Kaon returned to the imperial palace.
And he returned after achieving an astonishing feat.
Naturally, a state council meeting was convened.
The emperor was not yet so infirm that moving around was difficult, but long meetings had begun to exhaust him, so even when council sessions were held, they often ended quickly.
That meant Kaon needed to get what he wanted without wasting time.
The emperor and all the senior and junior ministers assembled for court.
Kaon stepped forward before the throne and knelt on one knee like a man being questioned at a hearing.
Before praising him, the emperor asked,
“Considering your usual conduct, your achievement makes no sense. Were you truly hiding your abilities all this time, as the rumors say?”
Kaon briefly looked around.
Everyone wore guarded, unreadable expressions.
Everything Kaon had been saying until now had been groundwork for this exact moment.
“Because I believed it was best for Eldest Brother to rule the Empire.”
“And now?”
“I am merely preparing for the worst. Even now, I hope my brother makes a full recovery. If the day comes when he can properly resume his duties as Crown Prince, I intend to renounce my right of succession entirely.”
“What!?”
“……!”
The hall erupted into murmurs.
Once again, it was a bombshell.
One might wonder what kind of prince spoke so casually about renouncing his right of succession, but that was exactly why the move was so shocking.
Create a powerful impact, then force open a gap he could slip through.
Kaon had made a habit of saying, “I pray for my brother's recovery.”
He had repeated it so often that even the emperor would hear of it.
If the emperor knew, then all the ministers knew as well.
“Are you serious?”
“I have always tried to avoid creating discord within the imperial family. I even arranged matters so that I could be pushed out to the frontier. My dream was simply to cultivate a small piece of land and live quietly.”
For a moment, Duke Langpine's eyes wavered.
Kaon noticed it, but maintained a calm expression.
‘Is he sincere?’
A ripple passed over Duke Langpine's face.
Kaon thought that merely planting such an impression in the head of the Crown Prince faction's leader was enough.
Use his succession rights to build goodwill and remake his image.
THUD!
“Your Majesty! Forgive your son's presumption, but I have a request.”
“Speak.”
The emperor looked ready to grant almost any petition.
As long as it was not excessive.
Kaon tied his request to a justification.
“I would like to take Sharon with me to my territory.”
“She is only twelve. She is still too young to endure the cold of the north.”
“If Sharon refuses, I will leave her safely here in the imperial palace. But I intend to keep the promise Mother made me swear before she died.”
“The Second Empress……?”
“Mother's dying wish was that I protect Sharon no matter what. She also told us that, whatever happened, brother and sister were never to be separated.”
“I doubt she meant that the two of you should suffer together in the north.”
“I will explain the circumstances to Sharon and ask her. If she does not wish to follow me, I will give up the idea.”
“Hmm.”
The emperor could not answer decisively.
‘Did Elenia really say that? But does she truly need to go all the way to that remote place……?’
The emperor himself was troubled.
The north was certainly cold.
But the instant he described it as a truly dangerous place, he would make himself look like a shameless man who had sent the Third Prince to his death.
His justification for opposing the request was weak.
And if he barred an imperial princess from going merely because the region was cold, countless problems would arise in future political marriages.
In the end, the emperor nodded.
“Above all else, the princess's own wishes come first.”
“I humbly obey the imperial command!”
As Kaon withdrew from the throne hall, he rubbed his chest in relief.
‘I nearly lost a brilliant alchemist.’
If he was going to build power in the north, the help of the genius alchemist Sharon was essential.
Leaving her behind was out of the question.
After losing their mother, the siblings had remained relatively close in this ruthless imperial palace.
That made this a gamble worth taking.
After the council meeting, Kaon went to the office of the deputy commander of the Central Army.
There, he met alone with Marquis Gales, the Second Prince's lackey.
A table between them was covered in refreshments, but the only thing that mattered was a single transfer document.
It contained the names of three thousand soldiers and their families who would be leaving for the north.
Every one of the soldiers was an old veteran scheduled for retirement.
Twenty knights newly assigned to the Imperial Third Knight Order were included as well, but all of them had poor service records, were nearing retirement, or had some other serious defect.
Marquis Gales wore a smile, but apparently determined to irritate Kaon, he brought up a highly sensitive topic from the very beginning.
“Your Highness the Third Princess is currently the subject of discreet marriage negotiations with the Beron Kingdom. She will have to return once she reaches adulthood. Is there truly any need to take her all the way to such a distant place?”
“An imperial order has already been issued. Are you objecting to it?”
“How could I possibly? I am merely concerned that the princess might suffer in the north and suddenly fall gravely ill.”
“Mind your own business. I will take care of my sister.”
“You are rather prickly. Here is the transfer document. Sign it and you may take them with you. Three thousand elite soldiers and their families make roughly fifteen thousand people in total.”
“Looking at their ages, every one of them is over thirty, and most are in their fifties. Shouldn't soldiers in their fifties already be retired?”
By the standards of this era, even someone in their late twenties was considered middle-aged.
Average life expectancy was around fifty, which meant this group included men who were already well into old age by contemporary standards.
In modern society, people in their fifties could still be in their prime.
But in this era, they were hardly ideal soldiers.
“His Majesty approved it.”
“He approved this……?”
“Yes.”
A bitter taste filled Kaon's mouth.
It was better than receiving no additional troops at all, but soldiers who were already on the verge of retirement naturally could not be expected to contribute much.
Still, when Kaon considered the larger picture, he realized veteran soldiers might not be so bad.
‘Veterans have been through every kind of hardship. The Northern Army's average age is said to be in the early to mid-twenties. That means most of them die before surviving even a few years. If these veterans can train them and lower the death rate, then our troop numbers can increase every year.’
Criminals convicted of serious crimes in the Empire were given two choices.
Execution.
Or service in the Northern Army.
Once sentenced to death, most criminals volunteered for the army in the hope of finding another chance at life.
But the environment was so harsh that the death rate among recruits was high.
Because of that, the Empire made it a rule to send a fixed number of reinforcements north every year.
There were almost no veterans in the Northern Army, which also meant there were hardly any decent training instructors.
Seen from another angle, it was an opportunity.
Kaon was calmly checking the transfer document when his eyes widened.
“Why is Sir Chester, one of the previous generation’s Masters, on this list?”
“He was recently sentenced to death for disobeying orders, but volunteered for northern service instead. He may be washed up, but he should still have his uses.”
A faintly mocking smile appeared on Marquis Gales's face.
The meaning was obvious.
Take this pile of trash north and see how well you do with it.
Kaon thought differently.
‘This is a jackpot.’
Sir Chester had fallen to the level of a low-ranking knight after his Mana Hole was destroyed.
But if it could be repaired, he could make a comeback.
Until now, no one had known a way to restore a Mana Hole.
Kaon did.
Once he headed north, he would be able to obtain everything from the required materials to the right specialist(?) in one place.
A knight who had once carried the title of Master had fallen into his hands.
At this point, this was not dumping garbage on him.
It was a major gain.
Scratch.
The instant Kaon confirmed Sir Chester's name, he signed without hesitation.
Was this list also the result of the author's interference?
There was only one way to find out.
He would have to experience real combat.
If this too was the author's doing, Kaon would grow stronger as compensation.
Either way, he could confidently call it killing two birds with one stone.
Toward evening, Kaon met Sharon.
The emperor was present as well.
Even nobles had come to act as witnesses, making the Third Princess's palace suddenly crowded.
Third Princess Sharon.
She was Kaon's full-blooded younger sister.
With no faction worth mentioning and having spent her days being ignored by her siblings, she had gradually stopped leaving her palace.
As the stress accumulated and signs of trauma began to appear, she threw herself into alchemy.
That was why the Third Princess's palace was filled with all kinds of alchemical equipment and materials.
She was twelve years old, but her small frame made her look closer to eight or nine.
The moment the crowd approached, she scampered over to Kaon and hid behind him.
‘She's supposed to be a pretty calculating character, but she's acting like a child. Is this an act?’
If so, he would play along.
“Your Majesty, please forgive her rudeness. The Third Princess is extremely shy around strangers.”
“Ha ha. I suppose I have neglected her somewhat.”
“…….”
Neglected was putting it mildly.
The emperor had practically regarded the Third Princess as a walking curse.
In a way uncharacteristic of him, he blamed Sharon for the death of the Second Empress, whom he had loved.
If the emperor had at least taken care of and protected the Third Princess, she would not have ended up like this.
But until now, he had never once come to see her.
Kaon prostrated himself together with Sharon.
Even then, his younger sister held tightly onto his hand.
It was difficult to tell whether she was acting or genuinely afraid.
[We should kill every member of the imperial family who made us like this!]
That was something the original Third Prince had said directly to Sharon in the novel.
He had possessed neither influence nor ability, so he had never acted on it, but the line showed just how much resentment had built up inside him.
How had Sharon responded in the original story?
[If you say so, Brother, then I'll follow you.]
Her only full-blooded sibling.
The only person she could rely on.
That was how their relationship had been written, so Sharon's desire not to be separated from her brother was probably genuine.
“Your brother is going to that cold region in the north.”
“N-No! He can't!”
Sharon suddenly burst into tears.
Even the people watching were taken aback.
At this point, it almost looked like separation anxiety.
Apparently Sharon had been anxious every single day while Kaon was in the south suppressing the rebellion.
If she lost him here, she had no idea when she might see him again.
Naturally, she did not want to be separated.
The emperor smiled kindly and asked,
“Do you want to go with your brother?”
“If we have to die, I want to die together.”
“Ha ha ha.”
The emperor and the nobles alike wore troubled expressions.
Sharon's resolve was absolute.
Since a promise had already been made, the imperial order was issued immediately.
“You leave tomorrow. Make your preparations.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty!”
“Yes, yes.”
The emperor rose weakly and left.
The girl's own father had neglected her until she ended up like this.
If he had even a scrap of conscience, it was only natural that he could no longer bear to remain there.
Once everyone was gone, Kaon sat Sharon on his lap.
“Tomorrow, we go in search of freedom.”
“Freedom?”
“To a land where no one can interfere with us. This place was crawling with awful people.”
“That's right.”
Sharon's eyes sparkled.
Just as in the original novel, Sharon was a clever child.
It was true that she did not want to be separated from her brother.
It was also true that trauma had made her shut herself away.
But she was not stupid.
Her ability to think and scheme far surpassed that of other children her age.
There was a reason the novel had described her as a master alchemist.
Earlier, she had acted like a little child because she had been certain it would prevent anyone from making troublesome objections.
And it had worked immediately.
“Let's escape this life of being openly looked down on. From now on, your brother intends to become emperor.”
“I'll help you with everything I have.”
“Then let us build a world of our own.”
Brother and sister joined forces.
Kaon had thought of Sharon merely as a talented person he needed.
But perhaps because of the feelings left behind by the original owner of this body, he also felt a deep affection for her.