Became The Son Of The Final Boss [EN]: Chapter 19

19.

Ted’s request for a visit was unexpected.

I didn’t give Gail an immediate answer.

“Rest for today. Leave the palace affairs to me for now. Gail, just focus on returning safely from the border.”

I couldn’t imagine Gail being defeated by mere bandits, but war is unpredictable, and variables can arise anytime, anywhere.

I continued.

“Don’t worry. His Majesty must have a reason for sending you on this mission.”

“He said that real combat is the best way to break through one’s limits.”

I smiled and nodded at Gail’s response.

“Indeed. No one in the continent knows more about swordsmanship than His Majesty, so he must be right. Your return will only make me stronger.”

“I will do my best.”

Gail bowed and added.

“It’s a difficult time, and I’m sorry I can’t be by your side.”

“It’s alright. I’ve started learning spirit magic, and Ken is here. Though unfortunate events have occurred, if I can’t overcome this level of adversity, it means I’m not capable of holding this position in the first place. I’ll be fine until you return, so don’t worry too much.”

After a lengthy speech, I gave a brief dismissal.

“It’s late, go and rest.”

Gail left the room.

I soon heard the sound of the door opening next door.

Since the assassination attempt, Gail and Ken had been using the rooms next to mine.

I leaned back in my chair, lost in thought.

‘I won’t be given time to comfortably train in spirit magic.’

New things happen every day. To protect my position as Crown Prince, I needed to respond thoroughly to everything.

“Surviving until Gail returns is the first priority.”

The quest was practically announcing an assassination attempt. The first attempt failed spectacularly, and since I have the culprits in my grasp, they’ll likely send much more skilled individuals for the second attempt.

I habitually drummed my fingers on the desk, searching for solutions.

“Is preparing for assassination just about improving my skills and giving Ken a firm warning? I also need to be careful of poison.”

Obtaining Ken turned out to be a stroke of genius. Ken is skilled in assassination, schemes, and plots. This is because his background is in the Thieves’ Guild, and his natural inclination is to orchestrate things from behind the scenes.

After deciding to discuss the assassination issue with Ken in more depth, I immediately went down to the floor and sat cross-legged.

‘I need to discuss the Ted issue with Ken as well. His knights are still in my custody, and… it’s strange that he’s been quiet until now, only to make an official visit request.’

It’s better to talk to Ken than to worry alone. Ken can point out things I might miss and provide opportunities to think in different directions.

There’s a reason why I brought Ken in as an advisor.

I shook off my worries and slowly stabilized my breathing. A wind announcing the approaching winter brushed against my cheek. I shuddered at the cold sensation, but my chest soon felt refreshed.

As I breathed, the wind rippled, and the mana nodes slowly awakened.

The mana flowing through my meridians swept through every corner of my body like the wind.

It had been over a month, but this vivid sensation always thrilled me.

It made me realize that I am Arun Karl Leord, the Crown Prince of the Calpheon Empire.

Before I knew it, all my consciousness was focused on the flowing mana.

* * *

The next day, I sat facing Ken early in the morning.

“Have you heard about Gail?”

“Yes. The knight told me.”

Ken was aware of the significance of Gail’s departure to the border.

“It seems things will be much more dangerous from now on.”

“Even when Gail was here, they boldly tried to cut off my legs. If Gail isn’t here, there’s a high chance they’ll try to kill me outright.”

Ken agreed.

“Yes. They will use ambushes, poison, and various other methods. Once they’ve crossed the line, crossing it a second time is nothing.”

I was about to pick up my spoon when I shuddered at Ken’s words.

“I’ve checked everything.”

“That’s a relief.”

Somewhat relieved, I resumed my breakfast. Ken’s words were deeply etched in my mind.

There are various methods of assassination.

I had been overlooking that fact too much. I thought that simply stopping the assassins would be enough, but there were countless ways to kill someone, from poisoning to traps.

After a hearty breakfast, I strolled through the garden with Ken.

“You were part of the Thieves’ Guild, right?”

Ken tilted his head, feeling puzzled by my somewhat sudden question, but nodded.

“Yes.”

“Are there any talented individuals who could come to the palace?”

Ken pondered for a moment. He seemed to realize that my words were not a simple suggestion.

One of the ideas I had while eating breakfast was to utilize the Thieves’ Guild that Ken had belonged to.

“We need servants and maids anyway. I think we could prevent assassination attempts early by disguising them as servants and maids. What do you think?”

Ken agreed with my words.

“Yes. Although it’s a Thieves’ Guild… it’s a guild that does many things, including information gathering and assassination. It’s not as famous as the Viper’s Venom Guild, but it’s a Thieves’ Guild that survived in the capital, so it’s not to be taken lightly.”

I made a decision based on Ken’s response.

“For now, I plan to meet a few trustworthy people directly. You were there for a long time, so you should be able to make the connections, right?”

Even though the Crown Prince was talking about utilizing the Thieves’ Guild, Ken didn’t seem to care much. From the start, Ken’s nature was such that he didn’t care much about the means as long as it achieved the goal.

Sometimes that tendency clashed with the protagonist Karen, but even so, Ken played a crucial role as Karen’s advisor until the end.

The Karen I wrote was an upright person, and even that person tolerated Ken’s methods, which shows how outstanding Ken’s abilities were.

I intended to utilize Ken’s abilities much more actively than Karen did.

I’m not an upright person symbolizing good like the protagonist Karen, nor do I have the ability to be one. If I can survive by using tricks and somewhat evil methods, I have to do it.

Bringing the Thieves’ Guild into the palace is one of those methods.

“I will look into it immediately.”

I smiled and nodded at Ken’s cool reply.

“Then shall we spar first?”

Of course, I didn’t neglect improving my own abilities.

* * *

After finishing my afternoon training, I left only a short reply to the maid who came from Ted’s palace.

“Have him wait.”

I didn’t explain the reason for the wait in detail. The maid also didn’t ask me for details and returned to Ted’s palace.

Ken, who was next to me, asked after the maid left.

“The Second Prince must be quite impatient by now.”

“Ted?”

Ken nodded at my question.

“Yes. The Second Prince’s knights are still imprisoned, and so are their spies, including the deputy head butler and the servants and maids. Moreover, there was an attempt to assassinate His Highness, and they were also caught.”

Ken’s eyes turned coldly.

“It wouldn’t be strange if Ted sent the assassins as well. The culprit is narrowing down to the Seventh Prince, but the Second Prince cannot be removed from the list of suspects either.”

I nodded.

“It’s not like there’s only one or two people who hate me.”

A bitter smile automatically spread across my face.

The Emperor himself had issued a gag order on the recent events in the Crown Prince’s palace, but that alone drew attention to me once again.

‘Most people probably assume that I grabbed onto the Emperor’s coattails and begged.’

The only reason my father gave me a chance was that I had learned the Breath of the Wind and summoned a top-tier spirit. He gave me time until spring to test my talent based solely on that one fact.

And Ken pointed that out.

“Many people are only curious and don’t even approach the palace, so it was an excellent move to visit His Majesty. However… the culprit will not give up and will continue to try to assassinate Your Highness.”

Ken continued.

“For the time being, there is no need to directly confront the Second Prince or the Seventh Prince. Your Highness only needs to prevent assassination attempts until Sir Gail returns and show your skills at the spring evaluation competition. Then the situation will be completely different.”

Ken neatly concluded.

“The moment His Majesty’s gaze changes, Your Highness will be in a more advantageous position than anyone else. Being the eldest son is a huge advantage.”

“Yeah. That’s why I trained so much in defense this afternoon.”

Ken exclaimed in admiration.

Honestly, I also wanted to further increase the proficiency and level of the Wind Chains using the Sylphs [wind spirits]. Offensive skills were more flashy than defensive skills, and the feeling of spewing out mana was honestly better.

But I couldn’t raise the skill level for mere appearances.

I made that point clear to Ken.

“It’s not too late to train in offense when the defense becomes more perfect. An assassin could strike tonight, so we need to start by protecting my body first.”

“That’s a very good idea. When learning swordsmanship for the first time, you learn how to protect your body with the sword, not how to attack.”

Ken looked around for a moment and then carefully continued.

“There’s a decent spirit mage in the guild.”

“A spirit mage?”

“Yes. A mid-level spirit mage. He mainly summons wind spirits and is quite skilled.”

“Good. I was desperate for a teacher.”

No matter how much my mother’s spirit magic book was designed to be easily learned even by beginners, thinking only of me, there were limits to learning alone.

However, I couldn’t ask the palace spirit mages for guidance.

I still needed to be perceived as incompetent by the other competitors.

They were expecting me to be disgraced at the spring evaluation competition, to become crippled, or even to die and have the Crown Prince replaced.

“I will definitely include that spirit mage among the people we bring in this time.”

“I look forward to it.”

I had accepted Ken as my subordinate. Since I had decided to trust his loyalty, I would trust the people he brought as well.

Once I gave trust, there was no need to tarnish that trust unless they betrayed me.

“Thank you for trusting me.”

Ken was well aware that it wasn’t easy to bring people into the palace and how dangerous it was to bring people in recklessly in my current situation.

Therefore, Ken clearly felt that I trusted him.

There was no greater emotion for a subordinate than the unwavering trust of the lord they served. It might be a difficult concept to apply in modern society, but this is the Calpheon Empire.

I smiled and replied.

“Rather, I’m more grateful. It was frustrating, but thanks to Ken, I’m able to breathe a little.”

Ken bowed his head and said.

“I will present the list first during dinner.”

I asked jokingly.

“By the way, what’s the name of the guild you were in?”

“It’s called Shadow Walk.”

My face hardened at Ken’s answer, and my voice trembled slightly.

“Shadow Walk?”

“Yes. It’s one of the many guilds operating in the capital. It’s of a certain size, but it’s not at the level of competing for the top spot.”

I couldn’t say anything.

That guild… played a leading role in Karen destroying the empire.