Chapter 41 —
“Even if it’s not Count Mathias’s messenger but Count Mathias himself coming, do not let him enter my palace. Understand?”
“Your Highness…”
“Why aren’t you answering?!”
The reply to that question came not from the servant inside, but from outside the open door.
“Oh dear, oh dear… I seem to have bad timing again.”
“Uncle?”
The startled Second Prince jumped up from his seat. The red-haired man he called uncle bowed gracefully.
Only then did the servant standing by the door speak, a beat too late.
“Your Highness, Duke William is requesting an audience.”
“…No need to tell him to come in, I suppose.”
And indeed, there was no need. Duke William had already stepped into the room.
Even though he’d been caught entering without permission, Duke William only smiled gently.
“I just hope my rudeness hasn’t made Your Highness even angrier.”
“It’s fine. No need to make a fuss.”
Far from making him more irritated, the Second Prince seemed calmer just by the duke’s arrival.
With a sigh, he slumped into his chair and ordered the servant to bring tea.
The servant, clearly looking for a chance to leave, bowed quickly and hurried out.
Perhaps worried about being scolded again, he returned with the tea trolley unusually fast.
After exchanging brief pleasantries, Duke William dropped a sugar cube into his hot coffee and asked in a lightly amused tone,
“So, who is the rude person who upset you today?”
“Actually, Uncle, there’s a lot I want to say to you.”
The Second Prince leaned forward, as if glad to bring it up.
“Why exactly did you introduce me to Lloyd Mathias? Because of that fool, the Empress Mother ordered me into seclusion!”
“Oh my… Her Highness the Crown Princess already warned me not to visit you, saying you’re in seclusion.”
“Oh? My sister said that?”
“Well, by rule, I shouldn’t be visiting you while you’re under seclusion.”
Only three people in the empire were allowed to visit the Second Prince when the Emperor himself had ordered his seclusion: the Emperor, the Imperial Consort, and the Crown Princess.
The reason Duke William wasn’t among them was simple—
“Honestly, my sister is too much. She already has everything, yet she still doesn’t like me being close to you.”
“And every time that happens, I truly regret one thing—that I’m not related to you by blood, Your Highness.”
Strictly speaking, Duke William was the Crown Princess’s uncle, not the Second Prince’s.
The late Imperial Consort, who had died, was Duke William’s older brother. Since the Second Prince was born of the current Imperial Consort, they didn’t share a single drop of blood.
The only reason the Second Prince called him “uncle” and treated him with such affection was because Duke William himself had, from the start, whispered that if he was the Crown Princess’s uncle, then he was also the Prince’s uncle.
The Empress Mother who restricted his freedom “for his own good,” the father who told him to stay quiet and live as if dead so as not to trouble the Crown Princess, and the half-sister who only ever scolded him…
The Second Prince was like a lone wildflower growing between tiles on a cold floor—lonely and lonely again.
For him, pushing away the one person who treated him like a cherished nephew would be as impossible as ignoring an oasis after wandering the desert for days.
“But Your Highness, you know…”
“That sometimes something is thicker than blood?”
The Second Prince broke into a fresh smile, matching Duke William’s relaxed grin.
“That’s right. Blood can be quite useless, after all.”
What he didn’t know was this—by the rules, Duke William shouldn’t have been able to enter the palace during the Second Prince’s seclusion. The only reason he was allowed was because the Emperor knew his son depended on him more than on his own father.
“Now, answer me. What exactly made you think Lloyd Mathias could be useful to me?”
“He’s a top graduate of the military academy. If not for Count Elpheus, he could have claimed the honor of Anuph.”
To be precise, Count Mathias had worked behind the scenes to remove all obstacles to his son’s success—until he stumbled over an unexpected problem.
The fact Lloyd was an illegitimate child and former mercenary made the count think he wasn’t worth bribing. That was his mistake.
“Besides, Count Mathias is wealthy. Unless something unusual happens, his fortune will eventually go to young Lord Mathias.”
Meaning—once Lloyd inherited his father’s title and wealth, he could be used as a money source.
“So you’re saying he’s useless for now.”
“That’s how farming works, Your Highness. You don’t expect fruit the day after you plant the seed.”
“I need someone useful now.”
The Crown Princess’s claim to succession was unshakable. Unless she died suddenly in some scandal, the Second Prince would never inherit the throne.
There was a reason he wasn’t the First Prince despite being the only prince in the empire—when the First Princess and he stood side by side, they looked equal, which might tempt nobles to plot. The Emperor had refused to allow even that possibility.
In truth, the best way to prevent such disputes was simply not to have more children.
The First Princess was intelligent and healthy. The Emperor had no intention of having a second child—
—until the Imperial Consort unexpectedly became pregnant, despite having signed a contract to drink birth-control tea before marriage.
The Imperial Consort wept before the Emperor’s chamber, claiming she didn’t know how it had happened.
Yet it was impossible that the father was anyone but the Emperor—her ladies-in-waiting, guards, and scribes who recorded her every movement could all testify she had never lain with another man.
Still, the Emperor forgave her. Or more accurately, tried to erase the matter—by deciding to end the pregnancy.
But the Imperial Consort begged for the child’s life, swearing she would die too if it was killed.
To prove her loyalty, she cut ties with her family, withdrew from politics and society, and vowed to live quietly.
Yet the Emperor wasn’t satisfied and placed one more condition—not on her, but on her elder brother, Marquis Wayndal.
“Go to the great Weinberg Forest on the western border, find the old palace of Celtenaha, and present its relics to the First Princess.”
If he couldn’t find the palace, he was to search every corner of the forest and at least bring back a completed map—and not return to the capital until then.
It was essentially exile.
Refusing would mean refusing to serve the First Princess as future emperor, which would be the same as declaring support for the Second Prince instead—exactly the opposite of what his sister had sworn.
So Marquis Wayndal obeyed and left for his lands.
Everyone whispered he would never return. No one had ever conquered the vast labyrinth that was the Weinberg Forest.
But last year, he did return—having found the ancient palace and presented Celtenaha’s treasures to the Crown Princess.
It was around that time that a mercenary named El gained the nickname “Golden Lion of Weinberg” after single-handedly slaying a massive black lion that ruled over the ancient beasts of the forest.
“That lowly mercenary promised to help me humiliate Count Elpheus in exchange for giving me a magic artifact…”
“What is this about?”
“You know Count Elpheus, right? The illegitimate one…”
“No, not that. I mean—what’s this about a magic artifact?”
Duke William tilted his head, as if hearing something absurd.
“If you mean that one, it was stolen about fifteen years ago…”
“Stolen?”
“It’s a well-known story. It caused quite a commotion back then, and Count Mathias is still searching for it to this day.”
Which meant he still hadn’t found it.
“That wretch dared to trick me?!”
The Second Prince raged, furious that someone had made a deal with him over an item that didn’t even exist.
Duke William quickly calmed him.
“Perhaps their family has other artifacts. And if he lied, you can always throw him in prison for insulting the royal family.”
“You’re right, Uncle.”
The Second Prince ground his teeth.
“If he lied to me, I’ll make him regret it for the rest of his life.”
After gulping down iced tea to cool his anger, he looked curious again.
“So… what kind of magic artifact is it, that they still haven’t given up searching for it?”
Why does the translation not sound smooth anymore :”) and the pronouns 😭 it’s so confusing
I’m really confused. I can usually parse out who is saying what, but from the paragraph that starts with “That lowly mercenary promised …” onward, I got completely lost.