Gold sinks down heavily on the floor and harshly replies, “Is that so? I hear that the queen, too, supports the infant’s execution. I doubt something of this order could weaken that woman.”
“If the child’s lack of magic ability is the issue, both the queen and I will be blamed. But if the child is stillborn, we can frame it as the mother’s incompetence.”
Jilq sneers and continues, “Had he been born with great talent, I would have pried him from the queen and raised him into a puppet whose loyalty is mine alone. But this would be much easier, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Have you sunk so low, Jilq?”
“Watch your tongue, Gold. I am king now. We’re not childhood playmates anymore.”
The two men are relatives, and close in age. Once upon a time, they were as close as brothers. Over the years, they have drifted to opposite sides.
Gold swallows his anger, softening his tone like an older brother mollifying a younger one.
“Have you considered entrusting the child to someone who’ll raise him in secret? Must you take his life?”
Jilq shakes his head.
“The child bears the royal insignia. No matter how well-hidden, it would only be a matter of time before his lineage is exposed.”
A unique spell is cast upon the royal family. When a new king is crowned, the insignia disappears from everyone but the king. When his child is born, the mark reappears on them.
“Could he not be hidden until the next king is crowned? Why, I could raise him myself,” Gold entreats.
“Enough! The mere existence of such a cretin infuriates me! This is a matter of great political significance. Count or not, if you continue to defy me, I’ll have you executed as well!
“These military types with their total lack of discernment…” the king grumbles under his breath.
Gold’s anger is soon replaced by a sense of defeat.
True, he thinks. I understand little of political matters. But is the King aware that the Flash Princess─another “military types lacking discernment”─is one conniving fox of a woman?
Gizelotte is a magic sword fighter, specializing in combat.
She’s not just a master of close-range fighting who can fortify herself and her armor with magic─she can also pulverize her enemies with an array of magical attacks.
In addition, her talents and beauty have won the allegiance of many brilliant strategists. With their help and a healthy dose of craftiness, she has climbed to her current position.
The late queen who passed away due to illness─Gold suspects Gizelotte was behind it.
There must be a reason the queen also wants the prince dead. Gold is frustrated with his own inability to understand why.
“I have nothing more to say to you. Begone.”
Nothing can be said to change Jilq’s mind. If Gold perseveres and further provokes the king’s ire, he might wind up hastening the prince’s death.
Still… Isn’t there any way to save the child?
With a heavy heart, Gold rises to his feet and leaves the room.
He spends a sleepless night agonizing for an answer, but to no avail.
Meanwhile, deep in her annex, Queen Gizelotte gathers her strategists for a secret counsel.
“Are you certain about this, Your Majesty? If the prince is said to be a stillbirth, there are bound to be rumors that your health was at fault,” worries one of the knights.
Gizelotte laughs dismissively at the concerned soldier.
“That is of no matter. I have merely to prove them wrong with my next one. His Majesty simply was not a suitable mate for me. Let him have his satisfaction for the time being.”
She looks to an old wizard clad in robes. A gruesome smile spreads across his face.
“Yes. The Ancient Magic of the royal insignia imprint─its analysis is complete. If we cast the spell on you, Your Majesty, your next child will bear the insignia, no matter whose seed it is.”
“I will need an alibi, still. The thought of having to deal with the king any further is a bit distressing.”
In Gizelotte’s eyes, the royal family is already circling the drain. Over the generations, their max mana levels have been in steady decline. She has no high regard for them─other than the fact that they are the royal family.
“I’ll have to pick my next consort carefully. Maybe one of you could be the lucky man.”
She flashes them a bewitching smile, and the eyes of all the male advisers light up.
Gizelotte titters with pleasure at the sight of them swooning.
As for the prince whose life is in peril…
Phew. What a relief!
He hovers in the air with a look of saintly relief on his face, as if he’d just taken a huge dump.
And that he had.
He used Barrier magic to contain the urge to go to the bathroom, wrestling with the discomfort until late at night. Diapers haven’t been invented, and even if they had, he wasn’t about to soil himself.
With great restraint, he managed to wait for everyone to go to bed so he could bolt to the bathroom.
He snuggles back into his bed and thinks.
Sneaking away at night would be an option, but the idea of becoming a fugitive doesn’t appeal.
If they’re determined to kill me…I’ll just have to turn the tables on them!
He still hasn’t discovered any battle skills, so that would be step one. And to do that…
“Zzz…”
He decides he might as well get a good night’s rest.
★
“What a strange order.”
A soldier in light armor is grumbling as he carries me.
At this moment, I realize I am swaddled from the neck down in a white blanket, and have been placed in a basket.
“Maybe this baby is the child of a criminal?” the other soldier speculates.
Only I know the answer to that, of course. I wonder what they’d do if they learned I was a prince. I can say with utmost confidence they’d sell me off.
“Well, orders are orders. No hard feelings, kid.”
They must not have a prick of conscience in their minds. As soon as the two soldiers arrive at a clearing in the thick forest, they carelessly plunk the basket on the ground.
“This area is Hell Hound territory. Let’s get out of here.”
“Right.”
Without even glancing back, the soldiers take off and leave me.
So that’s it, huh. I’ve been abandoned.
My father, the king, was unwilling to do the dirty deed himself, nor could he permit any of his henchmen to kill a prince.
At last, he came to the cold-hearted decision to abandon a newborn in the woods.
Hardly anyone took my side. Well, one did. That guy with the fierce-looking face seemed oddly eager to spare me. Does he have some kind of ulterior motive?
At the end of the day, I don’t trust people. I just can’t.
In my previous life and in this one, people have always been rotten to the core. Probably everyone. Even me.
But it’s no use wallowing in self-pity.
I have no intention of being eaten by some wild animal. I’m determined to live!
At least I wasn’t flat-out murdered. I still have time to think of ways to fake my death before some animal comes along.
Lying on my back in the clearing in the woods, I can see a patch of blue sky cutting through the foliage, and white clouds wafting by. It seems I was born in the royal palace of the kingdom’s capital, but I’m somewhere far away now.
For starters, I should get up.
Just as I’m cloaking my baby skin in a barrier…
“A-Aaah!”
“Why does this forest have a fen… Aieee!!”
I hear shouting from a distance. The voices belong to the soldiers who abandoned me.
They soon fall silent. Shortly thereafter, I hear the rustling of bushes and snapping of branches.
Instinctively, I look to my side, and from the bushes emerges the head of an enormous dog.
Now that’s a big doggy.
With fluffy fur as red as fire and a sleek snout, it looks gallant.
But…doggies aren’t usually thirty feet tall… Are they?
Alternate-world logic, of course. This must be some kind of demon beast.
Is this the Hell Hound the soldiers were talking about? But something tells me it’s not.
The unidentified giant doggy stares down at me from a distance. I expect it to leap at me immediately, but it doesn’t. Maybe it’s disappointed that I wouldn’t make a very satisfying meal.
The dog inches towards me with care, as if it’s wary of land mines.
Then, it springs at me with its huge mouth gaping.
Bam!
‘Wh─?!’
I think I heard someone gasp inside my head. In any case, I dodged being eaten, and the gingerly dog giant is lying unconscious on the ground with a big bump on its snout.
Looks like I managed.
I’d activated a barrier earlier.
Just as I’d pictured it─a finite space enclosed by transparent walls─I’ve constructed an invisible cage around the dog.
The dog quickly rises to its feet and examines its surroundings. It tries hurling its body in all directions, but the invisible walls and ceiling don’t budge. It attempts to paw at the ground, but the soil doesn’t stir.
The immediate danger has passed.
Might I say this pooch may be weaker than it looks? As proof, it’s trapped in a barrier that I, a level 2 noob, constructed.
But there’s no telling when it might bust out.
Now’s the time to secure some attack moves.
I use Barrier magic to free myself from the white blanket and get up. I run, fly, and jump around as a warm-up. The wind breezes against my whole body. What a feeling!
‘What?!’
I think I hear another weird cry, but when I look around, there’s no one in sight. Only the big red pup crouching with its eyes fixed on me.
Oh well. I ignore it and begin making small transparent barriers all around me. Aiming at a sizable tree trunk, I shoot all my tiny barriers as fast as I can imagine.
Brrrrrt!
The bottom of the tree disintegrates completely, and the rest of its trunk crashes to the ground.
‘Whaaaaat?!’
These auditory hallucinations are getting distracting.
I take another look around.
Still no one in sight. Just the jaw-dropped pup.
In any case, might I say that was pretty impressive. Maybe more powerful than a machine gun on full blast? Not that I would know.
Time to shoot the puppy up with these and save myself…is what a naïve fool would say.
This is a world where magic reigns supreme. There’s a high chance this attack of mine is among the weakest. Each individual missile might be too soft. They might easily be blocked with any sort of defensive magic.
After all, I’m dealing with a demonic beast here. I wouldn’t be surprised if it has magical powers.
I create a transparent, boulder-shaped barrier over the fallen tree trunk─big enough to crush the pooch─and thrust it down with all my might.
The trunk explodes into smithereens, leaving a big crater in the ground. The impact sends shock waves through the air, so I put up a barrier to protect myself.