Chapter 113
Chapter 113
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 113
Chapter Title: 35. How Can Spring Come Without Winter Passing? (4)
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I'd promised to spare the one whose crimes were lighter between the two of them, and the chamberlain immediately launched into exposing Marquis Montpellier's villainy.
Montpellier just sat there silently, taking it all in.
But apparently, he figured staying quiet would just get him killed alone, so he finally started dishing the dirt on the chamberlain's treasonous acts.
I savored the ridiculous exchange while gathering intel.
"I was working for my country, but you're nothing but a traitor!"
"That's rich coming from someone who bullied the powerless into forced obedience!"
But it wasn't long before the accusations devolved into crude insults.
"A coward who couldn't even meet my eyes—how dare you flap your gums at me!"
"And you think you can strut around looking like that?"
Watching Montpellier and the chamberlain point fingers and tear into each other, I couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh.
What a complete mess.
To think these pathetic lowlifes had been manipulating and deceiving the kingdom's affairs—it was almost laughable.
"Your Highness! This wretch is the one who framed you as an informant, putting you through hell. He deserves to die a thousand deaths!"
The chamberlain bellowed in fury, and Montpellier froze solid.
It was just the jolt my weary mind needed amid the sleazy revelations.
"Say that again."
Montpellier paled at my words, while the chamberlain's face lit up with smug triumph.
"Repeat what you just said."
"Exactly as I said, Your Highness. Marquis Montpellier sowed discord between you and His Majesty, aiming to sow chaos in the royal family. At the least, it disturbed His Majesty's peace; at worst, it tarnished the legitimacy of the firstborn heir, paving the way for greater turmoil."
"So you're saying I'm not the informant?"
"Precisely, Your Highness! You are innocent! This scum put you through such undeserved torment..."
The chamberlain, puffed up with arrogance, trailed off mid-sentence as he caught my gaze, flinching and clamping his mouth shut.
Pot calling the kettle black.
I couldn't help but laugh. I simply couldn't hold it in.
Giggles leaked through my gritted teeth, tears welling up in my eyes.
What a farce this world had conjured.
My resolve, forged through countless sleepless nights to bear the wastrel prince's original sins, felt utterly pointless.
The determination of those three hundred knights, swinging their swords day and night fueled by hatred for me, rang hollow.
I felt like a clown in a circus.
As I cackled on, Montpellier crawled over on his knees, trembling, and prostrated himself before me.
He said something, but I couldn't hear it.
My jaw ached from laughing so hard; all that filled my ears was ringing.
Finally, I glanced back.
The knights who'd followed me from Winter Castle watched with concern.
Arwen and Adelia, Kals and his fellow knights. And Gawain.
I looked at Gawain's face.
I figured he'd understand the absurdity of being played by this ridiculous comedy.
But Gawain showed no flicker of emotion.
He just stared blankly at me.
It wasn't just Gawain. His comrades wore the same unchanging expressions.
Staring vacantly.
The endless laughter died as if it had never been.
"No way..."
In that instant, a flurry of stray thoughts flooded my mind.
Guess we're busted.
I told you I was against this.
More importantly, how did he figure us out?
That's what I've been wondering.
Listening to their dazed chatter made my head spin.
I stared at them for a long while, then burst out laughing again.
"Talk about impeccable timing!"
This time, I doubled over, laughing like a madman.
Of all the coincidences, with souls swapped right now.
Something about the timing's off...
We should switch back now.
Agreed.
I shook my head, still chuckling.
"No... heh. No need."
I told them repeatedly that I didn't need it.
Ignorance was better, after all.
Gawain and his comrades endured the harsh training from their young instructor, rolling in the mud with mercenaries—all driven by hatred for me.
They'd embraced the seemingly trivial Mana Heart technique solely to get revenge on me.
What good would knowing the truth do them now?
They'd only end up resenting the wrong people, wallowing in self-loathing over their misplaced hatred. They'd lose the hard-won drive and killer instinct they'd just regained.
They needed that pillar of resolve to reach greater glory through their heart's mana.
They could learn the truth later.
I touched my still-tender cheekbone, then squatted down to meet the chamberlain's eyes.
"That was a hell of a story."
The chamberlain slammed his forehead against the floor the moment our eyes met.
"Y-Your Highness! Mercy, please!"
I grabbed his jaw to stop him as blood poured from his battered head.
"Tell me another fun one."
My seething rage crushed his soul like overwhelming pressure and presence.
His spirit, already broken, babbled incoherently before this unprecedented dominance—everything from trivial palace maid affairs useless to me, to matters tied to the royal family.
I listened quietly to his rambling confessions.
And when he'd spilled it all, I couldn't contain my disbelief.
This lowlife, whose soul was worth less than a street thug's, had wrought no small harm on the kingdom.
Embezzling funds meant for Gawain and his comrades, plunging them deeper into despair—that was old news. Inciting the Third Prince's rampage was recent.
I'd wondered how the Third Prince knew about my original body, hidden so carefully by the king, and stormed in. It was this worm's doing.
He'd revealed the vault's location where my body was stored and egged on the Third Prince, claiming no prince would survive if I took the throne.
I hadn't expected the Third Prince to charge into the king's chambers sword in hand, but the fact remained: this scum had sparked the disaster.
"Ha..."
A hollow laugh escaped me.
This insignificant wretch had disbanded three knight orders and turned a kingdom's prince into a traitor doomed to die.
It was unbelievable.
The dazed chamberlain rambled on for ages, eventually dragging out personal anecdotes that weren't even crimes.
I drew my sword and sliced off his jabbering shoulder like a madman.
The chamberlain blinked at his severed arm. I lopped off his remaining one too.
"Wha? Wha? Aaaargh!"
Only then did he scream.
I waited calmly for his cries to fade, for him to regain his senses and look at me.
"Y-Your Highness! Spare me, please!"
When he finally did, I granted him a slow death to savor the terror.
"Your Highness! At least my life... guuurk."
With his throat slit, the chamberlain gurgled like a beast.
He flailed his stumps to staunch the blood but couldn't, twitching until he stilled.
I turned away.
"Y-Your Highness..."
Marquis Montpellier groveled, trembling like a leaf in terror.
I extended the bloodied blade of Dusk toward him.
"Eek!"
Montpellier let out a weird groan. I wiped the blood from Dusk's blade on his clothes.
"You're lucky, Montpellier."
As I sheathed Dusk, I whispered to him.
"This time, you had the lighter sins."
A sour stench pierced the metallic tang of blood.
"Tch."
I turned from his soaked trousers.
"Dispose of the bodies. Send all the wagons loaded with loot to Iron Lion Fortress."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
"And no one here speaks of what happened today—not even to each other."
"Understood!"
I mounted my horse amid the knights' replies.
Montpellier still groveled, shaking.
"Montpellier."
"Y-Yes, speak!"
"You didn't think that was the end, did you?"
He shuddered violently.
"J-Just sparing this worthless life is more than I deserve, Your Highness!"
I'd already torn him apart a thousand times in my mind. But I needed him alive for now.
At least until the magic tower was complete and the North was ready.
"Come find me by noon today."
I spurred my horse without waiting for a reply—I might've cut him down otherwise.
Arwen and Adelia, who'd stayed out of the cleanup, flanked me.
As we rode, I felt a gaze.
Turning, I caught Arwen looking, who startled and whipped her head away.
"What?"
Asking if she had something to say, she hesitated before speaking.
"Aren't you wronged by this?"
She knew my past and the Death Knights' existence. She was aware they sometimes possessed Gawain and the knights.
So she understood the glance and brief exchange I'd shared with Gawain.
Seeing her pitying look, I made a small gesture.
A simple sword maiden sign: thumb and pinky touching then parting.
"Your Highness?"
Arwen, unfamiliar with the sign language, asked what it meant. Instead of answering, I spurred ahead.
**
It wasn't long before dawn broke as I returned to my quarters.
With Adelia's help, I washed off the blood and changed clothes, then headed straight to the king's chambers.
"Your Highness."
"Announce me."
The court knight nodded and informed the king.
"Your Majesty, the First Prince has arrived."
"Send him in."
I entered the king's chambers at once.
The king kept gazing out the window, showing me only his back.
He asked nothing.
Not about my absence last night, though he surely knew where I'd been.
Perhaps the betrayal by the heir of a loyal house across generations was only now sinking in.
Or maybe facing me so casually still felt burdensome.
Either way, the king's mood was far from settled.
"How fare they?"
After a long silence, his question wasn't about the chamberlain, but the old knights.
"They're training day and night to reclaim their former strength."
I didn't mention the souls differing between day and night.
I offered to arrange a meeting with some if he wished.
The king shook his head without turning.
That quiet gesture said the time wasn't right yet.
I had no intention of pressing, so I let it drop.
"Speak if you have business."
After prolonged quiet, he asked my purpose.
His tone was still stiff, but milder than the frigid winds of last winter.
But that lasted only a moment.
"What did you say?"
The instant I voiced my request, he turned, face as cold as a blizzard.
It felt like winter had returned, full force.
"Are you in your right mind?!"
His sharp rebuke cut like a howling gale.
Winter must pass for spring to come, yet I seemed cursed with eternal winter.
Seeing the king berate me so coldly was oddly welcome.
"What do you mean, going there?!"
The king and I clearly thought differently on many things.