A Captive Prince Awaiting Execution Falls In Love With A Young Lady - Episode 9

That realization reminded me of something else.

Letter…

The letter that was in the bread bag.

A letter from my brother-in-law that said we would meet soon.

The deposed crown prince is… My brother-in-law is…

Where on earth was I sent to the monastery?

What sect is this monastery affiliated with?

I realize that I don’t know about that.

While enduring the still-persistent dizziness, just as I was about to slowly lift my upper body.

The towel that was carelessly covering my eyes was taken away.

I reflexively opened my eyes, groaned at the brightness, and turned my face away.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t think it would still be so bright even in this dim light.”

The young man is laughing.

I blinked repeatedly, slowly and cautiously turning my face towards the voice.

The piercing brightness is gone, but my vision is still abnormal.

Mr. Sanders had indeed set up a screen to cover the window, but the light seeping through made it look like I was peering through a kaleidoscope.

The outline of the man is vaguely discernible, but his facial features are completely unclear.

The men seem to be wearing black hoods. The Nalan sect, which values austere poverty, rarely changes their robes. If they tear, they mend them; if they get dirty, they wash them carefully. Originally, they wore white robes like the Azil sect, but they switched to black robes because the dirt doesn’t show as much.

“I mixed a little medicine into the bread. So, we came here to introduce the doctor.”

A young man laughs merrily, making a sound with his throat.

“Today and tomorrow, if you fast and continue to drink the prescribed amount of warm water mixed with a little salt and sugar, the poison will be expelled from your body. Since it’s a natural poison, there is no antidote. I apologize, Your Highness.”

An elderly man’s.

Above all, I gasp at the honorifics directed at me.

“Is it really you, brother-in-law?”

Sirius turned to face the young man and asked.

“It’s been a while, Sirius.”

Patrick, the brother-in-law and deposed prince, answered curtly.

“I heard that you entered the monastery.”

“Still in it. Even now.”

A sense of nostalgia wells up at Patrick’s magnanimous attitude.

I don’t remember their face at all.

Maybe, even if his eyes looked normal, I wouldn’t have recognized him as my brother-in-law.

However, I recognized this arrogant voice.

“I have received the letter.”

Sirius sits back up on the bed. The dizziness is still severe, so he leans his back against the headboard, unable to lift his face except to look slightly down.

“Have you been imprisoned here all this time?”

Yes

“Then you don’t know about the state of the world below or the lives of the common people?”

When Sirius remained silent, Patrick began to speak at length about how the current world oppressed its citizens differently from his father’s reign.

Only a select few nobles and the royal family are enjoying life as if it were an eternal spring, indulging in every pleasure. Meanwhile, nobles and bureaucrats who have voiced their criticisms are being ostracized, and the citizens are suffering under increased taxes.

“If things continue like this, this country will perish. Before that happens, we must eliminate the bad governance, and I, the rightful heir to the throne, must become the new leader.”

Patrick concluded with a heated voice.

Sirius is uncharacteristically silent.

It depends on one’s perspective.

When we were living as royalty, there were others who thought the same way.

That is the current king, Benedict LeBlanc.

He “usurped the throne,” according to Patrick, but from his own perspective, he “overthrew a foolish king who imposed tyranny.” Those who benefited from the previous regime were ousted, and it is only natural that those who supported Benedict now walk the earth.

“Originally, I wanted Robert to support me as my right-hand man.”

Patrick seems quite dissatisfied.

The fact that Robert is not alive.

And then, that Sirius doesn’t agree with my opinion.

Thump, my heart beats uneasily. The dizziness intensified.

Robert’s death face flashes through my mind.

“You have a bit of our father’s bl00d in you too. Help me out.”

My temples throb violently, and it feels like my head is splitting open.

It seems that Patrick is planning to start a rebellion.

They are saying to cooperate with it.

“I’ll take you out of this tower.”

What would happen if you did something like that?

Even the Chamberlain and Judith could be implicated, and if things go poorly, they might be punished by the kings as traitors.

Such a terrifying thing…

Sirius clenched his trembling fist tightly.

“I apologize for being presumptuous, but…”

Sirius, his face contorted by dizziness and brightness, strained his voice.

“Those who fully support my brother-in-law, are they not indeed the members of the Nalan faction?”

Even while hiding, Patrick can walk around like this because the monastery is fully supporting him.

I don’t know what situation the Nalan faction is currently in.

However, there is only one thing that all sects wish for.

I want to become the “legitimate” one myself.

If Patrick ascends to the throne, the state religion will surely shift from the Azil faction to the Naran faction.

Then…

At worst, even if I get involved, I can just bring in the element of “religious conflict.”

Both Lord Kyuchuu and Judith are, of course, followers of the Azil sect.

If they push that to the forefront, pledge loyalty to the Azil faction, and suppress my brother-in-law from the Nalan faction and myself who are associated with him, that would be fine.

In that case, the court nobles will be able to escape punishment.

“The Nalan faction is naturally the same.”

However, what my brother-in-law mentioned were the names of many lords from the south.

I was thoroughly horrified. Is this brother-in-law seriously trying to start a civil war?

Already.

We are the fallen princes who have been driven off the stage.

I wonder why I don’t understand that.

“To be honest, I hated you, and I still can’t stand you.”

Patrick spat out, seemingly irritated by Sirius’s few words.

“The son of some unknown woman… You should have been abandoned. You have lived thanks to your father’s mercy. How do you intend to repay that kindness?”

It seems that anger is gradually rising. I thought I might get punched at this rate, but an older man cleared his throat and spoke up.

“However, with the prince still alive like this… Even though he is confined, it is a stroke of luck that he is being kept alive in such circumstances. Moreover, it seems that the one who was there until the very end was Miss Judith, who the Duke of the Imperial Court dotes on to the point of being unable to bear to be without her.”

“That’s it, that’s it.”

Patrick snapped his fingers.

“Looking at your appearance, it’s clear you take after your mother. I can see your nature is just like hers. And to think you’re seducing that girl named Judith.”

“Th-that kind of thing!”

When I tried to deny it and moved my body, the dizziness suddenly worsened, and I groaned.

You

I was roughly pulled closer by my hair. The scent of incense, dust, and smoke brushed against my nose.

“Get that Judith. That girl is useful.”

“Brother-in-law! Judith is…!”

“I will give the instructions again.”

I was thrown onto the bed as he said.

Somehow, I managed to prop myself up with my hands, but an elderly man approached and pressed a damp cloth to my face.

It seems it was a cloth soaked in some kind of drug solution. The sense of intoxication and the distortion of vision were completely different from just a moment ago.

“Let it be.”

Understood.

That’s it.

It was the last conversation I heard between the two of them.