Chapter 82
Chapter: 82
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 82
>Chapter Title: Responsibility (3)
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Carmen’s nightmares always began with the same scene.
One day, after getting thoroughly beaten at home and being chased out with a festering stomach, a portly knight approached him and asked,
“Why are you standing there barefoot on such a cold day, little one?”
It turned out the knight was a neighbor who didn’t live too far away. That day, he provided Carmen with a hearty dinner and a warm spot by the hearth to sleep.
From then on, Carmen often snuck out to avoid his stepfather and slipped into the knight’s house.
The knight was always busy, but he never turned away the little boy who kept running to him. Even on days when he wasn’t home, there was always simple food prepared on the table for the hungry young guest.
That’s how they grew close, and Carmen later learned the knight was far more remarkable than he’d thought.
He was the captain of the Imperial Palace Knights and, remarkably, the swordsmanship instructor for the princes.
He was such a strong and exalted figure that Carmen wondered why he bothered seriously engaging with a neighborhood kid like him.
“Wow! What does it feel like to become that strong? How can I become like you, Captain?”
“What, you want to learn swordsmanship now, little one? Good idea. His Holiness the Holy Emperor’s grace is as vast as the sea—he opens wide the gates of advancement to commoners like us if we have the skill.”
“I don’t know much about advancement, and I don’t care. I just want to be able to kick that damn stepfather’s ass one good time.”
“Then how about closing your eyes and training for just one year? That should be enough to sneak in a kick while he’s off guard and escape safely.”
And so Carmen began learning swordsmanship from him. He even received praise for his decent talent, puffing up with pride.
Before he knew it, Carmen had become something like the knight’s disciple or squire, commuting to and from the Imperial Palace with him.
They were probably the happiest memories of his short life.
Yet they were nightmares because he knew all too well how that happiness would end.
“You scum! What makes a lowborn like you think you can wander the Imperial Palace?”
Suddenly, a group of people appeared before him.
Those devilish fiends surrounded the naive commoner boy and unleashed their sharp malice.
“To think you can even pretend to be a squire—you’re one lucky bastard. Perfect for scraping by on scraps and dying in some ditch.”
A plump little brat sneered, twisting his lips.
“Lowborns like to huddle together for comfort, it seems. Just leave him be, Moreth. He shouldn’t have taken a lowly knight as his master in the first place.”
A woman with striking features and sharp eyes scoffed arrogantly.
Hee hee hee. Ha ha ha.
Laughter and mockery poured down on him from the maids as he froze in confusion.
Even an ignorant young commoner boy could tell their dagger-like words were really aimed at Captain Bruno.
How long did that go on? When Carmen came to, he had grabbed the chubby kid by the collar without realizing it.
They tumbled around for a while until a sharp pain sliced across his forehead. His vision turned red.
The scenes after that were fragmented memories.
“Your Imperial Consort Majesty. He’s just an ignorant, pitiful child. Please, I beg you—withdraw the order to execute this boy!”
Through his blurred, bloodied vision, Carmen saw the captain kneeling.
Carmen gritted his teeth.
I didn’t do anything wrong! That damn brat insulted me first and disgraced the captain!
So why does the captain, who’s done nothing wrong, have to atone for a crime I didn’t even commit?
It was always the same dream, but Carmen thrashed with all his might every time.
Everyone, stop! Someone stop them!
Captain! Captain, please stop! Don’t do it!
But despite his desperate struggles, the Bruno from the dream always collapsed, vomiting blood, just as before.
And there, watching the captain’s wretched state with a vile smirk, was that brat.
In the backlit, pudgy face that was hard to make out, only his fiercely upturned eyes gleamed an eerie silver-gray.
Prince Moreth.
“I wondered when this guy would die. But like this, it’s as good as dead, right? Perfect!”
Prince Moreth.
“Why are you staring at me like that, you idiot? Thanks to me, you’ve got a nice spot to shove your sword in for life. Ha. Ha. Ha!”
That damn Prince Moreth!
As he writhed in silent screams that wouldn’t come out, the nightmare drew to a close. The realization that it was a dream dawned, and he slowly woke.
At the boundary between dream and reality, chaotic, unrecognizable scenes swept through him with intense emotions before receding like the tide.
In one scene, Carmen was older, for some reason.
He’d blown his mercenary earnings on a binge and was properly drunk for once when a bandit-like man blocked his path.
“You the one who spent last night with our Olivier?”
“Huh? Olivier? Who’s that?”
“My wife. You’re not gonna pretend you don’t know, are you?”
“What bullshit is that? If you can’t keep your wife in check, why are you bitching at innocent people? What, not getting any at night?”
“What’d you say? You bastard!”
Before Carmen could even track the axe the man angrily drew.
Thwack! The vivid sensation of his forehead and skull splitting open sent chills through his body.
Carmen screamed.
Me, dying so ridiculously like this?
“…Aaaargh!”
“This guy sure makes a racket even napping.”
“Should I wake him, Your Highness?”
“Should we? He was smiling earlier, so I thought he was having a good dream.”
Familiar voices conversed by his ear.
Straining to listen in his half-asleep daze, the voices faded, and his body sank lower.
Meanwhile, the dream scene shifted again—this time to a battlefield with arrows raining down.
Carmen, now a proper knight in armor, swung his sword anxiously, staring ahead. He didn’t know the details, but he was deeply worried about someone.
And a sky dyed blood-red with ominous flames.
Beneath it, someone Carmen knew well was recklessly charging into the arrow storm!
Carmen bolted toward him in horror.
Hey! You crazy bastard!
Always jumping out on your own?
Didn’t I always tell you to watch yourself, or not?
“…Huh? Your Highness the Crown Prince, if you go out there, you’re in for it!”
Gritting his teeth and shouting, he heard a sigh by his ear.
“This guy’s a real rascal, Sir Masaine.”
“Unbelievable. This fool who can’t stay put is now committing lèse-majesté in his dreams, even inventing a nonexistent Crown Prince.”
“Want me to smack him once more, Sir Masaine? Let him rest quietly.”
“…Then he might rest forever, Your Highness.”
“No, Sir Kurt? What do you take me for?”
The unusually clear voice jolted Carmen fully awake, and he blinked his bleary eyes.
“Oh, you’re up.”
“…….”
What was it? It felt like he’d just been gripped by some intense emotion.
Carmen blinked.
As always, the dream’s afterimages vanished from his mind swiftly, leaving him unable to recall why he’d felt that way.
“Urgh…….”
But as he slowly rubbed his heavy eyelids, Carmen’s eyes fell on a bizarre sight he hadn’t expected at all.
Crown Prince Moreth—no, Prince Moreth—stood surrounded by a group of people filling the small treatment room, all staring at him intently.
‘What are they all doing here? And why are they looking at me with those weird expressions?’
His eyes quickly scanned the faces.
Physician Ninnias, Prince Moreth, the prince’s nanny Sir Masaine, several resident knights including Sir Kurt, and……
“……?”
Suddenly, Carmen’s eyes widened, and he shot up from his bed.
Among them was someone he’d thought he’d never see again.
“…Captain?”
It was true.
Captain Bruno was there, as if by magic.
His scruffy beard and shabby appearance remained, but he was no longer the dying patient from moments ago. His hunched spine was straight, his wrinkled face taut and somehow younger-looking.
Though not quite his former robust self, his sturdy frame brimmed with vibrant energy.
Captain Bruno smiled refreshingly, just like in the dream, and replied to Carmen.
“Yeah, kid. You with us now?”
What the hell is this? Am I still dreaming?
“…C-Captain? For real?”
Bruno’s brow furrowed.
“Still half-asleep? And what’s with that look? I didn’t teach you to be so sloppy. How scatterbrained have you been, tsk tsk.”
As Bruno clicked his tongue, Sir Kurt cautiously defended Carmen.
“Um… Captain? Sir Carmen clashed with the capital guard to save you…”
“Huh? That happen? Don’t remember. So, how many’d you fight?”
Prince Moreth tilted his head and answered.
“Seven, including some elite armed knights? No choice.”
It lacked credibility coming from the man who’d taken them all down.
But hearing that, a look of disappointment crossed Captain Bruno’s face.
“Only seven? Not even seventeen? Hah! Embarrassing—don’t go around saying you’re my disciple.”
“…….”
Carmen’s eyes grew moist despite himself.
Ah, that smug attitude. It was definitely the Captain Bruno from his memories!
“…Isn’t that a bit harsh, Captain? He’s crying.”
“Yeah, you went too far this time. Sir Carmen did his best—why make him cry like that?”
“Sigh. Sick and miserable already, and you tease the patient? No wonder a grown man’s bawling like a baby.”
I’m not crying! Damn it.
Carmen sniffled.
“…What happened, Captain? The Gray Plague?”
“Hm? Oh, right. I had that, didn’t I? Don’t remember it myself.”
Bruno rolled his shoulders and grinned.
“Don’t know what the disease was, but as you see, I’m fine. All thanks to His Holiness the Holy Emperor’s boundless grace.”
“Ahem! We mustn’t forget His Highness Moreth’s grace either, Captain Bruno.”
“Oh, quite right! Sir Masaine speaks true. Without Your Highness, how could Bruno I behold His Holiness’s countenance again?”
Ha ha ha. Ho ho ho.
It was an atmosphere Carmen couldn’t get used to.
Captain Bruno had been dishonorably ousted because of that Prince Moreth. His achievements as a knight and warrior stripped away in an instant, he’d barely clung to life for years.
Yet now, he was chatting amiably with the prince—the very culprit—as if nothing had happened!
Feeling dizzy, Carmen muttered,
“This is a dream. How else could the captain and Prince Moreth…”
The air around him froze instantly.
Carmen had spoken carelessly, omitting honorifics before imperial blood—a clear breach of decorum.
“This brat, after all this…”
Sir Masaine’s face turned fierce as she lunged, but Prince Moreth quickly grabbed her arm.
Meanwhile, Captain Bruno bowed politely to the prince in Carmen’s stead.
“My apologies, Your Highness. My unworthy disciple has caused you much embarrassment.”
“Huh? No, he’s just groggy and rambling. It’s fine.”
The sight evoked memories of the captain kneeling before the Imperial Consort for Carmen in the past. His heart sank, and Carmen cried out in a choked voice.
“Why… why apologize for me again? You did nothing wrong, Captain!”
But Captain Bruno’s gaze was resolute.
“Don’t be stubborn, Carmen. It’s obviously my responsibility.”
“But…”
“You’ve been blaming yourself too much, so I held back. But now that I’m back in the palace, I’ll say it clearly.”
He looked Carmen straight in the eye and spoke firmly.
“Carmen. That day’s incident was your fault for losing control and committing lèse-majesté first. And it’s this Bruno’s fault for not properly teaching manners to a young one.”
“…….”
“You must face what must be accepted, no matter how hard. You’re a proper palace guard knight now, aren’t you?”
Carmen was speechless.
He desperately wanted to deny it, but deep down, he knew it was true. His failure to endure that fleeting moment had let things spiral out of control.
Ignorance of the world wasn’t an excuse. As Prince Moreth had said, youth didn’t absolve responsibility.
The reason he’d hated only Prince Moreth all these years was that he couldn’t bear having ruined the man he respected most with his own hands.
Staggering from the bed, Carmen dropped to his knees before the prince.
The resentment toward Prince Moreth hadn’t fully vanished. But unlike then, he now knew exactly what he had to do.
“I’ve committed multiple breaches of decorum amid the chaos. I beg Your Highness’s generous forgiveness.”
Prince Moreth scratched his cheek and replied,
“Eh, whatever. Don’t sweat it. I know your temper.”
“And…”
“Hm?”
“…Thank you.”
Carmen bowed deeply and said,
“I’ll never forget the grace of saving the captain. Thank you again, Your Highness.”
It was his sincere truth, so for the first time, he could offer Prince Moreth full respect from the heart.