‘To be frank, I truly feel hopeless.’
‘I thought I’d get to just laze around as a Prince this time. Never did I expect there’d be another plot against me. I’m sick and tired of these plots at this point. Why can’t I have some free time? Even if I am the Prince, it can’t be that everyone comes after me, right?’
‘I’m just a kid… can you spare me…?‘
I walked on the road feeling a little tired, not because of my wound but because I was honestly feeling worn out. The things that happened over and over have numbed my mind. I was truly disgusted by the current matter, yet I lacked the tension and nervousness I had when I first faced challenges.
‘Am I getting old…?’
I silently walked on the road and looked at the surroundings on the streets feeling tired. Freya, who was behind me, bit down on her lip. I think she was trying to figure out what those people are up to.
‘We didn’t get any concrete information from Prince Bagrott so we have no idea what they’re planning and what they’re after.’
‘Freya won’t take any action until we have detailed information. That’s Freya’s way of doing things. Getting flustered on your own before confirming what the opponent is planning to do is the stupidest thing you could do. As such, we won’t do anything for now. We just need to wait.’
Just as I reached the market, I saw Nara, who was walking arm in arm with Tarak. Nara greeted us when she saw us then pointed at my arm with bewilderment and asked, “Ah, Your Majesty. What a coincidence to see you here. What happened? Did you get hurt?”
I smiled helplessly. I raised up my arm and replied, “I wouldn’t consider it getting hurt, but rather being forced to get hurt. The wound is fine. I was just using it as a weapon to scare people. In reality, I’m fine. But someone got hurt in front of my eyes, and they’re dead for that matter.”
“Really? I noticed that the entrance to the Royal Palace was sealed today. I also saw red blood spill out from there, so I have a hunch as to what happened. I never thought that you would give the order to kill, though. You did not kill all the people who blocked the entrance now, did you? You do not look to be a violent individual. Or did a conflict break out?”
“A conflict would be more appropriate. I also didn’t stop it. I did want to stop it, but those Valkyries wouldn’t obey my orders.”
“Nara nodded and responded, “Ah, that is very normal. I noticed that your guards were not the same team that came with you to the desert. The Valkyries only follow Her Majesty’s orders. It appears that they see you as a very separate entity to Her Majesty. Your Majesty, perhaps I should not be the one to say this, but your current guards do not belong to you, so your safety is at a lot of risk. Plus, you should also be aware that the Valkyries have always been a squad that kills. There is no reasoning with them. Do you feel assured in your position?”
“The order Her Majesty gave them is to protect me; therefore, they’re unlikely to harm me.”
“No, no, no, I do not care about them. You are the Crown Prince, after all; hence, they would not harm you. I think you should be most concerned about those vassal state’s envoys and those various rulers.” Nara shook her head while looking at me. She then titled her head and with a smile said, “You must have detected something, right? What happened at the entrance of the Royal Palace is by no means something that happened by chance…”
“Please wait a moment, Miss Nara.” From behind me, Freya cut Nara off. Nara stopped with surprise. She then looked at Freya, who was a head shorter than her, and asked, “What’s the matter? Do you have something to say?”
“I do.” Freya looked at her with a serious look and sternly requested, “We never told you what precisely happened, so how did you know about what took place at the entrance of the Royal Palace? We only told you there was a conflict. We never mentioned anything about who was involved nor did we tell you that it was blocked. How exactly did you know so much? You must know something, right? If you consider His Majesty a friend, please share everything you know.”
Nara froze. She then smiled helplessly. She scratched her head and replied, “What a failure. I was being cautious, yet still let it slip, and a little girl caught me for that matter… All right, all right. Since you have caught me, I shall not hide it any further to avoid creating to distrust. I shall tell you everything I know now. When we came here, an envoy came to my camp and gave me a list of names. He asked me to come to the Royal Capital with all the vassal states and to all block up the entrance to the Royal Palace at the same time.”
I frowned.
‘It sounds as though there really is somebody scheming behind the scenes and has contacted the vassal states. So they did gather together deliberately.’
“But that is all that I know, as I refused him.” Nara looked at me and went on, “Nevertheless, I know what happened now. They came to challenge His Majesty’s dignity and dominance. If His Majesty failed to handle it properly, they would go and speak poorly about him in front of Her Majesty.”
“What would they stand to gain from that?”
“Who knows? How would we know what the person behind the scene is thinking? I would presume they want to strip you of your right as the Crown Prince. It would be comprehendible if you had brothers, but you are an only-child so nobody benefits from you losing your right as the Crown Prince. Thus, I cannot see how the schemer benefits from this. I have no idea.”
I nodded. Freya tightly bit down on her lip and engaged in her own thinking.
‘It seems that Nara only knows this much.’
I looked at Nara and sincerely thanked her, “Thank you, Nara.”
Nara lingered for a moment before responding with a smile, “You do not need to thank me. Your Majesty, I only told you this because this young lady caught me. If you must thank someone, you should thank her.”
“No, I’m thanking you for turning them down and not teaming up with the vassal states.”
‘I’m seriously grateful for that.’
‘Nara didn’t gain anything from me. I’m useless to her, but Nara chose to turn down the vassal states out of friendship. For that, I’m grateful to her. You can’t measure this sort of trust with money or benefits.’
“That is because I saw something with you that made me very happy.” Nara smiled. She reached her slender finger out to point at my chest. With her mischievous gaze, she elaborated, “I saw hope in you. The hope of becoming an Emperor. Because of that hope, I think I will benefit more if I ally myself with you. As such, if you must thank someone, thank yourself.”
“But…, your trust…”
“There is no such thing as trust without rhyme or reason. Your Majesty, trust is something that is nurtured with time and benefits.”
Nara smiled. She then tightly wrapped her arm around Tarak’s. She narrowed her eyes, then smiled and continued, “I want to have a tour of the Royal Capital, so I shall not spend any more time with you today, Your Majesty. If we spend too long together, the other vassal states will start trouble with me. So goodbye, Your Majesty. The Royal Capital is very pretty and prosperous. I sincerely hope that I will be able to come here one day to witness your ascension.”
“I don’t think you’ll get to see it.” I chuckled. I then looked to the North and seriously rhetorically asked, “This is Hilles City, not Troy City. If I’m going to be crowned, I must be crowned in my own nest, no?”
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