A Famous Traitor and Treacherous Genius

170 – For My Emperor (4)

Coronation.

On the road where the train should travel, a magic automatic ship shaped like a crown slowly rolls, and on top of it, Emperor Habsburg von Thersian, wearing the traditional Thersian imperial attire, holds a laurel wreath and a staff and holds out his hand toward the citizens of the empire. Shake it.

“It’s a shame.”

I had to watch it from afar through the window of the royal palace’s VIP room.

“Did you want to go there in person?”

“I thought that if I had gone there in person, I would have been able to see Astasia in her dress her up close her.”

Next to the emperor.

Two white-haired women, like her sisters, are wearing her dresses and waving their hands at her citizens.

“But I guess I’ll have to kill Cody.”

“Yes?”

“Astasia’s breasts are on display. Fishnets or whatever, her cleavage and collarbone she should be all exposed.”

“No, that.”

“Tsk. Still, if I receive the photos taken by the reporters later through Empress Erwin, then it’s worth it. If I hadn’t come as an envoy, I would have secretly gone out and followed them around, taking photos.”

“Master. Wouldn’t it be more important to worry about this now than that?”

Robert pointed to the black-clothed assailant who had fallen at his feet.

“Now you’re bringing a dagger laced with poison to openly kill me?”

“I think you deserve to die.”

“Even if it’s a parade, isn’t this a bit too much?”

“King. How would you feel if your father suddenly brought in an adopted son from outside and presented him as the heir?”

“Even without making such an analogy, I fully understand the current situation seriously!”

“What… ?”

Astasia’s shaking cleavage made me turn my head back inside.

“Really?”

“I’ve been reading the Imperial Newspaper for 7 years next to you. Aren’t these assassins either the emperor’s illegitimate sons or the assassins they sent?”

“That’s right.”

I guess I’ll have to see Astasia’s princess dress through photos.

“I’m sorry. Are there too many corpses?”

“It’s not that many people have piled up, but there are now more than 10 people.”

Dark red blood soaking the red carpet on the floor.

The room is already filled with the scent of human blood, and it has reached a point where it cannot be removed through magic or alchemy.

“If you call someone… Haha, that’s okay. When the white-haired maid who called you to take away the body earlier tried to throw a dagger at you, ugh.”

“Isn’t the imperial palace bloodier than you think?”

“When have you ever lived in the imperial palace?”

“I heard a lot of rumors.”

To the Nostrum royal family, the imperial palace is a sheet of thin ice where several people die every day.

“But is there anything else? This is the ordeal and task given to me.”

“Are you saying it is the weight of the one who will inherit the emperor’s laurel wreath?”

“No. It’s a trial to solidify Astasia as mine.”

“…I don’t quite understand that part.”

“It’s simple.”

I got up, put on my gloves, and, together with Sir Robert, piled the bodies on one side.

“Do you think I am truly interested in the throne?”

“No. Oh, can I answer the next answer in advance?”

“You didn’t even ask any additional questions?”

“Anyway, aren’t you trying to ask about an area you’re really interested in? Isn’t it better for you to be anything else than Princess Astasia?”

“300 points.”

It’s Robert after all.

“But none but those who are as close to me as Sir Robert understand my true feelings.”

“Before it’s true intentions, as long as you are the princess, people will continue to think of you as a prodigal child seeking the throne.”

“I don’t care if Astasia is not the princess.”

“The problem is that the emperor continues to have Princess Astasia as his princess.”

“That’s the biggest problem right now.”

Neither I nor Astasia are particularly interested in the throne.

The problem is that the decision-maker who selects the next emperor is only picking on Nana Astasia.

“You b*stards are truly foolish. They should think about improving their skills and gaining the attention of the emperor, but they are trying to take over their positions by killing those ranked 0 and 1 above them.”

And because of that greed, the emperor’s hundreds and thousands of illegitimate sons have been frantically trying to get rid of me by any means possible since yesterday.

“Well, master. This is really just an assumption.”

“If I am killed by one of the emperor’s illegitimate sons, what happens after that?”

“300 points. What happens?”

“If you want to get 300 points, you have to give an answer to that question. “What do you think?”

“Hmm… Won’t the emperor be very angry?”

“You must be angry. Because the 0th rank you loved is dead.”

“…Ah! On the one hand, I’m happy. I get to see once again the power of the person who killed Rank 0.”

“That’s correct. Survival of the fittest, the law of the fittest. It’s true that taking rank 0 doesn’t make you rank 0, but at least your rank goes up a few levels.”

Kill Gray Gibraltar and receive the Emperor’s attention.

Those who have already caught the eye will be trusted, and those whom the emperor has given his trust will be favored.

The end will be the crown prince/princess who will inherit the Thersian Empire.

“This is absurd, Sir Robert. Do you know why the Emperor considers me, and not others, to be the heir to the throne?”

“The other illegitimate sons are thinking of inheriting the Thersian Empire, and you are refusing to take the throne of the Habsburg Empire?”

“What day is today? I don’t have any tweezers.”

“It’s because I’m so distracted from constantly eliminating assassins. … Hmm.”

Robert is still fine, but he is slowly starting to feel tired that he cannot control.

“Would you like to take a nap? I will act as your guard.”

“No, master. What would my reputation be if the guard knight went to sleep because he was sleepy? You should go to sleep first. We stayed up all night together…Um, again…”

With an embarrassed look on his face, Robert pointed to the two white-haired corpses on the floor.

“…Didn’t you eliminate the master level yourself?”

“At best, he’s just an assassin who was just beginning to become a master.”

I lightly flicked the tip of the wand with my finger.

“And Sir Robert was a worthy enemy to deal with?”

“We’re not there yet. Don’t we have to fight for our lives?”

“I think I could have won even if I risked my life.”

“It’s okay. I don’t mind risking my life, but it’s a different story if your safety is at stake.”

“I actually played against the master?”

“You killed him without even a drop of blood on his clothes.”

“I can’t say anything.”

It seemed like Robert was slowly falling apart.

“I can’t help it. I didn’t want to use this method.”

I approached the window where the parade was in full swing.

Suk suk.

He raised his hand and pretended to slit his throat.

“The parade will end in an hour, so just wait until then.”

“Yes…?”

“It will end soon and we will return. No matter how enthusiastic the people are, what can we do if the parade party wants to finish quickly and return to the imperial palace. So…”

Wow!

“Until then, let’s just hold on.”

“Die, you sick leg!!”

The window shattered, and a white-haired assassin with ultramarine blue eyes came running toward me, pointing his sword at me.

“Not only did you drink during the day, but you even drank silver and came running.”

A state in which judgment and reason are lost.

Suddenly.

“I’m not interested in the throne.”

I held the handle of the cane for a moment, then pushed it back in.

“If you think of Astasia as a trophy, that is unacceptable.”

“K, keuh…!”

A sense of inferiority flashes in the eyes of the white-haired assassin whose neck is cut off and blood pours out.

“Oh, maybe you?”

I kicked one of the assassin’s daggers off the floor and grabbed it with my own hand.

“Could it be that you were targeting Astasia?”

“Hey, dog… !”

“That can’t be said.”

New love!

As soon as I got close, the assassin stretched out his hand, which was holding his neck, toward my face and sprayed something.

“Dangerous smoke poison.”

“Young master!”

“It’s okay.”

I lightly put magic into my toes and hit the floor with my ‘right foot.’

P—ang!

Wind pressure rising forward.

With a light discharge of magical power, poisonous smoke covered the illegitimate assassin’s face.

Bubbling.

Skin that starts to boil in an instant.

Judging by the fact that it began to peel off in red as soon as it touched it, it must have been a highly acidic poison.

“Legs, illness…”

“What.”

Just because you’re using a cane doesn’t mean your legs are uncomfortable.

“They’re trying to fool people like you.”

I threw the dagger I was holding forward.

Phu-uuk.

“Better than using poison.”

The dagger was stuck in the back of the assassin’s hand, and the dagger that went through the hand pierced all the way to the neck and remained stuck.

“Trying to go over Astasia is a more deadly sin.”

Slurp.

The assassin fell backwards.

Wow!!

At the parade ground on Imperial Boulevard, cheers overflowed.

“Oh, shit.”

I missed it.

“You didn’t see Astasia shaking her hand.”

Deeply.

“…Master, what are you doing right now? You look like a psycho. Are you doing that on purpose?”

“…Keuhum.”

Everything.

“It’s about creating an image. What do you think, Sir? You look like someone who is crazy about Princess Astasia, huh?”

“There is a listening device among the corpses here, and I am the only one looking here.”

“…People just have to act because they don’t know when, where, or who will be watching.”

It’s acting.

* * *

After the parade ends.

“Let’s go home.”

“There’s blood. Calm down.”

“Go back home.”

“This is the imperial palace, and you are the princess. Astasia.”

Seeing the assassin’s bodies piled up in the VIP guest room, Astasia became enraged and dragged me away.

“How can you do this! Go to His Majesty right now…!”

“If you were to talk to the Habsburg emperor about something like this, I think he would laugh.”

“Ugh…”

“Isn’t he that kind of person? He has endured this much risk of assassination, and if he cannot endure this much, he will not be able to ascend to the throne.”

“That’s true, but…”

The person who distrusts the Habsburg emperor is none other than the princess.

It’s something that can’t be helped.

Until now, the Habsburg Emperor has protected Astasia from various ‘shadow daughters’ in the imperial palace, and in the process, purged those who clearly crossed the line.

In other words, relatively less men – illegitimate sons – died.

“I am rather glad to see you.”

“You’re happy to see the assassins?”

“Yes. Those who are angry at losing my son’s position and come to kill him are fine, but in fact, I also want to get rid of those who I want to get rid of in advance.”

When there is a war with the Habsburg Empire in the future, who will be at the forefront of the empire?

Of course, they are illegitimate sons who are desperate to be liked by the emperor.

Some people become soldiers or officers, and some people become generals.

Although the war ended in just a month, when several noble families in the kingdom announced that they would launch an all-out offensive to seize control, the ones who brutally trampled and massacred them were the emperor’s illegitimate sons who wanted to win the emperor’s trust by making a big name for themselves.

Although there are some who want to eliminate such people in advance –

“It seems like there were some who thought that if they killed me, they could take you away, Astasia.”

“Ugh…”

If I can kill even 1 out of 10 people trying to overrun Astasia, I will continue to take down and kill assassins every day.

Even if it turns out that I am a ‘master’ to some extent.

“Or maybe you feel inferior because the Emperor tried to send you to me. I liked you first. I was going to have you.”

“You say someone likes you?”

“Do people who come to kill people even think like that? So… “

“Grey.”

From afar, the Habsburg Emperor appeared with a serious face.

“Your Majesty Habsburg. The parade is…”

“Pack your bags right now.”

“…Yes?”

“Astasia, prepare to return to Orosol Academy.”

“Uh, yes…?”

Astasia and I were truly embarrassed.

“I can’t leave you alone, Gray, in such a dangerous empire. Orosol Academy will be much safer than here.”

“Your Majesty. That is.”

“It seems that during the coronation ceremony, the traitors’ henchman acted as he pleases, and this has absolutely nothing to do with my will. Because yesterday, I was drunk and fell into a deep sleep.”

“…”

“Go back to a safe place and…” ” “

The Habsburg emperor looked at his corpse with sincere disdain and gestured to the knights who followed him to stand in front of it.

“As soon as the cleaning inside the imperial palace is finished and it is safe to travel to the empire, I will invite you again then.”

“…”

I guess.

“Thank you for your consideration, Your Majesty Habsburg.”

Inside the imperial palace, it looks like there will be a massive bloody storm.