Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: The Culprit Was Closest
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The guest chambers had been neatly prepared by the duchy's maids, who arrived early to welcome their lady.
Canelian finished her bath under their care and lay down on the bed.
Her close attendant, Emma, dipped her hands in scented oil and massaged it evenly over Canelian's body.
"Emma, I got a marriage proposal."
"Pardon?"
Emma startled and froze.
Without meeting her eyes, Canelian stared at the ceiling and continued.
"Not sure if you could even call it that."
"Did another young lord fall for you at first sight?"
Emma's eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"...Prince Ragna."
"...?"
Emma gaped in shock, mouth opening and closing soundlessly.
Only then did Canelian turn and chuckle softly.
"Want to know what that lunatic said?"
"W-what did he say...?"
"He said as a knight, I'd be better at night duties than my frail sister, and I'd produce better heirs too. So, he figured I'd be the superior choice."
"Lady Canelian..."
"Wouldn't it be better if I took her place?"
Duchess Ceres had grown weaker by the day since her engagement.
A few days before the wedding departure, she had refused all food and drink.
Life as that scoundrel's bride wouldn't last long.
Yet the ducal couple couldn't stop the marriage.
The duchy was dependent on the kingdom for its economy and defense.
"The Prince is so fickle. If that's the case, why didn't he accept you as the fiancée from the start when our duchy offered you?"
"He chose the frail sister because he thought tormenting her would be more fun."
Switching the marriage partner to Canelian posed no issue.
Having siblings substitute in political marriages was commonplace, not even worth joking about.
What mattered was the union of houses.
"But Lady Canelian, are you really okay with this? Prince Ragna finds pleasure in beating people and inflicting pain."
"He might hit my sister, but me?"
"Ah."
Emma didn't know her lady was a Swordmaster.
But she knew she was an exceptionally talented knight.
"Even so, what about your life, Lady Canelian?"
"Doesn't matter. I'm married to the sword anyway."
"Still..."
"Who knows? If I beat him enough, he might reform. Until then, I won't let him lay a finger on me."
"Lady Canelian..."
"It's all for my sister."
Emma's eyes welled with tears.
Canelian closed her eyes and murmured her true feelings inwardly, unspoken.
'Pure evil doesn't change.'
She pictured the prince's face.
That exquisitely sculpted beauty, gleaming brilliantly even in faint moonlight.
Why had God housed such pure evil in that perfect form?
Canelian recalled the moment as a child when she first saw Prince Ragna and her heart nearly burst.
She couldn't forget his radiant smile as he whipped a maid hung upside down, drenched in her blood.
Afterward, the lingering flutter she felt for him remained an indelible shame.
'The whip shapes the man. But...'
Evil can't be changed.
That's what makes it evil.
A savage temperament that reveled in cruelty.
A national treasury drained by extreme extravagance.
If he became king, the kingdom would decline sharply.
Perhaps even perish.
And if the kingdom fell, her homeland—the duchy—would crumble too.
'Maintain the marriage just enough, then stage an accident. If Prince Ragna just disappears, both kingdom and duchy can find happiness.'
Canelian resolved to shoulder it all.
For everyone.
She checked on the king—her body’s father—lying in his sickbed.
He looked peacefully asleep.
Not on the verge of death.
"His Highness regains his senses for only about three hours a day at most."
"Hmm, that grave?"
"It pains me to report..."
The royal physician trembled, fearing I might flog him.
"No chance of recovery?"
"Severe mana depletion syndrome makes full healing difficult. With utmost care, he could live to a ripe old age."
"Sounds like he'll just lie there wheezing indefinitely."
"Th-that is..."
For a prince, that was mild.
'Less than a month until the national mourning.'
I knew.
Despite the physician's assurances, the king had little time left.
About three weeks after Duchess Ceres arrived, his condition would worsen fatally.
'Signs of the great explosion appear shortly after the king's death.'
Signs of the great explosion.
Rats first overrun the royal castle.
Wild and mountain beasts appear noisily.
Small animals flee far from the castle.
Sensing the kingdom-erasing cataclysm, they escape.
'After the king dies, use the coronation as excuse to evacuate the kingdom.'
While fleeing at night, I'd nearly died to a passing beast, confirming it.
Level 1 solo survival outside cities was too perilous.
For safe growth, I needed forces.
'Issue a total mobilization under pilgrimage to the holy site and coronation pretext. Drag as many as possible. Save the maximum.'
The holy site, where Arcana's Ancestor laid the kingdom's foundation.
A massive rock mountain at the northern edge, unscathed even by the great explosion.
'Total mobilization to drag everyone... I'll eat eternal hate.'
Couldn't take them all,
but could save many.
They'd stop cursing once their homes vanished.
'Problem is Canelian.'
She saw this body as pure evil; no redemptive act would sway her.
'So damn tough. Why possess such a trash character?'
For now, I'd postponed her assassination.
Prioritize dodging the kingdom-wiping explosion.
The training grounds.
Canelian pretended to teach Emma swordsmanship while focusing on the main palace.
Prince Ragna finally emerged after visiting the sickbed.
Canelian swung her sword,
and Emma in training garb followed the arc to parry.
"Emma, the king is a sage ruler, right?"
"Yes, Duchess. A sage whose praises echo through history."
"Then why falter on succession?"
"Well..."
"If Princess Raisha became queen, both Arcana and Elryad would prosper."
Raisha, the scoundrel Prince Ragna's sister.
Wise, virtuous, considerate.
All nobles and citizens lamented she wasn't born male.
"The king's desire to pass the throne to his son is obsessively strong. And he's truly a sage."
Queens were common on the continent.
But Arcana Kingdom had rejected princesses since founding.
"Duchess, the Prince is coming this way."
"I know."
Canelian feigned ignorance, continuing Emma's training.
Only when the prince neared did she lower her sword.
Unlike sweat-soaked Emma, Canelian's breath was steady.
"Diligent in training."
"Miss a day with the sword, and it feels like sin."
Prince Ragna smiled faintly.
Sculpted perfection.
Canelian loathed herself for finding it handsome.
"Thought about my proposal?"
"Were you serious?"
"Thought it a lie?"
"Thought you were teasing."
"Hardly. I like strong women like you. The conquest is thrilling."
"..."
"This is my grace upon you. Expect fitting tribute. Let me see..."
'What? Acting like I've already agreed?'
His gaze roamed her body.
As Canelian felt humiliated, his hand reached for her chest.
She nearly drew her hidden sword in reflex.
But too many eyes watched.
'Damn... this insult, I'll repay later...'
Then, his hand plucked the black brooch from her neck.
"This brooch will do as betrothal gift."
"...?"
Canelian blinked in surprise.
His lustful eyes fixed not on her, but the brooch.
'Why Grandmother's heirloom?'
Precious to her,
but low market value.
"What's that look? You didn't know?"
"...Pardon?"
"Tsk tsk, carrying a precious artifact unaware."
The prince released it with bored disinterest.
A meaningful smile swept her face.
"The Emerald Lake Queen would grieve. Someone wearing her carefully crafted Blue Brooch, oblivious to its worth."
"...!"
The prince turned away, uninterested.
Canelian shuddered.
'He knows this brooch?'
Emerald Lake Queen's Blue Brooch.
The 'black brooch's' true name.
Canelian had been puzzled when Grandmother first told her, and Grandmother had laughed, unsure herself.
Yet the prince spoke as if knowing its name and origins.
'An artifact? Is the prince a high appraiser?'
A high-level player grabs this mythic item during tutorial.
Yet Canelian and all Elryad knew nothing.
'At this time, even relic (B)-grade appraisers are high-level.'
I'd mimicked an appraiser with Discernment Eye,
and Canelian's sword tip had hesitated.
A vast marble bathtub fit dozens.
Soaking in hot water, pondering survival paths.
Suddenly, the door creaked open.
I jolted, thinking an assassin.
A pretty maid, towel-wrapped, bowed politely.
"Your Highness, I shall attend you."
I nodded casually.
She shed the towel, entering nude.
Embarrassing, but couldn't send her away.
Behind me, she washed my hair.
Rinsed the foam, soaped my back meticulously.
Good the steam hid me.
My face must be beet red.
She pressed close, soft sensation on my back.
Faint breath near my ear.
'You two, what was your relationship?'
Need to check the prince's memories soon.
This looks like...
"Preparations for the great undertaking are complete, Your Highness."
...Huh?
What?
"Give the order. All shall stake their lives to topple the old sun and pledge loyalty to the new sun, Your Majesty."
Wait.
The king's death in a month wasn't from sudden decline.
It was me.
No, the prince was the culprit?