Side Story 13. [After Story] Lark

    Imperial Year 662.

    Ten years since the final battle against the monsters.

    Near the Bringar Duchy. Western Desert Region.

    Thud!

    Stepping off the carriage, I squinted against the blinding sunlight.

    The desert stretched across the western borderlands of the Bringar Duchy.

    On my way back to the duchy from New Terra, I had deliberately chosen this route.

    “Ugh, it’s stiflingly hot...”

    “Your Grace, here.”

    “Oh. Thanks.”

    Lucas handed me a turban, which I wrapped around my head—clumsily, since I didn’t really know how to wear one properly.

    Leaving the escort troops behind, Lucas and I climbed the sandy dunes on our own.

    It wasn’t long before a small oasis came into view. A few shabby tents were pitched around it.

    “This is the place.”

    “They contacted us first this time, so it should be.”

    There was no need for further confirmation. As soon as we arrived, three boys came running out from the oasis.

    “Uncle!”

    “...”

    Looking at my three nephews—Lark’s children—I found myself momentarily at a loss for words.

    In the ten years that had passed, the boys had grown unrecognizably tall, their skin healthily bronzed by the desert sun.

    “It’s been a while. How have you been?”

    The eldest was nearly of age, and even the youngest had grown long limbs that hinted he’d soon be an adult.

    Seeing their strong, youthful faces, I suddenly saw traces of my brother, Lark, in them.

    With a voice cracked and dry from the sandy air, I managed to speak.

    “...I’m sorry I couldn’t visit you sooner.”

    “No, it’s alright. Mother was adamant about keeping us cut off from the world, after all.”

    Despite living in exile for over ten years, the boys had grown into respectable young men. They smiled gracefully, full of composure.

    I smiled back, spreading my arms wide in front of them.

    “It’s been so long. How about a hug of brotherly affection with your uncle?”

    The boys exchanged glances before rushing toward me all at once.

    Crunch!

    They hugged me so tightly it felt like they were trying to crush me!

    “Ack! Why are you so strong?! Looks like you inherited your dad’s genes! Wait, wait—Uncle’s bones are going to break!”

    After our affectionate reunion—which left me half-battered—the boys laughed and began leading me toward the tents.

    “Come in! Mother’s waiting for you.”

    Around the tents, I spotted several knights, soldiers, and servants who appeared to be acting as guards. All seemed to be people who had once followed Lark. Their loyalty was evident—they were still here, standing by his wife and children. r?A?O??BE??

    Lark’s wife was waiting for me inside the central tent.

    “Sister-in-law.”

    As I stepped inside and greeted her, she returned my greeting with a composed expression.

    “Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”

    “It’s been a long time.”

    “Indeed. It’s been over ten years since we last met.”

    She had aged significantly.

    The lively woman who once laughed brightly at palace parties and kissed her husband’s cheek was gone. Years of raising three children in exile, enduring harsh winds, scorching sands, and countless worries, had turned her into someone entirely different.

    Yet, the same pride that had always burned in her eyes still flickered there.

    Meeting her gaze, I sat across from her.

    “Please accept this.”

    “What is this...?”

    She unfolded the papers in front of her, her expression puzzled, and I explained.

    “They’re written declarations.”

    “Declarations?”

    “My three nephews are formally renouncing their claims to the throne.”

    The papers bore Lark’s official seal and bloody thumbprints from his three sons.

    As I remained speechless, unable to respond, she began speaking rapidly, as though she had prepared these words long in advance.

    “We won’t even step foot within Everblack’s borders. We’ll live out the rest of our days here in the borderlands, as if we’re already dead.”

    “...”

    “We’ve rejected every other summons and request, but yours... yours was the one we couldn’t refuse. So from now on, we’ll accept direct supervision from you, Your Highness. Send your people. Monitor our every move.”

    With trembling hands, she brushed back the strands of hair falling over her forehead.

    “We won’t desire anything. All we ask for is a quiet, peaceful life.”

    “...”

    After a moment of silence, I slowly spoke.

    “Sister-in-law, let me be direct about why I’ve come here.”

    “I’m listening.”

    “There’s a possibility... that I may be unable to have children.”

    Confident young men who believed, without a shadow of a doubt, that they would one day carve their names into history.

    “...”

    Old parents worry for their children’s safety,

    While young children only dream of their future glory.

    “See you again, boys.”

    I embraced each of them in turn before leaving the oasis.

    As soon as Lucas, who had been vigilantly keeping watch, joined me, he asked,

    “Did it go well?”

    “No.”

    I pulled the renunciation document from my coat and handed it to Lucas.

    After quickly scanning its contents, Lucas murmured coldly,

    “Do you think this kind of document will actually hold any weight?”

    “It likely won’t mean much.”

    It might bring some comfort to my sister-in-law, but such a document holds little true power.

    In this world, the bloodline of a royal is a divine curse—something that can only be completely erased through death.

    “Still, I didn’t expect her to not only renounce the throne for herself and her sons but also reject the opportunity for her children to become my heirs.”

    She was a mother who had witnessed the bloodshed between three brothers firsthand.

    It was impossible for me to fully comprehend how deeply her heart must have rotted and decayed.

    “So... what will you do now?”

    “I’ll find another use for it.”

    I glanced back toward the oasis. My nephews were waving at me. I waved back.

    “They’re the only surviving branch of the Everblack royal family. And because of that, they’re the only alternative.”

    In other words—

    “Those who harbor ambitions against me will inevitably approach them.”

    “...!”

    “I’ll protect and hide them. But at the same time, I’ll allow their existence to leak out little by little.”

    Lucas’s eyes widened in surprise, and I nodded.

    “If enemies ever arise who want to dethrone me, they’ll reach out to my nephews. And when they do, I’ll use that to strike them down.”

    Or perhaps... I might become such an exceptional ruler that everyone is satisfied with my reign, and such a situation never comes to pass.

    In any case, I will not kill my collateral relatives.

    I will only use them—either as my bait or as my insurance.

    “Does that make me cruel, Lucas?”

    “...May I speak honestly, my lord?”

    “As much as you want.”

    “You’re still far too soft. If you’re worried about future consequences, eliminating them now would be the right course of action.”

    Lucas’s brutally candid remark made me chuckle despite myself.

    As I chuckled quietly, Lucas continued,

    “But if you wish to keep them alive, even by making them serve as bait and insurance... If that is the path of kingship you aim for, my lord, then I don’t think it’s a bad decision.”

    “Well, that’s a relief to hear.”

    “Though you’ll have to manage them carefully to ensure they don’t develop any rebellious thoughts.”

    I nodded.

    “I’ll leave their management to Bodybag. She’ll keep a meticulous watch over their daily lives while observing them with cold precision.”

    “But, my lord.”

    “Yes?”

    “It’s not Bodybag. It’s Daram.”

    “Oh, damn it.”

    When I told Lucas that I’d give him a day off every time I got Daram’s name wrong in the future, he asked, concerned, if it was really okay to grant him so many days off. Wait, do I really mess it up that often?

    “...”

    As we left the oasis and made our way down the sandy dunes toward my carriage, I found myself lost in thought.

    About the ones who had vanished.

    About Lark, Mason, and the countless old soldiers who had fallen.

    Those names that had been swept beyond the cannon fire, past the flames, and into the blind spots of history, disappearing into oblivion.

    I thought to myself that I didn’t want their lives to be forgotten.

    ‘Even if not all of them had been my allies.’

    What happened during that war.

    What each of them fought and died for.

    Even if the entire world forgot, someone had to record it. That’s what I thought.

    “Hah...”

    I drew a deep breath and fixed my gaze on the shimmering horizon over the sands.

    It was time to activate the Jupiter Foundation.

    –TL Notes–

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