Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Himanshu02

‘I’m doomed! What should I do now?’

Wallace’s face was not just blue, but pale as a corpse. How did the first prince know about his and the Duke’s plan?

‘So this is when their plan was in motion?’

What Eurius had just shown him was the region where the Duke had suddenly raised his troops in the south during his reign as emperor.

To overwhelm the central army, he had secretly stationed the desert kingdom’s forces there.

He made a bitter expression.

It was true that in his previous life, his brother Leonhart, who was the emperor, had surpassed him in almost every aspect.

But the current ruler was his father, who was called the Iron-blooded Emperor for his excellence.

And yet, even though the emperor had not abdicated, the desert kingdom was plotting a rebellion.

This was treason.

He had expected it to some extent, but the Count Wallace had never intended to acknowledge him as a ruler, regardless of his talent or ability.

‘But it’s somewhat satisfying to expose him. The Count is someone who must be eliminated for the sake of the empire’s future.’

After sorting out his thoughts, Eurius hardened his expression.

“Coun Wallace, I trusted you, but you didn’t reciprocate? You’ve been conspiring with the Grand Duke to harm me since long ago.”

“…!”

Wallace had nothing to say.

Eurius continued.

“I’ve investigated and found out that there are quite a lot of elites secretly stationed there. Can you withdraw them right away? Wouldn’t it be faster for me to report this to the emperor when I return to the capital?”

“Pl… please spare me, Your Highness!”

Wallace finally bowed his head to the ground and begged with a trembling voice.

As Eurius said, his and the Grand Duke’s plan had gone too far.

If Eurius reported to the emperor that the desert kingdom’s forces were stationed in the south, the emperor’s inspectors would be dispatched immediately and he couldn’t hide them all.

He might be able to reduce them a bit, but as the closest noble to the southern desert, he couldn’t avoid suspicion.

“Please think of our friendship since childhood and spare me… at least my life…”

Treason was not a simple crime.

He couldn’t pay for it with just his life, but his lifeline, his family and clan would be wiped out.

‘Tsk.’

Eurius looked at him with contempt.

He had thrown away his dignity and pride and was crying and sniffling on the ground.

‘If I tie him up like this, I can rest assured.’Actually, Eurius had a reason to spare him.

‘If I reveal the truth now, in the worst case scenario, the Grand Duke could start a civil war.’

If someone with as much influence as the Grand Duke in the empire got help from the desert kingdom, starting a civil war wouldn’t be too difficult.

In fact, he had been stabbed in the back in his previous life.

‘But if a civil war breaks out now, too much blood will be shed.’

Eurius planned to cut off the Duke’s minions one by one, just like Wallace who was bowing before him.

If he waged a full-scale war to overthrow the Duke, unimaginable amounts of blood would flow, so he had no choice.

“Then do you want to live?”

“Please forgive me, Your Highness!”

He didn’t care about his face or anything else and kept bowing his head to the ground with tears and snot.

‘I can relax if I make him do this.’

In fact, Eurius didn’t get much information from him about that assassination cult or whatever they were called.

He interrogated Wallace fiercely, but he only knew that Jamir was a royal of the desert. They seemed to manage their information very strictly.

‘But I learned a lot thanks to that.’

First of all, those cultists or whatever they were called were not under the Duke’s command.

But if a royal of a country was not even the leader of a group but just a priest, then it was certain that the entire southern desert was under their influence.

It was a big gain to find that out.

The next day.

Wallace and Jamir came to say goodbye to him after he got what he wanted(?).

“Then let’s see each other again in the capital, Count.”

Eurius smiled and shook Wallace’s hand.

Of course, there was a lot of meaning behind that handshake.

“Hehe, Your Highness has been through a lot because of me.”

Wallace was inwardly miserable, but he had no choice.

Jamir greeted him with a bright smile.

“Please visit our kingdom if you ever come to the desert. We will welcome you Grandly.”

“Haha, I don’t know if I’ll ever go to the desert, but I’ll be sure to stop by if I do.”

‘Of course, I’ll have to go there someday to catch your tails.’

That’s how the events in Stefan ended with various incidents.

According to Wallace, there were many preparations in the capital to welcome his reform.

‘There’s a lot to do when I get to the capital. I hope everything goes as planned.’

***

Meanwhile, the palace was noisy even before Eurius arrived.

“Show me someone among the past crown princes who has achieved such a feat! Then I’ll accept it.”

“Hmph! But a promise is a promise, isn’t it? The second prince hasn’t even had his coming-of-age ceremony yet, and you want to decide the succession so hastily?”

These days, the imperial court was arguing every day about the issue of Eurius’s crown prince appointment.The point was the same as a year ago.

Normally, the crown prince’s foreign achievements should be given more time for at least five years, but Eurius’s achievements were so great that they wanted to settle the succession issue this time.

The difference from last time was that Eurius’s achievements were so overwhelming that even the Duke’s faction had little to say.

But whether they liked it or not, the emperor had already made up his mind.

‘I have to give the crown prince position to Eurius this time.’

The emperor had already read the report on the northern war submitted by Count Anderson.

The content was more than satisfying.

‘The most important thing for a ruler is benevolence. Leon, he’s excellent, but he lacks that.’

But even though he had made up his mind, the emperor didn’t give a clear answer.

“That issue can be decided later when Eurius returns. Let’s move on to the next agenda!”

‘He must have something in mind too, so I’ll listen to his opinion and decide later.’

But who would refuse the crown prince position when he offered it?

Unlike last time, this time he had a clear reason.

The emperor thought that Eurius would accept it 100 percent.

‘What worries me more is the Grand Duke…’

The Grand Duke rarely attended the court meetings lately, and when he did, he only gave brief opinions and nothing more.

“The first prince has certainly achieved a great feat, but I think it’s too early to appoint him as crown prince.”

The other nobles of the Grand Duke’s faction repeated his words like parrots.

The emperor recalled the mysterious force that didn’t look like immigrants in Count Anderson’s report.

‘There’s no evidence, but if the report is true, then there’s a high possibility that the Grand Duke was behind the northern war. Is he trying to start a civil war?’

Of course, the Grand Duke was prepared to start a civil war if he had to, but he was also the emperor’s cousin and had a high reputation as a knight.

Even if he was the emperor, he couldn’t accuse him without evidence.

He was an untouchable person.

The emperor was honestly eager to cut off the Grand Duke’s head right now, but suspicion was suspicion and there was no proof.

Besides, the emperor was not an ordinary person either.

He had an idea of how much power the Grand Duke had secretly amassed.

‘It’s a headache. I should have cut him off more thoroughly when I was young. But it’s too late now.’

He had shed so much blood when he was young, but if the Grand Duke really wanted to start a civil war, the emperor was willing to take him on.

Was his nickname Iron-blooded for nothing when he was young?

He was not the type to avoid a fight that came his way, even if he was old.

‘But it would be a very tedious and long war.’

The emperor’s thoughts were similar to Eurius’s.

With this northern incident, it was not hard to realize that the Grand Duke had harbored ill intentions.

But who would welcome a civil war that wasn’t conquering another country? It would be like cutting their own flesh.

The current situation was precarious!

If someone let go of the bowstring, this huge empire would fall into chaos.

And that choice was left to Eurius.

Finally, a report reached the emperor’s ears.

“The first prince has entered the capital.”