I Became the Youngest Prince in the Novel

TL/Editor: raei

Status: ongoing

Illustrations: none

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Radiant House Arcline's location was unique compared to other Great Houses.

They had built their house atop one of the low hills surrounding the imperial palace complex at the capital's heart, naming it Radiant Hill.

From their main gate, one could see the entire capital except for the imperial palace complex.

Two knights guarding that gate lazily watched the path stretching from the house down to the base of the hill.

"Morning duty on a day like this..."

The hook-nosed knight replied to his thick-browed companion with obvious regret in his voice.

"I heard from someone that this coronation will be quite a spectacle. They say the crowds flooding into the capital these past few days have already surpassed the Empire's Founding Festival."

"Just the congratulatory delegations from the Three External Worlds are said to equal an entire army corps. Probably the biggest in history, right? Amazing that it's this grand even with war approaching..."

"Exactly. And you know what? I heard our House Arcline might become much stronger after this coronation."

"What? What do you mean?"

The thick-browed knight asked with confusion.

"I only overheard bits from the higher-ups passing by, but it seems to involve the newly crowned Prince Zion..."

The hook-nosed knight's words were cut short.

Or more accurately, he couldn't finish them.

"Y-your body...!"

A single red line traced from his crown to his groin.

SLASH!

His body split in half along that line.

The thick-browed knight's eyes widened impossibly as he saw a figure emerge behind his bisected companion.

"Y-you're!"

A red-eyed woman with a chilling smile watched him.

The moment he recognized her as the 'Red Witch', one of Prince Zion's closest subordinates- CRUNCH!

His head simply disappeared.

After swiftly dispatching the guards, the witch looked at House Arcline's main gate with an even darker smile.

"Time for a feast, perhaps?"

In that moment-

DRIP!

Something bright red flowing from Liushina began covering all of House Arcline.

Zion was methodical and calculating.

Therefore, his order to erase all Noble faction houses wasn't some impulsive decision.

The list he had recently given to Eternal Shadow and Eye of the Moon to investigate-

Every name on it belonged to Noble faction nobles.

"Political assassinations, tax evasion, leaking classified information, slave trading, deceiving the imperial family... there's too much to even read through." ŘἈŊồΒĚŝ

They had been too rotten to spare from the start, which was why he had planned to clean them all out at this opportunity.

'The Noble faction's structure consists of the upper nobles actually called the Noble faction and countless nameless lower nobles serving them.'

Zion had decided to eliminate the upper nobles including Arcline.

These vermin who only ate away at the country without providing any benefit.

They weren't worth keeping alive at all.

Even though House Arcline had been founded by one of the Five Kings who had served Zion when he was the Eternal Emperor.

It was simply Zion's - no, Eternal Emperor Aurellion's - nature to completely eliminate any root that might cause problems if they showed their fangs against him.

His subordinates would already be descending on their houses, not just those present here.

"This cannot be! This cannot..."

Though Lupelt and the nobles resisted the tightening encirclement around them, they were quickly subdued since they had never excelled at martial prowess.

The Noble faction nobles were forced to their knees one by one before Zion's platform, regardless of their wishes.

"Princess Diana!"

Lupelt cried out pleadingly toward Diana, with whom he had once shared a cause, but her eyes remained utterly cold as she looked at him.

They had only worked together due to aligned interests, and now even those interests had completely disappeared.

Therefore Diana held no lingering attachment to House Arcline.

And truthfully, even if she did have attachments, there was nothing she could do here.

Zion already held all real power, and Diana herself was in a position to be swayed by his single word.

"Kugh!"

Finally giving up on seeking help from those around him, Lupelt glared at Zion from his forced kneeling position and spoke:

"You'll regret this, Your Majesty. You'll regret killing me like this!"

His voice dripped with venom from his twisted face.

Zion crouched down to meet his eyes with a smile that sent chills down spines and asked:

"Regret? What exactly should I regret?"

"As if I'd tell you...!"

"The location of imperial funds you've been embezzling and hiding? Your preparations to leak military secrets to the demon realm? The massive magical bomb you planted beneath the imperial palace complex in case of situations like this?"

With each word from Zion's mouth, Lupelt's face grew increasingly pale.

"H-how did you..."

How had he discovered everything?

Lupelt wasn't stupid.

That's why he had prepared various means to threaten Emperor Zion if negotiations failed.

Yet those means were flowing from Zion's lips without missing a single one - he felt like he was standing naked before the executioner's block.

"My 'eyes' are rather capable."

At that moment-

THUD!

"P-please spare me, Your Majesty!"

Perhaps because all his secrets had been exposed?

Lupelt slammed his head against the floor as he begged Zion.

"From now on I'll live like a dead mouse, never appearing before your eyes! I'll give you all my wealth if you demand it! I'll spend my life defending the northern borders against monsters if you command it! Please, just my life..."

Though his words essentially meant giving up everything he had built, there was no hesitation in Lupelt's eyes.

As long as he lived, there was hope for the future.

But hearing Zion's next words, he finally understood.

"If you wanted to live, you should have behaved properly from the start."

The man before him possessed no mercy.

Especially not for enemies who had bared their fangs at him.

In that moment-

"AAAHHH!"

FLASH!

With a scream like a dying animal, brilliant white light erupted from Lupelt's entire body.

His method saved for absolute last resort, preserved for that 0.01% possibility.

The light instantly took the form of a sharp spear and shot toward Zion.

"Your Majesty!"

Perhaps because it moved at the speed of light?

The surrounding knights reacted too late - Lupelt's light spear had already reached right in front of Zion.

However-

"Ah..."

The Radiant House head's eyes filled with despair as he watched what happened next.

His final desperate attack.

The spear of light he had created-

SCREECH!

Was trembling helplessly an inch from Zion's eyes, unable to advance further.

Darkness that had silently descended around the spear writhed as if alive.

"Add one more charge. Attempted regicide."

With those emotionless words, Zion drew his ceremonial sword and- SLASH!

Severed Lupelt's head.

As if this was a signal-

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

The knights in front began swinging their swords, cutting down all the kneeling nobles' heads.

Blood from their bodies stained the platform red.

Heavy silence descended over the crowd watching this scene.

Their eyes trembled ceaselessly with fear.

In truth, they had known.

Given Emperor Zion's personality that they had observed, a bloody wind would blow through the empire someday.

But even they hadn't imagined he would move so quickly - immediately after his coronation.

Therefore they could only watch with trembling eyes, unable to react.

"I hope you all remember something."

Zion's eyes curved elegantly as he turned to look at the people.

"It's not that I don't know what you're doing - I'm simply choosing to overlook it."

It was a warning.

A warning that he would take their heads the moment they crossed the line.

'A tyrant... and the most powerful tyrant in history has ascended to the throne.'

This was the thought that crossed everyone's mind as they deeply bowed their heads to Zion.

But at the same time, they felt a strange sense of relief.

The empire was in chaos from various disasters including the imminent great war.

Perhaps such an empire needed this kind of tyrant who would devour everything with overwhelming charisma, rather than a benevolent ruler embracing the country with humanity and mercy.

"...Long live Emperor Zion!"

Someone suddenly shouted.

Long live Emperor Zion!!

The shout spread through the crowd until it filled Rising Star Palace.

And so ended the blood-stained coronation.

--

The purge of Noble faction houses that began with the coronation proceeded smoothly.

With both justification and power on their side, the nobles couldn't even resist and were helplessly eliminated.

It was laughable that they had tried to threaten Zion with such meager power.

'Well, they couldn't have known the Three External Worlds and other imperial family members all supported me.'

Zion thought this as he looked at the paper before him.

The large-scale purge had created many vacancies within the imperial palace complex, and the paper listed candidates to fill those positions.

'It wouldn't be bad to insert some people I had in mind into these positions.'

People with great ability who couldn't shine due to their background and existing power structures.

As Zion lifted his teacup while recalling their names from the chronicle-

"My, Lupelt Arcline made such a proposal?"

Fredo, who was pouring coffee for others beside him, asked Thierry with a surprised expression.

"Indeed. Not only did he dare threaten His Majesty, but he even aimed for the empress position. He deserved death."

Thierry nodded as he spoke, then turned to Zion and continued in a subtle tone:

"But Your Majesty, now that you've ascended to the throne, perhaps it's time to consider the matter of an empress?"

At Thierry's words, everyone except Zion perked up their ears.

They were intensely curious who would stand beside this overwhelming ruler who seemed barely human, and some harbored different thoughts entirely.

"An empress..."

As Zion muttered this, Thierry who had first brought it up spoke again:

"As the previous emperor did, perhaps consider someone from the Three External Worlds? Though they've pledged loyalty to you, no relationship is more certain than marriage."

Though she pretended to look away disinterestedly, Wolhaun secretly clenched her fist while focusing all her hearing on the conversation.

She should have returned immediately after the coronation but had stayed in the imperial palace complex making various excuses.

Just then-

"In the past, Your Majesty said that whoever stands beside you must be qualified."

Aileen, whose eyes were dark from seemingly staying up late the past few days, spoke up.

"So shouldn't we focus on those with sufficient ability? Though I'm not sure how many would qualify..."

At Aileen's words, the hero Claire Flosimar's eyes took on a strange light as she planned future events from one side.

"What are you talking about? The place beside Master is already decided - it belongs to me, whose soul is intertwined with his!"

Liushina, who had been playing and squabbling with the frost spirit Sephir who had returned to bird form, called out with a playful smile.

Of course, whether she was serious or not was impossible to tell.

"What are your thoughts, Your Majesty? Do you have someone in mind?"

Perhaps because their discussion was pointless anyway-

Fredo asked Zion as he refilled his empty teacup with fresh coffee.

"I..."

After contemplating something, Zion slowly began to speak.

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