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n

n

n“From today onward, I’m no longer a prince. I’m just Wallace!”

nAfter becoming my underling, Wallace had come up to my room to make a report.

nKurt was also visiting.

n“You look happy.”

n“It’s all thanks to you, Liam. Because of you, I was able to safely escape from my position as a royal.”

nHe was talking as if he hated being a prince.

n“I thought being born a royal would’ve made life super easy.”

nWallace looked amazed at my words,

n“That’s only because you don’t know anything. Having the position of prince is really dangerous. My older brothers are constantly fighting amongst each other for the position of Emperor. Thus the dark history repeats itself.”

nKurt joined into the conversation,

n“I’ve heard a lot of rumours as well. People say that the rise of the Emperor is the dawn of all their siblings’ executions. There are many urban legends about such things.”

nWallace lowered his voice,

n“…try to keep that to yourself. Those rumours are often true. Even with my father, all of his rivals seem to have died before his ascension. You need to be careful.”

nKurt’s face had gone pale.

nI’ve heard about things like this in my previous life.

nFamily feuds aren’t an unusual story in feudal systems.

nWallace’s expression softened,

n“In any case, I’ve safely retired from the race to be the successor.”

n“It’s not like you have absolutely no right to inherit the throne.”

n“But it’s different now. The situation in the palace is really complicated. Because there’s not just us kids, but also our mothers’ connections to take into consideration. Everyone in a faction is executed if they lose the succession. It’s happened before.”

n“Really?”

n“You better believe it. The inner palace isn’t the beautiful place the masses think it is. It’s a place where brothers kill each other for the right to be Emperor, starting all the back in the ugly fight between their mothers.”

nDeath flags were raised that they had no control over.

nOr rather, the palace was a place full of death.

nThe princes had to take this seriously.

nWallace said that the struggle for the throne two thousand years ago was particularly terrible and the effects of it could still be seen today.

n“The Emperor of two millenia ago was especially terrible. There are a lot of stories of betrayal and death, so wouldn’t anybody be happy to escape from such a place?”

nHowever, Wallace had a refreshed look on his face as someone freed from all burdens.

n“I can finally live out my own life. Thank you, Liam.”

nI only did it on a whim, but it looks like it meant more to him than that.

nWell, the former prince was now my underling.

nSo I was satisfied.

nThough there were still a few things to worry about.

n“Wallace, couldn’t you have just sent bribes to curry favour with the older brother you thought would win?”

nThe next Emperor had almost been decided.

nIf he was living in the palace, shouldn’t he have been able to predict who the winning horse would be by now?

nWallace looked away,

n“There are many cases where the people who were supposedly confirmed to be the ‘next Emperor’ have died. What do you think would happen to the sibling that had tried to curry favour such a person?”

n“They’d be executed?”

n“Death would be a mercy. Life becomes unimaginably hard for those that backed a person that didn’t become Emperor. The Claudia house Rosetta is from is one of such victims.”

n

n

nIt was surprising to hear Rosetta’s name being mentioned by Wallace.

n“Rosetta?”

nWhen I asked, Kurt also gave a look that said he didn’t know.

nAs we shook tilted our heads in confusion, Wallace began to explain Rosetta’s circumstances,

n“A long time ago, there was a prince that had the backing of the Claudia Duke house.”

nThat was the beginning of the Claudia house’s fall.

n◇ ◇ ◇

nThe girl’s washroom in the first school building.

nStanding in front of the mirror, Rosetta was looking at her reflection.

nShe was speaking to herself,

n“I am the venerable daughter of the Claudia house, one day I will be the one to end our suffering.”

nThe Claudia family, which was a matriarchal household, was a complex place.

nTo put it simply, they were an infamous Ducal house.

nThey were the rulers of a single planet on the frontier.

nAlthough they were originally classified as minor nobles, the Empire had promoted the Claudia house to Ducal status.

nThat was nearly two millennia ago.

nThe reason for this spans back to the dark ages of that time.

nBack then, the Empire was in a very rough position.

nThe crown prince that was supposed to become the next Emperor, had died before his ascension.

nThe Claudia house that had supported that prince welcomed the brother who had ascended instead.

nBut the new prince was hostile towards them.

nFrom then on was an endless chain of hostility from the royal family and nobility.

nNaturally, severe punishment was imposed on the Ducal house that supported the late prince, trapping them in a cage.

nThe Claudia house was stripped of their territory.

nThey were forced onto a ruined planet that had been driven to its last legs.

nHowever, their status remained that of a Duke’s.

n‘Anyone who stands against the Emperor will end up like this’– was the message they wanted to show off.

nThey were nobles, but at the same time they weren’t.

nIt was a cruel fate, but they were still alive.

nThe past heads had struggled to one day escape this suffering.

nAnd Rosetta was struggling against it as well.

n◇ ◇ ◇

nThe raison d’etre of elementary school was to train the noble children to a certain level.

nOccasionally, there’d be the child of an aristocrat that didn’t know how the universe worked and brought shame wherever they went.

nIn order to limit such situations, the minimum amount of education they needed was given at the elementary school.

nHowever, only the most excellent of children were assigned to the first school building for education.

nThe education there was tough, but it was also a sign of how much expectations they had for them.

nRosetta was overjoyed when she was assigned to the first school building.

nHowever…

n(…I can’t keep up with the contents of the lesson.)

nShe couldn’t keep up with how fast the classes progressed.

nHer house was poor and she couldn’t get a satisfactory education growing up.

nThe amount of times she could use education capsules was also minimal.

nThe level she was at was clearly different from her surroundings.

nShe worked hard, but it felt like she was confronted with a wall that she couldn’t overcome.

n(I can’t give up here. I’ll end this chain of suffering and free us.)

nBut whenever someone spoke, weren’t they actually making fun of her?

nShe had become paranoid with negative suspicion after seeing the difference between herself and her surroundings.

n(No matter what, I need to be successful here.)

nRosetta was the only one who was desperate to pass while everyone else went through their school life leisurely.

nThe same was true even after she returned to the dormitory.

nWhen she got back to her room, her body started to scream out for how much it wanted to just collapse on the bed and sleep.

nBut instead of complying to her body’s needs, she’d force herself to her desk and study.

nEven if it was inefficient, she’d be totally lost if she didn’t review the topics of tomorrow’s lessons beforehand.

n“…I won’t lose. If I fail here, then my future daughter will have to go through this pain as well.”

nHer tears didn’t stop falling.

nAnd as her consciousness slowly left her, she fell down and collapsed on the desk as she was.

n◇ ◇ ◇

n

n

nRosetta was dreaming.

nIt was a nostalgic dream of her childhood.

nThe Empire had sent them an invitation for a party held in the palace.

nRosetta, who was still a young girl at the time, was delighted, but her grandmother’s expression was sullen.

nHer mother was crying as she hugged her.

nShe didn’t understand why they were sad.

n“Mother, grandmother, why are you crying?”

nThe two smiled at her innocence despite the tears.

n“It’s nothing Rosetta. Let’s just enjoy the party. We’ll have as much fun as possible.”

n“Yes!”

nHer mother was poor, but she still prepared her a dress.

nAnd her grandmother had set her beautiful hair into ringlets.

nRosetta loved this hairstyle.

nBut when she finally got to attend the party at the imperial capital she was looking forward to– she was met with ridicule.

nShe could still remember the voices of the nobility of that time.

n“What’s with that dirty dress?”

n“It’s another clown from the Claudia house.”

n“Why do they even bother coming to the imperial capital?”

nDifferent from the fun party she expected, she learned that they were only invited so they could be harrassed and laughed at.

nThis was a scheme set up by the late emperor.

nHe wanted to show off regularly what happened to those that opposed him.

nIt was a custom that had continued for nearly two millennia.

nIt had gone on for too long for them to just end this tradition now– it was impossible.

nSome aristocrats felt pity for them.

nBut none of them reached out to help.

nAfter Rosetta learned the reality of things, her mother told her,

n“Remember the gentlemen who showed mercy to us. In the future, they’re going to be the ones that’ll help you give birth to a child. Then the Claudia house can live on.”

nThe reason why the Claudia house was a matriarchal household was because they could never find a marriage partner.

nAs long as the heads were female, then there was a chance they’d still be able to have a child after bowing down to men of prestige.

n“Rosetta… grow up beautiful. If you do, then men will reach out to you.”

n“Huh?”

n“This is the only way for the Claudia house to have children.”

n–that was when she first learned of why her father wasn’t there.

nAnother reason why the Claudia house was a matriarchal household was because it was easier.

nIf the head was a man, there wouldn’t be any women who’d come as his bride.

nMen could still make children as long as they had the money and equipment.

nThey just needed to buy an egg from a woman, but the problem here was the financial cost of it all.

nThe Claudia house as it was couldn’t afford it.

nThis expensive method was impossible for them, so the easiest option for them was to simply have only females become their heads.

nSome of them had tried to end this miserable life.

nHowever, they were under watch and were constantly denied of any chance.

nThe only way Rosetta could become free of this hell was to advance upwards.

n◇ ◇ ◇

nWhen she woke up– it was morning.

n“No, this can’t be!”

nAfter getting up in a hurry, she had found that breakfast time had already passed.

nShe rushed over to the school building, but she was still late.

nHer uniform was sloppy, and her hair was a wreck.

nWhen she had finally entered the classroom, her peers started laughing at her.

nAnd when John saw Rosetta,

n“Rosetta, don’t be late. Wake up on time.”

n“…yes. I’m sorry.”

nHe wasn’t as harsh with her as he was with the other students.

nNormally, he was the kind of teacher that’d start yelling at late students, but it looks like he had already given up on Rosetta.

n(I’ll show you all.)

nHer classmates gazed at her with eyes full of various things; ridicule, pity, interest– in any case, they looked at her like she was some kind of rare animal.

nThe boys’ voices could be heard,

n“Even if she was late, how can she look that bad? Like, what the hell is that?”

n“At the very least, you’d think she’d keep up appearances.”

n“…no, Tom. Those words have no persuasive power coming from you. Just look at your hair.”

nShe was in a hurry and didn’t have time to take a shower, and as she approached her seat–

n–the girls started covering up their noses.

n“What a terrible smell.”

n“My nose is going to fall off.”

n“I always knew that she was stupid, but I didn’t know she smelled too.”

nRosetta knew she was the worst in the class.

nThen she passed by the honour student Liam.

n(…Banfield.)

nShe clenched her teeth.

nHe was currently looking at John was an uninterested expression.

nIt was an expression that said that she didn’t even register in his eyes.

nBut it couldn’t be helped.

nAt such a young age, he had already been recognised as a Count skilled in domestic affairs, and had fully mastered a martial school, earning his swordsmanship license.

nOn top of all that, he had earned himself the second name of ‘The Pirate Hunter’.

nStatus, honour, and skill– he was a child who had everything. He was complete opposite of herself.

nLiam was the only person John never shouted at.

nTo be specific, he never had a reason to.

nHe was the top of the grade in his studies.

nHis practical skills were excellent as well.

nBut his true specialty lay in his martial skill.

nHe always won, even against the second strongest Kurt.

nLiam was incorruptible, and no one could stand against him.

nHe was the one person nobody ever tried picking a fight with.

nBecause they knew they couldn’t win.

n–He was completely different from Rosetta. He was a person that had everything.

nRosetta hated Liam– she couldn’t help it.

n(Does someone like me even register in your eyes? I hate people like you that have everything in life. I can’t help but hate you.)

n◇ ◇ ◇

n–A dark alley in the imperial capital.

nThe guide was there.

nHe was clenching his teeth as he watched the sight of two vagrants digging through trash.

n“Damn it, how did I get like this?”

nThe current guide was no different from them.

nHis connection to Liam was so strong that only negative emotions related to Liam could be efficiently absorbed.

nThe current state of the guide was equivalent to him desperately drinking muddy water.

nAll the pain he felt in his heart was because of Liam.

nHe was grasping at his chest as he walked around, gathering the surrounding negative emotions.

nHowever, the absorption rate was dismal.

nIt was very inefficient because of the constant pain caused by Liam’s gratitude that drained his power.

nAs to why the guide wanted revenge on Liam— it was so he could break out of this situation and be freed of this suffering.

nTo that end, he was now collecting negative emotions.

nThat’s when the vagrants in front of the guide started fighting.

n“That’s the food I found!”

n“Shut up! It’s mine because you drank my alcohol last time!”

nHowever, when the guide passed them by, the two’s stern expressions softened.

n“…sorry, that’s my bad. I’m hungry too though, so can we split it in half?”

n“I’m sorry too.”

nThey apologised and shared the food.

nIt was the result of having their negative emotions absorbed.

nThe guide spoke,

n“Look out Liam, I’ll be sure to push you to the bottom of hell.”

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