Bloodline is a Cheat Code - Chapter 33

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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 33
“So you’re saying that man dressed like a beggar is our older brother.”
“I never said anything about him being dressed like a beggar. Please refrain from putting words in my mouth.”
“I took this opportunity to curse a little. If anyone hears and reports it, make sure to testify that Haeston said it.”
“Yes.”
“Your Highness! Young Lady!”
Anyway, returning to Vincent’s story—he stood there looking exhausted and worn, as though he had abandoned everything and awaited death itself. My kind-hearted Maid could not bring herself to pass him by.
‘Would you perhaps like some water?’
‘….’
The man stubbornly refused her kindness, but faced with Elian’s persistent offers, he eventually forced down water, bread, and everything else as though chewing stone.
Elian found herself concerned about what hardships this man—who refused even water—must have endured.
He had obsessively checked whether the Well water she drew before his eyes and drank first was poisoned, or so the story went.
It was an anxiety any threatened nobleman would possess.
‘Vincent. No family name. I’m not a nobleman.’
‘I’m Elian. You may call me El.’
Vincent appeared fatigued and weary, yet he was a beautiful man of upright character.
He had abandoned his duty and fled for a time, but unable to bear the guilt, he stood in that place.
‘I must return. If I don’t go back, those I love will suffer.’
‘Those you love? Could there be a betrothed….’
‘Ah, no. I have neither a fiancée nor a wife…!’
As Vincent spoke those words, his face flushed crimson as he looked at Elian, and her face was scarcely different.
“They say one should be cautious of allies met during crises or extreme circumstances. Contrary to one’s intentions, one falls in love far too quickly.”
Lucian Advein murmured as though his older brother’s first love story was entirely unfamiliar to him. Well, where would he have heard such a thing?
“I too didn’t imagine such a thing could happen in such a brief moment when I first heard it.”
It had been mere days. The stars happened to shine brightly, and by chance, two young lovers in the throes of passion found themselves confined to a single room, feeling as though cornered at a cliff’s edge.
After a dreamlike night, Elian awoke early at dawn.
As she gently stroked Vincent’s hair while he still slept, she harbored somewhat hopeful thoughts.
‘Could he become my husband? Build a home together, have children….’
With a trembling heart, she was just stepping outside to prepare breakfast.
An Imperial Palace knight awaited her.
‘I have come to escort Vincent Advein, who shall become the Crown Prince of this nation.’
That single statement was enough to shatter Elian’s dream.
She had no choice in the matter, and she harbored no desire to obstruct the path of one destined to become Crown Prince.
She was far too considerate a woman to commit such an act.
Leaving Vincent, who had scarcely awakened from sleep, Elian fled as she was.
‘Since the Crown Prince’s investiture is imminent, they’re letting you live peacefully. Consider yourself fortunate.’
She carried with her a small purse—hush money.
That neither Vincent nor Elian knew that in the course of that single night, Elian’s Child had been conceived.
When Vincent awoke late, instead of the woman he loved, he found himself surrounded by knights, and shocked by the news that Elian had betrayed him, he was drawn back to the Imperial Palace as though in a daze.
Thus was born the Crown Prince of The Empire.
* * *
Of course, I omitted any mention of the child.
We were allies bound by strategic necessity, but I couldn’t yet trust him completely.
I merely summarized and conveyed that Elian and Vincent had become entangled in such a manner in the past.
Lucian Advein seemed to have accumulated far too many thoughts from that alone. As if he didn’t already have enough headaches.
“My brother did disappear for a while. It was right before his appointment as Crown Prince. I was practically confined to the Palace at the time, so I had no idea such a thing had occurred.”
“Yes, I also only heard of it long after I hired Elian.”
I had sensed it from the beginning, but hearing it directly from her lips came much later, so it wasn’t a lie.
Lucian Advein’s expression darkened slightly, as though matters had become troublesome.
“Your declaration regarding the Crown Princess—yes, you haven’t forgotten that at all. So what became of that tenant farmer, the Maid’s family?”
“Her father had fled long ago, and her mother was gravely ill. I procured medicine, arranged treatment, and had them relocated to a distant place for now.”
“I’m grateful.”
“There is no need to thank me, Your Majesty. I merely looked after my own servant.”
But I couldn’t very well push Elian forward as Crown Princess now.
There were numerous barriers to elevating a maid to Crown Princess in the first place, and besides, our position was to raise Lucian Advein to Emperor.
“In truth, if Your Majesty wished to use Elian, I would not refuse.”
Though I would rather not!
As reason and emotion warred within me, leaving me clutching my head in anguish, Haeston, who had been listening in silence, suddenly interjected.
“If he were the sort to abandon the Crown Prince’s seat and follow that maid, he would not have withdrawn the knights and pursued her in the first place, would he? The very fact that he has come this far suggests he fails as a man.”
Every time I encounter it, I’m reminded—this Haeston is no ordinary person.
He speaks words that could cost him his head without blinking an eye.
And Lucian Advein listens to such remarks with perfect composure, as though they posed no threat whatsoever.
“Is that so?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. As you told Lord Jade Delpoi, what honor is there in a man who cannot even protect his own woman?”
“That’s true as well.”
I feel my common sense gradually becoming distorted.
At that moment, Lucian Advein, leaning against the sofa, let slip a casual remark.
“However, I have no wish to rob a woman of her choices simply so that I may sit upon the throne and build my life around it.”
“. . .”
“Hmm? Young lady, why that expression?”
“Oh, no, it’s nothing.”
Should I criticize such a lack of ambition coming from the mouth of one who seeks the Emperor’s seat?
Or should I express surprise that such unexpectedly reasonable and proper words emerged?
“Had I intended to employ such petty means, I would have seized that seat long ago. If you wish to criticize me for a weak heart, I have nothing to say in my defense.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Of course, there are circumstances I have yet to share with you, but my fundamental thinking remains thus. Even if I am not fit to be a benevolent ruler, I cannot become a tyrant or an incompetent one. And if you were to become disillusioned with me and leave, that would be my loss.”
His playful tone reached my ears, and the way he spoke made it seem as though he held my very existence in high regard—a feeling that was decidedly strange.
“Should such a crisis befall Your Majesty, I shall do all in my power to dissuade you, so please have no concerns.”
“I too shall offer my full support, so worry not! I cannot possibly let such an opportunity slip away.”
Haeston clearly has some other intention, but for now, I’ll pretend not to notice.
I’m not sure if voicing such thoughts disqualifies me as a vassal, but I found myself genuinely moved.
I served Lucian Advein, yet I was Elian’s master, and as I reflected on the time we’d spent together, my desire to protect her took precedence.
“Young lady, please take the medicine the Maid brought for you first.”
“Ah, yes.”
Was this really the time to take medicine? Another person had joined the ranks of those fussing over my medications—a calamity I hadn’t anticipated.
In any case, I was someone Elian and I both cherished as a servant, but to Lucian Advein, I was merely a chess piece to be deployed as needed.
“Your expression is far too astonished to simply brush aside with a denial. I believe that for us to establish a proper alliance, we cannot afford secrets from the very beginning.”
“Ah, truthfully… I assumed you would demand that I relinquish the Crown Prince’s position using Elian as leverage. I’m also aware that should Your Majesty make such a request, I have no authority to refuse.”
Seeing no point in making excuses, I answered honestly, and he laughed softly as though he’d anticipated my response.
“Well, it seems you’ve already stated the first reason.”
“Yes.”
In truth, I had already accepted his logic to a considerable degree.
Though I had declared before Vincent and others that Rosena’s will and mine were separate, the reality was different.
From the very moment I approached Lucian Advein, hadn’t I boldly declared that I would lend Rosena’s power?
Now I had even directly informed him that Rosena had reached the stage where she could make a direct declaration of support.
“Separately from that, even if the Maid sleeping over there were a complete stranger entirely unrelated to the young lady, I would not have considered exploiting her.”

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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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