He’s My Real Brother, Duke Chapter 143

The atmosphere quickly became subtle. 

 

The Crown Prince’s jaw tightened and mumbled, “What kind of rudeness is this, Duke?”

 

The Crown Prince chewed his lip. The man who should have died at Cornwall’s hands was here, alive and well. 

 

His mind grew impatient.

 

Green eyes, a chiseled jawline. His face was meant to be bold, but strangely enough, it seemed rather gaunt today.

 

‘Cornwall must have failed.’ 

 

Looking at the situation, it was clear that Cornwall had not succeeded. He might have come to kill me for trying to find out who was behind Cornwall.

 

“…How did you get into my palace at this hour?”

 

The Duke pointed out dryly as the Crown Prince expressed his surprise.

 

“You speak as if you expected me to die on the battlefield.”

 

“…Of course not.”

 

Despite his blunt retort, Duke Anais was advancing toward the Crown Prince. 

 

Even the entourage camped around the Prince could not easily dissuade him. 

 

Straightening his back in an effort to regain his dignity, the Crown Prince muttered.

 

“Now, aren’t we at war?”

 

“Yes, we are.”

 

His eyes seemed livid. 

 

The Duke of Anais shrugged off the question of why he had appeared at the palace in the midst of an imminent war. The Crown Prince seized the moment and admonished him.

 

“Besides, no unauthorized person is allowed in the Crown Prince’s palace. It’s rude.”

 

The Duke didn’t respond to the Crown Prince’s stern tone. Instead, he strode right up to the round table where the Crown Prince sat.

 

“Duke, I dare say I did not tell you to approach-“

 

“Rilkes.”

 

Rilkes was the Crown Prince’s nickname. 

 

Calling someone by their first name was a clear sign of disrespect. Despite this, the Crown Prince’s face flushed red at the nobleman’s demeanor.

 

“You dared to enter the Crown Prince’s palace without my permission, the Emperor’s representative, and you will pay the price.”

 

The Crown Prince fancied his words were graceful in the face of his opponent’s taunts.

 

“You cannot be the Emperor’s representative.”

 

…Until he heard that.

 

Stepping closer, Duke Anais reached out and gently clasped his hand around the Crown Prince’s neck. He seemed to be trying to figure out how to twist his neck.

 

‘I still have one last weapon left.’ 

 

The Crown Prince’s mouth tightened as he remembered the ‘final weapon’ in his suit pocket. For now, he had to buy time.

 

“Do you intend to kill us?”

 

The surrounding entourage were all scrambling for cover. 

 

All the better ones had been sent to the front to deal with the Duke of Anais, leaving only the fools behind.

 

The Crown Prince’s teeth grinded together.

 

‘Reverse Mora.’

 

The Duke of Anais glared at the Crown Prince, his gaze calm but cold. 

 

The Prince ran a hand through his hair, his pride wounded by the look of a cornered mouse.

 

“You’re an idiot.”

 

The Duke of Anais tore his gaze away from the Prince and gestured lightly toward the door through which he had entered.

 

Finally, the door swung open. 

 

The Crown Prince swallowed hard and stared at the doorway.

 

“Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”

 

This time it was Cassian Gray who entered. He looked very healthy for a man who was supposed to be completely ravaged by poison. 

 

And he had a taunting look on his face.

 

‘I thought he was injured, I was fooled!’ 

 

The Prince cursed to himself. But he forced his lips to curl into a smile.

 

“Knight, Cassian Gray. I’m here at the behest of the Emperor.”

 

Cassian Gray lifted one corner of his mouth in a sneer. In his hand was the Emperor’s secret seal.

 

“The Emperor has commanded me to imprison those who have slandered him and plotted against him.”

 

The Crown Prince, realizing that everything had gone awry, let out a series of curses.

 

“… Bloody bastard.”

 

It was evident that the Emperor had awakened. Somehow, some way, he had obtained the antidote.

 

The Crown Prince cleared his ragged breathing and remembered the weapon in his hand.

 

An explosive powerful enough to bring down the entire palace as the Emperor’s representative, a weapon handed down from generations of royalty, only to be wielded by royalty. 

 

A small, bird-like, reversal totem carved by the gods from the World Tree and given to the Emperor of the Empire as a gift.

 

It could blow across the entire Empire, including the imperial palace, but it would only protect the life of the imperial family who wielded it.

 

I hadn’t intended to use it because I’d heard it had side effects, but… things had been screwed up, and I needed to use the totem to set everything right from the beginning.

 

“So, everything is clear.”

 

The Duke of Anais’ brow narrowed at the Crown Prince’s unexpected words.

 

“I’ve always despised brutes like you.”

 

Cassian’s expression twisted, as if he expected to die. This reaction had not been part of Astel’s plan.

 

The Crown Prince smirked and grabbed the Duke of Anais’ hand.

 

“In that case, I suppose it would be better if we all went down together.”

 

Glaring at the Duke of Anais, the Crown Prince recalled the totem in his suit’s inner pocket and muttered the spell.

 

‘Deus ex machina.’

 

A spell that means an abrupt end, the end of all things. 

 

Now the totem would destroy this world.

 

Protecting only its owner.

 

Bam! Bam!

 

A deafening explosion sounded in his squeezed ears, and a grin of triumph spread across his lips.

 

It was over. He had been told that after the explosion, he could turn back time in the ruined place.

 

After the interior of the Crown Prince’s palace burned to the ground, the wooden bird would become a real bird and fly out of his arms.

 

Boom—

 

The loud crashing sound finally stopped, as if lightning had struck. 

 

The Crown Prince opened his eyes, trying to push down the sensation of elation.

 

“Finally.”

 

His premonition had been correct. His surroundings were in ruins, just as he had imagined them while closing his eyes. 

 

The beautiful marble floors and columns of the Crown Prince’s palace had been destroyed, leaving nothing but dirt and dust.

 

There was no Cassian Gray, no Duke Anais, no one of his subjects.

 

There was literally nothing but dust, not a single ant in sight.

 

And yet…

 

“Crown Prince.”

 

The clear voice of a living woman, a woman who should not be in these ruins, pierced his ears.

 

The commanding voice unmistakably belonged to the Empress. The Prince stared at the source.

 

About two meters away from him. 

 

The Empress stood beside a pillar, her hair blowing in the wind. How she could be in this space with him was beyond him.

 

More important was the safety of the totem that could turn back time. 

 

The Crown Prince fumbled in the inner pockets of his suit and stopped.

 

‘The totem is gone.’

 

His gaze quickly swept the surrounding ruins.

 

The Empress, who had been staring at him all this time, whispered coldly.

 

“Are you looking for this bird?”

 

The Empress held a totem in her hand. It was wooden, but it was a bird with fluffy white fur. 

 

The Crown Prince held out his hand to the Empress with an expression of delight.

 

“Give me that totem.”

 

「After everything is destroyed, the wooden bird can become a real bird.

 

Send the real bird flying and tell it when to right its wrongs. That we may return to that time.」

 

The Prince stretched out his hand toward the Empress with a pleading look.

 

“Do you need this, my son?”

 

“Of course!”

 

The Empress replied, looking at her son impassively.

 

“I don’t want to,” she said quite decisively.