I Became the First Prince

cent.
I’m still the Crown Prince.”

“What if you’re a prince! I’m a duke! You may become a prince who never rises to the throne! I can say no more than this! So please, shut your mouth and stay still! Please…”

The prince shifted his gaze, looking for someone to help him out.
Carls Ulrich shook his head with a stern face.
The Crown Prince then turned to Bernardo Eli.

“I’m always being treated like this.
I always do everything that others don’t want to do.
Do you think I’ll do it again? Absolutely not.”

Eli’s eyes were full of tears as he spoke of his dissatisfaction.

“Arwen.”

And at last, the prince’s gaze settled on Arwen Kirgayen.

“You know… If you feel like the others, you don’t have to answer.”

Arwen didn’t answer.

“You’re the one.”

The prince glanced at those who had refused his request with a spiteful face.

“Please.
Help me to finish this.”

Arwen bit her lip until it bled, the tight muscles around her eyes twitching.
Then, after a while, she opened her eyes and grabbed the prince’s drooping body, raising it.

“Oh, no!” Adelia screamed, also grabbing onto the prince’s body.

“Sir Arwen!”

Eli and Carls had ashen pale faces, and they tried to stop Arwen.

“What are you doing now?!”

Vincent Balahard’s anger was fiery, and Adelia continued to cling to the prince’s body.

‘Chuck!’

Carls drew his sword, placing it against Arwen’s neck.

“Stop it.”

However, Arwen was not concerned with the cool texture of the iron sword pressing against her neck.
She just continued to raise the prince up.
Knowing that Carls would not stab the blade into her flesh, she managed to help the Crown Prince to stand.

“Thanks.”

Finally, the prince stood on his own two feet and expressed his gratitude with a benevolent smile.
Then he pierced the royal sword into the ground, the weapon not having been released from his grasp until the very end.
The prince’s body, which seemed as if it would collapse at any moment, still stood tall.

‘’The stairs to the sky collapsed’’

A soft song flowed from his mouth.

‘’All that remains is the cunning tribe’s screams as they plummet’’

At first, his voice was so weak as to be near inaudible, but at some point, it began resonating across the plain.

‘’In a flurry the tale does spread, and all in the world know of their fall’’

And a light burst from the prince, with him looking back at his knights in that bright glow.

“Don’t think about saving me with elixir, or by reliance on fortune.
Nectar will restore my body, but it won’t be able to restore my broken soul.
So use it where it is more needed.”

An extraordinarily brilliant flash engulfed the prince.
And when the light faded, he closed his eyes, leaning against his sword.

“Well, your Highness…” Adelia Bavaria staggered as she rounded on the prince.
“Your Highness, your eyes…”

The moment she touched him, the Crown Prince fell.
Adelia looked at him with unfocused eyes, looking at the slowly falling prince and the knights rushing to him.

“Ahhh…”

She clenched her cheeks with both hands, and started groaning, as if in pain.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!” Adelia screamed.

It was at that moment that the chain connected to her soul broke.

**

‘Ching!’

Lionel Leonberger looked at his hand with a frown.
Blood poured from where he had cut his finger on broken glass.

“Why, Your Majesty! Are you okay!?” The marshal, who has dining with the king, got up from his seat with a concerned face.

“I don’t want you to fuss about me getting a cut on my finger,” Lionel Leonberger said as he looked at the broken glass, already having wrapped the tip of his finger with a handkerchief handed him by the attendant.

“Is the glass old? There seemed nothing wrong with it.”

“I sold all the good-quality tableware to cover our finances.
I can’t say that those that remain are of good quality,” the marshal told the king with an embarrassed face.

“It’s time for everyone to tighten their belts, so there is no need to feel guilt.”

“Your Majesty understands, so I feel more comfortable,” the marshal said, and then suddenly remembered something else.
“By the way, they say the exterminations are almost at an end.
Maybe the Crown Prince will return soon.”

Hearing Bielefeld’s words, Lionel Leonberger looked out of his window.
It seemed that his eldest son, who had run wild without worrying about his father’s command that he should avoid battle by staying in the rear and appeasing public sentiment, would soon arrive in the city.

“When he comes back, he will be punished.
I will be very strict so that he can learn how to sit still.”

The marshal laughed, unable to hide his smile after hearing the king say he would punish the prince.

“News, your Majesty!” It was then that the Palace Knight Commander opened the door, running into the room.

“His Highness the prince…”

King Lionel’s face, also smiling, hardened.

“Sire…” Bielefeld looked at the king and the messenger alternately with a pale face.

Lionel Leonberger jumped up from his seat and headed straight for the city gate.
Once there, he sighted the knights who had halted before the wall.
The young champions, the pride of the kingdom, did not even step up to greet the king.
Suddenly, Lionel’s eyes were drawn to their shoulders.
The positions where the proud knights wore their pauldrons and epaulets were marred by scratches and dents.
As soon as King Lionel saw this, he felt a veil pierce into his mind.
When he came to his senses, he was standing in front of a small cart.

“I beg you, brother… wake up.”

His second son was there, weeping, unaware of his father’s arrival.

“Why do you sleep like this… Please! Please… open your eyes! Brother!”

Maximilian, beset by a fierce sorrow, saw his father and spoke.

“Oh father… Your Majesty.
My brother is acting strange.
He is sleeping without answering my words.
Your Majesty will punish my lazy brother who sleeps without knowing I am here… No.
Please do not punish him.
Just make him wake up!”

The younger prince, who always acted more mature than his age, now cried like a child.
King Lionel, looking at the cart with a hard face, forced his hands to stroke his stiff neck.

There was his son—his eldest son who left the royal palace to subdue the turmoil in the kingdom, the boy he had promised to severely punish upon his return.
He had been loaded into the cart, with his hands resting upon his chest, laying quietly, his eyes closed.