I Will Kill My Father
The vast smoking room held only me.
I chewed on a cigarette and stared blankly at the night sky. The stars blanketing the heavens were beautiful, yet they stirred no thoughts in me. All that filled my mind was the utter shitshow of my bloodline.
The Eisenmarck family.
Or rather, the Northern Grand Duke family.
I had been born the bastard son of that very Northern Grand Duke.
And that Northern Grand Duke was none other than Heinrich von Eisenmarck—the man I had spent years cursing, mocking, and despising with every fiber of my being.
The usurper who had assassinated the former king and installed a puppet on the throne. The savior who had protected this kingdom from the Empire’s invasion. The worthless piece of human garbage who had shipped me off to the battlefield when I was only nine. The bastard who had forcibly discharged me the moment I stood on the threshold of becoming a Sword Master.
To me, Heinrich was nothing more than a fucking asshole.
Speak of the devil, they say. The blood of Eisenmarck revealed itself before me.
My half-sister, dressed in a purple gown.
Elfriede von Eisenmarck.
Thanks to Elfriede, I had lost all taste for the cigarette. I flicked the butt into the ashtray and left the smoking room.
At my words, Elfriede’s face drained of all color.
The command ignited a flash of anger. I glared at her.
I stuck another cigarette between my lips and lit it.
Ah, that expression.
I had seen it just moments ago.
Elfriede wore the exact same face that Princess Adelheid had made earlier. As if I were someone who had died and come back to life.
Well, I had survived the battlefield and returned, so perhaps it wasn’t strange. Not if it came from people who had built a proper bond with me before I left for war.
I could understand if comrades like Hans wore that look. But why would a princess I had barely met and a half-sister who might as well be a stranger look at me that way?
It made no sense.
The headache throbbing in my skull eased slightly with another drag of the cigarette. I truly meant to leave the smoking room this time.
Elfriede seized my wrist. Her grip was impossibly strong for a delicate woman’s hand. Did this one train with the sword as well?
Tears spilled from Elfriede’s eyes as she looked at me.
I couldn’t make sense of what she was saying. The absurdity of the situation made me laugh.
Elfriede wore a bitter expression for a moment before it smoothed into something cool and composed.
I threw up my hands in surrender.
Resigned, I shook off her hand.
I left the palace and returned to my room. I stripped off the officer’s uniform, shoved it into a corner, and threw on the shabby coat I had bought at a clothing store on the way. Rain had begun to fall, but I paid it no mind and kept walking.
I chain-smoked as I walked. The only annoyance was the way the cigarettes kept getting damp from the rain.
The princess had said I had forgotten something.
Elfriede had said the same.
But I had no idea what I was supposed to have forgotten.
“…Fuck.”
Thinking about it only made my head hurt more. I shook the thoughts away and headed for the Eisenmarck Mansion.
The gatekeeper must have been given orders in advance. The moment he saw my face, he opened the gates.
With a heavy creak, the massive doors swung wide, revealing the enormous mansion beyond.
It possessed a grandeur different from the palace. It felt more like a giant tomb.
Once inside, the maids took my outer coat while the servants inspected my belongings.
“Ugh.”
Only after every inspection was complete was I finally allowed to face Heinrich.
I could not call Heinrich “Father.” I was not a true member of the Eisenmarck family—only a bastard.
Heinrich answered in a cold, measured voice.
He tossed me a pouch. Inside were a great many gold coins.
His declaration rang with solemn finality.
I looked up at him where he sat upon a chair on a dais higher than the floor where I knelt.
I screamed before him.
At my outburst, the mansion’s soldiers rushed in. Heinrich rose and waved a hand, and they withdrew.
I picked up the pouch of gold coins and stood.
My meeting with my biological father ended there.
As I left the mansion, a single thought burned in my mind.
I want to kill him.
I wanted to kill Heinrich von Eisenmarck.
But how?
How could I kill the de facto ruler of this kingdom, a man who held more power than the king himself?
Suddenly, Princess Adelheid’s face rose in my memory.
She was the only daughter of the former king.
And the former king had been murdered by Heinrich’s hand.
She must hate Heinrich more than anyone else in the world.
Though she had spoken strangely to me today, it was clear she held an inexplicably strong affection for me.
I had my target.
Tomorrow, I would find a way to meet Princess Adelheid and swear to become her blade.
Yet for some reason, this feeling did not seem unfamiliar at all.
Even though it was the first time in my life I had ever thought of killing that man Heinrich.
“…You okay?”
The next day, Hans came to my house.
I scratched my head as I answered.
Yesterday I had drunk myself into a stupor. It had felt like the only way I could endure it.
Hans handed me a potion. It was the kind advertised as excellent for curing hangovers. I downed it in one gulp and felt the headache vanish.
I felt grateful to Hans, who merely shrugged, so I took one gold coin from the pouch Heinrich had given me yesterday and pressed it into his hand.
Hans saw the gold and waved his hands in refusal.
I smiled bitterly as I looked at the pouch.
Hans looked at my face, his own expression growing complicated, before he finally accepted the gold coin.
I stood and stretched. Then, forcing a smile, I asked Hans.
I recalled the goal I had set yesterday.
I will kill Heinrich von Eisenmarck.
To do that, I needed Princess Adelheid’s cooperation.
The thought made me chuckle.
Hans thought for a moment, then seemed to remember something.
The uniform Hans pointed at was stained with the strong liquor I had spilled on it yesterday and gave off a strange odor.
I patted Hans on the shoulder and packed the uniform into my bag.
We parted ways in front of the building.
I went to the bathhouse to wash, then to the laundry to clean my officer’s uniform with a cleaning spell. After that, I headed for the plaza where Princess Adelheid was holding her charity event.
All to kill my biological father.
To kill Heinrich von Eisenmarck.