Chapter 45
The Flower That Bears a Sword - Chapter 45
Translation: godsn
"This isn't a particularly favorable situation, is it?"
"If Captain Yurien were the Crown Prince, there wouldn't be any issues. But he's the Third Prince. A royal who shouldn't shine is shining too brightly."
"Doesn't joining the Azure Sky Knights change one's nationality? Strictly speaking, he's no longer royalty."
"So you're saying the imperial citizens consider him a foreigner now?"
"......"
"He remains royalty to the end. Even if his nationality changed to Agenka, as long as his surname retains the Kyrie Empire and Harden Imperial Family. As long as the imperial people still regard him as their own prince."
Nicole dipped her spoon into the tea water. She began drawing patterns on the table with the liquid. First, she sketched a simple lion shape—the white lion symbol of the Kyrie Imperial Family.
"His Majesty the current Emperor had two empresses."
She drew a small circle beside the lion.
"His first empress during his Crown Prince days. Her health was frail, and she passed away shortly after His Majesty's ascension. The son born between her and His Majesty is the First Prince and current Crown Prince, Cruen de Harden Kyrie."
A line connected the lion to the first circle. Nicole wrote the number "1" below it. Then a new circle appeared.
"When the empress position became vacant, he welcomed his second empress. Two sons were born between her and His Majesty—Second Prince Karem and Third Prince Yurien."
Two lines extended from the new circle to the lion, marked with numbers "2" and "3" respectively. Then Nicole wiped the circle away with tea water.
"And the new empress passed away while giving birth to the Third Prince. You know the imperial throne has remained empty ever since, right?"
"I know. Because His Majesty loved the late second empress so deeply that he refused to take another consort. With three princes already, the ministers couldn't complain much."
"Exactly. The first empress was a political marriage, but the second was someone His Majesty truly loved. Quite the scandal too—she was the daughter of an insignificant baron. There were even rumors they'd been lovers before his first marriage. Now think, Eki."
Nicole tapped the Third Prince's position with her spoon. Then she pointed at the lion's head.
"How do you think His Majesty views the Third Prince? The empress he loved so dearly died giving birth to that child. His Majesty had no need for more sons."
"...You can't mean."
"I don't know the palace's intimate details. But it's certain His Majesty dislikes Captain Yurien. No—he likely despises him intensely. It might border on hatred."
"Even though he's the son of his beloved wife?"
"Because he's the child who devoured his beloved wife to be born."
Eki frowned. It was a bitter tale. She could imagine Yurien's upbringing hadn't been pleasant. Nicole set down her spoon and propped her chin.
"Now the succession is quite complicated. His Highness the Crown Prince is the First Prince, the heir apparent, with strong maternal relatives. He's also married to Duke Diassant's eldest daughter, strengthening his in-law connections. But His Majesty favors the Second Prince—the son of his beloved second empress."
"So those two are competing for the throne?"
"Precisely. And quite viciously too. While the Crown Prince's faction is firmly established, His Majesty openly supports the Second Prince."
"That's... a dangerous situation all around."
"Here's the question. With the Emperor-backed Second Prince on one side, and the First Prince with his strong maternal and in-law noble support and legitimate claim—if both factions are equally matched, which gains the advantage?"
"Whichever has the people's support?"
"Correct. So both sides are desperately proving their competence—showing they care for the citizens to win public favor. But what's the result? Which prince do imperial citizens currently know by name, care about, and praise?"
"Yurien de Harden Kyrie."
Echinacea answered blankly. Her own life had been far too tumultuous to pay attention to matters like imperial succession within the Kyrie royal family—she'd been largely unaware of these backroom dealings.
Come to think of it, who ultimately became emperor after the regression? After Agenka was massacred... Was it the Crown Prince?
As she sifted through her memories, Nicole continued calmly.
"Both the Crown Prince's faction and the Second Prince's faction see Captain Yurien as a thorn in their side. A common enemy. If only he'd been an unremarkable prince, there wouldn't be any problems. You know how it is—exceptional talent often becomes a curse."
Few would understand those words better than Echinacea. The tragedies born from her own talents had been nothing short of horrific. She closed her eyes for a long moment to steady the turmoil within. Nicole, oblivious to her distress, pressed on.
"Captain Yurien was excessively brilliant from childhood. I asked the elder mages at the Magic Tower—they said he achieved results in every field he studied that left the other princes far behind, which greatly displeased His Majesty the Emperor. That's why he was essentially exiled to Agenka."
"Wait—are you saying Captain Yurien didn't join the Azure Sky Knights of his own volition?"
"Officially, that's the story. In reality, it was closer to banishment. They couldn't execute or formally exile an innocent prince, so they sent him to Agenka under the pretext of his swordsmanship talent. But the result was..."
"...A Master. A Giosa Owner."
"Exactly. The eyesore they cast out ended up shining brighter than anyone. Must be utterly galling for His Majesty and the other princes."
Nicole gave a bitter laugh and shrugged. Echinacea stared blankly at the tea stains on the table. She'd had no idea. The Yurien she knew had always seemed noble and radiant—she'd assumed the only misfortune in his life had been getting entangled with her, the Demon of the Magic Sword.
Nicole exhaled heavily and sank deeper into her chair.
"That's the background. Now for the main point—why the Magic Sword was delivered to House Roaz. For the record, we never identified the exact culprit. Not that it matters, since we couldn't have done anything about it anyway."
"Because the imperial family was behind it?"
"Right. Either His Majesty's faction, the Second Prince's faction, or the Crown Prince's faction. Though His Majesty and the Second Prince's interests align so closely they might as well be one. Could've been all three in agreement, for that matter. The bottom line is—House Roaz was sacrificed in a scheme targeting Captain Yurien."
"A... scheme."
"No idea how the imperial family got their hands on the Magic Sword initially. Regardless, they wanted to stage a spectacle using it. With House Roaz as the sacrificial lamb. Look—Giosa Owners are nothing special, just inflated rumors. See how we handled the Magic Sword the Azure Sky missed? We don't need the Azure Sky. Whether they meant to prop up the Second Prince or the Crown Prince with that show depends on which faction was truly behind it."
Her teeth ground together unconsciously. Echinacea barely restrained the mana surging within her, thick with rage. She couldn't suppress the killing intent entirely—her violet eyes gleamed ominously. Her voice dropped to an icy murmur.
"All for that... they made House Roaz their sacrifice? Why us? Why?"
"Because you were convenient. And suitable."
"......"
"You didn't meddle in capital politics, so you had no real power or connections. Your territory wasn't critical, so collateral damage was acceptable. And you had just enough swordsmanship talent that the Magic Sword wouldn't grow excessively powerful."
Nicole's reply was bleak. The teacup handle crumbled to dust in Echinacea's grip. Her stomach churned; murderous intent flooded every vein.
[You're really pissed now. This killing intent is amazing! Hey, Master—I'm all for it, but if this keeps up, you're gonna lose control. Can I kill her?]
The magic sword reveled in the murderous intent radiating from her, yet remained cautious. Eki barely managed to steady her mind with deep, controlled breaths.
"Were we the only family that fit those conditions?"
"No, there were others. Why the Roaz family was specifically chosen among them—I don't know. Maybe they drew lots. Or perhaps it was because of me."
"Because of you?"
"I'm the disciple of a Sage, and the Roaz family is where I have ties. If that family suffered because of Giosa, and they pinned the blame on the Azure Sky Knights for failing to control it, wouldn't I be furious? Then my master, the Sage, would take notice too. That would make the spectacle just the right size—not too big, not too small."
Nicole twisted her lips. Eki, lost in thought for a moment, shook her head.
"It's not your fault. If the Magic Tower got involved, the truth might have come out—they wouldn't have risked that deliberately. Look at it now—you tracked them down and cornered them in the end. So the reason the Roaz family was... chosen must be something else."
A heat fiercer than the fever in her body surged up. Eki leaned back against the chair and buried her face in her hands. A deep, scorching, almost monstrous breath rose from her gut, searing her throat as it escaped. She tempered it with the self-control honed over nine years of wielding the magic sword.
Only now did she understand why, in her previous life, the Empire had stubbornly insisted on handling things themselves, excluding the Azure Sky Knights and forming their own subjugation squad.
Had Echinacea Roaz not been a once-in-a-generation prodigy, the imperial spectacle would have succeeded. But because she was a talent beyond imagination, their plans had collapsed spectacularly—and in an entirely different direction. The Demon of the Magic Sword had crushed Yurien and Agenka, after all.
And in this life? This time, the spectacle had failed too. Nothing had happened—the magic sword had simply vanished. So how had the shadowy mastermind—whether aligned with the Crown Prince or the Second Prince—responded to this outcome?
Nicole provided the answer. After studying Eki silently, she finally spoke.
"Eki. Earlier, I said the Roaz family would only be safe if Captain Yurien's engagement to Lady Diassant went through, right?"
"Yeah."
"Lady Diassant is the Crown Princess's younger sister. Which means this engagement is the Crown Prince's outstretched hand. It's essentially an ultimatum from the Crown Prince's faction to Captain Yurien."
"An ultimatum... You can't be serious."
"It's a demand: bow to the Crown Prince and become his loyal dog, or turn away and become his enemy. If he submits, the Crown Prince will use him to attack the Second Prince's faction. Of course, the Second Prince's side is trying to assassinate Lady Diassant to stop this engagement."
"What does that have to do with the Roaz family?"
"Listen. If he refuses this engagement, the Crown Prince and Captain Yurien become enemies. He'd be completely at odds with the entire imperial family."
"But there's the Second Prince. If he refuses the engagement, he could ally with the Second Prince's faction—"
"No, the Second Prince's side could never accept Captain Yurien as an ally. The Second Prince's biggest supporter, His Majesty the Emperor, despises him. Besides, the Crown Prince at least has administrative authority, so he could keep Yurien under his wing, but the Second Prince is a knight. If he took Yurien in, he'd be overshadowed by Yurien's prestige."
"...So refusing this engagement would mean Captain Yurien becomes an enemy of the entire Kyrie imperial family."
"Exactly. He's already at odds with the Second Prince, and the Crown Prince was his only remaining option... Refusing his proposal would seal it. Rejecting the engagement is practically a declaration of war against the Kyrie imperial family. And the first to be in danger would be the Roaz County."
"Why would the Roaz family be involved now?"
Eki lifted her head, her expression bewildered. Nicole adjusted her monocle carefully before answering.
"The ones who sent the magic sword are suspicious. They suspect there's some kind of connection between the Roaz family and Captain Yurien."