abcnovels
Chapter 99
Chapter 99
Chapter 99
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
Chapter 99: Evidence (3)
***
“Your Majesty! We cannot let this matter go unpunished!”
Alexander, upon arriving at the royal palace, headed to the audience chamber with nobles of the same faction.
“How much money have we wasted due to the failure of the expedition, and how many knights have been sacrificed?!”
The king listened to Alexander’s words without saying a word. His face was filled with sorrow.
“Even if he is the crown prince, we cannot just let this go!”
“I understand. Once that child returns, I will punish him severely…….”
“That is not enough.”
Alexander said in a firm tone.
“What do you mean?”
“Isn’t it time for Your Majesty to admit it? Oliver, that child is not fit to be the crown prince.”
The king’s eyes widened. However, Alexander did not stop talking.
“You must think calmly. Think about whether he will be able to lead the country when he inherits the throne in the distant future.”
The king looked around at the nobles Alexander had brought with him. The nobles all kept their mouths shut.
It was a sign that they tacitly agreed with Alexander’s words.
“Your Majesty, you must make a decision!”
Alexander shouted again. The king took a deep breath.
After contemplating for a long time, the king opened his mouth.
“……You’re right. Oliver is not qualified to inherit the throne.”
When those words came out of the king’s mouth, joy rose in Alexander’s eyes.
“I will strip that child from the position of crown prince…….”
That was when it happened.
“Your Majesty! Please wait a moment!”
The door of the audience chamber burst open and a group of people entered.
Alexander, seeing them, frowned and shouted.
“Oliver? How are you here?”
“Uncle, it’s been a long time.”
Alexander could not help but be taken aback by Oliver’s greeting.
The nephew, who had always been timid in front of him, had suddenly changed.
His confident attitude was subtly irritating.
“You have the audacity to be so confident after failing the expedition!”
Alexander could not contain his displeasure. No, to be more precise, he did not need to contain it.
“You’d better be prepared this time! His Majesty has also promised to ask you about the responsibility for this failure…….”
“The expedition was a success.”
Oliver said in a calm tone. At those words, not only Alexander but also the king had a surprised expression.
“What? Did you succeed? Is that true?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“What are you talking about? Didn’t you send a report saying that you had failed?”
“There were extenuating circumstances.”
Just then, Damien, who had been watching the situation from behind, stepped forward and overturned a large bag in front of the king and Alexander.
Thick fangs poured out. The king was shocked by the enormous size.
“W, what is this?!”
“These are the fangs of the orcs and ogres we killed in this expedition.”
Damien said, throwing the empty bag behind him.
“As you can see, they are all fangs. One pair for each one. Can you get a sense of how many orcs and ogres we killed?”
The king stared at the fangs with his eyes wide open. The other nobles were the same.
“Then…… why did you report falsely that you had failed?”
The king asked with a face that said he did not understand. Oliver raised his voice and answered.
“It was to find evidence to accuse the one who has been causing chaos within the kingdom and the royal family.”
“Causing chaos? Who on earth is he?”
Oliver pointed to Alexander.
“It’s you, Uncle.”
At that moment, Alexander’s expression twisted, but he tried to suppress it and spoke in a calm tone.
“Oliver, what are you talking about? Why am I the criminal? You know how much I have dedicated myself to the country.”
Oliver gestured. The knights threw three women tied with ropes to the ground.
The moment he saw their faces, Alexander’s face turned pale.
“You conspired with the dark mages to cause various incidents in the kingdom. You used the pretext of subjugating them to increase your power and influence.”
Alexander’s eyes darted around. He soon shouted as if he was wronged.
“Your Majesty! It’s a frame-up! I don’t know who they are!”
The king had a confused look on his face. He was already confused by the fact that the expedition, which he thought had failed, was actually a success. Now, he was being told that Alexander had conspired with the dark mages.
Alexander was a reliable brother. The king could hardly believe Oliver’s words.
“Your Majesty! Oliver is making up ridiculous lies to avoid responsibility for the failed expedition. You must arrest him immediately and uphold the dignity of the royal family!”
“Crown prince’s words are correct.”
Everyone’s gaze turned to the back of Oliver. Alexander, who saw that, muttered with a blank face.
“……Sir Liam?”
Liam Bluegreen spoke in a quiet tone.
“Before being captured, this dark mage confessed to having a relationship with Alexander.”
Liam said, pointing to one of the dark mages.
“S-Sir Liam! What are you talking about? I, I’m innocent!”
“Your Grace, there’s no point in hiding it any longer. I already heard everything with my own ears.”
It would be one thing if only Oliver had claimed it, but Liam had also joined in.
Liam Bluegreen was one of the few high-class nobles in the Apple Kingdom and a knight who was dedicated to the royal family.
When such a person supported Oliver, the balance of power tipped to one side.
“……Soldiers, listen up. Arrest Alexander Apple immediately.”
The king gave the order to the soldiers. The soldiers around him began to surround Alexander.
“Your Majesty, no, brother! You’re making a mistake! You’re believing the words of those fools instead of me!”
Alexander desperately protested. However, no one listened to him.
Alexander gnashed his teeth and looked around. Seeing him, Liam Bluegreen said.
“Your Grace, if you’re thinking of calling the Knights, plz don’t. I’ll personally subdue him.”
Liam said in a calm tone. Alexander shouted with a face of great shock.
“Sir Liam, why are you doing this? Didn’t you say you would support me!”
“Yes, I did. I sincerely thought that Your Grace was the one who should be responsible for the future of the kingdom.”
“Then why……!”
“However, I cannot support someone who has allied with the dark mages to become king.”
At that argument, Alexander had no choice but to shut his mouth.
“Your Grace, please accept your arrest. It is for your own honor.”
Alexander gnashed his teeth and looked around. No one was on his side.
“……It’s all over.”
Alexander sighed and said.
“Are you admitting your guilt?”
“It doesn’t seem like anything will change even if I don’t admit it. Yes, it’s all true.”
At those words, the king staggered.
“Why…… why did you do such a thing!”
“Brother, why are you pretending not to know? You’re the one who started it all.”
Alexander curled one side of his lips.
“Think back to when we were young. His Majesty the previous king said that he would choose the better one of us to be the crown prince. So I worked hard.”
Alexander continued.
“Compared to me, who was already recognized as a knight, what were you doing, brother? You were just flipping through books in the royal palace. Anyone could see that I should have been the one to ascend to the throne, not you. But Father appointed you as the crown prince.”
Alexander’s voice grew louder and louder.
“Even so, I decided to accept Father’s decision! I endured it! But my patience ran out when that foolish child…… Oliver was born!”
Alexander’s gaze turned to Oliver.
“You good-for-nothing who only got the crown prince position because you were the only child! You wasted your time doing nothing but fooling around! But you, brother, kept that fool in the position of crown prince!”
Oliver bit his lip. It was shocking to hear his uncle’s true feelings for the first time.
“Can you imagine how I felt when I saw that brat? I felt like lava was boiling inside me!”
“……So you joined hands with the dark mages?”
“Yes! I used their power to grow my forces! I gathered the forces that supported me! Everything…… everything was going smoothly!”
Alexander looked back at Damien.
“You! You ruined everything! You’re the one to blame for everything!”
“Then do it better.”
Damien said, sounding annoyed. Alexander’s expression became blank at those words.
“What, what did you say?”
“I mean, you should have planned more thoroughly. Why are you taking your anger out on me when you failed? I see why the previous king didn’t make you the crown prince.”
As Damien continued to speak, Alexander’s eyes turned red.
“……Be careful with your words. Do you not know who you are facing right now?”
“I’m facing a criminal who committed treason. You’re the one who will soon be in prison waiting for the day of your execution. Don’t talk too much.”
At that moment, Alexander’s anger reached its peak. He stretched out his hand into the air and shouted.
“Come, my friend, I need you!”
A sword pierced through the wall and landed in Alexander’s hand. It was none other than the relic sword, Thronwood.
“Your Majesty, are you planning to resist?”
Liam asked with a sharp gaze.
“Liam, have you forgotten? I’m a high-class now too.”
“Not all high classes are the same.”
The higher the level, the greater the gap between them.
The distance between the two ends of the middle class was longer than that between the two ends of the low class. Likewise, the distance between the two ends of the high class was much longer.
Liam had ascended to high-class a long time ago. Since then, he has devoted himself to training and becoming even stronger.
He was on a different level from Alexander, who had raised his level by borrowing the power of the relic sword.
“Is that really so?”
Alexander was relaxed, even though he couldn’t have known that.
“You fool. This is not the time to be sleeping. Wake up quickly.”
Then he suddenly made a strange sound.
“Can’t you hear me? I need your power. If you don’t wake up now, we’ll both die.”
Liam made a puzzled expression. It was a sound that was out of context no matter how he looked at it.
“Who are you talking to now…….”
That was when it happened.
A mouth appeared on the cross guard of the Thronwood sword that Alexander was holding.
“Huh, huh!”
“W, what is that!”
Everyone was startled and took a step back. Liam also had a surprised expression on his face.
– You idiot, what did I say? I said I wouldn’t wake up until the sun goes down.
“You asshole. Does this look like a time to be sleeping?”
– Kehek, you’re making a fuss over nothing.
The sword was talking. Moreover, Alexander and the sword were having a conversation.
Everyone could not help but be confused by the strange sight.
However, there was one exception.
‘So it wasn’t a relic sword after all.’
Damien quickly saw through the identity of the talking sword.
The eerie he had felt before was not a mistake. That was not a relic sword.
‘It was a Demonic sword.’
The cursed object called the Demon’s Fragment was right before his eyes.
***
[TL/N- Cursed sword—> Demonic sword]
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]