How the Sidekick Prince Lives Again - Chapter 43

After taking a moment to catch his breath, he slowly got up and looked around. Fortunately, there was no sign of Maximo chasing after him.

“Huu.”

Renato staggered, leaning against a tree with a tired face. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Thump thump, he could feel his heart still beating fast.

Did I do well?

Renato’s face darkened. He tried to hold on a little while ago, thinking he couldn’t lose, but when his emotions subsided, he began to worry that he might have done something unreasonable.

But if he went back, he would probably have done the same thing. This time, he truly wanted to protect his precious people.

Trudy, Louis, Luna.

Reciting the names that made his heart ache just by thinking about them, Renato staggered forward. Instead of going to where Louis and Luna were waiting, he headed the other way. He thought that if he stood in front of the two in this state right now, he wouldn’t be able to hold back his tears.

* * *

It’s so tiring.

Khalid walked out of the presence chamber with a tired face. Even with his strong mentality, he had no choice but to be nervous because it was the first time he met the Emperor of the Empire.

“Your highness!”

Nasir, who was walking around the hallway with an anxious expression, quickly approached. He carefully asked while lowering his voice so that only Khalid could hear.

“How was it? Did the talk go well?”

“It worked out. He won’t hold us accountable.”

“Really?”

Nasir’s face brightened at Khalid’s answer. Currently, he was being harassed by Count Frey and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs because of the operation to clear up Baker 13th Street’s organization. The reason was that he endangered the 1st Prince of the Empire during the operation.

“It’s a relief. I was worried because Count Frey made such a fuss……”

“The Emperor knew the entire story.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Yes, he must have heard from the 1st Prince in advance. So instead, he thanked me for my help.”

“Phew, that’s a good thing.”

Nasir sighed in relief. Khalid’s expression also became more relaxed. His conversation with the Emperor went much better than he had expected. The Emperor was favorable to Khalid from the beginning.

‘I heard from the 1st Prince. Contrary to what is known, you saved that child from danger, right? Besides, I heard that because of the Prince’s circumstances, you even made an alibi for him, even though the one suffering from damage would be you……’

‘Whatever the reason, it is true that His Imperial Highness was involved in my work. I was only taking responsibility.’

‘Thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, the Prince might have had a big accident. I thank you not as the Emperor of the Empire, but as the father of a child.’

Khalid was engulfed in a strange feeling when looking at the Emperor who thanked him. He already heard that the Emperor had reconciled with Renato thanks to the deceased Imperial Consort, but he seemed to care more about Renato than expected.

“He said he’d tell Count Frey separately, so I guess we can relax.”

“The Frey family is a representative of the imperial faction, so if the Emperor himself intervenes, it won’t become a big problem.”

Only then did Nasir look relieved. Rolling his eyes left and right to look around, he got closer to Khalid. Then, he whispered in a lower voice than before.

“……So how was he?”

“Not good.”

Khalid answered without any hesitation. The condition of the Emperor he met in person was so bad that even a person who was not a doctor could also tell it was serious.

“Then it’s a big deal, since he has to hold out for a long time……”

Nasir muttered with a worried expression. The current condition of the Emperor was a concern not only for the Empire but also for many other countries. It was even more so because a successor had not yet been decided.

Currently, two people close to the next throne were Trudy El Fleurette and Maximo Florence.

The legitimacy lied with the 2nd Prince, Trudy, but that young Prince had never participated in government affairs and had no significant support base.

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Because of that reason, only half of the imperial faction’s nobles actively supported Trudy. In the current situation, if the Emperor suddenly passed away, Trudy would be as good as dead.

In that case, Maximo, who had rapidly grown as Trudy’s opponent in the past few years, was highly likely to ascend to the next throne.

Although he lacked legitimacy as only a collateral imperial family member, he was the heir to the Florence family, one of the three major Duchies in the Empire, and had received full support from the Empress and Marquis Medus.

As a result, even though Maximo had not yet received a title and had no political experience, he had already established a solid position in the social circle.

To solve Maximo’s legitimacy problem, the Empress tried to adopt him and make him a Prince, but it was difficult because of the fierce opposition from the Senate.

Given the circumstances, many people paid utmost attention to the Emperor’s health. It was unknown if the Emperor could hold out until Trudy had grown to a certain extent, but if he couldn’t, there was a high probability that Maximo would end up winning.

“What do you think, your highness? Do you think the 2nd Prince has a chance to win?”

“I don’t know, yet.”

Khalid showed an ambiguous attitude. The Khan Kingdom, which had been giving military support to the Fleurette Empire and receiving food in return, had no choice but to care more about the Emperor’s health than other countries. This was because diplomatic relations could change rapidly, such as their treaty could be broken depending on who became the next Emperor.

Above all, Renato, the current 1st Prince, proposed a contract marriage to Khalid. If Khalid accepted his proposal, he would inevitably enter the Empire’s politics. As Renato supported the 2nd Prince as the next Emperor, the Emperor’s condition was also important.

‘Three years, please be my companion for just that time. I will pay the price without regret.’

‘……Three years later, my half-brother, the 2nd Prince, will turn 10. At that time, the child will have the power to defend himself.’

Recalling the marriage period Renato was talking about, Khalid was lost in thoughts. For whatever reason, Renato seemed to think that if Trudy survived for the next three years, he would be victorious.

But Khalid was against Renato’s thoughts. In his view, it was difficult for Tristan, the Emperor, to endure this year, let alone three years.

“Tsk.”

Remembering the Emperor he had met a while ago, Khalid clicked his tongue with a bitter expression. The Emperor’s sickly face and thin body, which seemed difficult to even move by himself, were so miserable that he found it hard to believe they belonged to the knight who commanded the continent in the past.

“He was a knight I admired……”

“Pardon? Who are you talking about?”

“The Emperor. It is not a pleasant feeling to see someone I admired as a child collapse.”

Tristan El Fleurette was a knight who made a name for himself on the continent before he was the Emperor of the Empire. When Khalid was just dreaming of becoming a knight, Tristan was praised by many people as the hero who saved the Empire several times.

Tristan went on numerous expeditions even after ascending to the throne. At that time, the national defense power of the Empire was so bad that the Emperor had to step forward, but it was also because of his nature as a knight.

Tristan was also known for leading battles at the vanguard. It was to the extent that the Imperial Army’s morale was different depending on whether he was in command or not.

However, after falling into an enemy trap and being fatally wounded, Tristan was slowly forgotten in people’s minds. He was no longer the hero who saved the Empire, but a dying Emperor.

“I can’t even imagine what it would feel like to never be able to lift a sword again.”

“Well, for people like us, not being able to use the sword again is tantamount to a death sentence.”

Nasir shuddered, perhaps feeling terrible just thinking about it. For knights, the sword was like another heart.

What would he become if he didn’t have a sword?

Khalid momentarily imagined himself as someone who was not a knight, then shook his head. He thought he could understand why Tristan collapsed, unable to overcome the disease. If he had been in the same situation as Tristan, he might have become a cripple.

“Then are you going back now?”

“No, I’m going to stop by the Prince’s Palace for a while.”

“The Prince’s Palace? You mean the 1st Prince?”

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“Yes, the Emperor suggested that while I’m still at the Imperial Palace, I should meet the 1st Prince. So I agreed.”

Just before leaving the presence chamber, Tristan suggested that Khalid should go and meet Renato. His reason was that it would be good to show others that there was no problem between the two of them.

Khalid accepted without much hesitation. After all, he was already thinking about meeting Renato before leaving while he was at the Imperial Palace. He was worried because of the last time.

Khalid guessed he was the only one knowing that Renato had post-traumatic stress disorder for now. Seeing that he was trying to hide his scar even by refusing treatment from the palace doctors, it was unlikely that Renato had told his attendant or his guard knight that he was suffering from trauma.

Because of that, Khalid was worried. He also wondered if Renato was having nightmares alone again, or if he was feeling well after that day.