Chapter 31
Even after Marcel’s long explanation ended, Mikhail couldn’t lift his head.
Because no one in the Imperial Palace had ever told him about what happened that day, the prince until now had never really understood why he’d been kidnapped, or why the war had broken out.
The official explanation was that the Grand Duke of Transis, driven by ambition, had taken the prince hostage to challenge the imperial family.
He hadn’t known that such a long and tragic history was hidden behind it.
‘…That’s just… too much.’
Seeing Mikhail on the verge of tears, Marcel gave him a firm warning.
‘You mustn’t say such things. Running a country isn’t child’s play. Your Highness carries the noblest blood of Osbrandt, and Osbrandt’s enemies are your enemies as well. He has already tried to take your life once, and there is no guarantee he won’t try again if given the chance. Once you marry, the Quillan Territory will likely become your marriage gift.’
There was no other land more suitable to be handed to a suddenly acquired son.
Besides, Mikhail was a warrior renowned for bravely defeating monsters, so it was assumed that he would have no trouble quelling any rebellion or unrest that might break out there.
Even in Marcel’s eyes, Mikhail was the most appropriate candidate to take on that troublesome territory.
‘……’
At last, seeing Mikhail rendered speechless, Marcel thought everything was finally resolved.
Now, the prince would no longer show any interest in the Duke.
Now that he knew they were mortal enemies, he wouldn’t try to become further entangled.
And exactly one week later, the prince, having neither eaten nor drunk anything for an entire week, fell into a sickness that lasted for months.
Whenever Mikhail thought of Isaac, it felt as if a knife was carving into his chest.
He had been so happy when he first met his real family.
His mother had died early, and though his father welcomed and cherished Mikhail, he was not the kind of father he could rely on or be spoiled with, like any ordinary child.
His brother, who had long been settled as the Crown Prince, looked down on Mikhail as if he were an insect, and his sister had lost her sanity.
Some said his sister’s madness was due to a curse or a hereditary disease, but the truth was something no one could know.
Still, Mikhail had been glad to finally meet his real family.
Even when the status of prince became stifling, or when he could no longer mingle freely with the family who’d raised him as Misha or the friends from the mercenary corps as he once had, he could endure it.
But to be told that, because of some ancient feud between distant ancestors, he had to become the Duke’s enemy…
He was overwhelmed with grief, unable to bear it.
If, as Marcel said, his brother and father’s aim was to completely uproot Transis, there was no way the Duke’s crimes would ever be pardoned.
That left Mikhail with only one option: to become the new Crown Prince himself.
But becoming the new Crown Prince meant overthrowing his brother and taking his place.
‘…I can’t do that.’
In just a year or two, there would be no one in the Empire who could defeat him by force.
So if Mikhail made up his mind, it was not impossible for him to cut down his brother and overcome all the guards.
But what mattered was that he had no desire to do so.
To save the Duke by taking another person’s life, by spilling blood—such a thing was unforgivable to himself.
While the prince was tormented by this contradiction, Marcel felt as if he might lose his mind as well.
A letter had arrived from the Duke, just as ‘Misha’ had requested before leaving the Ice Lake exile.
The sender’s name was unfamiliar, but reading the content made it clear it was from the Duke.
Discussion
0 CommentsReactions
No comments yet.