WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

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

Chapter 30: The Grand Banquet (6)

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“Yes, Macelin has... many legends.”

“Is that why you asked for the Executioners to be sent?”

There were legends about dragons in Macelin?

Naturally, the dragon in question had to be Arveda.

If so, there was a high chance the Macelin Kingdom also had information about the other Executioners.

No, even if the kingdom itself did not, there was a one hundred percent chance Mirne knew.

‘The Empire bore the cost of maintaining the Executioners, while Mirne was their actual user.’

But if the Empire fell and all five Executioners went to the Macelin Kingdom...

What exactly would Mirne gain in the end?

‘Will the original story simply play out as written? Or will something like a Demon King or dark mage really appear?’

The villain role that should naturally exist in a fantasy world had not shown itself yet.

Perhaps the Executioners were essential for preparing for that.

Sure enough.

“Y-You mean the Executioners?”

“Yes, the Executioners. Didn’t you contact the Second Imperial Prince and ask him to send them? Still, I’m curious. What threat is the Macelin Kingdom facing that it was so desperate for support?”

Mirne’s complexion changed the moment she heard the word Executioners.

Was she simply bad at controlling her expression, or was she pretending to be?

There was much I wanted to know, but that was not the issue I needed to resolve right now.

“...There are evil things within Macelin, and we are doing our utmost to drive them out. The west has not yet established proper order either, so everyone is coveting one another’s land.”

“So you called upon the Empire’s Executioners?”

“I do not actually know much about the Executioners. I only heard that great power was needed... and that His Highness the Second Imperial Prince would send them.”

“Ah, so you know nothing about the Executioners?”

“That is correct.”

I nodded at Mirne’s words.

Honestly, if she pretended not to know, she could keep denying it all she wanted.

‘The problem is that I need the information Mirne knows if the Empire is to avoid destruction.’

In the original novel, the Empire likely just fell naturally, as though it was inevitable.

And the one that succeeded it would be the novel’s setting, the Macelin Kingdom.

In a way, this frustration might have been completely natural.

‘So I’ll have to pressure her like this every time I want information about the Executioners?’

That would be troublesome.

I had to keep drawing out the Empire’s core information from a kingdom that could only survive if the Empire fell?

And not just any place, but the strongest empire on the continent?

‘What a ridiculous state of affairs.’

The Empire might have been destined to fall, but it was being treated far too much like a pushover.

That was why.

‘Should I try that experiment from earlier again?’

I intended to test once more the hypothesis I had formed when the Sendra Kingdom intervened earlier.

“Yes, I see. Then, judging by the direction of this conversation, are you refusing the Engagement?”

“P-Pardon?”

“You know, yet you keep avoiding an answer until the very end. Yes, you’ve deflected the question well until now so as not to embarrass me in public.”

“I wanted an answer, but perhaps I did not need to hear one.”

As soon as I finished speaking, I drew up Mana and checked the area for any presence.

There was still no sign of anyone.

What would happen if I tried to kill Mirne now, when no one was around to help her?

I decided to worry about questions like, What if she really dies? later.

First, I would kill her. Then I could turn the Macelin Kingdom into a vassal state and think about the rest.

Muttering that to myself, I raised my hand like a blade.

“You eagerly accepted what belonged to the Empire, yet you intend to refuse the Engagement. That alone is too insolent to overlook.”

“Y-Your Highness the Crown Prince?”

The moment I was about to cut across Mirne’s body without hesitation.

“Mirne!”

Whoosh!

There had been no presence anywhere.

Yet Saint Valerian suddenly appeared and grabbed my wrist.

It was truly astonishing.

Because of Lumynix’s Mystery, I should still have been able to detect even Divine Power.

Valerian had truly appeared as though he had fallen from the sky.

“S-Saint Valerian?!”

Mirne looked genuinely shocked.

“Mirne! Are you all right?!”

Valerian still held my wrist.

“I-I’m all right.”

“That is a relief. I happened to be passing nearby... I saw you here and hurried over because I was worried.”

The two of them met each other’s eyes and caused a fuss, treating me like some heinous villain.

Did he not realize whose body he kept putting his hands on?

It truly seemed he did not, so I decided to tell him directly.

Bang!

I gave my hand a light shake.

That alone made the Saint look as though he had suffered a great shock. He rubbed the arm that had been holding me with his other hand.

“I don’t know what kind of insolence this is. The Holy Kingdom is already suspected of participating in the northern rebellion, and now you have even laid hands on my body. May I take that as the Holy Kingdom looking down on the Empire?”

“T-That is not it... Your Highness the Crown Prince’s gesture appeared somewhat dangerous to me...”

“Saint, do you look down on the Empire’s Crown Prince to the point that you interpret my intentions as you please?”

As I pressured him, I recalled what had just happened.

‘There was clearly no one there, but if he appeared like that...’

If a male lead was killed before his story had developed, someone else replaced him.

But if a female protagonist died, it seemed no one replaced her and the story simply ended.

‘Could it reset again? Could the story return to the beginning... Is regression possible?’

As one hypothesis vanished, several more possibilities slowly surfaced.

“...I am truly sorry. I was blinded and committed a grave offense against Your Highness the Crown Prince. But I had no evil intent. I am truly sorry.”

Even then, Saint Valerian immediately lowered himself and began apologizing.

“I was displeased that she refused the Engagement, so I intended to point out the dust on her body. Was that such a problem?”

“No. It was entirely my mistake. I will certainly repay you. I earnestly beg you to calm your anger.”

What I felt at that moment was disgust.

What if it had been the North Grand Duke groveling so completely? The Second Imperial Prince? The East Grand Duke?

The mere thought was disgusting.

If they had been in an Engagement, it would have been understandable.

But this was only at the stage of flirting, thanks to the strange way people from the twenty-first century spoke.

Of course, none of that mattered to me right now.

“I would like to be on friendly terms with the Holy Kingdom, Saint, but you are truly irritating.”

“...Including today’s matter, I will offer you the greatest possible recompense.”

“I-I am sorry as well.”

I calmly watched the man and woman in front of me repeatedly bow their heads.

Honestly, from my perspective, it felt like I was simply watching two idiots make fools of themselves.

‘My head will start hurting if I watch any longer.’

So.

“....”

Without saying anything, I simply turned my back on them.

I had obtained everything I needed.

‘The Macelin Kingdom has clues about the Executioners, and Mirne intends to make use of them.’

Mirne does not die.

Whenever she is about to die, helpers suddenly appear from somewhere and prevent her death no matter what.

The Macelin Kingdom was like Mirne’s nest.

Even if I crushed the Macelin Kingdom through war, as long as Mirne remained alive.

‘Somehow... the Macelin Kingdom will come back, saying Macelin is not a place or something like that.’

I had confirmed that Mirne, the Macelin Kingdom’s central core, could never die.

I felt I needed to treat her like a golden goblin that produced money whenever it was struck.

‘Then what I need to do right away is...’

As I headed for my bedroom, I reviewed my future plans.

Though calling it a plan was a bit much. There was only one immediate priority.

Making contact with the Saintess.

‘If I leave things as they are.’

Mirne would become the Saintess without any obstacles.

Reading that sentence alone, one might wonder what it had to do with the Empire.

‘But Macelin will inevitably try to swallow the Empire.’

In the end, all of it had been groundwork for swallowing the Empire.

‘I can stop Mirne from becoming the Saintess, or at least interfere with it.’

I had to make my own moves as well.

++++++

The Empire’s Grand Banquet lasted for three full days.

Perhaps because of the incident on the first day, everyone watched their step around the Empire as they stayed at the imperial palace before departing.

“Is it really true that the Empire has weakened? Its momentum has not diminished in the slightest.”

“The gazes of the knights I happened to encounter were so sharp... I thought a war had broken out.”

“The center remains as imposing as ever. Still, I heard the North and eastern region are in great turmoil.”

The departing attendees all reached the same conclusion.

The Empire’s center remained firm, but the same could not be said for the rest.

Just as the rumors said, the Crown Prince had changed from a foolish and weak figure into someone incredibly fierce.

But that momentum only reached the center. It did not extend to the North and eastern region.

“How much longer can the Empire truly remain the Empire?”

The story followed the original’s course.

Other kingdoms that noticed the Empire’s weakness began to covet it.

“Attacking the center from the beginning is nonsense. But... if we target the eastern region, which is still recovering, or the North, which is struggling to maintain the front lines...”

They were not suggesting starting a war openly.

Could they not move secretly and chip away at it little by little?

“How about winning over the nearby Mage Tower first?”

“You mean the mages?”

“Yes. As far as I know, there is a Mage Tower in the eastern region... They are within the Empire, yet they do not act as though they belong to it.”

“...That is a very good idea.”

No empire lasted forever.

No matter how powerful a place was, it would eventually decline.

They had felt it at this banquet.

A Crown Prince drenched in blood? Naturally, he was frightening. He looked extremely strong.

But he was only one Crown Prince.

Could a wavering Empire extend its protective reach everywhere?

Several people who had attended the banquet believed it absolutely could not.

Perhaps the time had come.

“...Perhaps it is time for the Empire to split apart.”

“I agree.”

The time when the balance of power would change.

There was one person who held a similar, yet not quite identical, thought.

“...Even in front of my beloved, I have never experienced such humiliation.”

Saint Valerian.

“Crown Prince, I will not forget this disgrace.”

He.

“...Would it not be better for us to invite him to the Holy Kingdom and let him enjoy the same pleasure?”

He wanted to humiliate the Crown Prince.

Amid all these converging thoughts, the Empire’s Grand Banquet came to a complete end.

And in the midst of it all.

“Ha.”

Having grasped everything, the Crown Prince considered how to clean up the trash.

“So many of them are entertaining such insolent thoughts.”

He was smiling.

Footnotes:

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