The Perfect Hero was not actually perfect.
As he drifted into unconsciousness, a powerful and mysterious feeling rose in Albany's heart.
The world around him seemed to fall silent. He felt as though his soul was about to be flung out of his body along with that massive boulder.
His organs shook violently, and even his bones cried out in pain.
The force seemed determined to destroy him. As the world fell silent, the sharp pain quickly spread through his limbs, nearly robbing him of consciousness.
When the boulder came flying toward him, he had every chance to avoid it.
He only needed to step a few paces to the side, and he could have escaped the suffering he was enduring now.
But when the nearby residents froze in fear, Albany, as the Crown Prince, instinctively threw himself at the boulder.
That single leap caused a huge problem.
Although the boulder was knocked slightly off course, his own condition was no better.
His organs were displaced.
His bones were broken.
Endless pain washed over his body again and again, growing worse each time.
Trying to stop such a terrifying attack with nothing but flesh and blood had simply been too much.
Albany quietly stared at the gap in the clouds torn open by the moonlight.
The last of his awareness became more and more blurred, as though he himself were slipping away from this world.
But he had no regrets.
Because he had at least done what someone worthy of the title of "hero" should do.
Even if it wasn't perfect.
———
"Cough... cough..."
'What's that sound?'
In his hazy state, the Crown Prince heard a faint coughing sound echoing beside his ear.
He suddenly opened his eyes in the darkness and jolted awake.
The moment he did, he saw several purple flowers with green stems twitching in front of him.
The fat blossoms opened their mouths. Their thick pink lips parted, revealing rows of sharp white teeth inside a maw as deep as an abyss.
A long purple tongue stretched out, twisting through the air as strands of saliva dripped between its teeth.
The moment he saw the creature before him, black lines appeared across the Crown Prince's forehead. His eyes went wide with horror.
'What kind of monster is this?'
As the giant-mouthed flower kept moving closer to his face, his mind went completely blank.
Just as fear began to rise in him, a familiar voice spoke beside him.
"Alright, he's saved."
'Huh?'
Hearing those words, the Crown Prince looked confused and quickly sat up.
The moment he did, he suddenly realized his body seemed to have recovered.
His internal organs still felt out of place, leaving him with an uncomfortable sensation.
But somehow...
He was alive.
Looking up, he saw Cocotte clapping her hands nearby, as though she had just finished something trivial.
Sensing that the silence around him felt strange, the Crown Prince instinctively looked around.
His gaze swept across the square.
He found that every resident was looking at him.
In an instant, the silence hanging over the square became unmistakable, settling deep into his heart.
The square was no longer as intact as before.
The ground all around had split open, with brown rocks and debris scattered everywhere.
A deep trench cut straight through the center of the square, stretching into the distance until its end could only be seen vaguely.
Near the end of the trench, fallen rocks were piled up even more densely, and an iron spear was deeply embedded in the ground.
Looking up, he saw a massive tear in the sky.
'So... what had just happened wasn't a dream?'
The scene before he lost consciousness was almost identical to what lay before him now.
Just as he was still in shock, an itchy feeling spread across his arm.
Feeling uncomfortable, the Crown Prince instinctively reached up to scratch it.
But Cocotte, who had been watching from the side, suddenly spoke, "Don't touch it. Otherwise you'll die."
"Huh...?"
The Crown Prince lowered his head and looked at the itchy spot.
The roots of that giant-mouthed flower from earlier had taken root in his body.
It was as if it had been planted into his flesh and become part of him.
"Leave it growing on you for now. This thing has incredible vitality. It can keep you alive."
Sitting on her floating cloud, Cocotte explained, "The rest depends on how well you recover. If you're quick, it'll take a few days. If you're slow, a few months. Then you can pull it out."
"But remember to water it regularly."
"If it withers, you'll probably die too."
As a fifth-tier mage, saving someone on the verge of death with magic wasn't difficult for Cocotte.
Especially for a mage like her who specialized in nature magic. She only needed to slightly increase someone's vitality for them to recover.
"...Thank you."
He planted both feet on the ground again and slowly stood up, swaying slightly.
Looking down, he saw that the large breastplate that had protected his chest was gone.
Only a jagged, uneven gap remained.
Once he was back on his feet, he quietly stood there and looked around the square.
The Crown Prince stood silently in place.
His eyes swept across the crowd.
Countless civilians looked at him, their expressions carrying emotions too complicated to put into words.
His gaze lingered on them, and the clarity that had returned to his eyes gradually faded again.
In the end, this so-called "Perfect Hero" had still disappointed everyone.
Any truly powerful person could have stopped that flying boulder with ease.
Yet he had looked so helpless.
He had even nearly died from that single attack.
It was nothing more than a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
Thinking of that, the Crown Prince smiled bitterly.
The civilians must have finally seen the truth.
He was nothing but a prince who looked the part.
They must be furious now.
They'd thought this so-called Perfect Hero was incredibly powerful, only for a single boulder to expose him completely.
The Crown Prince had already prepared himself to face everyone's accusations and accept all of it.
But because of that, he also felt relieved.
At least...
He no longer had to keep pretending.
As he lowered his head with a bitter smile, he suddenly sensed someone walking toward him.
Looking up, he saw the family he had just rescued from beneath the boulder.
The woman was crying. The two children beside her were still trembling as they clung tightly to their mother's clothes.
The man walked up to the Crown Prince, his expression serious.
The Crown Prince took a deep breath, preparing himself for the angry rebuke that was about to come.
But what the man did caught him completely off guard.
He reached out with both hands and gripped the Crown Prince's tightly.
"Although I've already said it once..."
"I have to say it again."
"Your Highness, I once looked down on the word 'hero.' But you've changed my mind."
"You are a true hero."
The words reached the Crown Prince's ears with perfect clarity.
His eyes widened.
His lips parted slightly.
He stood there completely frozen.
'What?'
The Crown Prince couldn't believe what the man had just said.
He stared at the man before him in disbelief.
From the man's eyes, he saw unwavering conviction.
One by one, the people stood there solemnly, fixing their eyes on the Crown Prince.
Those gazes were filled with respect and trust.
As if, in their hearts, the Crown Prince was still their perfect hero.
While the crowd gathered around the Crown Prince, Cocotte quietly rode her floating cloud over to Aubrey, who was sitting on the steps.
Looking at him, she asked, "Aubrey, did you already know your son wasn't capable?"
Cocotte looked down toward the steps.
The civilians surrounded the Crown Prince just as they always had, praising him without holding back.
Now that the crisis had passed, they showed no particular gratitude toward Aubrey for defeating the stone giant.
They simply took it for granted.
As though their Emperor was supposed to protect them.
Instead, they poured their admiration and respect onto the Crown Prince, who had stepped forward.
Thinking about it from another angle, though, it made sense.
Aubrey had stood undefeated throughout the Empire for so many years that his strength had long since become common knowledge.
Defeating a stone giant was merely something he did in passing.
But this Crown Prince...
While treating him earlier, Cocotte had only realized the truth after planting the giant-mouthed flower into his body.
The Crown Prince was just an ordinary man.
Only a little stronger than the average person.
He had no real strength.
Only a fairly sturdy suit of golden armor.
Without that armor, he probably would have died beneath that boulder.
The discovery had shocked Cocotte.
Aubrey had two sons and one daughter.
Without question, the most outstanding was his daughter, Aurelian.
Even Cocotte had no choice but to acknowledge and praise her talent.
As for the Second Prince, the fact that he could work together with demons already proved he was no ordinary person.
So why had the eldest prince turned out like this?
He was practically no different from an ordinary person.
'Could it be...'
'The Crown Prince wasn't Aubrey's biological son?'
'Hiss...'
'No wonder Aubrey had sent his eldest son to guard the frontier.'
'That explains everything.'
But when Cocotte voiced her suspicion, Aubrey merely smiled faintly.
"He is the only child who didn't inherit my talent."
"Yet he is also the only one who inherited my character."
Among the people, it was often said that Albany was the prince most like Aubrey.
Because he truly had become a real Hero.
With nothing but the body of a mortal, he had guarded the Empire's most dangerous frontier for more than ten years, facing monsters head-on.
Protecting the Empire's people from the endless tide of monsters.
They wholeheartedly acknowledged his identity as a Hero, whether or not it had ever been exaggerated.
At the very least, when danger came, he had truly stepped forward to protect the people.
At that moment, Aubrey also looked toward the square.
The Crown Prince unconsciously raised his head as well, and their eyes met.
For the first time, the Crown Prince clearly saw satisfaction and approval in his father's eyes.
Albany could hardly believe what he was seeing.
He stood frozen, staring into Aubrey's kind eyes, afraid it was only an illusion.
One look.
Two looks.
Three looks.
He kept checking until he was finally certain.
This was truly his father's acknowledgment.
Joy overflowed in Albany's heart.
The surprise in his eyes instantly became delight.
At that moment, he couldn't help feeling as though everything he had done had finally been rewarded.
Watching the father and son, Cocotte no longer found it strange.
She looked away from Aubrey and toward the deep trench stretching far across the ground.
Her gaze slipped past Aubrey and settled on the trench that stretched for hundreds of miles across the earth.
The stone giant had completely collapsed, its shattered body scattered across the ground.
But Cocotte's eyes remained fixed on the long spear embedded deep in the earth, her heart full of questions.
There was one thing she still couldn't understand.
Why had that stone giant... Suddenly stopped moving?
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