#1
Prologue
It was a bleak, dreary night. With neither the moon nor the stars visible, the area around the Imperial Palace was much darker than usual. A long shadow stretched out in front of the Fifth Prince’s residence.
There are no guards…
Kalid clicked his tongue inwardly. Even though the Fifth Prince had been abandoned by his backers, he was still a prince of the Empire. For him to be this poorly guarded, it was a miracle that he had survived until now.
Kalid took out a sleeping incense stick from inside his clothes and lit it. The smoke slowly seeped through the gap beneath the door. As he waited for enough of the sleeping incense to take effect, Kalid recalled his conversation with Bashur from several days ago.
“Do you believe His Highness Reginald will become emperor, Duke?”
It was an unusual question from Bashur, who was always so cautious and reserved. Kalid set down his teacup before answering.
“……Probably.”
The Second Prince, Reginald, was greedy. And he also had the backing to support that ambition.
Born to the Empress and a dominant alpha.
After the Fourth Princess, who had also been a dominant alpha, died in a riding accident last year, Reginald became the only remaining dominant alpha among the heirs.
Now, all that remained were the Third Prince, who worshiped the Second Prince like a god, the Fifth Prince, who was an omega, and the Sixth Prince, who was still too young for his secondary gender to have manifested.
“Then… if His Highness Reginald were to decide that Prince Judith needs to be dealt with, could Your Grace take care of it?”
After hesitating for a long time, Bashur finally forced those words out.
It was essentially a request.
It was strange to see Bashur, who would normally simply stand by and watch a life that was destined to disappear on its own, deliberately create a debt between them.
“Why?”
“…There is no particular reason. I thought that since you are skilled with the sword, you could kill him quickly.”
“You seem rather fond of the Fifth Prince.”
“He is an intelligent person.”
But Kalid knew that intelligence alone would not be enough.
No matter how clever he was, he was still only an omega born to a maid, and now even his mother was gone.
“Then why not ask me to save him instead?”
“…”
Instead of answering, Bashur gave a bitter smile.
Kalid understood why he could not make such a request.
The Second Prince would kill all of his siblings and ascend the throne. That was how most of the previous emperors of the Adennawar Empire had done it.
“I understand what you mean. I’ll do it.”
“……Thank you.”
Kalid ended his brief recollection and pushed himself away from the wall.
The amount of sleeping incense he had used was enough to put even a grown man to sleep for three days. There would be no pain when he died.
Kalid easily picked the lock and stepped inside.
Fish!
An arrow flew straight toward the center of Kalid’s forehead.
Kalid narrowly bent his neck and avoided it. The arrow embedded itself in the wall at the far end of the room.
It was such a powerful arrow that it had lodged itself deep into the stone wall. If it had struck his head, he would have died instantly.
There was no sign of anyone inside.
It seemed the arrow had not been fired by a person but by a mechanism that activated when the door was opened.
A smile appeared on Kalid’s lips at the intense welcome.
He drew his sword and walked toward the bed.
When he reached the bed, one of Kalid’s eyebrows twitched.
Holding his sword vertically, he plunged it into the middle of the bulging mattress.
Thud.
Something with considerable volume wrapped around his sword.
As Kalid tried to pull the sword back out, he realized that something was holding it in place.
It wasn’t human flesh.
At the same moment, a chill ran down the back of his neck.
“……!”
Just before a dagger could be driven into the back of his neck, Kalid barely managed to catch his opponent’s wrist.
It was a wrist so thin that it seemed he could wrap his entire hand around it.
Yet despite its small size, the attack had been quite fierce.
The moment one wrist was caught, the other hand grabbed the sword and thrust toward him at an awkward angle.
But because the attack was clumsy, Kalid quickly caught the other wrist as well.
Once both wrists were restrained, the opponent began kicking.
The struggling was so fierce that it was almost pitiful, but there was little strength behind it.
Kalid squeezed both wrists with just a few fingers and pushed him against the wall.
The Fifth Prince, trapped between Kalid and the wall and unable to move, glared at him with calm eyes.
His expression made it clear that if there were even the slightest opening, he would immediately stab Kalid.
“…”
“Good evening, Your Highness.”
Kalid spoke casually, as if he were simply greeting him.
“…Kalid Baldwin Meyer.”
“It is an honor that you know my name.”
Kalid smiled faintly and wrapped his hand around Judith’s neck.
It was such a thin neck that it seemed as though it would snap with just a little force.
He has managed to survive in the Imperial Palace with a neck this thin.
Kalid tightened his grip.
He deliberately made it difficult for Judith to breathe, but not enough to make him lose consciousness.
He wanted to enjoy this little game for a while longer.
It had been a long time since someone had pushed him this far all by themselves.
What would this person be like when death was right before his eyes?
Kalid looked at Judith with interest.
“I wanted to meet and talk to you, but I’m glad that we were able to meet like this.”
Judith spoke in a hoarse voice because of the pressure on his throat, yet his tone remained strangely calm, as though he were not being strangled at all.
A flicker of interest appeared in Kalid’s eyes.
He was so amused that he had already forgotten the arrow that had nearly pierced his forehead.
“What kind of conversation did you wish to have that you would welcome an intruder who came to your bedroom in the middle of the night?”
“I have something I wanted to tell you.”
“Then what is it?”
“…Do you know the saying that a hunter eats his hunting dog once the hunt is over?”
Judith did not ask Kalid to loosen his grip on his neck or release his wrists.
Instead, he asked the question directly.
Kalid immediately understood what he meant and laughed.
The hunting dog Judith had just mentioned was Kalid, while the hunter was Reginald.
Judith was telling him that once Reginald became emperor, did he really think he would be safe?
“Your Highness seems to think I’m quite a dog.”
“How much difference can there be between a dog and the person who has to watch its every move?”
He lowered himself while still refusing to deny what he was.
Kalid found the situation even more entertaining and decided to hear him out.
He loosened his grip slightly.
That alone allowed Judith to speak more smoothly, without stumbling over her words.
“I know I’m not particularly clever. I’m not strong, I have no one powerful backing me, and I’ve never been taught politics. But even someone like me can sit on the throne. Reginald is greedy, but he’s also afraid. The moment he takes the throne, he’ll get rid of you.”
Judith placed his hand over Kalid’s hand around his neck.
His hand was surprisingly large for an omega, and when it covered Judith’s hand, a faint shiver ran through him.
“So choose me. I will become the puppet emperor you need.”
Main Story
“It’s hot, it’s so hot. Mom……!”
Young Judith was crying.
The heat was far beyond anything that could simply be called hot.
The flames had already burned everything in the room, and their tongues of fire were reaching out as though they were about to devour the two of them as well.
“It’s okay, Judith. It’s okay. Mommy is right here with you.”
The woman wrapped her thin, frail body around the little Judith.
As if doing so could protect at least one small child from the flames.
The scorching air, filled with something like vaporized poison, filled their lungs.
Young Judith continued to cry and call for his mother, but his voice gradually grew weaker.
“Judith, Mommy is sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough to protect you…”
Tears continuously streamed down the woman’s cheeks.
Even though Judith could barely understand what she was saying through his hazy consciousness, he felt sorry for her crying and reached out to wipe away her tears.
“Mom, it’s okay. I’m not scared at all.”
Because I’m in Mommy’s arms like this.
Hearing the child’s mature words, the woman began to sob even harder.
After holding him tightly for a long time, a strange look appeared in the woman’s eyes.
“Over there…”
The woman carried Judith and struggled to take one step after another.
Judith coughed, unable to withstand the poisonous gas.
The woman took off all of her own clothes and wrapped them around Judith.
Completely bundled up, Judith looked at her mother with a puzzled expression.
“Judith, you have to survive.”
With those final words, the woman lifted Judith up as though she were about to throw him.
Judith’s tiny arms and legs flailed in the air before he managed to grab onto something.
Still hanging there, Judith turned around.
A pillar was falling toward the woman.
Unlike Judith, who lost his balance in panic, the woman only looked at him and smiled.
At the same moment that Judith’s irises turned a vivid red, his consciousness rose back to the surface.
“……!”
Judith woke up with her entire body drenched in sweat.
Even though he had only just awakened, his heart was pounding rapidly, as though he had drunk a strong cup of black tea.
