Volume 5, Chapter 2 – The Flame Princess’ Sunny Stage, Part 1
The pleasant morning sun shines through the window, and the chirping of birds pleasantly caresses the eardrums. Yet, in the midst of all this, an ominous sound cut through the calm air and raced across the sky.
The spirit of the people overlapped each other, and with an intense spark, they disappeared into the sky with a shout.
Using this as an alarm, Hiro woke up from the darkness.
“Morning, huh…”
Hiro lowered his feet from the bed to the floor and stood up.
As he stood up, he rubbed his eyes, which were still sleepy, and saw teardrops on his fingers.
“…..”
A bitter smile appeared on his face. Apparently, he had been having the usual dream. Hiro shook his head repeatedly to shake off the nightmare and approached the window overlooking the courtyard.
“I’m not done yet!”
“Reckless, you are mistaking foolhardiness for bravery.”
In the courtyard on the other side of the glass, Liz, who is still recovering from her injuries, is currently training with Skaaha.
In the center of the courtyard, surrounded on all sides by mansions, was a fountain. It was surrounded by flowerbeds with brightly colored flowers and plants. There were also low trees planted around the perimeter.
The two of them were training in the man-made nature ― Skaaha toying with Liz with her quick spear-handling, and Liz, perhaps because of the pain of her bared nails, jumping into Skaaha’s bosom with her bare hands to attack. Even with bare hands, Liz has the natural blessings of the Flame Emperor to provide her with tremendous strength, so a hit would undoubtedly be painful.
“Kuh, the pressure of the fist alone is enough to take away one’s consciousness.”
Therefore, it seems that Skaaha is taking the mock battle seriously.
Near them, Aura was sitting in the shade of a tree, reading a book.
“What are you doing here all alone in the morning?”
As Hiro gazed at the scene, Rosa leaned down from behind him.
“Do you feel lonely about Liz’s growth?”
“It’s a good sign.”
“Is that so…? I’m a little sad. It’s like a baby bird leaving the nest, or something like that…”
From over Hiro’s shoulder, Rosa is looking at Liz with a mixture of joy and sadness.
And to her…
“I’m going to accelerate my plan. I want you to change your support from me to Liz in the near future.”
“Is that really what you want?”
“It’s the best choice.”
When Hiro said that, the weight disappeared from his back. At the same time, the soft-touch disappeared.
“But if the consensus of the people is different, I will switch back to the Black Prince.”
At Rosa’s unexpected words, Hiro couldn’t help but turn his head.
“And it doesn’t change the fact that I want to have a baby.”
Rosa ― who had a well-defined face ― approached him with both hands on the wall, blocking Hiro’s escape route. However, the seductively moist lips snatched Hiro’s cheek and carried it to his ear.
“I won’t let you get away with this.”
The sound of her voice, laced with a hint of seductiveness, and her sexy breath, touching his earlobe.
Hiro smiled at her and then shrugged his shoulders.
“After the verdict, I’ll be working on depriving Stobel of the right to inherit the throne in order to weaken the Krone family.”
“Understood. But what about the other five noble families?”
“The northern nobility, the Sharm family ― the faction of the second prince Selene – is very united and not easy to deal with. So let’s ignore them here. When the eastern nobility gains strength, they can be defeated head-on.”
“Fumu, no need to worry about the western nobles. They are destined to disappear naturally. They’ll be the first to disappear in the power struggle.”
“No, I don’t want them to leave too soon, so I’d better make some changes. But just like you, I’m not worried about the western nobility either.”
The remaining southern nobles, the Muzuk family, would preferably be added to this camp. In the south, there is Margrave Grinda. It would be unbearable if they were to send soldiers to them. Above all, Liz and Hiro’s base is the Berg Fortress.
As he explained this to Rosa, she rubbed her head against Hiro’s neck.
“If you lose the Berg Fortress, you can come to the east. You’re always welcome in the east.”
Rosa says casually, but Liz’s throne would be far away if the eastern nobles were to be attacked from three sides. He wants to avoid this, and it is too dangerous to have all eyes on the east.
“I’m afraid of the existence of the Six Kingdoms. They will certainly take advantage of the chaos to set something in motion.”
The barrier to that is the western nobility, but their current strength is not enough to withstand the attack of the Six Kingdoms. If the western nobility were to be destroyed, the country’s center could be overrun at once. In addition, there are many other countries that are trying to get a foothold in the Grantz Empire.
It is a situation where a thousand years of accumulated resentment is waiting to be released. If the Principality of Lichtine and the neighboring Steichen Republic were to join forces with the Six Kingdoms and attack from the west and south, there would be no time to talk about the throne.
The Grantz Empire would be in a crisis of survival.
“In the end, the war with the Six Kingdoms is inevitable no matter what?”
Hiro nodded nonchalantly to Rosa, who had a gloomy expression on her face.
If possible, he would like to bring the Muzuk family, which rules the south, into his camp.
Then, he would try to strengthen the country’s power while increasing Liz’s influence and let the emperor steer the war with the Six Kingdoms to victory. The ultimate goal is to put the blame on the emperor and pull him down from his throne to make Liz the emperor.
To avoid becoming a usurper, she will ostensibly do so by the consensus of the people.
“So, for the time being, Rosa’s job is to discredit the emperor. I want you to manipulate public opinion so that when the time comes, we will be able to take the fight to them.”
“Fufufu, I’m good at that kind of thing, you know?”
Rosa nodded confidently and said to leave it to her.
And then…
“Hii…roooo…!”
Liz noticed that Hiro was awake through the window and called out to him.
“Good morning! Hurry up and come downstairs, Hiro! Let’s train!”
“Oh, Black Prince, is that what our princess wants?”
“You’d better get going so as not to upset her.”
Hiro waved to Liz as she sent her morning greetings and turned to the doorway.
“Why don’t you join us, Rosa?”
“I think I’ll go after I get some more sleep.”
Rosa, biting back a sigh, sank down on the bed.
“All right. I’ll see you later.”
Hiro waved his hand behind his back and stepped forward to head downstairs to Liz and the others.
“Wise brother! Good morning!”
When he reached the hallway, Hugin was waiting for him. As usual, Hugin had a vivacious smile on her face, exuding an atmosphere as dazzling as the sun. She was probably waiting in the hallway to escort Rosa.
“You can take charge of the escort in the room. Rosa won’t complain about that.”
“N-no, I can easily detect any suspicious signs here…”
Rather than being strangely distant… her eyes are swimming unusually. There must be some reason for this… and Hiro opened his mouth.
“What’s the matter with Rosa?”
“Eh? I-it’s nothing!”
No matter how it looks, he can’t help but think that something happened to her. Hiro put his hands on his hips and sighed.
“I don’t want it to interfere with the mission. I want you to tell me if possible.”
It would be too late if something happened to Rosa. He will have to deal with it while he can, or he will regret it.
For a while, Hugin showed signs of hesitation, but then she dropped her shoulders as if giving up.
“I’m not very good with that person.”
“Not very good?”
This was a rare excuse for Hugin, who never put her personal feelings into a mission.
“Yes, we… took a bath together yesterday, and she rubbed my breasts.”
Hiro sighed deeply, put his hand on his forehead, and looked up at the ceiling.
He didn’t have to hear the whole story. They were talking about that sexually harassing witch. The more Hugin disliked it, the more she touched his chest. The more the other party dislikes it, the more she develops a taste for it. Above all, she loves beautiful things and pretty things. It doesn’t matter if the object is a human being.
“W-well, sometimes she has a childish side, you know…?”
He cannot follow up any further. He can’t think of any more words.
“And besides, if you are a skilled assassin, you may be able to mask your presence. I think it’s better to keep a close eye on them, considering that.”
“Mmm…”
Hugin began to growl. Maybe she is weighing her duties and self-sacrifice.
“I-I’m doing this for wise brother. So I will carry out my mission.”
Hugin’s head slumped down, and she walked slowly to the door, putting her hand on it with a displeased look on her face.
“Excuse me!”
Hugin walked briskly into the room.
“Oh, I was just looking for a pillow. You can be substituted for my Lord.”
“Heh? Nooooooo!”
While apologizing to Hugin in his mind, Hiro pretended not to have heard and turned his back to the door.
The sourc𝗲 of this content is free(w)ebnov(𝒆)l