That Piece Of Trash Was Me - Chapter 283

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Side Story Chapter 1

Side Story 1.

The day Ferdinand first decided to go on his military campaign.

He knew that Empress Carmi had tampered with his luggage.

It had been modest luggage to begin with.

Despite it being a personal expedition where the Crown Prince himself was leading the campaign, there was no departure ceremony, nor any proper concern or encouragement from his father, the Emperor.

Just as this beautiful, eternally unchanging sacred monster quietly disappeared into the darkness, everyone in the Imperial Palace desperately pretended not to notice.

Perhaps even if Ferdinand were to completely vanish like this, they would continue to turn a blind eye.

No, maybe that’s what they were hoping for.

Many people might desperately wish for the Crown Prince suffering from divine power excess syndrome to disappear like smoke from mythology.

But Ferdinand was a living person.

Disgustingly so.

“…Damn it.”

That night when Ferdinand joined the border forces, he eventually curled up in his tent, breaking out in cold sweat. His whole body burned with high fever as he gasped for breath.

This was the front lines.

No matter that it was the central tent where a nation’s Crown Prince stayed, the environment was inevitably harsh.

On the bed stuffed with straw and covered with rough blankets, Ferdinand’s bundle brought from the Imperial Palace was scattered in disarray.

Among them, there wasn’t a single item that could symbolize the Crown Prince’s dignity.

But that didn’t matter much anyway.

The problem was how far Empress Carmi’s hands had reached – even the medicinal herbs casually tucked inside were thoroughly damaged.

“Haah…”

Ferdinand let out a groan. The herbs from Mount Luromance. Those medicinal materials absolutely necessary to suppress the divine power rampaging inside his body.

Ferdinand wanted to fly to Mount Luromance right away. That place was originally Frazier territory, and there, what he needed for his body spread like weeds.

With his mind hazy from high fever, Ferdinand soon found himself dreaming of flying to that distant Frazier Domain.

There, he could pluck and eat the herbs, he wasn’t in pain, and most importantly…

He could meet the most noble granddaughter of the Fraziers.

He had already heard the news that she monopolized the Grand Duke’s favor and absorbed all the power of House Frazier. There wasn’t a person in the Imperial Capital’s high society who wasn’t making a fuss about it.

Enough for this news to reach Ferdinand’s ears too.

Perhaps that’s why. In Ferdinand’s hallucination-like dream, Tulia Frazier appeared like a mass of light.

So radiant, like a star in the sky that he couldn’t dare approach.

A girl who was simply too precious…

Ferdinand unconsciously reached out his hand, then stopped.

How dare he try to touch someone?

The Emperor, his father, extremely despised even the slightest accidental contact. As if the divine power coiled in Ferdinand’s body would harm him. As if he were a monster that would damage the noble imperial body, he would shake Ferdinand off.

Only then did Ferdinand wake from his dream.

A self-deprecating laugh escaped him. He clutched the small handkerchief that pink-haired young lady had given him once. Since he always kept this in his breast pocket, even Empress Carmi hadn’t been able to touch it.

Now, that girl who was receiving all kinds of envy in the Imperial Capital.

She must be happy.

She would be wealthy.

The Frazier girl who would be the protagonist of a life that was endlessly joyful and infinitely glorious.

A girl who would occupy a corner of high society gossip until she died of old age. Who would know that the handkerchief belonging to such a precious bloodline girl was this worn out…

Who in this world would know…

Ferdinand buried his face in that shabby handkerchief.

At first, he couldn’t dare do such a thing. Even when no one was watching, even when there was no one to see, some kind of guilt would arise and he couldn’t even think of bringing it to his cheek.

It had been an object he always treated with distance and courtesy, like a gentleman extending his hand to a lady in a neatly arranged meeting hall.

But the current Ferdinand was too tired to think about such things. His body hurt as if on fire and he was in agony. This was all he had left of another person’s belongings…

This palm-sized memory was all he had to lean on.

Ferdinand looked at the handkerchief worn in places here and there, then slowly blinked his eyelashes.

The reason Ferdinand couldn’t throw away Tulia’s handkerchief was, of course, for other reasons too, but the biggest reason was ultimately one thing.

A sense of kinship.

Ferdinand was the legitimate Crown Prince. He was the current Emperor’s only legitimate eldest son, and the Holy Kingdom treated him like a divine incarnation.

He learned only after growing up.

Even the court ladies and servants who endlessly abused him. Even Carmi’s minions. In the end, they could never become of higher status than Ferdinand.

The boy who matured early to survive acquired the dignity of royalty faster than anyone. Because he had to in order to live, because only then could he avoid death.

He gradually escaped from the abuse. Among Carmi’s minions, those who weren’t clever died for the crime of insulting royalty, and the smart ones died when the poison cups they tried to feed Ferdinand were switched.

After a few years like this, no one could look down on Ferdinand.

He was an outwardly brilliant and glorious Crown Prince. The traces of long abuse were quickly erased, but this kind of change, as always, followed an obvious sequence.

The parts visible to others changed first.

When Ferdinand had occasion to leave the Crown Prince Palace, the finest shoes were prepared. Ceremonial robes embroidered by imperial craftsmen were put on him. No one could openly treat him poorly.

But his bedroom, where no outsiders would enter, remained shabby, and the small garden where he stayed was still overgrown with weeds.

Ferdinand had no family to nag him about such things.

While fighting for dignity and survival as Crown Prince, he had no energy to spare for nitpicking over trivial matters.

So Ferdinand’s exterior was splendid, but his interior remained shabby. Because everything about him had been worn out for so very long, he had to suffer through quite a long period of lengthy loneliness.

Like the owner of this handkerchief.

That girl who wore lovely dresses tailored to fit her perfectly and received infinite favor from Grand Duke Frazier.

That love wouldn’t have just been given. That girl must have fought to win it by doing whatever it took.

So while the exterior changed to look so good, inside, old and weary things would still occasionally show through.

Ferdinand wanted to live.

He wanted to live well like that child did.

He wanted to survive well.

Ferdinand buried his face in the handkerchief and breathed deeply. The profuse cold sweat thoroughly soaked the soft cotton.

* * *

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, the operation was a complete success. All of their major strongholds have collapsed, and the remaining forces are scattering. Currently, only small-scale skirmishes and mopping-up operations continue, so this regional front can be completely suppressed within a week at most.”

Ferdinand was personally tightening the straps under his breastplate. When he glanced at the knight, the knight quickly bowed his head.

It was completely different respect than at the Imperial Palace. They treated Ferdinand as a ‘monster’ in a different sense.

The reverence and respect paid to a commander who had crawled back alive dozens, hundreds of times from that hell swarming with barbarians.

These were things Ferdinand had fought to win.

He looked at the map spread wide on the table. Smooth black stones signifying occupation were densely placed across the map.

Those places were territories the Empire had reclaimed, places Ferdinand had defended while narrowly escaping death countless times.

“Send someone to the Imperial Palace. Report all these achievements without omission.”

The knight’s eyes lit up. Ferdinand, now fully armored, walked away gripping his sword and said,

“Tell them the return date will be within three weeks.”

“Yes, sir!”

It would be a more splendid triumph ceremony than any other. The knight hurried out, hiding his excited feelings.

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