believe , you can just turn around, leave, and die quickly.
He moved his lips as if he had much to say, but perhaps realizing he had no other choice, he silently gripped the stone and poured his energy into it.
-You'll have a bit of a nosebleed at first, like at the banquet, but you'll feel yourself gradually getting better. Stop when the nosebleed stops.
He, who was half-in-doubt at first, seed surprised when the stone absorbed the Manis without breaking, contrary to his expectations.
When his nose started bleeding, he glared at as if to kill, even though I had told him beforehand it would happen.
But when I didn't bat an eye, he continued the task, unable to shake his suspicion.
By the ti the 1st Prince's nosebleed stopped, his feet were surrounded by dozens of pebbles.
When I said that was enough, the 1st Prince left the spot with a bewildered expression, leaving everything behind, and I collected the byproducts.
After that, he never ca to see , and I had no reason to visit him.
And as soon as the Hunting Competition finished, he must have thought of .
The irkso existence who knew his secret.
It's rare to find a guy so transparent.
“The fact that your power is being absorbed into this is proof that you, 1st Prince, are not yet fully cured.”
As I added an explanation for the simple guy, Rasia glared at , still full of suspicion.
“Then, when I'm all cured, that stone won't have any effect on anymore?”
I nodded.
“Then just pull it all out quickly! Why are you drawing it out little by little?”
The first reason is that doing so could create the variable of excessive destruction of the original work.
But there was no need to tell him this either.
“Because if I draw out too much, you'll collapse. You wouldn't want rumors circulating that a prince has health problems to the point of collapsing, would you? And……”
And the second reason is,
“There are a few things I need you to do for .”
Naturally, it's because he has value to be exploited.
“Are you, this bastard worse than an insect, threatening with my life on the line? When I beco Emperor, killing a single thing like you will be no trouble at all.”
“If you don't take my hand now, you'll die before you even beco Emperor.”
The guy's eyes were once again covered in humiliation and anger.
“You……!”
“First, shall we fix your tone?”
I cut him off as he tried to raise his voice again and smiled, lifting the corners of my mouth. The 1st Prince looked at with an expression of disgust.
“From this mont on, you must never raise your voice in front of .”
Because I'm sick and tired of people shouting at .
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