Beletria Lien Archesium (1)
Beletria Lien Archesium (1)
"King Leoser Halden Rehentra the 12th, have you decided to bow your arrogant head beneath the feet of the Sun of the great Archesium Empire, Her Imperial Majesty Empress Beletria Lien Archesium?"
"...If I could be part of the moment when the new master of the continent is born, then I, Leoser Halden Rehentra, including all the people of the kingdom, shall follow Her Imperial Majesty's command."
What a joke.
Three months ago, before Archesium declared war, there was clearly an opportunity to surrender without war, without the need for 150,000 kingdom troops to shed blood.
However, my stupid and dull-witted father, the King of Rehentra, chose war and was defeated.
And now, he has the nerve to act like nothing happened and try to lick the Empire's feet.
'Does he really think that will work?'
I glanced at the King—my father—who had buried his head into the floor to the point where it looked like he was trying to dig a hole with his forehead.
In front of him, the three Grand Dukes, known as the pinnacle of the Empire and the Emperor's most loyal hunting dogs, were looking down at the King.
The moment I saw that scene, I was certain.
We would all lose our heads right here today, and the Rehentra Kingdom, with its 450-year history, would burn to the ground without leaving a single trace.
Because Empress Beletria is a monster who knows no mercy.
That is why I didn't hold even the slightest hope of surviving, unlike those stupid brothers and the people I call parents.
I just closed my eyes, hoping to die with as little pain as possible.
However, the person called the King must have finally sensed the Empire's heavy killing intent, as he frantically scratched at the floor and shouted.
"In exchange for swearing loyalty to the great Empire, I shall offer my most cherished bloodline, the 3rd Prince Idelon Halden Rehentra, as a hostage! And I promise to cooperate to the best of my ability in the Empire's war of conquest!"
"......?"
I doubted my ears.
Cherished, my ass. He usually treated me like dust stuck in the corner of the palace.
I almost burst into a mocking laugh at the sight of my father acting as if he were giving away a child he truly cherished, which was absurd.
'Crazy bastard.'
Just how badly does he want to live to act like this?
Seeing that, I thought that since we were all going to die anyway, I might as well give those damn family members a good middle finger.
So, just as I was carefully rising to my feet to speak.
"What you just said...."
The old red-haired Grand Duke, who was receiving the King's bow at the very front, stroked his chin for a moment.
Then, he smiled as if he had found some interesting toy.
"Originally, it was going to be total annihilation... but fine. Since you're offering your most cherished child, then send that prince to the Empire within a week, along with your own handwritten surrender document, King."
"No, wait...."
With that one sentence, the Grand Duke turned around without looking back.
The 300,000 Imperial troops that had been surrounding the castle also quietly left the capital, as if they had never existed in the first place.
Two days after the defeat.
"This damn kingdom is a pain in the ass to me until the very end."
I was shoving the belongings stuffed in my closet into a leather bag as irritably as possible, not even bothering to hide my annoyance.
Just then, the sound of the door opening signaled the Minister of the Royal Court entering the room.
He scanned me packing and the inside of the room before opening his mouth.
"The fate of our kingdom rests in the hands of the 3rd Prince. Please, persuade the tyrant well and conduct yourself properly so that the lineage of Rehentra may continue."
"......."
As soon as I saw the unpleasant smile on his leather-wrinkled face, I felt the urge to kick him in the solar plexus.
Instead of answering, I stopped packing and quietly raised my middle finger at him.
"Ahem, ahem... Still vulgar, I see. Anyway, I've placed the surrender document on the desk."
The Minister placed the King's handwritten surrender document on the desk with nimble movements and then left the room.
In the quiet room, I approached the desk.
There, two identical white envelopes made of high-quality parchment were lying side by side.
One was the King's handwritten surrender document that the Minister had left a moment ago.
And the other was the marriage proposal to be sent to the princess of the Ignesia Kingdom, my old childhood friend.
I first picked up the envelope containing the marriage proposal and stroked it carefully.
Her smiling face flickered before my eyes.
'In the end, this is how we part ways... Maybe it's for the best.'
Rather than a bum who has always been treated worse than a commoner in Rehentra and is now being dragged off as a hostage, never knowing when his head might roll.
It would be a much better path for her to meet a decent successor from another kingdom.
Of course, the future where the Empire destroys all the kingdoms on the continent might come faster than that....
"Tsk."
My mouth tasted bitter.
As I clicked my tongue and tried to shake off my emotions, suddenly, kwang-kwang-kwang! The door shook as if it were about to break.
"Your Highness! It's time to depart! We have no time to delay!"
I flinched at the irritable voices of the knights coming from outside the door.
Damn it, they won't even give me time to indulge in my final sentiments.
I hurriedly put the letter I was holding into my bag, tore the envelope on the desk to shreds, threw it into the trash can, and rushed out of the room with my bag on my shoulder.
After that, I traveled for four days and nights without rest and arrived at the Imperial Palace of Archesium.
The Imperial Palace was exuding such a massive sense of intimidation that I thought the atmosphere alone could crush a person to death.
And now, I was lying flat on the marble floor beneath that massive throne.
As I knelt with my head bowed, cold sweat dripped from the tip of my chin.
"Rehentra's 3rd Prince, Idelon, was it?"
A voice a little clearer and higher than an ordinary woman's, a refreshing voice.
At the voice coming from above my head, which I couldn't believe belonged to that tyrant Empress, I slowly and very carefully lifted my head.
I made eye contact with the woman sitting diagonally on the throne on the dais.
On her head, cold ice-colored light was mysteriously mixed into hair as white as snow, flowing down.
Pale, white skin and red lips, and ruby-colored eyes looking down at me.
The mad tyrant who stained half the continent with blood.
It was an unrealistic appearance that could steal a person's soul, completely unfitting for those cruel rumors.
"3rd Prince of the Rehentra Kingdom, Idelon Halden Rehentra. I greet the Sun of the Empire."
"Yes. Let's see if I can verify that meager loyalty your father claims to offer me."
As she flicked her finger, the Chief Chamberlain standing beside her approached me and bowed.
I swallowed dryly and took out the envelope with the royal seal from my bag.
Barely suppressing my fingertips from trembling uncontrollably, I carefully placed the surrender document I had taken out onto the Chief Chamberlain's silver tray.
The Chief Chamberlain immediately scanned the envelope with his eyes to check if there was any trickery, then handed it to the Empress.
The sound of the Empress, who received the envelope, tearing off the red wax with a knife sounded unusually loud.
Afterward, the paper was unfolded.
As soon as I saw that, I buried my forehead back into the floor.
Now, after she reads that surrender document, my fate will be decided.
Whether I will be recognized for my value as a hostage and keep my life until the war of conquest ends.
Or whether the fate of Rehentra will end at the same time my head rolls.
Kung, kung.
My heart was pounding as if it were going to break my ribs and pop out.
I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the verdict.
However.
"......."
Even after a minute passed, then two minutes, no voice was heard from above my head.
I didn't even feel the slightest movement from the other ministers.
So, the moment I finally couldn't stand it anymore and tried to sneakily lift my head to gauge the atmosphere.
"⋯⋯?"
I saw that the Empress's hand, which had been looking down at the surrender document, was visibly frozen.
A clear sense of bewilderment was rippling across her expressionless, ice-cold face.
'What is that, what on earth was written in the surrender document...?'
Could it be that this crazy King put some weird bullshit in there to get me killed?
I swallowed dryly, thinking that.
Cold sweat was flowing down uncontrollably.
If I delayed any longer, it felt like my head would roll down under that dais without me even knowing why.
I quickly racked my brain and looked around.
I was just about to carefully part my lips and frantically appeal that the nonsense written on that scrap of paper was entirely the King's responsibility and had nothing to do with me.
"Yo, Your Majesty. The contents of that document...."
But my excuse couldn't be finished.
Because the Empress, who had been resting her chin on the armrest, dropped the hand holding the document to the floor with a thud.
The Empress slowly rose from her seat.
Only the sound of rustling clothes filled the empty audience chamber.
"Good."
"⋯ Pardon?"
"I was already tired of the noble faction constantly pulling their bullshit anyway. This is actually for the best."
The Empress left behind those incomprehensible words and turned around sharply.
The Chief Chamberlain and the Grand Dukes who were standing by the dais also hurriedly followed her, looking flustered, and left the audience chamber.
The huge doors closed, and I was left alone in the Emperor's audience chamber.
'What the hell. What on earth does that mean?'