The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

Chapter 208: Trau’s Seriousness

Leticias body that was carried into the throne room was cleaned up.

It seems that they thought that if they are going to bring it before the Emperor, they should at least make it presentable. However, the discomfort still persists.

Shes a beauty so it makes me sad just by seeing her like this. The one who did this must be a woman. No doubt about it.

Quiet, Conrad. I couldnt care less about that right now.

Eric warns Conrad who lightly commented so.

Henrick seems like he doesnt want to look at the body and the only one who pays close attention to it was Father, Eric, and Gordon.

..Gordon. Do you feel anything?

No, I couldnt feel anything strange about it.

Eric. what about you?

It is only slightly but I do feel something strange. The feeling is ambiguous at first but when I look closely I can certainly feel something strange from it.

Me too. As Arnold says, there is something strange about this dead body.

For a moment, Gordons face distorted as he stared at me.

I usually avert my eyes away in a case like this but today I already decided that I will do things seriously.

Thats why I mockingly smile at him.

!? What is so funny! Arnold!!

Its nothing. I thought that it was something that any of us could notice. It seems that I am the only incompetent here after all.

..seem like you want to die huh.

I felt like I heard the sound of something snapped.

Gordon came at me with a bright red face. He doesnt stop even after Father or Eric tries to stop him.

The one who stopped Gordon was Alida who was standing guard inside the throne room.

She immediately gets between me and Gordon and quietly speaks.

You are in front of His Majesty. Please calm down, Your Highness Gordon.

Shut up. I cant calm down unless I can smack that damn little shit!

If Your Highness plans to use violence, I have no choice but to stop you by force.

It was a warning.

The Imperial Knights are the most elite of the Empire. The captains of each of their corps have the strength to reflect that. However, the Captains of the top three Corps are the real deal.

Alida is one of the few people who can boast that even Elna can not defeat her without using the holy sword. At least that evaluation was given to her by Elnas father, the Brave.

Naturally, Gordon has no chance of winning against her. Elna is said to be the strongest of the Empire with her holy sword but if we are talking about the strongest swordsman in the Empire then that title would belong to Alida.

Of course, that might change in a few years but at the moment, in terms of sword techniques alone, Alida is superior to Elna.

Since she is the daughter of Elder Weitling, there are some that say that my father only keeps her at his side because of that. However, such a person should try witnessing her sword skill once.

Even while practicing, her sword was so fast that I couldnt follow with my eyes.

Kuh

Please withdraw. Your Highness Gordon. Your Highness Arnold as well, please keep your provocation in moderation.

I will be careful.

As she also gave me a warning, I shrugged my shoulders as I gave her my reply.

Well, there is no need to provoke him any more than this. Gordon and Henrick never tried to listen to my story and only brought up charges to punish me with. In the unlikely event that Father takes them seriously, I will lose the opportunity to explain.

Thats why I made him angry. With this, Gordons opinion should be taken lightly from now on.

..forgive my rudeness. Your Majesty.

Umu.

Gordon apologized and Father urged me to continue my explanation.

What is wrong with this dead body? That is what it comes to.

A fake body that only the members of the Imperial Family could feel the strangeness from. That is something clearly abnormal.

Father wants the answer to explain that.

This corpse was probably disguised using illusion. We would notice if they use a doll to substitute a dead body so I am sure that this is a body of someone else.

What?

Is that true? Arnold.

This is only mine and Leos theory. There is no evidence to back it up.

If you dont have the evidence then your story so far is worthless! Imperial Knights! Hurry up and take that corpse away! Your Majesty! There is no need to play along with Arnolds delusion any longe

What are you doing spouting commands to my knights? When did you become the emperor? Henrick.

Hiii!? M, My deepest apologies!!

Henricks face distorted as he quickly kneeled down after he was glared at by Father.

Seeing that, Farther snorts and turns his eyes toward me.

There is no evidence. What you said so far is only a theory. There is no reason for me to believe you. Howeverit is certainly true that there is something strange about this body. What do you need to eliminate this strangeness? Arnold.

The second stage is clear.

Now this will not only be my request alone.

If I try to summon them here, they can dismiss it as just a foolish princes nonsense.

However, if the Emperor himself demands the answer from them, they have no way to refuse.

Could you summon the Elves here? The only one who can dispel this level of illusion is probably them. With how they suddenly accepted our invitation to the ceremony and the fact that we couldnt find out their whereabouts on their way here, those women have too many mysteries. Please look into them, Your Majesty.

Alright. Summon the Elves here.

7 elves arrived at the throne room. It is the same number as when they arrived, not one of them is missing.

At the center is Wendy who is disguising her body with illusion. As her entertainer, Christa was also summoned here.

This time, Finne is waiting outside because this meeting is only for the Imperial Family.

Anxious at the sudden audience, Christa worriedly looked at me but I smiled gently back at her.

Al-niisama

Its alright.

Christa listens to me and quietly nods.

Then, Fathers inquiry started.

Now, Wendy-dono. I called you here because I have some questions for you.

What is it? Your Majesty.

First of all, please take a look at this. Ahh, you dont have to see it, Christa.

Yes.

She is probably wondering what is going on. Christas face turned blue and only looked to the front.

Meanwhile, Wendy and the other elves looked at Leticias body.

For a moment, Wendys expression turned sad. There is no change in the surrounding elves.

Saint Leticia wasmy condolence.

Theres no need. Actually, I heard that body might be something disguised by an illusion. What do you think about it?

Your Majesty..do you think that we, Elves, are the culprit?

I am only talking about the possibilities. For you people, is it possible to disguise a dead body as someone else?

That is..

The moment Wendy said that she glances at the woman standing next to her.

If I recall correctly, it is the elf servant who visited my room when I was talking with Leo.

Her name was Paula if I recall correctly.

Wendy is constantly observing the expression on Paulas face. It was as if they were in a relationship of master and slave.

Is it possible? Is it impossible? Which is it?

It is possiblebut there is no one who is that skilled among us here.

Saying so, Wendy averted her eyes.

It is a typical reaction of someone who is lying. Moreover, I can see her fear when she is looking at Paula.

With that exchange, Father should be able to discern the true nature of their relationship. At Fathers side, Franz is making a sharp expression and uses his eyes to give the order to the Imperial Knights who are standing by in the throne room.

The knights started taking a distance from the Elves in a natural way. The Imperial Knights here are all the captain class and elites which Alida leads. Even if they try to escape, they wont be able to.

Meanwhile, I started talking to Wendy.

Princess. Is that true?

Its, its true..Your Highness Arnold.

Wendys eyes shake.

Her line of sight is moving between me and Paula.

I want to tell her to stop shifting her eyes like that but I can not do that. Moreover, I cant neglect the relationship between Wendy and Paula.

Lets solve all the problems in one go.

You yourself are disguising your appearance with an illusion. Disguising a body should be possible for you, no?

Th, that is.

What does that mean? Wendy-dono.

Being questioned by Father, Wendy solved the illusion on herself with an expression that says she has no other choice.

I apologize for deceiving you, Your Majesty.

That was surprising

Because my appearance is that of a child, my grandfather told me to disguise myself using illusion magic so that it will not be rude as our representative. Please forgive me.

That is fine. The problem is that even though you have been displaying that illusion right in front of us and we still couldnt discern it.

My words might not have any worth in this situation but this is truly not the work of the Elves. Your Majesty.

Saying so, Wendy kneels down with the other elves follow suit.

Father folds his arms and squints his eyes at the sight.

Wendys lie must be transparent to Father who has judged so many people before. The question he has would be why is she lying?

Father probably couldnt come up with any reason why the Elves would be involved in all of this.

If I say that I believe in your words.can you dispel the illusion that was applied on this body?

I do not know. If you ask, I will try.

She is buying time.

It would be bad to keep up with this any longer.

Thats why I proposed the last resort.

Father, I have a suggestion.

How many times do I have to tell you, its Your Majestyseriously, whatever. Just do as you please.

My apology but may I borrow something from the treasure vault?

I dont think that you would bring it up but.are you going to use the [Imperial Flag]?

Yes. There is a barrier inside the throne room that prevents the activation of magic but that doesnt apply to the magic that has already been activated. Therefore, Id like to ask for your permission to use the [Imperial Flag] to invalidate all magic here.

The barrier that covers the throne room is of the highest class.

It would be difficult even for me to infiltrate this room with transfer magic. Moreover, it is impossible to activate magic here. However, the magic that has already been activated doesnt include in that. That was what the barrier was designed to do.

If you use a barrier that invalidates all kinds of magic, the Emperor would not be able to use magic tools to defend himself. Thats why it doesnt affect the magic that has already been cast. After all, the magic on that level would be able to be handled by the Imperial Knights standing guard here.

However, there are magic tools that are more powerful than this barrier in the treasure vault.

At first glance, it would look like our national flag, a normal elaborate flag with the symbol of Golden Eagle.

However, by giving it the blood of the Imperial Family, all magic within a certain range will be nullified.

Despite its strength, it is a magic tool that is rarely used. This is because the Empire is usually at advantage in battle so invalidating magic would unnecessarily cause disadvantages for us.

Moreover, the blood of the imperial family is needed in order to activate it. It is not something that can be used so readily.

It will require a significant amount of blood to activate it. Are you going to provide that?

That is my intention. In exchange, if this body proves not to be that of Saint Leticia, please admit that Leos action is correct. Also, I would like to request the Third Imperial Knight Corp to be dispatched as his reinforcement as well.

.you are willing to go that far for your younger brother huh.

It is exactly because he is my younger brother that I have to go that far. Leo is doing the right thing. It is my job as his elder brother to prove that.

Well said! I allow you to use the Imperial Flag!

The moment my father said that.

The door to the throne room was opened. When I turned around, I found Trau-niisan entering the room.

His hand is holding a flag with a symbol of Golden Eagle on it.

You gave the permission!? As expected of Father! To think that you would read the intention of this Traugott so far ahead! In response to your trust, I shall personally provide my blood to activate this flag!

Wha!? Wait! Traugott!!??

HAAAAAAAA!!!!

Wait! Trau-niisan!

Arnold! It is the duty of an elder brother to prove his younger brothers innocence! Leave this to this Traugott!

NO, LISTEN TO ME FIRST!?

He completely got carried away by the atmosphere.

A thread extends from the flag and starts sucking Trau-niisans blood.

When the Imperial Knight approached Trau-niisan, it was already too late.

The Imperial Flag activated and all the magic within the throne room was invalidated.

The illusion of what first appeared to be Leticias body was nullified and the body of the Captain of her personal guard appeared. However, the body looked like it had already been a few days after her death.

So they have switched places with her for a while now huh.

I thought so and turned my eyes to the Elves.

Then, I could see Wendy pushed Christa toward me.

RUN!!

Wendy screamed.

The appearance of the Elves around her are now completely different.

Their skin is all black.

Once there were Elves that turned to the Demon King for power and were given the power of Demons to their race.

Before us are the Dark Elves.

The Dark Elves pulled out their hidden dagger and turned it toward Wendy.

I thought that she was threatened but this is far surpassed my expectation.

Although I managed to move in to protect Christa who was pushed my way, I couldnt reach Wendy in time.

When I thought so, the Imperial Flag directly hit the Dark Elf who was turning her dagger toward Wendy.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO A LOLIFU!!

Naturally, it was Trau who threw the Imperial Flag at them.

After using a lot of his blood to activate the flag, for him to be able to do that, I can say nothing but as expected of him. Well, the reason he did that was questionable though.

THIS IS THE EMPIRE! DONT THINK THAT I WILL LET YOU DO AS YOU PLEASE!

THE ONE WHO IS DOING AS HE LIKES HERE IS YOU!!?? WHO WOULD ACTIVATE THAT KIND OF THING HERE! YOU FOOL!!

EHHHHH!!? WHY ARE YOU GETTING ANGRY AT ME!?

The battle between the Dark Elves and the Imperial Knights began with the conversation between a father and his son with no sense of tension whatsoever.

With that said, this probably couldnt be called a battle.

After all, no magic can be used here. To the Dark Elves, this would be the worst kind of situation for them.

TLN: All Hail Traugott!!