It didn’t take too long to find the Prince. As usual, the Prince was in his place, and Count London told him the truth of what he had witnessed with a complicated look on his face.

“A little while ago, His Majesty, the King, passed away.”

Redford’s last heir, Charlo Redford, said with a calm face,

“Okay.”

“… You knew about it?”

“My father came to me and told me the truth of why he lived like that. He said that the royal family must fulfill its responsibility before Redford falls into the abyss. He said it in a roundabout way, but in the end, it meant that this nation could survive if I and my brother died.”

He drank tea. Smelling the sweet scent, Charlo Redford looked at the shocked Count London.

“You don’t need to look so taken aback, even if my father didn’t tell you. I knew his secret from the start. The deaths of my brother and sister weren’t normal. While looking at me with pity, I was convinced that there was a conspiracy in the series of events that happened, seeing my father gambling and an alcoholic going after women, and it was as I had expected. As I closely watched the surroundings, I noticed the servants were adding something to my food. It was an element to detoxify my body, and if so, I arrived at the conclusion that my father acted out with the intention to save my life.”

“Why didn’t you tell me if you knew the truth?”

“Because talking about it wouldn’t change anything. Count London. An evil group of people is doing their best to kill the heirs of the royal family and threaten my father with my life. What should I do? Because I have been poisoned by someone and my life is at stake, is it right to ask for favors? How would that look?”

Even telling the truth wouldn’t solve the problem. The moment the magicians declared he couldn’t be cured, Charlo Redford and his coming death would be known to all. Despite knowing that, the King couldn’t let go of the last child he had. Having lost two of his kids, he couldn’t see the last one go.

Count London said,

“… Prince, you spoke of the rebellion. Despite knowing the truth, you still wanted to do it?”

“Is there anything else that could be done? My father cannot give up his life as such, and I couldn’t harm him directly. Then the only way for Redford to survive is for us to die. So I asked you to start a rebellion. Merely stepping down from the throne wouldn’t solve the problem. The power must be fully transferred into the hands of the right person, and it would be a problem if a person with royal blood survived. So I hoped you would raise your sword. Count London is the right person to inherit the throne. Knowing the years you have devoted yourself to Redford, I thought the Count would be ready to make the right decision.”

To bring the King down from the throne, what if Charlo Redford died from the poison? Count London would naturally inherit the vacant seat from Charlo Redford, and that was the Prince’s plan. Knowing the truth, he risked his life to protect the nation.

“But my father moved first. When he came and told me the truth, he tried to be as calm as possible when he sentenced himself to death. I looked at my father and showed him a face that I didn’t know what he was saying. That way, Father would have a bit of an unburdened mind.”

Charlo Redford—people judged him unworthy of the throne. Even though he wasn’t born with the ability to rule others, he accepted his destiny as a member of the royal family.

Maybe he would have been fit to be King. Had he accumulated experience and years of guidance, Charlo Redford would have been a nice King. However, the reality wasn’t like that. The turbulent times weren’t nice for the young man, so the royal heir had to accept his own death.

Count London bowed his head, unable to look at the prince. Just like how he shouldered the burden of the kingdom, the thought of the burden this child had been keeping made him emotional.

Charlo Redford said,

“Lastly, there is something I want to ask Count London. Please do not make our deaths in vain. Please bring Redford back to life and take revenge on the evil ones who threw our nation into chaos. If you can promise that much, I will accept my death with a smile.”

At that, Count London nodded his head. No words of comfort were said. Since he couldn’t speak right now, he just nodded, holding back his emotions.

Ten days later, Charlo Redford closed his eyes. The deadly poison began to flare up, and he became a weak man and ended his life with a frail appearance, unlike the dignified life he had.

In his last moments, he showed a bit of will to live. If it weren’t for his status as the Prince, he would have struggled to live but decided to stay silent about his wishes for the sake of the future.

Well, he knew that if he left with regrets or spoke the wrong words, he would make the path tough for Count London.

It was such a gloomy day. On a day with dark clouds and heavy rain, a public funeral was held for the Prince.

Wheik.

Wheik.

A fire broke out. The two corpses laid in the center of a tall tree, and the flames of magic burned everything red.

A lot of people watched that scene, and they lined up behind Count London. They had forgotten about their mistakes and showed courtesy to the royal family.

The King and the Prince—the cause of their deaths was disclosed publicly. The King took his life to not succumb to the threats any longer, and the Prince died from the clutches of an evil group.

Redford resented the King. His crime that plunged their nation into the abyss deserved punishment, but the story of the evil group spread a lot of angry flames. And that was what Count London was aiming for.

In order to raise the kingdom from its shaky foundation, it was necessary for everyone to know the existence of their enemies.

The ruin of their nation, bringing the royal family to their deaths, and the existence that used Jacqueline—as words spread that it was the Kronos Empire, the people’s anger was great.

‘… Your Majesty, Prince Charlo.’

Count London looked at the flames with a complicated expression.

At last, Redford had their own story. The King had his own story, and the Prince had his own story, along with Jacqueline. If only people were a little more honest with each other. There might have been a chance to solve the problems, but the wrong choices continued to be made.

But Count London lived by his own story. Even though he was accused of being the traitor, he thought he had shouldered the burden of the kingdom, and as Jacqueline attacked him based on what he saw, he also attacked the King on what he saw.

It wasn’t like the King’s actions were lies, but the fact that he knew the truth only after death was what remained in his heart.

‘Redford will not fall like this. We will create a nation that constantly doubts the truth in front of us, listens to what people say, and will not collapse to the plans of the evil ones like Kronos, and more importantly, I will get my revenge.’

He gritted his teeth as he looked at the burning flame. Count London turned around and spoke to the Royal Knight, who was now following him.

“The coronation ceremony will be held in a few days. Pick a place and tell the people.”

“I understand.”

Leave the dead behind.

From now on, it was his turn to live for the living.

Usually, a government secured by a rebellion isn’t supported by the people. But it was different for Count London. With the royal family’s death, people naturally appointed Count London as their new King.

It was not a throne won by a rebellion. It was obvious that Count London led his troops to the palace to visit the King, but since the people of the palace spoke about it outside, no one even bothered to protest.

Rather, they liked it. Who was Count London? The person who devoted himself to the Redford Kingdom. And with the years of calling him a traitor, the guilt that was in their hearts turned into cheers.

“Your Majesty! Congratulations!”

“Woahhhhh!”

“Redford!”

“Redford!”

People flocked to the palace. At the place where the new King was being enthroned, they cheered.

Count London—no, the King of Redford—looked at the people.

‘The people I will rule from now on.’

Ten days ago, with everything wrapped up, Roman Dmitry said these last words before leaving,

“Count London. Now that the truth has been revealed, people will cheer for you as if they never criticized you. They will show blind loyalty to you, but do not attach great importance to these changes. Those who called you a traitor, those who raised their voices saying they respected you, and those who took part in the riot in front of your home—all of them are people of Redford. What they will look like depends on how you rule. In fact, it cannot be ruled out that the fact that they didn’t see the truth of their noble leader is the fault of the one who created such an environment. Keep that in mind.”

Roman Dmitry’s words were engraved into his chest. The King of Redford raised his hand, forgetting the past.

And cheers erupted.

Redford would not repeat the mistakes of the past.

When Redford faced a period of upheaval, Roman returned to Dmitry.

‘If Redford regains stability, then Dmitry will have a strong ally.’

Count London said he would build a nation. And if they went to war with the Kronos Empire in the future, they would do their best to get their revenge.

It wasn’t a bad result. The Kingdoms’ Alliance, which had been on the verge of collapsing, regained stability, and Redford would treat Dmitry as its lifelong benefactor.

Roman organized his thoughts about Redford. From now on, it was up to them. The most important issue in the future was to ensure Dmitry wouldn’t be shaken.

For a few days, he wouldn’t travel.

Roman Dmitry called Chris.

“Chris. We will leave for the Valhalla Empire in the future. At that time, it will be impossible to bring all of Dmitry’s forces. In Valhalla and also in Dmitry, we never know what will happen, so the soldiers need to train for a battle without me in case of an emergency. For the time being, cancel any other schedules and proceed with the special training.”

“Anything else?”

“No. Just tell them to get a good rest and prepare for training. This time, it will be tough.”

“I understand.”

Chris nodded. So far, Dmitry’s training has always been intense. But when Roman said it would be tough, he couldn’t help but mumble,

“… It will be huge.”

Not for Cairo, but the man called the next Lord of Dmitry was talking about training, which made them sweat.

Time passed, and before they knew it, the deadline Valhalla spoke of arrived.