445 – The Reason I Want to Be King – 4 –

A chill moon hung in the sky on a certain day of the past.

Young Shartia, alone at the beautiful pond built on the outskirts of the Imperial City, sat upon a stone slab, breathing raggedly.

“Hahh… Hahh…”

The maids scurried about.

“Are you alright, Princess?!”

Maids who hadn’t uttered a word when her brother was present, now bustled around frantically since his disappearance.

“I’ll fetch a towel at once!”

When she cried out for rescue, no one came to her aid.

-Glug… Glug… Please, help me.

-Hahaha!! Who would save a defective thing like you?

-Please…! Please!! Help me…!

The sight of the maids scrambling about only now, felt sickening.

Shartia, her empty gaze following the water droplets sliding down her hair and splashing onto the ground, swallowed hard as she watched their flurry of activity.

-Clench…

Hating them changed nothing, after all.

Her fist, clenched tight with sorrow, crushed the hem of her damp dress.

Feeling a deep desolation as she watched the water droplets fall like tears, Shartia’s shoulders began to tremble.

Was it the cold that made her tremble?

Or the relief of being alive?

Or perhaps the anger of constantly being victimized?

She couldn’t tell.

Because she was young.

Too young.

She didn’t understand why she was subjected to these senseless torments.

Truly.

Her brother despised her.

He hated her approach, spitting out words about her tainted blood.

I went to find my brother today, a flower crown woven from the garden blooms clutched in my hands, hoping to earn a word of praise.

-Look at this, would you?

-It’s for… for my brother…

-Defiling the Empire’s property with filthy blood…?

Trampled, crushed to pieces.

And if that weren’t enough, Father scolded me. One shouldn’t treat the Imperial estate so carelessly, he’d said.

-Father! Shartia wrecked the flower bed!

-…No, I only took a few…

-Liar, you trampled them all!

-I didn’t!!

-The maids saw you!

Even though it was my brother’s fabrication.

“…Hic.”

My heart ached that my sincerity was being trampled.

“…Sniff.”

I could even bear being pushed into the pond.

“Sniff… Hic.”

I had grown accustomed to the maids avoiding me, and I could tolerate that.

“Huuu… Hngh.”

The way they cursed me behind my back.

The way they ignored me as I floundered in the pond.

I could understand it now.

I was a defect, after all.

But.

That ‘word’… I hated hearing it.

No matter how defective I was.

Even if I deserved to be scorned for my un-princess-like behavior, that word… to hear it from my brother’s mouth was truly unbearable.

-Ugh… Disgusting.

That word, ‘Disgusting,’ felt like my very existence was being denied.

“I…”

It felt like she was someone who shouldn’t have been born. That word, *dirty*, was something Shartia loathed to hear.

Sitting beneath a sky swollen with the moon, Shartia thought she should return to her room before the maids began to swarm. Surely, whispers of the inconvenience she caused would follow.

“…”

No.

Her fists clenched, Shartia remained, hesitating. One way or another, words would be said.

Clad in soaked clothing, Shartia felt that even traversing the palace grounds in this state would be met with accusations of defiling the palace. It was better, then, to steel herself and accept the maids’ assistance.

“…I truly hate it.”

If she returned to her room, Mother would embrace her. Apologizing, ‘I’m sorry, your mother can’t do anything.’

“…”

Pitiful.

More so Mother than herself.

Shartia’s sorrowful silence stretched a little longer.

-What in the world are you doing!

A booming roar that resonated across the pond shattered the tranquility.

Startled by the sudden outburst, Shartia turned towards the source of the sound, a hiccup escaping her lips.

“Hic.”

*Again*, she thought, had someone frightening arrived?

Her mind tangled itself.

Would this be someone who screamed at others not to help her? Had her older brother sent someone to torment her? These thoughts persistently wormed their way in.

Her second older brother frequently sent people.

If she didn’t return now, Mother would worry, that concern echoing within her mind and intensifying her hiccups.

“Hic…”

She wished this wouldn’t be someone frightening.

The old man, the one who had roared, strode towards Shartia and, defying her frightened expectations, enveloped her in a tight embrace.

“Hic… Wh-who are you?”

“…Oh, dear Princess.”

“My… my clothes are dirty. You shouldn’t embrace me.”

The old man, tenderly uttering Shartia’s name, stared at her, his eyes widening with distress.

“Was it the princes… again?”

“…No.”

“Don’t lie.”

“Th-that is…”

Speaking as if venting her anger for her.

The old man holding Chartia placed the towel the maid brought upon her head, his voice laced with suppressed fury.

“I will inform His Majesty myself.”

Words she herself had longed to plead to someone.

But.

“No.”

Knowing such an action was forbidden, Chartia clutched at the old man’s robes and shook her head.

-Headshake, headshake.

A tattletale would only escalate things.

“Why… why are you stopping me?”

Halted by Chartia’s touch, the old man looked at her with pained eyes, his face crumpling. Like he was looking at his own granddaughter.

“…”

“It is your rightful privilege, as a Princess of the Empire.”

“…”

“As fellow humans, this is an action that crossed the line.”

“Then Mama will be sick.”

“…”

“The other mothers will dislike Mama… and Mama will be sick.”

“Princess…”

“It’s alright.”

The old man gazed at Chartia with sorrow, stroking her hair.

“Even looking like this, this old man is the Chancellor of this nation.”

As one would look at their own granddaughter.

·

·

·

“It seems I’ve roughly sorted it out.”

Recalling the old memory, Chartia thought as she watched Ricardo, silently walking through the sewer.

‘Could I trust him?’

The thought gnawed at her, a suspicion that Ricardo, too, might be using her for his own gain, just like…him.

-For the Princess’s sake.

She had doubted, feared that Ricardo, with his meticulous deceit, was using her to relive the nightmare, just like him.

Not as some tragic heroine, no.

But as a fool, a witless idiot, tricked by someone she’d placed her trust in, that was her.

She knew.

She knew his devotion, proven through the ordeal, wasn’t feigned.

Even so.

She couldn’t bring herself to trust.

“…”

How long had Shartia been silent?

Ricardo, still wordlessly cutting down the oncoming criminals, offered a faint smile.

“Princess, aren’t you working me a little too hard, even so?”

“…”

“I understand you’re trying to squeeze me dry, but shouldn’t you move too, Princess?”

“Sorry…”

“I’m trying hard to keep on your good side, but if I’m only going to be bled dry, even I might feel a little aggrieved.”

“I was lost in thought for a moment.”

“My face is a little too captivating, I suppose.”

“Ha… whatever.”

Amidst the spray of blood and flesh, Shartia, hearing Ricardo’s jests, released a relieved sigh and clenched her fist.

‘Yes. I am a selfish person.’

After everything that had happened, having chosen to be someone who uses others, Shartia watched Ricardo’s steadfast form – who had willingly become her pawn – and nodded, a small smile playing on her lips.

“Hey, Ricardo.”

“Yes.”

“You’re such an idiot.”

“…Pardon?”

“You help without expecting anything in return.”

Hearing Shartia’s sincere words, Ricardo chuckled softly and spoke, his voice low, directed only towards her.

“Not so.”

Chartia did not see Ricardo’s smile.

“Just how cunning I can be.”

That cruel smile of his, brimming with conviction.

*

Hanna, her eyes open and cold, approached the man sprawled on the floor, slowly.

“I remembered.”

“…Kha-ha, you monstrous b*tch.”

“You’re the criminal my brother caught six years ago, yes?”

“…What?”

“Histania Malick.”

“!!!”

“That person is my brother.”

The man, hearing the name ‘Malick,’ thrashed violently, glaring at Hanna as if to kill her.

“That…that monster spawn is your sibling?!”

Still, his mind held vivid images of the monster immune to poison.

-Kha-ha!! I’ve grown a lot too. Enough to send the Imperial Knights.

-…This is just the entrance test. There are a few more left, you know.

-Pu-ha-ha!! Really? Too bad, it doesn’t look like you’ll succeed.

-Didn’t I say, there are still more tests left.

-…Just die!

-What are you doing.

-Why isn’t my poison…?!

Poison, his pupils wide with terror, began to spew venomous words at Hanna.

“Damn it!!! Did I miss the chance to kill that b*stard’s sister?!”

“…Haa.”

As Hanna’s sword, scraping along the floor, came into view, ‘Poison, the madman who spreads venom,’ thrashed his paralyzed body, struggling to escape.

“I can’t be caught twice by people from the same household.”

“…”

“My poison is the strongest. If I research just a little more, I can create a poison that can kill that b*stard.”

“Tch.”

Clicking her tongue, Hannah steadied herself on the floor and addressed the fleeing Poison.

“He was never someone you could defeat in the first place.”

“…No, there isn’t a soul alive my poison can’t touch.”

“Do you even know who Histannia Malique is?”

“…”

“She *ate* your poison out of curiosity. How could you possibly win?”

“…Don’t be absurd.”

Around Hannah, pools of violet liquid bubbled and hissed, eating away at the surroundings with a macabre sizzle.

The poison, potent enough to melt through sewer walls with ease, vanished, defeated. The man, losing all will to fight, ground his teeth with a ‘grind’ and roared.

“You’re just…special.”

“…”

“Was the Empire raising monsters like you?”

At the man’s desperate scream, Hannah gave a dry laugh, exhaling a sigh.

“If monsters like me were crawling all over the Empire, they would have conquered the continent ages ago.”

“…”

“It’s true, though. I just happened to meet someone special, and that’s how I became strong.”

“…”

“Good fortune, I suppose.”

“…”

Hannah approached slowly, watching the man’s pupils dilate, fear blossoming within them. She flicked the violet poison from her blade, cleaving the air with the steel.

“Farewell.”

It was then.

-Tick.

A never-before-seen, verdant liquid began to trickle from Poison’s lips.

“Khe, he, he!!!”

He had employed many poisons in combat.

Nerve toxin.

Mist venom.

Blood poison.

Knowing they shared the same blood, he understood why such flimsy poisons wouldn’t work.

The blood of Hispania was peculiar, after all.

Now, the only way he could win was through hand-to-hand combat, injecting the poison directly.

Of course, with his martial prowess, approaching that woman was impossible. One wrong step, and his head would be separated from his shoulders.

Seizing his chance, Poison shocked his liver, halting its detoxification functions. An opportunity to land a single blow would surely arise.

Holding back the regurgitating blood in his mouth, Poison waited for Hanna to approach. It was a trump card originally prepared for Malik, but survival demanded its use.

Poison had ingested every kind of toxin.

The venom spewed from a Hydra.

The poison of the Cockatrice, turning a man to stone in an instant.

Having devoted his life to creating the most potent poison in the world, Poison endured the excruciating pain, screaming internally.

‘Come…’

Ready to unleash the venom collected in his mouth like a cobra.

‘Come…!’

But Poison’s ambition would never be realized.

“Enough.”

A sharp curved blade was pressing against his Adam’s apple.

“Guh…”

He was certain there was only one.

Before he could even sense its presence, Poison felt the blade’s tip grinding into his throat, unable to spit out the poison he held within.

‘Must…spit it out…!’

He would self-destruct.

At this rate, self-destruction…

He had to spit it out…

“Guh…”

Just as Poison was about to succumb to his own venom.

Hanna, letting out a soft sigh, spoke to Bailyn.

“Where were you?”

“I’ve been behind that man from the start…”

A crestfallen Bailyn hung her head low.

At that very same hour.

The fracas between Shuen and Ruin was also drawing to a close.

“Your mama’s a *?!”

“…”

“Orphan brat!”

He tossed out those pure, unadulterated insults without a shred of malice.