The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

Marquis Zweig’s territory is located near the center of the Empire’s northern region.

Since Gordon has taken control over the eastern side, this place is now rather close to the frontline.

The capital of Marquis Zweig’s territory is Deuce.

That is our destination.

“Speaking of Lord Zweig, I heard that he is an elderly noble of the pro-imperial family faction but does he have any tie with you, Young Master?”

Lars raised that question as we are approaching the city of Deuce.

I have to wonder how to answer that question.

After all, the basis of that question was wrong in the first place.

“To begin with…..Marquis Zweig does not belong to a pro-imperial family faction.”

“After the death of the Crown Prince, he was the one who kept attending ceremonies and festivals at the Imperial Capital as the representative of the Northern Nobles. That might be why he is seen as a royalist but that is actually not the case.”

“His actions were nothing but loyal though?”

“His actions, yes.”

After the death of the Crown Prince, people began to treat the Northern Nobles coldly.

At first, they were only cold but it continues to accelerate as the Northern Nobles who felt that his death was not their fault couldn’t forgive such treatments.

At the time, the relationship between us and them wouldn’t be so cold if the Northern Nobles were more understanding of the feelings of the people in the Imperial Capital. On the contrary, if the people in the Imperial Capital could control their emotions better then……..

However, the relationship between the two has become colder and colder.

One after another, the Northern Nobles moved away from the central part of the Empire. As they kept moving away to the north the Northern Nobles became stronger.

Even so, Marquis Zweig did not stop his interaction with the central.

However, he didn’t do it out of his loyalty toward the Imperial Family.

“That person was thinking of the Empire as a whole. If the Imperial Family and the Northern Nobles continue to grow more estranged, the country would eventually break. Because of that, he continued to appear as the representative of the Northern Nobles. He was showered with curses. No matter how unreasonable they treated him, he never spoke out. He thought that if by doing such a thing can alleviate the sadness of losing the Crown Prince. He thought, if he can take it all himself instead of letting the whole Northern Nobles become subjected to it, it will be fine.”

He didn’t visit the Imperial Capital because he liked it. Of course, he would hate such a thing.

Even so, he always came.

The Empire became unstable after the loss of the Crown Prince. However, Father could not use the simplest method to restabilize the Empire by invading the Dominion.

If you have no outlet for their emotions, their anger will only smolder.

The sadness of losing the Crown Prince and the anger they have toward the Dominion were directed toward the Northern Nobles. They were used as that outlet.

I can understand their feelings that such a thing is unreasonable. Father knew about it but he did nothing. If we are to stop the cold treatment toward the Northern Nobles, we need to find another outlet.

And Father couldn’t find any. After all, he already had his hands full with just himself.

To my father, Marquis Zweig was like a savior.

For the sake of our country, Marquis Zweig became the vessel of everyone’s grudges.

Malicious gossip alone is not enough. The people’s anger was so great that they needed to let it out directly. That’s why Marquis Zweig always attended the events.

“That person has always been enduring. He had been the subject of the unreasonable grudges that the people in the capital hold toward the Northern Nobles alone. He didn’t willingly attend the events in the Imperial Capital because he is loyal. He came for the sake of our country. Without any complaints, just taking in the grudges of the people. Everything….for the country, for our people.”

That was supposed to be what the Imperial Family should do.

If we lost the Crown Prince, it is our job to raise up a new beacon of hope and rule the country well.

Since we couldn’t do that, we pushed everything to one old man.

“I see…….is that why you respect him?”

“Well, yeah.”

I cut the conversation short.

The rest of the story is not something that I should just tell people.

It’s an important memory in my heart.

When I was young, when the Crown Prince was still alive.

I was being bullied by Gied and his gang.

They have done it until it became a habit. And the troublesome thing was that it was not only Gied who got so used to bullying me but his entourage as well.

I knew it since I was a kid. If I use my status as a royal, I can hurt others.

That’s why I didn’t use it. I couldn’t.

I was scared.

After all, I was bullied.

If I tell Father about it, how much punishment will befall them?

The more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t bring myself to tell him. Over time, they became addicted to bullying me and their sins just become heavier and heavier. All the more reason why I couldn’t say anything.

I was being a coward and it was stupid of me.

Because I didn’t say it right away, things got bigger until I could not do anything about it.

If it was Gied alone then I might be able to. Gied is the eldest son of a powerful noble. The most he will receive is a heavy rebuke. But what of his entourage?

There were also young nobles from less powerful houses that reluctantly went along with Gied because they were worried about their relationship with Duke Horsvath. They had no choice but to follow Gied’s orders.

I’m sure that their houses will be destroyed.

It was Gied who involved them. However, it was me who continued to be Gied’s outlet of stress until the problem became too big.

That way, more and more noble children were involved. Eventually, I was labeled as the Dull Prince and became a target of ridicule.

When it became like that, I couldn’t tell it anymore.

I know my father’s personality well. As long as I don’t tell, he won’t do anything. So I didn’t. I thought it would be fine if I just put up with it.

And eventually, I got used to it too.

Around that time, I met Marquis Zweig.

He yelled at Gied and his entourage and helped me.

At the time, I must have an annoying look on my face. Most nobles do not try to help me. After all, to them, the eldest son of Horsvath house is much scarier than a prince who can’t even stand up for himself.

Still, it’s not that there were no nobles who tried to help me. The first time that happened, I only thought that it was troublesome to cover up for them.

Still, Marquis Zweig did not help me out of his kindness alone.

I can still remember what he said to me back then.

“It is my pleasure to meet you, Your Highness. I am Marquis Zweig, a noble from the North. You are——truly splendid, Your Highness. Your Highness’s conduct touched me to the depth of my heart.”

I had been comforted.

I had been scolded.

But this is the first time that someone praised me.

Marquis Zweig noticed the reason why I chose to stay silent.

“Your Highness is kind and strong. I shall strive to be like you.”

Saying so, Marquis Zweig walked away.

To convey his feelings, the Marquis chose to yell at Gied and knelt down for me.

Surely, it was because he did that for me that I didn’t think that what I have been doing was wrong.

It was easy to improve my situation but that would require a lot of blood to be shed.

Laurenz was a good example. No matter how well I try to handle it, it will still result in death. After all, that’s how you treat a rebel.

If I had cried to my father when I was a kid who couldn’t intervene with the situation, it would probably have resulted in an undesired outcome.

That’s why I felt gratitude toward him. That’s why he has my respect.

I want to repay that favor someday.

For the last three years, I couldn’t do anything to Marquis Zweig. And the Marquis didn’t ask to be helped either.

All I could do was solve the Empire’s problems as Silver. But it is different now.

I start to act like a prince.

I will take this opportunity to fix the relationship between the Northern Nobles and the Imperial Family. After all, if we can’t do that, we won’t be able to win.

How nice would it be if we could do it together.

Even if it is a little, I might be able to show him that I have grown.

At that time, I wanted Marquis Zweig to think that it was not a mistake to kneel to me back then.

“Young Master, Deuce will be within our sight soon.”

“I see. Then I will leave it to you alright?”

Along the way, we hashed out the details for our cover.

Unless the Narbe Ritter does not take down their hood, my identity won’t be leaked.

The Northern Nobles have little to do with the central.

In other words, they hardly know the face of the Imperial Family.

They might know our characteristics but only knowing that I have black hair and eyes would be too little to find me out. Moreover, I am supposed to be sleeping in the Imperial Capital.

Anyone that can notice my identity now must be quite a praiseworthy individual.

When I was thinking so, the city of Deuce came into sight.

However,

“Young Master! Smoke is rising from the city! Something seems to be happening!”

“I know! Hurry!”

I kick the belly of my horse and start rushing toward the city.

Seeing that, the Narbe Ritter followed me.

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