PART 2
“There are letters that you have been exchanging with your maternal family.”
“I was just asking how they were!”
“If you erase these letters, it will look like this. ‘Send five knights from the family to get me out of the Red Moon Palace.’ Do you have anything else to say?”
“Can’t you turn a blind eye just once?”
“Take it with you.”
Finally, the drivers came up to my floor.
“Your Highness, Archduke Siegheim?”
“Okay. So this guy is Siegheim…..” Valen whispered to himself
A man walked out of the room next to mine.
“The maid in the main palace confessed everything. She said that you ordered poison to be added into Her Majesty’s food.”
“What are you talking about!”
“Treason is punishable by death, even if you are a member of the royal family.”
“I feel wronged!”
“You can feel wronged as much as you want. There is no need to use honorifics anymore. He is a criminal who attempted to assassinate Her Majesty the Emperor!”
Siegheim tried to throw a punch, but the knights were faster.
They drew their swords, pierced his thigh tendons, and captured Siegheim.
Finally they came to my room.
“Your Highness, Archduke Valencianus.”
“I’ll go in for a moment.”
I calmly opened the door and looked at them, as if I had been waiting.
I am the one who survived under J. Lillith for 40 years.
The way to respond to sudden changes in situations was engraved in my soul.
“Please come in.”
Brilliant platinum-colored full-body plate armor, a helmet and short tassels that completely cover the face, and a cape with white patterns embroidered on black outer material.
It was the Platinum Knights that protected the imperial family.
Here, ‘imperial’ refers to the emperor and her entire family, but in the current empire, it is used to refer only to one person, J. lilith.
“Your Highness Valen.… !”
Rudy, who returned to the side door, saw the knights and stumbled as if he was about to drop the tray he was carrying.
I quickly helped him up.
“Your Highness Valen.”
His voice that was calling me trembled.
Two ‘platinum’ knights entered the room, and four soldiers waited outside the door.
The knight looked around the room and said.
“His Royal Highness, Archduke Valencianus.”
“I’m listening.”
“As you are the closest blood relative of His Majesty the Emperor, I believe you are aware of the many conveniences we have provided to you.”
Oh is it?
“Her majesty allowed you to continue your studies, and also pretended not to notice you when you were meeting members of the royal family who harbored impure intentions. She even allowed you to continue learning the sword.”
I see.
That’s right, it’s a matter of convenience.
“His Majesty the Emperor does not want the royal family to build up the power to oppose her. Whether it’s knowledge, a sword, or magic.”
It’s just like my previous life.
The moment I thought of this, faded memories came back little by little.
The driver pointed to shelves and bookcases.
“Those books and that sword are items that should have been confiscated a long time ago.”
There was a sword lying on the shelf.
“Your Highness, Archduke Valencian, is the only person in the empire who can currently claim the right to succession.”
First of all, I am J. lilith’s twin brother.
“I believe you know to whom it is a blessing that such a person is still alive.”
He was right.
Even if I were J.lilith, I would have kept someone like me in check.
“From now on, Your Majesty plans to put even more pressure on your relatives. That’s all I’ll say for today. Please make a wise choice.”
“… … .”
Perhaps thinking that silence was denial, the driver added one more word.
“The way for the Grand Duke to help His Majesty the Emperor is not to accumulate knowledge or power, but to not be a nuisance and not to be wary.”
“I understand.”
Tak, the door was closed.
Rudy put the tray down on the desk and sighed in relief. His green eyes filled with tears.
“Your majesty. Are you okay? I thought Your Majesty was being dragged away.”
“Sorry.”
“Yes?”
I hurriedly headed to the desk.
Now I remember something.
What happened before, when I was living like an asshole addicted to drugs and alcohol.
Why did I become a fool?
I opened the bottom left drawer, took out miscellaneous stationery, and swept the bottom of the drawer with my hand.
It’s been decades, but I still remember this space.
There was a small hole in the wooden plank.
I picked up a quill, stuck its tip into the small hole, twisted it, and lifted it.
The thin wooden board flipped open to reveal a double drawer.
Rudy’s surprised gasp was heard.
“When did you make something like that?”
The double drawer was full of letters.
“I’ve made up my mind. How should I live this life?”
[I will contact my parents and prepare 3,000 soldiers.]
[I contacted my cousin who became an Ivory Tower mage.]
[The Margrave of the South seems to be keeping an eye on this area. If we do well, we can make the Sword Master on our side.]
[Think about it carefully. There is enough possibility.]
[What kind of nonsense is it that a woman who is one hundredth in line of succession ascends to the throne? … .]
[Valencianus, I hope you choose the cause over blood ties.]
“Your Highness Valen.”
Rudy trembled when he saw those titles.
I walked over to the still-burning fireplace and turned the drawer upside down.
Colorful paper and parchment crackled and burned.
“I was crazy. I can’t believe you were doing something like this. So that’s the reason I lost you.”
The royal family imprisoned in this palace, that is, my half-siblings, are in contact with their respective maternal families and preparing for a rebellion.
In the name of succession, she is trying to attract me, her twin brother.
And this rebellion ends in failure.
I couldn’t take a side and showed an awkward attitude.
They almost die, but survive as siblings, and Rudy dies for failing to serve his master properly.
From then on, there will be surveillance.
You won’t be able to study, use magic, or learn the sword.
At that time, I had no intention of learning.
Experienced teachers charge expensive tuition.
I paid for my indecisiveness with the death of a precious person.
I had been living like a madman for so long that I had lost my mind, but by the time I picked up the sword again, my body was already broken and I could not reach the state.
As I felt it, I remembered what happened about an hour ago.
A sea dragon beyond the border that came down through the clouds.
The penalty for indecision was Rudy’s death, and the penalty for spending years as a fool was the fall of the empire and the death of J. Lilith.
But whether it was God’s help or the devil’s prank, I was given another life.
I have a chance to save J.lilith and this empire.
I have no intention of wasting even a single second of this life.
But you have to let go of today so there is tomorrow.
“Rudy.”
“Yes… yes?”
“Can you bring me a drink and a glass?”
The priority is to get over the purge, which is not too far away.
It should not be a nuisance to the government and should not raise caution.
We must constantly send signals that we are not interested in power.
I already knew how to do that.
Although it wasn’t my intention, I proved that I had no desire for power by showing debauchery for several years in my past life.
Okay.
Let’s become a bastard once again.
