Living dead.
On that day, a corpse was brought out of the prisoner’s tower. The sentence has just been carried out. The dead body belonged to a man who was served a cup of poisoned alcohol under the King’s orders. It was placed on a slightly dirty covered wagon and transported to an unmanned graveyard on the edge of the country’s borders.
The corpse’s name was Anton Garland. He was the son of General Garland, the man who has risen to the position of the Commander of the Imperial Guards was guilty of serious crimes, drank the cup of poisoned alcohol served by his own father without any hesitation, and passed away.
Denis shed tears at his son’s death as he picked up his corpse and carried it to the wagon. The prison’s supervisors made sure to see the event and walked back inside the tower. That’s all for their work. The rest was of no particular significance, so they decided to let the father of the criminal do as he pleased, whether he wanted to say goodbye to the dead or not.
A man in a black hooded robe was sitting on the driver’s seat. Denis bowed his head to the man who’s eyes were covered by the hood.
“I’m counting on you.”
“Acknowledged.”
The driver gave a brief reply to Denis and whipped the horse to go. The carriage hurried along the bad road. This area was seldom visited by people, so the roads were not well maintained. The wagons swayed and swayed like a raging sea. As the driver was thinking by himself, he heard someone getting up from behind him. The vibration seemed to have awakened the other party.
The rocking of the wagon caused the hood that the driver was wearing to come off, revealing red hair and a masculine face. The driver turned around with a gloating smile.
“Yo, how are you? Lady-killer. How do you feel after waking up?”
“… The worst.”
The driver didn’t get an immediate response. The person whose eyes met with driver’s frowned awkwardly. The driver thought that he was feeling regrettable because he thought he was dead, but he couldn’t die.
Eventually, they reached the main road and the road became smoother. The border was close. The other man sat down next to him.
“Why are you sending me there yourself?”
He asked the driver doubtfully. The driver laughed.
“What’s wrong with me being here? Anton. My Uncle’s last wish was for you to become a living dead. It is known only to Fionn, the King of Ligisia and your father.”
“…!”
Anton, who became living dead, looked suspicious.
“Was it not poison that I drank?”
“I wish it was, but it was my Uncle dying wish. As for me, I wish I could have beheaded you myself.”
“Dying wish? Then, His Majesty Liamus had…?”
“He passed the day after you were taken away.”
“Because of me…”
“Don’t be conceited, Anton. Uncle was originally suffering from a chronic illness. It just got worse. He didn’t die from the stab wound you have inflicted.”
“Prince Sole.”
Anton was stunned when he was informed that King Liamus died before himself. Sole glared at him abhorrence.
“Uncle was the kindest person in the Troyl royal family. He was someone who could feel other people’s pain as his own.”
“……”
“As you know, my father was the Second Prince. My mother was a woman whom he put his hands on a whim, so when he realized she was pregnant with me, he immediately drove her away from the palace. My mother was raised grew up in a commoner family, but she was shamed as an unmarried and pregnant woman. I was born and raised in Uncle’s wet nurse’s family, where we have been sheltered.”
Sole spoke of King Lamius with admiration.
“People think that my Uncle’s body wore off because of his military activities, but his body was actually weak because he was poisoned from a very early age. He was told that he will be short-lived since he was but a child. I became a mercenary because I wanted to help him at least a little. I thought I would remain a mercenary for life, but my late father’s close associates got in touch with me. They said that King Liamus is not a capable ruler. they said that I am fit to be the King. I found their words ridiculous.”
Anton knew that Sole was a child of the Second Prince’s concubine and that the anti-monarchy faction that formerly belonged to the Second Prince, was trying to support him. Anton, on the other hand, was trying to convince the Third Prince’s faction to think that he was the son of the Crown Prince.