Surviving As The 5Th Prince Of Hellman Kingdom [EN]: Chapter 178

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Thump, thump.

I felt someone pressing on my cheek.

…Was I asleep?

My head was foggy, as if filled with mist. I was overcome with the desire to just fall back asleep.

Thump, thump.

Someone kept pressing on my cheek.

I struggled to lift my heavy eyelids.

“You’re awake? I was wondering why you weren’t waking up,” a strikingly beautiful woman with a peculiar hair color that could only be described as jet-black silver raised the corners of her lips.

“Barisada?”

Her appearance was unforgettable. Fully awake, I sat up and looked around.

“Where is this…?”

“Welcome. You’re the first to come here twice.”

The space of [Barisada] that I experienced for the first time.

To be precise, should I call it confinement?

It was definitely an empty space with nothing, but now it was decorated with antique furniture here and there.

“…It’s changed a lot.”

“I did some redecorating.”

The plush sofa and the bookshelf filled with books were particularly noticeable. The titles of the books caught my eye.

『Where That Woman Stays』

『The Maid and the Prince』

『That Prince’s Maid』

.

.

.

These were the romance novels I had read to her in my spare time. It seemed she was making them into books to keep.

It looked like she intended to collect them and read them over and over again.

Next to the desk… a curtain?

An object similar in size to the bookshelf was covered with cloth. As I stared at it intently, Barisada hurriedly spoke.

“Don’t be curious!”

“What is it that you’re hiding like that?”

“It’s my simple hobby. Don’t mind it.”

What kind of secret hobby was it that she had covered it up like that? I was even more curious because she wouldn’t tell me, but I remembered that this wasn’t the time to pry into such things.

“Do you know why I woke up here?”

“That’s… well…”

The last thing I remembered was Etrium, with only one head left, escaping the Midra Triangle before I lost consciousness.

Barisada scratched her nose and chose her words to answer my question.

I became increasingly uneasy at her appearance.

I was also worried that I might be trapped in confinement forever, just like her.

Come to think of it, even if Etrium had escaped, the Arya airship fleet still overwhelmed our forces. If Lichid had made a slightly more rational decision…

As I was letting my imagination run wild, Barisada finally opened her mouth.

“Actually, I don’t really know either.”

“You don’t know?”

“It’s my first time borrowing someone’s body too. But it doesn’t seem like your life is in danger, so rest assured for now.”

“Are you sure?”

“You can tell by looking over there.”

Barisada gestured towards the window.

I slowly approached the window. Beyond the window, I saw a familiar scene.

‘Bedroom?’

There, I was lying as if dead.

I was relieved for the moment.

The fact that I, who was in the Midra Triangle, was lying in the royal palace bedroom meant that the royal army had likely retreated safely.

Still, I asked Barisada to confirm.

“Did everyone return safely?”

“Yeah. There were no battles after you collapsed.”

“Please tell me the details.”

“Well… um…”

Barisada told me what she had seen.

The story of how the Lionel Kingdom’s airship fleet turned around and launched an offensive, causing the Arya airship fleet to retreat.

‘The bluff worked perfectly.’

Was it Julian’s idea?

I vowed to praise whoever came up with the idea when they woke up. Thanks to that, we were able to escape the crisis without shedding a drop of blood.

“But how long have I been lying like this?”

“A little over a week.”

“A week?”

If I hadn’t regained consciousness for that long, many people, including the queens, would surely be worried.

“Has anything happened in the meantime?”

“Yes.”

“Yes? What?”

“It seems the Arya Kingdom’s fleet has occupied Geumwol Island.”

Geumwol Island.

The island where the Arya bastards tried to kidnap Schuetz, who was developing a cure for the Red Star Fever, but gave up claiming ownership after failing.

It’s not a place where people live.

They occupied that place…

Well, the war had already begun when those bastards launched an airship to shoot down the Golden Dragon.

There was no declaration of war, but it wasn’t surprising. Such things were originally just letters from powerful countries with overwhelming force telling weaker countries not to mess around and just surrender.

‘At this important time…’

I stared intently at my body lying asleep through the window.

My heart was heavy.

***

Barisada’s house… or should I call it that?

Anyway, a day had passed since I regained consciousness in the confinement.

I had many conversations with her about what was happening to me now, but no answers came out. The best thing to do was to wait and see.

Fortunately, this place was a space that Barisada could manipulate as she pleased. She created a new second floor and prepared a place for me to stay.

-Ian, you have to greet Father.

-Father?

-Father.

-Fafafa!

I heard Reina and Ian’s voices.

Reina and Ian could be seen through the window. The two of them had come to see me yesterday as well.

I listened carefully to what she had to say.

Barisada’s range of sight and hearing was basically limited to the area around [Barisada]. The current location of [Barisada] was my bedroom.

The stories told by people visiting me in bed were the only way for me to hear news from reality.

-Your Majesty, Seokham Island is still holding up well. I heard that Roirdo has also made a significant contribution.

Through her, who was delivering news from the east, I was able to grasp the general war situation.

Etrium, who the Arya people revered as a god, had lost seven heads and fled, but the airships and ironclad ships they possessed were intact.

The Arya Kingdom was a nation that could be considered one step closer to being a world power in terms of naval power. It was surprising that Gunham Island was holding out well against them.

At first, I was worried that they might be only telling me good news because I couldn’t get out of bed, and leaving out any bad news from our country, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

-Fran’s performance is said to be amazing. There was a major battle this morning, and I heard that she overwhelmed Lichid Pross.

If Fran had participated, it was possible.

Fran was one of the best in the world when it came to handling electric magic. If she was careful not to sweep away allies, she would have an advantage in compatibility over Lichid.

‘Still, it’s a bit unexpected.’

If she was dragged into the war, she would have sung about how she would leave the Magic Tower and immediately disappear from the Lionel Kingdom.

Well, she must have had a lot of thoughts.

When you think about it, the reason I was trapped in confinement like this was because I went to save Fran.

She hated owing debts, so she must have thought she had to repay it. She must have also been angry that those bastards had targeted her life.

-Lanoa, are you here?

-Yes, Lady Reina.

While I was thinking about Fran, Lanoa came to see me. I saw her daughter sleeping soundly in her arms.

My heart ached.

Because I hadn’t even named her yet.

The names given by the elders of the royal family, based on the date and time of birth, were too old-fashioned.

So I put it on hold and tried to name her myself, but then the Arya bastards attempted to kidnap and kill Fran.

-I heard you’re leaving for the east tomorrow morning.

-Yes. I felt that the place for me was not the royal palace but the battlefield.

I perked up at the story the two were sharing.

Reina to the battlefield?

It wasn’t an incomprehensible choice.

There needed to be someone to prevent the 8-star knight of the Arya Kingdom, the commander of the Royal Guard called Otto’s Sword, from running wild.

Just by Reina being there, he wouldn’t be able to run wild recklessly.

Knock, knock.

-Viscount Schuetz and Marie have arrived.

-Come in.

It was examination time.

Alphonso, Schuetz, and Marie entered at the same time.

Marie stepped forward first.

Whoosh-!

Marie’s violent divine power enveloped my body, and Schuetz’s examination began.

And after a long time.

Schuetz, who had taken his hand off my body, looked at the queens who were holding their breath and opened his mouth.

“There are no physical problems at all.”

“Is that so? But why haven’t you woken up yet…?”

“I’m sorry. It’s my lack of ability.”

Schuetz bowed his head.

In the awkward atmosphere, Alphonso cleared his throat and asked him.

“Viscount Schuetz, is it okay for His Majesty to lie down for so long? If you lie in bed for a long time, your arms and legs will get thinner, won’t they?”

“You don’t have to worry about that. Marie’s divine power will delay the decay of His Majesty’s body as much as possible.”

“Ah, I see.”

Schuetz talked about my condition with Alphonso and the queens for a long time, then left with Marie.

“You two should go in now too. The prince and princess seem tired. Besides, the First Queen has to leave for the battlefield tomorrow morning.”

The two queens nodded at Alphonso’s words.

Reina took my hand and said.

“Your Majesty, please wake up soon. In the meantime, I will make sure that the island bastards don’t set foot on our homeland.”

Don’t worry.

I’ll wake up soon.

Don’t get hurt until I get there.

Even if I couldn’t say those words, I wanted to show some kind of reaction to her determination. But unlike my heart, my body wasn’t moving at all.

Then suddenly, an idea came to mind.

Spirit, body, magic power.

The three things that a magic power awakener must balance to advance to the next level.

I can’t move my body right now, but my mind is perfectly awake.

Then what about magic power?

Come to think of it, Barisada, who was in a similar state to me, had been constantly supplying me with her mana.

What would happen if I used magic power here, now?

As soon as I thought of it, I immediately designed a magic formula to write letters in the air.

If it succeeded, a message saying ‘I’ll wake up soon’ would appear in front of Reina’s eyes.

The result was unfortunately a failure.

However, it wasn’t a complete failure.

The message I wrote was floating near the window. It seemed that the magic I manifested could not escape Barisada’s house, that is, the space of confinement.

I felt a little empty.

When I thought about it, even Barisada, who had spent over 500 years trapped in confinement, had failed to convey her opinion to someone outside.

There was no way I could easily convey my intentions to the outside.

As I was frustrated.

-Queen?

-Lady Reina, what’s wrong?

I heard Alphonso and Lanoa cautiously calling out to Reina.

I raised my head and looked out the window.

-Just now, His Majesty did something. Didn’t you two feel it?

Alphonso and Lanoa tilted their heads.

But I had something that flashed through my mind.

Mana!

I definitely manifested magic in this place. Then where did the fuel come from? There was only one answer.

Body.

The magic I use in this space draws its fuel from the body in reality.

-I don’t really…

-Me neither…

Reina, an 8-star knight, must have noticed the very slight change in mana that occurred in my body.

For a sure test, I designed and began to construct one of the most powerful magic spells I had learned.

[The Fire That Devours Darkness]

From the construction stage, an enormous amount of mana was used, but strangely, I didn’t feel any physical sensation here.

But.

-Th, this is!

-An enormous amount of magic power is coming from His Majesty’s body!

It didn’t seem to be the case in reality.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t see the situation outside the window because I was focused on constructing the magic, but I could guess from the sounds I heard.

“What! What! What did you do?!”

Barisada ran up from downstairs. I glanced at the black flames burning on my hand and asked her.

“Barisada, this space. It was impossible to speed up the flow of time, but it was definitely possible to slow it down, right?”

I remember it clearly.

When I first drew [Barisada], reality was almost frozen while I was talking to her in this space.

“Uh… was it?”

In short, this was the Room of Spirit and Time [a reference to the Dragon Ball series, where characters train in a hyperbolic time chamber].

It meant that you could train for eons in a fleeting moment.