Chapter 9
Winter Flowering (2)
Not just a noble, but a divine being.
Every thug in the gambling den trembled in fear, foreseeing a horrific future where they would all face execution. Even Winter was no exception, though he remained the calmest among them.
“We have committed the crime of failing to recognize a divine being. We beg for your forgiveness.”
“No, no. That’s not it. You shouldn’t say that.”
You should have brought up the crime of running an illegal gambling den first. That’s the heaviest crime here.
This place was a back alley situated right between Luminous Square, a bustling commercial district, and the Tomak Village, a slum. Given the location of the gambling den, it meant their targets included impoverished Deberians.
‘You think it’s good to rip off your own countrymen?’
He couldn’t shout his true feelings out loud, though.
Still, I can punish them in a different way, right?
“Everyone, get into a push-up position!”
“……?”
“……?”
“Do you want to be executed, or do you want to get down?”
“…….”
“We will get down!”
Leaping onto a nearby card table, Zion mimicked a military drill instructor.
“At ‘one’, as you go down: ‘Don’t covet the money…’ At ‘two’, as you come up: ‘…of the poor!’ Repeat after me! One!”
“Don’t covet the money!”
“Two!”
“……of the poor!”
It must hurt their pride quite a bit. Those who roll around in the underworld stake their lives on pride and saving face, without exception. They all act like they’re hotshots from Litania or something.
After making them do about a hundred push-ups, some of them began to give out.
“Haaah… Haaah, haaah.”
“For guys who make a living with their bodies, you’re pretty weak. Cut back on the booze and cigarettes from now on.”
It was then.
“May I stand up?”
It was Winter Flowering. A calm, expressionless face—the classic poker face of a gambler. Zion guessed he had probably been rolling around in gambling dens since he was very young.
“What if I say no?”
“You won’t find it entertaining. Besides, I can think of no reason for a exalted personage like yourself to do such a thing other than for amusement.”
“Hooh?”
Look at this guy.
As expected of someone called a boss in the back alleys at a young age, he had quite the nerve.
‘Though he’s barking up completely the wrong tree.’
“I also understand why you carry a magic item that cannot be detected,” Winter continued calmly.
Having thrown himself into the gambling world at an early age to achieve his current success, Winter possessed the pride of being one of the top gamblers in Deber. To such a man, composure and a poker face were his greatest weapons. Even now, they shone so brightly—
“Me? Zion Riobelt.”
The weapon snapped.
Far from shining brightly, its light completely faded.
“Your Highness…”
Thud!
Look at him. He had just stood up, only to drop straight back down. This time, he even fell onto both knees.
‘Well, an Imperial Prince—a direct descendant among the divine race—is a completely different story.’
“Please just spare my life. I will do anything.”
Zion looked down at the back of Winter’s head, lost in thought for a moment.
The reason the ring reacted to Winter—he had no idea for now. Should he keep him close and analyze him while running a few experiments?
“Winter, you be my dog for a while.”
He extended the offer to join his crew in the absolute worst possible way. Since Winter was a young underworld boss, Zion used it as a power move to establish dominance right away. He had also learned that trying to earn loyalty through coaxing and soothing was impossible for Zion Riobelt, even if it might work for Zion Blease.
For a scoundrel prince, it was far more efficient to simply bully people into submission, if only because of the reputation this body had built up.
‘Still, talking about being a dog prickles my conscience a bit… but if he’s rolled around in the back alleys, he should be able to handle it.’
In reality, Winter didn’t feel insulted by the comment about being a dog.
“Why would a divine being want to keep a mongrel as a pet?”
“……Huh?”
I didn’t say it that harshly, though.
Looking at his attitude, it seemed he really didn’t mind it at all.
“If you keep a lowly creature like me by your side, your innate…”
‘Hm?!’
“…nobility will be tarnished…”
Zion cut him off.
“Winter Flowering. Quiet.”
Ah. Too late. It had already vanished.
However, he saw it clearly. A certain scene that flickered past in an instant.
‘Today is full of inexplicable events.’
The person in that scene—he knew him. Without realizing it, Zion muttered the man’s name.
“Remiconin…”
The twelve traitors who sold Deber out to the Empire. Among them, Marquis Remiconin—one of the five known as the ‘Five Traitors of the Court’.
‘Why did a vision of that guy suddenly appear?’
At that exact moment.
Winter’s eyes snapped wide open, and he shouted, “Everyone, get out!”
“Boss?”
“Why so suddenly?”
“I told you to get out! Don’t you dare come back in until I call you!”
After his subordinates hesitantly filed out, Winter asked in a low voice, “How did you know?”
……I still don’t know, actually.
For now, Zion put on a bluff.
“Want to know?”
“Of course. Even that fellow Remiconin doesn’t know.”
“If you want to know, give me your hand.”
Winter’s face instantly flushed bright red. His arm twitched upward, unable to suppress his anger.
“What’s with that hand?”
“Gasp!”
Startled back to his senses, Winter stretched his arms.
“My body froze up due to tension, you see. Hahaha… I had no idea Your Highness knew who my father was.”
Ah. So he was his father.
His father?
“You bastard. You were the son of a traitor?”
Winter’s gaze turned strange.
“Th-that… Setting aside the fact that we don’t have a harmonious father-son relationship… Is that really a word an Imperial Prince of the Empire should be using…?”
Oops.
Change the subject, change the subject.
“Winter. If you don’t swear allegiance to me right this instant, I am going straight to the Governor-General’s Office.”
“…….”
“Ask me why I’m suddenly going to the Governor-General’s Office.”
“……Why are you going?”
Zion smirked mischievously.
“To report an illegal gambling den.”
Winter let out a sigh despite himself.
“Just kidding. I swear it. I won’t hold your sins against you.”
‘Though you roll around dirtily in a dirty place, you are still a citizen of Deber, after all.’
Meanwhile, Winter’s inner thoughts were utterly complicated.
‘This prince seems like a man who has resolved to live his life recklessly, doing whatever he wants.’
He couldn’t grasp the context of the conversation at all. Ever since jumping into the gambling scene at a young age, Winter had made it his basic principle in life to engage in mind games and calculate his opponent’s true intentions in every situation. Therefore, Zion’s speech and actions, which carried a massive discrepancy between his inner thoughts and outer appearance, were fundamentally incompatible with Winter.
‘Is this entire persona an act… No, is it a bluff to make me feel that way instead?’
And so, misunderstandings stacked up.
‘Even a arrogant noble brat suddenly grows up when his family falls from grace.’
Word on the street was that the 9th Prince was a rascal whom even the Imperial Family had given up on. But growing up to be an unpredictable scoundrel meant he had a solid backing looking out for him no matter how much trouble he caused. At least, that was common sense to Winter.
If he had lost such backing, it made sense that his attitude would change.
‘Or could it be…! Was he hiding his true self behind the reputation of a rascal?’
It was a stack of misunderstandings, but as a result, he had arrived at the correct answer.
“……Your Highness.”
“Yeah. Have you made up your mind?”
Winter set a serious tone.
‘If you know who my father is… you must also know how I feel about him, Prince.’
And yet, he had come alone and brazenly threatened him? That meant there was a delicious piece of meat prepared for the dog on the other side of the whip.
Even so, because of that, he had to take a gamble, even if his opponent was a prince. The piece of meat Winter wanted to bite into was already set. It was a judgment fitting for a man who prided himself on being one of the best—no, the best—gambler in Deber.
“Are you telling me to throw away everything I’ve built up all these years just to be your henchman, Your Highness? Fine, fine. But tell me this: if I stake my life on you, how much will my life actually change?”
A bold, manly bet to test the waters! For Winter, it was his best move.
However.
“It won’t.”
“……?”
“Who told you to stake anything? Don’t stake it, I don’t need your life. Just wait on me until I tell you to stop.”
“…….”
“When I don’t need you anymore, I’ll let you go nicely. I’m not lying, okay?”
Zion was sincere. The moment he figured out why the Guide’s Ring had reacted, he planned to kick him out right away.
“Well then, you’ve agreed to wait on me, right? First, go fetch some food.”
“…….”
Winter, who had been frozen for a long time, barely opened his mouth.
“Preparing a meal… I wonder if humble food will suit your palate.”
“When you don’t have money, you just have to eat whatever.”
Winter doubted his ears for a second.
“You don’t have sugar [Dang]? Hey, guys! His Highness’s sugar levels dropped, so go buy some chocolate!”
Note: In Korean, “Dang” (당) can mean sugar/energy, but Winter mistook Zion’s “don” (돈 – money) for “dang” (당 – sugar).
For context, chocolate was a high-end dessert that had recently begun to be imported from a distant nation of different races. It was Winter’s own effort to cater to the Prince’s refined palate.
“Hey, hey, what chocolate? I said I don’t have money.”
“Money. You really said ‘money’! So I heard correctly? Is it even possible for an Imperial Prince to have no money?”
Zion smirked.
‘As expected, it was a good idea not to go straight to the Governor-General’s Office.’
If even Winter had this kind of reaction, the high-ranking officials at the Governor-General’s Office would have been even worse.
“I caused trouble and got exiled. Stripped of my prince status, and all my assets were confiscated. Not a single maid—just a solitary luggage bag is all I have.”
Winter had lived as a gambler for more than half his life, and a poker face was more natural to him than any other expression. Yet that very Winter was now flaring his nostrils wildly, radiating intense emotion.
There were only two times in his life he had been genuinely astonished: when he learned who his father was, and right now.
“Even if I had spruced you up a bit, you wouldn’t have been able to go to the Governor-General’s Office anyway? Since you have nothing to your name.”
“Your tone is extremely insolent, but your face is hilarious, so I’ll let it slide.”
“……Phew. First, I shall present a meal.”
Scratching his head vigorously, Winter stared at Zion for a while before continuing.
“Though it may be a leash, now that I’ve taken hold of it—or rather, now that I’ve been caught by it—I intend to do this properly… Could you please stay quiet for a few days?”
“Hmm.”
Hummmmm!
‘Does this vibration mean the current outcome is the right path?’
The ring vibrated on his finger. The corners of Zion’s lips curled up.
“Very well. However, Winter Flowering… if you end up wasting a few days of my time, you will have to pay the price.”
After speaking, he thought to himself: I need to figure out why the ring reacted as soon as possible.
When Zion first decided to volunteer for exile to Deber, his plan was quite different from now. He hadn’t anticipated the total confiscation of his assets or the stripping of his prince status.
‘Still, the status of a direct divine lineage remains… but to make proper use of it, I need at least a minimum level of dignity and pretext.’
The problem was that the ‘minimum’ standard applied to divine beings. Even Winter had assumed that a divine being would spend, at minimum, the equivalent of a top-tier hotel’s daily rate on a single meal.
“The best way I know to make money is raiding shady underworld guys… but the problem is how long it takes to earn a massive sum like that.”
If he tried to earn it directly, a divine being doing manual labor would ruin his dignity, and if he tried to borrow it, there was nowhere to borrow from. Asking the Governor-General’s Office for help was practically handing a weakness to the 1st Prince on a silver platter.
If he were in Zion Blease’s body, he might have tried robbing a train carrying precious metals, but with his current body, his magic mastery was too low for that.
“Ugh. If only I had money, I could advance smoothly. Putting the first button in the right hole is so difficult.”
Staying in this gambling den would last a few days at most, ten days at the longest.
‘It’s definitely not a place to stay long-term. That Winter guy isn’t trustworthy either.’
Zion’s evaluation of Winter Flowering was cold and objective. A guy with a healthy body who did nothing but gamble in the back alleys. He had the guts to be called a boss at a young age, but that was all. Therefore, the ring must have reacted to his bloodline—specifically, to the blood of Marquis Remiconin shown in the vision.
‘I was thinking that way…….’
Or maybe not.
Thump! Clang!
“Your Highness, I have secured funds.”
“…….”
A heavy sack was set down by Winter. Anyone could tell it was filled with gold coins by the metallic clinking. Bound around the knotted opening was a piece of paper resembling a receipt.
And the amount written on it… Zion doubted his eyes for a moment.
Did I miscount the zeros?
“Your Highness?”
If there’s a 5 in front and six 0s after it…
Ah. He had miscounted.
“You won 500,000 Luon?”
“Pardon? Trimming off the change, it’s a clean 5,000,000 Luon.”
…He had counted correctly the first time.
Words failed him. Truly.
“5,000,000… Luon?”
‘That’s enough to buy a decent mansion. Winning a fortune like this in a single night—are you asking me to believe that?’
The problem was that the evidence was right in front of his eyes. Clack, the sack of gold coins shook under its own weight.
“Barely a day has passed. How?”
“It seems news of Your Highness’s exile is slowly spreading through high-society circles.”
“And?”
“There is a VIP casino salon where only the highest echelon can attend, with an entry fee roughly equivalent to the price of a car.”
“And then?”
“That’s all there is to it? I walked in pretending to be a gambler hired by Your Highness and swept everything up.”
“…I already know your gambling skills are outstanding. But how was proxy gambling possible without my permission?”
Winter casually held something out. It was an ornately decorated golden identification plaque.
What the… when did he take that?
The bloodline of divine beings was strictly managed at the Imperial level. For instance, pure-blooded divine beings were issued an ID plaque engraved with the Imperial crest. Naturally, Zion, being a prince, possessed a Divine Blood Plaque.
And Winter had just casually produced that very plaque.
“The hand is quicker than the eye. I put it to good use.”
Taking the plaque back, Zion stared intently at Winter.
‘While I was holed up for a few days trying to analyze the ring, he sneaked it out of my luggage?’
Look at this guy.
When you adopt an adult dog instead of a young puppy, the dog tries to challenge your dominance. He was subtly testing the waters and riding the line. If he didn’t discipline him firmly in the beginning, he would suffer for a long time.
“Are you going to reprimand me?”
Zion remained silent, looking down at his hand—specifically, at the Guide’s Ring.
“Nope? Bwahahaha!”
He lunged toward the sack of gold coins and frantically untied the knot at the top.
Looking at a mountain of gold coins really made his eyes dazzle. It was yellow. Bright, blinding yellow.
“I’m rich now! Bwahahaha!”
Grabbing a handful of gold coins, he scattered them into the air. Since they were indoors anyway, they wouldn’t scatter far. He threw another handful.
“Winter, you bastard! If this was your plan, you should have just asked! You should have taken me with you!”
Seeing Zion’s reaction, Winter was actually the one flustered. Far from scolding him, Zion was overjoyed.
“Your Highness… please compose yourself. Why are you acting as if you’ve never seen gold coins before?”
“It’s my first time seeing this much money!”
“What? You are a prince. How does that make any sense?”
Because the contents inside me belong to the Crown Prince of a fallen kingdom!
“I assumed you would spend around 5,000,000 Luon a month just on maintaining your dignity… You seem much more frugal than I thought.”
This time, Zion’s eyes widened.
The public perception of a prince’s extravagance was that high?
Wait a second. Confiscation of all assets… That bastard 3rd Prince!
“Aide Winter. No, Butler Winter? Anyway, congratulations. I hereby promote you to my right-hand man.”
In an instant, Winter’s expression completely shifted. Confusion vanished, replaced by a cold sneer.
“Don’t give me that look. This prince didn’t go back on his word. I merely adapted to the situation.”
“I understand.” Winter spoke in a flat voice. “People of high status often do that in front of those beneath them.”
The reason was simple: the higher their status, the less they viewed those beneath them as human beings. Marquis Remiconin—who abandoned Winter’s poor mother without hesitation the moment she became pregnant—was proof of that.
“Forget it. How could a mere dog become the right hand of a prince?”
“Hmm? What’s wrong with a dog being the right hand of a scoundrel prince?”
“…….”
Winter opened his mouth, then closed it. An offhanded answer. A response he hadn’t anticipated at all.
“Are you serious?”
“Huh? Yeah.”
A scoundrel and a dog sounded like quite a good fit. Though no actual Imperial Prince would ever entertain such a thought.
It was no grand statement, but for that very reason, it resonated deeply within his heart.
“In the first place, if it’s a pet dog, they’re all equally cute and precious. Whenever I see guys arguing over purebred versus mongrel, I just want to smack them.”
“…….”
Winter remained silent for a long time, rolling a chip between his fingers inside his pocket—a long-standing habit he had acquired over the years.
‘Purebred and mongrel are the same, huh. To think such words would come from the mouth of an Imperial Prince.’
“You don’t want to be an aide? You’d rather just be a dog?”
“No, sir.”
A smirk raised the corners of his lips, and a light of ambition ignited in his eyes.
“Very well. I, Winter Flowering, shall dare to assist the most divine among the divine race.”
Though he had been offered the position of aide, his counterpart was still a prince. It wouldn’t be surprising if a commoner living in the back alleys was discarded at any moment. Furthermore, didn’t the prince hold the weakness of his secret birth right in his hands?
‘So I must prove myself again and again.’
“Please, give me your orders. I will do my utmost to serve you, Your Highness.”
“Then shall we go buy a car first?”
“……?”
It went without saying, but magic-powered automobiles were extremely expensive. They were products of cutting-edge technology, so even a low-end model cost more than a decent house.
“I rode a car before and found it convenient, stylish, and nice. I need to buy one—an imported one, preferably a dwarf handcrafted model.”
“…….”
“I’ll buy some clothes too. Maybe some jewels. Hmm. What else should I buy? Ah, right. A bottle of liquor that costs as much as a mansion. Hehehe.”
Correction: dozens of mansions.
At this rate, 5,000,000 Luon might not even be enough.
“Your Highness.”
“Yeah?”
“Weren’t you penniless until I brought this money?”
“I was.”
“And now that I’ve earned money, the very first thing you want to do is indulge in luxury?”
Zion’s face turned stern.
“Now, now! Luxury? I personally have no interest in indulging in luxury. However, this prince has a duty to maintain his dignity at all times.”
“…….”
It was a sincere answer without a single trace of falsehood.
Yet, Winter simply remained silent.
Of course, Zion paid it no mind and issued an additional order.
“As it happens, I know a boss who is quite skilled when it comes to luxury goods. Her name is Baroness Kreina, so look her up.”
An unavoidable thought sprouted within Winter’s mind: He didn’t know anything else, but he already memorized the name of a luxury merchant?
He had been momentarily fooled by his unexpected behavior, but the prince before his eyes was indeed the Empire’s worst scoundrel.
‘Ugh. I’m going to sweat blood trying to guide and coax him in the future.’
Still, what could he do? He had already made up his mind, and the flames of ambition had been stoked.
“……I shall escort you. Before paying, I humbly beg you to consider just once that this is money I worked hard to earn.”
“Tsk, tsk. If you put it like that, it sounds like this prince is wasting money on useless things.”
To reiterate, Zion Blease did not enjoy luxury. Now that he inhabited this body, he would have to act like a divine being for appearance’s sake, but at least for now, that wasn’t the case.
He had a completely separate reason for looking for Baroness Kreina.
‘I told you, Madam. I will definitely go shopping at your gallery one day.’
