CH 87

“You punk!”

The crown prince’s appearance was unsightly.

He had a few teeth missing, allowing wind to blow in through the gaps. Even the silk clothes he was wearing had become rags. Much worse, his face was so swollen that it was difficult to recognize its original features.

There was only one person who dared do such a thing to him, even if he was a prisoner.

Ian asked the culprit with a slightly rebuking tone.

“Duke, why did you beat people like dogs? No matter what, he is the crown prince…”

“I couldn’t help it.”

Duke Lavaltor replied with a determined face. Then he took the blood-soaked club from the saddle of his horse.

The duke continued in a calm voice.

“I was just trying to get rid of the miasma in a traditional way.”

“!”

From how Ian saw it, it seemed like the duke tricked him by saying it couldn’t be helped since the plague was serious, while in truth he punished the crown prince in advance.

But Ian tilted his head.

“I recall there was certainly such a cure, but…”

Of course, Nathan and his men shuddered with fear.

‘There’s no way such a cure exists!’

‘What’s with that family… Like father, like daughter…’

‘I have to be really careful. What if I make a mistake and get beaten up like that?’

Everyone was staring at Lavaltor with pale faces. But that wasn’t what mattered now.

Ian smiled at the crown prince.

“Now then, let’s finish the calculation first, shall we?”

Ian snapped his fingers toward his back.

Then the soldiers brought a group of men. The researchers and the noble thrown by Fiosen could be seen among them at a glance.

They were all being dragged like dogs.

Ian took a deep breath, then shouted for the whole village to hear.

“Look! Here are the perpetrators who kidnapped the villagers of Labadom and tested the plague. I, Ian Kaistein, have caught them! And I will bring them to justice!”

“!?”

At first, everyone couldn’t process what he was talking about.

But right after that.

“Woaaaaaahh!”

“Thank you, Prince Ian!”

“Long live the Seventh Prince!”

The villagers, who had barely regained their strength, started cheering. They weren’t the only ones. All of Ian’s soldiers who had fought against Bahara so far shouted.

He knew why they had been fighting all this time.

All of their faces were brimming with pride.

Ian also looked at them with a proud face. But it was for a while.

Immediately upon seeing the crown prince, his face quickly grew cold.

“Our bet was to find the missing villagers and the culprit, right? Now, here’s the ringleader.”

No, it was a cold yet fishy smile.

As soon as Ian finished speaking, the sinners were brought to their knees in front of the crown prince.

This was a complete checkmate for the crown prince.

Now that everyone knew about the bet, they would soon find out what the crown prince had done.

Right at that moment, Duke Lavaltor asked with an uncharacteristically serious face.

“Are you saying they… experimented on their own people?”

“Exactly, Duke. It must have been intended to cause chaos from the outskirts. Not only that, but it seems that they even tried to do business by selling the antidote as well.”

“Heh heh heh.”

What the crown prince of Cantum had done was, of course, wrong. However, it was understandable to some extent since he was an enemy. It was a battle with the fortune of each country on the line, after all.

But those guys were different.

This was an unpardonable sin now that the truth had come to light.

It was no wonder that Duke Lavaltor’s normal countenance instantly turned fierce like a beast.

“How do you plan to deal with them?”

“Well, shouldn’t they be dealt with according to the law?”

Nathan flinched at Ian’s words.

Like their military law, Kaistein’s law was more frightening than it seemed. In particular, an unusual case as these people did now would grant the culprit with the minimum sentence of the death penalty. It was a grave sin that could have the entire family annihilated if they were found guilty. Even more so, what they did could not be pardoned even with their lives.

‘Tsk. In the end, you lot fall into your own tricks and end up killing your families.’

And right then, Ian walked past Duke Lavaltor and calmly strode toward the crown prince.

“Well, I guess I won the bet.”

“…”

“Then, shall I receive the promised reward?”

Ian snapped his fingers again.

Then, this time, not the criminals but the soldiers he had prepared in advance came out. They were carrying a bunch of things.

One of them was a red carpet.

Seeing that, Ian said as if he was truly sorry.

“I’m sorry if this is too humble. Still, since you’re the crown prince of the empire, I will try to prepare this as formally as I can.”

“!?”

The crown prince couldn’t even tell whether Ian was making fun of him or not.

It was understandable.

“Now, Crown Prince, please dress neatly.”

“I brought a ceremonial sword here.”

“Your Highness, the ground here is very hard. Should I put something over it?”

It was because the soldiers came to help the crown prince. But it wasn’t just helping him to get up. They practically dressed him so he would look his best to take the pledge of allegiance.

Seeing that, the crown prince was seething with anger inside.

‘T… these lunatics, really?’

However, if he just stood still, he would be really forced to take a pledge of allegiance.

He had to stop it by any means.

“W… wait a moment.”

“Hm? Do you have anything to say?”

“Th… that’s…”

The crown prince’s eyes darted around as he racked his brain.

Even if he lost the bet, he couldn’t bow his head to the youngest prince, who was not even the heir to the kingdom, just one of the candidates.

However, since he had betted on the emperor’s knee, he could not nullify it by saying it was a mere joke.

‘I have to buy some time somehow.’

So, he hurriedly exclaimed.

“My body is not well. As you can see, I am exposed to a dangerous plague. It could be transmitted to your soldiers and people. So, put it off for a while until I recover.”

“Come again?”

Ian’s gaze turned sharp. The crown prince’s informal speech was very unpleasant.

Upon realizing this, the crown prince became impatient.

“How about… we postpone it…”

However, the crown prince still didn’t use formal speech. Even though he was driven to this situation, his pride remained as great as ever. But, for some reason, instead of answering, Ian gestured to Duke Lavaltor.

“Duke! It seems that His Highness is still poisoned! I need your help.”

“As much as you like.”

“!?”

Seeing the crown prince’s surprised face, Ian smiled as if asking what was wrong.

“If the poison is still in the body, we should remove it, no?”

“No!”

Duke Lavaltor also immediately raised his club. He was even beating the club against his palm, ready to strike the crown prince at any moment.

Ian said with a smile.

“Rest assured, Your Highness. With the duke’s power, any forms of rudeness will be healed shortly. Then the pledge of allegiance will follow immediately.”

“!?”

The crown prince visibly flinched.

‘I have to go through that beating again?’

His fear wasn’t without reason. Duke Lavaltor was a knight among knights. That might explain his excellent hitting skills. The duke could pick out the painful spots and hit them, and continued hitting the places he had hit over and over again.

The crown prince couldn’t even faint even though he was in excruciating pain.

Yet the funny thing was…

‘Why does my body get better the more I get hit?’

The duke seemed to use mana as he was threshing him, and it really felt like the plague was going away. Of course, the plague disappeared, but the body suffered from bone disease. The swelling on his face was evidence of that.

It was definitely not a lie…

‘I don’t have the confidence to endure that cudgeling again.’

So, he had no other choice but to cry out.

“I get it, I get it! Stop him!”

“Stop him?”

“St… stop him, please!”

Ian stopped the duke with a cold glance. Then he raised the corners of his mouth as he spoke in a chilly voice.

“You make it hard for me to get the reward. This won’t do, that won’t do either. You don’t even show the attitude of a loser.”

“…”

“Well, I’ll put up with it since I’m nice. Then, shall we begin now?”

The crown prince had to quickly pledge allegiance to him.

Seeing this, the crown prince’s heart sank.

Nice? Who?

‘Does he even have a conscience at all?’

But he couldn’t bring himself to pledge allegiance. It wasn’t just a matter of pride.

‘If it is known that the crown prince of the Cantum Empire pledges allegiance to a mere Seventh Prince, the neighboring countries will not remain still.’

They would come to look down on him.

The equilibrium that Cantum had hitherto maintained could have collapsed. Furthermore, his position as the crown prince would be at risk.

To make matters worse, many would have a lot to say about his origin. He couldn’t have made this blunder.

But things weren’t looking good.

Murmur.

“I thought he was really going to take a pledge of allegiance?”

“I know, right? That crown prince asks too much. Wouldn’t it be better to just put a knife to his neck and die?”

Far too many people had come to know this.

And he had no military force by his side to cover up murder.

But now, the crown prince felt as if a knife had been pressed in front of his throat.

So, he whispered, just to be safe.

“Do you really need to take my pledge of allegiance? I prefer having better conditions to that…”

“No. That is enough.”

“However…”

Ian immediately cut him off.

“Good gracious. I have prepared everything in such a formal way. Still don’t like it? I’d rather put a fire on it.”

Having failed to persuade Ian, the crown prince gnashed his teeth.

He had no choice but to bang his head slowly.

‘I will never forget this humiliation…’

His eyes were full of wrath. His mouth might declare his allegiance, but his heart was burning with the determination to kill. Not just Ian, but every last person here.

‘I will find them and kill them. So that nobody knows about this shame. All of them.’

But just at that moment.

Ian shook his head as if he couldn’t help it.

“Ah! Since I’m so nice, if you really don’t like it, I’ll change it to something else.”

“Seriously?!”

“Come again?”

“Are you serious?”

The crown prince became impatient. Actually, nothing else mattered to him.

As long as it wasn’t this fucking humiliating pledge of allegiance.

However, Ian’s words seemed to surprise everyone around him.

“Your Highness?”

Duke Lavaltor’s gaze was also full of questions, wondering why Ian suddenly did this.

It was because he couldn’t believe Ian would do this after coming this far and turning the tables. No, there was no way he would do something that nice.

However…

“What I want is…”

After listening to Ian’s following words.

Nod.

“I knew it. I was surprised to think our prince has changed.”

“He truly is cruel…”

Everyone nodded. After all, Ian was Ian.

They couldn’t help thinking so.

What Ian asked for was none other than this.

“Please write a letter to His Majesty the emperor. Tell him to start the Northern Expedition right now.”

“!?”

“Ah! Of course, Kaistein’s supreme commander asked me to do it. Please write it down.”

That wasn’t all.

Ian even said that he would like to be in charge of supplies and resources necessary for the Northern Expedition and to give him the occupied territory.

At those words, the crown prince broke into a cold sweat.

‘This bastard. He is trying to take it all.’

That was Ian’s ulterior motive.

But it was fine. Even if the empire suffered a loss, it was not his loss.

‘Fine. Better than taking the pledge of allegiance.’

But his thoughts did not last long.

“That’s right! Wasn’t there such a thing as the loser being polite and addressing the victor as the older brother? How about doing that now?”

“…”

The crown prince was so dumbfounded that his stomach churned.

“No!”

However, Ian cut his words with a bright smile.

“It’s settled, then, I am the older brother. Can you do me a favor or two? Now, this is the first order.”

At that moment, the crown prince nearly spat blood.

When did he ever agree to such a thing!

But Ian’s words were just the beginning.

***

“Hurry up! It’s urgent!”

Heinley was riding his horse. It was because of the order given by his father.

He was in a hurry to convey this letter to the crown prince.

However, Heinley’s expression was not good.

‘If I deliver this… it’s definitely the same as treason.’

To sell information to the crown prince of another country. Moreover, if it was information about one of the heirs to the throne, he could never avoid treason.

But he had no other choice.

‘Before Ian does anything else, I have to tell the crown prince.’

And the only way to cover this problem was to knock Ian out of his position.

He just needed to support the crown prince.

No, that was definitely the plan.

However.

“What? Aren’t you Young Master Heinley? What are you doing here?”

Waiting for him was not the crown prince.

It was Ian Kaistein.

The very person he and his family were after.

Not to mention, Ian wasn’t alone.

“D… Duke Lavaltor?”

More serious was the current situation.

The crown prince he trusted was taking a submissive attitude toward Ian. And he was gnashing his teeth from whatever order he got.

It was just then. Duke Lavaltor opened his mouth intimidatingly.

“The fact that Heinley came here. It must be Duke Garcia’s idea.”

“W… what are you talking about? I was just passing by because I had something else to do…”

“Why don’t you drop your lies and hand it over?”

Heinley broke into a cold sweat at the duke’s words. No, he shook his head violently.

“What do you mean? I have nothing!”

But Ian said with a smile.

“Do you really have nothing to give me?”

He was smiling confidently.