Of course, it wasn’t just a casual remark made purely for the sake of a board game promise.
I knew very well how much the Third Prince was still attached to the throne and the position of Emperor, so there’s no way I would’ve said something like that lightly.
I genuinely believed this was the best way.
“After all, my goal is to spread the trend of board games from the Imperial Family to the noble society.”
Unlike commoners, nobles are sensitive to appearances and trends. No matter how much I tried to push board games, they were more likely to judge them based on factors other than fun—like whether it seemed frivolous or unbecoming of a noble.
Abracadabra became possible because the Third Prince and the Dukes took the lead first. Kyle Galli, on the other hand, had the symbolism of being personally recommended by the Archmage, and with its rules changed to a slower-paced game, it spread more as a trend than just a game.
That’s why I accepted the Third Prince’s proposal and came to the Imperial Palace. It was the fastest way to spread board games among the nobles.
In that sense, the best outcome for me was for the Third Prince to become Emperor.
If the Third Prince, who was favorable toward board games, became Emperor, spreading the trend of board games would be as easy as a single word from him.
And then.
“Kyle! What on earth are you saying…!!”
“Your Highness, this is an opportunity.”
“What…?”
“You still have lingering feelings about the throne competition, don’t you?”
“You, who know that so well, are saying this…? Was even your comfort to me a lie?!”
Yes, it’s natural for him to be angry. At least to the Third Prince, my words must have sounded like mockery.
Especially right after comforting him, that comfort must have felt like a lie.
But even in the face of the Third Prince’s anger, I didn’t look away.
I just quietly met his gaze.
As the Third Prince’s anger gradually turned into confusion at my unexpected attitude.
“You…?”
“Your Highness, what if you had a backer who no one could rival?”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s someone right in front of us who could become that backer.”
“……!!”
For a moment, the Third Prince looked so shocked he was almost horrified. He genuinely didn’t understand what I was saying, and now he was even stepping back.
Making the Third Prince Emperor wasn’t just a statement for him, of course.
It was also a statement for the High Magician of the Imperial Palace.
[…………….]
“What do you think, High Magician?”
[……I had a feeling, but you really do resemble Justinia. It’s almost uncanny.]
“Is that so?”
[Arrogant to the extreme, yet still thinking things through. You thought it was a proposal worth considering, didn’t you?]
“Yes.”
[Hmph.]
It’s only possible if the High Magician, who would need to be the backer, agrees. And I judged that there was—albeit slim—a sufficient chance the High Magician would accept it.
‘Lucius, the current Emperor, had mentioned the Third Prince before.’
It’s obvious what that topic was about. Considering what the Emperor recently said to the Third Prince, it must have been about returning to the throne competition.
Why would the Emperor have told this to the High Magician?
If it wasn’t just a complaint, I think it aligns with the proposal I just made.
‘Becoming the Third Prince’s backer.’
Only someone like the High Magician, the guardian of the Severus Imperial Family and someone only the Emperors could meet, could become the backer of the Third Prince, who currently has no faction to speak of.
Even if it doesn’t become a faction itself, it could at least protect him from physical threats from the other princes.
And I also noticed something.
‘Your excuse earlier was a bit too flimsy.’
The High Magician, in front of the Third Prince…
He introduced himself, saying it was because he was bored and that he would erase his memory.
But I saw another Archmage. Master Olfin was a person who truly embodied the dignity of an Archmage, someone who wouldn’t do something like that even as a joke.
Moreover, someone who claimed to be the Guardian of the Imperial Family, how could they act so carelessly in front of the Imperial Family?
At first, I thought of the Archmages’ Kyle Galli and tried to understand, but that was just me overthinking. This is clearly mockery, isn’t it?
The Third Prince seemed too nervous from the sudden encounter with the Archmage to notice, but as I observed from the side, I could sense something awkward.
Having played various board games, I thought I had developed a keen eye. I’m confident that this was a deliberate act. Introducing himself, revealing who he was, and then later saying he’d erase his memory to gauge the reaction.
…Or maybe this guy was just like that from the start.
‘Well, whatever.’
There was one final confirmation.
It was the fact that the Archmage was still intently staring at the Third Prince.
[…Hmm.]
“………….”
[Lugrick.]
“Yes, yes!”
[Do you have the heart to become the Emperor?]
“………!!”
How could the Third Prince not understand the meaning behind the Archmage’s words?
The Third Prince’s eyes widened sharply, and as he calmed his now ragged breath, he alternated his gaze between me and the Archmage.
“I…”
He clenched his teeth. His fists tightened. His body trembled.
Words that had never been allowed to the Third Prince. Words he could only think to himself, never to be spoken aloud.
Words he had suppressed, burying his inferiority, struggling to survive, and enduring.
But words he had always carried in his heart.
Words he had waited for, believing that one day the opportunity would come.
“I… want to become… the Emperor…!!”
[………….]
“I will… I will…!!”
He spat it out.
As if releasing the pent-up frustration of all those years. Knowing that this was the opportunity he had been waiting for, he desperately clung to it.
The Archmage moved his half-stone face.
[Then let me ask you one thing.]
“I will answer anything.”
[The Empire’s governance has been growing more stable with each passing day. Since Justinia, the Emperors of the Empire have managed the Empire peacefully without major upheavals. Now, what do you think is most needed for the Imperial Family?]
“An enemy.”
[…Oh?]
An answer without a moment’s hesitation. It was as if he had been waiting for someone to ask this very question.
As the Archmage gestured for him to continue, the Third Prince went on.
“What the Severus Imperial Family needs most is the existence of an enemy that threatens the Empire.”
[Why is that? The Empire is peaceful. The Emperors have worked hard for peace.]
“Because that is an action for the Empire, not for the Imperial Family.”
[Go on.]
“A peaceful reign. It may be a good era for the Empire’s citizens and nobles, but it also means the Imperial authority is gradually weakening. People do not praise and worship the Imperial Family without reason. The reason Empress Justinia the Great is revered as the greatest Emperor is because she stood against foreign enemies, solidified the Empire, and simultaneously elevated the Imperial authority to great heights.”
[But now is different?]
“Yes. The Severus Imperial Family is still revered as the royal family, but since the 15th Emperor, Justinia the Great, the Imperial authority has gradually weakened. The 17th Emperor, Gortius, faced opposition from the nobles over the issue of a commoner Empress and had to withdraw. The 18th Emperor, Kertia, proposed expanding the Imperial Palace but was thwarted by the Treasury’s opposition. By the time of the 19th Emperor, Betelas…”
The imperial authority had declined so much that they had to cede one of the central imperial territories to Duke Grandel.
[Hmm.]
“And now, in the era of the 21st Emperor, His Majesty Luquius Severus, there was once a plot of rebellion. Fortunately, it was noticed in advance and quietly suppressed, but if rumors of the rebellion had spread, the imperial authority would have plummeted uncontrollably.”
[So, you need an enemy.]
“Yes. To unite the empire, prevent dissent, and make the Severus Imperial Family the focal point of the empire, an enemy is necessary.”
[But the continent is peaceful. Where is this enemy?]
“We can create one. The monsters in the northern mountains are fine, or even the distant islands we haven’t conquered yet.”
[Any enemy would mean the death of imperial citizens. Death is necessary to create a threat. And they would be innocent people.]
“………That is.”
The Third Prince, who had been looking at me with a wavering gaze, clenched his teeth so hard that blood seeped from his gums.
Unlike his previously composed demeanor, he was now bleeding and hesitating, deep in thought.
Finally, he answered.
“Necessary……necessary sacrifices.”
[………….]
Blood dripped not only from his mouth but also from his tightly clenched fists.
“For the empire, no.”
“………….”
“For the Severus Imperial Family……”
With a pained but resolute expression, the Third Prince answered like that.
*
In the endless expanse of white space.
The two visitors had returned to the imperial palace, and the white space remained as quiet as it had been for hundreds of years.
At its center, the Archmage, sitting on a brick-made chair, slowly opened his mouth.
[This matter was unpleasant. Luquius.]
“I can only apologize to the Guardian of the Imperial Family.”
[Such self-introduction, making excuses about boredom, and even trying to erase memories……the cost of such clownery is high.]
“I am well aware. But in the end, you, the Guardian, also accepted it, didn’t you?”
[………….]
“This is also for the sake of the Severus Imperial Family.”
[Imperial Family, huh.]
For a moment, the Guardian, the Archmage, looked at his brick-made hand and his skin-covered hand.
Then he stood up and faced Luquius Severus.
The current Emperor of the Empire, and the father of Lugrick.
“How was Lugrick?”
[When I only heard about him from you, I didn’t understand, but after hearing the answer, I got it.]
“He’s too precious to let rot, especially in times like these.”
[Times like these.]
Perhaps because he had heard similar words before, the Archmage closed his eyes as if reminiscing.
Meanwhile, Luquius continued speaking with a respectful bow.
“The first is a genius, and the second is talented. Both are excellent children, so if they ascend to the throne, they are unlikely to become tyrants.”
[………….]
“However, they can never become great rulers. From the perspective of the imperial family, not the empire.”
[Great rulers.]
“They will probably manage the empire smoothly and pass the throne to the next generation. But that shouldn’t happen. If it does, the imperial authority will slowly die, just as it has since Empress Justinia. And there’s no guarantee that another rebellion won’t occur.”
[……….]
“But Lugrick is different. He has lived miserably, suppressing his inferiority complex, and thus possesses something the other two lack.”
He’s not a genius, and calling him talented would be a stretch…
Not enough. But it doesn’t matter.
After all, the position of Emperor is not one that is bound by such things.
If the Third Prince, Lugrick, overcomes all opposition and adversity to become Emperor…
“That will be the moment of the return of the era of Empress Justinia the Great.”
[It’s utterly idealistic.]
As one prince once remarked, Emperor Luquius was an idealist in many ways.
I get what you’re trying to say. I get it, but…
[Even if I back him, the chances of Lugrick becoming Emperor are extremely slim.]
“I am well aware. Officially, I cannot support him, so he must compete purely on his own strength. Even with the Guardian’s protection, he might still end up dead.”
[What if he really dies?]
“Then one of the first or second princes will ascend the throne. Neither of them would ruin the Empire or the Imperial Family, so we can only hope that a new opportunity arises in the next generation before the Imperial authority weakens further.”
[Is that so?]
“In the end, even you, the Guardian, have decided to back him. Isn’t that because you see a similar potential in him as I do?”
[……Yes. Though, there was someone else like Justinia.]
“Ah, you must be referring to the third son of the Byron Viscountcy.”
Indeed, that existence was unexpected even for Emperor Luquius. Originally, he had planned to use luck to bring Lugrick and the Archmage into contact, but he never imagined they would meet in such a tangled way first.
The third son of the Byron Viscountcy, Kyle Byron. A board game creator who was honored as an honorary elder at the Arkhé Magic Tower.
A being he never even paid attention to before.
“Guardian, what did you see in him?”
[………….]
“Guardian?”
[Luquius. You’ll be busy paying the price for this matter. Is it really okay to be interested in such things?]
“……I was impudent. Guardian of the Imperial Family.”
Even while probing the other’s intentions, he quickly retreated with a posture that bordered on servility.
That was Emperor Luquius’s way of navigating the world. It was also the method by which he could have long conversations with the Imperial Archmage.
Though it was a demeanor unbecoming of an Emperor.
Perhaps it was precisely because of this that he could plan this whole affair.
[………….]
The Archmage closed his eyes before the bowing Luquius.
The Third Prince, who seized the given opportunity and offered a solution not for the Empire but solely for the Imperial Family, was indeed the Third Prince.
But more than that, what the Archmage was watching was the board game creator with the soul of an outsider.
To be precise, the problem was the ‘connections’ tied to that individual.
[The next time we meet…….]
“………….”
[I might not live to see it.]
Recalling the threads of fate stained with blood.
The Archmage quietly smiled with his brick-like face.
After all, the curiosity he held for Kyle Byron was genuine.
Someday, he looked forward to the day when that curiosity would be fully satisfied.
