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Chapter 185: 099. The Blackened Village -1 (Part One)

Ruppel pleaded with me.

The sole wish he had was not to keep his life, but to meet his mother as her son. He kept repeating that to me over and over again.

I could sense the desperation from both his voice and expression.

The first and quite likely the very last request made by my older brother while even resorting to bending his pride…

To such a request, I only had one thing to say.

“I refuse.”

Yup, I said no.

Ruppel flinched grandly and stared at me. “W-what?”

I smiled refreshingly and responded, “It’s truly unfortunate, but I lack the sufficient strength to help you, brother. I’m sure you already know this, too. Both First Imperial Prince Luan and our father White have stepped up. And well, what can I say? Their stubborn streaks are second to none, aren’t they?”

“B-but, can’t you stop them if it’s you?”

Sure, I might be able to stop them.

After all, Ruppel did witness with his own two eyes my intense battle against King Rahamma. But back then, I was relying on the powers of the relics. And let’s not forget, I have absolutely no reason to whip those relics out against White and Luan.

“Why should I even stop them?”

Rose tried to have me assassinated, and she also happened to be the one who murdered ‘my’ mother, too. Meaning, never mind sparing her life and bringing her back here, I had plenty of reasons to kill her right there and then.

Ruppel must’ve realized that fact because his complexion paled greatly.

He remained silent for a little while, but eventually, opened his firmly-shut mouth once more, “The Imperial Family’s treasure…”

I glanced at him when he began muttering to himself as if he was in a trance.

“I shall give that to you. That’s right… I’ll give that to you!”

“…What are you even talking about, brother?”

Ruppel lifted his head and stared at me. “Allen. I know that you’ve been collecting all sorts of rare and valuable magic tools. Since you’re a Necromancer, you must’ve been seduced by the allure of an even greater power!”

Uhm, no. That isn’t even remotely true.

Let’s be clear about one thing here. All the relics in my possession just so happened to be already there when I showed up to a location, and they ‘somehow’ landed on my lap one way or the other.

It was unknown whether or not Ruppel knew what kind of thoughts were percolating in my head, but he continued on regardless. “The relic left behind the very first Holy Emperor, Ordin Olfolse. I shall tell you the whereabouts of that item!”

Ruppel sounded so earnest and desperate.

“If you somehow help me meet my mother, then I shall tell you the coordinates and the name of the location. When you come to possess that relic, nothing in this world will be able to stop you.”

A treasure wielded by the very first Holy Emperor?

And he can tell me where it is?

Ruppel asked me with an expression filled with expectation, “H-how about it? You want to help me now, don’t you?”

I stared dazedly at Ruppel and replied.

“…It’s still a no.”

**

I stepped outside the prison.

“Uwaaaaaahk!”

A noisy scream exploded out from somewhere in the prison. It belonged to Ruppel, obviously.

Eeeiya~, as expected of my brother. It sure was entertaining to make fun of him.

I glanced back at the prison and slowly shook my head.

Still, seeing him throw a tantrum like that, I figured that he had plenty of energy left in that emaciated frame of his.

I thought he was all depressed and stuff, but by the looks of things, I didn’t have to worry too much about him anymore.

While I was chuckling to myself, Charlotte next to me bowed her head a little. “You did the right thing, your highness. Without a doubt, he must’ve been scheming something.”

I lightly flicked my finger on her forehead as if knocking on a door. Her eyes opened wider and she shielded her face in a slight fluster.

My expression was different from her’s, though.

“Nah. He wasn’t lying.”

Charlotte’s face hardened at my reply.

“Besides, the desire for a child to be with their parent… You also know that feeling, don’t you?”

I spotted her eyes trembling. She seemed to have recalled her past.

“Can you get me all the information related to Third Imperial Prince Ruppel and Rose Darina? Ah, and also, I think it’ll be a good idea to gather as much info on Ordin Olfolse as well.”

“Your highness, could it be that…” A worried expression floated up on Charlotte’s face. She cautiously spoke up. “You must be careful, your highness. Ruppel is no longer the Third Imperial Prince. If you do something that could be construed as abetting his cause, then the crime of high treason might…”

“I know.”

I know full well already, okay?

And that’s why I wanted to make sure.

“It won’t be too late to decide after checking out the information, right?”

For sure, it wouldn’t be too late by then. Not too late to decide whether I should help Ruppel out or not.

Before anything else, though, I needed to find out what kind of person Ruppel was first.

From that day on, I basically holed myself inside the library. And with the aid of Charlotte, Harman, and even Alice, I managed to gather all the relevant info.

The tale of Third Imperial Prince Ruppel’s life from his birth till now, and every single testimony spat out by the family members of the Darina household… all of them were combined into one narrative.

Even the stories told by the manservants and maids were collated too, and eventually, I reached one single irrefutable conclusion.

“…He was a puppet, huh.”

I sensed a bout of migraine beginning its assault on my head.

After leaning against the backrest of my chair, I looked up at the ceiling. My eyes felt tired by then, so I started massaging my temples.

“What a foolish man you’ve been, brother.”

Third Imperial Prince Ruppel had been living as a complete puppet of Rose Darina. In order to swallow up the whole Imperial Family, she had been cooking up all sorts of underhanded schemes, and whenever her plans fell apart, she used her own son, the Third Imperial Prince, as a shield from the storm.

But whenever Ruppel tried to do something, anything, for his mother’s sake… forget about being praised, she’d violently beat him up instead.

Rose was solely responsible for Yulisia’s murder as well as the Vampires infiltrating the imperial court. Even the war with Aslan, Ruppel was simply going along with what she ordered him to do.

This guy, he… He spent his whole life yearning for his mother’s approval, but was discarded by her in the end.

A devil-like b*tch of a mother, and a foolish son who stuck to her till the very end. In a way, I couldn’t help but see it as quite ironic.

‘Well, even that’s coming to an end now, isn’t it?’

Ruppel was destined to lose his head under the guillotine’s blade, while Rose Darina would die by Luan’s hands.

It’d be rather tough to bring the final reunion between a mother and her child to reality at this stage. Even while thinking that, I shifted my gaze to the side of the table. Countless letters were piled up there.

…Letters sent to Ruppel from all corners of the empire.

I picked up a few of them and perused their contents.

‘Dude, if you were a coward and a wannabe villain, you should’ve lived your whole life that way.’

I dropped the letters back on the table.

“…Well, I guess it’s time to make my decision.”

I put aside the gathered intel and stood up from the chair.

Charlotte, Harman, and Alice nearby focused their attention on me.

I smiled back at them and spoke up, “Let me go and have another chat with my brother.”

**

I headed back to the prison in order to speak to Ruppel once more.

But when I got there, his current appearance behind the prison bars really surprised me. “Eeeya, brother! Something about you… has gone a bit down hill, hasn’t it?”

A dirty rag was currently shoved inside Ruppel’s mouth, his eyes were blindfolded, and restraints were also wrapped tightly around him, too.

I was told that after I left, he went on a real rampage. He was being tied down like this because of the wounds he suffered back then might get worse if he went crazy again.

It was like staring at a mental patient in a straight jacket locked in a padded cell.

“Euh-wuuph!”

Ruppel shouted out under the gag.

His muffled voice sounded quite resentful, I have to say. But then again, he must be hating my guts after I said no to all that ardent pleading earlier.

I smirked deeply and whispered into his ear, “Sorry about this, brother. I’ve given your offer some serious consideration, but it seems that I cannot spare Rose Darina’s life.”

“Euh-euh-heuph!”

“She has committed far too many crimes. She is fated to die. Most likely slain by Luan and White.”

Ruppel shuddered under the restraints.

He had no more dreams and hopes left in his heart. Right, the only thing remaining there would be despair and dejection.

It wouldn’t be strange for him to go mad at this point.

Well, I guess this should be enough.

“I wouldn’t have come here to see you again just to tell you that, though.”

I placed the letters I brought with me on the floor of the cell. The letters issued soft little rustles as they settled down.

“Here are the voices of the subjects from all corners of the empire, brother. Voices that support you.”

Ruppel flinched and his head drooped towards the floor. His eyes, although blindfolded, were now staring in the general direction of the letters.

“I can’t tell if this side of you is the real deal or a facade you’ve put up, but…” I picked up one of the letters and continued on, “…But, they are still genuinely grateful for everything you’ve done, brother.”

I read out aloud the letter’s address of origin, “Evelyn, director of Benikin Church.”

That was the name of the orphanage Ruppel had established.

I picked up other letters. “Xanna from Venia Church, Histon from Gastian monastery, Sein from Vezan Church, plus twenty three other kids, etc, etc…”

I continued reading off the names on the letters one by one.

They belonged to many orphanages found throughout the Theocratic Empire. Ruppel used his authority as an Imperial Prince to heal those suffering from sickness and various injuries for free. He even spared no expenses in building many orphanages and supporting their upkeep.

One of the clerics involved posited that maybe, he was seeking comfort and solace his own mother failed to provide him with, through these acts of generosity.

Rupple wordlessly dropped his head even lower.

“I can’t help you, brother.”

“…”

“I too have plenty of ill will towards Rose. Which shouldn’t be all that surprising to you since she tried to have me killed. Did she not?”

The corners of my lips curled up while I talked to Ruppel, almost as if I was a devil whispering in his ear.

“And so, I was thinking of getting my own vengeance instead.”

Only then did he show some reaction.

Ruppel’s whole body arched, but the restraints made sure that he couldn’t do anything. Without them, he would’ve viciously pounced on me, judging from the vibe he gave off.

“I decided to make her…” I stared straight at Ruppel and spoke, “…Go through the proper procedures, and then, execute her.”

Ruppel’s whole body froze up before his head shifted in my direction. Since he couldn’t see, he was determining the direction through my voice.

“Who knows what will happen? Whether it’s you or Rose, you may get to see each other at least once.”

I reached out and took off the dirty rag gagging Ruppel’s mouth, and settled down in front of him.

“A-Allen, are you, are you really helping me?”

“No, no, no, of course not. I’m not helping you, but merely trying to get my revenge. Besides all that, dear brother. You owe me a lot on a variety of things, don’t you? It’s time you pay me back with something of equal value.”

“P-pay you back?”

I narrowed my eyes to slits and stared at Ruppel.

“The relic of the first Holy Emperor, Ordin Olfolse. Where is it located?”