Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 199

199

Because it rains.

Politics, and the power that comes from it, can be simpler than you think, and sometimes it can be much more childish and petty than expected.

You might try to play some incredible move and engage in a fierce battle of wits, but in the end, you can’t overcome incitement, fabrication, and sheer stubbornness and sophistry.

‘The reason is simple.

People believe what they see.’

In that regard, it was only natural that the kingdom’s people and nobles in other regions, who always envied, resented, and wanted to keep in check the southern region that amassed wealth through maritime trade and lived the most prosperous lives.

Where wealth accumulates, people naturally flock, and as people and wealth gather, those with power naturally begin to gather as well.

As dissatisfaction grew among the nobles and the kingdom’s people, the Hispaña royal family resolved their grievances with a kind of political event for regions where it was relatively difficult to accumulate wealth like the south.

‘A memorial service.’

In Zion’s view, it was nothing special to hear about.

It’s just an event filled with silence rather than a noisy festival, commemorating the spirits of those who died in the war, laying flowers, and offering silent prayers.

However, it was a little different in Hispaña. Unless they died in a large-scale war, they could never receive flowers or silent prayers at the memorial service.

For example, those who died fighting against Nudia could receive flowers at a large-scale memorial service, but those who died fighting pirates in the south could not receive it.

Both died fighting for Hispaña, but why does discrimination exist?

That was because of the royal family’s choice to give ‘honor’ to quell dissatisfaction.

‘The South is rich.

And the West doesn’t have any threatening forces other than the different races, so they can live reasonably well, though not as well as the South.

But the North and East are different.

The North is barren and always at odds with the immigrants, and the East always suffers the most damage when war breaks out with Nudia.’

The nobles of the South and West looked down on the people of the North and East, saying that they only knew how to fight, so it was only natural that regional animosity was created and could even lead to internal strife.

At such times, the royal family suggested one solution.

What if you have wealth, and those in the North and East, whom you subtly ignore, have honor?

“···Memorial service?”

Prince Erader, who was still in bed receiving treatment, opened his mouth in a rather thin voice.

His eyes were slightly questioning, and he seemed surprised by Zion’s opinion, the heir to the Count Klausen, that a memorial service should be held in the South.

“I don’t care, but Zion Klausen, are you okay with that?

Since the memorial service was created, it has always been an event like a monopoly of the East or the North.”

“That’s true.”

The nobles, that is, those close to power and politics, sought justification, and what they needed most to find that justification was ‘honor.’

Wealth is good, but it’s not enough on its own.

The limit was so clear.

Even though the Count Isik of the South achieved enormous wealth through trade, they were not treated as equal to the Count Klausen. It was not simply a difference in financial power, but a difference in how much they had sacrificed for this country and how much honor they had.

‘The royal family rolled their heads well.

While putting in place a brake to prevent the rich bastards in the South and West from acting recklessly, they also created an atmosphere for those in the East and North, who always have to fight against foreign invasions, that there is definitely something to be gained through sacrifice.’

No matter how much you fight pirates, it’s just about defeating bandits.

That’s because you fought for your wealth and livelihood, so it can’t be said to be honorable.

Honor is not given to those who hold wealth, and honor is given to those who cannot have wealth.

And they keep each other in check and prevent them from looking down on each other, maintaining a state of tension but preventing them from pointing knives at each other.

By doing so, the royal family ultimately takes the most substantial part, not anywhere else.

‘Damn, I really like this country.’

Zion liked the Hispaña royal family for this reason.

They don’t care about what others think and don’t hesitate to find the most profitable part and at the same time find both justification and practicality.

A country of royal families that are not ashamed even when using numbers that are obviously visible, but that everyone knows and eventually has to fall for.

‘A fox in a lion’s skin is the best.’

In that sense, Prince Erader, who tried to wear a lion’s mask but ended up being worse than a fox, was a card that had to be thrown away from the beginning.

Rather, it would be fortunate that he could save his life even if he was pushed out of the battle for the throne due to the worst weakness of not being able to continue the line.

“But Your Highness knows that it’s not entirely impossible.”

“···That’s right.

If deemed necessary, the commander dispatched from the royal castle can make a unilateral decision when rewarding meritorious deeds after the war.

However, the South and West have implicitly made it a principle not to do so.”

“In the past, it was because of the backlash from the nobles of the East and North, but this time it will be different.

I’m here, aren’t I?

Since there is a war hero of the kingdom and the heir to Count Klausen, the center of the eastern forces, the East will probably pass over the agreed-upon part.

Above all, the North···.”

“You’ve swept them all away, so they’ll welcome you with open arms, let alone protest.”

At Prince Erader’s words, Zion nodded and gave a smirk.

Prince Erader felt goosebumps all over his body as the smile looked so bright that he didn’t even realize it.

“···You know it too.

Even if I were to hold a memorial service, I can’t come forward with this body.”

“Of course I know.”

“That’s why Count Bremen Isik can’t come forward either.

It could be suspected that the South pressured to hold a memorial service or was plotting behind the scenes.”

“Some nobles in the kingdom will definitely say that.”

“···Then it’s you after all?”

Ah, that’s why I hate quick-witted guys.

Zion gave an even deeper smile than before.

Prince Erader swallowed hard at the sight, tried to calm his trembling voice, and slowly continued.

“The memorial service is something that can be done by a commander dispatched from the royal castle, and even if the host is a direct descendant of the royal family, not some great noble, most nobles wouldn’t dare to open their mouths.

But if the host is not in normal physical condition, the only one who can step in is you.”

“That’s right, isn’t it?”

“East, North, and now even South, Zion Klausen.

It’s an opportunity to spread your name perfectly.”

Zion sat next to Prince Erader and nodded quietly.

Originally, it was an act that could be punished as rudeness to the prince as a nobleman, but unfortunately, Prince Erader currently had no power or authority.

In other words, Zion was the boss, and Prince Erader himself was in a subordinate position.

“Did Count Bremen accept that?”

“He hesitated for a while, but eventually accepted.”

“That means he’s changing ships.”

At first glance, it may seem like the person holding the memorial service in the South is Prince Erader, so it could be a device to make the relationship between the South and the prince look even stronger.

But Prince Erader himself knows.

He is no longer a person who can have a say in the succession to the throne.

And as Count Bremen knows that fact, he is thinking about how to get along well on the newly boarded ship rather than staying on the already sunken ship.

“The position is prepared by borrowing my name, and while enhancing the prestige of the South, it will be you and the Count Isik, and furthermore, Vanessa and the nobles of the South, who seem to be close.”

“Oh, you’ve been resting in bed for a while, and it seems like you’ve sorted things out to some extent.”

Clear provocation and sarcasm.

However, Prince Erader did not get angry or easily show his emotions as before.

He realized that he was stupid and lacking at that time.

He thought that the man in front of him was just lucky to be in the position of war hero and called the kingdom’s divinity at a young age, or just because of simple genius.

‘But, but it wasn’t.

Genius was not the problem.’

He does not care about the means and methods to achieve the goal.

He provokes the opponent to create a gap by force, bites the gap once to tear it apart, and makes the blood flow to gather crows and sharks.

More sophisticated and fierce methods than any nobleman.

This is not simply possible because he is smart or a genius.

He just reads the plate itself and finds out how to more miserably ruin the opponent and take all the benefits without any loss to himself, with his eyes shining blue.

It’s like a ghost in the political arena that has been around for a hundred years, no, a thousand years.

‘It’s the same now.

The reason why that guy is talking provocatively in front of me···.’

Prince Erader is not a fool either.

He is the son of the experienced Edgar IV and the brother of Princess Vanessa, who would have been better if she had been born a man.

Even if he is not a genius, he is not a dull person.

“Don’t worry.

I won’t dig my own grave by not doing good for you.”

“What do you mean?”

Zion’s reaction is that he doesn’t know why he’s saying that.

At the sight, Prince Erader let out an absurd laugh.

He felt extremely pathetic in the past for trying to fight such a man.

“Even if it’s not me, you can hold a memorial service because of the absence of a commander.

In addition, since he is the heir to Count Klausen, the center of the East, and the man who neatly swept away the North, there is no reason to incur the backlash from the East and North.

But the reason why you hold a memorial service in my name is ultimately to give me a way out, isn’t it?”

“···Keep going.”

“If I go back to the royal castle without anything like this, and then Vanessa comes back and is appointed as the next king, everyone who was by my side will leave in an instant.

Without even a minimum of protection.

But if I hold a memorial service in my name at this time, the public sentiment in the South will still be somewhat favorable to me, so even the political world will be wary of the opinion of eliminating the eldest son who could not become king, wouldn’t it?”

Oh, even if it’s rotten, it’s still a crucian carp, so you’re still catching on?

Zion applauded inwardly and praised Prince Erader for properly recognizing his big picture.

He was worried that this guy would beg him to kill him right away, but seeing this, it seemed that he would not beg him to kill him or come at him in a reckless manner.

“If Vanessa becomes queen, I will be an obstacle anyway.

Why are you going out of your way to open a way to live for me while paving the way like this?

Could it be because of the feeling of camaraderie that knights and soldiers talk about?”

“To be clear, that’s not it.”

“Then why the hell?

Even though I am no longer able to see the aftermath, there is nothing impossible in the political world.

I can be put forward and any of the royal family’s collateral lines can be adopted as an adopted son to continue the line.

I know that this has happened twice in the kingdom’s history.”

“That’s right.

I also know that there was such a precedent.”

“···But why the hell···.”

“Do you think I’ll just stand by and watch people gather around Your Highness so that I can do such nonsense?”

As that bright smile disappeared, all that remained was a cold expression that made people’s hearts chill and a sneer on his lips.

“What I’m trying to find a way out for Your Highness is only a minimum of sympathy.

And as Your Highness said, we were comrades who used to wipe out pirates together, so it’s just a show of courtesy.

If you keep provoking me, wouldn’t that sympathy or courtesy turn into something else?”

“···Haha.

Does Vanessa know that you are such a terrifying monster?”

“I don’t know.

She may not know.

But, the things you’re worried about won’t happen.

In the first place, she won’t see me as a monster.”

With that said, Zion showed courtesy by bowing with the proper formality, saying, ‘Then I will proceed knowing that you have permitted it, Your Highness.’

Prince Erader, who was aware that all situations were moving away from him and flowing only in Zion’s favor, waved his hand as if to do as he pleased.

“···Ah.

Zion Klausen.”

When Prince Erader suddenly called him, Zion turned around slightly.

“Those royal knights who were with me.

They are···.”

“They are all under house arrest now.”

Although it was something that couldn’t be helped, they were the ones who failed in their mission.

Naturally, they were deprived of all rights and positions and were under house arrest, and their lives would be decided by the future king’s disposition.

“If possible, I would like them to be saved.

I can’t say that they have no responsibility at all, but they were the ones who protected my incompetent side and fought hard for the kingdom.

I would be very sad if they were punished because of me.”

“···Is that an order, Your Highness?”

“No, it’s a personal request.

The first and last request.”

This part was also unexpected.

If it were Zion himself, he would have cut off their heads right away.

He didn’t know if that was really Prince Erader’s true feelings, or if he was trying to gain more sympathy by showing a round and round appearance without showing any sharp parts as he opened the way to live like this.

“···If you say it’s a request, I’ll listen to it.”

“Thank you, Zion Klausen.”

As Prince Erader smiled weakly and nodded, Zion turned around again and grabbed the doorknob.

‘What request.

I was going to save you even if you begged me to kill you in the first place.’

Zion himself is the one who made Prince Erader go to hell.

Although it is very likely that they will be removed from the position of royal knight, he was going to somehow avoid further punishment.

Rather, Zion’s true feelings were that he wanted to call them secretly, praise them, and give them a reward.

‘And in fact, the reason I’m keeping you alive is not just simple sympathy or camaraderie.’

―――――――Afterword―――――――

Recommendations are always a great help!