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There were four major noble families in the Kingdom of Prona.
The ducal Oler family of the South.
The comital Sentry family of the East.
The ducal Collins family of the North.
The comital Lopez family of the West.
They mandated a prominent, king-like authority in their respective domains. That's why the legitimate heir of the Oler family, Calion Oler, felt like the ground had slipped from under his feet.
'Why are the North and West kneeling?'
A great aristocrat is someone from whom even the king cannot carelessly command servitude.
It looked strange that such people would not only kneel, but also comply with the summons?
The more the capital's authority decreases, the better it will be for them, so why were they trying to help the royalty?
'Are they trying to elicit gratitude from the clumsy queen?'
While Calion formulated speculation of his own, Cloud reached out to the ruler of the northern and western regions of Prona.
"Thank you for answering the call even though it was close to an unilateral summon. You must have had a hard time amassing the army in such hurry."
"No. I just did my duty as a vassal."
"So did I."
After speaking, Duke Collins took out a round metal plaque from his bosom and placed it on Cloud's palm.
A dragon pattern embedded on the distinct metal plate.
The eyes of the aristocrats who recognized it trembled involuntarily.
"T, The emblem of the Perdiac family…?"
One of the Five Great Ducal families of the Empire and the only Imperial family that produced the Hero, Frillite.
A behemoth they didn't even deserve to meet as mere nobles of a kingdom.
That was the Imperial ducal Perdiac family.
Why was Cloud holding the family emblem and not Frillite?
Cloud, noticing the suspicious eyes of the nobles, tucked the plaque into his bosom and clarified.
""
"It's not a family emblem, it's a VIP plaque. Of course, it's a gift."
Who gave him the VIP plaque as a gift?
It wasn't too difficult to think.
There was only one person in the Perdiac family who could have contact with him.
'Frillite de Perdiac…'
The faces of the aristocrats hardened as they recalled the reputation of the Crimson Phantom. The risk of her being included was not in the plan.
If they had known in advance that Cloud and Frillite were this close, they would have never stepped into this quagmire.
Frillite, she alone, heralded influence stronger than that of Lorian and his family.
That was to say, they had done themselves more harm than good in trying to please their royal prince.
The nobles chewed their lips as they calculated the damage their family would suffer from this incident.
Cloud asked the mustached man.
"Is there anything else you want to say?"
"…Hero, it's a misunderst—"
"Doesn't look like one."
Cloud's sword gleamed through the air. A solid red line formed around his neck as the mustachioed man blinking his eyes blearily. The red line became more and more apparent.
"Uh..?"
Those were the last words of his life.
When Cloud pushed, his head and body separated and rolled along the floor. Having lost the head, neck spewed blood, soaking the garbs of the nobles and knights around him.
Silence ensued.
No one in the inn was any longer screaming or making a fuss. The nobles were staring at the corpse or considering Cloud with blanched expressions.
Meanwhile, Calion cautiously opened his mouth.
"…Hero. Isn't this too much? To fling off the necks of the nobles as if it were a commoner's. Would you be able to handle the consequences?"
His words sounded like a warning at first glance.
However, digging into it, one could see that it was just a servile begging for life.
He begged for their lives, not to kill them because they were nobles.
Cloud replied, wiping the blood smear off his cheek.
"I don't think my head will fly off if I kill one or two of these blasted guys. And it won't be any different if it gets to three."
"…"
Calion, not wanting to be the third, shut his mouth. So did the others. Cloud turned his attention away from the frayed nobles.
"Duke Collins, Earl Lopez. I'm sorry for asking you this right after you arrived, but please incarcerate them."
He stalked out of the inn without saying anything further. As he prowled alone along the dark side of the avenue, he pulled out the VIP plaque of the Perdiac family from his bosom.
He thought distractedly, 'I had no intention of using it for political purposes…'
Would Frillite be angry when she were to find out?
No, he would be glad if it just terminated with her being disgruntled.
What if they broke up?
Cloud looked at the VIP plaque with an appraising gaze, then crushed it with dull force.
""
* * *
Lorian opened his eyes at the strange sensation of something undulating about his body.
Purple full moon.
Beneath it was a vast plain, above which stretcthed withering and dying grass.
Looking at the mysterious and desolate landscape, Lorian blinked.
"What…"
He bowed his head. When he wondered what emanted the strange feeling, purple thorny vines writhed around his body.
His mind was a bleary mess, but this was familiar.
Witch of Constraints.
It was her thorny vine.
'What? Why am I tied to this? I'm sure…'
He was startled.
Lorian shuddered as he roused up and recalled what had happened. Slowly, his face contorted viciously.
"Darned Witch of Constraints!"
Lorian found himself awake tied and wound by purple vines. He shouted at the purple desolate landscape, but the witch did not appear.
Lorian shouted again in a slightly louder voice.
"Where are you?! Witch of Constraints! Reveal yourselves immediately!!"
-Noisy.
The witch's voice reverberated in his head like a searing brand. It was a sharp voice unlike the last time's sensual and sweet.
In front of Lorian, purple thorny vines rose from the ground and began to twine into each other. The mass of thorny vines twisted into a human shape and marbled a woman with white jade skin.
The woman's light purple eyes glared intently at Lorian.
"You… you… what you did to me and you dare… you dare…"
"That's what I should say! I asked you to restrain Cloud for five seconds. But you released him in less than three. Why? Why did you break the contract! You broke the contract at will, and I…"
Lorian couldn't speak further, he bit his tongue in indignation.
The day he was humiliated by Cloud, Lorian swore to avenge himself.
He swore he would pay back dozens of times the humiliation he'd suffered.
He swore he would win the woman he loved.
It took strength and grit to oath both of these goals.
He needed power and more power.
So Lorian returned to the kingdom and brought the nobles together to create a solid political foundation. He persuaded his father, the King, to relinquish him the national treasure, the Lion King's Armor, and increase his power.
Just when he thought he had garnered enough strength and he finally had his chance.
Lorian, who wanted to achieve his ambition as quickly as possible, seized the opportunity but shambled and collapsed.
What caused the plan to fail?
There were many surprises, if one looked. However, it couldn't be denied that one of them was this damned witch.
Lorian glared at the Witch of Constraints with seething hatred. Seeing those eyes, the witch let out a hollow laugh, as if she was harrowed.
"Ha… haha… You really don't know..? You… what did you do to me…?"
She balled her palms into fists.
The grip of the thorny vines twining Lorian grew stronger.
"Keuk…"
Lorian frowned in pain, but his expression loosem.
"At least a millennium. A whole millennium. Thousand years were the time I spent hiding and skulking from those guys! But everything went wrong because of you!"
"Hah, so dangerous to constrain a single Hero for a few seconds…? You're only this much?"
"Only..? Did you say only? Only… how can you say that! How can you!"
Kwrack-!
The grip of the vines became stronger. The raw strength would have crushed an ordinary person, but Lorian, Hero and prince, withstood it.
"Aaaagh…!"
Although it was execrably painful.
"Shut your mouth. I don't want to hear your whines."
Thorn vines muffled Lorian's mouth. Then no sound came out of his mouth.
After a while, her eyes, filled with fervor, darkened.
The Witch of Constraints tiraded in a gloomy voice.
"I have to leave this place, everything I have built, and run away. From now on, I will be wandering without a place to rest for the rest of my life. Just because of one request from you. Isn't it too miserable, too hopeless?"
"…"
Lorian couldn't answer. For the thorny vines clamped his mouth shur.
The witch also didn't want an answer. She continued, stroking Lorian's cheek as one would their lover. Right before they died.
"Fortunately, my life isn't the only miserable thing. What you gave me… it must be returned. Destiny, understand?"
"…!"
"Don't look at me like that. As per the contract, I'll only take equal pay. Yes, equal pay."
The witch smiled and put her lips to his ear.
"Listen carefully. Your life from now on will be full of grief and despair. You will lose reputation, fealty, trust and much more. In the end, you will lose even this humble, mortal life. In the name of Eriache, the Witch of Constraints, a promise is made. And it shall be done."
The Witch of Constraints, Eriache, looked into Lorian's eyes.
"Your end will be very, very miserable."
There was a ghost in those light purple eyes.
* * *
"Huh..!"
Lorian, who opened his eyes, reflexively raised himself. He turned his head and looked around. It was a narrow cell of stone walls and dense iron bars.
"This place is..?"
"Dungeon, Hero."
Marietta, a candidate for sainthood who was imprisoned with other women in the iron cell across from him, answered his question.
Her face was full of displeasure.
No, not just her.
She and his other colleagues were in a similar dour mood. The moment Lorian felt it and was about to say something, something like a memory played in his head along with a tingling headache.
– Lose… destiny… hopeless… miserable… very, very…
But the memories were hazy, like fog.
A woman looked at him and said something, but he couldn't remember what she said, let alone what she looked like.
"Brother? Are you okay?"
Inside the dungeon, only Lorraine spoke out, worrying about him.
Lorian didn't answer.
He was just trying to recall the hazy memory.
However, no matter how hard he tried, his memory gradually faded and never became clearer.
* * *
"Uh, what..? What?"
Eri asked as her voice trembled. I repeated what I had just said clearly.
"I mean Calion, your brother. Usually, we would've executed him, but if you want, I'll think of another way. What should I do?"
You can read fully translated chapters, including the last chapter, for $20.
p(a)treon.com/Daoist02