Chapter 7
Chapter 7
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Windfall
-----------------------------------------------------------------
……No, wait a second.
What good does it do to figure this out? This is the last regression anyway, so there's no next time to use it.
……I'll drink it.
I held my breath and brought the problematic elixir to my lips. Midway through gulping it down, Lania spoke in a quiet voice.
"It might not seem like much right away, but the Growth Elixir will definitely show results in the long term. There might be a bit of trouble right after you drink it, so please don't be too startled. Girls!"
"Hm?"
In that instant, the four maids waiting outside rushed into the room. At the same time, as I emptied the vial, a tingling sensation shot through my limbs like an electric shock.
It was the precursor to the storm that would follow.
"Ugh…… Aaaargh!"
Soon, pain like my joints were grinding apart hit me, followed by shocks coursing through my body as if I'd been electrocuted by high voltage.
"Forgive our rudeness!"
"We're sorry, Your Highness!"
"Hold him down quick! Hurry!"
The swarming maids grabbed my limbs to keep me from thrashing. At the same time, Lania wrapped her fingers in a handkerchief and shoved them into my mouth as she shouted.
"We're sorry, Your Highness! It's okay—just bite down hard!"
"Mmph……."
"Your Highness! We know it hurts! So please……."
"Mmph. Mmphmph."
I shook my head with a face that said I was fine. Lania pulled her fingers out of my mouth in surprise.
"Th-that…… This is supposed to cause intense nerve pain when……."
"It's fine. It hurt for a second, but it's settling down now."
To be precise, the pain canceled out with the effect of the 'Pain Killer' I'd prepared in advance and vanished. At that, Lania and the maids gripping my limbs all scurried back and prostrated themselves on the floor.
"We're sorry, Your Highness. We've committed a grave sin worthy of death……."
"It's fine. You held me down because you thought I'd hurt myself if I thrashed, right? I'm okay, so get up."
"Your Highness……."
The maids rose with moved expressions. But Lania bowed her head again, her face somehow conflicted.
"I've committed a sin worthy of death. It's a relief the pain was weaker than expected, but…… I wanted to restore Your Highness's growth even if it meant doing this. Please forgive me."
"Cut the nonsense. You did it for my sake—what's there to forgive? More importantly……."
The pain was gone, but a noxious smell that numbed my nose kept rising from inside me. I wrinkled my nose and shuddered repeatedly.
"This smell is fucking awful. I never want to taste this again as long as I live."
"But Your Highness, to let the Growth Elixir take effect, you need to drink it at least once a day."
"Every day?"
Every day is too much! Even if it makes me grow taller again.
……No, wait.
My current height is about 145cm.
With a build like this, no matter how much I train my body, I can't expect proper results. I already tried it in the fifth regression, and it plateaued at a mediocre level.
But if I hit 175cm—no, at least 165cm?
Then there's hope!
Thanks to that, how many body-related opportunities did I skip or give up on in the last regression? Maybe this time I can grab them all at once?
"Head maid."
At that moment, a new maid who was incredibly tall with sharp eyes poked her head into the room.
"A messenger just arrived from the imperial palace. He said Your Highness is still unwell in your chambers, so he left this and went back."
"Meredes. When His Highness is present, greet him first. That's a grave discourtesy."
At Lania's reprimand, the maid called Meredes deeply bowed toward me in apology.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness. In my foolishness, I've committed a sin worthy of death. Please forgive me."
"It's not that serious. But who are you? I don't think I've seen you before."
"I'm Meredes. I usually work in the mansion's basement and don't come out much."
Meredes introduced herself slowly in a stiff tone, as if she lacked social graces.
Of course, I knew exactly who she was.
The maids of the Lunenbreth family were mostly handpicked by Lania herself from children with talent as elixir makers.
Among them, Meredes had exceptional talent for gathering elixir ingredients.
She spent most of her time wandering forests and the wilds, and even when back at the mansion, she holed up in the basement processing the materials she'd collected.
So, if I took the elixir maker route, she'd be the most helpful girl around. I recalled how close I'd gotten with Meredes during my second and third regressions.
"Meredes, huh. Nice to meet you. So, what did you bring?"
"This is…… a letter from Prince Jess, who is currently acting as regent."
Lania took the scroll instead and bit her lip.
"Your Highness, if it's not too rude, may I look at it first?"
"Yeah. Go ahead."
"Thank you. Then……."
Lania examined the scroll carefully with a grave expression. Since she knew Jess was the one who'd poisoned me, she was probably checking if there was any poison this time too.
"It's a summons."
After checking the contents, she looked shocked. There was a bunch of irrelevant fluff, but the gist was to come to the 'Chamber of the Empire' in the grand hall of the imperial palace by 3 p.m.
"Isn't the Chamber of the Empire where the emperor gathers his ministers to discuss state affairs? Why summon Your Highness there?"
"I don't know either. But 3 p.m. means we need to get ready right now."
It took over three hours by carriage from the mansion to the palace. Flying through the sky like last night would've taken less than 30 minutes, though.
"The palace right now is Prince Jess the regent's domain. And he's the culprit who poisoned Your Highness."
"Yeah. The fourth brother was just the messenger boy—the real one is the second brother."
"The summons doesn't specify anything, but…… it won't be anything good. Even if you're angry, please don't bring up the poison. A direct clash now would only hurt Your Highness."
Lania pleaded with a worried face. I just smiled and nodded.
"I won't say a word. I'll just nod and come back, right?"
"You must endure whatever they say. At least for now."
"Got it. I'll listen to the cursing and do whatever they tell me to. My reputation's in the gutter anyway, right? Now that I've come to my senses, I need to change it bit by bit."
To be precise, I planned to flip my entire reputation with this one move.
The reason Jess summoned me to the palace now was to appoint me as commander of the relief force the empire was dispatching.
The so-called 'Elstone War' event.
This was one of the biggest incidents that always happened early in the regression.
The Elstone Earldom, at the eastern edge of the empire, had been at war with a force called the 'Commander Army' for a year already.
Unable to hold out any longer, they'd repeatedly requested relief troops from the central government, but Jess, who'd deliberately ignored them, appoints me as commander at the last moment just to screw me over.
From here, various possibilities branched out.
In the first regression, I accepted without knowing better and nearly died for real.
In the second, I barely handed the position to Albert, who jumped in midway, and bought some time…… Come to think of it, since Albert's dead this time, no midway intervention.
Anyway, the plan was already set—I just had to execute it. With this one shot, I'd be reborn from the 'empire's unprecedented wastrel' to the 'savior chosen by the gods'!
* * *
The empire's second prince, Jess, was 26 this year—exactly ten years older than my 16.
With the emperor fallen and unconscious, and even the crown prince shut away in his detached palace with an unknown illness, Jess had seized the regency and was running the empire's affairs with strong support from the heavyweights.
That was the first reason not to kill Jess right away early in the regression.
I'd found out he was a traitor bought by otherworld spies, and after feeding me poison for years, I wanted to grab the bastard and torture him immediately……
But killing him off without a plan would collapse the empire's government and cause even greater damage.
"Anyway, there are just too many bastards I need to kill……."
Muttering complaints under my breath, I entered the 'Chamber of the Empire' at the heart of the imperial palace.
The moment I did, the gazes of the assembled ministers focused on me.
-Isn't that…… Prince Claude?
-What's going on? Is this important matter today related to Prince Claude?
-Doesn't he have any shame? After what he did a year ago, he sure has the gall to show up.
-Wasn't he confined to some rundown mansion?
-Still the size of a pea. How can someone of imperial blood be so stunted?
-Rumors say he spends all day in pleasure districts, living a debauched life at his age……
Argh, these fuckers whispering right in my face.
It's been ages since I've felt this pissed. Even after ten regressions, I never get used to this gossip. Wait, since they're whispering openly, is this front-talk instead of back-talk?
"Silence, ministers."
My second brother Jess, seated on the throne, stood and quieted the room.
To be precise, it wasn't the throne but a temporary chair in front of it, yet Jess, wielding the empire's full authority, still cut an imposing figure.
"Long time no see, Claude. Have you been well?"
"Yes, brother. Thanks to your concern, my health has improved greatly."
I held back the twitch in my cheekbones and bowed my head.
This loathsome bastard.
After poisoning me for years, how dare he say that?