Chapter 74: Second Prince

Chapter 74: Second Prince

In the darkness of the night on the outskirts of the capital.

A great cloud of smoke was billowing out from beneath the earth.

After defeating Zoro, "Razel" came to seek information about a certain Linhard.

He broke through the entrance which was a large tree that served as a gateway, and ventured inside, where a large laboratory was hidden.

He was angered to see a strange liquid being injected into a girl and proceeded to decapitate everyone present. No matter if they were guards or knights' escorts, they were all beheaded.

While the prisoners opened the cells, "Razel" researched the documents based on information about Linhard, but...

"There is nothing to say about the whereabouts of that guy, let alone the other person that guy mentioned... is he a very important person to be kept in hiding?"

"It's no use for me to be here anymore."

"Razel" destroyed all the documents and then proceeded to let the prisoners escape.

He told them. "There is a place that used to be called the lawless city, they are currently repairing everything and accept labor from anyone, you can live there as it seems they were only interested in getting rid of the lord of those lands to the empire."

The prisoners thanked him and ran with all their might.

After sighing for a long time, "Razel" commented.

"I feel sleepy. It's time to return this boy's body."

Astraea returned home after leaving Razel's body unconscious in the forest.

-Minister Olgren's mansion.

A cup of imported tea fell to the floor.

"... What... did you said?"

"... I-It's as you heard my lord, the Anti-Rosenberg faction... your faction... lost to Rosenberg Household..."

A few moments ago the judge of the battle who belonged to his faction reported the following to a messenger...

"We lost, and it also seems that Carmichael opened his mouth. The Rosenberg's heir daughter is submitting some documents to the sword saints. Request help from that person quickly, our necks are in danger!".

After reading the letter and what the message told him, Olgren began to sweat as if he was in a sauna.

"I-I-It can't be..."

"I-I can't lose... the palace couldn't have lost..."

"The prince couldn't have lost... my future as prime minister and leader of the black crows couldn't have lost neither..."

"I... I..."

The phone near a table began to ring.

Olgren grimaced in horror as that phone had never rung before.

The messenger was long gone due to the fear he felt at the sight of the ever-smiling minister, showing a face of crippling pain.

He approached slowly, the phone was still ringing.

Even if he wanted to pretend it wasn't ringing, or, if he had left the house.

The phone would still ring.

He picked it up with his shaking hand and after swallowing saliva he said.

"... H-Hello?"

"You screwed up in a big way, Olgren..."

"Leader!"

The leader of the black crows called out to him, this time he wasn't using a voice distorter so that no one would recognize him.

The voice of the person behind it all spoke to him in a calm tone, but one that was clearly grumpy.

"The report came to me while I was working, you no, you guys are stupid right?"

"Don't any of you have brain cells in your heads?"

"Leader... wait a minute... let me explain!"

"No buts, Olgren. The news came just a little while ago, by tomorrow morning the whole empire will know that the second prince lost. And what's more serious, that it was you, the one guilty of deceiving him and seeing the idiot face of a member of the imperial family."

"Leader, let me explain what happened."

Olgren looked like a small child wanting to cry in front of his father who didn't want to hear his excuses.

"Worst of all, I wanted to send the shadows to take care of creating false evidence, but not a single one of them was in their lair... are you responsible for this too?"

"..."

"I figured as much." *Sigh*

"It's over, Olgren."

"... Leader..."

"I will not allow you to divulge information when they torture you, I will have both the palace and the members hunt you down."

"For everything you've done for me, I'll give you two hours no, one hour to flee."

"That won't give me time to hang nothing back!"

"I don't care, I'll go for your head Olgren. They'll be coming to your mansion shortly, they're assessing the situation now."

"By tomorrow morning you will be the most wanted man in the country. Or, the most publicly humiliated minister before your execution."

"Believe me, the emperor will be asking for your genitals when he hears this."

"Farewell forever, Olgren. You were a good ally, who made stupid decisions."

"Leader..."

*Hanging call*

"Ah..."

Olgren dropped the phone and after being in shock for a few seconds, he ran at full speed without changing his clothes which were a robe and slippers.

"Damn it, this can't be happening! This can't be happening to me!"

He ran straight to the kitchen, grabbed food and water from the fridge. The head cook asked him what was wrong.

He ignored him and grabbed a garbage bag into which he deposited everything in his hands.

Then he took a large knife and put it in a towel.

He went straight out into the yard where there was a large field, there was a horse that he used to ride in his free time.

As he got on he hit it and ran off at full speed.

"Don't think you'll catch me just like that!"

"I'm Garrett von Olgren, the head of the Olgren family! In my 57 years of life I've never lost!"

"I swore you'll pay to me Rosenberg! Especially you, you snotty little shit!"

(If Zoroaster did not return to inform me of the mission accomplished. It means he was defeated.)

(Damn! That kid is more dangerous than I thought.)

(If someone like him joins with the emperor, it will be bad for all those who want to use the crown prince or the second prince.)

After galloping for a while, Olgren entered the forest that indicated the end of his domain.

"The only safe place for me is with that guy right now, he owes me several favors so I'll have him hide me until I come up with a plan."

"They won't kill me and I'll be back for revenge! Gororororororororororororororororor!"

In the darkness of the night, Olgren escaped.

-Imperial Palace, chamber of ministers.

"This can't be true!"

"Even if we want to say it's not true, the information written here is real."

"Get away from me, I haven't done anything!"

"He's a traitor! Get him!"

The interim palace was in chaos because of what happened hours ago.

They lost, for the first time in their history. For the first time in the history of the empire's founding, in the thousand years since its founding... the palace lost.

The imperial family lost... and against a duke.

The ministers, officials and knights who belonged to the Olgren faction that supported the second prince were being caught for complicity.

It was all madness, the prime minister stood with his head bowed looking towards a door.

Someone had locked themselves in there a little while ago and hadn't come out.

"Blake-kun..."

"Prime Minister, we can't let this get out!"

"What will the populace think when it gets out that the imperial family lost?"

"That shouldn't concern us, it should concern our enemies! If the Unified Kingdoms or the Ideal Empire finds out about this, they'll think we're weakening!"

"But everyone knows about this battle and the result of the victory is what everyone thought was absolute, we can't change or hide the result when there are witnesses!"

"The emperor is asleep, when he wakes up it will be something really scary!"

Despite everything they were saying, the prime minister only cared about one thing.

Outside the break room used by the ministers, Blake sat staring at the ceiling.

Ever since he was a child, he always pondered that he would win using strength and the blessing of being part of the imperial family, but right now both of those advantages were destroyed.

"I guess... it's over for me. When father finds out he will kill me or torture me before he kills me."

He started laughing for no reason as tears streamed down his cheeks.

"Cheers!"

At the Rosenberg mansion located in the capital, an impromptu victory party was taking place in the huge back garden.

All the members of the faction were there, including the brave sailors who fought.

Thanks to Lily they were healed without any problem, despite the fact that many airships were destroyed, they managed to save themselves thanks to the fact that Duke Luinberg had ordered that all ships had a magic stone of protection in case of disaster, they managed to save themselves from imminent death.

Quite the opposite of their enemies who ignored that believing they would not lose.

Barbara was still inside due to her psychological discomfort from everything that happened.

But Eli spoke on her behalf, and now everyone was enjoying this moment.

Except the Regulux group.

"I can't believe he survived..."

They watched as Desmond had not only survived the fall, he also seemed to have forgotten about their existence.

For upon seeing them he said. "Hah, who are you bitches?"

He was eating everything in sight, who were feeding him were two blonde haired twin girls.

"He eats like he hasn't eaten in days."

"The mister with the horns is really a glutton!"

The girls giggled as they watched Desmond stuff all the food into his mouth.

While that was weird to them, the weirdest thing was undoubtedly what was going on at the other end of them.

"That was a good fight, wasn't it? Brother."

"I'm not your brother, you're not mine either, get away from me!"

Bellange since a while ago behaved strangely, he placed his arm around Razel's neck and was now talking to him as if they had been friends for a long time.

The reason why he calls him brother, is because after Razel arrived, Bellange offered him a drink, then Razel gave him the drink that Bellange himself gave him after he finished his own.

This was called a cup oath, an ancient tradition that was very rarely seen these days.

Because of that, Bellange now acted as if Razel was her brother from another mother.

"Don't be like that, we're brothers now."

"I refuse to accept that! Get away! Somebody get him off me!"

Eli and Lily came to Razel's aid.

"Bellange-kun, get away from me fianc!"

"Razel-kun prefers girls to hug him!"

They pulled Bellange who kept telling how Razel defeated the dark shadows. Something Cordelia had asked him never to tell.

In a bar in the imperial capital, Glenn sat drinking alone.

No one was there today, it was because the bar was closed early due to the owner, who did it alone so Glenn could drink in peace.

It was a favor from an old acquaintance.

"So you won, did you?"

"Yes."

"Tomorrow the whole country will go crazy."

"I'm sure it will, since the emperor will know early when he ask for the news report."

The door opened, and the bell at the entrance notified that a customer had arrived.

"Sorry, but the bar is closed today ah, you are!"

"That's okay, I just came in because I wanted to know how it went."

Manfred arrived, the bartender was sweating as he hadn't seen the saint of arrogance around in a while.

"No one called you."

"How cold you are to your old friend."

"That's why I don't want to see you, you and I were always on bad terms when we were young."

Manfred sat down and ordered the same thing Glenn was drinking.

"Back then I was the strongest young swordsman of all. It was normal for me to be arrogant, hahaha."

They both started telling anecdotes from the past unintentionally.

At that, Manfred stopped smiling because of what Glenn said.

"It's been forty years since that day."

"You're still thinking about that, aren't you?"

"There's no way I'm forgetting, it was my fault what happened."

"Accidents happen, Glenn."

"It wasn't an accident, I was aware of what I was doing, Fred."

Manfred reacted to that name he hadn't heard in years.

Glenn took a single gulp of his drink and continued his sadness.

"If it hadn't been for Richard-sama, I'd be dead on the streets drowning in alcohol. I lost everything, my power, my family name... even my son."

"If that person hadn't shown compassion for someone as unpleasant as the me back then, I'd be just another criminal in Babel."

The awkward silence lasted a few seconds as Manfred gave him a sharp slap on the back to cheer her up.

"For someone older than me, you're very cranky."

"We're the same age."

"No, you're older, look, your hair is falling out already."

Manfred pointed his finger at Glenn, who part of his head lost hair... something he had until a few hours ago.

Glenn looked thoughtful and said.

"It was a dog accident."

"Hah? What kind of dog does that, are you senile by any chance?"

"It was a very big and grey dog, I had to protect some children from it, right now that dog must be eating with those children."

"Why would a dog eat with the children it wanted to eat? I knew it, you are already senile. Let's go to the palace now to notify that you are no longer of use."

"Touch me and I'll kill you."

"Come on grandpa, I'm not afraid of you."

Many veins scored on Glenn's forehead and a fight broke out.

The party had been a success like today's victory.

I heard a lot of crazy things, and the girls seem to want me to give them cuddles and petting for working hard, I'll do it after this.

"How are you feeling?"

I came to Barbara's room to check on her.

The maids had helped her change, so now her body odor smelled different, to a softer more relaxing scent.

Also her nightgown despite being long, was not big enough to hide those huge breasts.

I lay down next to her and she caressed my head as she told me how she felt.

"I'm better thanks to that bottle of medicine you brought."

"Bottle? What bottle?"

"This one."

From a drawer in her nightstand, she pulled out a small dark-colored bottle, I was surprised to see it.

"That bottle is..."

"Whatever was in here, it helped me a lot, thank you."

She proceeded to give me a lover's kiss.

Savoring Barbara's tongue, I thought.

(That bottle is the one Evelyn said was the product of the dragon I asked her to analyze.)

(She said it was all ready, I was bringing it in my hand because I didn't know if it would work or not. Just look at Barbara's face, for me it's still the same.)

(But it doesn't matter, my goal is to give her a child and that's what I will do.)

We both got frisky on that night.

"Huh?"

Lily was sleeping with Eli, her face was in her sister's large breasts, which only her hair covered.

She heard something, she didn't know what it was, but it was telling her to come.

Lily, a little sleepy listened to it, she was not thinking clearly, even her eyes were still closed.

She reached the balcony and opened the window, her squinting eyes opened wide as she saw a golden light coming from below.

"It's you!"

The fairies had come to see her, Lily smiled with joy as...

"It was you who made the horn turn golden, wasn't it?"

"Yes..."

"We have an obligation to help you..."

"Help the saint..."

"The one who can hear Alexia's voice."

"Alexia's... voice..."

Lily remembered something from months ago, during Xerxes' attack, she heard a voice telling her what to do.

"I take back what I did, mercy please!"

His head was forcibly placed by the knights, while an executioner cleaned his red-covered sword.

He used his two hands to lift it up, the hilt was held tightly, Grin cried harder seeing that.

"I beg forgiveness, I'm so sorry, I won't do it again!"

"I swear I will dedicate my life to serve!"

Grin's voice was silenced forever in a single hand movement.

The executions continued regardless of today's itinerary.

Inside the main audience hall, the emperor sat very angry.

A rugged-looking man with a muscular body, long golden hair and intense red eyes looked down as he spoke.

"When I wake up, I expect good news such as: having discovered a way to defeat the Ideal Empire, or new magical discoveries."

"But what do I discover when I wake up? Traitors! Manipulation! And above all... defeat!"

The veins in his forehead were manifesting themselves every second.

"Your Majesty, you are behaving inappropriately."

His twin brother the grand duke who was also the prime minister, told him to relax.

Anyone else who would have said that would have been killed by his big hands.

"... I understand."

The veins on his forehead were gradually disappearing, before long he seemed to be bored.

"I don't want to waste time here, hurry up and summarize what happened."

An official gave details about what happened in the battle and the report Eli delivered.

The emperor's face distorted with each thing he heard.

"Enough. Let the winners pass."

Razel, Eli and the girls stepped forward and bowed to show their respects.

"It is an honor that His Majesty the Emperor allows us to stand in his presence."

"Unnecessary. Daughter of the Rosenbergs, tell me, how did it feel to win against those who wronged them?"

"Am I allowed to be honest, Your Majesty?"

"Indeed it must be so."

*Inhale*

*exhale*

"It was the best. To see how those who wanted to see us in misery, receive their deserts and that the goddess has blessed us with victory. It's proof enough of the era that the Rosenberg Household will once again be the greatest ducal house in the empire."

Eli declared in front of everyone that the Rosenbergs were superior, with their victory against the second prince was not luck, it was fate.

"Gurararara!"

The emperor laughed having heard that.

"That's the way winners think! A winner is one who achieves a victory by his own hands, luck doesn't exist!"

"Daughter of the Rosenbergs, I accept the defeat of the palace, of the imperial family at your hands!"

"Go ahead, I will grant you a wish. I will be able to give you everything you want except the crown or the crown prince's position."

"Your words make me happy Your Majesty, but right now I am only interested in what was agreed upon if we won, which we did."

"Very well, but before that... you frog-face."

He was now heading towards Razel, both Eli and Lily flashed a vein as they heard the emperor speak to their boyfriend.

"Is it true what the Fraser's son said?"

Bellange divulged Razel's fight against the darkness of the empire to all, everyone now knew it was real.

The palace could not hide, only declare its motives for having had hidden assassins.

At first Razel was reluctant to declare that, but he could not lie to the man who was almost considered a god according to their laws.

"Yeah... it was me. I killed those guys."

The facial expression of many, including the emperor and prime minister raised their eyebrows in surprise.

The emperor muttered to himself.

"It looks like it's real my suppose."

"Well, that's all I wanted to know."

"The darkness of the empire is something that has haunted us for centuries, the founding of the black crows was also the fault of my predecessors."

"I was always against it myself. We only need the twilight saint to get rid of our enemies."

Everyone's gaze focused on the man in red armor with horns standing to the emperor's left.

"Like the daughter of the Rosenbergs, I will grant you a wish. Speak, say, what do you wish?"

"Thank you for your kindness. Like my betrothed, I would like to keep that wish."

"How boring."

The emperor clicked his tongue at the sound of them both refusing to make their wish at that moment.

"You are dismissed."

"Now it's loser's turn, come forward."

Razel and the girls stood up and proceeded to leave the place.

The door to the entrance opened, and there, with a look overhead, stood Blake in his best suit.

Everyone looked at the proud second prince who arrived with his usual sharp look.

Some muttered nasty things about him.

"Look at him, coming in like he was getting a prize."

"It's like the proverb, dog that barks don't bite."

"I suppose the second prince will beg his father for mercy, I wouldn't be surprised indeed."

Blake heard these murmurings, but thought nothing of it.

Reaching the center of the room, he showed a reverence.

"I came just as you ordered, father."

Blake would not raise his face so as not to look at his father, the emperor.

He didn't want to.

"Raise your face."

He didn't want to see the most important man in the country looking at him like he was a worm.

"..."

"What are you waiting for?"

He knew what would happen he would see it to his face.

"I'm ordering you to look me in the face, Blake!"

"...!"

For the first time in a long time, his father called him by name.

For a brief moment, Blake thought this would mean a change in his life to talk to his father without an audience... but the reality was otherwise.

His father was looking at him with a look of disgust on his face.

"You... do you understand why you're here?"

He began to sweat, he wanted to avert his eyes, but he could not do such disrespect in front of the emperor.

Right now the emperor wasn't looking at Blake as a son let alone his family, he was looking at him as the ruler to someone who spat in his face.

"... Yes."

In a weak voice Blake answered him.

"No one will tell any report of what was revealed, I imagine you read it beforehand didn't you?"

"... Yes, I read everything before I came."

"That will make things quicker, I will list them from my perception."

"You were manipulated by Olgren, who was responsible for everything that happened, but not only that, he was also part of the black crows as written by the fianc of the Rosenberg heiress. Did you know that Blake, did you even know that?"

"No... I'm afraid I didn't know anything about it, father"

"I am your majesty now, prince."

Blake began to shiver and break out in a cold sweat, he wanted to avert his eyes from his father, but he couldn't.

"You made a declaration of victory, you dared to use the surname of the Bryes dynasty and the imperial family, and yet you lost."

"You made a fool of us, you made us the laughing stock of the nation and our enemies, do you understand that I can ask for your head if I want it?"

"... Yes, I understand, Your Majesty."

"Well, I will proceed to give my verdict."

The emperor stood up and said the words that no one would forget.

"I, Loic V, because of my son's dishonor and defeat. I give him the mildest punishment despite the fact that I should execute him."

"You, the second prince of the Arklight Empire, Blake Emile von Bryes, I take away your middle name, your last name and above all your position."

"You no longer have anything to hold on to, tomorrow you will be sent to the field to work so that you can earn with your own hands the food you ingest without trouble."

"I said! Everyone can go."

The emperor proceeded to leave, accompanied by his right and left hands.

Before long, only Blake was left, who wanted to cry, but could not.

Night fell.

Blake was imprisoned in his room.

His things were intact, but tomorrow they would be gone and would now be part of the Rosenbergs.

He threw his sack on the floor and sat down on the couch in the center of the room.

But not before bringing snacks and a bottle of wine from a small refrigerator.

He turned on the turntable that was powered by a magic stone that could reproduce sound.

"To my health."

He drank the wine without using the glass, then went for a snack and began to reminisce about his childhood.

"Mother always said I was special, I guess she was wrong."

"You're right about that..."

"...!"

Suddenly, the lights went out next to the turntable.

He used fire magic to light the candle on the table.

"Who is it?"

He asked uneasily... that's when he heard footsteps approaching.

He couldn't see who was approaching, that intruder stood in a position where only its silhouette could be seen.

Its sharp eyes looked at Blake as if he was a nuisance.

"Despite all the support I gave you, both you and Olgren are incompetents who can't do anything right."

"I demand to know who you are!"

The intruder moved closer, and Blake could see its face.

"... It's you! What are you doing here? No, what were you talking about just now?"

He was answering this way since... that intruder was someone he knew.

The mysterious person said.

"Your defeat is a delay in my objective."

"Objective? What have you been talking about for a while now, answer."

The mysterious person moved its lips, and a terrifying crescent-shaped smile formed on its face.

That smile in the midst of that darkness, along with its sharp glowing eyes, only gave an unpleasant sensation accompanied by what Blake heard.

His legs lost strength and he fell onto the couch.

"Huh... what did you say?"

"No, it can't be true."

"What you say is madness, an aberration against life itself!"

The crescent-shaped grin was still going on.

Blake clutched his head and thought about everything he heard.

(If what it says is true... then the empire, no, the whole world is in grave danger.)

(And what's worse, the palace the imperial family is just its disposable pawn.)

Blake's eyes went to a shiny object that person was holding in its hands.

"You came to get rid of me with your own hands, didn't you?"

"You're smart, but not that smart."

Blake swallowed saliva still trembling.

"You told me all this... because you're going to get rid of me?"

"A pawn is useless if he lost his power. Now your brother will be my new target."

(Plans to use Sirius nii-sama. I can't allow it!)

(Even if I fall, the crown prince must be safe.)

The memory of his mother, his brother and him in a field of flowers came into his head.

He stood up and shouted.

"Guards, come quickly!"

"You're stupid aren't you? You think I didn't take it upon myself to silence this room?"

Slowly starting to walk, but stopped to pull something out of a pocket.

"One question before we finish this, do you know her?"

That person pulled out a photograph which was one of Lily.

"I don't know her." Replied Blake as he formed a magic circle in his hand.

"Sirius nii-sama is the last hope to oppose you. Now I understand why my mother was weak, it was you wasn't it!"

"And if it was... what will you do?"

The half-moon shaped smile was so distorted that it was no longer possible to tell if it was a human being that was the intruder.

"For the sake of the empire the mankind. I'm going to stop you with my own power."

The hand of that sinister figure moved swiftly.

It moved at the same time as Blake and

"A mere pawn like you won't be able to beat me! Your whole family are just my toys to achieve my goal!"

It was all over in one move.

"Kyah!"

"Call the prime minister quickly!"

"Bring the healers as soon as possible!"

A maid entered the room of the former second prince early in the morning, it was to signal him that the transport was ready.

But when she opened the door, she found something that made her scream in horror, the knights next to her were surprised as well, one of them ran to warn the others.

After a short while, the prime minister who was forcibly lifted up, came to see what was going on.

"No it can't be... Blake-kun..."

He collapsed to his knees and tears streamed down his cheeks.

"Blake... Blake!"

There, sitting there with a smile on his face, lay the lifeless body of the second prince.

He was sitting unconcerned on the couch, which was stained red along with the small table in front of his body.

In his right hand was a knife, with which he cut his neck, ending his life.

The court magicians came.

"Treat his wound, quickly!"

"I fear it is impossible, the blood in the room indicates that he has been like this for hours!"

"What did you said?"

As the panic was occurring, two people arrived.

Still in his sleeping robe, the emperor arrived accompanied by the twilight saint.

He pushed aside the knights standing at the door and saw with his eyes the scene which no father should see.

"... What What is this?"

"Brother... Blake is no longer here."

"..."

"Who was it! Who dared to hurt my blood! Find the culprit!"

"Your Majesty... I-It seems it was His Highness Blake who ended his life."

"That idiot couldn't have done something as shameful as that!"

"Check it!"

"Understood."

The emperor turned to the man at his side, the twilight saint moved and took the knife from the prince's lifeless body.

A strange light appeared, and just as it flared, it faded.

"I'm done with the analysis."

He said in an emotionless tone.

"Well?"

"The one responsible for ending the prince's life it was Minister Olgren."

That answer surprised everyone.

"Olgren you say!?"

"Why would he do such a thing?"

"Revenge perhaps? But how did he get in if the guards were out all night?"

"Never mind that!"

The emperor's hair was rising due to the magical power he was emanating.

"Find him and bring him before me! I'll cut off his head with my own hands after torturing him!"

"Contact the ministry of magic! Tell the wizard god that we need them here and now!"

"Send the summons to all the territories of the empire, this will not stand!"

On that ordinary day, the second Prince Blake passed away.