Regina Rena – To the Unforgiven

The Crying Prince

Translated by Wook
Edited by Wook

Four years ago, Northern Plenus Castle.

“Your Highness, how could you…”

“Move.”

“That is not possible. Lord Eura is on duty.”

“Get out of my way!”

Rubid pushed the vassals out of the way and kicked the door of the office.

As soon as he opened the door, his eyes met with Eura’s, who was sitting at the desk in the office. Perhaps he had guessed the situation by sound, he was not at all surprised by the sudden arrival of Rubid.

“Eura!”

“Who allowed it?”

“What?”

“I don’t remember calling you.”

It was a visit that was close to an intrusion, but Eura spoke coldly without asking the reason.

So Rubid stared at his cold-blooded older brother. The thought that he was not treated as a person, let alone his younger brother, was buoyant.

But Eura was still expressionless.

“Get out.”

“Brother!”

Rubid couldn’t stand it and screamed.

He didn’t want to face Eura for a long time either. Nevertheless, the reason for his visit was because there was something to be confirmed.

“Damn it all. I’ll be going after this, so answer one thing.”

Rubid spit out abusive words. Then he asked his brother, who looked at him impatiently.

“Did Father die because of the emperor?”

“Where did you hear that?”

“… Is it true?”

Rubid asked with a sullen face. But Eura’s attitude remained. He was still stiff and still cold.

“I asked where you heard it.”

“I asked you first! Is it true?!”

As Rubid yelled, Eura closed the papers he was looking at. Then he looked at Rubid without a word.

At that silence, Rubid’s eyes trembled slightly.

“So it’s true.”

Rubid was convinced after seeing Eura’s attitude.

He would’ve asked what that meant if it wasn’t true. He wouldn’t have asked where he heard it, and he shouldn’t be so silent.

When he became convinced, Rubid’s eyes filled with anger.

“Brother, knowing that…”

He couldn’t believe it.

Knowing that the emperor had sent their father to a battlefield where there was no chance of winning, his older brother still casually acts as the emperor’s dog, all the time being aware their father died because of her.

Rubid trembled with a terrible sense of betrayal, but Eura was still indifferent.

“Pretend you don’t know.”

“What?”

“If you think your life is precious, pretend you don’t know.”

“What did you say…?!”

“Rubid Plenus.”

Rubid, who had just shouted, trembled involuntarily at Eura’s heavy voice.

Looking at Rubid, Eura said as if chewing.

“Shut up if you don’t want to die.”

Eura’s face as he said that was so brutal that Rubid couldn’t believe it even after seeing it.

It was the first time Eura got angry at him directly.

Rubid, who had been ignored all this time, was suddenly terrified by the threat of his older brother, which he had encountered for the first time in his life. His complexion turned pale, but he endured it and shut his mouth.

“B-But Father…”

“Father failed.”

“What…?”

“He died of failure due to his lack of ability. Don’t blame the emperor for that.”

At his brother’s words, Rubid’s mind went blank once more.

Three years after the death of his father, the older brother who suddenly changed became unfamiliar and distanced himself. So he also turned my back on him, saying that he doesn’t need him.

But nevertheless, he implicitly trusted him. He thought he was still his older brother anyway.

But seeing him denigrate their father’s death in defense of the emperor, his feet seemed to sink.

So while he was still at a loss for words, Eura nailed the last sentence.

“So don’t talk carelessly. Unless you want to die like Father.”

At that moment, Rubid felt suffocated.

Not just figuratively, but he literally could not breathe.

“Ugh…”

Rubid, pale and tired, stepped back.

With his heart driven to the limit, the curse-like compulsion bloomed.

Eura’s words “If you don’t want to die” were only a conditional warning, but to Rubid, who was obsessed with it, those words were no different than saying he was going to kill him.

Eventually, Rubid was overcome by fear and lost his mind.

“N-No.”

I’m going to die. I’m going to die. As Eura said, I’m going to die.

He will kill me by cutting my head off.

I don’t want to die. I don’t want to be decapitated. I don’t want to stand in front of the guillotine. I don’t want to be cut off!

“Go away…!”

“Rubid.”

As Rubid’s condition changed, Eura called out his name.

It was counterproductive.

Rubid stepped back completely, contemplating. Then he collapsed suddenly, but even when he collapsed, he pushed himself with his legs and ran away.

The arrogant prince lost his dignity and fled to the corner like a wild animal.

Then he hit his head against a decorative sword on the wall of the office.

“U-uwaakh…!”

The moment he saw the sharp blade, Rubid’s eyes turned blue.

He felt like he was going to die. He felt like his neck was going to fall off at any moment.

Unable to withstand the pressure, Rubid unknowingly grabbed the sword.

Then, out of his mind, he fired a slash, smashing everything around him.

.

.

.

When he came to his senses, Rubid was tied to bed.

“Are you getting a hold of yourself?”

And a man was looking down at him anxiously. It was aCount Ruber, a nobleman with a good impression.

As Rubid stared blankly, the Count said.

“It’s been six days.”

“Six days…?”

“Don’t you remember? You collapsed at Eura’s office.”

Rubid, who had been blinking slowly, finally came to his senses. When he was about to get up, he groaned and collapsed again.

“Ugh…”

“Don’t move. You are very hurt.”

Said the Count as he untied Rubid’s bound wrists.

“Lord Eura has issued a restraining order.”

“Damn, what the fuck is that bastard…”

“You really don’t remember?”

When the Count asked again, Rubid looked at him with an annoyed expression. The Count lowered his voice and said to him.

“You have swung your sword at Eura.”

“I…?”

Rubid looked at the Count in surprise. The Count smiled bitterly at that innocent face.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t expect this to happen…”

As the Count spoke with eyes full of concern, Rubid hesitated like a scolded child and avoided his gaze.

“… Nevermind that. Without you, I wouldn’t have known until the end.”

As he said, if it wasn’t for the Count, Rubid wouldn’t have known about it forever.

Of the cruel nature of the emperor, of the secret of his father’s death, and of his brother.

It was none other than this man, Count Cardo Ruber, who whispered the truth to Prince Rubid.

He entered Plenus Castle two years ago on the recommendation of the Western Duke. Eura immediately made him the prince’s attendant and tutor. It was because of his unique history of being well versed in academics, not like the usual nobleman.

Cardo Ruber was one of the many servants of Rubid, but Rubid was closer to Ruber than the others. It was because of his own calculation that an outsider was better than the northerners who were on Eura’s side to the bone.

In fact, Count Ruber didn’t annoy Rubid like the rest of his servants.

He was honest without any hesitation, he did not tremble with pretense, and he did not even mention the name of Eura in his mouth.

He also revealed secrets that people hid only from the prince.

As a result, the prince, who was dragged out to the square of truth without any preparation, was struggling to endure the harsh reality.

“This.”

Rubid, who was sitting in a daze, touched his bandaged arm and said.

“Did Eura do this?”

“It must have been inevitable.”

Rubid clenched his teeth at the Count’s clumsy defense. Then he got anxious and took the bandages off.

“Your Highness!”

The Count was startled and stopped him, but the boy pushed him away and tore off the bandages. Then he thrust in front of him the wound that had been throbbing unbearably since before, apparently torn with a knife.

“Inevitable? This?”

Rubid asked back with red, bloodshot eyes.

He was convinced that Eura had stabbed him with a knife.

Of course he would. It was obvious. Because he hates me, because he wants to kill me!

“That bastard doesn’t deserve to have a family. Even though my parents said I’m younger than him…”

Rubid bit his lip as if hurt by his own words while getting angry.

The Count looked silently at the boy who only knew how to get angry, and then he covered his wounds again. Then he said with a shady face.

“Lord Eura’s judgment is not wrong.”

“What?”

“The world does not care about the circumstances of the weak and the losers. I dare to say, the same is true for the former Northern Duke.”

“How dare you…!”

“What would have happened if Lord Eura had confronted Her Majesty the Emperor over that?”

Faced with the prince’s wrath, the Count asked quietly.

Rubid was speechless at the question with an obvious answer, and the Count continued speaking with a firm face.

“The strong can do everything, but the weak cannot. Lord Eura is obviously strong, but not in front of Her Majesty the Emperor. That’s why he shows the attitude of the weak.”

The attitude of the weak.

It was to bow down and submit to their father’s enemy. Becoming her loyal dog on behalf of their brutally dead father. Without a feeling of resentment, let alone revenge.

“That is the providence of the world. Everyone lives that way and endures that way.”

It was just as Ruber said.

His father was weak. So he failed, so he died.

The same went for Eura. So he bore it, so he covered it up.

What about Rubid Plenus? It was the same. He was angry, but he was weak. That was why he was helpless.

The boy gritted his teeth at the undeniable fact.

“But don’t be discouraged, Your Highness. You have potential.”

At that time, Ruber whispered to Rubid, whose head was lowered. In a friendly and subtle way.

“Become stronger. Be the strong, not the weak, not the one who is taken away and killed, but the one who takes away and kills. That is the only way you can survive.”

A way to survive.

Those words touched the obsession that was sleeping inside Rubid again.

The boy’s eyes widened, and the Count continued to speak in a mellow voice.

“You can do it. For anyone who has inherited a noble bloodline, strong mentality, and the power of Gracia, this much is possible.”

“How…”

“Sharpen your power and become stronger. Then you will be recognized by Her Majesty.”

“By Her Majesty?”

“Your Highness, keep this in mind. Her Majesty is not a human being.”

When Rubid protested, Ruber persuaded him more subtly.

“How could a being that is neither grow old nor die be a human? Rather, think of them as beings like the sun and the moon. Think of her whims as inevitable, like a typhoon or a landslide. Accept it and use it. Just take it as a human leaning against the sun, just as Lord Eura is doing.”

When Eura’s name came out, Rubid’s eyes fluttered again.

The Count looked at the rough and innocent boy and pressed him calmly.

“That way, no one will hurt you. Not the other dukes, and of course, not Lord Eura.”

The Count knew the boy’s heart surprisingly well. He unblocked Rubid’s mind without Rubid himself realizing that the Count’s choice of words were the ones he wanted to hear the most.

Rubid’s eyes, who accepted the request, calmed down.

As Rubid’s gaze changed, Ruber bowed down to pay tribute to the young and innocent prince.

“So focus on getting stronger, Your Highness. Don’t be discouraged, don’t give in, just prove your worth. I will do everything else.”

Character, manners, and norms that one must possess as a human being. You don’t need such a thing.

Everything the monster says is right, and the monster’s actions become a discipline in itself.

Powerless humans just have to follow sadly.

And clever humans leash monsters and treat them like dogs.

The Count lowered his head deeper, trying not to catch a laugh.

Fortunately, Rubid didn’t realize it.

And he still doesn’t know even now.

***

Rubid, who was pressing his eyes with his sleeves, couldn’t bear the gloom and kicked the ground again and burst into anger.

However, his legs were shortened, and most of the kicks were in vain, making Rubid even madder.

In the end, not caring it was in the middle of the Tomb, he lay down flat on his back.

It’s all over. One can’t fight the dead with this body, and this body can’t go back to normal. Besides, going back with this body is also a problem itself.

There was no one to welcome him as a child.

‘I would rather die.’

Rubid thought so and clenched his teeth. Then he held his breath and pressed his sleeve against his eyes again.

At the time when he was holding his breath for a while.

“No way.”

In Rubid’s ear, a voice he really didn’t want to hear came.

“Are you crying now?”

It was Rena Ruber’s voice.