Episode 18
2. Boyhood
The lively sounds of the musicians’ music, the luxuries that adorned the entire castle, the five-colored magic stones that shone like fairy lights…
The festival held at the ducal castle to celebrate Dale’s tenth birthday was the height of ostentation, something the Duke of Saxony himself detested.
Not for themselves, but for the guests who will come here.
“Wow, as expected, it is His Excellency the Duke of Saxony!”
“Oh my gosh, look at all these dishes!”
The Emperor’s people. It wasn’t hard to figure out what that meant.
The greatest force that constitutes this empire. In other words, the central nobles of the imperial capital who form the core of the imperial faction.
“It’s nothing compared to that of the Imperial Palace, but it’s an incredible sight considering it’s in the middle of the North!”
“That’s true!”
Each of them wrapped in expensive velvet or silk, unable to hide their excitement as if they were the guests of this festival.
They knew better than anyone else that the imperialist nobles were marching here on behalf of the ‘Emperor’s name’. That was their very reason for being, and it would be no different even if the opponent was the Duke of Saxony.
“I feel like an idiot for worrying about the frozen wallpaper!”
The central nobility of the empire always liked to compare their territory to the political position of the Black Duke.
A land that is too vast but has no substance.
One of the imperial nobles, but also a political outsider who lives in isolation in the northern outback.
The most powerful force in the empire, but also the leader of the Black Tower, whom everyone fears and dislikes.
However, the fact that he was still the Grand Count of the Empire did not change. No matter how much he despised black magic and necromancy, he could not despise the military value of that darkness.
Such a tug-of-war between restraint and awe was the very essence of the Duke of Saxony’s position in the empire.
The black ball sits on the throne and looks down at them with emotionless eyes.
Aristocrats who indulge in their own pleasures, treating their dukedom like their own home.
Of course, most of the nobles here were not even worthy of being called a threat to the Duke of Saxony. It was not they who were the ones he was wary of, but the very fact that they were here.
The warning of the apocalypse.
It is a message from the royal family that they will not tolerate insults towards the Holy Sword.
──And the ‘messenger’ who understood the message most clearly appeared before the Duke of Saxony.
“I respectfully present His Excellency the Duke of Saxony.”
A red-haired man bows his head respectfully in front of the throne. When he smiles, the eyes of the noble women around him are drawn to him.
“Welcome, Marquis Yuris.”
Dale also stood by his father’s side, mechanically paying homage and quietly clenching his mouth.
Despite his gentle and gentle appearance, Dale never forgot the portrait of the real monster he was. How could anyone forget that face?
A man named ‘Lord Crimson’.
Flame and Fury… … The leader of the Red Tower, who seeks order through power.
Red Tower.
The magicians of the Red Tower were most closely aligned with the Emperor’s will and did not hesitate to become executors of the Empire’s ambitions. The ‘justice of the strong’ they pursued was the very spirit of the Empire’s times.
──I think back to my previous life, when I had to suffer all sorts of horrible modifications at their hands.
“This is Prince Dale.”
And the object of that hatred smiles quietly at him.
“The genius prodigy of the Duke’s family… … I heard that he possesses magical talents that are unparalleled throughout the empire.”
For a moment, Marquis Yuris’s eyes became strangely curious, like a snake stalking its prey.
“Listening to the story of the nobles, they wiped out a group of orcs to protect the knights of their family?”
Spreading his arms exaggeratedly like an actor on stage.
“That’s what you’ve accomplished at just nine years old!”
“People always exaggerate the stories they tell.”
The Duke of Saxony interrupted him blandly, remaining humble, for he understood better than anyone the dangers of Dale’s talent.
“As expected, you are the Duke’s son.”
“He is a child who has been blessed beyond measure, even to me.”
Once again, Marquis Yuris’s gaze turned to Dale, as the elven wizard Sepia had once done, to coldly examine Dale’s talents and perceive the threat he posed.
Magic is ultimately the embodiment of imagination. The opponent is none other than the Bloody Ball, said to have reached the pinnacle of fire magic.
Therefore, it would not be difficult at all to see through the “flames” of hatred burning in the heart of a ten-year-old child.
“… … .”
But there was no burning flame of hatred.
Just a freezing, cold chill spreads through my chest.
“Dale of Saxony, Margrave Julius.”
In the dizzying cold, Dale smiled innocently, pretending to be an innocent ten-year-old who knew nothing.
* * *
Even as the night deepened, the fireworks of the festival showed no sign of dying down. Leaving the birthday celebrations behind, Dale quietly left the Duke’s Great Hall.
Alone, leaving behind her father, mother, and the maids who assisted her mother and dealt with the nobles.
──The Red Tower Lord and the Bloody Duke personally led the nobles of the Imperial City and marched to the Duke’s Castle.
Dale, too, understood the implications of the act better than his father.
After the empire unified the continent, a world of peace and prosperity did not arrive.
The resistance of the fallen nation continues to resist, declaring separatism from the imperialists, the aristocrats, and the empire.
In the midst of that chaos, the father’s warning to the Emperor’s faction’s confidant, the Holy Swordsman, must have caused quite a stir.
‘Should I swing the sword alone?’
Dale thought as he crossed the marble corridors of the dukedom. He would have liked to call Charlotte and have a sword fight, but officially, Charlotte was Elena’s maid. In such a situation, it would be even more dangerous if it was revealed that the ‘daughter of the divine sword’ was practicing swordsmanship.
I realize anew how blessed I was to have been born and cared for in such a blessed place.
“Whoa!”
It was just then.
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Not far away, a woman’s youthful scream was heard.
“Behave yourself, you damn servant!”
Judging from the voices that followed, it was not difficult to figure out what was going on in the dark place outside the Great Hall.
“Please, I beg you! I serve the House of Saxony… … .”
“Where did a lowly maid come up with the name of a duke?”
The ‘maids’, who are made up of noble women, and the ‘servants’, who are of lowly birth, are clearly in different positions.
“Ha! It’s Confucius’ birthday, so what are you doing? Everyone is just sitting around playing!”
For most nobles, the treatment of maids was a given.
“Instead of wasting time there, it would be more wholesome to pick up a woman!”
The kind of bullying that a person who takes such treatment for granted will commit in other people’s homes is also a case in point.
It was something that the Duke of Saxony would never have dared to imagine, but it was by no means rare in the Empire.
The nobility and class are determined by birth, and the lower class can never go against the nobles. This is the world.
“If you resist any longer, I’ll cut your balls off!”
Sling.
I hear a chilling slap. It’s the sound of a stiletto blade.
“iced coffee…….”
Following the pale, tired voice, Dale walked without hesitation.
Towards the end of the corridor, beyond the corner, in the bushes outside the duke’s castle.
“What are you doing?”
“Prince Dale… … !”
At Dale’s voice, the maid who had been struggling against the wall raised her voice.
“… … !”
Eve is a seventeen-year-old maid who takes care of Dale’s daily life as usual.
“Hey, aren’t you Prince Dale?”
The nobleman who was trying to forcibly take off her clothes turns his head in embarrassment.
The velvet coat that looked like it would tear at any moment on the tottering body and the tattered trousers that were awkwardly pulled off made me feel unbearably nauseous.
It is so shabby that it is a shame to even say, “pearls on swine’s necks.”
“What were you doing here?”
Dale asked back. The nobleman looked away in confusion.
“That, that──.”
After being bitten, he immediately smiled bitterly.
“Your Majesty! Have you ever had any experience with women?”
He smiled and then made an absurd offer in return.
“You’ve never tasted the body of a mature virgin, have you?”
The stiletto he was holding slid down over Eve’s dress, between her perky breasts.
“This Petro can teach you, Prince Dale, a joy you can’t even imagine!”
It would be like dismissing Dale as a ten-year-old child who can easily cook to his own taste.
Either way, it is truly an ugliness of unparalleled stupidity.
“… … .”
Dale shut his mouth in disbelief. He felt nauseous.
“Oh, Your Majesty… … .”
The maid Eve’s face turns pale.
“Don’t worry.”
Dale smiled quietly at the sight.
“Send her this way.”
Dale said, smiling.
“Can’t you hear me, Prince Petro?”
As Petro hesitated and turned Eve towards Dale, Dale saw her and reached out his finger without hesitation.
A cold magical power surged along the tips of his fingers. Petro’s face turned pale as he pondered the meaning.
‘My actions… … .’
Taang!
However, Dale’s ice bullet just grazed his cheek and slammed into the castle’s stone wall.
“Hee, heeeek!”
The noble Petro fell on his buttocks, his massive frame collapsing. He trembled in fear, and the stiletto he was holding fell limply to the floor.
‘We must consider the consequences this will bring upon the Duke of Saxony.’
I didn’t intend to back down so easily. But that doesn’t mean that it’s a good idea to just shoot ice bullets at the ‘Emperor’s man’.
“Get on your knees.”
That’s why Dale said, the same thing his father had once said to the Holy Swordsman.
“Get on your knees and apologize to Eve for what you did.”
“Wh, what!”
“Can’t you hear me?”
Dale asked back.
“Your Majesty! There is no need for you to worry about me any more… …!”
Eve, the maid, stops Dale, embarrassed by the sight.
“As Miss Eve said, she is our ‘Saxony’.”
But Dale didn’t back down at all. Petro held his breath at the sight. But after he did, he bit his lip because he couldn’t just surrender.
‘This f*cking little brat… …!’
The opponent is a mere ten-year-old child.
Even though he is the eldest son of a noble family, he cannot be subjected to such one-sided humiliation and insult.
“Confucius, I am sorry I cannot kneel.”
“Why is that?”
Dale asked back, his voice emotionless and flat.
“I am here on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor of the Empire!”
Petro raised his voice, shaking his large body.
“Your Majesty, who has little experience in the world! I don’t know if you will understand its profound meaning!”
To cook a naughty child to his own taste.
“To protect the honor of a lowly woman! To insult me is… …!”
“Your Majesty the Emperor, do you have a hobby of raping other people’s maids?”
Dale looked at the sight and scoffed coldly.
“Ji, ji, what are you saying now!”
Petro’s expression twisted into horror.
“When Prince Petro says he ‘acts in His Majesty’s stead,’ doesn’t that mean the same thing?”
Dale asked calmly, and Petro’s lips twisted.
It was just then.
“This way!”
“What is it, Your Majesty?”
At that time, the Duke’s family members, who had sensed the commotion, came looking for this side. It wouldn’t take long for Father and the ‘Blood Duke’, who were in the Great Hall, to realize the commotion and approach.
The noble Petro took another breath.
“This is the last one.”
Dale opened his mouth.
“Get on your knees.”
Before he knew it, people were approaching. And Dale’s eyes, looking at Petro, were colder than ever.
* * *
Father, the Black Duke, Mother, Elena, and the knights and maids of the House of Saxony. The Emperor’s nobles.
In that place where a considerable number of people had gathered, the imperialist nobleman Peter was kneeling.
Towards Dale, and towards the maid behind Dale.
“Hmm, this is truly a sight to behold.”
Seeing that sight, Marquis Yuris, the ‘Blood Prince’, stroked his chin with interest. As if he was watching something enjoyable.
“Dale, what’s all this fuss about?”
Father Black Gong approached with a cold, stiff expression. The maid Eve’s expression turned pale as the situation grew out of control.
“This man tried to r**e a maid of our Saxon family.”
But Dale, without the least bit of hesitation, explained the circumstances surrounding the incident.
“Dale, Dale!”
Just as Elena was about to open her mouth to say something, unable to hide her shock, the Duke of Saxony quietly reached out and stopped her.
“Is that the reason you treated Prince Petro, who came to the imperial palace in person, with such disrespect?”
After stopping him, the Duke of Saxony asked back.
That’s all there is to it. That’s the reality of the status that exists between the nobles and the non-nobles in this world.
Petro’s face, which had been crushed by Dale’s momentum and on his knees, suddenly brightened.
“That, that’s right! Your Majesty the Duke! The reckless prince──.”
“Who told you to stand up?”
Dale reached out his hand again to Petro, who was trying to get up. Without a moment of hesitation.
“Dale… … !”
Even the black ball held its breath as if surprised by that attitude.
“Nobles from the Zodiac.”
That’s why Dale didn’t hesitate.
“You all have the important responsibility of carrying out His Majesty the Emperor’s will.”
Dale understood better than anyone the consequences his actions would bring upon the House of Saxony.
“And yet, this man forgot his grave duty as Your Majesty’s representative and attempted to r**e a ‘lowly maid’.”
“… … .”
“Therefore, I could not tolerate the shameful behavior of Prince Petro, who dared to insult His Majesty.”
The Duke of Saxony held his breath at Dale’s unexpected answer.
“A person like this who insults and smears the name of His Majesty the Emperor.”
Silence followed Dale’s words.
“──Ha!”
What broke the silence was the laughter of Marquis Yuris, the ‘Blood Prince’.
“This is really true.”
Marquis Yuris twisted the corners of his mouth as if he couldn’t stand it anymore.
“The young Confucius’s intelligence is truly a masterpiece.”
Marquis Yuris continues, the corners of his lips twisting.
“Confucius’s words are indeed correct.”
“You, Princess Yuris… … ?”
“How dare you act in Your Majesty’s name and attempt to r**e a lowly maid.”
Petro was taken aback by the sight of Dale confirming his claim and held his breath.
“──Get on it, you filthy bastard.”
The bloody magic power rippling from the bloody ball’s fingertips quickly ran across the ground.
Hurrruk!
“… … !”
Petro’s swaying frame was engulfed in blazing flames.
“Ahhh, ahhhhhhh!”
Petro rolled on the floor screaming as the burning sensation overwhelmed him.
“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!”
Flame Tongue.
Although its practicality in battle is minimal, this magic has its own value.
Peeling off the skin, caressing every part of the body, never ending the pain easily. Very slowly, a bloodless, tearless flame that inflicts the most horrible pain in this world.
“──I cannot ignore the fool who dares to insult His Majesty the Emperor.”
Marquis Yuris’s gaze turned to Dale and the Duke of Saxony.
“It is my job to incinerate those who seek to disparage the royal family and the empire.”
Without even looking at Petro, who was crying and screaming in pain, he turned to the two rich Saxon families.
“Your Majesty, what you say is correct.”
At those words, the black ball also nodded indifferently.
“That is the way of our Empire and His Majesty the Emperor.”
Likewise, heedless of the blazing flames and screams right next to him.
“Isn’t that right, Dale?”
Dale also nodded to his father’s question.
“Yes.”
Suddenly, Petro’s screams of agony ceased. His skin, bones, and internal organs had melted away, and there was literally not even a single bone fragment left.
A few handfuls of ashes flutter in the night breeze.
In the silence, the bloody ball’s gaze turned to Dale.
“I am truly looking forward to your future, Confucius.”
Dale answered, meeting the gaze directed at him. With the innocent smile of a ten-year-old child.
“You can look forward to it.”
