The Scoundrel Prince Sold Out the Empire - Chapter 59

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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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Episode 59: Wings of the Bat (4)
A grey-haired Deberian could expect to be stopped for inspection every time he walked down the street.
The Empire’s security officers made a habit of it, simply to pass the time.
‘As if they’re any better—their own hair is that dull brown, not far from black, nothing like real blonde.’
Reianna swallowed her contempt and produced her identification papers.
More precisely, the back page.
Beneath the Crown Prince’s signature lay the distinctive seal of the Divine Blood Token, stamped like an official mark.
“Ah! You serve under the Crown Prince? Please, go ahead. Long live the Crown Prince!”
A single sheet of paper bearing the name of a bastard was enough to make the checkpoint open and the officers salute.
The gate swung wide for a token with an illegitimate’s name stamped upon it.
‘I’m almost ashamed of how well I’ve mastered this—wielding the enemy’s authority in my homeland’s service.’
Yet something gnawed at her.
Ever since learning that the Crown Prince had escaped safely, the murderous intent she’d felt toward the Ninth Prince had begun to cool.
But the Ninth Prince was evil enough that the Crown Prince himself had moved to assassinate him.
The contempt and revulsion she’d always harbored were enough that, given the chance, she would not hesitate to kill him.
Especially now…
Crack.
‘How dare he summon me to his chambers? If there’s something he wants to discuss, he can come find me himself.’
She shook her head, casting off the anger. The Black Cloak unfurled, spreading across her entire frame.
In moments, she had become a giant standing two meters tall.
She had come out on orders from the Liberation Army, so she had to keep her composure.
Today’s target was Remikoning. Her destination: the Slum District.
The Duke’s behavior had grown suspicious of late.
He was buying up Deberians from the Slum District—people he once regarded with utter disdain.
Those desperate for quick money, those drowning in debt, those who’d do anything for coin.
The problem was that not a single one of them had returned.
Reianna picked her way up the slope to avoid the mud.
‘Either he’s silenced them, or made sure they can never speak again. Either way, it reeks.’
Through the straw door, a pair of eyes flickered and vanished.
She approached.
“I hear Remikoning’s people are handing out wages. Do you know where they’re sending people?”
“Don’t know.”
“I heard your neighbor also went with them.”
“I said I don’t know.”
“But he hasn’t come back for over a week.”
The man roughly yanked down the straw door.
It was his silent way of saying the conversation was over.
The same exchange played out at the next house.
Half a day wasted in this manner.
“Damn it. All this time for nothing.”
She had only given vague excuses for being away, so she couldn’t afford to be gone long.
It was time to return to the Crown Prince.
“The Prince brat—why’s he been hanging around so much lately?”
“Don’t insult the Crown Prince!”
Reianna spun around in alarm, and a small figure suddenly darted out from behind a pile of rubble.
Grey hair, hollow cheeks—a child like any other in the Slum District.
But where fear should have been in his eyes, there was only defiance.
“…And who told you not to insult him?”
“The Crown Prince! I heard you cursing him, mister!”
Reianna’s jaw tightened.
The fact that she was disguised as a two-meter-tall giant had absolutely nothing to do with her annoyance at being called “mister.”
“Why are you defending the Prince? You’ve got grey hair like us.”
“The Crown Prince gave me food.”
Reianna’s eyes widened beneath her hood.
Perhaps she’d stumbled upon a crucial thread of information.
“…He gave you food? The Ninth Prince? To you?”
“Yeah. Skewers. Really big ones.”
“Here? In this place?”
“Over there.”
The child pointed to a vendor’s stall down the slope.
“A hooded man bought it for me. He said he was the Crown Prince. But the one who gave it to me was a beautiful woman. She lives here, but I’d never seen her before. My mom almost died.”
The child spoke in the scattered way of youth.
“If he was wearing a hood, how did you know he was the Crown Prince?”
“I saw him when he came close to give me the skewers. Through the hood. He had really dark blonde hair.”
Dark blonde hair. A mark of the Divine Clan.
High nobility bore blonde hair too, so I couldn’t pinpoint him as the Ninth Prince, but—
‘It’s probably the Ninth Prince. Neither the Divine Clan nor high nobility would be strolling through a place like the Slum District. But that bastard—he’d do something strange without it raising an eyebrow.’
“Will you tell me more?”
“Yeah. I told Mom about the blonde man, and she beat me until I was almost dead. She said it hurt, but that it was better than dying.”
The child’s lip jutted out, still aggrieved by the memory.
“Want some of these?”
“Wow! Yes!”
As I held out a handful of candies, the child’s face brightened in an instant.
I’d paid the bribe. Now it was time to extract more information.
“Hey. What color was the woman’s hair—the one walking with him? Do you remember?”
“Black. Really dark black. It was strange. Like the night sky.”
Black. The mark of Deber’s noble bloodline.
“Why would the Ninth Prince even…?”
I’d muttered it to myself, but the child seemed to hear it as a question.
“Why? Um, maybe because his name is Zion, like the Crown Prince’s?”
“…What?”
“The Crown Prince and he have the same name. Zion.”
The child’s logic was simple.
Too simple to argue against.
“Have you ever seen the Crown Prince yourself?”
“What? Me? How?”
“On execution day. Really. He saved me.”
The child’s voice swelled with pride.
“That day the sky made this sound, and all the adults were wearing black cloth and crying. Something flew toward our house. I almost got hit.”
“And then? You don’t seem to have any injuries.”
“Right. The Crown Prince took the hit instead.”
“…The Crown Prince himself?”
“Yeah.”
“What happened after?”
“He petted my head. Like this, like this!”
Too clear were the child’s eyes to dismiss it as boasting.
‘Even in that urgent moment, the Crown Prince…’
It must have been a fleeting instant lost in the chaos.
Even amid that rush, he had seen the child first.
‘True enough… the Crown Prince was always weak to children.’
Because I myself had been a child, I had come to stand beside him sooner than others.
Sister Merin’s baked bread had helped matters considerably, though.
“Want more candy?”
“Yeah! I want to share it with the other kids!”
“Here. But if you see that blonde man again, stay away.”
“Even if he gives me food?”
“…Take it and stay away.”
“Okay!”
The child ran off clutching a fistful of sweets.
Reianna watched his retreating form for a long while.
‘Because they share the same name?’
Absurd.
Zion Riobert is nothing like the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince is utterly noble.
One who abandons nothing.
He could never be the same as a bastard.
‘If the Crown Prince had prioritized his own advancement, he would be the master of some vast arcane engineering corporation by now.’
Yet the Crown Prince had not abandoned his duty.
Though blessed with talents that shone brighter than the sun, he did not shrink from walking through darkness as black as night.
There was but one reason.
She recalled a time long ago when she’d asked her former lord why he bore such a burden without breaking, why he didn’t simply flee.
He had answered thus.
“Reianna. The name Zion carries within it a meaning—one who leads. I merely live up to my name, so don’t make too much of it. Ha ha.”
It was different.
It could never be the same.
* * *
“Your Highness! You can’t go like this!”
…….
Zion waved his hand dismissively.
“An official procession, you say! Formal dress! Medals…well, there are none of those, but at least your hair!”
Daien, who ordinarily chattered away like a lark, was now pecking at him like a woodpecker.
The girl’s high, delicate voice struck his eardrums with each word, sharp as a bird’s beak against wood.
“Daien. I’m just stepping out for some air.”
“You’re going to turn the Naval Headquarters upside down!”
“Exactly—which is why comfortable clothes make sense. Upending things is hard work.”
“Absolutely not!”
A comb and bottle of oils had materialized in the maid’s hands.
Hands that knew no concept of surrender.
Three hours later.
‘I’m going to die.’
Should he just go tomorrow instead? Fatigue was catching up with him.
“All done! Hehe!”
He glanced in the mirror.
Well…her touch had brought a shine to it, at least.
“Your Highness. The car is waiting.”
“Right. Let’s head down.”
The Imperial August, a luxury foreign vehicle as befitted its price, boasted a spacious and comfortable interior—but its true capacity was four passengers.
Winter in the driver’s seat, Zion in the front passenger seat.
Despite his station as a Crown Prince, Zion eschewed the rear seat of honor and insisted on riding shotgun.
“It feels like you’re actually driving,” he’d once said.
The bodyguard and maid who found themselves seated together in the rear felt the awkwardness keenly.
“Um, Reianna—is this your first time in Ainczen?”
Unable to bear the silence any longer, Daien struck up a conversation.
“It’s my second. When I came into Deber, I took the route through Ainczen instead. It was cheaper that way, hehe.”
Though it had cost her an extra five days of travel time.
“Daien. Can I ask you something?”
“Of course, sister!”
Reianna paused for a moment, then lowered her voice.
“Gray-haired girl to gray-haired girl—let’s speak honestly. Serving the Empire’s Crown Prince… you actually seem to enjoy it.”
“Well, yes. Don’t you?”
“I came for the money.”
“Oh… money’s important, of course. But I serve him because I owe him a debt.”
“A debt?”
“Yes. Before he was the Crown Prince, he saved me and treated me kindly. That’s why serving him brings me joy.”
Daien smiled softly.
“I don’t remember him being particularly kind to anyone.”
“He doesn’t show his kindness openly. I think he’s embarrassed by it. But he is kind—I’m sure of it. You asked the same thing he once asked me, actually.”
Reianna’s eyes hardened slightly. Daien didn’t notice, and continued in a whisper.
“He asked if it bothered me that someone with gray hair was serving someone with golden hair, and whether he should help me find other work. His consideration… he’s the finest person I’ve ever served.”
That couldn’t be right…?
“He’s never said anything like that to me. Why?”
Reianna didn’t know—but it was because she came from the Liberation Army.
“Maybe…he’s still reserved around you? Anyway, they’re calling him a bastard, but that’s surely just a rumor someone spread to slander him. He can be mischievous, certainly, but…”
Reianna looked toward the Crown Prince in the front seat.
A boy from the Slum District and a servant girl from Deber.
Both had spoken of different facets of the Crown Prince.
It seemed she had discovered yet another thing to investigate during her infiltration.
* * *
“Duke Aleon Remikoning. You must come with me.”

The Duke was dragged from his mansion in his nightclothes.
Seized by soldiers on either side, he shouted and struggled, but those who rushed forward froze before the gun barrels.
The prisoner transport brought him to Ainczen’s Naval Headquarters.
Only after glimpsing the imposing warships did Duke Aleon Remikoning grasp the full scope of what had happened.
‘I’ve been discovered.’
At the end of his journey, he arrived at his destination: an interrogation room in the heart of Naval Headquarters.
The Duke was forced to kneel on the cold stone floor, his gaze rising upward.
Admirals bearing stars sat in a row before him.
“Aleon Remikoning. Confess everything regarding the Morphia smuggling.”
“I am a Duke of the Empire. What manner of disrespect is this?”
“That’s precisely why we’ve kept your neck attached this long. I’d say we’ve been exceptionally courteous.”
“I will file a formal protest.”
“You won’t be able to. You will not leave this building alive today.”
His heart plummeted like a stone dropped into a chasm.
‘Evidence… there is no evidence. I must deny it all.’
He’d never created any documents in the first place, and every laborer involved in the smuggling operation now slept at the bottom of the sea.
Military officers? If they weren’t complete fools, they would have kept their mouths shut.
If he confessed, death was a certainty.
Whether he died either way, he’d grasp at whatever sliver of chance remained.
“I am innocent.”
“You funneled money to naval officers.”
“I have sponsored the military hundreds of times, if not more.”
“And yet you recently invited several officers to your residence? The timing seemed remarkably convenient.”
“They sought my assistance, and I offered what help I could in good faith. I merely wished to see the Empire’s finest grow stronger.”
The military admirals exchanged glances with one another.
Presently, the admiral who seemed to speak for them all drew his mouth into a thin, cold line.
“We have testimony from someone who confessed that the smuggling was carried out under your orders.”
“Whoever they are, I will make them pay dearly for daring to sully the name of Remikoning.”
“Ha! I hope you keep that promise. Bring in the accused!”
The door swung open.
A man bound with rope walked in.
Gray hair.
A naval uniform and the insignia of a lieutenant commander.
Aleon Remikoning’s only son stood before him.
“…Macalister…?”
“For the record, he is not a witness but a defendant. He has confessed to his own involvement.”
“Defendant, state your unit and name.”
Macalister answered in an even tone.
“Lieutenant Commander Macalister Remikoning of Ainczen Naval Headquarters.”
“Is the content of the complaint you submitted factually accurate?”
“It is.”
“Who ordered the Morphia smuggling operation?”
“Duke Aleon Remikoning.”
The Duke’s lips began to tremble visibly.
“Macalister!”
“The Duke approached active naval officers and began his seduction with sponsorship as bait.”
“Macalister, stop!”
“The officers he approached were my classmates. It was I who introduced them to the Duke.”
……
“That concludes my statement.”
……
……
……
The Duke’s face began to crumble into ruin.
Macalister watched his father’s expression with an unmoved gaze.
Macalister had nothing left within himself to break.
“By military law, we render this verdict: Aleon Remikoning, primary culprit in smuggling; Macalister Remikoning, accomplice; and all other parties involved…”
“Wait! I am—I am Remikoning! Duke of Deber, honored guest of the Governor’s Office—!”
“…shall be summarily executed, the military tribunal waived.”
“This cannot be!”
The Duke struggled against his bonds.
The rope bit into his wrists.
“Do you know who I am? Do you know how far my money reaches, how deep my connections run? Do you think the Governor will simply sit idle?”
Someone laughed.
“Oh, he’ll sit idle well enough. All the Governor cares about is keeping his position.”
“Idle or not, it makes no difference. You touched something you should never have touched.”
“Besides—the Governor? You really think a creature like you can ask the Governor to overlook Morphia smuggling charges? Ha!”
The generals’ laughter swelled, cruel and unrelenting.
“No! I’m telling you, no! Macalister! Macalister! You unfilial wretch! You’re driving your own father to his grave! Macalister!”
The Duke’s scream tore from his throat—and in that very instant.
Urgent footsteps echoed down the corridor.
A man burst through the interrogation room door.
Bang!
The adjutant’s face—attendant to one of the generals—had gone completely ashen.
“Gasping—gasping! Salute! Lieutenant General, sir! His Highness, the Ninth Prince Zion Riobelth, has arrived!”
……!
……!
……!
Everyone froze.

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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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