I Became the First Prince

After I finally found a place to be (2)

Every time the wind blows, snowflakes scatter. Every time I exhale, a pure white mist comes out of my mouth.

Winter was all around me.

I didn’t know if winter had come in the length of our journey, or if the climate changed as we get further north. There was one thing I know.

“Oh, it’s freezing to death!”

“If you can’t bear it, you should go inside the wagon.”

I shook my head at Uncle’s words.

It’s weather I need to get used to, anyway. I won’t move in a wagon every time, so I had to get used to the cold. Besides, it was too stuffy in there.

“It seems like this old man is causing trouble to Your Highness.”

The carriage window opened, and a familiar face poked out. It was Niccolo.

“If you think so, come down.”

“If I get sick from the cold, it would be more troublesome for you.”

“You said you wanted to come and learn.”

Niccolo requested to join our expedition, saying that he won’t have another chance to see the harsh north with his old and nasty body that was nearing its end.

“Unripe knowledge is poison, Your Highness, so I wanted to see it myself. Besides, the book I’m going to write this time is going to help you.”

“It must be something awkward again.”

“Now, it’s not like that. Why don’t you come in and share a discussion with me? The savvier the commander’s strategy and tactics are, the less difficult it would be for his soldiers. My book this time is about the benefits of tactics and strategies…”

If I left it like that, I would have to listen to those verbose words until we arrived at the camp, so I pretended not to hear him and went ahead of the carriage.

Arwen was at the head of the ranks.

A red cloak fluttered behind her. She was wearing gray fur over a red coat, a garb exclusive for royal knights. She was riding a pure white horse.

She made quite the picture.

I could see the leading horsemen from the Balahard family steal glances at her as they rode. They were impressed by her beauty.

While she was really suffering from the extreme cold.

“Arwen, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Your Highness!”

Her words were garbled as if her mouth was frozen.

“If it’s too difficult, you could switch with someone at the back.”

“As a skilled person, I would not find comfort in that.”

A voice full of motivation. She was full of life like this since we left the royal road. The thought that she might soon face a real battle must have inspired her.

But not everyone was as motivated as she was.

I looked back.

They were seen walking some distance away from the soldiers of the Balahard family. They were thirty infantry and ten horsemen sent from the royal family. Their expressions were unusually dark. They were like cows being led to a slaughterhouse.

The soldiers and cavalry who met my eyes bowed their heads. I was able to read the emotions that arose in their eyes at that moment.

Resentment.

After eating well and living well on the royal road, they were suddenly brought to the cold and bloody north, so it was understandable that they blamed me.

If these were the court knights and Carls, they would even tell me that directly. I would have liked that better than silent resentment.

Unfortunately, Carls and the others could not join me.

The King allowed me to go north, but he did not allow his knights to come with me.

[You can’t bring a knight.]

The only knights I could bring were the two women, whom I’ve anointed as knights. The King only sent thirty infantry and ten cavalries as a formality.

He complained about it at the time, Uncle said.

“His Majesty could be thinking of the possibility that the court knights could be absorbed by the Balahard family.”

It was as Uncle said. The King was blatantly keeping Uncle in check.

It was a very strange thing.

No matter how evil the original owner of this body may be, aren’t I still his blood?

The King’s hatred was overkill, to the point that he didn’t care if his eldest son is protected, and he worried more about his knights going over to Uncle’s side.

There must be an inside story I don’t know.

We moved during the day and took a break at night after finding a suitable campsite. We headed straight north, facing the storming snow breeze.

After about two weeks, we saw a huge mountain range at the end of the horizon.

“It’s the Blade’s Edge Mountains. It’s the boundary that our family has kept for a lifetime.”

Uncle said, then he commanded the group to march faster.

“Balahard is a place where the climate is constantly changing. If we don’t hurry, we’ll be trapped in a blizzard.”

It was as he said. After traveling for two days straight and reaching a place where we could almost see the Balahard castle, a sudden blizzard began to rage.

If it weren’t for the Balahard soldiers who met us halfway, our caravan would have gotten stuck.

Uncle and the soldiers communicated to each other through several gestures.

The wind was howling too loudly for them to speak with each other.

After a few back and forth of gestures, Uncle announced the plan to us.

“We will leave the wagons and retrieve them later. We will take the horses with us, and we will all move on foot!”

After getting off our horses and passing the reins to the Balahard soldiers, I went straight to the carriage and opened the door.

“Take my hand!”

Adelia, who was fully prepared, held my hand as if she was embarrassed. Niccolo had an unpleasant gaze at me as I did, but I ignored it.

Adelia, frightened by a blizzard, stuck close to me. She did not look like someone who was approaching the Sword Expert status.

But what should I do? In the first place, she has a weak character. At least, it was better than a war maniac.

Niccolo stepped down of the wagon after.

“… … !”

He spread his arms out and shouted something, but his expression was thrilled. I think he is expressing his feelings for nature and whatsoever over the majesty of this fierce blizzard.

I looked around.

Our horses were frightened. The soldiers of the Balahard family were struggling to calm them down and lead them.

Then, the royal soldiers that caught my eye.

The blizzard was overwhelming the royal elite, and they were falling down on the snow, swayed by the wind. They looked so different from the soldiers of the Balahard family, who were moving as if there was nothing unusual.

Uh.

One of them fell again and tangled with two other companions. The three of them rolled over.

I sighed.

“Arwen!”

“Your Highness!”

As soon as she heard my voice, she ran towards me amidst the wind and snow. She didn’t stumble at all.

“Take Adelia!”

“I will!”

After leaving Adelia to Arwen, I ran towards the soldiers.

I lifted one to his feet.

“Huh, Your Highness!”

I shouted at the other soldier who still couldn’t stand.

“You idiot! Take off your shield!”

They had wide shields on their backs, so it was hard for them to move against the wind.

The soldiers began to move more quickly as they heard my shout. Although their fall looked bad, it seemed that they weren’t hurt at all.

The soldiers who were swaying around against the wind removed their shields and left them under the carriage.

“There you go! Okay! Now, you! The big one! Take the lead! Everyone, stick behind him! No, no, no! Don’t gather around him! Stand in a row behind him! You idiots!”

* * *

“Abandon everything that is cumbersome except your swords! We’ll get them back later! What? A royal gift? I am the Prince! You idiots! If you lose it, I’ll give you new ones, so just throw it all away!”

The soldiers of the Balahard family looked back at the ruckus. The little Prince who came with the commander kept shouting.

He wasn’t that big, but his appearance was like an experienced commander in the field.

The idiots of the royal road who kept falling down earlier began to move steadily.

The soldiers of the Balahard family were thinking of letting them suffer some more time before they helped.

It was a hazing in its own way—an initiation for royal soldiers who thought highly of themselves.

But because of the little Prince, their hazing was disrupted.

The soldiers of the Balahard family exchanged glances.

When they first saw the Prince, he was totally different from what they heard.

He looks like he had trained a lot. He looks like he had practical experience.

They admired him a little. However, they knew he wouldn’t last.

He hadn’t experienced the harshness of winter.

The soldiers thought that his majestic appearance would not last long. Going through the blizzard was hard labor that was hard to bear even for soldiers.

However, when one of the royal soldiers fell, the Prince took the man up his shoulders.

The Balahard soldiers were amazed at the sight.

A proud nobleman from the arrogant royal family; the Prince that was known to be rude and stupid, carried a soldier?

But there was something even more surprising than that.

The snowfield that grabs at their ankles takes away stamina, and the sight covered by a blizzard eats the mind. It was never easy to take care of someone in the midst of such a blizzard.

Even strong knights often fell when faced by such a blizzard for the first time.

But that little Prince was even leading the pace with the soldiers around him.

The Balahard soldiers looked at their commander with eyes full of questions.

What have you been doing on the royal road?

How could he learn this from the royal road?

Their commander shook his head with a little smile.

As if to say he couldn’t explain it himself.

* * *

The blizzard disappeared as quickly as it has arrived.

It was just around the time we arrived at the castle of the Balahard family.

“Damn, if it was going to stop like this, it should have done so sooner!”

I yelled at the bright blue sky.

The royal soldiers were about to collapse with exhaustion from walking through the blizzard.

“Well… Your Highness?”

I was swearing inside when a voice interrupted my thoughts. When I turned, it was the soldier I lifted on my back.

“Thank you very much, Your Highness.”

I simply shook my hand at him. He bowed deeply several times, before disappearing into the ranks.

“Please find the royal soldiers a place to rest,” I told the Balahard soldiers. As instructed, they took the royal soldiers with them and disappeared somewhere.

As I was brushing off the snow that piled up on my head and shoulders, Uncle approached me.

“Is there a need for you to be so troubled?”

He’s right. It would have been enough for me to entrust supporting the soldier to another soldier.

However, it was Niccolo who answered Uncle.

“What His Highness has done will soon be widely known through the Count’s soldiers and the royal soldiers. If he wins the hearts of the soldiers after half a day, isn’t that a big deal?”

I frowned at Niccolo’s words.

He made it seem like I was a calculating person. However, it was correct.

Uncle looked at me, his eyes asking me if it was true.

“Wasn’t that what it meant to roll together in the field?” I asked him back before I raised my head.

Rather than a castle, the building looked more than a fortress. It had tall, endless walls. I could feel countless eyes looking down at me.

Soldiers of the Balahard family.

The enormous power they emanated poured into me.

My heart started pounding, welcoming the energy that rolls around me.

It felt as if I had been back to 400 years ago.

The only difference was that 400 years ago, this energy was not directed towards me, but my master.

Now, it was directed towards me.

That fact lifted my mood.

Upon reaching the gates, Uncle turned to me, with the soldiers behind him.

His face was that of a soldier, not a knight.

“The legitimate ruler of Balahard! As Commander of the Third Legion, we welcome the First Prince!”

In response, the soldiers around me and those upon the wall roared their welcome.

“The winter welcomes you!”

My heart was beating fast.

It felt like it had found a place to be.