WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

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

Chapter 8: Bell Hyungwook Project

──────

The first thing I did after waking up was think about the Second Imperial Prince.

'The Second Imperial Prince is complicated in so many ways.'

I considered how I should handle him.

Honestly, the quickest way to resolve everything would be to not only deal with the Second Imperial Prince's aides, but also strip Bedin of every position he held.

If I wanted to handle it swiftly, I could just kill him.

That would be the fastest way to pull out the root of the problem.

The reason I couldn't do that was simple.

'I can't give the protagonist a free experience event for no reason.'

I had no intention of creating a revenge arc for them.

In romance fantasy novels, the male leads were heroines.

And someone on the level of the Second Imperial Prince would be a heroine with a significant role, someone competing for the position of principal wife.

If I simply got rid of someone like that, the protagonist's revenge story against the Empire would begin that very moment.

'That would probably make the Empire even more likely to fall.'

Romance fantasy protagonists were usually born with absurd talent.

They showed remarkable ability in either magic or spirits.

And when they faced death or danger, helpful allies appeared in abundance.

So, I had never intended to kill the Second Imperial Prince from the start.

Instead...

'I should make use of him.'

The fact that he could contact the protagonist privately was an opportunity for the Empire.

The novel, 'I'm Full Because Everyone Keeps Giving Me Things,' was about a country growing stronger as the people around the protagonist continued to shower them with affection and support.

If Mirne ever asked the Empire for help, I could turn that to our advantage.

For example...

'If she asks us to do something only the Empire can handle, like excavating ruins... we can just take the ruins for ourselves.'

We could gain the information without giving away the benefits.

That could lower the possibility of the Empire's destruction as well.

As I sat there thinking alone.

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Your Highness, it is the Grand General. May I enter?"

"Come in."

The Grand General entered the room and handed me a document with a crisp motion.

If he was bringing it here instead of handing it to me in the office, the matter must have been urgent.

"It has been decided that separate hunters will be sent after those remaining in the Macelin Kingdom who masqueraded as Imperial nobles."

"Their assets will be confiscated, then... There are certainly a lot of vacant positions."

Normally, this sort of report was not the Grand General's responsibility.

Yet the fact that he was handling it was a warning to the nobles.

The Empire's blade was now intervening in domestic affairs, choosing which rotten flesh needed to be cut away.

It was a vicious threat telling them not to act rashly and to stay quiet.

'Hmm. Even if the Empire has many nobles, suddenly losing more than twenty will leave quite a gap.'

Even if nobles at or below the rank of count had been cut down, there would be systems they maintained.

Restoring those systems was another problem.

Why did fixing one thing always cause another problem to explode?

As I considered that.

"Y-Your Highness! May I also submit a r-report on the talented people sent to support the Macelin Kingdom?"

Perhaps having seen the Grand General enter, the Foreign Affairs Officer expressed a desire to make their report here as well.

"Submit it."

Since things had turned out this way, I decided to hear everything.

"Well... given the nature of the matter, the number of talented people first sent to support the Macelin Kingdom differs from the number scheduled to return... That is why I reported it."

"Differs? Are you saying they died?"

Then came the shocking revelation.

"They did not die... It appears they requested naturalization in the Macelin Kingdom. Since some of those talented people became citizens of the Macelin Kingdom, they were not sent back..."

"Ha ha ha!"

The moment I heard the Foreign Affairs Officer out, I couldn't hold back my laughter.

We had dispatched talented people there as free support, and our Empire had even supplied them while they were there.

Then, when we told them to return after working themselves to the bone, what? They naturalized?

"The Second Imperial Prince gave the final approval, didn't he? He approved their naturalization?"

"Y-Yes. That is correct."

How could someone sell out their country this thoroughly?

He was still a core character, so I hadn't touched him much during the cleaning session in the Round Table Conference Room.

"I'll have to change the plan."

"...Change the plan, Your Highness?"

"Yes. I had intended to observe things a little longer before acting, but it has to happen now."

Once I realized just how many ways he had been acting like a madman, unbearable anger rose within me.

And this was only what he had done recently.

If we properly dug up the past, all kinds of insanity would probably come pouring out.

I couldn't just keep grabbing the underlings and beating them up every time that happened.

At that rate, I would die before my time.

"I have a request for the Grand General."

I hadn't intended to do this from the start.

But he was no ordinary idiot, so I had to do it right away.

"It need not be a request. Give the order."

"I believe we need to activate the Bellhyungwook Project."

It was the second day since I had transmigrated.

That was how long it took for me to decide not to see the Second Imperial Prince as a person.

+++++

Macelin Kingdom, Crown Princess Mirne's bedroom.

Numerous artifacts used solely for communication filled the room.

Of all those artifacts, the one to receive a call first was naturally the most obvious one.

Ringggg.

"Oh my, Prince Bedin. You're up early."

"Something sad happened... I wanted to call because I needed comfort."

"What happened to make you look so downcast?"

It was Bedin, the Second Imperial Prince of the Velos Empire.

He was the big-dog male lead type. Like a golden retriever, perhaps.

He really did have blond hair, so the comparison was not entirely wrong.

'My puppy has been so gloomy lately.'

He seemed to have suffered greatly from his recent conflict with the Crown Prince.

'Nothing like this used to happen.'

To be honest, Mirne was just as bewildered.

The Crown Prince had originally been the type to grant every request the Second Imperial Prince made and laugh it off.

She couldn't understand why he was suddenly taking such care of the Empire.

'At this stage, the Kingdom needs the Empire's help to develop more easily.'

Of course, they had succeeded in naturalizing several talented people from the Empire.

Even if the Empire reclaimed everything from its talented people to its investments, the Kingdom had enough leeway to endure for a while.

Still, when she saw how suddenly the Crown Prince had changed.

'It doesn't look like he'll stop here... It feels like he'll really take everything back. But honestly, that would be impossible, right? The Crown Prince isn't that kind of person.'

She had no idea how he would act going forward.

Before speaking with Bedin in earnest, she made a request of Silphiner.

'Silphiner, please. Could you watch the Crown Prince from as far away as possible without being discovered?'

'Yep, don't worry!'

She asked Silphiner, who had the potential to become the Wind Spirit King, to observe the Crown Prince's movements.

"...Lately, my brother hasn't been treating me like he used to... What could have happened? Does he dislike how close I am with the Macelin Kingdom?"

"That can't be it. Why would His Highness dislike you being close to the Macelin Kingdom? There's no reason for that at all."

"Right? Then, um... Honestly, I've been wondering whether something bad happened to my brother lately. Otherwise, there's no reason for him to treat me this way... Of course! I can't forgive my aides for committing corruption behind my back, but I'm worried there will be major changes to our exchanges with the Macelin Kingdom from now on."

"For example?"

"First of all, it makes me sad that I may no longer be able to chat warmly with you like this while discussing affairs of state..."

As Bedin and Mirne's conversation continued for some time.

Bang!

"U-Uncle?!"

"It is the Crown Prince's order. You will answer for daring to decide the fate of Imperial citizens on your own."

At the same time a loud sound came from Bedin's side, the Grand General of the Velos Empire's voice briefly carried through the artifact, just as it had the day before.

Click.

The connection was cut off.

"...Deciding their fate? Don't tell me... he means the talented people who naturalized? Is he trying to go after them too...?"

What in the world was happening?

The Empire's attitude was changing drastically by the day, not even leaving a month between each development.

'Then I may need to contact other places more actively... But is it safe to do that now?'

Mirne couldn't even properly grasp the situation.

+++++

Thud!

"Urgh!"

Crash!

The moment a foot struck his abdomen, the Second Imperial Prince's body flew out the window like a shabby old garment.

Since childhood, he had consumed expensive elixirs and benefited from the Sol Velos-derived Cultivation Method.

Though he fell from the Imperial Palace to the ground while completely defenseless, the Second Imperial Prince remained conscious and rose to his feet without injury.

"Ugh... U-Uncle... Why are you suddenly resorting to violence...?"

He questioned the uncle who was already standing before him.

"His Highness the Crown Prince finds your behavior intolerable, so I, the Grand General and your uncle, have come to discipline you."

Grand General Arkham Velos looked around and realized that he had positioned himself perfectly.

The Imperial Family Training Ground, where only those of imperial blood had the right to enter.

Here, he could discipline Bedin without concern.

"D-Discipline? What exactly are you talking about?! Didn't we conclude yesterday that my aides were responsible for all the other matters?"

"It is also the duty of those above to manage those below them, yet you neglected that duty and did nothing but contact the princess of the Macelin Kingdom."

"Th-That's true! It is, but..."

"Yes, it is."

Thud!

Another invisible kick struck him in the head.

He spun exactly once.

As the sky and ground switched places, his body returned to its original posture as if he had never been hit in the head.

"...S-Suddenly! Like this! I am the Second Imperial Prince! Can you treat an Imperial family member this way?!"

"If you were not part of the Imperial family, treason would have earned you immediate execution, and that would not have been enough. The fact that you are not dying and are only being punished to this extent is itself an Imperial privilege."

Crack!

This time, the Second Imperial Prince focused his vision to avoid the blow.

But there was no way a Second Imperial Prince who trained halfheartedly while chasing romance could avoid a kick the Grand General delivered seriously.

Boom!

With the sound of a fired cannonball, the Second Imperial Prince slammed into the wall.

Watching him, the Grand General seemed to remember something and took a chain from his robes.

The moment he did, his conversation with the Crown Prince naturally replayed in his mind.

'From now on, you must discipline the Second Imperial Prince regularly. At least an hour a day. Violence, no, discipline that does not improve his ability to take a beating.'

'How much should I do? What counts as regularly?'

'I want him to shut up on his own whenever he sees this. His body needs to remember it.'

'...Isn't that a chain?'

'Yes. Whenever you beat him, no, discipline him, please take out the chain. You don't have to beat him with it. It is more of a... signal, I suppose. When the Grand General shows the chain, the discipline begins. Something like that.'

'Ohh... I understand. But why is it called Bellhyungwook?'

'Because it is named after a person worthy of great respect, an authority who corrects this sort of... wrong behavior.'

'Understood.'

The Bellhyungwook Project.

Until his body remembered that seeing the chain meant he would be disciplined.

For about an hour every day, the Grand General would discipline him as both a Grand General and an uncle, with the heartfelt wish that his nephew would turn out well.

And then.

"For the time being, the Second Imperial Prince, Bedin, will not be able to involve himself in Imperial affairs in any way."

"W-What? H-How... No, that authority is mine alone!"

"It is authority granted by His Highness the Crown Prince... In any case, this is not a request for your opinion. It is a notice."

Finally, the plan would completely block the Second Imperial Prince from interfering in the Empire during that period.

These days, there was no war, only peace.

The Grand General had expected to slowly become a sidelined old man as he watched things that gnawed away at the nation.

'This is enjoyable. I can cut down corrupt nobles with such vigor and discipline my nephew, too.'

For the first time in a very long while, he felt alive.

+++++

Thud! Smack! Boom! Crack!

'The Grand General's discipline is on an entirely different level from ordinary discipline.'

Legs up! Swish, swish, swish!

Hold out your palms! Straighten them out or you'll hit bone! Smack, smack, smack!

It was not something so simple.

If it were soccer, it would be closer to making the Second Imperial Prince himself into the soccer ball.

'What amusing things can he possibly be hearing while being disciplined that he keeps spinning around like that?'

How funny could it be?

As I watched.

Ringggg.

I touched the artifact neatly placed on the Second Imperial Prince's bed.

I didn't even need to wonder how to connect it to the Macelin Kingdom.

The moment I touched it, it began to ring on its own.

Click.

The other person picked up.

"Hello? Bedin? Why are you calling at this hour all of a sudden?"

The voice belonged to Mirne, the Crown Princess of the Macelin Kingdom.

Originally, I had not planned to make this call now.

For the moment, I intended to focus on stabilizing domestic affairs.

But.

"Princess Mirne, you've done something very interesting."

"...Your Highness the Crown Prince?"

"You must have thought very little of the Spirit Affinity possessed by the Crown Prince of the Velos Empire to pull a trick like this."

I hadn't expected such a direct first move.

"Keieeeek!"

The moment I tightened my hand, something translucent let out a cry of pain.

Even a spirit could not endure Sol Velos's searing pain.

"S-Silphiner?!"

"So that is this spirit's name... Well, that is not important. You are prepared to pay for this little trick, aren't you?"

Hey, do you still take me for a pushover?

Footnotes:

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