The Prince Wants to Retire

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The Crown Prince Wishes to Retire

9. Secrets of the Imperial Palace

While Kariel, known as the Blood Prince, was busy thrashing the nobles allied with the Emperor Faction, the two princes also sprang into action.

First, the Second Prince began to control all the magic-related institutions in the Empire and initiated an investigation involving Dark Mages and Priests.

Before long, the Third Prince used military authority to flush out spies and sought out the nobles who aided the attackers.

He was operating both the Empire’s elite intelligence agency and Duke Devir’s information network simultaneously in a full-blown search for spies.

Perhaps due to that, the atmosphere in the Empire turned darker than ever.

Interestingly, while the atmosphere grew tense, security oddly became more stable.

“Don’t rush! If you make a mistake, you’ll die.”

“I’ll have to look for some temporary work for a while.”

“Hah, then do I have to become a mercenary?”

Criminal organizations in every region halted their activities and started looking for other jobs.

If they got caught now, they’d be finished, so they had to find some way to scrape together a living until the crisis passed.

Kariel, the source of their plight as he forced them to seek ordinary work to survive, was currently smashing one of the Emperor Faction’s secret bases.

“Quite a lot, huh?”

Sighing, Kariel muttered to himself.

When he had demolished most of the bases in the capital, he thought it would be finished quickly.

But that was pure arrogance.

The Emperor Faction, having held power for three generations, was incredibly formidable.

Every time he smashed one base, another popped up from somewhere else, and when he located that one to destroy, yet another appeared.

Ultimately, it was a frantic search through the entire central region to see who would win.

“Your Highness, are you comfortable?”

Returning sweaty from his diligent efforts, Talion asked, and Kariel smiled satisfyingly.

“It’s good.”

“Is that so?”

When Talion asked with a face full of dissatisfaction, Kariel met his gaze with a sulky expression.

“Is it a problem if I’m resting?”

Seeing Talion’s sour face, Kariel pouted.

Then the weirdos who came along also looked at him with similar sour expressions.

Noticing the grumpy expressions of the weirdos while he wasn’t looking, Kariel clicked his tongue.

“Tsk! Complaining just because we’ve done a bit of work…”

Kariel continued to reassure the weirdos.

“Today is the last day I’ll be moving directly.”

At his words, Talion and the weirdos’ eyes widened.

“Really?”

“Why would I lie about something like this?”

In response to Talion’s question, Kariel answered with a grumpy look and glanced around.

He saw a scene where they had basically demolished a mansion and were extracting all the wealth inside from one of the secret bases.

Perhaps because they had been plundering the Emperor Faction’s bases all over the central region, even common criminals were nowhere to be seen near the capital.

“We’ve already gotten everything we could.”

Talion looked at Kariel with confusion.

It seemed he was asking why he and the weirdos had worked so hard until now.

The Inspection Department and the Security Brigade had been operating in turns, and even the Palace Knights guarding Kariel changed every few days.

Meanwhile, Talion and the weirdos had been with Kariel day and night.

Moreover, they were the ones who directly hit the Emperor Faction.

In other words, they, the Red Security Brigade, had suffered the most during the whole process of raiding the Emperor Faction’s secret bases.

“You didn’t waste your efforts, so lighten up your expressions.”

With those words, Kariel quelled the confusion on the faces of the brigade.

In fact, while raiding the secret bases in the capital, he had secured all the evidence of corruption from the high nobles of the Emperor Faction.

But why had he been scouring the entire central region?

To see their reactions.

“Those lowlives involved with foreign nations or linked to underground organizations had to be filtered out.”

As he spoke, Kariel clicked his tongue in disappointment.

The most likely candidate he had suspected, the Chancellor, ended up eluding him.

“Just as expected, several nobles of the Emperor Faction were trying to sneak out of the country.”

“…What?”

Talion turned back to his attendants, wearing a face of ‘Why didn’t I know about that?’

“There’s nothing to see there. I told you not to report to me.”

Talion cocked his head at Kariel’s words.

With a sigh, Kariel said to him,

“You’re wearing that, right?”

“This… this?”

“Yeah. I’m focusing on smashing the nobility while having the personal guard beside me. If you, the key player, disappear, won’t they get suspicious?”

“Ah….”

Talion nodded as he seemed to understand Kariel’s point.

“You could’ve at least told me in advance…”

“You can’t act with a poker face.”

“If I did, it would show my true self….”

“Ah, enough. Anyway, the work is done, and now we just need to head to the capital and capture them. Luckily, I found some of the Emperor Faction nobles involved with the Dark Mage-linked Temple.”

As Kariel spoke, he showed Talion the fresh report he had received that day.

“The Emperor Faction is finished.”

Though only one of their members was caught, many were bribed by him. It was difficult to find any noble among them who hadn’t paid him off.

“With your Majesty no longer able to delay, it’s time to clean up.”

‘And retire!’

The last thought remained internally as Kariel returned to the Imperial Palace with a bright smile alongside the Imperial Guard.

*

On the way to the palace.

Excited by the thought that the moment of retirement was approaching, Kariel witnessed a strange sight.

While heading to the palace, he thought he might catch some thieves, but not a single bandit could be found.

“Were there always this few thieves?”

“There won’t be any around the capital for a while.”

In response to Kariel’s question, Talion, who was riding in the wagon with him, replied with a look that said, ‘You caught them all!’

“Hmmm, this is boring.”

“Safety is the top priority. If you’re that bored, we could stop for some exercise…”

“…Let’s hurry.”

As Kariel said and gazed out the window, Talion smirked slightly and distilled the important points from the periodic reports he’d received and passed them on to Kariel.

Thus, after a mundane return, they entered the capital.

“Waaaaah!”

Seeing the crowd cheer upon spotting Kariel’s wagon, he wore a puzzled expression.

“Why are they acting like that? Is there a festival or something?”

“They’re cheering for you, Your Highness.”

Kariel couldn’t help but feel incredulous at Talion’s reply.

“When they called me the Blood Prince, they weren’t like this!”

“They meant it in a good way, didn’t they?”

“The Blood Prince? The one who supposedly kills nobility indiscriminately?”

“Hmhm! It’s all with good intentions…”

Kariel waved off Talion’s attempts to put a positive spin on it, resting his chin on the window frame.

The people outside seemed livelier than he expected.

Seeing the bright smiles of those who had cursed him in his previous life made a corner of his heart tingle, but he forced himself to ignore it.

‘I’m not a ruler anymore.’

That wasn’t the feeling a person about to retire should have.

Yet, that tingling in the corner of his heart made him frown.

– Seems like they like you.

Surth appeared transparently, only visible to Kariel, and pointed at the children outside.

Kariel then turned to look at the children Surth was indicating.

Pouting, Kariel waved at the cheering kids for just a moment before letting out a small sigh.

In an instant, the image of a child who had screamed at him in his previous life overlapped with that of the joyfully smiling children.

“…Hurry it up.”

“Yes.”

Noting Kariel’s unusual demeanor, Talion briefly gazed at him with concern but soon conveyed the order to quicken their pace outside.

*

The coachman, receiving the command, sped across the square and entered the Crown Prince’s Palace within the Imperial Palace.

Upon hearing the news of Kariel’s return, the people inside the palace began trembling with trepidation.

The moment they had desperately wished to avoid was nigh.

“…Is it over?”

Sitting in the office of the Chancellor’s Department, the Chancellor maintained a calm expression upon receiving the news of Kariel’s return.

In truth, the Emperor Faction had been finished the moment all their secret bases in the capital were raided.

But Kariel did not stop there.

He trapped even those trying to flee to foreign nations and finally grasped the locations of key bases in the provinces.

While focusing on the central region, he cleverly kept an eye on the moves of nobles from the Emperor Faction and traced their destinations.

He intentionally let them leave the capital to head to the regions they were going to, where he uncovered their secret bases.

Thus, the Emperor Faction was destined to be obliterated without leaving even a remnant.

“Did you arrive?”

The Chancellor watched as Podolski, the head of the Inspection Department, entered.

As if he had been waiting, the Chancellor stood up, while Podolski silently handed the arrest warrant to his lieutenant.

“Evidence has emerged linking the Chancellor to criminal activities.”

“Is it necessary to say much? Let’s go. Time to pay the price for your sins.”

Podolski gestured to the Inspection Department members advancing towards the stoic Chancellor and stepped aside to guide him.

At that, the Chancellor wore a puzzled expression.

“It was your Majesty’s command.”

“His Majesty?”

“On his final journey, he said he would maintain your honor.”

The Chancellor paused, a look of confusion crossing his face at Podolski’s words as he began to laugh maniacally.

“Cough, cough! Well, it seems I took another hit from His Majesty.”

Understanding at once why Kariel had said that, the Chancellor continued to laugh for a time before addressing Podolski.

“There’s no use in keeping up appearances now… but sadly, I don’t think I can fulfill His Majesty’s intentions.”

Podolski frowned at the Chancellor’s words.

Not wanting to be misunderstood, the Chancellor then said,

“It’s not just some petty pride.”

With his words, Podolski tilted his head with a puzzled expression.

“I assure you, there’s a secret too significant for me to dare speak of.”

When the Chancellor spoke, Podolski’s eyes widened in realization.

“Don’t tell me!”

“If you understand, then let’s go.”

With that, the Chancellor let himself be taken by the Inspection Department members.

Watching this, Podolski bit his lips, then hurriedly sent a letter to the Crown Prince’s Palace through his subordinate.

*

After news broke that the Chancellor had been taken to the Inspection Department, some time later, a letter from Podolski found its way into Kariel’s hands.

“An important figure… so it must relate to His Majesty, right?”

Kariel said, a solemn expression crossing his face.

In an instant, the worst-case scenario flashed through his mind.

He tried to deny it, but reason pressed him, insisting that his thoughts were correct.

“Talion!”

“Yes.”

At Kariel’s urgent call, Talion rushed in through the door.

“Dig deeper on the Chancellor.”

“What part should I focus on…?”

“I need to know what connection he has with His Majesty.”

Talion stiffened at Kariel’s words.

To him, Kariel showed the letter Podolski had sent.

“Investigate thoroughly. That way, I can decide whether we need to cover this up or not.”

“…Yes.”