Chapter 599
Chapter Title: The Princess's Legacy
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599.
“What?”
Reina’s eyes widened as she checked the documents Leo had received.
“This is outside the imperial territory, isn’t it? And the Lesentheng region? How does Father own this prime piece of land?”
“Indeed. Are you pleased with your father’s gift?”
“Looks like you did quite well for yourself as the family head. When did you get so good at pocketing things on the side?”
At Reina’s words, Legas covered his face.
“Someone might misunderstand if they heard you say that. This land was left by your mother.”
“Mom? Mom owned this much land?!”
“Your mother was the princess of Tungken, the duchy of the sword that once ruled the Lesentheng region.”
“Mom was royalty?”
Reina looked utterly shocked by this revelation.
“The Kingdom of Tungken? I’ve never heard that name before.”
As Leo tilted his head, Legas spoke.
“That’s understandable. It was a hero kingdom that fell before your mother was even born.”
A hero kingdom.
The term referred to nations, the size of duchies, founded by powerful heroes.
“It was destroyed by an invasion from Tartaros around the time your grandfather was Lis’s age.”
Leo looked puzzled at those words.
“Then isn’t another power established in the Lesentheng region now?”
“The power currently occupying the Lesentheng region is the Tussen Knights, who were once Tungken’s most elite knight order. Their loyalty to Tungken remains, and even after all these years, they are still searching for the Tungken bloodline.”
“Why did Mom keep her origins a secret, even from us? And why didn’t she return to Tungken if she was royalty? I’m sure the Tussen Knights would have immediately crowned her as their queen.”
Seeing Reina’s confused expression, Legas gave a bitter smile.
“Your mother certainly would have become queen had she returned to Tungken. But Naila carried a great sense of guilt for failing to prevent Tungken’s fall. She refused to return to her homeland her entire life, saying she could not reign over a land she failed to protect.”
The former mistress of the Jerdinger family.
Naila Jerdinger was also renowned as a noble knight.
“Is it really alright for you to pass such land on to me?”
“I am aware that your goal as a hero is the complete destruction of Erebos.”
It was a grand dream, the desire of all who lived in the world, yet one that no one dared to speak aloud.
“Your mother greatly resembled your grandmother.”
Legas smiled wistfully as he looked at his daughter.
“She used to say that those born with power must have been born with it for a reason.”
“She certainly did say that.”
Reina nodded.
“Your grandmother’s conviction was that such power must be used to protect the weak and the good. Some may have scoffed at it, calling it a sacrifice, but I believe it is because of such noble people that the world has triumphed over great evil thus far. And Leo.”
Legas’s red eyes turned to Leo.
“You are someone who does not hesitate in the slightest to devote yourself to the world.”
Legas had watched Leo’s progress ever since his entrance exam.
And he was overjoyed by what he had seen.
It wasn't simply because his grandson possessed outstanding talent.
It was because he had caught a glimpse of a true hero’s shadow in Leo.
He pulled his potential rivals along from the front and sometimes supported them from behind.
Though he could easily get far ahead, he never ran alone.
He waited for those who fell behind, growing together with them.
That was enough to know.
That his outrageous goal of the complete destruction of Erebos was sincere.
“I believed that someone like you was worthy of inheriting your grandmother’s legacy.”
Legas fiddled with the pendant around his neck.
Inside was a picture of his wife, who had passed away long ago.
“Power comes in many forms. An individual’s martial strength is power, but the forces one commands are also a formidable power that cannot be ignored.”
This was also why Reina wanted to pass on a large territory to her son.
That land would surely become the foundation upon which Leo could build his power.
There was a limit to an individual’s strength.
Only when Leo had a power base to support him.
He believed that only then could Leo truly spread his wings as a hero.
‘The path Leo intends to walk will be anything but smooth.’
“If the legacy of Tungken is used to achieve complete peace in the world, your grandmother would be happier than anyone. That is why I am passing this land to you.”
Leo nodded at his words.
“Father.”
“Are you moved by your old man’s sentiment?”
“You’re not planning to call it even with this, are you? This is Mom’s inheritance, so you need to calculate what the Jerdinger family owes Leo separately and give it to him properly. Understood?”
“……”
Watching Reina make sure to get what was hers, Legas asked.
“Just who do you take after?”
“Mom.”
***
Celia, who had been waiting in front of the Elder’s Hall, hurriedly asked as soon as Leo came out.
“What happened?”
At Celia’s urgent question, Leo answered.
“For now, it’s been roughly settled that I’ll inherit territory in the northern part of the empire.”
“What? Our family’s territory in the northern empire is mostly barren mountain ranges!”
“I’m supposed to receive a portion of the land my mother was meant to inherit after I graduate.”
“That’s ridiculous! You should be inheriting all of your aunt’s legacy right now, and even that’s not enough!”
Celia flared up.
“You seem more upset about this than I am.”
“This is a matter of treatment! Did my aunt just stand by and do nothing?”
“My lady. Please calm down.”
“Ah, Young Miss.”
Niel and Martina tried to soothe Celia.
“She didn’t just stand by. She caused a huge scene, saying she’d have me marry Chelsea.”
“Whaaaaaat!?”
“Chelsea? As in Chelsea of the Llewellyn family?!”
Martina and Niel wore expressions of horror.
“What are you talking about! Why would you marry Chelsea Llewellyn! I’ll never allow it!”
Celia protested, her face flushed red.
Leo’s other knights also gaped in surprise.
At that, Leo said.
“Why are you all so surprised? It’s not like it’s actually going to happen.”
“R-right? Of course! There’s no way you’d marry Chelsea Llewellyn!”
Celia calmed her startled heart.
“So?”
“My grandfather stepped in and mediated.”
“How?”
“He decided to pass the Lesentheng region on to me in exchange for following the Elder Council’s decision for now.”
“The Lesentheng region? That’s not imperial territory, is it? And it has no connection to our family. Or is there another region called Lesentheng within the empire?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
Niel shook his head.
“It’s not in the northern empire. It turns out that land belonged to my grandmother.”
Leo told Celia the story he had heard from Legas.
Celia’s eyes widened in surprise as she listened.
“What? Then… does that mean you’ve become the rightful owner of Tungken?”
“I suppose so.”
“So you’re a king?”
“I guess it does.”
“You’re really something else.”
He seemed completely unfazed by the fact that he had essentially inherited an entire country.
‘His capacity is truly immense.’
“I’m thinking of going to Lesentheng in two days.”
“Then I’m coming too. My grandmother’s land… I’m curious.”
Celia’s eyes sparkled.
Leo chuckled at the sight and looked down at his hand.
‘A king.’
He thought of his friend who had been called the King of Wisdom.
‘I feel like I’m becoming more and more like him.’
***
Three people approached Lis, who had just suppressed the eastern rebels.
“Excellent, Lis. To quell the rebellion so quickly without any casualties. Truly a worthy rival.”
Ulta spread his arms wide, making a fuss.
Behind Ulta, Torua clicked her tongue.
“My magic would have resolved this more cleanly and simply.”
“I couldn’t ask guests like you to handle something like this. Besides, it could have caused diplomatic issues.”
Looking at the smiling Lis, Jamua smacked his lips.
“Times like these make me miss our carefree student days.”
“Yeah, you’re right. If we got into trouble, the academy would take care of everything.”
Torua nodded in agreement.
“Just what kind of magic fool and muscle-head would do such shameless things? As a top student, I simply cannot comprehend such delinquents.”
“You were the worst of them all.”
Torua nudged Ulta’s head with her staff.
Jamua, who had been clicking his tongue at their bickering, noticed Lis’s serious expression and asked.
“What’s wrong? Is something the matter?”
“No, I just heard something that’s been bothering me.”
“What is it?”
“While I was subduing the enemies, many of them screamed that my flames were the flames of a demon.”
“Demon flames?”
Jamua narrowed his brow.
“Yes. And they seemed to fear my flames as if they had seen them before.”
The flames of the Jerdinger family were crimson flames imbued with the power of a phoenix.
They were clearly different from ordinary aura flames or magical flames.
Or even the flames of mystical beasts and spirits.
Anyone would recognize them as the flames of the Jerdinger family.
“Your family’s flames are the flames of a phoenix.”
“That’s right. And in Rodren, the Jerdingers are the only ones who wield the power of the phoenix.”
“Maybe they were just mistaken?”
“I wish that were the case.”
They had clearly feared the Jerdinger flames.
It was strange that rebels had witnessed the Jerdinger flames—something an ordinary person might not see once in their lifetime—multiple times.
‘This is concerning.’
“Or, Lis, I’ve developed a new interrogation spell. Want me to help?”
Torua asked, sitting down next to Lis.
Jamua clicked his tongue at her.
“Have you already forgotten that outsiders aren’t supposed to get involved in this incident?”
“Tsk, tsk. Jamua, I’ve told you before, but you are severely lacking in love.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
“Can you truly not see that Torua’s desire to help Lis is love?”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
As Torua scowled, Ulta spread his arms.
“There is no need to hide it, Torua. For I have seen it! I saw you emerging from the window of Lis’s dormitory room at dawn on graduation day!”
“What? So after all your denials, you two were actually a thing?”
Hearing Ulta’s words, Jamua grinned slyly.
Seeing the two of them, Torua smiled faintly.
“Yes. But that’s a secret between me and Lis.”
“Well, it’s not just between the two of you anymore, is it? Ulta and I know now.”
“No. It will continue to be a secret just between the two of us.”
“How?”
“I just have to kill everyone who knows the secret.”
The moment they heard that, Ulta and Jamua fled without a second glance.
Torua chased after them with an intensity that suggested she really meant to kill them.
Watching their retreating figures, Lis sighed.
“Some things never change, even after graduation.”
***
“Did I lose them?”
Torua clicked her tongue with a ‘tch’.
“I don’t care about Ulta, but Jamua… I have to deal with that big mouth somehow.”
Torua stroked her chin, lost in thought.
‘Jamua’s brain is probably made of muscle too, so it shouldn’t be a problem if I use a slightly stronger mind-control spell on him, right?’
As she was seriously contemplating this and heading back towards Lis, she realized someone was blocking her path and looked up.
A man in a black hood was holding a sword.
‘A rebel?’
Just as Torua wore a puzzled expression.
“Torua Yan?”
“Do you know me?”
“I heard you are a famous hero candidate of this era.”
Beneath the hood, the man’s lips curved into a smile.
“I’ll be taking your magical power.”
Fwoosh-!
Crimson flames erupted from the man’s sword.
Torua’s eyes widened.
It was a flame she knew all too well.
A flame she had seen from the moment she entered Lumerne until the moment she graduated.
“The Jerdinger flames?”