Chapter 54: Hero's Patience

I honestly hesitated whether to kill him or not.

It was true that the power of the Empire was needed to deal with the Demon King's army, but the situation was a little subtle.

Right away, he had a strange relationship with Lilith, an officer in the Demon King's Army, and there was a high probability that his lightsaber would also survive.

If all six kingdoms except the Empire were in good health, borrowing the power of the Empire might not be the answer.

No, in fact, it could have been much cleaner that way than dealing with Aaron, who pretends to help from now on and doesn't hesitate to do all kinds of cheating behind the scenes.

Moreover, hadn't he already tried to kill me once?

'No, no.'

Looking at Aaron's face again, I suppressed my anger.

Killing him would be as easy as flipping the palm of your hand, but I didn't think that would make him feel better.

If he had to kill him now, Aaron would not know exactly why he was dying.

Besides, killing someone who was no more than a puppet of the emperor didn't seem to mean much.

Aaron tried hard to hide it, but now he was nothing more than a pitiful prince who was insecure about his own position, just like his saintess Marianne.

'If you have a little more, then I'll kill you.'

I thought so, as I was glad for Aaron.

When he gained more confidence in himself than he does now, and when he reached his goal a little further, he decided to kill him.

"What do you think? Yes?"

"… You don't know what the hell is wrong?"

I asked Aaron, who kept provoking me.

It is true that I went to the Butler estate without the emperor's order, but the emperor did not comment on that.

Nevertheless, I couldn't understand why the nobles, including Aaron, were hostile to me.

Moreover, knowing Aaron's savage tendencies, I couldn't help but be more curious about his attitude.

"This is why you can't be a country boy. You won't know what you did, even if you die."

"What do you mean?"

I raised my eyebrows at Aaron's words and asked.

Not only Aaron, but the other nobles' reactions were the same, so it was because I realized that there was something I didn't know.

"Butler was a discard. So it should have been a little later for the hero to step out."

"… Later?"

"Okay. When the six kingdoms collapsed and all humans except the empire were cornered, At that time, it was the opinion of the ministers and me that it would be most efficient for you to step forward."

At Aaron's words, I looked at him with a blank expression for a moment.

So, in other words, they were measuring the optimal timing for me to appear.

It was only then that I began to understand the Emperor's confused expression.

And why did the Empire control and hinder my movement so much in the previous round?

"But is it really necessary?"

"What are you talking about? Do you not understand yet?"

"No, if the empire wanted it, it wouldn't have been that difficult to occupy the other kingdoms."

I was appalled at the dirty tricks of Aaron and his lieutenants, but my doubts lay elsewhere.

Although the six kingdoms had their own characteristics, each of them fell short of the Empire's military might.

Of course, if all the kingdoms were united against the empire, it would be quite a headache, but it was true that there were a lot of problems even among the six kingdoms.

So, I didn't understand why Aaron and the ministers of the empire were trying to devour other kingdoms using the demon army.

"What a stupid question indeed."

To my question, Aaron smiled as if I were being ridiculous and replied that way.

"Hu, our hero seems to have very dark eyes for the current situation, so I will explain."

"…"

"Even if the Empire merges them by force, will they follow us? No, they must be looking for an opportunity to revolt, saying that they will always find their own country. But what if we rescue them from the demon king's army? Wouldn't loyalty to the empire rise naturally?"

Only then did Aaron's words begin to put all the puzzles together in my head.

Aaron's strange command felt in the first playthrough, and with the easy fall of other kingdoms, it felt like everything was being assembled in my head at once.

Despite the power, the reason why the Empire left other kingdoms alone was not for a grandiose reason.

Even if you could forcibly merge them, doing so would be troublesome.

For the empire, which was aiming for other kingdoms, the Demon King's Army might have been nothing more than a very good opportunity.

The real purpose of the empire was to turn the attention of the six kingdoms—no, the people of the kingdom—to the demon king army and to absorb and merge them with a kind face.

As Aaron had intended, it was also true that the six kingdoms in his previous life had fallen to the demon king's army, and the empire began to absorb the lands of those little by little.

Moreover, not all of the kingdom's people were annihilated, so they eventually accepted being imperial citizens and had to go to war with the imperial banner.

Representatively, the mercenary empress was like that, and the people of Balkan, the head of the barbarians I killed, were like that.

'It's disgusting.'

I felt sick to my stomach as I watched Crown Prince Aaron and his officials proudly talk about their dirty tricks.

The saintess, who listened to the story silently next to me, also had a cold look in her eyes.

Aaron smiled brightly as he looked at Saint Marian and me.

"So think about it carefully, the hero of the village and the saintess from humble origins. Which side to draw the line on would be in your favor?"

Aaron deliberately copied his father's tone of voice and said so to me and Marian.

It was seen that some of the remaining nobles in the Great War hurriedly covered their mouths and suppressed laughter at his humorous behavior.

A mixture of disgust and anger made my heart pound, but, on the contrary, my head was rapidly cooling.

'Okay. That way, getting revenge on you will be meaningful.'

I hoped that Aaron would stay as he is now.

The longer the patience, the sweeter the fruit.

**

"I'm sorry, but everything the prince said is true."

After breaking up with Aaron, I immediately met Mary, the princess.

Marian had to inform her church of what had happened at the Butler estate, so she left the imperial palace first.

Mary said she hadn't figured out that she had any intentions on Aaron's part, and she confirmed to me that Aaron's words were true.

"But why did the emperor just skip this?"

I asked Mary, who had a puzzled face on her face, and soon she heard the answer to the question.

"That plan came from my older brother. In fact, I think my father just thought the plan was okay. Rather, it seems to me that my father is more interested in the other side."

"The other side?"

"Did something happen at the Butler estate by any chance?"

Mary's words immediately reminded me of the prince's secret letter that old Charlie had.

When I met Aaron, I wanted to argue with him, but it was obvious that he would get away with it, so I didn't bother to show it to him.

"Does this have anything to do with the interest on the other side?"

I handed the secret letter from Aaron to Princess Mary, and the princess, who confirmed it, frowned and brushed her golden hair.

"As expected, my brother moved."

"Okay. What on earth was the prince trying to kill me for?"

I asked the princess while suppressing my anger.

Mary looked at me with a sad face for a while before carefully starting to explain.

"Probably, it is judged to confirm your immortality ability."

"Just because of that?"

"It's not just about that for my father. In fact, it seems that the Empire is more interested in your abilities than unifying the continent."

I let out a fishy laugh at the princess' words.

The fact that the emperor wanted to unlock the secret of my immortality ability had already been experienced enough in his previous life.

"So, what am I going to do next? Do you want to put on a show of self-harm right in front of your father's eyes?"

I asked Mary, and she shook her head.

Of course, I really had no intention of doing such a thing in front of the emperor.

He had no intention of saving the world by going that far, and if the Empire were plotting behind the scenes anyway, it might be better to unite the other kingdoms even now.

"You must be disappointed, but that is how things are now. Perhaps my father is constantly testing the hero. But please, please, don't abandon the empire. Because I will help the hero no matter what."

Mary must have read the look in my eyes, so she bowed her head to me and asked me to

In the end, I had no choice but to nod my head at her words, as I had a very slight debt of heart to her.

'And that must be the end from which Aaron will suffer the most.'

**

"Warrior?"

Leaving the imperial castle, I saw a woman with purple hair who was waiting for me with an expressionless face. I bit her lip.

It was because I realized that the emperor's test came sooner than I expected.

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