WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Romance Fantasy’s Pushover Crown Prince Is No More ◈
Chapter 82: Imperial Garrison (8)
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It was a strange day.
‘Why does my body feel so sore?’
She had always woken up in perfect condition.
Yet for some reason, her body felt unusually heavy today.
“...Undine, could you check my body for me?”
Bubble, bubble.
The moment Undine heard Mirne’s words, the Spirit naturally entered her body.
As it did, Mirne felt a sense of emptiness.
There should have been more than one Spirit. She had a vague feeling there had been others besides Undine.
She had felt something like this before, hadn’t she?
‘Is it just my imagination...? No, that can’t be it. Something is clearly wrong.’
An unpleasant sense of déjà vu.
Mirne tried to find the source of the feeling, and someone suddenly came to mind.
“The Imperial Crown Prince, Bellon.”
She could not explain exactly why he had come to mind.
Still, she vaguely felt that he could not possibly be left out of a situation like this.
“To begin with, it makes no sense that I suddenly have only one Spirit.”
The current situation had diverged greatly from the original story, but that only applied to developments beyond the early-to-middle stages.
The events at the very beginning, starting from her childhood, had matched the original story perfectly.
‘I definitely remember making Provisional Contracts with four Spirits when I was young. Then I rashly confronted the Imperial Crown Prince, and Silphiner was taken from me...’
She clearly remembered Silphiner being taken. Even so, three Spirits should have remained.
Yet she only had one.
‘What about Pyro...? Wait. Why isn’t Pyro here?’
Questions continued to pile up.
As far as she could remember, only one Spirit had ever been taken from her.
That meant three should have remained, but Undine was the only one here.
‘Were my Spirits taken... or lost... at a time I can’t remember?’
Her missing memories, and the Imperial Crown Prince repeatedly looming in her thoughts.
Mirne concluded that what was happening had to be related to him.
It was nothing but speculation, but ironically, there was nowhere else for the pieces to fit.
If the Imperial Crown Prince had not intervened, everything would have proceeded just as it had in the original story.
‘If this is related to the Imperial Crown Prince... did he erase my memories? No, that can’t be it. If he had, the damage would have been far greater.’
If confronting the Imperial Crown Prince was the first loss, what was truly more frightening was the Empire invading the Macelin Kingdom under the pretext of that loss.
A Crown Princess of a mere kingdom having a conflict with the Imperial Crown Prince? That alone could be enough to wipe out the kingdom.
Besides, the Empire was not a toothless tiger that had lost all its fangs and was wheezing weakly like in the original story.
It was a tiger that ate well, its coat so glossy that it practically shone.
If such a tiger set its sights on the Macelin Kingdom, the result was obvious.
So, when she examined the current situation, the theft of her Spirits was related to the Imperial Crown Prince.
But the erasure of her memories did not seem to have been caused by his direct intervention.
“...The Imperial Crown Prince intervened in some incident but failed to see it through to the end? The Empire’s Imperial Crown Prince?”
It made no sense. Yet there was exactly one possibility that could make it possible.
“Forced Save & Load Mode.”
Whenever she played a game, she often died without realizing when death would come.
There were also many cases where the situation became horribly tangled because she chose the wrong option once.
It was a mode she had installed to prevent such things.
If it had activated, every part of this situation could be explained perfectly.
I made the wrong choice, and because of that choice, the Imperial Crown Prince intervened.
In the process, damage or consequences that could not be undone were created.
If the mode had activated on its own to restore the story to its normal flow...
“...That explains why my memories are blank and why my four Spirits became one.”
Once Mirne reached that conclusion, her eyes suddenly widened.
“Wait. When Pyro was taken... did the System message say not to touch the Covenant? I think it did...”
If Forced Save & Load had occurred because she had made the wrong choice and caused a dangerous outcome, most of the situation made sense, but one question remained.
“Then why... isn’t the Imperial Crown Prince trying to uncover what happened during Save & Load? Does he have no memories of Save & Load at all? And did he receive one of my Spirits at a time as the price for that?”
Judging by the timing, it seemed Forced Save & Load had occurred about twice.
Yet the Imperial Crown Prince had not taken any action against her.
From that, Mirne became certain that he had no memories of Forced Save & Load either.
‘Then... is the Imperial Crown Prince not a transmigrator?’
She thought for a moment.
“It would be easier for me if he isn’t, so maybe it’s better to believe he isn’t.”
Mirne decisively reached her conclusion.
Another transmigrator appearing out of nowhere in a world where she was the protagonist?
She definitely did not want that.
It would only give her more things to worry about as the story progressed.
Of course, he had interfered with the original story far too much for someone who was not a transmigrator.
‘Even if he is one, it’s better to believe he isn’t. Besides... the Empire will disappear anyway.’
The Imperial Crown Prince could not remain the Imperial Crown Prince forever, so she decided to put the matter aside.
The moment Mirne reached that conclusion,
[ You have recognized Forced Save & Load Mode. ]
[ As a result, damage sustained during the Forced Save & Load process will manifest immediately, without a fitting chain of events. ]
[ Treat it at once. ]
“Hmm?”
An urgent System message she could not understand appeared before her eyes.
Rip!
“Arghhh!”
The pain that followed was not something an unprepared Mirne could endure while conscious.
Thud.
Starting with the wound on her back, searing pain erupted across her entire body.
As it all burst forth at once, Mirne lost consciousness and collapsed.
“Bring Kailen Marin.”
At the same time.
“You may refuse. No, I would rather you did.”
The Empire’s knight order had arrived at the Macelin Kingdom.
+++++
The Empire was strong.
That sentence needed no embellishment, for the Empire was the only nation that could be called strong.
Those who knew the history of its past War of Conquest feared the Empire.
Those who did not understand the weight of that history revered it.
They imagined the Imperial Knights wearing incredible armor, radiating overwhelming dignity, and inspiring respect simply by standing still.
That was what people who had never truly encountered Imperial Knights thought.
The farther they were from the Empire, the stronger that tendency became.
In a way, it was only natural.
They had never experienced it properly or seen it for themselves, so their image of it had naturally become embellished.
That was why...
“The Little Sun’s will shall soon arrive here.”
The knights of the Macelin Kingdom could not help but be shocked at the sight of the Imperial Knights they were seeing for the first time.
“Disarm and submit.”
“....”
Inside the Macelin Kingdom’s audience chamber, the Imperial Knights stood in full armor, brazenly making their presence known.
There was not a trace of courtesy or respect for the Macelin Kingdom.
They were overbearing and rude.
Their armor looked as though it had been scorched by fire, and the mane insignia upon it resembled flames.
The arrival of the Black Mane Knights, every one of them a Swordmaster as though it were only natural, threw everyone into confusion.
Regardless of that...
“Did you not hear me? The Little Sun’s will shall soon arrive here... I said disarm.”
Striding through another kingdom’s audience chamber as if it were their own living room, the Commander of the Black Mane Knights confidently demanded that the Macelin Kingdom’s knights disarm.
That was not all.
“King of the Macelin Kingdom, I would like you to rise from your chair and show proper respect as well.”
They even suggested that the king rise and kneel.
Even if they were from the Empire, it did not change the fact that their actions were openly disrespectful.
“...Are you not being far too rude?”
The Macelin Kingdom’s Swordmaster finally spoke, as though no longer willing to endure it.
Their numbers were naturally inferior to the Empire’s, but the Macelin Kingdom was secretly training Swordmasters.
Looking only at the numbers before them, they could at least put up some resistance, and that fact gave the Swordmaster courage.
“You barge into another kingdom without warning... What is the meaning of this commotion?”
Even as the Macelin Kingdom’s Swordmaster, Elton, continued speaking, the Black Mane Knights simply watched Elton.
Their attitude made it clear that they intended to see how far Elton would go.
That gaze finally caused Elton’s restrained anger to burst out.
“The Empire’s will truly...”
Just as Elton tried to continue,
Bang!
“Do not carelessly utter the Empire’s will.”
The Black Mane Knights reacted to the words, “the Empire’s will.”
It happened in an instant.
The difference between them was so vast that it was impossible to consider them Swordmasters on the same level.
Elton did not even realize when they had been pressed to the floor.
Elton had only blinked once, yet their view was suddenly lower, with a blade at their throat.
‘...Is the gap between the Empire and us truly this great?’
As Elton reeled inwardly,
“The youngest joined us rather late this time, so they must be desperate for praise.”
“His Highness is not stingy with praise. Since they have never received any, of course they would want to hear it.”
“The last time His Highness praised us, he gave us that precious highest-grade beef... What a heavenly taste it was.”
“Youngest! No matter what, what are you doing in another kingdom?”
The Black Mane Knights spoke to the one called the youngest as though what was happening was no big deal at all.
“I apologize. This person dared to twist the Empire’s will...”
“It is only right to overlook it once. Do you think those beneath us can easily comprehend the Empire’s will? How could you fail to recognize that this, too, is the Empire’s magnanimity?”
“...I overstepped.”
The youngest wore a genuinely apologetic expression.
Yet they kept looking down at Elton, pinned beneath their feet, as though they wanted to kill Elton.
“I heard they group you with me as fellow Swordmasters.”
How presumptuous.
The youngest sent a look that said it would not be enough even to chew Elton apart, then clicked their tongue.
Tsk.
The youngest returned to where the rest of the knight order had gathered.
Not long after, the final warning followed.
“For those who may not have properly heard due to the commotion, I will offer this one final recommendation. All of you, disarm and prepare to receive the Little Sun’s will.”
The Black Mane Knights’ final warning.
The moment the words fell, the king rose and bowed low.
The knights hurriedly dropped their armor and swords to the floor.
What followed was so violent that it was difficult to believe it was taking place in the Macelin Kingdom’s audience chamber.
The commander relayed the imperial command while looking down at the king, who had bowed despite still wearing his sword.
As the king listened, he could only grovel.
The officials in the audience chamber thought, ‘If only Mirne were here.’
Yet their emotional pillar, Mirne, was unconscious from the damage caused by Forced Save & Load.
The Empire had descended upon them at a time when there was no one with real authority to make decisions.
There was nothing the Macelin Kingdom could do.
A very short time later, two changes occurred in the Macelin Kingdom.
First, a portion of the Macelin Kingdom’s territory became the property of the Imperial Garrison.
“Kailen Marin, you will be stepping onto your homeland for the first time in a long while. Do you have any impressions to share?”
Second, they helplessly watched Kailen Marin be taken away. His broken mana core had nearly recovered, and he was now capable of pulling his own weight to some extent.
At the same time, Imperial Crown Prince Bellon...
[ When the Four Great Spirits gather, an opportunity to form a contract with the Spirit King will arise. ]
[ Spirits are also classified as Nonhuman Races. ]
“So I have to take all of her Spirits after all.”
While waiting for Kailen Marin, Bellon was considering how to take Mirne’s final remaining Spirit.
Footnotes:
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