WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Romance Fantasy’s Pushover Crown Prince Is No More ◈
Chapter 21: The Great Cleanup (1)
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The North’s sun was never warm.
The cold wind that always blew blocked out the sunlight.
A world with nothing but winter.
The only sunlight in that world was Mirne.
“At first, she was a nuisance.”
One day, he went alone to the front lines, advancing as he killed Magic Beasts to ease his loneliness. There, he happened to meet Mirne, who had become stranded.
He could not understand what someone from the Macelin Kingdom would have to do to end up all the way in the North.
Even now, the North Grand Duke smiled whenever he thought of that time.
The Crown Princess of a weak kingdom he had met beyond the border, and himself, the North Grand Duke.
Who could have known their first meeting would last this long?
“But during that first meeting, I felt an unfamiliar warmth, something one could never feel in the North...”
It was an emotion he had felt for the first time in his life.
The more he spoke with her, who was like sunlight, the more he felt something inside him melt.
‘Your Grace may be cold, but you’re warm too.’
‘Warm? Me?’
‘Yes. Hehe, though it seems you don’t realize it.’
‘What a ridiculous thing to say.’
‘It’s true.’
Sometimes, they met once a week.
Other times, once a month.
Whenever he met her, his pale world gradually grew brighter.
At the same time, he began to want more.
How could he become closer to her?
How could he keep that warmth nearer to him?
‘It doesn’t feel bad to grow closer to you.’
‘Oh, you like it, Your Grace. You’re smiling.’
‘Is that a problem?’
‘I’m happy because you’re smiling. Have many of your worries disappeared lately?’
‘My only concerns have always been the Magic Beasts and making the North warmer.’
How long had he agonized over that concern?
‘Then why don’t you do it?’
‘I can’t do it alone.’
‘Then let’s do it together someday. Once my kingdom’s situation improves, and yours does too, we can do it then.’
The moment Mirne said those words, the North Grand Duke knew this was it.
That was the moment Preon Vesper, the North Grand Duke, found a clearer goal.
‘Once my situation improves, and Mirne’s does too... Yes, we’ll be able to change more than we can now.’
That was why he decided to make the North independent.
Not a North that moved according to the decisions of a weak Crown Prince.
He would create a North that moved by its own strength.
Together with Mirne, he would seek true warmth.
“...To feel that warmth, the North must become independent. Our role of maintaining the front lines will not change anyway, so in a way, would that not benefit the imperial center? They can simply stop worrying about the North. We will keep the Magic Beasts from crossing over on our own.”
As Preon continued speaking, he became increasingly convinced of his own righteousness.
“Though the North cannot yet become fully self-sufficient, with what we have received from the imperial center, communication with the Holy Kingdom, and trade with various countries, the North will quickly stand on its own.”
Magic Beast corpses were immensely valuable on their own.
Their tough hides, bones, and even their organs.
They were rare resources with nothing to waste.
What if the North began trading them in earnest?
It would grow prosperous so quickly that it would not even remember the imperial center’s support.
When that time came, it would be able to repay everything it had received from the imperial center.
The plan was perfect.
To ensure there would be no trouble, he had even forced through a policy of isolation.
In a few days, he would send word that the North was becoming independent from the imperial center.
He would no longer be called the North Grand Duke, but the King of Vesper.
He had been entertaining such happy thoughts when...
“You brought forward this great undertaking because you failed to capture a single Mage.”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
Preon was deeply dissatisfied that their timetable for independence had suddenly been moved up because one Mage had escaped.
It was not as though he had given them a difficult task, nor had there been too few people.
Yet they had failed to catch one person and allowed word to reach the imperial center.
It was fortunate that he had sent a messenger bird to the Holy Kingdom in advance and established contact.
Otherwise, he might have been forced to proceed without any support.
‘The North’s messenger birds are extremely fast. I’ll announce that the North is no longer part of the Empire... Then, a week later, the Holy Kingdom will come to help.’
Religion held great power.
It had an especially great influence when it came to legitimacy.
He did not even need to go as far as the Pope. If the Saint simply guaranteed him...
The Empire would not be able to immediately take action against him.
‘No, even if they do, the softhearted Crown Prince will eventually overlook it.’
That would settle the situation.
They had even prepared troops under the assumption that they might go to war.
The Crown Prince would surely avoid bloodshed and end things through negotiations.
“All troops, to the imperial center.”
“Yes, sir.”
He had no intention of fighting a real war.
He only needed to make a show of force.
That alone would make the always-smiling Crown Prince accept his demands without a word.
The Empire was broken.
He had no intention of helping fix what was broken.
When it was obvious the ship would sink, should one not abandon it?
“...Your Grace, what should we do if a situation truly arises where there is no other choice?”
Just before leaving to carry out the order, the knight commander asked about that unlikely possibility.
“If blood must be shed, then there will be no choice but to shed it.”
For the North’s independence.
If sacrifices were unavoidable, if they were inevitable, he could not keep avoiding them.
“When that time comes, we strike first.”
As he continued issuing orders one by one...
Swoooosh!
Preon’s highly developed senses detected something.
“Everyone! Get down! Now!”
The instant he sensed it, Preon ordered everyone around him to lower themselves.
He, too, immediately threw himself to the floor.
Kraaaaaash!
A deafening roar rang out the moment Preon hit the ground.
When he regained his senses, the ceiling of the Grand Duke’s castle had been completely torn away.
“W-What in the world...?”
Everyone was frozen in shock.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Then unfamiliar footsteps sounded.
“Yes, when you see royalty, you should know to get down on your own. At least the North Grand Duke has some basic manners.”
Someone who should never have appeared in this situation revealed himself.
“C-Crown Prince...?”
Bellon Velos, the Crown Prince of the Velos Empire.
“Have you forgotten how to say ‘Your Highness’?”
He had appeared in the Grand Duke’s castle.
“Do you want to become a Turtle?”
+++++
Once I sent the letter to the imperial center saying that a great cleanup was needed, I realized there was no need for me to leisurely stroll through the North any longer.
“Do you know the way to the Grand Duke’s castle?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m asking if you know a shortcut.”
“Ah, yes. I do.”
I briefly took in Estella’s stiff, tense expression.
“We’ll go on ahead, so follow slowly.”
The moment we heard about the shortcut, Pavan and I immediately launched ourselves forward.
There was no need to take a stroll like I had in the eastern region.
The quickest way to stop a rebellion was not to clean up the surroundings.
It was to take out the ringleader.
“I wonder how thoroughly they prepared to dare attempt something this absurd.”
“Prepared, Your Highness?”
“Yes. They must’ve prepared thoroughly to do something this insane.”
There had to be at least several dozen Swordmasters, and the North Grand Duke was likely a Grandmaster at the very least.
It made no sense to raise a Barrier toward the imperial center without that level of power.
If the worst came to pass and they went to war with the Empire, they must have judged that they could inflict meaningful damage.
That was why they had raised a Barrier and prepared for rebellion.
I was truly curious what they had set up to dare raise a hand against the Empire.
‘And that’s not all.’
As I headed toward the North Grand Duke, I glanced at Pavan, who was keeping pace beside me.
‘What exactly is the Covenant?’
Based on the message saying it had been passed down from the Great Prophet, it must have been related to the first Emperor.
From what I had briefly seen, the first Emperor possessed martial power beyond what could be called human.
‘To begin with, the first Emperor was someone who swallowed one of two suns...’
Was that even human? No one even treated it as a myth.
‘I said earlier that I remembered it, but...’
That did not mean I could avoid asking altogether.
I opened my mouth, hoping to find at least a few clues.
“I remember the Covenant, but I wonder whether all the Executioners remember it. It happened far too long ago.”
“That is correct. In fact, not everyone remembers it. I have forgotten it myself.”
“You forgot it?”
“Yes, I forgot it.”
Everyone else remembered, but Pavan had forgotten.
‘Come to think of it, what race is Pavan?’
Over three meters tall, with physical abilities far beyond what could be considered human.
Pavan could never be called human.
“For the record, I am a Giant.”
As if reading my thoughts, Pavan spoke at just the right moment.
“Allow me to introduce myself properly once again. I am Pavan, descendant of Giants.”
“Were you the one who made the Covenant with the Great Prophet?”
“No. I am one who carries on the Covenant.”
It would have been nice if I could at least see their expression at a time like this.
Pavan was covered head to toe in armor, so I could not even see their eyes, much less their expression.
‘I can’t exactly ask them to lift their visor right now.’
What kind of Covenant was passed down from generation to generation?
The deeper I dug, the more questions I had about the unfathomable Covenant.
I wanted to ask more, but by the time I came to my senses, the Grand Duke’s castle was already in sight.
“Pavan.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“The castle seems taller than the Imperial Palace.”
“I will lower it at once.”
Whoosh!
At those words, Pavan leaped high into the sky.
They gripped their greatsword with both hands.
“Hup.”
With a light breath...
Slash!
With a single swing, they sent the roof of the Grand Duke’s castle flying.
‘Just how strong are they?’
It did not even look as though they had put much force into it.
That was only a normal strike, and power on that level would destroy the Empire in the future.
Thinking that, I also leaped toward the Grand Duke’s castle.
Inside the Grand Duke’s castle, whose ceiling had been completely torn away.
At its center stood Preon, the North Grand Duke.
“Yes, when you see royalty, you should know to get down on your own. At least the North Grand Duke has some basic manners.”
Since he had lowered himself on his own, I was just about to generously say he had shown proper respect.
“C-Crown Prince...?”
Then, as if to show exactly what he normally thought of me, Preon failed to call me “Your Highness” the moment he saw me.
“Have you forgotten how to say ‘Your Highness’?”
The East Grand Duke had simply been stupid.
This was something else.
“Do you want to become a Turtle?”
He did not look as though he had any room for remorse.
Was he openly advertising that he intended to rebel?
The moment he saw me, Preon rose to his feet, radiating a menacing presence.
“Crown Prince, I hereby declare that the North will now leave the Empire.”
Preon skipped all formalities and went straight to the point the moment he saw me.
An axe in one hand and a sword in the other.
Aura slowly gathered around the weapons in his hands.
White Aura, power carrying the North’s cold energy, swept through the Grand Duke’s castle.
“And if I do not permit it?”
“Then I will have no choice but to make you understand through force.”
At Preon’s words, the knights who had been crouched down rose one by one.
They, too, ignited their Aura.
As expected, the North Grand Duke was a Grandmaster.
One Grandmaster supported by numerous Swordmasters.
And since the roof of the Grand Duke’s castle had been torn away, troops would be gathering here in real time.
Convinced that he held the clear numerical advantage, Preon’s lips curved upward.
“If you resist, I may kill you. Give up the North and return to the Empire. The North no longer belongs to the Empire.”
“Do you think that would frighten me?”
The moment I finished speaking.
Thud!
As if they had been waiting, Pavan landed beside me.
“...An Executioner?”
“Oh, you know of them?”
“I thought the Empire had fabricated their existence...”
“You’re already speaking as if you are no longer an Imperial citizen.”
“I am no longer one.”
Preon’s momentum intensified even further.
It was obvious he was a male protagonist.
Since he was the one responsible for martial power, perhaps he was even aiming beyond Grandmaster.
“Crown Prince, it is not too late even now. This is your last chance.”
Give up.
Taking my silence as proof of anxiety, Preon spoke as if he were doing me a favor.
“This is so ridiculous it’s driving me crazy.”
I barely held back a laugh as I continued.
“Modern warfare no longer requires soldiers to clash with one another.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“There’s no point raising an army when the war ends the moment you kill the leaders.”
There were many things I wanted to know.
Starting with what would happen if I killed a male protagonist.
What the Executioners were, and exactly how strong they were.
“I asked what the hell you are talking about!”
How large a butterfly effect could I cause in a novel where I had only read the beginning?
I wanted to test it at least once.
So...
Swoooosh!
I called them all.
Swish.
I pointed at the sky.
Preon naturally followed my finger and raised his gaze.
“...H-Huh?”
The moment he looked up, Preon’s eyes widened.
Right about now, he would have seen...
“I do not give last chances.”
The four Executioners descending at a terrifying speed.
“Rebellion means death.”
And the Imperial Guard Knights.
“There will be no leniency.”
The Empire’s greatest fighting force.
It was time to find out exactly how powerful they were.
“It’s time for a great cleanup.”
Footnotes:
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