The Traitorous Prince

Chapter 17

Tbe Icea Commander

"Prince Huey 'Star Seeker' Eindel, the great sinner."

When his name was called, Huey slowly raised his head.

“…”

A relaxed smile hung on his slightly sleepy face. Wrapped in chains, Huey was sitting in a chair inside the court,

Eindelgrass' court, which was hundreds of years old, was badly burned. The marble pillars and wooden beams, which had the dignity of time, were all broken and darkened.

One could see the blue sky clearly through one side of the ceiling. On the circular bench, which had barely maintained its shape, old officials sat in a circle. Huey was in the middle of them.

Standing right in front of Huey, the old Minister of Justice picked up a hammer and hit the burned desk.

"Focus, Prince Huey!"

"Yes, yes, I'm focusing~!"

Huey, who spoke cheerfully, grinned,

The Minister of Justice said with a disapproving face.

"You are the temporary commander-in-chief of the Kingdom of Eindel, and you have a duty to protect the Kingdom. Do you admit it?"

Huey nodded refreshingly.

"...I admit it."

"Three days ago, you personally planned and implemented an operation to set fire to the capital after bringing the Brunhilt army into it. Do you admit it?"

"...I admit it."

You were well aware of the damage the royal family would suffer from during this operation, but you did not even give a word to either our ministers or His Majesty, Do you admit it?"

"Yes, I admit it~"

When Huey answered playfully, blood vessels stood on the court members' foreheads.

"This punk...!"

"What is he doing in a sacred court...!"

“…”

King Turin III put his chin on his hand silently and looked down at his son.

"Prince Huey! Don't take this issue lightly! Your sins are very serious!"

Huey smirked at the Minister of Justice's cry.

"No matter how heavy it is, it will not be heavier than treason..."

"Prince Huey!"

The Minister of Justice's voice began to rage.

"You burned down the 500-year-old capital of the Kingdom of Eindel, and destroyed the facilities on which the Kingdom was based! Citizens lost their homes, believers lost their places of prayer, and even the royal palace, the heart of the Kingdom, was destroyed!"

“…”

"You have made the royal capital a ruin in the name of stopping the enemy! Do you admit this?"

"Yes, I admit it~"

Huey was now openly mocking him. The Minister of Justice, whose face was red, stormed to his feet.

"Prince Huey! Answer seriously! Your neck could cut after today's court!"

"Threatening a dead man with his life..."

Huey, who was grumbling, now crossed his legs.

"However, I stopped the enemy. Don't you admit it?"

"Don't change the subject, Prince Huey! This court was designed to bury you for burning the royal capital!"

"If we want to discuss the results, shouldn't we say the cause first? Huh?"

With a shrug, Huey looked all over the officials.

"I stopped the Brunhilt army, with its most vicious Third Corps. No, I didn't stop it, I killed them all."

“…”

"And I even captured Canis, the bravest of the seven Dragon Knights."

He grinned.

A ridiculous smile appeared on the youngest prince's lips.

"Among all you old men who are judging me, who could do something at that level?"

Bang!

One of the court members punched the table.

"You punk! Is that a reason for burning the royal capital? That little victory did us a great deal of damage!"

"Then what the hell did you want!"

Huey shouted louder.

"Ugh..."

The speechless official shut up,

"You don't want to surrender, and you don't want to make sacrifices to win? That's ridiculous. Can't you do simple arithmetic after you get old? Or is everyone here suffering from dementia?"

"Old...?"

"Dementia...?"

The court members opened their mouths wide at the abusive language.

"You have to lose something to win! You can't get anything without a price! Someone has to die to win!"

Huey, who was screaming, looked up with his bright red eyes.

Sitting in the middle of the court, he turned towards his thoughtful father.

"Yes, I burned the royal capital! It's a ruin that will never function as a capital again! Instead, I won! And I think this victory is worth more than this city."

"It's worth more...?"

"We have prevented the war from ending with our defeat."

Huey continued.

"If the royal capital had been handed over to them, and the king had been captured and declared his surrender, the war would have ended and our country would have become a subordinate country to them,"

“…”

The court members looked at the King in unison. He was listening quietly.

"And they would have received a chunk of territory in the middle of the continent. So what would have happened next?"

Several of the officials gulped down.

"Uh, what would have happened?"

"They've grown this strong in that barren land of the North. What if they expand their territory, increase their population, and increase their power in the warm South?"

“…”

The faces of the officials, who had never thought about after the war, turned blue.

"Only six corps of thei r a rmy came in, and this is what our country looks like. What if the twelve corps come next? Doyou think you can fightagainstthem?"

Staring at each of the silent court members one by one, Huey spoke strongly.

"If we lose this war, we'll have to live under them forever. We have to stop that, right?"

“…”

"That's why I was just trying to win somehow."

One official shouted.

"But there must have been another way than to burn the royal capital!"

"What fucking other way!"

Huey, who even started to use vulgar language, jumped from his seat.

"What other way! Tell me, huh? Can anyone tell me! So what is it?! What the hell is it?!"

“…”

Silence engulfed the court,

The official who had just shouted stuttered.

"If not only the soldiers, but also the citizens, had sacrificed their lives, the city would have held on until reinforcements came..."

"Again with your shitty nonsense! Again!"

"Wh-what? Shitty...?"

"You're talking about people's death like this, isn't that complete shit? Rather than burning the capital, it's better to kill all the citizens to protect it?"

Huey moved his fingertips instead of his tied arms and pointed at the official,

"What kind of shit is that? What's the point of a country that is protected like that?"

"Ugh..."

"Your life is too easy, old man, you're not the one going to the battlefield and face the sword of the Imperial Army!"

The official retreated without saying a word.

Then another calm voice flew in from the side.

"Then did you value the lives of the soldiers?"

When Huey looked to the side, a middle-aged woman waved the papers in her hand.

"I've read all of Sir Shion's reports on your conduct, Prince Huey."

"Really? What did Shion write? I'm sure it's full of admiration for my genius?"

"You've thrown the lives of the soldiers like some pebbles, just like chess."

Huey's sly jokes were completely ignored,

She narrowed her eyes with her chin resting on her hands.

"Do you know that? The soldiers are afraid of you, Prince Huey. They are reluctant to be under your command."

Huey snorted.

"Well, is there a commander who is not feared?"

"The soldiers of our Kingdom of Eindel have to continue to fight hard,"

She shook her head,

"But you are not trusted by them. Which soldier would trust a commander who could abandon him at any time?"

“…”

"This time, you were able to win in this stubborn way. But what about next time? What will happen?"

She put the papers down on the table loudly.

"If this continues, the soldiers will no longer trust you, and our army will eventually fall apart."

"Just go to the point. Straight to the point."

Huey smiled and glared at her.

"What do you want to say?"

"Are you right as a commander?"

"Right?"

Huey's mouth rolled up. He had an eerie smile, almost evil.

"What's right? Are you asking me for virtue as a commander?"

"Yes, Prince Huey. The virtue of being a commander that soldiers can trust and follow... Do you have it?"

As soon as he heard the question, Huey laughed,

"Puhahahahaha!"

He grabbed his belly like a madman, rolled on the floor, and laughed endlessly. It was almost like he had a seizure.

"Aha, hahaha, ahahahaha! Hahahahaha!"

His laughter did not stop easily. When the faces of the officials started to look displeased, Huey suddenly stopped laughing,

Then he slowly opened his mouth, expressionless.

"Hey, old men. Let me ask you one thing."

"...?"

The court members exchanged views, Huey asked his question slowly.

"Do you want to be noble during the war?"

“…”

There was silence.

It was the Minister of Justice who answered. The old man closed his eyes and struggled to answer,

"...As a human being, I want to maintain the minimum dignity."

"Then there's a good way."

Huey rose with a grin and spun around in place.

"Let's bite our tongue and put a knife in our stomach. Let's cut off the neck of the person next to you."

"What..."

"Let's disappear beautifully. Rather than live by struggling against an enemy you can't beat, just give up! Let's all go to hell together."

Huey, who climbed onto his chair, shouted brightly.

"Let's kill ourselves in honor of the Ki ngdom of Eindel!"

“…”

"What are you doing? Not right now? Huh? So? What are you doing?"

Huey, who was giggling like a clown looking around the officials, shouted.

"Listen up, you morons! We don't stand a chance!"

"If you keep your principles and fight only according to them, you will have less than a chance in billions of billions of billions of billions to win!"

Huey pointed his finger to the east. His arms were tied, so he looked more desperate.

"They are monsters! Even after we managed to catch one, there are five more human weapons that can slaughter our troops by themselves! And there are six more still in their country!"

It was an eloquent and passionate speech.

"They break our gates like a storm, and they make blood shower by wielding their swords. Six! Six of them would have destroyed this capita I by themselves!"

Gulp.

The court members all swallowed dry saliva at once.

"I don't care if the soldiers are afraid of me or not! I can't even promise to protect your life! I'm will ing to drive the soldiers to death! If necessary, I'll kill them all with my own hands!"

Huey, who was still shouting, suddenly stopped talking. He calmly shook his head, let his blond hair scatter over his face and whispered in a low voice.

"But there's only one thing I can promise,"

Overwhelmed, the Minister of Justice finally asked, stuttering.

"Wh-what is it?"

"Victory."

Between disheveled blond hair strands, his sinister red eyes flashed.

"I will win."

"Even if I build a tower with allied bodies and burn all our hometowns, I win."

Huey was clearly crazy.

"And what this country needs now is a victory. Isn’t it?"

But there must have been a fascinating charm in that madness.

"I'll ask you one last time."

Huey turned to his father.