Chapter 04

Over the next few days, with Rudy’s help and the not-so-helpful assistance of the knight, I got rid of all my books.

Most were donated to the Imperial Library.

Two grimoires were sold off through a merchant who supplied the Annex Palace.

“This is quite a sum. And to think we didn’t even get a quarter of their worth since we sold them in a hurry.”

Rudy held the leather pouch, her expression one of surprise.

“That’s because you can’t buy them on the market even if you have the money. The folks at the Ivory Tower are a secretive bunch.”

“I thought you might give up your other studies, but I expected you to continue with magic.”

Rudy looked crestfallen.

I could understand why.

From her perspective, the diligent Grand Duke had started spouting nonsense one morning and suddenly turned into a scoundrel.

One day, I would tell her everything and apologize.

But until then, I had to deceive her with everything I had.

To deceive the enemy, you must first deceive your allies.

“It’s fine. I don’t need them anymore.”

“Shall I go buy some wine?”

“Yes. Buy as much wine as you can, and keep one coin for yourself.”

“What?”

Rudy looked as if she’d been struck by lightning.

“But it’s a gold coin.”

“Yes.”

“That’s as much as my entire month’s salary.”

“You heard me right. It means don’t even think about skimming off the top and just buy some good wine. So take what I’m giving you.”

This was the most pathetic apology I could offer.

She left the room, still looking bewildered.

I pulled a chair over to the large window and sat down. Before me was a wide rose garden, filled with yet-to-bloom buds.

The sight of the garden reminded me of a line from a poem I’d read in my past life, a song about the coming purge.

‘June, when the roses are in full bloom, came not with the scent of flowers, but with the thick smell of blood.’

“Ha.”

I chugged the last bottle of wine straight from the bottle.

I couldn’t stop the rebellion and the purge entirely.

They were bound to happen the moment she ascended the throne.

It was also why there was no need to advise that the future rebel prince, Justinianus, be captured and killed immediately.

If things unfolded as they had in my past life, someone else would simply take his place.

To reduce the scale of it, or perhaps prevent it altogether, I had to address the root cause.

I glanced around, confirming that no one was there.

I closed the window and drew the curtains, blocking the view of any soldiers who might be looking in from beyond the wall.

“Swaying, Blossoming Flame.”

It was the most basic of all flame magic, but one you could get a lot of mileage out of if you mastered it.

There was a reason I’d sold the grimoires without a second thought.

There was no point in clinging to books when I already knew everything in them.

The moment I chanted the spell, I felt mana flow from my heart.

My mana circuits hadn’t been properly refined yet, so the flow was rough and clumsy.

Smoke and sparks sputtered from my palm, and then a flame the size of a candle’s flickered to life.

“Much better.”

I smiled, satisfied.

It was a pathetic amount of power compared to what I’d had before my regression.

But considering the potential for growth, this was far better.

I could say with certainty that my body before the regression had been a lost cause.

All because I’d lived recklessly at an age when I should have been training hard.

With that body, so full of accumulated toxins and impurities, I could never have reached the pinnacle.

I had about three weeks left.

In that time, I had to keep my paranoid half-siblings from barging into my room, practice my flame magic, and put on an even greater show of being a scoundrel.

I was swamped with work.

“Your Highness Valen. I’ve returned.”

“You’re back! What kind of wine did you get?”

I took the wine Rudy brought and smiled.

Time would fly by.

At last, the day came.

Just as in my past life, it was a clear, sunny day with a high sky and not a cloud in sight.

“Your Highness Valen, look. They’re so beautiful.”

Red, yellow, and white roses were in full bloom throughout the vast garden.

“Yes. They’re beautiful.”

“Shall we ask the knights for permission to go out and see them?”

“Yes. Later.”

Even to my own ears, my voice trembled.

“Your Highness Valen, did you have another nightmare today?”

“No, it’s not that.”

Today, the nightmare would become reality.

In the distance, a knight on horseback galloped toward us.

He handed a sealed letter to the knights and soldiers around the wall and said something to them.

The knights nodded, donned their helmets, and fastened the swords they had set aside.

They entered the Red Halo Palace.

The sound of studded military boots echoed in the corridor below.

“What brings you knights here at this hour?”

“Are you His Highness Grand Duke Barf?”

“I am. I am Barf.”

“Take him away. Search the room.”

The sounds of a violent struggle followed.

“What is the meaning of this?”

The sounds of fists and a scream came next.

“Are you Her Highness Grand Duchess Yurina?”

“Yes. I am Yurina.”

“You’ll have to come with us.”

“So it has come. No need to bind me. I have no intention of running.”

The sound of resigned footsteps echoed down the hall.

“His Highness Grand Duke Sornil. Is that you?”

“Swaying, Blossoming Flame!”

I heard the magic incantation, followed by the sound of knights drawing their swords.

“A traitor who practiced magic without permission!”

“We have Her Majesty’s orders to kill you if you resist.”

“You, knight, head upstairs first! He might try to escape.”

“Identify those who know swordsmanship first!”

The sound of military boots grew louder.

Rudy trembled as she looked at me.

“Your Highness.”

“Don’t worry.”

I heard the royal from the room next to mine being dragged away.

Still in my robe, I flopped onto the bed.

Rudy shot me a look of horror.

A moment later, they knocked on my door.

“His Highness Grand Duke Valen! Are you in there?”

I gave Rudy a look.

She bowed her head once, then slowly opened the door.

The knights looked around my room and scowled.

“Grand Duke! Where are you!”

“The reek of alcohol is unbearable.”

I sat up and spoke.

“Ah, you’re here, knights? Could you speak a little more quietly? I drank too much yesterday, and my head is pounding.”

“We are taking the royals suspected of treason into custody. May we search the room?”

He phrased it as a question, but he wasn’t asking for permission.

Both he and I knew that.

“Search all you like. Though the only things you’ll find are wine bottles and some snacks I hid and forgot about.”

The knight who had dropped my books on the stairs gave my room a cursory glance.

“That’s enough. Let’s go.”

“Shouldn’t we at least check the drawers?”

“Look at this mess. If you were part of a rebellion, would you want a degenerate scoundrel like this on your side?”

“True. Besides, he’s her full brother. Who knows when he might rat them out.”

“I was worried because he was so overly proper until a month ago.”

“I heard he got into a brawl and stabbed someone in the back of the hand with a fork and knife.”

“I heard he smashed a bottle over someone’s head and then stabbed Grand Duke Barf with the broken pieces.”

“There was also a rumor he harassed Grand Duchess Yurina.”

“Don’t even get me started. They say he goes to her every night.”

“It’s good that he has no interest in ruling, but he’s become far too twisted.”

The knights muttered amongst themselves as they filed out of the room.

Rudy let out a sigh of relief.

The knights bound the royals on their list together like a string of dried fish and sent them to the Main Palace’s dungeon.

As soon as they were gone, I threw the window wide open.

“Damn smell of alcohol. I thought I was going to die from the dizziness.”

“W-What?”

Rudy stared at me, blinking.

“Rudy, get me some warm honey water to sober me up. I’ll clean up the bottles while you’re gone, so take them out later. I’ll sweep and mop the room, too. There are wine stains everywhere.”

“Grand Duke?”

Rudy looked at me with a baffled expression, as if she didn’t understand anything.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Are you not going to get the honey water?”

She quickly bowed her head deeply and rushed out of the room.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Don’t smile. Think about how the other maids feel. Imagine how bewildered they must be right now.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Rudy returned with warm honey water and an invitation.

Her expression as she handed it to me was not pleasant.

It was an invitation I hadn’t received in my past life. Back then, I had been dragged away with the other royals, bound like a string of dried fish.

But I knew its contents.

“This is an invitation to watch them commit suicide, right?”

“Yes.”

[In respect for the honor of the imperial family, their suicides shall be permitted. If they confess their crimes and take their own lives, their relatives will not be held responsible.]

“Still as clever as ever. Just as I remember.”

“Pardon?”

“What do you think is the biggest burden when executing a member of the imperial family?”

“Their maternal families, perhaps? Even ignoring those born to concubines, the children of official consorts have great noble houses on their mother’s side.”

“So if she announced an execution, she’d face backlash. But if she permits suicide?”

“It makes it look as though Her Majesty is being considerate.”

“Exactly. It’s her way of saying, ‘I should be punishing all of you, but I’ll stop with your damn children.’”

Of course, they would all be furious inside.

But in my past life, Jeirilis had this to say about their discontent:

‘Anger that only simmers within is nothing. I should praise them for keeping it to themselves.’

‘Is there a single official in my court who has not, at least once, thought of killing me? Whatever they may think, they are innocent until they raise a sword against me.’

That was the kind of person she was. My emperor, who reigned with boundless confidence and arrogance.

“Anyway, I have to go observe. The five who confessed first. Is it tomorrow at noon?”

“Yes. I won’t prepare a meal.”

“No, prepare a hearty one.”

“What?”

“I have important business to attend to there.”

“What do you mean?”

“You have a friend, a maid with bluish-black hair, right? The one who serves the blonde princess.”

“Yes.”

I recalled the attempted assassination of the emperor from my past life.

It was the revenge of a maid who had served a young princess.

The enraged emperor had the princess’s corpse salted and sent to her maternal family, and she had the maid’s tendons cut before dumping her somewhere in the capital’s slums.

It was an incident that needlessly turned a great noble house, one she could have coexisted with, into an enemy.

I had to stop it. At the same time, I had to win her trust by distinguishing myself.

“Right. Thank you. Help me pick out some clothes.”

“Yes. I’ll choose something in a dark color.”

“No. Pick something flashy. As loud, sparkly, and brilliant as possible.”

“What?”

Rudy’s face contorted.

The inside of the carriage heading to the Main Palace was silent.

I was riding with a bearded royal, a man, and two royal women in black hats.

The three of them gave me uncomfortable looks.

I wore a flamboyant white uniform embroidered with a gold-thread vine pattern, my hair swept back in a rough, jaunty style that exposed my forehead.

I whistled cheerfully as I gazed at the blooming roses outside the window.

“Honestly.”

“He seems to think he’s going to a festival or something.”

“Just leave him be. They say he went mad about a month ago. Apparently, he bit someone and drank their blood.”

My reputation was excellent.

Everything was going according to plan.

I shrugged, pretending not to care in the slightest.

The royals in the carriage stared at me as if I were an insect.

With effort, I whistled even more cheerfully.

After about thirty minutes, we arrived at the Main Palace.

“This way, please.”

I ignored the attendant’s call and subtly headed west. After making sure no one was around, I went down to the basement where the wine cellar was located.

“I was praying it wouldn’t be here.”

A massive undead hound lay in front of the emperor’s wine cellar.

It had all started when maids and servants working in the Imperial Palace were caught stealing a bottle or two of high-end wine.

Because the wine was so expensive and sought after by nobles, it was easy to convert into cash.

She had posted guards in front of the cellar, but that hadn’t solved the problem either.

The guards, intoxicated by the aroma, had started stealing the wine themselves.

In the end, she had summoned a black mage and commissioned the creation of an undead.

The result was that hound.

I slowly approached the hound.

When I was ten paces away, the beast lifted its head. When I took a step back, it lowered its head again.

“Swaying, Blossoming Flame.”

A flame like a serpent’s tongue flickered to life between my middle and index fingers.

I blew on the flame, sending it flying.

It landed on the undead hound’s head.

With basic red magic, you couldn’t kill an undead of that level even if you died and came back to life.

But if I tried with everything I had, it was possible to incapacitate it for a moment.

I squeezed my eyes shut and poured my mana into the spell.

My heart constricted violently.

It felt like I was endlessly exhaling, unable to draw a breath.

Had it been a little over twenty minutes? A sizzling sound was followed by a pop.

The green light in the undead hound’s eyes flickered.

Its cracked, glass-orb eyes steamed as they regenerated.

I used that opening to slip into the wine cellar.

In the dim, spacious room, shelves like bookcases stood in tight rows, and on them lay dozens of varieties of the finest wines.

I hid myself in a corner with a clear view of the red wine called ‘Tears of the Wasteland’.

After waiting for about ten minutes, I heard a presence outside the cellar.

“Huh? The hound isn’t moving?”

It was a maid with bluish-black hair and a cool demeanor.

She picked up a bottle of Tears of the Wasteland and pulled out the cork.

She poured the liquid from a small vial into the bottle, then plugged it with a new cork, sealing it as if nothing had happened.

I stepped out from my hiding place.

“Don’t do it.”

The black-haired maid looked at me, startled.

I spoke in a pleading voice.

“Just take a new bottle of wine. Please.”

She shook her head with a bitter expression.

With a resigned sigh, she drew a dagger from her robes.

“There is only one person I serve.”

Right, you say that this time, too.

“A pity.”

I understood her desire for revenge, but I couldn’t let it lead to a bloodbath.

I didn’t bother telling her that her actions would shatter the princess’s family.

I didn’t want to condemn her loyalty.

After all, what I was about to do was, in essence, the same thing.

I shouted for the guards at the top of my lungs, then chanted the spell.

“Sharply Piercing Flame.”

The flame shot forward like a fletchless arrow and struck the maid’s hand.

She cried out, clutching her hand as the dagger fell to the floor.

From above, I heard the sound of military boots.

The guards were coming.