Chapter 74

[It will be great if his origin is clear, but we should investigate him thoroughly.]

There is a high possibility that he is a commoner, so we should set aside ample time for his education, at least two or three years.

[Also, find the noble who will become the child’s parent from an area I have visited in the past. The child should have been born then.]

You can’t acknowledge children of commoners as members of the Imperial family. So, the child must be conceived from his relationship with a noblewoman when the Emperor inspected a territory on the outskirts of Illavenia.

[His name is... Yes, I like Ricardis. I was going to give it to the next child born. It is the name of a former Emperor of Illavenia who had a prosperous reign.]

Count Radwiell lowered his head.

[I accept your orders.]

The child will grow up and fight with Elpidio. The Emperor’s puppet, who will disappear on the day it runs out of use.

He is the property of the Imperial family. His fate of entering the Imperial family because of that strong power is also God’s arrangement.

Fertan soon found a child in the back alley of Goa. The child was like a little wild animal. He was one of those beggar children who picked through the trash. His skin was dry and didn’t look healthy. He was a mangy and ferocious vagrant.

However, the bright silver hair hidden beneath the dirt was beautiful, and the clear eyes looked full of vitality. He was the appropriate age, and his holy power was unusually high. As an orphan, there would be no problems with his family.

He entrusted the child to the family of Viscount Wingranate from a border territory. Viscount Wingranate was a greedy person, and when he heard that his daughter could become the queen, he accepted this absurd offer.

[Viscount Wingranate: Viscount of Winter Pomegranate]

The Viscount’s daughter, Milia, fell in love with a passing bard, and after she gave birth to a girl a year ago, her father imprisoned her in the household. If it became known that she was single and gave birth to a child of a lowly commoner, it would be a shame talked about for generations in the aristocratic society.

As a result of Viscount Wingranate hiding the matter, the household’s employees also said they did not know the child’s father. Thanks to his meticulousness, Milia was chosen to play the role of Ricardis’ parent. Her only flaw was that she had a daughter, but they could handle that. The key thing was Ricardis.

On the day Fertan brought Ricardis to Milia, he told her that she had to become the mother of this orphan boy, and he would take her to the Imperial Palace in a few years. Milia didn’t want this, and she was terrified.

But when Milia met Ricardis for the first time...

[Oh my, it would be nice for our Tia to have an older brother!]

And it was. The little girl in Milia’s arms with her mother’s silver hair cooed and waved her little arms.

Milia raised her hand and stroked Ricardis’s head. The boy allowed her to touch him, but his body stiffened as if frozen. It almost seemed like he was receiving a slap on the cheek.

[You killed my child.]

She began pouring everything on him, whom she had cherished.

[If it weren’t for you!]

Rather than losing her mind, Fertan thought that the feelings she had held back had finally burst out. Perhaps she didn’t have the strength to hold back her words anymore.

Ricardis’ face was as rigid as a doll’s. He did not look like a living person, but his face moved a little each time he heard harsh words from her. His jaw muscles twitched, and his eyebrows furrowed.

He looked like he was in pain. However, Ricardis did not avoid the blade he faced, and most of all, he accepted it entirely. He probably realized that he was the only one who could let out what Milia kept caged inside.

Queen Milia was like a vessel made of thin glass with cracks running through it, and the things contained within were too heavy. So heavy and sharp, it hurt even herself. Ricardis hoped Milia would pour those things on him so she would one day empty and heal.

She didn’t always blame Ricardis. Sometimes she said she was sorry and held Ricardis’s hand and wept.

[I’m sorry I’m so weak, Ricardis. I’m sorry for making you endure alone.]

She gasped and cried until she was out of breath.

It was completely different from the blame she spewed before. Fertan still didn’t know what her true feelings were.

178 days after the death of Princess Setistia, Queen Milia left Ricardis. The cause of death was drowning. No one knew if she committed suicide or if she had accidentally fallen into the lake while walking with her weakened body.

Fertan went to see Ricardis. Maybe he missed Milia’s correspondence after being accustomed to it, but his footsteps naturally flowed to the Moonstone Castle.

Ricardis just sat still in his curtained room. He neither cried nor mourned, but he muttered as if he had gone mad. The room was dark, disarrayed, and cluttered.

Ricardis, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.

[Without me, Elpidio would have died.]

His nails clicked and scratched against each other, making an unpleasant sound.

[That’s why you found me.]

Fertan and the Emperor never once explained to Ricardis why he had to become a prince. However, years of fighting with Elpidio as a puppet of the Emperor was enough time to consider all the reasons.

T/N: So, after wiping tears and snots in Book 1 because of Rosaline’s death, in Book 2 we’ll be wiping snots because of Ricardis’ happy little family’s death ;_;

E/N: Bruh, imagine if Cinderella was a Shakespeare tragedy. That’s what Ricardis’ backstory is like.