Beyond the Throne: The Monarch's Return

"Wait up, Prince!"

From behind, the centurion ran to catch Ian.

But it didn't work. 

Horses were much faster than humans by nature.

Neighh!

Ian was riding the horse without being disturbed by anyone.

On the other hand, the centurion was running with only his legs while being fully-equipped.

"Huh huh…!"

Besides, the centurion was a middle-aged man with a protruding belly. No matter how much he ran, he couldn't get faster than a horse.

Galon quietly approached Ian and rode beside him.

"Prince, it's dangerous to go alone."

"So you want me to go along with their wish?"

"That's…"

Galon could not readily answer.

This was because Galon, who was once a candidate for a royal knight in the past, knew well what it meant to enter through the back gate.

'Only a servile loser or a death row inmate enters through the back gate.'

Or those who were not acknowledged.

If a nobleman did such an act, they would have been condemned for life.

But this was so dubious.

'Is this the Duke's doing?'

There was a possibility of it.

Because it's the Duke's aides who were in the castle at the moment.

And the Duke's aides were pure-blooded nobles. Regardless of Ian's worth as a prince, they might still not like it.

However, Galon soon furrowed his forehead.

'Whatever purpose it is, my job is to escort and guide Your Highness.'

Galon bowed his head toward Ian.

"Do as you please, Your Highness. I will follow wherever you go."

"I'll go along with you, Prince."

Before Ian knew it, Nathan was next to him.

Ian recalled the past actions of the two.

'You didn't even care about me back then.'

Nathan just sighed as he followed Ian through the back gate.

He didn't even tell him at all.

Even a simple nobleman had the idea that entering through the back gate was a lifelong disgrace. One should know clearly how the royal family should be treated.

Perhaps, rather than ignoring him, Nathan just wasn't interested.

Most likely, because he expected that Ian would be raised as a puppet.

'They have changed their attitude.'

He was treated differently depending on how he acted.

Ian smiled and turned the direction of the horse.

But it was then.

"What, what is it?"

Ian tilted his head at the sight of the two knights staring silently at him.

"Any problem?"

They looked at Ian in a very strange way.

"Prince, pardon me for asking, but have you learned how to ride a horse before?"

"!"

Ian was flustered for a moment.

Well, there was no way he couldn't ride a horse. It was difficult, but he learned how to do it thoroughly with all his might in the past. 

And he could say proudly that his horseback riding skills exceeded those of the knights, such that even they couldn't help but envy him.

Ian pretended to be clueless. 

"I just watched how the soldiers rode on my way here."

"You just watched it?"

"Yes."

It sounded really absurd.

The centurion might not realize it, but the prince did not get anyone's help in climbing the horse.

'If that's true, aren't you a genius?'

'It looks like you're riding better than Nathan.'

Realizing what Galon was thinking, Nathan choked up and elbowed him.

That's not true. 

However, Galon ignored it.

'He's rather small, so it must have been difficult for him to mount and spur at once.'

But the prince did it very easily.

He rode alone on his horse without anyone's help. Even the movement of commanding the horse with his two feet was natural.

Therefore, Galon, as an ex-royal knight candidate, was astonished. 

'Among the princes of his age, is there anyone like that?'

The only ones that could ride horses skillfully from childhood were noble children who had received horseback riding lessons. 

But if a serf was also able to do such a thing, there was only one reason.

"Is it the unity of the horse and its rider that I've only heard of?"

However, Galon had no time to be surprised. 

"What are you doing? Let's go in."

"Ah, yes…!"

Ian galloped toward the Duke's castle front gate with the two knights.

The centurion screamed at the sight.

"Damn it, no!"

The centurion grabbed his head.

'Damn it. If this is the case, I will be beaten to death!'

The mission of mobilizing the assassins had failed, and even taking him to the back gate had also failed. 

Those people weren't going to stay still. 

Sure enough, a soldier approached him.

"Excuse me, Centurion? What should we do?"

The centurion could feel his eyes telling him to use force even if it was too late.

However.

"Hey, I would've done it if I could."

"I-I'm sorry." 

It was inevitable.

'If I go against that prince, I'll die.'

Ian put him on the leash. Frankly, the detonator Ian was holding was scarier than the orders of his superiors. 

Of course, he had tried to steal Ian's ring.

– "This won't fall out unless I die. Even if I die, the bracelet will automatically explode."

In the end, he could only do what Ian told him to do.

'Damn it. Just who is it that made him come through the back gate? Crazy!'

He grumbled in certainty as he rode his horse.

But it was such a big deal that even as a centurion he had to risk his own life.

'Even if you find out about this, Prince, there's nothing you can do on your own.'

Those people were a bunch of predictable characters. 

They must be people of the Duke family who were proud of being a pure-blooded aristocrat more than anyone else.

Even if he was from the royal family, Ian was just a mere puppet. 

He would have no choice but to step back before the powerful authority of the Duke, as he was a member of the royal family without any decent abilities or allies.

'It's not something a kid with nothing to his name can do.'

In the end, the centurion was forced to swallow his tears inwardly.

"There's nothing we can do. We're going in like this."

"What? Are you sure?"

The centurion seemed to have no choice. He sighed.

It didn't matter what Ian did anyway.

'The village where the prince lived…'

There would be no survivors.

The Duke was a man who pursued perfection to the extent that the king praised him for it. He never left anything undesired for the future.

"First of all, make it so that no one sees the prince as much as possible. Cover things up from the villagers."

That was what the Duke wished.

'If news spreads, countless nobles who want the prince will make a move.'

It would only benefit Ian.

So, that should never happen.

'First of all, it's better if rumors don't circulate in the village.'

He shouldn't make Ian look good in anything he did. 

As the centurion was having those thoughts while grinding his teeth, his eyes widened at the soldiers' uneasy faces.

"What are you doing? Hurry up and cover it from the villagers!"

"We have already been doing this, but the prince stands out too much."

"He stands out even when he's not doing anything."

At the words of the soldiers, the centurion clutched his forehead hard, which gave him a headache.

***

The Duke's estate balcony.

A young man was standing there. He exuded a cold impression that befitted his silver hair.

Then someone arrived behind him.

"Second Master. A message has arrived from the gate."

The young man referred to as the second master did not respond. Instead, he clenched the small cane he was holding.

"What about that serf?"

"That…"

The servant couldn't give a proper answer, wary of what his master might do.

It was only natural.

'I can't believe they let him come in through the main gate.'

However, he could not help but tell the young master.

"Forgive me for not doing my job properly. He has already passed the main gate and is said to be inside the castle."

"Tsk…"

"With all due respect, Young Master. It is against the etiquette to let the royal family in through the back gate from the beginning…"

"This is about bringing a child with the blood of a lowly mother into my father's territory. It's already a luxury to be able to come through the main gate in the first place."

"However, if the Duke knows…"

Then the young man snapped with cold eyes.

"Forget it! It was Father who entrusted me with this job while that bastard stayed in this castle. Whatever I do, it's up to me!"

"But…"

"You're noisy! Follow my orders well."

"As you wish."

The servant was still green, so he couldn't go against the second son of Duke Garcia.

As soon as the young man sent back his servant, he spoke to the shadow behind the curtain.

"Tell me. How was your task?"

Someone answered from the dark.

[Failed.]

The young man's annoyed face couldn't wrinkle any further.

"You can't handle a single rural village?"

[I apologize. We didn't know that all the villagers had run away. There's not a single person left. But the village had been destroyed down to the ground.]

And as he said it.

The centurion, who had come to the Duke's castle early to report the situation, had no choice but to tremble. In the absence of the Duke, he came to report to the second person in charge, Heinley.

Now, what?

They all ran away before they killed them?

'I wonder what the prince said to the village chief before he left…'

It was obvious.

Ian had already known that his village would be devastated. So, he must have made everyone in the village run away.

However, the centurion could not report him of this fact.

'If I say this, I will die right away. He will never let me go alive.'

In addition, he must now inform Ian about this. 

'This is crazy.'

However, the young man twisted his face in ridicule.

"How the hell did they know that they should run away? Do you think that makes any sense?"

[We don't know either, Sir. But our hounds are tracking them down. Soon, the news will arrive…]

The young man was in trouble.

'Tsk. I guess my father's close aide also failed to kill the mercenaries.'

It seemed that they planned to annihilate the mercenaries with the centurion and the Secret Special Force.

"Well, you could have Sir Galon or Sir Nathan, who was with you, to get in that bastard's way."

The young man spoke with a stiff face.

"So, where is that filthy bastard now? I hope he's wearing the clothes we sent."

[...]

But this time, he didn't hear any reply from the shadows.

It was because it was a difficult thing to say even for him.

"Where is he?"

However, he had no choice but to answer to the continued interrogation of the young man.

[Castle…]

"Castle?"

[He was seen strolling around the castle's marketplace…]

"What? With that rustic look? Are you sure he's wearing the clothes we sent him?"

[He… his clothes are fine, and he looks handsome.]

Crackk!

The cane in the young man's hand broke. At the same time, he roared with a red face.

"Get him here right away! Right now!"

Meanwhile, Ian.

"Oh, this?"

He was shopping following his future knowledge.

And he found a powerful relic that could never be obtained with money.