Surviving As The 5Th Prince Of Hellman Kingdom [EN]: Chapter 73

073

“Good. I can choose the merchant fleet as I please, right? I trust you’re not trying to trick me with merchant ships that are about to expire.”

“Hmph, you should stay cooped up in Bellington Fortress, warming yourself by the fireplace, instead of being with the soldiers.”

The expressions of those attending the State Affairs Meeting, watching the conflict between the Fifth and Second Princes, were mostly similar.

Could a real plague actually happen?

Most of them were thinking that.

Everyone had heard that the Fifth Prince was remarkably talented. Still, they thought a plague was too far-fetched.

Even within the Patrashit Order, the prevailing opinion was that the Saintess’s prophecy referred to the Freeholloho umbrella protest and the indiscriminate suppression by the Hamel Empire forces during that event.

On the other hand, there were a few who clearly had a ‘maybe?’ look on their faces.

‘A plague, a plague…’

Clian was one of them.

He, along with Miloa, had done the most investigation into the Fifth Prince within the royal palace.

He also knew one particularly chilling fact.

‘Not a single word the Fifth Prince has casually uttered has failed to come true.’

That was what convinced Clian.

– Finally, a prophet who will amaze the world has appeared in our kingdom.

That remark, which the Second Prince had intended as sarcasm, was probably true.

He was warning based on the Patrashit Saintess’s prophecy to minimize the cost of revealing divine secrets.

‘What price is he paying?’

The most common symptom experienced by saints and saintesses who foresee the future is losing the ability to see reality. However, the Fifth Prince was locked in an intense stare-down with the Second Prince, his eyes full of conviction.

The ‘prophecies’ that the Fifth Prince had made to people he encountered in the royal palace had mostly been very trivial.

Who has feelings for whom.

The person your sibling is dating is a playboy.

The land you’re trying to buy isn’t a good site.

You’ll meet a benefactor on your way home from work.
.
.
.
But.

‘The plague is different.’

He was relying on the Saintess’s prophecy and claiming it as his interpretation, but he directly mentioned ‘the plague.’ At the very least, it would require the permanent paralysis of one limb.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind.

‘Lifespan? Is it lifespan!’

The Fifth Prince was clearly warning them to prepare for the plague at the cost of his own lifespan.

How much had been taken?

Ten years? Twenty years? No, at least half of his lifespan must have been lost.

For what?

‘The kingdom? The kingdom’s people!’

The reasoning was wrong, but he got the answer right.

Evan was disparaging it as self-consolation, but the reason he was warning about the emergence of the plague, relying on the Saintess’s prophecy, was clearly to save as many of the kingdom’s people as possible.

If the ultimate goal was to reduce the power of the First and Second Princes, it would have been much better to let the Red Star Fever sweep through the kingdom.

A chill ran down Clian’s spine.

If the Second Prince had known about the emergence of the plague in advance, he would have hidden it thoroughly to maximize his own gain, regardless of whether the kingdom’s people lived or died.

Clian looked at the Fifth Prince. He couldn’t see him at a glance. He seemed as vast as a mountain.

He was a giant.

“Hahaha, Your Highnesses. Please calm down for a moment and listen to the opinions of others.”

Clian shook his head slightly at Prime Minister Heo’s words. Bert, no, the Fifth Prince’s proposal would clearly fail to pass.

The others still didn’t know the Fifth Prince as well as he did. They would embrace the winter with the same uneasy feeling as always.

‘I need to prepare at least the White County.’

That’s what he thought.

“I don’t think there’s any harm in preparing. Even if the proposal doesn’t pass, I want to prepare my territory. Fifth Prince, if a plague breaks out, what preparations do you think would minimize the damage?”

Another person had the same thought as him.

‘Miloa?’

***

The State Affairs Meeting ended.

I returned to Emerald Palace and headed straight to my office. I sat at my desk, twirling a pen for a long time, reviewing what had happened at the meeting.

‘An unexpected result?’

Honestly, I thought my proposal to prepare for the plague would be met with ridicule and immediately rejected.

It’s not that it passed.

There was a serious discussion, and some of those present seemed to be considering at least minimal preparations.

Ironically, Miloa and Clian.

The two who had been most opposed to me were the most proactive.

‘This is…’

I opened a desk drawer and took out a notebook.

『Book of Life and Death』

A notebook where I had organized the humans who must be eliminated or saved for the sake of the kingdom. It was written in Korean, so there were no security concerns.

It’s heartbreaking that there are overwhelmingly more names on the ‘death’ side than on the ‘life’ side.

Miloa and Clian are not written anywhere. From the perspective of succession to the throne, they should be on the ‘death’ list, but…

‘Their abilities are too valuable.’

I think they are the only ones in the kingdom with the capacity to serve as prime minister with real power, not just as a figurehead like the current Prime Minister Heo.

The people around me who could handle such a task…

Damn it, only Alfonso came to mind.

‘It’s not the right job for him.’

As always, I couldn’t write their names anywhere. And the moment I opened the drawer to put the notebook back.

Ziiing, ziiing.

The Tellistone [a magical communication device], which had been buried in the corner of the drawer, vibrated. It was the one I had received before the royal trial, the one I could use to contact Clian.

‘Why is this…?’

I was puzzled, but I answered it anyway.

There was only one person who would call.

“This is Evan Lionel.”

「This is Clian. You haven’t discarded the Tellistone yet. That’s fortunate.」

Actually, I had completely forgotten about it, having shoved it in a corner. If I had remembered, I would have thrown it to Alfonso to discard.

“Who gave it to me, so why would I throw it away? But what’s the matter? Damian wouldn’t be too happy if he knew you were contacting me like this.”

「I didn’t come to see you in person, and he already doesn’t like me very much, so I think this much is okay.」

“So, what is it?”

「I’m contacting you to seek the advice of the Fifth Prince, who sank the Jo Bayley pirate ship with an old battleship.」

“I’m curious why you’re buttering me up so much. Tell me.”

「The ship is sinking. The captain doesn’t seem to know, but the ship’s navigator has noticed. What should I do?」

I chuckled and opened my mouth.

“Have you ever heard the saying, ‘Escape is in order of intelligence’?”

***

A new recruit who had been assigned to the Ministry of Finance and Economy for just over a month was frantically working through his assigned tasks.

He glanced at the clock with anxious eyes.

‘5:50:12 PM.’

Clian is an excellent superior.

Just the fact that he doesn’t make us work overtime proves it. He believes that leaving residual work means incompetence.

Of course, Clian knows that unexpected situations can arise in life, and you might have to work overtime once or twice.

So, twice a month.

That was the number of times Clian allowed the people in the Ministry of Finance and Economy to work overtime. To work overtime more than that, it was essential to go through the process of ‘persuading’ him.

What if you worked overtime without permission?

That person would disappear from the Ministry of Finance and Economy without a trace the following month.

The new recruit’s mentor had disappeared that way.

‘Almost, almost done!’

And at exactly 6 o’clock.

Just as the new recruit was finishing the last document, the door to the Vice Minister’s office opened with a thud, and Clian appeared.

“Everyone has worked hard. You may leave.”

“See you tomorrow!”

The people of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, including the new recruit, left like a receding tide. Clian, as per his routine, took a quick look around the office, turned off the lights, and went outside.

At the usual time, Clian, who had returned from the royal palace to his home and was walking towards the main building, couldn’t help but stop in front of the fountain.

He knew the exact number of stones in the fountain. There was no way he wouldn’t notice that the stream of urine from the baby angel statue in the center was pointing in a different direction than usual.

After hesitating for a moment, he eventually moved his steps in the direction the baby angel was urinating. And he was able to meet the person waiting for him, leaning against a large tree.

“How did you get in without being detected by the guards?”

It was Evan.

He smiled at Clian’s question and replied.

“There are ways. By the way, no one knows I’m here right now, so you don’t have to worry.”

Clian narrowed his eyes.

He could see dirt marks all over Evan’s body. Looking closely, there was some on his head too. Did he dig a tunnel or something?

He imagined something absurd for a moment, then shook his head. It was impossible, even though the distance from the royal palace to the White County’s mansion was close.

“Why did you illegally invade my mansion?”

“You found me first, didn’t you?”

“Me? You mean the Fifth Prince?”

Evan took a pose as if communicating with the Tellistone.

“Originally, I would have waited leisurely, but unfortunately, there isn’t much time left, so I came here like this.”

“Time… you mean?”

Clian’s mind raced.

He soon understood what he meant.

“You’re talking about the plague.”

“You can think of it however you like. It’s something I can’t mention directly. You’ll have to change ships, and wouldn’t it be better to have a spacious and comfortable new one?”

“Whether it’s spacious because the ship is spacious or just because there are fewer people, you won’t know until you board it, will you?”

“So, are you going to stay on the sinking ship? It seems like you’ve gotten on the captain’s bad side.”

“I can’t decide on my own.”

“I know that the elders of the White County have a lot of power. I’ve even heard talk of replacing the head of the family, haven’t I?”

Clian was speechless.

It was a story that should never have leaked to the outside. He was about to raise his voice, asking how he knew, but he quickly came to his senses.

Because it was ‘Evan’ who said it.

He can foresee the plague, so what about the White County’s internal family disputes.

“Since you know, you must understand my situation.”

“Then ride alone.”

“Pardon?”

“What I need is you, Clian, not the White County.”

Clian was shocked as if struck by lightning.

It was the White County that possessed the core of eastern logistics as its territory. It was a logistics hub that he wouldn’t trade even for a duchy.

There’s even a saying that trains going to the east must pass through the White County. It’s not for nothing that Clian became the navigator of the ship called the Second Prince.

But you don’t need such a White County?

Evan’s words that he only needed him.

Clian felt a strange sense of fullness filling his heart.

What is this feeling?

He soon realized.

Clian is the first person Evan has ever recognized as a giant. The fact that he needs him, excluding the background of the White County. The sense of fulfillment, satisfaction, pleasure… those feelings were all combined.

He instinctively realized that the feeling he was experiencing now had an addictiveness that couldn’t be compared to alcohol, tobacco, or drugs.

Also, that he would never be able to experience it again without being with Evan.

He slowly opened his mouth.

“But you’d be very disappointed if you really just put me on the ship alone, wouldn’t you?”

“You’re stating the obvious.”

Evan’s smile shone brighter than the moonlight illuminating him.

***

Lionel Kingdom, Merton County.

The Elven Forest adjacent to it.

The seventh branch of the World Tree.

The elves collectively began to show symptoms similar to a cold. It was like an annual event that happened when winter began. At first, they thought it was nothing.

However, as time passed, the number of people coughing gradually increased.

And.

Those with red star-shaped spots on their necks began to suffer from severe fever.

The elves, who don’t usually use ‘medicine’ well, felt something was wrong and administered Asnol and Reifen, certified by the Hall of Gods, mainly to young elves.

It had no effect at all.

At that time, the words left by the half-human Fran came to the forest keeper’s mind.

– After the red star appears and the White Demon descends, ask Evan Lionel, a human, for help through the Merton Territory. Don’t ask me what it means. I don’t know either.

‘The red star seems to refer to the spots of fever… but what is the White Demon? Do I really have to ask a human for help?’

While the forest keeper was deep in thought.

– Kyaaaaaaak!

A scream echoed.

The forest keeper quickly ran out of the house.

‘I heard it from the lakeside.’

When the forest keeper arrived at the lakeside, many elves had already gathered.

“What’s going on!”

“F, Forest Keeper! L, Look over there!”

The forest keeper doubted his own eyes when he saw where the elves were looking. The hair of the elf, who was just over 50 years old, had turned half gray.

It wasn’t just the hair.

Elves maintain a consistent youth until death, but the elf in front of him was clearly ‘aging’ like a human.

“I, It’s not me!”

The aging elf screamed and violently stirred his face reflected in the lake.

“Demon! It’s a demon!”

“It’s a white-haired demon!”

The cries of the immature children echoed through the forest.