Surviving As The 5Th Prince Of Hellman Kingdom [EN]: Chapter 95

Moria Runtia.

He responded to the audience’s gazes with an expressionless face.

The Fifth Prince’s voice echoed.

“Of course, this directive is covered in fingerprints. Some are so faint they’re impossible to identify. But it’s clear that everyone whose fingerprints are on here touched it at least once.”

Moria stared intently at the directive displayed on the screen.

‘Fingerprints…’

Moria examined his own fingerprints, comparing them to those on the screen.

Soon, he found a perfect match.

He looked away from his thumb, his cold gaze shifting to the Fifth Prince, and slowly opened his mouth.

“Using fingerprints to identify the sender of the directive is certainly ingenious. But how can you prove the directive itself isn’t a fabrication? And the fingerprints along with it?”

“Why should I?”

Evan scoffed.

“I discovered this directive while suppressing the Tricolor Cane Brigade [a rebellious group] with the White Lion Knights, and I did my utmost to find the person who issued it. In fact, I even created a fingerprinting system that could be used in future investigations of serious crimes within the kingdom. And now you’re suggesting I need to prove the directive found at the crime scene wasn’t fabricated? If I prove that, you’ll ask me to prove the proof is correct. If you suspect this directive is a fake, prove it yourself.”

Moria’s lips trembled.

He had been manipulating the kingdom for over twenty years. Feeling a humiliation he hadn’t experienced in ages, he felt an almost uncontrollable urge to tear the Fifth Prince to shreds.

Moria’s gaze flickered briefly towards the guards the Fifth Prince had brought.

The Emerald Palace’s guest, sponsored by the Fifth Prince. Fran, the 8-star mage, watched him with an intriguing expression from among the escort knights.

She had become a monster capable of constructing a mental landscape, going beyond merely forcing her laws on others.

Moria swiftly suppressed the homicidal impulse he’d felt a moment before.

***

Fabricating a directive would be simple.

With just a blank sheet of paper bearing Moria’s fingerprints, he could create one right now. Perhaps many in the hearing room had already considered that.

But so what?

Even if they suspected fabrication, proving it wouldn’t be easy. He hadn’t been so sloppy; it was practically impossible.

I looked away from Moria, whose eyes were now betraying his inner turmoil, and scanned the audience.

“I won’t waste time pointing out whose fingerprints are on the directive. I believe everyone can guess their owner.”

Just as I was about to take a breath and continue, Miloa raised her hand.

“I have a question.”

“What is it, Count Miloa?”

“Frankly, I don’t understand why the southern nobles and those targeted by the Tricolor Cane Brigade are specifically named in the directive. Furthermore, most of the documents regarding corruption and irregularities that were found alongside it also implicate figures from the South. What are your thoughts on this, Fifth Prince?”

She was dancing around the issue, but ultimately asking if I had fabricated the evidence.

“Well… perhaps it was to deflect suspicion when eliminating figures from other regions later, after dealing with the southern nobles first? Or maybe it’s simply because the Tricolor Cane Brigade’s base of operations is in the South.”

In short, an answer of ‘I don’t know.’

There was no point in a lengthy exchange. Just as Miloa was about to press further, I decided to seize the initiative.

I ignored her and addressed the audience.

“Then, let’s conclude the matter of the directive found at the Tricolor Cane Brigade’s base and move on to the next topic. Everyone is well aware of the atrocities committed by Radwan Runtia, I believe. What we’re all curious about is one thing: were those horrific experiments, in which he treated the kingdom’s citizens like lab rats, truly his own doing?”

I signaled the mage.

A burned, damaged diary appeared on the screen.

“Oh… could that be?”

“Radwan’s diary!”

“Is it real? How did the Fifth Prince get his hands on that!”

“This is Radwan Runtia’s diary, obtained by Baron Reina during the suppression of the Tricolor Cane Brigade ‘Freedom’ and its subordinates, who were spreading Radwan Runtia’s atrocities among the kingdom’s citizens.”

It’s genuine.

After disguising myself as Neibro and capturing Radwan, I took it from his workshop.

“Unfortunately, it was severely damaged when the Tricolor Cane Brigade attacked Radwan, so only a few parts are legible.”

Of course, I damaged it.

If it were intact, it would be excellent proof that Moria was unaware of Radwan’s actions.

“But I’ve managed to extract the most important excerpts.”

The screen displayed fragments from the diary.

「I received instructions from my father to dispose of ■■■. It’s a shame because it’s the first successful ■■■ in a long time.」

「I received a warning from the main family ■■. The content is to temporarily suspend the ■■■ experiment ■■. I should refrain from doing so for the time being ■■.」

「…I received an order to ■■. That man I kidnapped this time ■■…」

.

.

.

Language is truly fascinating.

Even if you only obscure one word in the sentence ‘Dispose of the magic book’ and change it to ‘Dispose of ■■■,’ people will fill in the blanks with what they want to believe.

Like chimera [a creature made of mixed parts].

“Th-that…”

“It’s impossible that Duke Moria didn’t know about Radwan’s chimera experiments…”

“But it seems to be damaged too conveniently…”

“It’s a conspiracy! There isn’t a single direct sentence anywhere that says I was involved in that bastard’s atrocities!”

Moria shouted.

I chuckled and said,

“That’s why I feel sorry. If there were no damaged parts, this wouldn’t be a hearing, but a noble trial.”

Moria’s face turned as red as if it would explode at any moment.

“Now, prove it. Prove that the atrocities Radwan committed were his own doing, and that Duke Moria, you, were not involved in the directive found at the Tricolor Cane Brigade’s base.”

Having said everything I wanted to, I returned to my seat and sat down with my arms crossed.

***

The hearing was over.

“Conspiracy! It’s a conspiracy! It’s all a conspiracy by those who want to break the unity of our southern nobles!”

Duke Moria kept shouting ‘conspiracy’ from beginning to end.

He presented some minor evidence, but compared to what I presented, it was like a firefly before the sun.

This hearing of Moria’s doesn’t exert any compulsion. It was different from the hearing of the Royal Committee that judged the validity of the immunity from arrest that Damian and I had exercised.

But it was an important hearing that would determine whether he could be brought to trial.

“Duke Moria, will he stand trial?”

Alphonse asked me as I returned to my office and collapsed on the sofa.

“He will.”

Soon, a vote will be held in the Noble Council on whether to put Duke Moria on trial.

He is the head of the Runtia ducal family, which holds seats in the Noble Council. The number of votes required to bring him to trial is a majority of the Noble Council members present and a majority in favor.

It’s enough.

Southern nobles were sitting in the audience at the hearing. Among them, there were quite a few whose eyes looking at Moria were complicated.

“Did the southern nobles seem to believe in Your Highness’s claims that much?”

“No, not at all.”

The directive with Moria’s fingerprints on it.

The damaged diary of Radwan.

If they were fools who believed that at face value, they would have disappeared into the back alleys of power long ago.

“Alphonse, what’s important to them isn’t the truth. It’s Moria’s incompetent appearance at the hearing, where he couldn’t launch any counterattacks against me and only repeated the word ‘conspiracy!'”

“Hmm… I think I understand what you mean vaguely. Even I wouldn’t trust such a person to be the leader of a group.”

“That’s right.”

The First Prince’s biggest weakness.

The southern nobles formed their power around Duke Moria, not the First Prince. Of course, there are people like Miloa who devoted themselves solely to the First Prince, but not many.

The First Prince and Miloa must have had many concerns.

Even if he inherited the throne in the future, it was obvious that it would not be easy to lead the kingdom as he wished because the power of his maternal relatives was so strong.

That’s why Miloa told the First Prince to focus on improving his knightly abilities. The moment the First Prince became a 7-star knight, he would have been able to properly check Moria.

Well, now you can erase such distant future problems from your mind. The fight for the throne is about to be turned upside down.

You should be grateful to me.

“By the way, if Duke Moria is put on trial by the nobles, what kind of punishment do you think he will receive?”

“There won’t be a great punishment. He might even be acquitted and end up being told to refrain from activities for a while.”

“Would the kingdom’s citizens accept that? They must believe in Your Highness’s claims wholeheartedly.”

“When have nobles ever thought about such things?”

“…I guess not.”

I succeeded in creating a crack in the seemingly solid bond of the southern nobles.

That’s enough for now.

The time it takes for that crack to become a hole and collapse will be shorter than you think.

***

January 1st, Kingdom Era 500.

The new year has begun.

I’m one year older, so I’m sixteen now. I’ll be having my coming-of-age ceremony in just one more year.

Knock, knock.

“Your Highness, it’s Alphonse.”

“Come in.”

Alphonse came into the office with a pile of documents.

“Why are there so many?”

“Isn’t it the 500th anniversary of the founding of the kingdom? There seem to be many things that require Your Highness’s approval.”

“What’s so important about the 500th anniversary?”

In the ‘future,’ the 500th anniversary and everything else were carried out very modestly due to the Red Star Fever. This time, the situation is different, so it seems like it will be celebrated grandly.

Currently, the Lionel Kingdom has recovered to its daily life, except for some regions. What can I say about my approval rating as a result?

‘Now that I think about it, should I check it out?’

I tapped [Approval Rating] with my ghost hand.

North 95%

West 90%

East 85%

South 49%

It can be said to be overwhelming.

Looking only at the kingdom citizens’ approval rating, the next throne is mine.

‘The South is 49%…’

Even though I shook it up so much using the Tricolor Cane Brigade, the South’s approval rating is only 49% due to the First Prince’s camp’s desperate media control.

“Your Highness, did you know? There’s a rumor spreading in the South that Radwan was actually Your Highness’s sworn brother.”

I remembered Alphonse bringing up a ridiculous rumor one day, and I just laughed it off.

‘Just keep going like this.’

Since Moria Runtia received a ‘not guilty’ verdict in the noble trial, his approval rating has been slowly rising even if I leave him alone.

I can relax and watch when that precarious South will explode.

“Oh, and I received a message from Austin-senpai [an honorific for a senior] that Mars and his group have safely settled in Ellenbeira.”

“Is that so?”

Mars accepted my offer and crossed the border with the people who still followed him.

I plan to watch with interest whether the poison called the republic that I released in the Hamel Empire will spread properly.

“The name of the newly created organization is the Civic Assembly.”

I tilted my head.

It was different from what I had expected. In the ‘future,’ the name of the organization he left the Tricolor Cane Brigade and became independent was ‘Wings of Freedom.’

I was once again reminded that the future is changing from the ‘future.’

“Austin-senpai recommended it.”

“Austin did?”

“Senpai is very interested in the republic. In my opinion, he’s an expert. At first, I thought Senpai was also a republican. Just in case, I’ll keep a close watch on him.”

Austin is a republican?

I couldn’t believe it, so I chuckled.

“Do as you please. If you’ve said everything, go out and do your work.”

“Yes!”

I sent Alphonse out and concentrated on work for a long time.

My shoulders were stiff, so I got up for a moment and was stretching.

Dada-dak [onomatopoeia for running footsteps].

I know just by the sound.

It was the sound of Alphonse running. I wondered what had happened again that made him like that.

I opened the door before he could knock.

“Your Highness! A civil war has broken out in the South!”

A fierce wave began to crash against the wall called the South, where I had created a crack.