104

Title: Transition from the Game to Reality Episode 104

Chapter 27: Civil War or Kongt(1)

"Marquess Lawrence really surprises me in many ways. With his ability to read situations, I find it hard to pull off any tricks against him. It's quite unsettling when our thoughts align so closely."

From the Crown Prince's response, I strongly felt he didn't want to turn me into an enemy at any cost. Moreover, he seemed pleased to have someone who understands him. Feeling like I might have been showing off too much, I tried to downplay it by saying, "It was just a novel-like fantasy that coincidentally turned out to be true."

"It means your predictive abilities are exceptional. Marquess Lawrence is far too humble in my presence."

But the Crown Prince disagreed with my statement. Even if I denied it, he insisted on portraying me as humble. He could make anyone believe the sky was green. "Does Marquess Trenton know about me?"

"No, I haven't informed him yet. The acquisition of Marquess Trenton also contributed to Marquess Lawrence's inferiority complex, so I don't plan to inform him until the last moment."

"Your Highness, you're somewhat of a villain yourself."

"Haha, openly a villain. I could have strangled Luke long ago, but I created this confusion to clearly distinguish between my allies and non-allies."

Was that really his intention? As he confirmed my uncertain thoughts, I realized once again how formidable the Crown Prince was. 'He's now telling me things I didn't even ask.' I cleared my throat and asked about the plan. With a characteristic squint of his eyes and a smirk, the Crown Prince replied, "Surround, betray, and obliterate."

It was as simple as a fox placing tempting food in front of its eyes. "Surrounding the 2nd Prince faction, initiating betrayal with Marquess Trenton, and then obliterating them." It was a simple yet effective plan. But what I was curious about was how he intended to execute it.

"What do you think is the biggest weakness of the 2nd Prince faction, according to Marquess Lawrence?"

Considering his high estimation of me, he seemed to expect a fitting answer. After a brief moment of consideration, I responded simply, "Exposure of the plan."

"Correct. Information is what determines victory or defeat in war. In that sense, we are already one step closer to victory."

Prince Luke's excessive honesty was the problem. He enjoyed exchanging opinions with his subordinates during the planning phase, and the results obtained were always shared with key personnel. While this might seem like the behavior of a competent commander, the issue was that there were many pretenders around him pretending to be on his side. Consequently, any plan would be leaked in advance, allowing the Crown Prince to easily counter it. Moreover, unlike the 2nd Prince, who had all the plans stored only in his head, the Crown Prince's plans were difficult to expose. Undoubtedly, he would assign tasks to each individual only on the day of the operation.

"Your circling around is getting tedious."

He seemed impressed by me, mistaking my brief lapse in thought for deep contemplation. "Well, Marquess Lawrence would figure it out soon, so there's no need to hide."

Sorry, but without enough hints, I wouldn't have figured it out. I might have some intuition, but I'm not a genius like he seems to think. Nevertheless, the Crown Prince revealed his plan, believing that hiding it from me would be futile.

"Prince Luke is preparing a guerrilla unit, isn't he?"

"Yes, that's correct. Viscount Klein is also part of that unit. Four Ormasters, including Prince Luke, Viscount Vincent, Marquess Ignis, and Viscount Klein, along with twenty top-notch experts, will form a team."

"We plan to create openings to allow their infiltration."

"Indeed..."

I pretended to understand with a simple "Indeed..." I didn't fully grasp what he was saying yet, but I didn't want to disappoint him. The Crown Prince, playing both interrogator and answerer, continued, "Yes, that's correct. Prince Luke hopes to give Prince Trenton, who has been eyeing the Royal Palace and Abamama, a chance to reveal his true nature."

Did that mean he intended to provoke a confrontation? Why?

Title: The Fortification of the Kingdom of Linehartz

The stronghold of the Linehartz Kingdom is akin to a fortress in itself. Is there really a need to forsake the advantages of defense? With a smile, I nodded vigorously, desperately racking my brain. And then, in that moment, a flash of insight occurred. I recalled a single possibility. It was to surrender the stronghold to the Second Prince's expeditionary force for the first move in the "surround, betray, and obliterate" strategy he mentioned earlier. The Second Prince, for the sake of tradition, couldn't afford to relinquish control of the stronghold and the king he finally held in his hands. Therefore, it meant that the Second Prince would isolate himself by calling upon his own faction to defend the stronghold. "Once the Second Prince is trapped within the stronghold, the positions of offense and defense are fixed." The Crown Prince would become the attacker, surrounding the stronghold, while the Second Prince would become the defender, establishing a defensive line centered around the stronghold. However, when the Second Prince established the defense line, the worst-case scenario would occur: Arshia, myself, and the faction of Marquess Trenton betraying him. "A Trojan horse in this day and age." It might sound cliché, but by using his own father and the king of this country as bait, it was an undeniable tactic. "Without internal collaborators, this strategy is futile. The Second Prince would likely rejoice, unaware that Your Highness has escaped," I remarked. "Indeed, it's good that our conversation flows well." He reacted with a thumbs-up, even though I barely grasped the concept just now. Truly a hard person to keep up with. However, there was a significant problem with this plan. "Unfortunately, there is one issue with this plan," I mentioned, and the Crown Prince also noted the problem. "Inevitably, Marquess Klein, Marquess Trenton, and I would be at risk, correct?" "Yes, that's correct. The Second Prince's faction, due to your betrayal, will rapidly collapse. Inevitably, in that process, you will become the target of concentrated attacks," I explained. If our abilities were enough, we would survive. If not, it could mean our demise. It was truly high risk, high return. "Does Your Highness have a separate plan for this aspect?" "I plan to reveal a few hidden secret passages within the castle. By utilizing these secret passages to disrupt the enemy, the chances of survival will significantly increase," he replied. Despite the risks, it was a plan that certainly increased the likelihood of survival. I pondered for a moment. Where could there be a safe betrayal in war? Yet, I wanted to minimize the risk further. The Crown Prince silently watched me, giving me time to think. "Your Highness, if I may make one suggestion?" And with that brief moment of contemplation, I proposed my idea, which piqued his interest as he nodded. "During the incident in the Freeus Republic, I made a significant contribution to the revolution." The sudden mention of the Freeus Republic, especially in connection with my seemingly capricious actions, naturally sparked curiosity on the Crown Prince's face. "As a result, they promised me a reward." "A reward?" "That's correct." The discussions about the reward were mentioned several times during the conversations with the revolutionary commander in the presidential palace. That reward was precisely this. "They promised to provide military support to our kingdom in the event of a civil war." Military support from the Freeus Republic to the Linehartz Kingdom in times of civil unrest. It was an arrangement made to increase my chances of survival and ensure the definitive victory of the Crown Prince's faction. "Hmm..." However, no matter how I explained it, it sounded like bringing in foreign intervention. So, to prevent the Crown Prince from feeling uncomfortable, I quickly added, "It's not anything grand like bringing in legions." "What's the exact scale of the military support?" It wasn't the president of the Freeus Republic I made the promise with, but rather Israel Oscar Freeus, the revolutionary commander. If such a promise was the best military support he could offer...

Title: Ora Master's Secret

Three revolutionaries, who were once close aides of Commander Israel, formed the core of the revolutionary guerrilla strike force.

"These are the Ora Masters," I said.

The Crown Prince's eyes widened at my words. It was a grand gesture to bring only three individuals, but it was enough to brush off any talk of enlisting foreign aid.

However, the presence and destructive power of these three individuals were exactly what we needed.

"Was all the trouble with the republic-related incidents just part of this plan?" he asked.

Not necessarily. The republic situation was just me cleaning up a mess. However, the answer to his question was predetermined.

"Of course."

"Well, Lord Lawrence wouldn't act without reason. He truly is remarkable."

He was impressed by my boastful tone, but it was merely surprising to him. There was no need to mention the condition of ensuring his survival. In fact, besides the dispatching of personnel with survival as a condition, the request for manpower was not significant, except for one more reward agreed upon.

But in this good atmosphere, there was no need to cloud the mood with unnecessary explanations.

"Let's hide the three Ora Masters in the secret passage. With quick support, you will surely survive. After all, it's a party that includes four Ora Masters and two Archmages."

"Understood."

"Thanks to this, the situation where failure is not an option has been created. Enlisting Lord Lawrence was truly a masterstroke."

The Crown Prince looked at me as if he had fallen into a cult.

After that, the conversation with the Crown Prince was brief. There was much to be done.

"Thank you for your hard work, Lord Lawrence, Marquess Klein."

After a while, I got up from my seat and moved to the secret teleportation gate to leave the Crown Prince's palace.

But then, I suddenly remembered something and stopped in my tracks.

"What if Prince Luke attempts to overpower the king and ends up being overpowered instead?"

"That wouldn't happen, but if it did, this matter would be resolved more simply."

"I see."

What I remembered was the Linehartz Kingdom's royal decree that my father mentioned. Judging from the Crown Prince's reaction, he seemed to be completely unaware of it.

"Really, does it even exist?"

While Adrian was having a clandestine conversation with the Crown Prince, Prince Luke of Linehartz was having a secret discussion with his closest confidant and mentor, Viscount Vincent, and the head of the noble audit office, Viscount Hamington.

"After winning this war, do you really plan to deal with him?"

"There's no need to keep such a troublesome fellow around for stable governance."

"During the war, he's a valuable talent not to be used and discarded..."

"It was originally planned to deal with Lord Lawrence after winning the war. Viscount Vincent, why the sudden change of heart?"

They were discussing the assassination of Adrian after the civil war ended.

Although Lord Vincent, the chief sword of the kingdom, was wary of the rising fame of Adrian's assassination, he couldn't oppose the Second Prince's strong will.

The reason the Second Prince strongly advocated Adrian's assassination was that he suffered from an incurable disease.

"If we kill Lord Lawrence, we might distance ourselves from Marquess Klein rather than gaining his favor."

The disease he was suffering from was a difficult one to cure: love.

Was it after witnessing the battle between Arshia and the ogre at the royal hunting ground? Or had his affection been growing steadily before then?

He had already mentally chosen Arshia as his future queen.

"Is her opinion important? It's what I want."

But the problem was that his love was overly selfish and dangerously twisted. Therefore, to win over Arshia, he believed he must kill her fiancé, Adrian.

Lord Vincent let out a small sigh but soon nodded as if there was no other choice.

"Understood. I will assist Your Highness's intentions."

If it involved Adrian and Arshia, Prince Luke would often lose his reason. Therefore, Lord Vincent judged that traffic control was necessary for his sake.

What mattered most to them was Prince Luke, who would inherit the throne, not an outstanding talent.

"Good, now I'm pleased."

Although the war for the throne had not yet begun, the sight of them planning for the future already seemed like a victory in the war.

If Adrian had overheard their conversation, he would have nodded approvingly, advising them to hide their conspiracy and focus on winning the war.