Weeding Out the Empire (2)
I looked up at my master with pleading eyes.
“Master, I have a favor to ask.”
“What is it?”
“Could you pull my soul out of this body again, even if it’s just for a little while?”
My master shook his head firmly.
“This is the performance you chose. Grit your teeth and endure it with sheer willpower and malice.”
I lay limp on the bed, utterly drained.
Beside me, Dilis hovered anxiously, tending to me with a heartbroken expression.
I really felt like I was going to die.
The situation was so satisfying that laughter kept threatening to burst out of me, yet I couldn’t even smile.
Let’s rewind to the moment when Sera began pouring her mana into my body.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness. May I examine you myself?”
“Of course. Please take a good look.”
When I extended my hand, Sera took it gently.
Then she sent her own mana flowing into my body to inspect it.
I could feel her mana slowly seeping in, probing every corner of my insides.
“How is my son’s condition?”
“It’s excellent. In fact, I don’t understand how it could be this good. But this… this is the first time I’ve seen anything like it. Just what is…”
Right then.
‘This is the moment I’ve been waiting for!’
The instant Sera’s mana had flooded deep enough into my body, I violently stirred every ounce of my own mana inside me.
“Ugh, aaargh!”
Agonized screams tore from my throat.
My body thrashed wildly, limbs twisting in every direction.
But not a single movement was fake.
The pain was excruciatingly real.
“W-what is this? Why is Erewon suddenly like this? You!”
Father’s voice cracked with urgency as he pressed Sera.
“Lady Sera, what in the world is happening!”
Every eye in the room snapped toward her.
“I didn’t do anything! The prince’s mana inside his body suddenly…”
“I don’t know what you’re doing, but stop it right now! That is an order!”
When Father roared, Sera frantically tried to withdraw her mana.
‘Who said you could leave? You came in as you pleased, but leaving won’t be so easy.’
“Understood. Right away… Haaaaagh!”
Sera began screaming too.
She clung desperately to her sanity through their connected mana, but the pain still reached her.
That was because I had seized the mana she sent into me and was mercilessly stretching, twisting, and tormenting it.
It was possible only because my skill at freely manipulating mana far surpassed hers.
“Hngh… ugh, kuh!”
“Lady Sera? Why are you suddenly like this too? Get a hold of yourself!”
Wiz’s face, watching from the side, had turned deathly pale.
In the end, Sera had no choice but to forcibly sever the mana she had sent into me.
The moment the connection broke, the recoil sent her flying. She rolled across the floor, still writhing from the lingering agony.
But I wasn’t about to let it end here.
It wasn’t over yet.
“Kuh… kuaaaagh…”
“Brother! Brother, please!”
Excruciating pain still raged through my body.
To leave no room for doubt, I deliberately kept inflicting torment on myself, forcing out genuine screams.
Rua, who had refused to leave my arms since earlier, could no longer bear the sight. She threw herself at me with all her strength and hugged me tight.
“Princess, step back!”
“It’s going to be okay, it’s going to be okay, Brother!”
Tears shimmered in her eyes from fear, yet Rua refused to let go of me.
My heart ached at the sight of her, but for the sake of the bigger picture, I had no choice.
It might be too obvious, but I decided to add one more spoonful of acting.
I deliberately met Rua’s gaze with eyes brimming with pain.
Then I lost consciousness.
This part was pure acting.
I only pretended to faint; I hadn’t actually lost consciousness.
I deliberately let my head drop with a sharp snap.
My eyes stared vacantly, unfocused.
“Brother? Brother!”
Rua shook my body.
“Brother, open your eyes! Brother! Brother!!”
The moment I collapsed, Rua let out a wail that bordered on a scream.
I felt incredibly guilty toward her, but her reaction told me the performance had been a resounding success.
“Guards! Contact the Magic Tower immediately and bring Sien here. Hurry!”
“Oh no, Prince Erewon! What on earth is happening!”
Father called desperately for Sien, the only mage he could truly trust, while Dilis rushed to my side to check on me.
It was deeply satisfying.
All that remained now was to savor this pleasant feeling while watching the events that would unfold next.
“Just what is going on here.”
His voice was eerily calm.
When a person is truly furious, their heart grows frighteningly still.
The only other time I had heard Father speak in this terrifying tone was when Solea had been annexed.
“Your Majesty, this is…”
“By the name of the king, I command you.”
Father drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Though rage boiled within him, he was preparing to do what must be done.
He could not allow those who had done this to his son to go unpunished.
Father issued his decree.
“Throw this mage into prison. I will charge her with the crime of harming a member of Solea’s royal family. And Ambassador Wiz.”
“Your Majesty, this is absurd. I merely brought a mage…”
“I have not permitted you to make excuses. No matter that you are an ambassador of the Empire, bringing such a mage here was your mistake. I hereby place you under house arrest as well.”
“I cannot accept this. This will not bode well for relations between our two nations, Your Majesty!”
“What… what did you say?”
I knew Wiz’s arrogant personality all too well from my previous life.
Though he was an ambassador dispatched from a mighty empire, this was not imperial territory. This was Solea.
If he wanted to throw his weight around while hiding behind the Empire’s power, he should have clearly recognized exactly where he was standing.
Ah, how satisfying.
“Master, come on. Just until Sien arrives.”
“I said no. This is too entertaining. Why would I stop?”
“It’s really hard, I’m telling you! Seriously!”
The corners of my mouth kept twitching.
Holding back the laughter was far more torturous than the pain I had inflicted on myself earlier.
After enduring that long trial of patience, Sien finally arrived.
Father, who had returned to his office, came back with Sien and examined my body.
“I ask this of you. Please uncover exactly what those bastards did to my son.”
“Understood. Sera was quite a talented mage in our tower, yet I cannot fathom why she would do such a thing…”
Sien took my hand just as Sera had done and began sending mana into me to examine my condition.
At that moment, my eyes snapped open.
“Your Highness? Are you awake now?”
“Erewon, are you all right!”
The instant I opened my eyes, Father thrust his face right in front of mine, forgetting all dignity.
I parted my lips slightly and mouthed the words without sound.
There was something I absolutely had to say, but too many ears were listening inside the room.
“It seems Erewon is trying to say something.”
Father brought his ear close to my mouth.
I whispered in the tiniest voice.
“Please have everyone else leave except for you and Lord Sien.”
Father nodded, then rose and commanded.
“Everyone except me and Sien, withdraw at once.”
The others quickly filed out of the room.
Only then could I stretch luxuriously and sit up with a refreshed groan.
“E-Erewon?”
“Your Highness! Moving your body so suddenly…”
“Whew, I thought I was going to die from the pain. Your Majesty, Lord Sien. I’m perfectly fine.”
The two men stared at me as I spoke so casually, their faces pure bewilderment.
“Just what is going on? Weren’t you unconscious?”
“I wasn’t. I only pretended to be.”
Sien let out a sigh of relief, while Father’s face flushed bright red.
“You… you damned son of mine! I thought you were…”
“Your Majesty, shh. Please lower your voice.”
When I clasped my hands together in a plea, Father, who had been about to roar, continued to fume but lowered his voice.
“I really thought you were going to die. Yet here you are, perfectly fine. Just what is going on?”
“Originally I hadn’t planned to go this far, but thanks to Your Majesty’s mistake, I was able to seize the opportunity.”
“Opportunity? What kind of opportunity…”
There had been a plan I intended to carry out step by step.
But now there was no longer any need to hesitate.
“Before the weeds the Empire planted in our Solea can grow too thick, I will pull them out by the roots.”
“Weeds planted by the Empire?”
“For example, Ambassador Wiz, whom you just sent to prison. He has been gathering our kingdom’s most critical secrets and sending them to the Empire on a regular basis.”
“You’re saying Ambassador Wiz was doing such a thing?”
“It may be hard to believe, but if you investigate the embassy, you will find evidence. And then there is that mage named Sera.”
Sien listened more intently when the topic turned to Sera.
After all, she belonged to the Solea Magic Tower.
“That mage had been preparing teleportation magic circles around the castle so that the imperial army could invade our Solea fortress at any time.”
“That is impossible. Teleportation circles are not something a single mage can prepare alone.”
“Of course she didn’t do it alone. Please help me. Help me root out every last imperial spy hiding within Solea.”