I Married Because I Wanted To Live A Normal Life Chapter 75

Chapter 75

“…You were curious about me?”

Callen, who had been listening to my words in silence, slowly opened his mouth.

“That you might have wanted to know more about me…”

Seeing Callen murmur like that, the belated thought that I might have been too presumptuous crossed my mind.

“Well, so, Marquis… this might be me meddling, but I hope you can take it a little easier. As far as I know, there are many people in this palace who admire you, like you, and want to help you.”

“…..”

“I am one of them, too.”

“…..”

“…And I apologize if my words have offended you.”

As the atmosphere showed no sign of lightening, I added those words, but Callen’s face remained stiff. With his gaze still lowered, he spoke without even looking at me.

“…No. I see. Your advice, Baron… I’ll take it into consideration.”

“…Yes.”

“…..”

“…..”

This is a disaster. Was I too harsh? As I poked at my meat, wondering how to revive this ruined atmosphere, Callen, who had been staring at the meal in front of him as if glaring at it, suddenly looked up.

“Then, perhaps…”

Just as Callen, who had spoken as if whispering, was about to open his mouth, someone pounded on the office door.

At the sudden noise, both Callen and I momentarily fixed our gazes on the door. It was a rude enough act to warrant a stern rebuke, but at the words coming from outside the door, I couldn’t help but shoot to my feet.

“Marquis, my apologies for the late hour, but this is an urgent report! It is said that the Crown Prince of Carshion has just entered the capital leading a knight order!”

***

A hint of fear lingered on the faces of the people watching the suspicious knights suddenly parading through the heart of the capital.

The fact that both the horses and the men were clad in pitch-black armor added to the eerie atmosphere.

Viscount Dimitri, who was at their lead, brought his horse closer and spoke to Count Langley.

“No, no matter how you look at it, isn’t it a bit much for us to take the lead? After all, he is the Crown Prince of Carshion, and he is our benefactor…”

“What noble of any country follows behind someone who is not the monarch they serve?”

The count said curtly. Moreover, this was the heart of the kingdom, the center of the capital. There was no reason at all to follow the crown prince of a fallen nation.

However, befitting a noble of a kingdom that had long paid tribute to the empire, Viscount Dimitri was about to continue, muttering, “Still…”, but when Count Langley turned his head away as if he didn’t want to exchange another word, he simply smacked his lips.

Count Langley let out a deep sigh at the frivolous attitude.

‘Just what is the Young Marquis thinking?’

The Young Marquis, who had entrusted the exiled Crown Prince of Carshion to the two of them, had immediately headed for the capital.

Thanks to that, Count Langley, who was now in charge of this troublesome situation, pressed his temples.

In the House of Firenze, the duties of the current head, the Marquis, and his heir were each clearly defined.

In recent years, the Marquis had been pouring all his efforts into managing the merchant guild, and the duties of a noble to the royal family and the management of the northern territories had long been handed over to the Young Marquis, Miller Firenze.

So, regarding this matter as well, he thought that Miller must have rushed to the palace to report, as was expected of him.

But the recent movements of the House of Firenze in response to the royal family seemed unusual in many ways, and the Count couldn’t bring himself to smile.

On the other hand, Onyx Carshion leisurely observed the people of the Kingdom of Kleinin, who were looking at them with a mixture of awe and fear.

‘Completely soaked in peace.’

He casually raised his gaze.

The magnificent Cathedral, visible from anywhere in the capital of Kleinin, was a place he himself had visited a few times when he had come as an envoy.

It seemed damaged, but seeing it mostly restored, Onyx bit his lip.

‘…Everything is so utterly peaceful.’

If the parties involved were to hear him, they might think it a preposterous remark, but compared to the blood-soaked state of Carshion, the damage seemed strangely minimal.

Suddenly, the words of his half-brother, or the being that had possessed his body, came to his mind.

‘It would have been nice if you had entrusted all the other countries to me as well. No, but not that country. Because a slightly more desperate story needs to unfold…’

“…It’s funny when I think about it.”

“Pardon?”

Onyx waved away the knight right behind him who had cautiously asked for clarification.

Whether the being who said that was really his half-wit brother, or a monster acting as him…

There was no way to know now, and in truth, understanding the true meaning of those words held no great significance.

The only thing that mattered was revenge.

Onyx’s eyes gleamed.

He had spent his entire life running to become the emperor of the empire. Everyone had laughed at him, the son of a consort of humble birth, but he had not given up.

And before he could even sit on that throne, as if to say that Onyx’s life up until then was only worth that much, unexpected things had toppled his lifelong goal.

But Onyx, as always, did not give up.

If what was his had been lost…

…He just had to topple them in return.

“…..”

Onyx, who was a prince by birth and had been educated as one who stands above others, looked down at the people of the Kingdom of Kleinin looking up at him and thought.

Beings for whom it is natural to fear, revere, and follow him.

Pitiful things whose only use is to be sacrificed to achieve the goals of the powerful.

‘But in the end, won’t they be grateful to me anyway?’

He had heard that the king of Kleinin had passed away not long ago, and a young prince had ascended to the throne.

Given the situation, the next king would not be a great source of support for the nobles or the people of the kingdom.

The ignorant and foolish are bound to flock to a strong monarch who will protect them.

Who could protect them more rationally? Who would they choose?

Onyx bared his teeth and smiled.

***

The palace was thrown into an uproar by the sudden news.

No matter if a civil war was compounded by a monster attack, anyone would be shocked if a country they had paid tribute to for hundreds of years suddenly fell.

But for my part, for a completely different reason, a clammy sweat began to pool in my palms.

The king, whose illness was said not to be serious, finally passed away, and a neighboring country was erased from the map like this?

No matter how you looked at it, it could only be explained as things progressing steadily towards the plot of the sequel I had seen.

But there was no time to indulge in such thoughts as the situation unfolded rapidly.

For now, the exiled Crown Prince of Carshion was to stay in the outer palace where diplomatic envoys usually resided. The same went for the knight order and some of the wizards he had brought with him.

It was called a stay, but it was practically a temporary confinement, yet Onyx Carshion was said to have silently accepted the decision.

And before the discussions began in earnest, that ridiculous World Peace Committee… it’s too embarrassing to even mention, so let me just explain. A meeting of the five highest-ranking families was urgently convened.

A huge headache had appeared overnight, so I fully understood the feelings of my superior, who was sitting at the head of the conference table, pressing his temples.

Once all the leaders of the country, except for the royal family, had gathered, the meeting began. After a brief exchange of nods with my father, the arrows of blame were immediately directed at Miller.

“What on earth were you thinking, Young Marquis? To bring the exiled crown prince of another country all the way to the capital!”

The first to speak was my father, Duke Catlan.

“This was a matter that could have been delayed by first reporting to the royal family. Moreover, to bring in the empire’s knight order so brazenly. Anyone would think they had conquered Kleinin!”

The next to speak was the Count of Valencia.

“…It certainly did not look good. Moreover, neither the Crown Prince of Carshion nor his knight order disarmed. The atmosphere in the capital is quite unsettled as well.”

“…It was indeed rash.”

Finally, when even the head of the House of Levitea added his words, Miller shrugged and folded one finger.

“To address each point one by one, the reason I brought Onyx Carshion to the capital is because the royal family has repeatedly ignored Firenze’s reports in the past.”

“Young Marquis!”

“Calm yourself, Your Grace, Duke Catlan. Did I get angry about it? The internal situation was complicated, so you could certainly ignore my reports, of course.”

“Ha, honestly…”

“However, this time, as the matter is what it is, I simply brought the physical evidence to the capital in the hopes that the royal family would take preemptive action.”

At those words, I glanced around the room, and the atmosphere did not look good, as everyone was narrowing their eyes at Miller.

But with a completely unphased attitude, Miller folded his index finger.

“Second, then why did I allow the troops led by Onyx Carshion to enter the capital? Because they are the benefactors of our northern region.”

“Benefactors?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Literally what I said. While we were confronting monsters at the northernmost tip of the Dimitri territory, His Highness Onyx Carshion, who was coming down to seek asylum in Kleinin, lent us his strength.”

“By chance?”

Miller grinned.

“That’s right. Quite fateful, isn’t it? Thanks to him, we were able to subdue the monsters without reducing our already insufficient number of soldiers, so how could we separate them from the lord they serve and have them stay in the shabby north?”