I Didn't Want to Become the Emperor of This World

Chapter 7

Inwardly, I was thinking of incinerating the noble trash, but I didn't show it on the outside. Not only did I not have a detailed plan for the purge yet, but I couldn't get angry right away either.

Nevertheless, there was something I had to do. It was to save the gardeners that the future me had regretted not being able to save.

Thud.

I approached the gardener who had been whipped to death while tied up, his corpse hanging in the air. Then I tried to untie the rope.

But this twelve-year-old body was not only short but also weak, so I couldn't untie it.

…I was miserably powerless.

Giving up on untying the rope with my own strength, I asked the noble holding the whip.

“Would you please untie the gardeners?”

“Why?”

「“Why?”」… it was the first time being asked back by someone was this unpleasant.

The reason I decided to save the gardeners was simple. Because they had not committed a crime worthy of death.

Also, the fact that they refused the noble's order to protect the flowers the queen loved meant that the gardeners had a shred of loyalty left for the royal family.

Simply put, they were on my side. Even if they were mere gardeners, I couldn't just let my people die.

“It is because I do not wish for these people to die.”

“So I'm asking why. ‘Your Highness’.”

Pfft!

As the noble continued to mock me, the group of whip-wielding nobles burst into laughter.

There was even a bastard who was smirking at me as if I were a clown.

Sons of bitches, I've memorized all your faces.

Maintaining my composure as much as possible, I continued to persuade the noble.

“You said the reason you are punishing the gardeners is to show the authority of the nobles. But having seen one man whipped to death, they will not defy a noble's order again. Your authority has been sufficiently demonstrated. And—.”

“Hoh, and?”

“And, following Duke Vaimal's order, the gardeners will plant the lilac flowers.”

“The gardeners will plant the lilacs? I haven't heard anything of the sort?”

He looked down at me playfully again, sneering.

Ignoring his gaze as much as possible, I spoke to the gardeners who were watching the situation with fearful eyes.

“Plant the lilac flowers in the garden as per the Duke's command. It does not matter if you pull out all the flowers my mother loved.”

“…Your Highness. That is Queen Hael's last legacy. Your mother's—.”

“That is why I am saying it myself. I, her son.”

“……”

“I will say it again. Pull out the flowers the queen—no, my mother—loved and plant lilacs there.”

“Your Highness….”

The gardeners made a regretful expression, then nodded. As soon as I confirmed that, I spoke to the noble again.

“As you can see, the gardeners have agreed to change the flowers. So please release them.”

“What if I don't want to release them?”

“I am asking you.”

“Then come before me and bow your head respectfully and ask. ‘Your Highness’.”

Hahat!

The noble bastards sneered again. At the same time, they seemed to not think that I would bow my head for the gardeners.

They probably thought that even a pathetic crown prince like me would have some pride.

But I had long since discarded my pride to live.

I approached the noble, bowed my head, and spoke again.

“I ask of you.”

“…?”

Perhaps not thinking that I would actually bow my head, the nobles made a dumbfounded expression.

But that was also for a moment—

“Hahahahaha!! My, my, Your Highness. If you really bow your head like that, what does that make me? It's as if I'm the higher-ranking person! I'm just a mere viscount!”

“……”

“If you go that far, I suppose I can't refuse your request. Hey, untie the gardener ‘sirs’.”

At the viscount's words, the other nobles slouched over and untied the gardeners. While doing so, they threw a word at me each.

Like, “A crown prince with no pride,” or, “Idiot,” or, “If I knew this would happen, should I have asked him to prostrate himself?”

It would be a lie to say it didn't bother me. But just as a lion hides its claws before a hunt, I showed no sign of it.

Before long, all the gardeners were released—

The nobles threw their whips anywhere in the shed and left the shed.

Thud!

“It was a good show, Your Highness. If you have another request later, come find this ‘Viscount Krain’. Haha!!”

‘Viscount Krain’, who mocked me to the very end as he left.

I memorized not only that bastard's face but also his name.

The shed the nobles had left.

Elly had a complicated expression and was looking at me with a pitiful gaze. The gardeners, who had been freed from the terrible punishment thanks to me, were grateful to me but still looked exhausted, as if the fear they had just experienced had not yet subsided.

The oldest of the gardeners approached me and said.

“…Your Highness, thank you for saving us.”

“I only did what I had to do. I am sorry for not coming sooner.”

“……”

“Please hold a proper funeral for the one who has already passed away.”

Finishing my words, I tried to leave the shed. Having made a firm decision to purge the nobles, I had to go back to my room and think of a purge plan.

Every second was precious.

Just as I was about to leave the shed, the old gardener who had spoken to me hurriedly called out to me.

“Y-Your Highness! How can we repay this kindness? Please tell us!”

Kindness, huh….

I turned my head, looked at the old gardener, and said.

“I will call you when I need you later.”

Yes, later.

They might be useful someday.

***

I returned to my room after seeing a person beaten to death for the first time in my life. And not just beaten to death, but tied up and whipped to death.

Naturally, my mind was complicated and disturbed, but I had no time to struggle with it. Why, because time was not on my side.

I had to get rid of the noble faction and seize power even a day sooner.

“Elly. You must be tired from all the work today, so go and rest.”

“Are you… alright, Your Highness?”

“I'm going to wash up and sleep too.”

“Your attendance—.”

“I don't need your attendance. As I have told you time and again.”

At my words, Elly hesitated, then nodded her head.

“I understand, Your Highness. Then I will be waiting in the next room, so please call me if you need anything.”

“Yes.”

Elly left the room.

Hoo!

I let out a big sigh, roughly took off my clothes, and went to the bathroom. My body was exhausted from all the events of the day, so I intended to wash away the fatigue with a shower.

A warm shower would have been better, but only cold water came out in my room's bathroom.

Swoosh―.

Feeling the cold water, I looked at my reflection in the mirror and thought.

‘How can I surely purge those trashes.’

To purge the noble faction, I had to annihilate them all at once. That way, they wouldn't even have a chance to counterattack.

If I, who was lacking in power compared to the noble faction, failed in the purge and gave them a chance to counterattack, I might die at the hands of the nobles even before the people's rebellion broke out. The nobles were not fools, so there would be no reason for them to spare me, who was pointing the ‘blade of purge’ at them.

‘So I must gather the nobles in one place and kill them all at once. I have to wipe out the seeds in one fell swoop so that the noble faction can't even counterattack.’

The problem was that there was no justification to gather the nobles in one place. ‘Someone else’ other than me needed to gather the nobles.

The noble faction did not follow the king's orders.

So I had to borrow the mouth of ‘someone else’ whom they revered like a king.

That ‘someone else’ was—

‘The heads of the noble faction, Duke Vaimal and Duke Panshin, could gather the nobles. However, those two dukes wouldn't even pretend to listen if I asked them to gather the nobles.’

It would be difficult to make the two dukes follow my words with any ordinary method. So I had to throw out a bait that the dukes would find tempting.

‘A tempting bait for the dukes to gather the nobles… what can I, who has nothing but the title of crown prince, offer to the dukes who have everything?’

Swoooosh―.

I pondered so intently that I couldn't feel the cold shower water hitting my head.

Then, a thought occurred to me.

‘…There is. A bait that the two dukes would not just find tempting, but go crazy for.’

A bait that the two dukes would go crazy for.

That was none other than the ‘throne’.

‘Any second-in-command in history ultimately wanted to become number one. In other words, they wanted to become king. So let's use that as bait.’

Human greed is endless, and everyone wants to stand above others. Duke Vaimal and Duke Panshin would be no different. The only thing the dukes who had everything had not obtained was the ‘throne’.

‘Come to think of it, when I had an audience with the king this morning, he also said something like that. 「“Since the legitimacy of the royal family still remains a little, the dukes will accept it if you say you will hand over the throne.”」. So how about I use the throne as bait to ask them to gather the nobles, and then wipe out the nobles all at once?’

I nodded my head at my own thought.

‘Yes, this seems to be the most realistic method. To gather the nobles using the throne as bait and annihilate them.’

Click.

As my thoughts were roughly organized, I turned off the shower valve and roughly dried myself.

I went out of the bathroom.

Thinking no one would be in the room, I didn't cover myself, but Elly was standing in front of the bathroom door.

“?”

“…!”

I was a little puzzled, and Elly made a very surprised expression. To be honest, I was also flustered being naked in front of a girl, but I didn't show it and quickly got dressed.

Looking at Elly, I asked.

“Why are you still in the room?”

“Ah, that is….”

Elly pointed to a small tray on the desk and answered.

“I brought dinner. You couldn't eat your snack earlier… I should have told you in advance, I'm sorry!”

“No, thank you for the meal. Please leave the tray on the table. I'll eat it later.”

“Ah, yes!”

“Then please leave.”

I politely extended my hand in a gesture for her to leave. Recognizing it, Elly bowed her head deeply once more in greeting and then left the room.

“I-I will take my leave! Please rest well, Your Highness!”

Elly left the room again, unable to hide her flustered state. She was usually quite maid-like, but seeing her react like that after seeing a naked man, it seemed she also had a girlish side appropriate for her age.

I sat at the table and checked the food Elly had brought. Soup, bread, cheese, ham, sausage, wine, and an unknown sauce. It looked like ketchup sauce.

‘Tonight, I have to think of a way to lure the two dukes, so I should eat a little.’

Dipping the bread in the soup and eating, I opened the .

Hoping that the future me might offer some good method to the current me.

…….

I made a general plan to gather the nobles using the throne as bait and purge them all at once. However, it was too much to make a complex and heavy plan like a ‘purge’ alone.

So, to get help with the purge plan, I called Jereuth.

But… Jereuth gave several reasons and said that purging the noble faction would be difficult.

There were various reasons he gave, but the reason the purge was difficult was ultimately ‘due to lack of power’.

To purge the nobles, one had to kill all the knight orders, vassals, servants, and families that followed them, but the power of the 3rd Knight Order alone was not enough to subdue them all.

At Jereuth's words that the purge would be difficult, I despaired. But since Jereuth also agreed that there was no other way to strengthen the royal authority besides a purge, we put our heads together and came up with a method.

We pondered and pondered for days and days.

As a result, we came up with a pretty good strategy.

That strategy was to divide the noble faction into the ‘Vaimal Ducal Faction’ and the ‘Panshin Ducal Faction’ using the throne as bait, and then sow discord between the two.

If the discord was successful, the noble factions would check each other and consume a considerable amount of their power, and then the power of the 3rd Knight Order alone would be enough to purge the noble faction—that was the conclusion.

That was the end of the newly written future diary.

‘The power of the 3rd Knight Order alone is not enough to carry out the purge. So, I must divide the noble faction into the Vaimal Ducal Faction and the Panshin Ducal Faction using the throne as bait, then sow discord to consume their power, and then carry out the purge… is it.’

This conclusion was one that the future me had reached after pondering with Jereuth for quite a long time. But I was able to learn this in a matter of minutes through the .

I didn't know if this method was the right answer or not. But the more I read it over, the more I felt that this was the best method. To deal with a formidable enemy like the ‘noble faction’, there would be no better stratagem than to divide them into two and make them fight each other.

So, what I had to ponder now was… ‘how can I sow discord between Duke Vaimal and Duke Panshin?’

‘But does the future me not know how to sow discord between the two dukes, so it's not in the ? Or is it not in the because I haven't had any thoughts or taken any action yet?’

A question arose. But now was not the time to be curious about such things.

‘First, let's think about how to sow discord between the two dukes.’

I took out a blank piece of paper and started writing various things while thinking.

Scribble, scribble―.

‘To sow discord between the two dukes using the throne as bait… ah.’

A thought brushed past my mind.

A surprisingly simple thought.

‘There are two dukes, but only one can become king. So what if I tell the two dukes, 「“I will hand over the throne to the duke who receives the support of more nobles, knights, vassals, and servants.”」?’

If I set such a condition, Duke Vaimal and Duke Panshin would probably become desperate to gather supporters.

And they would be wary of the other duke's forces and suspect them of trying to steal their supporters.

‘Then, one of the two ducal factions will realize they are falling behind. If time passes like that, they will lose the throne, so the ducal faction with insufficient forces will make a rash decision. The decision to attack the other ducal faction to reduce their numbers.’

Just as I thought that.

Flip, flip, flip, flip―.

Suddenly, a page around the middle of the flipped open.

A future that was a little distant from the present, but a page that was much earlier than my end.