However, the expressions on the faces of the nobles listening to Cale and the crown prince started to be filled with different colors.
There was only one thing that these two could mean right now.
The Roan Kingdom wanted to take over the Empire.
The Ailan household was known as the leader of the Roan Kingdom's southeast region. The head of that household, Marquis Sand Ailan, saw the expression on crown prince Alberu's face and gulped.
'…He means it.'
The crown prince really was aiming for the Empire.
And he had called the kingdom's highest nobles here in order to express that desire.
'No. He didn't only call us.'
Marquis Sand Ailan's gaze headed to a spot about halfway between himself and the crown prince. Cale Henituse was standing there. He seemed to have already discussed everything with the crown prince.
'This is bad.'
They had just finished a war.
The fact that crown prince Alberu was preparing for another war made Marquis Sand Ailan unable to determine how the state of affairs of the continent would flow from here.
Furthermore, wasn't this supposed to be the crown prince who cherished his people?
He had just told the citizens that the war was over and that they could greet spring. That meant that the war against the Empire would go in a different way than the war against the Indomitable Alliance.
'However, those things aren't the main issues.'
The real reason that Marquis Sand Ailan thought it was bad. That reason was making his mouth completely dry.
'The Roan Kingdom is not weak.'
The bad part was that this war against the Empire did not seem impossible.
The growth of the Mage Brigade and the Navy, as well as the overall growth of the knights' morales. All of these showed that the Roan Kingdom was already one of the Western continent's strongest kingdoms.
Furthermore, they also had a sword master and many other strong individuals who were a kingdom's important keys for success.
Although many people did not know about this next topic because the news had not spread, but the crown prince has been pressuring temples for a while and setting the foundations to bring the necromancer and the Dark Elves into the kingdom.
Crown prince Alberu Crossman truly showed the strength of the survivors very well.
He had shown it by surviving when he had no strong supporters after he had lost the king's favor.
The people who had been his stronger supporters were the Henituse household and the northeast region's nobles who had been the central figures in this past war.
Marquis Sand Ailan was unable to do anything during this past war. In fact, the influence of the southeast region's nobles had decreased, putting him in a bad situation.
'However, no matter how strong the Roan Kingdom has become, fighting against the Empire is a different issue.'
It meant something to touch the Empire that had long been the Western continent's ruler.
Marquis Sand Ailan's mind became complicated.
Actually, his heart was even more complicated.
'The bad thing is that I keep thinking that it is possible.'
No matter how terrible he had been in the political side, he was the Roan Kingdom's leader of martial arts after all. Which expert, especially a sword master, would want to suppress his own powers in front of a large-scale war?
'Defending,' against the Indomitable Alliance and, 'attacking,' the Empire were extremely different from one another.
The fact that the Roan Kingdom was in a place where it could launch an attack made his heart excited.
'It also creates an opportunity for each faction's nobles.'
Marquis Sand Ailan looked toward Duke Orsena, who represented the central faction.
Both Marquis Ailan and Duke Orsena were known to not be part of the crown prince's faction. Their influence was decreasing as the Roan Kingdom's name became better known.
Gaining merit in the war against the Empire was their chance to find a shortcut in order to retrieve their lost influence.
Marquis Ailan had a bitter smile on his face as he looked toward crown prince Alberu.
'The crown prince probably invited all of us here while aiming for this.'
He was scared of the crown prince's strategic mind.
However, that bitter smile soon disappeared.
Crown prince Alberu Crossman started to speak.
"Do you know the story of the Crossman royal family?"
The Crossman household had been the only royal family since the beginning of the Roan Kingdom.
There was a story related to that family.
'The Crossman ruler always has beautiful blonde hair.'
This blonde hair was the symbol of the royal family. Although the entire royal family throughout history had not been blonde, the king and the potential future kings had all always been blonde.
This was because it was said that the Crossman household had received the blessing of the Sun God.
However, the nobles did not dare to share this information out loud.
That reason came out of Alberu's mouth with an odd smile on his face.
"The Crossman royal family is said to have received the blessing of the Sun God, however, we are unable to share this story because of the Empire. This is the internal sorrow for a kingdom that is average."
The Mogoru Empire was the continent's strongest faction and the location of the largest Church of the Sun God. The Mogoru royal family had always treasured the Sun God.
That was why the Roan Kingdom's Crossman family had been unable to share this information about their roots starting at some point.
It wasn't that the Empire did something to tell them to stop, instead, the Roan Kingdom chose to shut up about it on their own. Since they were weak, they didn't want to do anything that might cause a fight.
Furthermore, other than the fact that the family received the blessings of the Sun God, the Roan Kingdom did not have a national religion. The Roan Kingdom's royal family did not push forward the Church of the Sun God to the citizens and was reluctant to have the royal family be tied closely with the church.
Alberu watched the nobles start to frown at his words before turning to look at Cale.
Although people may think that he was sincerely listening, the fact that he was staring at the ceiling made it obvious Cale was not thinking about anything right now.
'How did I end up having to work together with a bastard like him?'
The issue was that this bastard was the most trustworthy person to him.
Crown prince Alberu held back a sigh as he continued to speak.
"His majesty was originally planning on handing over the crown after this war."
'What is he talking about?'
Cale, who had been barely listening, turned toward Alberu.
Why was this crown prince saying something so important as if he was Ron talking about a kid from next door walking by the house?
Cale frowned and observed Alberu, who had announced this bomb of an announcement. However, he was not as shocked as the other nobles.
"T, that is big news! I see. I didn't know something like that had happened."
Duke Orsena, the leader of the central faction, showed his shock before quickly calming himself and responding back.
However, he could not help but gasp after hearing what Alberu had to say next.
Alberu continued to speak to the shocked nobles.
"But I declined it."
He declined the crown.
That act made it clear who held the power in the Roan Kingdom right now.
Marquis Sand Ailan finally managed to open his mouth to ask a question.
"Your highness, I know that I should not question your decisions, but may I ask your reason for doing that?"
Crown prince Alberu quietly observed Marquis Sand Ailan, who had asked the question.
Beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes. The crown prince completely looked the part of a Crossman heir.
He smiled at Marquis Ailan, who did not avoid his gaze, and turned around. He then walked toward the terrace.
Chhhhhhhhhh-
The closed curtains were opened again.
At the same time, the bright light of the sun entered the room.
Crown prince Alberu put his back toward the sun as he started to speak.
"I will become the Roan Kingdom's ruler when it is at its highest point."
The Roan Kingdom that Alberu was thinking about was when it would have fully opened up its wings once again.
That was the moment Alberu Crossman would become the Roan Kingdom's new king.
"I wish to be the brightest person in a larger Roan Kingdom."
The reason he pushed back the coronation.
He desired to become the king of the Roan Kingdom once it had eaten up some of the Empire's territory. This desire was thoroughly delivered to the four noble leaders.
They could see the brightly smiling Alberu Crossman.
His face was covered with shadows because the sun was to his back, however, his gaze and smile were clearer than ever before. Alberu's calm voice echoed in the chilly room.
"Will you all take me there?"
Silence filled the area.
Alberu's voice continued through that silence as if it was a fog.
"Of course, I do not wish to shed our citizens' blood in order to get there."
'Wow.'
Cale was amazed internally.
He was pressuring the nobles thoroughly.
This really was the person who managed to handle Choi Han in the novel.
He was someone who cared about the Roan Kingdom's citizens and cared about the greater good.
However, he was also someone who did not hide his greed.
'These are his instincts. These are his instincts as a king.'
If Rosalyn was someone who threw away her royal position and chose a different path without any hesitation because of her greed…
Alberu Crossman was someone who hid the fact that he was a quarter Dark Elf and persisted even when he had no support in order to reach the position of a king for a stronger Roan Kingdom.
It might be possible that the Choi Han in, 'The Birth of a Hero,' chose to help Alberu out not just because of his glib tongue but because of his appearance as a true, 'ruler.'
'I bet that Alberu Crossman definitely becomes one of the main heroes after volume 5.'
The Alberu that Cale read about up to volume 5 only had the role of giving tasks to Choi Han and nothing else.
However, if new strong individuals or heroes other than Choi Han, Lock, and Rosalyn appeared starting from volume 6, then Cale was certain that one of them would have been Alberu Crossman.
'Alberu Crossman is not the type to lose to Imperial Prince Adin.'
That was why Cale could not help but support this crown prince who was greedy but still put the needs of the citizens first.
However, although Cale smiled and quickly hid it, the other nobles were feeling a sense of chilliness that they could not even feel the warmth of the sun.
Marquis Sand Ailan had his eyes closed. All sorts of thoughts were going through his mind. However, he soon opened his eyes again. He had made up his mind in less than 5 seconds.
'Let's do it.'
It was time to put everything on the line.
However, there was someone who had made up their mind faster than any of them.
One person's voice responded to Alberu's request.
"Your highness."
Cale Henituse.
He was the first one to respond to Alberu's request.
Cale slightly bowed and continued to speak.
"Your highness, you will start the new story about the Roan Kingdom and the Crossman royal family."
'Funny bastard.'
Alberu held back his laughter.
The Crossman royal family had always had blonde kings.
Although he thought that it was a rotten tradition, Alberu had to turn himself blonde as well. It was not just an issue for him, as he felt that it would be difficult for the citizens to accept him and his quarter Dark Elf blood that had been hiding the truth all this time. Furthermore, his true appearance would be a weakness when it came to politics and foreign affairs.
That was why Alberu understood what Cale meant by what he said.
The person who never said useless things had said, 'the Crossman royal family's new story.'
This definitely meant that he would become the Roan Kingdom's king even though he was not truly blonde.
'I like it a lot.'
Alberu then looked toward the others. They all bowed their heads and shared similar sentiments.
"We will do what we can to create that path for you, your highness."
He could see Cale raise his head before the other nobles.
He looked quite evil as he smiled.
– Human! The crown prince is smiling like you as well!
However, Alberu had a similarly evil smile on his face.
"Raise your heads."
The nobles raised their heads at Alberu's command. Alberu gave another order to the nobles after that.
"I will teach you the path that you will need to walk from here."
Of course, he had come up with this plan with Cale.
The bright sun was shining while the citizens were cheering outside the terrace. However, the Roan Kingdom's central figures were planning for their future.
* * *
Cale returned to the Henituse residence at the capital and looked at the clock.
Click, click.
He could hear the second hand moving.
"Human, they will be here soon!"
He heard Raon's comment. Cale turned his head.
Paaaaat-
A bright light caught Cale's attention. The empty room next to Cale's bedroom. The magic circle in that room was shining brightly.
Once that light disappeared…
"Nice house."
Cale could see the ancient Dragon Eruhaben looking around the room. He could also see three people wearing white priest robes with no crests.
Eruhaben had returned to the Super Rock Villa in order to bring these three people over. They were naturally the three that Cale had been waiting for.
The crazy priestess Cage, the half-Saint Jack, and the blood-crazed sword master and fake Holy Maiden, Hannah.
They had come to see Cale for the first time in a while.
"Long time no see. The God of Death seems to be doing a good job."
"Hey."
"Young master-nim, I have heard a lot about your great deeds."
Crazy priestess Cage took out wine glasses with shields etched on them while Hannah casually greeted Cale and touched her scabbard. Saint Jack was smiling with an even holier face than usual.
Cale put on a smile that was as gentle as possible as he said something to these three that had each greeted him in their own ways.
"We need to go evangelize."
Silence filled the room after hearing Cale's words.
Cale continued to smile as he asked crazy priestess Cage, who was staring at him a question.
"Miss Cage, did I seem holy?"
Cage responded back with an odd expression on her face.
"…Young master-nim, you look evil."
The crazy priestess Cage did not know how to lie.
Cale's expression quickly became blank in surprise.