novelraw Chapter 276
Chapter 276
Chapter 276
At those words, Yurik clasped his hands behind his back. It was his habit.
"I have always gratefully received the gifts Mother has sent me each time."
"I see. But they didn't seem to suit my son's tastes very much."
"Who would dare follow Mother's refined tastes? Truly, how refined you are."
The Queen's gifts could not be called refined even as empty words.
How could one call refined the assassins who attacked camps at night and came down tearing through tents in broad daylight?
At Yurik's sarcasm-laden words, the Queen covered her mouth and laughed softly.
"I'm sorry for not being able to match my son's vulgar tastes. This mother chose them with care, but they must have been lacking after all."
"I deeply feel Mother's heart.""I wish my son would also fix that temperament and become a splendid member of the royal family. I heard that this time you returned to the palace bringing someone of unclear origins."
"You mean my guest."
"To rashly bring into the royal castle a guest without even a proper title, not knowing where they came from. I'm worried it might have a bad influence on my son's reputation."
"Please be at ease, Mother. They are not someone who would harm me."
"Please think of it as this mother's excessive worry. A mother who always thinks of her son is always like that."
Yurik clicked his tongue inwardly.
The Queen seemed to have been quickly trying to find out something about Yesung since last night.
But he dared to assert that she would not be able to find even a speck of information about Yesung.
How could she find what even he had not been able to find all this time?
"Mother, actually this inadequate son has come with a request. I don't think I can do it alone, so I want to seek Mother's wisdom."
"How unexpected for our son to say such things. I thought you were always dignified and upright, not needing this mother's touch?"
"To speak directly, I would like to request Mage Tower opening rights to implement teleportation magic with Asgard."
Currently, the Mage Tower belonged to the kingdom.
Using the Mage Tower domestically was not difficult for Yurik as the 3rd Prince.
But if he wanted to use the Mage Tower as a means of travel between countries, diplomatic issues would overlap, making it impossible to force through carelessly.
And since he was merely a prince, he was not in a position to actively engage in diplomacy.
Moreover, even if he tried to act diplomatically, it would take years to build enough friendship to travel between both countries.
But Yesung had to go to Asgard before this country perished.
In the end, he had no choice but to request it from the Queen who had authority.
Of course, there was also the method of crossing the border without permission...
He thought it would be better than having Yesung get hit by arrows shot by border guards.
This was better than taking such risks.
The Queen took a sip of tea and asked.
"Why is that?"
"I have found a solution to Asgard's current situation. What does Mother think about Asgard?"
"This mother doesn't seem to be in a position to speak carelessly about that."
"But since Father doesn't show himself much to the outside, doesn't everyone rely on Mother?"
The Queen just silently swirled her teacup gently.
Eventually she smiled and said.
"It's true that I'm handling various matters as a proxy. And if my son has truly found a solution to the problems Asgard faces, requesting Mage Tower opening wouldn't be a problem either. However."
"I'm listening, Mother."
"Why should I do that? I don't really feel the necessity."
"Why is that?"
"Well, if we solve the 'thing' that Asgard considers troublesome, what benefit would we gain other than belonging to Asgard's forces? Wouldn't it be better to let Asgard leave Aquilonia alone while they're focused on that thing?"
"Making Asgard indebted to us wouldn't be bad for Aquilonia either. Given Aquilonia's position, we must avoid conflicts with either Brythunia or Asgard."
"But Asgard might solve the problem with our help and instead increase pressure on Aquilonia. If that happens, we won't be able to ask Brythunia for help. They won't be able to make us, who helped Asgard, their allies either."
"Mother, Asgard borders us directly if you cross Vanaheim or Cimmeria. Those two countries would open their paths whenever Asgard wants. But Brythunia is far away. Even if Asgard becomes weakened due to internal problems, there would be nothing good for us."
"Does my son really think so?"
"Asgard and Brythunia are weights of equal mass on both sides of a scale. The balance between the two countries has been maintained for over a hundred years. As Mother knows, the justification of inheriting the legacy of the ancient Acheron Empire has long since disappeared."
"Then? What do you think they fight for?"
"Practically, it would be the real power of western Thurian. Mother, if Asgard falls, Brythunia will surely declare war. When the scale tips to one side, peace will end."
"My son thinks so."
The Queen looked up at him. Yurik waited for the next words with a faint smile.
"But this mother's thoughts are a little different. Brythunia is farther than Asgard, but possesses more powerful military forces than Asgard. Moreover, according to rumors, Brythunia's warriors have soldiers called berserkers, who are said to be very fierce and cruel."
"Mother."
"Brythunia is also strong in naval warfare, so it would seem more beneficial to establish ties with them. There are various ways to form alliances."
Yurik reflexively tried to recall Brythunia's princess, but honestly, he couldn't remember well.
All he had was seeing her portrait in passing once.
The Queen sighed regretfully.
"I understand well that my son worked hard to devise a plan for Aquilonia. It's touching, and though it's quite regrettable to say this - it was shabby and simple. This mother should have paid attention to my son learning diplomacy, but I failed to do so."
Yurik looked at the young woman who could be considered newly born compared to him,
And wondered if this was what mother-son relationships were originally like.
But the Queen continued to lament.
"I've had many worries since my son entered the palace. I was quite surprised by the barbarian-like appearance that lacked the dignity befitting a member of the royal family."
"Is that so?"
"How dirty and beast-like you were. It can't be helped. That was the environment my son lived in. No matter how beautiful a painting is, if you put it in a completely broken frame, its value decreases, doesn't it?"
This was the Queen's tedious regular topic of conversation.
She had brought up the moment she first encountered Yurik when he first entered the castle for registration countless times.
"For such vulgar environment to settle in noble blood! This mother wanted to correct the dirty and filthy atmosphere and poor breeding that stained my son, even for the sake of the late king. But seeing this now, I realize how meager my devotion poured into my son was."
"I see."
"Though I believe my son didn't do it intentionally, really. I couldn't believe that this time too, you went out with those lowly mercenaries instead of royal knights."
"I see."
"And yesterday you even brought a guest of humble origins. This mother fears that guest might damage my son's dignity and make him act unworthy of royal blood. Since we cannot ignore the environment my son grew up in."
The Queen, pressing one hand to her chest as she spoke, spoke disgustingly in a tone of genuine concern.
But the words coming from her mouth were quite harsh invective.
The environment where he was born and raised. Along with the fact that Yurik had lived outside the royal family before entering the palace,
It was words mocking the origins of the 'guest' he had brought.
Yurik became a little annoyed. He finally let out the laughter he had been holding back.
"How disgusting it must have been for you to take as an adopted son someone who came rolling from a muddy place. Poor Mother."
"I'm glad my son understands properly."
"But why did you look at me with such eyes then? ...I never knew our virtuous mother was such a passionate person."
The Queen's shoulders stiffened.
Yurik still clearly remembered the day he first entered the palace.
The day he first appeared before the King and Queen with proper attire.
The King was aged and lacking energy, and the Queen was half-covering her face with a fan.
The eyes demurely laid above the blue silk fan immediately widened upon seeing him, and moreover, a faint blush had risen on her cheeks.
Even at the formal meal after receiving his appointment, and during tea time.
The Queen said nothing, but her gaze never left Yurik's face.
Yurik didn't pay much attention to that gaze, but he didn't welcome it either.
Those eyes that, not satisfied with just looking for a long time, seemed to want to carve out his flesh and lick him thoroughly.
When Yurik stayed in the main palace for education, he encountered the Queen more than twice a day.
She would shower him with gifts, saying it was to strengthen their mother-son relationship.
When he received sword training, she was always watching from a distant shade, accompanied by ladies-in-waiting.
One day, when he happened to encounter the Queen and ended up escorting her to the Queen's palace,
The Queen sent her ladies-in-waiting far behind and had Yurik personally hold her parasol.
While having the impression that the white hand grasping his arm was slender and seemed about to break at any moment,
Yurik was walking along the promenade she wanted to stroll.
-What kind of woman would my son like?
-You mean a woman?
-Since you've passed adulthood, we should hurry with an engagement. Tell me, even though this mother may seem unsociable, I know all the notable young ladies in society.
Yurik had no interest in such things.
He was someone who, even during the Acheron Empire period, had made homunculi instead of children with Eibon's help.
He had no reason to care about human customs now, nor did he have much interest in reproductive acts.
Yurik, who was pondering what to say, just casually picked up whatever came to sight.
-Then wouldn't someone like Mother be good?
-Me, you mean?
-If she's chaste and proper, she could get along well with Mother, and would be of great help to me too.
After answering that way, no special conversation followed.
But Yurik felt that the hand resting on his arm was trembling slightly.
After that day, Yurik left the main palace and was granted his own prince's palace.
And every evening, one guest would visit the 3rd Prince's palace.
Beautiful, gentle, fragile noble young ladies.
Women who resembled the Queen in some way.
He just sent them back a few times, but as this became increasingly bothersome, Yurik would put them in his bedroom while he read books or dozed in his private study.
He had only done that.
But at some point, the Queen began calling Yurik and treating him coldly.
When he received a tea time invitation and went, she would make him stand all day without giving him even a sip of tea.
She humiliated him in front of others, saying he was ignorant of royal etiquette.
Worried that he might have an accident like the 1st and 2nd Princes, she once confiscated all his horses and whips and confined him to his room.
Saying there seemed to be poison in his food, she beat his food-tasting servant until he fainted. In front of him.
When Yurik calmly accepted all the humiliation, eventually another 'night visitor' came carrying a knife.
Blatant checks and deepening hatred.
There was only one common point in all this.
She tried to keep Yurik directly by her side while persistently trying to hurt him.
She was affectionate yet cruel, and though she acted brutally, she would act as if she herself had been hurt.
Yurik didn't understand any emotions that weren't his own. He didn't want to understand them either.
But if there was one thing he knew,
It was that love had ambivalent aspects.
-Splash!
"How rude...! Truly rude. I never dreamed the 3rd Prince would be such a ruffian!"
Tea water poured over Yurik's face.
Beyond the lukewarm, fragrant water, he could see the Queen's trembling hands.
Just like that day on the promenade.
"Wasn't it so, Mother? I never dreamed that someone as vulgar and rough in character as myself would appeal to such refined tastes."
"Shut that mouth!"
"Perhaps Mother is not as refined as that either."
Yurik brushed back his wet hair and smiled.
"How does it feel to lust after your adopted son?"
-Slap!
Yurik's head turned slightly.
A burning sensation passed over his pale skin.
The Queen, who had jumped up and slapped his cheek, was startled as if she herself had been slapped and stepped back several paces.
Yurik conversely took another step forward.
"How was it? The feeling of touching the cheek of the adopted son you've been secretly watching. Did you enjoy it?"
"No, it's not like that..."
"I knew from the moment I first saw you. Mother, you wanted to embrace me the moment you saw me. But when I became an adopted son, you were visibly disappointed."
"No!"
"Still, you were happy to always have me nearby. What did you think when you sent women to me? Did you actually think you wanted to be one of those people?"
"Never, absolutely never. I-"
"I enjoyed them all night thanks to Mother's excessive favor."
Yurik's hand snatched the Queen's hand like a bird of prey.
The delicate Queen's hand was turning red in his grip that seemed ready to crush it.
A woman who appeared pure and frail to lower others' guard but had a hundred vipers hidden inside.
Usually acting so gently,
Yet secretly throwing tantrums for the person she harbored in her heart to passively understand her feelings.
Were nobles, commoners, and humans originally all like this?
"Now tell me. Mother, what were you thinking when you sent those 'gifts' while I was away from the royal castle?"
The Queen turned pale. But no matter how much she floundered like a fish out of water, she couldn't pull her hand free.
"Were you thinking it would be better if I just died?"
Yurik's shadow fell behind her.
Her hair, half-loosened from struggling, fell to her slender shoulders.
A drop of cold black tea fell onto her forehead.
"Or were you thinking of me returning to kiss Mother's feet and beg for forgiveness?"
"Never..."
"Is that so."
Yurik lowered his head.
The Queen's face was flushed red, swept up in shame and anger.
As he drew closer, she reflexively closed her eyes tightly.
Yurik felt like he might genuinely burst out laughing at the sight.
At a distance so close their breaths almost mingled, twisted lips whispered.
"But right now, you seem to be asking me to kiss you."
The Queen's eyes flew open. Yurik didn't miss that moment.
The greenhouse was warm and quiet. From outside, nothing would be visible due to the surrounding plants and light reflecting off them.
A moment later, Yurik, who had lifted the Queen's hand that had become quiet as if frozen and kissed the back of her hand once more, whispered.
"Mother will handle contact with Asgard, won't you? ...It seems your vulgar adopted son cannot possibly display such refined and elegant diplomacy."