Persuasion
Before reaching our destination, we stopped at a village to secure lodging, intending to abandon our carriage and switch to horses. We also needed to give Ratel, who was struggling to open his eyes, some time to recover. At least, that was what I had thought when Jing laid Ratel down on the bed. Shring. If I had known the bastard would thrust a sword at my throat the moment he opened his eyes, I might have reconsidered. A finely honed blade held a perilously close distance to the tip of my neck.
"It seems you two finished your little chat while I was out," Ratel said, his gaze shifting between Jing and me. "Is it my turn now?"
"Ratel, stop this at once! He is not the kind of person you think he is!" Jing cried out in panic, but the sword pressed against my throat didn't budge an inch.
"Didn't they call that man a prince back at the tower?" Ratel retorted sullenly. His golden eyes locked onto me, slowly scanning my face.
Well, I had expected at least this much. From the moment I resolved to show myself to him, I had prepared myself to answer the countless questions he would inevitably have. Swallowing hard past my dry, scratchy throat, I slowly spoke.
"Right. I'm sure you have plenty of questions. But you'd better choose them wisely. We don't have much time."
Before Dito's power grew any further, Ratel needed to grow stronger too. And before that, I had to convince him of my utility and the reality of our current situation. Mentally rehearsing the answers to the questions he would likely ask, I watched his face as he pondered. Finally, he parted his lips.
"How old are you?"
...That was the last question I expected. He really was the protagonist of a novel; not a single one of my predictions hit the mark. Feeling all the prepared answers in my head evaporate, I let out a mental sigh at his twisted sense of etiquette, checking whether I was older or younger even in a situation like this.
"I'm twen... nineteen. I'm older than you, at least."
I was so flabbergasted I almost blurted out my actual age. Ratel's face scrunched up in dissatisfaction, as if he were debating whether a mere two-year age gap warranted dropping honorifics.
"Is your hair naturally that color?"
At least this question was somewhat sensible.
"Yes, it's been this color since birth. Thanks to that, I'm treated like an unwanted black sheep in the imperial family. I don't possess any power, you see."
Ratel listened quietly to my half-truth. Not that he lowered the sword pointed at my neck, though.
"This is also the reason why I'm helping you. If I had just stayed still, I would have surely died by Dito's hand."
"Dito is targeting you, even though you have no power?" Ratel asked, furrowing his brow.
"I'm not his only target. Every member of the imperial family will die by his hand."
Just as in the original story, Dito would want to seize the power of every imperial family member. Of course, the original Ran Abaran's role was merely to be his test subject. In the original novel, Ran Abaran had desperately wanted to escape his powerless state—so much so that he swallowed the mysterious red mass Dito offered him without a single doubt.
"Didn't Dito swallow something strange during your fight?" At my question, Ratel gave a small nod, as if something had clicked.
"That was the power he stole after murdering Rasiah. Ah, Rasiah was the First Prince of this empire."
"With Prince Rasiah dead, it is only a matter of time before Dito becomes the next Emperor," Jing muttered, his expression turning grim at my words.
"And Dito has no intention of becoming Emperor. What he wants is greater power. Though for the time being, he'll be nursing a massive headache over the Red Book he failed to obtain."
"What on earth is this Red Book?" Jing asked, having held back his curiosity for so long that he temporarily forgot to restrain Ratel.
"If you want an answer, could you perhaps get this thing away from me first?" My timid rebellion bore no fruit.
"Don't try anything funny." It only resulted in his sword drawing even closer. I swallowed hard and spoke submissively.
"To put it simply, it's a travelogue. To be more precise, it's a historical record completely devoid of any historian's personal commentary, as it was written directly by Sierra Abaran himself. The method Prince Dito used to murder Rasiah is also recorded within it."
My answer must have been incredibly shocking, as both the Duke's and Jing's eyes widened.
"Y-You burned something so important... No, more importantly, wouldn't it be disastrous if the remaining parts of a book containing such dangerous secrets fell into Prince Dito's hands?"
"Yes, it would be a disaster. That's why I made sure he couldn't take it."
The Duke's brow furrowed, clearly unable to comprehend my reasoning.
"But you said you left it beneath Prince Rasiah's corpse..."
As if I would do something so reckless. If that fell into Dito's hands, my life would become infinitely more troublesome.
"I did leave it there. Though I burned every single page containing crucial information."
I saw the Duke squeeze his eyes shut, but I didn't have the luxury to wait for him to regain his peace of mind. Shifting my gaze, I looked at the sword still steadily threatening my throat, and then at its owner.
"Do you understand now? I'm the only one who can guide you. So, how about you put away this terrifying thing?"
Since the Red Book that was supposed to serve as his adventure guide was gone, he would need my help to leave the capital and set out on his journey. Whether that period would be long or short, and whether anyone wished for it or not.
The protagonist of the novel had finally opened his eyes. Though unlike the original work, he had suffered a crushing defeat. There was a preordained fate, and if they ever found out that the reason it went awry was because of me, a transmigrator who possessed this body... what kind of faces would they make? I could say with absolute certainty that Ratel wouldn't have shown the grace of giving me time to explain myself like he just did. Therefore, this was a secret I had to take to my grave.
My standoff with the protagonist did not last very long. Click.
"I've brought your me—oh my." It was thanks to the kindness of the innkeeper, who had been so eager to deliver our food that he forgot to knock.
"P-Please enjoy your meal." He practically threw the three bowls of stew onto the floor before hastily sliding the door shut and retreating.
"What if he goes and calls the village guard?" I said, implying that he should hurry up and put his weapon away.
Ratel stared at me with unreadable eyes. Watching the blade pointed at my throat slowly retreat, I quietly let out a breath. Without waiting for me to catch my wind, he spoke.
"For a powerless prince, you seem to know far too much."
"Precisely because I have no power. I had to run around frantically just to survive." I answered quickly, aiming to effectively convey that I harbored no ill will and would do my best to help him.
"How did you find out that the Second Prince steals Manis?"
My explanations had been riddled with lies from the start, but what was about to begin now was a masterpiece of pure fraud, blackmail, and deception. I swallowed hard, keeping my eyes locked onto his.
"That's all thanks to you." Fortunately, the lie slipped out much smoother than expected, causing Ratel's eyes to darken.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Because six years ago, your escape from the capital allowed me to learn about 'Amica's Prophecy'."
Unfortunately, I realized in a rather unpleasant way that his previous threats had merely been a form of cautious wariness.
"Are you saying you were there that day, six years ago?" As he asked, he rose to his feet, and tiny droplets of light began to coalesce around him. It meant he was losing control of his emotions. This was a phenomenon that rarely appeared even in the original novel. His reaction was far more intense than I had anticipated. Before Ratel could get any more worked up, I took a subtle step back.
"Yes. Though at the time, I didn't realize what I was looking at." Ratel's ragged breathing settled slightly. He glared at me, silently demanding that I continue.
"On the day of the ritual, there was a carriage the Empress secretly brought into the palace. You would know better than anyone." There was no reply, but he had to know. After all, he was the very person riding inside it.
Ninety percent of the time, a lie is given away by one's eyes. Keep your eyes steady, don't let your voice tremble, and don't stutter. Finally, mix a grain of truth into the falsehood, and you have a convincing lie. However, my opponent possessed the instincts of a wild beast. I quietly held my breath, preparing to deliver one of the greatest lies of my life.
"That day, you weren't the only one in the Empress's room." Glancing sideways at his clenching fists, I prayed desperately. Please, just don't punch me with that.
"You were in the Empress's room?" Ratel questioned.
"Yes. I hid in there while running away from the Empress's son." The "Empress's son" I was referring to was Selos. Thinking that I should thank him if we ever crossed paths again, I spun my tale.
"And I saw you. I saw the Empress trying to kill you, and I saw you survive and escape. All of it."
"And why did you just stand by and watch?" he asked, having regained his usual composure. Praying that my voice wouldn't shake, I spoke.
"I told you. I didn't know what I was witnessing back then. I was too busy running away in terror."
"Running away..." Ratel muttered, repeating my words.
"If you don't believe me, I can recount everything that happened in that room that night. Is that not enough?" I had to force myself not to look away from his eyes. Aside from the fact that I could indeed describe everything that happened that night, the rest was utter bullshit. There was no way Ran Abaran had been there. It was late at night, so he was probably fast asleep in his own bed. But there was no way for Ratel to verify that.
The eyes staring at me blinked once. Even if he couldn't fully believe me, it was too ambiguous for him to dismiss it as a flat-out lie. Besides, our current situation didn't afford us the luxury of a prolonged interrogation.
"I learned about the prophecy, and through a book I found in the Empress's room, I learned about the Holy Relics. With Dito poised to slaughter the entire imperial family at any moment, you were my best option."
"Lord Ran, that prophecy..." Jing asked cautiously, observing Ratel's turbulent demeanor.
"It is a prophecy delivered by Amica. To put it simply, it foretells that a black-haired savior will defeat the imperial family and save the world."
"A savior..." Jing murmured, looking at Ratel as he chewed on the word. "You mentioned before that he could become stronger. Is the method related to those Holy Relics?"
I curled the corners of my mouth up at him, glad he had finally brought up the most crucial question.
"If we can destroy the Holy Relics, Ratel will grow stronger. And the authority of the imperial family over Abaran will crumble."
Therefore, Ratel had to embark on a quest to destroy the Holy Relics. Along the right path, as quickly as possible. Before Dito's power grew any stronger.
In the original novel, after thwarting Dito's evil deeds once, Ratel steals the Empress's Red Book from the imperial palace and flees. That was where Ratel's true adventure began. Recorded in the Red Book were the locations of the five Holy Relics of the Abaran Empire. Each time a Holy Relic was destroyed, there was a secondary effect: the brainwashing of the imperial family that held sway over Abaran would unravel. Once Ratel destroyed all the Holy Relics, Abaran would achieve true salvation, just as the prophecy foretold.
To keep things running according to the original plot, I was more than willing to act as a temporary navigation system. Of course, that was only possible if Ratel accepted it. From his perspective, blindly following an imperial prince who had suddenly appeared and offered to guide him would be the height of madness. He might even think that my saving his life had been nothing but a staged performance.
I raised my index finger toward the boy, who still held his sword.
"I will take you to the location of the first Holy Relic. If we don't find it, you can kill me right then and there. In whatever manner you wish. You can vent all your hatred for the imperial family on me."
At my unhesitating response, Ratel tilted his head.
"In whatever manner I wish?"
"Yes, whatever it is."
For the first time, a smile touched his face. Though it was a mocking sneer, with one corner of his mouth curled up unpleasantly.
"You don't seem to fear death."
"I do fear it. But this is the only way I can survive."
And besides, I'm confident I can guide you safely to the Holy Relic.
