“Ugh….”
Alex instinctively screamed due to the burning pain from the severed area on his right shoulder.
Fortunately, thanks to the healing potion, the bleeding stopped, and he managed to avoid the wound getting worse.
But no matter how effective the healing potion was, it couldn’t regenerate his lost right arm.
If it had just been severed, he could have used the power of a high-ranking cleric to reattach it. But his right arm was already shredded by the Burrow Snake’s teeth and had been completely torn away.
“Your Highness… ugh… please kill me!!!”
Seeing Alex in that state, Kross and the escort knights were crying out in despair.
Alex tried to signal them to stop with a raised hand, but his right hand, which had no response at all, reminded him once again of his lost arm.
“It’s okay. I haven’t lost my life.”
“It’s unforgivable to fail in protecting His Highness the Crown Prince of the Empire!”
Kross slammed his head against the ground as if it were a hammer.
The ground—seeing the blood of Kross that even the Burrow Snake couldn’t have caused—made Alex let out a hollow laugh without realizing it.
“If you behave like that, the soldiers I painstakingly gathered might just faint from fear.”
– Are you planning to make me throw away my right arm just like that?
As Alex said, the foreheads of the soldiers he had gathered were glued to the ground, refusing to lift.
They were trembling violently, like aspen trees swaying in the wind, muttering as if they were chanting.
“Please kill me… because of someone like me, His Highness the Crown Prince…”
The fact that the Crown Prince of the Empire was injured to protect them made the soldiers unable to hold back their tears, thinking the whole village might vanish.
Looking at one particularly young soldier among them, Alex reflected on why he had acted this way.
Interestingly, there wasn’t any particular reason.
It was just that he remembered a girl from a comic book he had read who wanted to bring her deceased lover back to life.
He recalled the protagonist’s words while seeing such a girl:
“Get up and walk. You still have two strong legs left.”
Tragedy is blind.
It visits anyone, regardless of scale, and how to respond to it is entirely up to the individual. He realized that only then.
So he couldn’t afford to give up on the soldiers before his eyes.
Originally, these were people who, if he hadn’t summoned them, would be spending peaceful days in their respective territories and would have gone home to have a warm dinner with their families.
It seemed he could not let them die with a helpless excuse. He felt he could never forgive himself for that.
His missing right arm?
It would be a lie to say he wasn’t saddened. But he had no regrets about his choice.
He would make a different choice than his father, the Emperor. He wanted to be someone who embraces people’s lives rather than sacrificing them for profit or efficiency.
“Your Highness!!!”
Just as the Burrow Snake’s assault was approaching its end, Yustaf and his party returned from investigating the enemy’s base.
Once they arrived and saw Alex’s condition, they repeated their astonishment and shock.
However, Alex quickly calmed them down as they were at a loss and received reports of the results.
After gathering all the information about the enemy’s identity and the unfolding events they had prepared, Alex instructed the remaining troops to secure evidence and not let a single remaining enemy escape.
“Your Highness… Leave the remaining tasks to us, and please return to the Imperial Palace.”
“Right, I should go now. The one-armed Crown Prince won’t be of any more help here.”
“That’s not what I mean…”
“I’m just joking. But I do have one last place I need to visit.”
Just before returning to the Imperial Palace, Alex suddenly remembered a little one.
A girl with a rather cute but somewhat dirty face.
And someone who had fought alone until now to protect such a little sister, just like himself.
Now that the threat had passed, he wanted to tell her not to worry.
When he returned to the Imperial Palace this time, it would cause an uproar, and he’d be short on time. He had to see her now.
*
“It’s quite concerning that the author has collapsed.”
Two pure white horses, almost radiating purity, led a carriage carrying someone who would rank among the most important figures in the Empire, at least within the top five.
“Saintess. Would it perhaps be better to visit another time?”
“No, I think this might be a part of the Goddess’ arrangement. I might have a role in helping.”
The bishop who accompanied her couldn’t help but be taken aback by the Saintess’ answer.
The implication that the Saintess would personally heal the author was a monumental stroke of luck for the author.
Originally, the Saintess was someone who prayed for the people she encountered without regard for their status.
That is why even beggars in the slums could receive blessings, while those in the royal family could not if fate didn’t allow it.
Noble families frequently came to the cult with donations, pleading for a single blessing from the Saintess, only to return empty-handed most of the time.
Rupert Somerset was undeniably fortunate.
‘Although I have some concerns about the occasionally heretical content of his book, it generally contains righteous content.’
The bishop indeed felt a little uneasy about someone like Rupert.
His fairy tale and first comic book, ‘The Kingdom of Ice’, were excellent works, but his recent book, ‘The Iron-Blooded Alchemist’, which had caused a frenzy beyond the Empire’s trend, carried a hint of heretic air.
‘The Celestial Gate, indeed.’
The protagonist who encounters the Celestial Gate in that book gains all the knowledge and wisdom of the world.
That detail, resembling the depiction of an omnipotent god, worried him.
In this world, the only existing gods were the Goddess and that vile demon god whose name is too heinous to speak.
Yet, didn’t the guardian of the Celestial Gate feel more aligned with the demon god rather than the Goddess?
Of course, while reading ‘A Dog of Flanders’, he mused that perhaps it wasn’t heretical.
The beautiful sacred painting was a grace that no heretic could depict.
While the bishop lost himself in profound thoughts, the Saintess, as if unaware, gazed out the window and whispered softly.
– “Edward Elric, Roy Mustang. Indeed, their combination is the best…”
*
“William, you should get married too.”
A strange scene unfolded at the massive dining table in the Imperial Palace, where only three were gathered today.
By the Emperor’s decree, everyone must gather for meals, so there usually were six seats.
But the Crown Prince had left on a mission, and both the Princess and the Third Prince had reported they had matters to tend to and exited the palace early.
Only the Emperor, the Empress, and the Second Prince were at the table.
The Second Prince, fearing he might choke during such a family meal with his father, unexpectedly spewed the water he was drinking upon hearing the sudden mention of marriage.
“Marriage?”
“Indeed, you’ve long passed twenty. It’s rather late, don’t you think?”
The Emperor’s words seemed reasonable at a glance.
However, the Second Prince was a clever individual, contrary to public perception.
So, he understood the true meaning behind his father’s mention of marriage.
‘So, you’re ultimately trying to reestablish the line of succession?’
The fact that his older brother, the Crown Prince, had no betrothed since his annulment, yet he was directing marriage toward the Second Prince, meant there would be competition.
Until now, it seemed his father had deliberately avoided marriage, fearing that the addition of an external family’s power would complicate the line of succession.
‘Damn my elder brother. He shouldn’t have gone off course like this.’
He felt resentment towards his elder brother, who acted recklessly without realizing why he was burdened with a role he wanted no part in as a womanizer.
When he heard the ridiculous news about his Crown Prince sibling taking bets on nonsensical matters, he nearly fainted.
While they maintained a somewhat distant relationship, he had no desire to usurp the Crown Prince position, so he had tried to remain somewhat unnoticed until now.
“Is it really necessary to rush this? Shouldn’t we first ensure the Crown Prince finds a match again?”
“I’ll handle that myself; you only need to understand it as such.”
“…Yes, understood.”
There was no point in arguing anymore. His father was a cold-blooded man who never reversed his decisions.
‘Well… it wouldn’t be so bad to just pass this all onto the Third Prince,’
In his view, neither himself nor his brother seemed fit for being Emperor.
Yet, since Ioleen had no greater interest in the throne than they did, she could be excluded from the discussion.
Ultimately, he thought having the Third Prince inherit the throne would be best.
He had a good reputation, and his intelligence wasn’t bad either.
Although it was a talent unrelated to the throne, his swordsmanship was also praised by a renowned swordsman.
Yet, it seemed strange that both Ioleen and Edric were absent. What on earth could be so important…?
They were generally well-behaved individuals, usually lingering around the palace, so it was odd they were both missing.
Deciding he should find out where they had gone later, the Second Prince continued the awkward family meal.
*
“Amelia…”
“It doesn’t matter how much you say it, Father.”
The Bluewell Duke’s household was quite chaotic since morning.
This was due to their family’s eldest daughter, Amelia, declaring her intention to visit the Somerset Count’s family.
In the morning, she was in a frenzy, packing ingredients for a nutritious meal for the patient, leaving the housemaids on edge.
“Could you please taste this?”
Amelia would occasionally ask the servants to check if her dishes had the right seasoning.
Because of that, the servants had developed a trend of avoiding the kitchen for some time.
“What I mean is…”
“I know! I’m aware I shouldn’t go there… but this time, please just let me do as I please.”
– After all, my fleeting heart is like a flower that blooms and withers in an instant.
With words that held no clear meaning, Amelia’s eyes moistened as she covered her mouth with her hand and gazed up at the sky.
On the surface, she resembled a tragic heroine from a romance comic.
However, her father, the Duke of Bluewell, felt his insides burn as he watched her.
‘Please, don’t make the food yourself!’
The Duke was concerned that his daughter’s visit to the Somerset Count’s household would create controversy, given the current situation.
Upon hearing that Amelia was heading to the Somerset territory with cooking ingredients for Rupert Somerset, who had collapsed, the Duke couldn’t help but feel pity for Rupert, who would have to eat the food prepared by his daughter.
Having been a victim of Amelia’s cooking many times, the Duke was surely worried for Rupert.
Even though it felt wrong, the Duke tried to speak out, but every time he opened his mouth, Amelia, engrossed in her own drama, would cut him off and continue her monologue.
In the end, he had no choice but to watch his daughter leave without being able to dissuade her.
‘This could be a valid cause for the Count to waltz in with a grievance.’
If someone made his daughter’s meal during his time of crisis, the Duke would find it quite justifiable.
This wasn’t just a joke; he genuinely felt worried.
The Duke only hoped that Rupert would manage to endure Amelia’s nutritious meal somehow.
‘Just stay alive for now. I’ll surely compensate you somehow.’
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