Surviving As The 5Th Prince Of Hellman Kingdom [EN]: Chapter 100

Lucas, standing in the training grounds, drew his sword.

He started with the Lionel Basic Swordsmanship to warm up, then straightened his posture and imagined a virtual adversary in front of him.

The image of a silver-haired knight fluttering in the wind appeared.

It was Reina.

He had crossed swords with her for the first time during a joint training session after the reorganization of the Royal Knights.

He had heard many stories about her.

Reina, rumored to be a talent comparable to his own, the future Sword Queen.

Lucas had secretly considered her a rival, always believing he was one step ahead.

That’s why he was shocked and adrift when he knelt before a wall, unlike Reina, who became a 6-star knight by beheading Joe Bailey during the Eastern Pirate Suppression.

‘I was arrogant.’

Reina’s phantom drew her sword with a swish.

Lucas rushed towards her, his gaze indifferent as she looked at him.

And the situation from the joint training began to replay.

The path of his swinging sword was being read.

In contrast, her attacks came faster than expected.

He was quickly pushed into a defensive position.

Then.

A twitch, the thought of being cut stuck in his head, and his reaction was delayed.

Thwack.

Reina’s phantom, having beheaded Lucas, smiled faintly and gradually faded away.

“Haa… Haa…”

Lucas, drenched in sweat, brought his hand to his neck. It wasn’t an actual cut, but it was slightly swollen.

‘Coercion….’

The privilege of a 7-star powerhouse who forces their laws onto others.

It wasn’t perfect.

If it had been the coercion of his swordsmanship teacher, Galad, the commander of the Azure Lion Knights, he wouldn’t have just twitched and reacted late, but wouldn’t have been able to move at all.

“Damn it.”

He couldn’t get a grasp on it.

Lucas, who had just embraced his sixth star, was barely able to load his will onto his sword.

“You idiot, you moron.”

It was the price he paid for becoming complacent on the path to the throne, which had seemed like a smooth road.

What made Lucas blame himself even more was that the kingdom’s greatest talent he thought of wasn’t Reina.

‘Evan Lionel.’

He never imagined there would be a competitor walking barefoot through a forest of thorns.

In the early days when Evan shed the shell of the Ghost Prince, there were knights who called him a ‘genius’ or a ‘monster.’

Now, no one says that anymore. They knew they couldn’t dare to evaluate him.

He was truly out of the ordinary.

Not just swordsmanship.

Political power, leadership, diplomatic skills, tactics….

Each of the abilities Evan had shown in just over two years made Lucas feel smaller.

“Damn it.”

He collapsed on the training grounds, staring blankly at the blue sky.

– Milroa, no matter how much I think about it, I should be the next king. I am the only one who can reclaim the vast Ellenveira region that the Hamel Empire took away 150 years ago and make the kingdom one of the world’s great powers.

– Okay, then I’ll trust you and declare the engagement off. I’ll be kicked out of my house, so please take care of the tuition and living expenses for the Royal Academy. I’ll become the world’s most capable and beautiful Prime Minister.

– …How much do you need?

He chuckled, recalling the time more than ten years ago when he first revealed his ambitions to Milroa.

Whirr- The winter wind quickly cooled his sweat, and his body became chilly.

Lying sprawled out on the training grounds, shirtless, during the coldest time of the year was not a good idea. Lucas scrambled to his feet.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind.

‘It’s January now… she must have given birth.’

The maid who was carrying his child, whom Milroa had persuaded to return to her hometown, was past her due date.

‘Her hometown wasn’t that far, was it?’

The face of Milroa, who had warned him with a fierce look that she would expose everything if he ever went to visit, briefly flashed before Lucas’s eyes.

***

“I think it’s about two months left,”

I scratched my head slightly at Schuetz’s report after examining Julian.

“Is he that bad? He walks well, doesn’t he? And climbs mountains well too.”

“It seems his sense of pain is weak. You can think of it as him feeling a slight scratch when an ordinary person would feel the pain of being cut by a knife.”

“Can’t divine power heal him?”

“Divine power could actually be poison in this case.”

In simple terms, it’s terminal cancer.

There are many cases where divine power, which enhances the body’s healing ability, actually accelerates the progression of cancer.

“I understand. Thanks for your hard work.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Ah! How are Marie and her mother doing?”

“I was going to report on that as well. Marie’s mother has finally recognized that Marie is her daughter. However… she absolutely refuses to throw away the doll she thought was Marie all this time.”

“Is that so? Healing a mental illness must never have been an easy task, thanks for your hard work.”

“It’s nothing. She’s not completely cured yet.”

“How is Marie’s divine power?”

I had figured out what was special about Marie through Radwan’s diary.

Divine power.

But there was a problem.

“I invited some friendly priests, but none of them could feel any divine power from Marie. She probably instinctively felt that was the reason she was kidnapped and sealed it away… I’ve never heard of such a case before, so I think it will take a little more time.”

I nodded slightly and asked the last question.

“How is the vaccine research going?”

“Data has proven that the incidence of the infamous ‘Red Reaper’ is significantly lower in areas where the less lethal ‘Snail Pox’ was prevalent. But there’s a problem….”

“Clinical trials?”

“Yes. It’s not easy to find people who are willing to get the disease on purpose, and the fatality rate of the Red Reaper is… incomparable to that of the Red Star Fever.”

“Use my name. If someone dies from the Red Reaper after getting the vaccine developed by you, Schuetz, say that their family will receive compensation for three generations. And… cooperate with a suitable temple through Clian and have a priest on standby at all times, and promote that as well.”

“I understand. Thank you.”

“I’m the one who’s grateful. You must be busy, so go and get to work.”

Schuetz bowed his head and left the office, and I began to deal with the backlog of work.

And two hours later.

Knock, knock.

“Your Highness, it’s Alfonso.”

“Come in. Is everything I asked you to do finished?”

“Yes.”

“Did you give Julian what I told you to give him?”

“I did that first. I gave him the translated major foreign press from the last three years. But it looks like it will take him a week to read all of that, right?”

“It’ll take him a day.”

“Pardon?”

“His reading speed is unbelievably fast.”

Black Wyvern also had the foreign press that I was reading.

It was quite a lot, but he read it in an instant. Anyone who saw him would misunderstand that he was just flipping through the pages and looking at the pictures.

“But did he really seem that useful? Enough to bring the leader of a rebellion into the palace?”

There was wariness in Alfonso’s expression.

“Well, so-so. I was just wondering if he might have some innovative ideas that I couldn’t come up with. That’s what I thought.”

“Hmm….”

The guy was humming.

“You’ve brought in someone who will threaten my position as Your Highness’s left arm.”

“Left arm?”

“Isn’t Lady Reina the right arm, and I’m the left arm?”

Still, he had some conscience left, seeing as he called Reina the right arm.

“Then what about Clian?”

“Haha, how could Count Clian, who joined along the way, be the left arm when he left the founding contributors behind? The Royal Secret Service also recognized that I was the left arm and arrested me. Still, I gave the Second Prince a good smack in the back of the head, so I guess I’m about Your Highness’s left foot.”

“Not the right foot?”

“Councilor Bert can be said to be the right foot. It’s a shame. If he had joined a little earlier, he could have been an arm instead of a foot.”

I shook my head.

“Okay. Go and get to work now.”

“Hahaha, I understand. Your Highness’s left arm! Chief! Attendant! Alfonso will now step down.”

The guy laughed heartily and opened the office door.

“Gasp! Count Clian?”

Clian, with a blank face, was standing in front of the office.

“Oh, when did you get here?”

“From the part where you said you were a founding contributor.”

“Haha, haha. Then please, carry on!”

Alfonso disappeared like the wind.

I chuckled and met Clian’s gaze.

“Why were you standing there all this time?”

“I was organizing what I wanted to say to Your Highness for a moment.”

“Come in.”

He closed the door and approached the desk.

“So, what’s the matter?”

“I went to see Countess Milroa.”

“Is that so? I can roughly guess why you went to see her. You persuaded her to take my hand?”

Clian nodded.

“As expected, you’re like a ghost. That’s right.”

“How did it go?”

“I didn’t get an answer.”

“Hmm….”

I tapped the table with my finger and pondered for a moment, then he spoke first.

“Countess Milroa probably knows as well that the First Prince has no chance of winning. That’s why she didn’t refuse outright.”

“But she didn’t agree either.”

“That shows that she has a sense of loyalty that doesn’t easily betray someone she has given her heart to once. Once she decides to declare her support for Your Highness, she won’t change. In the future, after the Moria Duchy collapses, she could become the center of rallying the southern nobles who can still be rehabilitated. Also, she graduated from the Royal Academy’s Department of Public Administration, never missing the top spot for four years….”

He was spouting out passionately.

If I didn’t interrupt him, he would go on until dawn.

“Calm down, Clian. Anyone who hears you would think you’re Countess Milroa’s spokesperson.”

“…… I’m sorry. I spoke a little too long. The conclusion is that if you give me a little more time, I will definitely persuade Milroa.”

“You know there’s not much time left, right?”

The southern rebellion was like a balloon about to burst. Even at this moment, there might be southern nobles deciding to self-destruct.

Most of them equated the rebellion of the territory’s people with a dog they raised biting them.

“If Countess Milroa takes my hand, I plan to give her a position of importance without prejudice. But that’s only when her choice doesn’t cause unnecessary sacrifices in the kingdom. Her choice to value loyalty? I respect it. But if the kingdom’s damage increases because of that… I’m not sure if she’ll be able to be with me then.”

“…… If that happens, will you spare her life?”

“I don’t know either.”

I probably won’t go as far as killing her, but I can’t be sure.

“I see.”

Clian nodded calmly at my answer.

‘How strange.’

I looked at him this way and that way, and no matter how I looked at him, it seemed like he still had feelings for Milroa, who had declared the engagement off to him in the past, but how could he not show his emotions like that?

“Then I’ll be on my way.”

Clian bowed his head.

He was about to leave like that.

His head seemed to be full of thoughts on how to persuade Milroa.

“But aren’t you curious about where I went last night? I thought you came because of that at first.”

Only now did his eyes shake a little.

“Ah… where did you go?”

“Follow me.”

I got up from my seat and took Clian out of the office.

And arrived at the study.

I knocked lightly on the door.

“Julian, I’m coming in.”

There was no answer, so I just opened the door and went in.

My neat study was a mess with piles of newspapers.

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

Julian, who was flipping through the newspapers, came into view. He was so focused that he didn’t even seem to notice someone had come in.

“Julian.”

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

“Julian!!”

Only after shouting loudly enough to shake the study did he raise his head.

“Ah! Your Highness! I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’m sorry for interrupting you instead.”

“That person is… Count Clian?”

Julian’s eyes widened as he saw Clian standing behind me.

“Your Highness, who is this person?”

“He’s Julian. The leader of the southern rebellion.”

“Pardon?”

“Isn’t it better to put our heads together than to suffer alone?”

As I spoke, I glanced at the newspapers that Julian seemed to have read.

‘He’s faster than I thought?’

It seemed like he would read everything Alfonso had brought in half a day.

“Julian. It seems like you’ve read the last three months’ worth, is that right?”

“That’s right.”

“Do you still think the same way about killing the First Prince?”

“Of course.”

“I see… then what should we do with Countess Milroa?”

“Of course, we should deal with her together.”

Clian’s shoulders twitched at Julian’s answer.

He took a step forward.

“What’s the logic behind saying that?”

Clian’s voice was cold.

“Isn’t it obvious? Why would we spare someone who has opposed Your Highness? It will only leave behind future troubles.”

“Countess Milroa has abilities worth saving!”

“Even if we save her because of those abilities, she could become a poison and come back to us. The former royalists who are now supporting the Fifth Prince, including Councilor Bert, are an example of that, aren’t they? And even if Your Highness spares her, the other nobles won’t leave her alone.”

“Your Highness has the ability to use even that poison as medicine. And as long as I’m here, that won’t happen.”

Clap, clap, clap.

At the sound of my clapping, the two of them looked at me at the same time.

“I believe that the two of you will have a good discussion and come to my office at 9 a.m. tomorrow. I believe that you two don’t need me to tell you what to discuss. Then, I’m busy, so I’ll be on my way.”

It would be fun to keep watching the two of them argue, but I have a lot of other things to do, so I’ll stop here.