“Yes! I crushed your plans, Hiltzel!” Elysia shot her fiancé a sharp glare. “I eliminated the undead army! I defeated the necromancer! Tenend is safe!”
I was shocked by how much relief her words brought me.
Hiltzel gave a small sigh, gazing down at the necromancer’s head in his hand. “A mage of his level was defeated? I find that a little hard to believe. Are you certain this is his real body? He created many corpses with the same face. I can’t even tell myself, and you’re saying you managed to locate him, Fiona?”
“Yes.” Fiona nodded. “Did you know, brother? Necromancy requires far more than just corpses. No matter how skilled a necromancer may be, most of the necessary materials and tools must be purchased.”
“So you pinned down his suppliers. Your influence with merchant firms is troublesome,” Hiltzel said, his expression twisting bitterly. “Still, I can’t imagine he would be so careless as to overlook something so simple.”
“Yes. It seems he maintained several bases and dispersed the delivery of supplies among them. However, food was only ever delivered to one of those locations.”
“Ah. Ha ha, I see.” Hiltzel let out a dry, mocking laugh and raised the severed head in his left hand before his eyes. “No matter how fond he was of the dead, in the end, he himself was still alive.” The young man tossed the head aside; it rolled down the hall and came to a stop when it struck the wall.
“This was quite the drastic measure you took this time, brother,” Fiona said, her smile gone. “Now, my supporters did not suffer any losses, and in fact, many merchant companies profited from the chaos. But still, I couldn’t overlook it. What you’ve done is unacceptable.”
“It’s a shame, Fiona.” Hiltzel looked at his half sister with disappointment. “Unlike my brothers, I thought you were sensible enough to understand. Only I can be the next emperor. Those who would try to get in my way are risk factors liable to plunge the empire into chaos. If a few sacrifices are necessary to eliminate them, so be it.”
“What are you saying?! That’s not true!” Elysia shouted. “People are leaving you because you’re a disgrace! You relied too much on your position as His Majesty’s eldest son and on your own cleverness, and you failed to keep the hearts of those who supported you! Don’t try to make up for your own shortcomings with the lives of the people!”
Hiltzel’s expression twisted, but Elysia wasn’t finished. “I’ll be your wife! I’ll even bear your children! But I will never let you become emperor! Someone with no respect for human life doesn’t have the right to rule others!” Then she pointed to the Holy Princess with her hand. “Fiona is the one who deserves to be the next emperor!”
The hallway fell silent, then Hiltzel and Fiona exchanged glances. Finally, Hiltzel chuckled and looked down at the ground.
“I suppose this is my loss. I’ll accept my defeat and withdraw,” he said, taking a step forward. Passing me, he moved between Elysia and Fiona, heading toward the far end of the corridor. I kept my eyes on the young man as he walked slowly, leaning on his cane. Hiltzel paused for a moment, glancing back as though he felt my gaze. “Goodbye, Seika Lamprogue.”
I watched the first prince’s back the entire time as he walked away.