Black-Haired Dad Isn’t Something You Reap - Chapter 93

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 93. First Meetings Often Have Different Meanings Than Expected (7)
But was this… really necessary?
Choco rushed toward the cluster of soldiers and swept her blade with a sharp whistle—blood sprayed. She pivoted to another direction and did the same—the ground turned crimson.
What kind of brutality was this? Slaughtering people so indiscriminately.
“I told you to keep your eyes closed!”
“You didn’t even give me time to close them!”
Well, by the time I blinked my eyes open, the situation had already resolved itself. I hadn’t even counted to ten when roughly half of the Media Military forces positioned in front of the Media Temple lay dead, and the other half had fled.
“The area ahead is genuinely dangerous, so please stay back here, understood?”
“Fine! I’m not so oblivious as to miss that, I’ll behave!”
About half of the Kisomalos Forces aboard the Heracles cruiser followed Choco into battle, while the rest remained to guard me.
Hmm, Choco’s assessment was certainly accurate. Once aerial combat became the dominant form of warfare, they wouldn’t be able to follow so recklessly. For now, I was merely cargo.
But looking at it from another angle? It seemed they’d arrived at precisely the right moment. There was no other way to board a warship charging into enemy territory.
And since this marriage alliance involved me directly, it was more efficient to observe and handle matters personally. If I had to send telegrams about how to treat the King of Media, review them, send more telegrams back, and conduct this entire affair through middle management, who knew what variables might emerge.
“Hey, Sergeant over there! You’re a sniper?”
“Oh! No, Your Majesty. My position has changed recently.”
Ah, I see. He was fiddling with an old-model scope. Wasn’t that the kind mounted on Springfield rifles?
While waiting for Choco, I chatted with the petty officer and noticed quite a few who’d transferred from the Army to the Air Force. Usually it was due to injuries.
Hmm, I’d heard recruitment was challenging. I should work on the Air Force’s image. The uniforms were already designed impressively, so I’d need to select a good catchphrase and push recruitment advertising aggressively.
“Pisha, we’ve got a match!”
Oh! So that was it! I have an uncanny instinct for understanding how people flee. I spend my days constantly thinking about which escape routes to take when trouble erupts.
I’ve experienced coups from the same person twice, after all! Wahaha! Wahahaha!
“Ah, I’m crying.”
“Why are you doing that?”
“Because I feel sorry for myself.”
“But I’m the one who should feel sorry for myself?”
“No, I’m the one who deserves pity more.”
Choco and I engaged in a misery competition as we entered the secret passage behind the statue in the Media Temple. There, the most unfortunate man at this moment knelt with his head pressed against the floor.
“I want to live!”
…
…
“I’ll do anything—I just want to survive!”
That seemed rather impossible. We captured the King of Media, who was screaming that he’d sacrifice his own family if it meant his survival, and immediately questioned him about where the Second Son had gone before dispatching search parties.
Of course, we’d also considered that this man might be exaggerating his pleas and lying to help the Second Son escape. We had our people search every secret passage we knew about and the entire palace interior. Within an hour, we’d captured the sixteen-year-old version of Croa—the Second Son.
He’d been hiding in the secret passage the King had revealed.
“Are these trash the family of that purple-haired prince?”
“No. Surprisingly, their personalities aren’t all that different.”
Whenever Croa gets oppressed somewhere, he subtly reports everything to me. Not directly, but indirectly, making me figure it out myself. In that respect, Croa is more cunning than this man.
“Why do all people raised in the royal and imperial families turn out like this?”
“Well, it’s the abyss of those who stand at the apex of the class system.”
Being in this position warps people one way or another. Croa and I are the good ones, wouldn’t you say? As I made this claim, Choco nodded in agreement.
“Certainly. That prince and Pisha are genuinely kind people, through and through.”
“Right.”
If they understand kindness, then let them take pride in dedicating themselves to my service. As I spoke with confidence, Choco laughed in a way that was slightly different from her usual demeanor, as if finding it absurd.
“Now, now! We have much to do. Hang white flags throughout the Palace and send telegrams declaring the Royal Palace occupied. Explain my marriage alliance with Croa to the major nobles and those in key positions. As for those who refuse to comply, there’s no need to show them to the Emperor—I authorize their execution on the spot!”
The saluting soldiers cried out “As the Commander-in-Chief wishes!” and dispersed to their respective duties. Ah, that’s right. Here, my title as Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force took precedence over my status as Princess, didn’t it?
Mmm, how reassuring. So this is what it feels like to have military power backing you. I think I finally understand why Father pushed so hard to give me control of the Air Force, even if it meant burdening me.
“Well then, let’s see where he was.”
I decided to search for the place where Croa had lived. Accompanied by Choco, I found the small room that was supposedly somewhere within the Temple. It was a room with only a palm-sized window, and even that had iron bars. Chains for restraint lay on the floor, and there was an old bed and a worn fairy tale book with fingerprints all over it. From being read so much, the edges had become slightly rounded.
“Choco, kerosene.”
“I’ll bring it right away.”
Burn this damned little room to ashes!
I took only the fairy tale book as a souvenir and poured oil throughout the room. I lit a match, flicked it inside, and the brick walls blackened as flames roared through the interior.
“Hehehehe! Burn it all! Turn it to ash!”
“Your Highness has quite the fondness for playing with fire, doesn’t she?”
I take after Mother, I take after Mother. Or perhaps it’s the blood from my maternal family line. I knew Lorowi was actually an alchemist, but regardless, Lorowi is the Lorowi of explosions, after all.
After calling in firefighters to prevent the flames from spreading, I moved to the Main Palace Building. As news spread that the Royal Palace had been occupied and the King and his son had been captured, the Kingdom Army surrendered en masse, and Kisomalos Forces’ airships began landing in earnest to deploy troops throughout the Palace.
“We have nothing left to do but wait now. Let me send word for Father to come quickly, and we should summon our friends as well.”
“Yes, I shall prepare at once.”
Taking my words, Choco immediately set off for the telegraph office, carrying me in her arms. A reply telegram soon came from Father saying he would arrive shortly, and word came from Kisomalos Imperial Palace that they were preparing and would come.
However, Croa’s condition didn’t seem very good, as Shirley sent a separate telegram. It was a report that the prince kept trembling or breaking into cold sweats.
Just thinking about meeting family members was making his body uncomfortable… But there’s nothing I can do about this. I can’t blindfold Croa and resolve everything for him. I believe it’s right that he face his family directly and decide their fate himself.
“Now! Let’s go to the King’s office! To the office!”
“Surely he would have hidden all the important items?”
“That’s the fun of it—scraping together all these miscellaneous things.”
There are things you can obtain by gathering small pieces of information. While being carried in Choco’s arms as we moved, I handled various matters. From small things like the meal arrangements for the captured King and his son, to the case of someone important who refused the alliance with Kisomalos—I suspended their execution and left their treatment to be decided later.
See, how convenient it is to have me, the one with ultimate decision-making authority, here in person. If I left these trivial matters to communication, opinions would clash and major problems would arise.
“As for this Count German—separate him from the King and his son and lock him in a different prison. I’ll decide his fate when the Emperor arrives.”
“Yes, Commander-in-Chief.”
I would normally have executed him on the spot, but this Count German gave me a strangely familiar feeling. To be precise, it wasn’t the Kisomalos bloodline pulling at me—it was the Lorowi bloodline.
In any case, once I moved to the office, I examined files, stamped documents, and whatever else was at hand. I was looking for anything that might be profitable or useful for winning over the nobles. And I did manage to obtain one rather weighty piece of information.
“Huh?”
The person Media was trying to kill with a curse was neither the Crown Prince of Astiages nor the First Princess.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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