WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

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◈ The Romance Fantasy’s Pushover Crown Prince Is No More ◈

Chapter 3: Cleaning Time (1)

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The Empire's destruction probably didn't simply mean the Empire would disappear.

'An empire ceasing to be an empire is destruction too.'

Even in the original story, the Empire kept pouring free aid into neighboring countries.

If that continued, the Empire would no longer be prosperous, and that could be considered its destruction.

So, the first thing I had to do to prevent that destruction was to put down the love-crazed lunatic.

"Brother, huh? You'll send them, right? The Executioners? I know it makes no sense to deploy all of them, so just half... We'll secretly send about half. What do you think? It's a great idea, right?"

'Come to think of it, the Emperor was absent from the State Council Meeting.'

I had to deal with this one too and find out why the Emperor had vanished.

Still, dealing with Bedin, the Second Imperial Prince, was unquestionably the top priority.

"Brother?"

Since I ignored the Second Imperial Prince while thinking only about how to deal with him, he seemed to sense that something was off.

Bedin tilted his head at me in confusion.

"They say silence is another form of agreement, so I'll take it that way. Then I'll send half the Executioners, okay?"

He talked to himself, reached his own conclusion, and was about to leave my room again.

"I've realized the biggest problem."

I grabbed the Second Imperial Prince by the back of the neck and flung him to the floor.

Thud!

I had only meant to grab him and stop him.

'Why am I so strong?'

This body's capabilities were absurdly beyond what I'd expected.

It moved exactly as I wanted, yet somehow produced strength several times greater than I intended.

"The problem is that you look down on me."

A subordinate cautiously reads the room, then tries to handle matters on their own despite there clearly being a decision-maker.

Usually, that happened when a junior tried to usurp a senior.

I never imagined an incompetent junior would try to usurp a capable senior.

That meant the senior bore some responsibility too.

'A senior should know when to stop indulging a junior. He kept letting it slide, so now this guy tries to leave after deciding things himself without even getting an answer.'

If I had been the original Crown Prince in this situation, I would have encouraged my younger brother and sent the Executioners without question.

But that would never happen again.

"B-Brother?! When did I ever look down on you...?"

"Why else would you reach your own conclusion and leave when I hadn't even answered you?"

The Second Imperial Prince looked so shocked that he did not even seem to realize he was sprawled across the floor.

His kind brother had apparently changed overnight, so he was understandably flustered.

'You'd better adapt quickly.'

The good times were over.

"From now on, the Empire will not support the Macelin Kingdom. We will also reclaim, one by one, everything we have provided without reason, as well as anything we failed to receive in return despite supporting them."

"...But Brother! Then the Macelin Kingdom will suffer! It's only holding on because we've been helping them so much!"

I looked at the Second Imperial Prince, who still had not come to his senses and was taking the Macelin Kingdom's side.

"Then give up your position as Second Imperial Prince and go to the Macelin Kingdom yourself... Why do you keep handing out the Empire's things?"

I continued in disbelief.

"Right, you can't do that... Because you're a weak little thing with no power to achieve anything. So you cling to your position as prince while giving away the Empire's wealth, don't you?"

"B-Brother?"

"Every time you speak, it's not just 'Brother,' it's 'B-Brother?' I'm sick of hearing it. I've made my position clear, so get out. From now on, you will not be holding any meetings related to supporting the Macelin Kingdom."

I made it clear there would be no more support, then threw the Second Imperial Prince out of my room.

No matter how close we were, it made no sense for him to stroll into the Crown Prince's room whenever he pleased.

"...Then the first thing I need to do to restore order is to reclaim the support we had given the Macelin Kingdom."

+++++

"W-What...? What do you mean? Say that again."

"The Velos Empire has firmly conveyed that it will not send the Executioners. It has also strongly urged us to return all Imperial personnel currently stationed in the Macelin Kingdom at once."

"H-Huh...."

At the vassal's words, Dir Macelin, King of the Macelin Kingdom, swayed on his feet.

"Bring the princess. Bring the princess at once."

"Yes!"

The fact that the Velos Empire's military force would not come was a problem, but the greater problem was the withdrawal of all its personnel.

It sounded absurd, but the people keeping the Macelin Kingdom's economy running were Imperial talents.

The Empire's brains.

Those called the Ivory Tower of Knowledge had been working without pay.

The kingdom had saved money while continually receiving opportunities to glimpse the Empire's wisdom.

And all of that was vanishing in an instant?

It was a huge event that could shake the country to its core.

Not only that, "all personnel" would naturally include the Imperial knights who had been steadfastly protecting the Macelin Kingdom.

This meant the kingdom could not avoid a severe blow to its public order and national strength.

They were already barely surviving in the harsh western environment.

Who would have thought the Empire would reverse its position so suddenly?

'This can't happen. It can't be like this.'

Fortunately, the situation was not entirely negative.

The Macelin Kingdom still had a means of turning things around.

Bang!

"Is it true? The Empire suddenly changed its mind and told us to send back all its personnel?"

"Princess, you're here! What you heard is true."

The protagonist, whose beauty could be called the finest in the kingdom, no, the entire continent, opened the door and appeared.

His precious daughter, whom he would not trade for anything.

At the same time, she was the strategist who had raised the formerly weak western kingdom to where it stood today.

Born brilliant, his daughter would casually utter words he had never heard before, then use remarkable methods to bring enormous benefits to the kingdom.

She could be called the Macelin Kingdom's bundle of wisdom.

"Mirne, do you have a way?"

So Dir Macelin believed that his daughter would have a solution this time as well.

"Leave it to me."

Mirne confidently headed straight to her room.

The moment she arrived, she used an artifact.

Trurururur.

Its outrageous capability allowed communication regardless of distance with only a minuscule amount of Mana.

It allowed the Macelin Kingdom to contact the Velos Empire without any restrictions.

Click.

The moment she heard that the call had connected, Mirne spoke.

"Bedin, what happened? You said you would send the Executioners... Why are you suddenly withdrawing every last person?"

The recipient was Bedin, the Empire's Second Imperial Prince.

In practice, he was the major backer supporting the Macelin Kingdom.

'This has never happened before. What is this? Wasn't he completely in love with me?'

Confused, Mirne demanded an explanation from Bedin.

"W-Well, I was obviously going to do that too... But my brother firmly said no... I really don't think there's anything I can do this time. Our side is already preparing to receive all the personnel back...."

"What? His Highness the Crown Prince intervened personally? He said no?"

She received a shocking answer.

'This wasn't in the original story.'

The Crown Prince intervened to stop the Empire from supporting the Macelin Kingdom?

To the point that the Second Imperial Prince answered the call in such a frightened voice?

It was a possibility she had never once considered.

Despite reading the original story more than fifty times, this was the first variable that had never appeared before.

Mirne was deeply confused.

Unaware of her thoughts, the Second Imperial Prince continued.

"Yeah... That's what happened. Honestly, he got really angry too... So I don't think there's anything we can do this time."

"Are you just going to give up? You said I could ask for help whenever I needed it...!"

"Honestly, it's my first time seeing Brother this angry, so I'll try my best to stop it... But there's a high chance I won't be able to."

Having experienced the Crown Prince's stern side for the first time in his life, the Second Imperial Prince was utterly intimidated as he described the bleak situation.

"But the investments we agreed on are still moving forward one by one, so don't worry! I'm handling that part secretly."

"...All right. But don't push yourself too hard. It hurts me to see you struggling."

"Mirne...!!!"

Smack, smack, smack.

The call ended with the Second Imperial Prince's kissing noises.

'...Is the Empire trying to change? Or was mentioning the Executioners too much?'

Was this temporary, or was it the first step toward an Empire that would change drastically in the future?

Mirne began to feel uneasy about the altered future.

But soon enough.

'It's probably only for a little while. He's still the same pushover Crown Prince I know.'

Mirne set her worries aside.

After all, this world existed to lavish everything on its protagonist.

+++++

"Make a complete list of everything the Second Imperial Prince sent to the Macelin side without reason... Include anything related to investments as well."

"Y-Yes!"

"The sooner, the better. I would prefer to review it the moment I wake up in the morning."

"Understood."

The Foreign Affairs Officer ran out of the office the moment I finished speaking.

The deadline was tight, so it could not be helped.

Still, this was something I needed to understand as quickly as possible.

Free support could simply be reclaimed at will.

Investments, on the other hand, had quite a few details that needed to be addressed.

"When you invest, you should be thinking about making several times the profit... But they were just pouring water into a bottomless bucket."

Looking over the existing investment proposals only made me laugh in disbelief.

They called it investment, but it was practically unpaid charity work.

'Did they initially disguise support as investments, then later decide it was too bothersome to even draft investment proposals because the Crown Prince kept indulging them, so they just gave them money outright?'

It was ridiculous.

And if they had invested, they should have received dividends. There was none of that either.

They just kept pouring money in.

Until when? Until the Macelin Kingdom was satisfied.

'I'll set all of it right.'

The moment I made that resolve, system messages appeared.

[ The Velos Empire is reclaiming its former self. ]

[ Fate changes. ]

[ The worldline changes. ]

[ The possibility of the Empire's destruction decreases by 5%. ]

[ Current possibility of the Empire's destruction: 86% ]

[ Status Summary: There is a very high possibility that the Empire will be destroyed within five years. ]

The possibility of the Empire's destruction dropped by 5% in an instant.

'As expected, cutting off the free support was the right answer.'

Even the wording of the status summary had changed from "will be destroyed within five years" to "there is a very high possibility."

Just as I was thinking that I was headed in the right direction, another system message appeared.

[ Lowering it by 5% in an instant! That is truly groundbreaking! ]

[ As a reward, you will receive the 'Empire Status Window.' ]

The system messages continued, mentioning a reward.

"Empire Status Window?"

As soon as I said the reward's name, wondering what it was, a notification sounded.

Ding!

[ Empire Status Window ]

Displays the Empire's current condition.

As this is the initial stage, the available information is limited.

Administration: Excellent

National Treasury: Average

Military Strength: Average

Diplomacy: Worst

Corruption: Worst

"Huh."

The Empire Status Window actually appeared and summarized the Empire's current condition.

But I noticed something strange.

Diplomacy being the worst was obvious, considering we had been acting like suckers.

"What's this about corruption?"

The Second Imperial Prince was not the only problem?

Footnotes:

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