The Scoundrel Prince Sold Out the Empire - Chapter 39

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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 39: His Return (2)
The teacup had long since gone cold, no steam rising from its surface.
Reports accumulated before dawn broke—Third Prince Zion Liobelt began his review of them with a cup of tea, and by the time that tea had chilled to room temperature, his work was done. Always the same rhythm.
“Chief Chamberlain.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
A newspaper lay on the desk, its headline announcing the execution of rebel leader Zion Blitzei.
“Did the article spread well?”
“Yes, Your Highness. It reached every corner of the empire and all of Deber.”
“And how did the fish respond?”
If Zion Blitzei had ties to the Liberation Order, an execution ceremony was precisely the bait they would bite.
But if the Order remained silent, then every effort surrounding Zion Blitzei would have been wasted.
It would mean they’d already made contact.
“The Ninth Prince has been attacked by terrorists.”
The corner of the Third Prince’s mouth lifted.
“Zion—there’s no better bait than that.”
It had been the same when they’d captured Zion Blitzei before.
Without Zion Liobelt as bait, there would have been no Zion Blitzei to catch.
This time would be no different.
“I can see from your expression he isn’t dead. Tell me everything.”
“The Ninth Prince was struck by a bomb in Seirel. He was hurled dozens of meters from the blast center, but a Protective Magical Artifact saved his body from harm.”
“The perpetrator?”
“Unidentified. However, traces of Mana Explosive—the kind favored by Deber’s reactionary elements—were found at the scene.”
Publishing Zion Blitzei’s execution in the Imperial Capital’s morning paper had borne fruit.
It wasn’t a letter, but a newspaper, yet he’d received the answer he’d sought nonetheless.
Garion smiled.
Thin as paper, just the corners of his mouth.
“They don’t understand.”
“Understand what, Your Highness?”
“The newspaper article was bait to confirm whether the fish that vanished from the prison had made contact with its own kind.”
That the Liberation Order had committed the attack meant they didn’t know about Zion Blitzei’s escape.
If the Crown Prince had already joined them, there’d be no reason to grow excited over a false story.
“We may dig the trap deeper still. See to it.”
“I receive your command. All preparations for the execution ceremony scheduled three weeks hence shall be completed.”
“Keep vigilance sharp, but leave an opening for the Liberation Order to slip through.”
“Shall we create deliberate gaps in the checkpoint at the North Gate and station plainclothes soldiers throughout the alleys leading to the plaza?”
“Not bad.”
Now that matters had developed this way, moving the execution ceremony to Deber was no loss at all.
The elves had been burdened with the debt of transferring the execution ceremony, and the Liberation Order had been given bait in a place closer to their reach.
More fish would be caught.
“It will make for quite the pleasant festival.”
But there was no pleasure in his voice.
“It’s a shame I can’t watch it in person from the Imperial Capital.”
“Every moment shall be captured with a Recording Magical Device and brought to you.”
The Chief Chamberlain produced the next ledger.
“And Brown Defense’s share price has risen sharply. Rumors of increased war risk show no sign of subsiding, so we expect further gains.”
“The magnitude of the increase?”
“Nearly doubled over the past four days. The faction’s nobles are asking whether they should make additional purchases.”
Brown Defense was a crumb of pastry to be distributed among the faction. Crumbs must be eaten eagerly to encourage their appetite.
Garion finally lifted the teacup and took a sip of the cold tea.
“Tell them to buy freely. Let them know this gift has been prepared for them by this Prince.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The Chief Chamberlain bowed once more.
* * *
Several days had passed since sending the letter to the Liberation Army.
In that time, Zion had lingered in the marketplace, along the riverside promenade, even down quiet alleys where few people walked.
The result was silence.
No explosions. No blade strikes.
‘The letter took.’
He seemed to have succeeded in persuading the Liberation Army. Perhaps playing the part of royal blood stripped of a name had been effective.
Zion stared down at the newspaper spread across the hotel table.
Deep wrinkles creased his forehead, as bold as the headlines in the newspaper above.
“This is maddening.”
The assassination plot had stopped. But now—how could he prevent the execution ceremony?
His thoughts kept hitting the same wall.
On the day of the execution ceremony, Zion Blitzei would appear.
Because the Third Prince would obviously use a substitute.
‘In the vision of the future, there was definitely a substitute present.’
Likely the elves would accept a double as well.
Standing up a single prisoner with dead eyes was hardly a difficult matter.
They’d claim that torture had destroyed his mind, making normal conversation impossible, but that they would permit a meeting anyway—clearing their debt with that much.
‘Once the elves see the substitute, they won’t care whether Zion Blitzei is executed or not.’
All they want in the first place is the Grand Magus’s intellect and magic.
They hardly seem likely to exhaust themselves trying to save a broken death-row inmate.
‘If only I could tell Winter. That man’s mind works better than mine.’
He needed a way to destroy the execution ceremony itself.
Even with a vague explanation, Winter would surely devise something brilliant.
The problem was that he couldn’t speak.
Reveal even half the circumstances, and secrets would spill out like thread unwinding.
It was infuriating.
Yet he wasn’t entirely without someone to consult.
‘Though that one will come to press him, not to discuss.’
Knock, knock.
The saying went that speak of an ogre and it appears—and sure enough, he heard knocking. The door opened before he could even answer.
Beneath silver-white hair, an expressionless face. Nox Siruna Eldrithi.
“Your Highness.”
“…If this Prince’s memory is correct, I never said you were welcome to enter.”
“No.”
Hearing that single word from her drained all his strength.
“So you just show up unannounced at another man’s quarters?”
“Is that a problem?”
“…There’s no problem with it.”
The girl neither apologized nor made excuses.
Instead, she got straight to business.
“What becomes of Zion Blitzei?”
Zion glanced up at the ceiling for a moment.
‘I wish I knew that myself.’
“You haven’t thought it through.”
“In the first place, I’m the one who stands to gain from Zion Blitzei’s execution. I thought you’d forgotten.”
“I don’t think you have.”
“….”
Just as Zion was about to click his tongue, Nox Siruna suddenly thrust something forward.
“Take it.”
In her palm lay a spherical jewel no larger than an adult’s thumbnail and a slender silver chain.
A sphere wrapped in faint light, as if dawn itself had been solidified whole, and a pendant.
Silver mist circled within the transparent surface, and at the mist’s heart, a slow light pulsed like a heartbeat.
In other words, an Essence of Mana.
“What is this?”
“A gift.”
“Out of nowhere?”
“I heard you were subjected to a terror attack.”
Nox Siruna held out the pendant once more, her face wearing its characteristic blankness.
“Protect yourself. And this pendant is also payment for moving the execution ceremony venue.”
‘Wait.’
Zion’s eyes narrowed.
Mana threads layered hundreds upon hundreds of times.
A function that dissolved the body’s boundaries and transmuted it into a spectral form circulated endlessly within it.
‘Ghostification.’
Once this artifact activated, his body would transform into ethereal form.
Steel, explosives, poison—all would pass straight through a spectral body without touching it.
“You’re giving something this precious as a protective artifact?”
“My attacks won’t connect.”
“Normally I’d give a shield.”
“But that would be ordinary.”
“This is excessive generosity. Are elves always so lavish with gifts?”
Nox Siruna Eldrithi regarded Zion Liobelt in silence.
The tip of her nose twitched faintly.
“Your scent has grown stronger.”
“Are you telling me to bathe?”
“Not that scent.”
‘Ah. She said her nose had cleared up.’
“Father mentioned it several times, actually. He said it would be troublesome if Your Highness died right now.”
“Dying later would be fine, then?”
“Presumably.”
“Refreshingly honest.”
“Yes. I don’t lie.”
The girl left as she’d arrived—without a word of farewell.
Zion Liobelt lifted the necklace.
A slow smile spread across his lips.
‘Nox Siruna Eldrithi. As of today, you are my benefactor.’
An Essence of Mana—a crystalline gem formed from pure, condensed magical force.
The Ghostification function of this Mana Device could only exist because of the mana patterns embedded in that essence.
An entire Essence of Mana had been poured into crafting a single function.
‘Which means the mana pattern inscribed on this essence has a high probability of being connected to the soul.’
He scrambled onto the bed and sat cross-legged.
Before his left knee lay the Star Eye.
Before his right knee lay Nox Siruna’s necklace.
If one could transform flesh into spirit, ordinarily the reverse should also be possible.
If he succeeded.
“My apologies. You’re just a shell now. Querre Stellam Orbita.”
The moment he drew magic from the Essence of Mana.
A torrent of mana flooded into Zion’s body and was absorbed.
‘Mmgh…’
Satiation spread through every limb. When he looked outside, the first light of dawn was already seeping through.
“Hah.”
Zion opened and closed his fist.
He’d barely flexed his fingers, yet the mana in the room surged outward, billowing the curtains.
Like a shallow well suddenly flooded with a lake.
‘It’s increased several fold.’
The Ghostification pattern the Essence of Mana had held remained within his body.
Though deciphering it was still beyond him.
It would require time—considerable time.
‘The Star Eye is precisely the catalyst to accelerate that.’
The Star Eye reads all things. Yet even a Grand Mage, with proper technique, could complete work that normally took months of decryption in mere moments.
The real problem was finding a way to infuse Zion Liobelt’s body with the power of House Blitzei.
‘Well, sleep first.’
After a sleepless night, exhaustion hit him all at once.
He’d need a clear mind to think this through properly.
* * *
That afternoon.
The moment he woke and tried to focus on the Star Eye, Winter came barging in.
“Your Highness. I have a report regarding your bodyguard.”
“I told you to handle it yourself.”
“This is my report on having handled it myself, sir.”
…The prince’s bodyguard was already chosen?
He’d said to handle it, but not to rush through it carelessly.
“Top candidate out of thirty-two applicants. Not just ahead of second place by a hair—more like ten points clear. Proficient with Mana Devices, and particularly skilled with Marksmanship—the best I’ve ever seen.”
“Impressive.”
“Impeccable manners, clean background. Being a woman also offers the advantage of lowering the subject’s guard.”
‘…Hm?’
A chill ran down the back of his neck.
Someone came to mind.
“She had no objections to the compensation terms, and said she would stake her life to protect you. She’s waiting outside now. If you permit it, I’ll have her begin duties today.”
Winter gestured, and a figure emerged through the open doorway.
“A subject of the empire honors a member of the Divine Race.”
A woman offering a composed bow.
Her height fell slightly short of average—a touch below even Daiyen, who was still growing.
Her gentle features and sharply tailored uniform clashed yet harmonized in an oddly perfect way. Her name was……
“Reyanna, Your Highness.”
That was right.
It was Reyanna.
Small of stature though she was, she held the position of assault commander in the Deber Liberation Army—my loyal subordinate.
‘Reyanna…… what are you doing here……’
Reyanna laughed with spirited confidence.
It was like watching a honed blade smile.
“I will protect you with all my devotion, Your Highness!”
I will protect you with all my devotion.
With all my strength, I will assassinate you.
That was how it sounded.
‘How am I supposed to turn her away?’
To house and feed her, pay her wages, and post my former subordinate—who came to kill me—at my bedside?
Should I laugh at this or weep?
The Liberation Order clearly hadn’t abandoned its plot to assassinate Zion Liobelt.
They’d simply changed their method.

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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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