<Chapter 123>
“Do you wish to have your head cut off for treason?”
At the chancellor’s sharp reprimand, the official looked displeased but quickly shut his mouth, realizing the danger of his own words. 1I realised it made more sense for him to be a chancellor, so I fixed his title in the previous chapter.
“I understand that it is difficult to bring about the downfall of a principality, but do not forget that our sovereign is none other than His Majesty, the current king.”
“I will keep that in mind, Your Excellency.”
After dismissing the officials, the old chancellor stroked his white beard and let out a weary sigh. In truth, his own feelings were no different from those who had just left.
Before ascending to his current position, he had been a renowned scholar of the kingdom, once serving as a teacher to both the current King Orhan Einar and Prince Khalid Ilkai.
“To have pity for the people and rule with mercy rather than force? Nonsense. Only a strong ruler can maintain an unshaken government.”
Orhan Einar had been arrogant since his youth, to the point of disregarding even his mentor’s teachings. But in contrast…
‘Master, why does Nisha keep waging war? If I inherit the title of prince, must I also harm others as my father did?’
‘Prince Khalid…’
Born with an innately kind heart, young Ilkai’s prince cherished all people without distinction between the noble and the lowly. One day, he finally voiced the fears he had been suppressing.
‘That is something no Ilkai prince can avoid…’
Unable to find the right words, the teacher trailed off, looking down at his young pupil with sorrow. The boy, staring at his troubled mentor, eventually lowered his gaze.
‘No, I have put you in a difficult position. Please forget what I said.’
And now, having grown into a tall young man with no trace of his childhood innocence, he found himself bound by the very duty he had once so desperately wished to avoid. Every time the chancellor saw him suffer under that burden, he couldn’t help but pity the young prince.
‘While His Highness the Prince endures such hardship…’
Meanwhile, the king sat comfortably in the safety of his palace, doing nothing but complain.
The chancellor’s eyes darkened with contempt as he stared at the tightly shut doors of the audience chamber.
“Y-Your Excellency! There you are!”
At that moment, a guard came rushing in, calling out to the chancellor.
“Why are you causing such a commotion?”
The chancellor frowned slightly, watching as the guard struggled to catch his breath.
“H-His Highness the Prince has returned!”
“What?!”
Though he had not dared to hope, the long-awaited news had finally come. The chancellor’s face brightened.
“Well? Did he bring the princess?”
“…That is…”
At the question, the guard hesitated, his expression troubled. Unease filled the chancellor’s face as he pressed again.
“Why do you not answer? Is there a problem?”
“…His Highness failed to bring the princess… and he could not locate the relic either.”
“…!”
The chancellor’s aged eyes widened in shock.
“How… How could this happen? No, if the king finds out—”
An enraged king might punish the prince, even though he was blameless.
No, there was no “might” about it. It was a certainty. In his current foul temper, the king would no doubt unleash his wrath upon Prince Khalid, who had returned empty-handed.
“Where is the prince? Speak, now!”
Having reached a swift conclusion, the chancellor pressed the guard urgently.
***
“…Your Highness. Do you truly intend to take this path?”
Irmak asked, his voice heavy with concern.
“It is not too late to turn back. We have secured the princess. If we send word to her attendants—”
“It is not I who is too late, but this kingdom.”
Prince Khalid’s voice was calm, almost eerily so, despite the gravity of the situation. His aide’s expression hardened.
“Irmak, I do not commit treason for the sake of power.”
The prince, having finally decided to cast off the heavy chains that had bound him for so long, turned to his aide with an unwavering gaze.
“Perhaps it is already too late to save this country. But if there is still a chance, I must act now.”
“…Your Highness.”
Despair had always lingered.
“Your Highness, Prince—! Why have you returned so hastily?!”
No royal had contributed more to the kingdom and its people than his lord. He was the only one truly worthy of Nisha’s throne.
Yet simply because he was born an Ilkai and not an Einar, he was denied his rightful place.
‘Was there truly no other way? Aside from treason, was there nothing—?’
“Your Highness…! Do you not hear me? Please, turn back! Later, I will personally…”
But Irmak knew better than anyone that his lord would never choose treason. And so, every long contemplation always ended in despair.
And yet, now that his lord had finally chosen rebellion…he was overjoyed, yet at the same time, he could not even begin to fathom how much pain this decision must be causing his lord…
“Your Highness, I beg your pardon, but I have a request.”
Irmak, who had kept his lips firmly shut, finally steeled himself and gazed at his lord.
“Speak.”
The two ignored the old man shouting hoarsely from the castle walls and looked only at each other.
“If you have chosen rebellion, I will no longer stand in your way. However, instead of calling it a ‘rebellion,’ which implies betrayal, would you not consider calling it… a ‘usurpation’ instead?”
“…Usurpation.”
As his lord quietly repeated the word, Irmak smiled.
“To strip corrupted power from the hands of an unworthy ruler—is that not what you intend to do? If so, I humbly ask you to grant me this request.”
“…Yes. That is not a bad idea.”
From childhood, his aide had always remained by his side. And so, Khalid granted his request. From now on, he would call the path he walked not rebellion, but usurpation.
“Your Highness! Can you not hear me?”
“If we linger any longer, the chancellor may lose his head. Let us go inside.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
With lighter hearts, they turned toward the palace.
When just one step remained before they entered the royal capital, Khalid Ilkai halted and turned back, thinking of the woman who was not by his side.
“Your Highness?”
“…It’s nothing. Let’s go.”
***
“My lady, this way.”
The underground corridors were a tangled maze, suffocatingly dark, with not a single speck of light save for the flickering flames of the torch.
“Cough… Have we arrived?”
I covered my nose and mouth with a handkerchief, coughing softly, as I looked at the man holding the torch.
“Yes. You’ve endured much.”
The aide Khalid had assigned to me smiled faintly and lifted a rusty key, unlocking the stiff, ancient lock.
Clang.
The heavy chains crashed onto the floor, revealing the underground storage of Nisha’s royal palace, sealed shut for decades.
“Follow me inside.”
Blocking the doorway with an old brick of unknown origin, I stepped into the storage room behind him.
“…I can’t see anything.”
“Treasures of great value are kept in the upper vaults. This place mostly holds useless odds and ends.”
Odds and ends…
And yet, these were once called the treasures bestowed by the Spirit King.
The aide’s nonchalant words left me with a bitter taste as I gazed around the storage, filled with white dust and cobwebs.
There was only one reason I had come all the way to this forsaken underground vault…
The cause of all my suffering since I fell into this past.
‘You’re searching for the remnants left behind by the Spirit King’s relics? I heard that they had lost their use long ago and were stored in the underground vault of the royal palace.’
‘…They’re in Nisha’s palace?!’
I had been searching desperately for the remnants of the Spirit King’s relics. To think they had been in Nisha’s royal palace all along…
I had been traveling with Khalid after he resolved to usurp the throne when I heard this, and the realization stunned me.
If that were the case… then instead of running away from Khalid, I could have simply come to Nisha’s palace and found the remnants much sooner…
No—no, that’s not right.
Had I done that, I would never have found the remnants of the Relic of Light. Ignis had kept that one personally.
So in the end, all my struggles had been worthwhile.
“…Where on earth is it?”
Peering into a jar filled with an unknown white powder, I dusted off my hands and exhaled a warm breath.
The oppressive heat and darkness made searching all the more difficult.
It was nothing more than a forsaken space, abandoned and utterly miserable.
