I Became the Teacher of the Imperial Family’s Bastard

001. Beauty of the Nation

The nation is on the brink of collapse.

The moment the army visible beyond that ridge touches this fortress wall will be the end of the thousand-year empire, Orteair.

The empire had almost no remaining troops.

The elite knights were all beheaded by that army, and the soldiers and citizens who rose to defend the country were either captured or brutally killed.

If they had to resort to pulling prisoners out of the dungeons to use as troops, would that convey the severity of the situation?

And by now, someone must have realized.

That’s right.

I am that prisoner soldier.

And even that prisoner soldier is now on the verge of death.

Lost in thought, the commander spoke.

“No matter how much I think about it.”

“What nonsense are you going to spout again?”

“If I had become the emperor, the country wouldn’t have fallen like this.”

Here we go again.

As much as I hate to hear it, it’s not entirely nonsense.

Golden disheveled hair and murky blue eyes.

With a shaggy beard and a body covered in scars, he looks just like a homeless person, but believe it or not, this man was once the crown prince of the empire.

And now, with even the elite all dead, he is the last Grand Master of the empire, the reason we are still alive.

“Lieutenant, don’t you think the situation would be better if I were the emperor?”

He laughed heartily, knowing it was nonsense.

So I responded with nonsense as well.

“Not a chance. If a man who abandoned his duties for a woman were emperor, the empire would have fallen even faster.”

“Harsh.”

“Isn’t it true? Not just you. All the supposed future leaders of the empire were ruined by their infatuation with a single woman.”

Thinking about it makes me angry again.

That was the reason we lost this war.

Was it 20 years ago? When I was still a young noble and he was the crown prince.

The crown prince fell for some common woman and neglected his duties.

He didn’t receive any imperial education, didn’t train in swordsmanship, and even skipped public events like banquets.

All he did was use his power to please that woman.

And what was the result?

He lost his qualifications and was stripped of his title as crown prince.

He went on a rampage out of resentment and was imprisoned, only to be released now when the war has become irreversible, as a desperate measure.

The others were no different.

The grand duke’s heir who guarded the northern front, the master of the underworld, the saint of the papal court, and the next tower master all fell for that woman and were ruined.

And this is the result.

An empire left with nothing but chaff, collapsing under invasion.

To describe it… yes.

“She was a beauty that could topple a kingdom.”

She was a woman who could shake the very foundations of a nation.

The prince chuckled at my words.

“She wasn’t that pretty. Just had a cute face.”

“But she did shake the nation, didn’t she?”

“With her cuteness, yes.”

“What happened to that damn woman? In the end, she fell for a commoner and had a child…”

“…She lived well. Still, she was a pitiful woman, caught up with people like us.”

Still the same.

Whatever that first love was, whenever I insult her, he laughs bitterly like this.

Whether it’s out of guilt or lingering feelings, I don’t know.

Anyway, what’s the point of talking about the past?

“…I’ve been indebted to you all this time.”

I spoke my final words to the prince.

He was the worst royal who brought the country to ruin, but because of him, I got to die fighting for the nation.

I even learned secret swordsmanship from the prince in prison, which elevated my skills.

The prince chuckled.

“Indebted, indeed. I’m just sorry. You ended up in prison because of my youthful folly.”

“The past… it’s fine.”

“Still, I’m sorry.”

It’s not a big deal.

The reason I ended up in prison.

During the time when the Crown Prince was at his most insane, I slapped that woman’s cheek, which provoked the Crown Prince’s wrath.

Although I spent half my life in prison because of this man, I didn’t resent it.

After all, the crimes I was accused of when I entered prison were indeed the ones I had committed.

“If it weren’t for Your Highness, I would still be an immature fool. Was I a bit of a scoundrel? Having so much time to think alone in prison, I finally realized. I lived wrongly.”

I was a scoundrel.

Despite being the heir of a great family, I was an incorrigible person who enjoyed rights without responsibilities.

If I were to recount the crimes I committed, there wouldn’t be enough paper.

What awakened me was the time in prison, and what completed me was the Prince.

I didn’t feel any resentment anymore.

Moreover, there was no time to resent now.

“They’re coming. The barbarians.”

“Indeed.”

In the distance, the king of the barbarians, who now stood at the forefront, could be seen with the naked eye.

Isaac La Bodetta.

The so-called Great Soul, the muscular man with copper-colored skin, was grinning broadly.

“Your Highness, that b*stard is smiling.”

“Let him be. He must be dreaming of taking the Imperial City.”

“Are you really going to let him be?”

“No.”

The Prince stood up.

“I can tolerate the fall of the empire, but I can’t tolerate that b*stard sitting on the throne.”

A golden aura, cold and radiant, gathered on his sword.

It was always a destructive force to behold.

The last of the empire, and the second Grand Master since the first emperor of the empire.

Such a man spoke to me.

“I wish I could turn back time.”

“Suddenly?”

“Yes, I had that thought today. I want to turn back time and go to the past. To before I fell for her.”

“Wouldn’t you fall for her again?”

“I thought about that too. So, after much contemplation, I found the perfect solution.”

“What is it?”

The prince looked at me with a sly smile.

“I’ll send you to the past.”

“…What?”

“You’ll go to the past and beat me up. Make me come to my senses.”

I stared at him, wondering what nonsense he was spouting, and the prince spoke with a mischievous grin.

“Your mouth is quite unrestrained, isn’t it? Even in prison, you asked me if my mother was a whore. I was appalled. It was amazing that someone who insulted the empress was still alive.”

“…You insulted my family first.”

“Anyway, I need someone with a mouth as free as yours. Everyone around me only looks up to me. That’s why I couldn’t come to my senses. I was intoxicated with admiration.”

Tap, tap!

The prince tapped my shoulder with the sword that held the golden aura.

“So it’s you. The one who knows me best in this land, and the one who can defy me and still live.”

Though it was nonsense, it was an interesting topic, so I replied.

“Why should I do that?”

“You taught me swordsmanship.”

“Taught you? I got beaten with that swordsmanship so often that it just stuck in my eyes.”

“It was sparring.”

“Don’t give me that crap, Your Highness.”

“Thanks to that, you became a sword master too.”

“So what? I still can’t beat you.”

The prince was an incredibly strong human being.

When he said, ‘Even if the empire falls, that man’s head must be taken,’ it wasn’t just a resolution.

To be entangled with such a person again, I’d refuse even if it meant death.

“I won’t do it. Get lost.”

Then the prince said,

“No, you will. When you see my face in your youth, you’ll be so enraged that you’ll curse at me.”

“I can’t argue with that.”

That was the end of our conversation.

The only difference from usual was one thing.

We were now going to die.

Also,

“`

“···Your Highness?”

The prince’s eyes were dazzlingly bright… said to be dyed in gold like his sword.

The prince walked towards the front line.

And then he spoke.

“Please.”

I do not know what he was asking for.

But there is one thing I remember.

The prince fought the king of the barbarians.

A strong wind blew, an earthquake occurred, and the sky split apart.

I, merely a swordsman, struggled desperately to take down even one more enemy in the midst of it all.

The roar of explosions, screams, and the clash of steel and blood.

Such things shook my soul and body, making my mind hazy.

At some point, I even lost my senses.

‘Ah.’

I’m dying.

This is the end for me.

After finally sensing my imminent death.

And after a long time had passed.

Eventually, when my senses returned, I tilted my head in confusion.

“`

“Yuren Paros. Now, if you have something to say, I’ll listen. Go ahead and make your excuses.”

The location was an abandoned warehouse.

In front of me stood the young prince, still in his days as the crown prince.

My body was bound.

* * *

Once, a subordinate of mine who had retired after losing his lower half said something like this:

– Just before dying, the most regretful moment of my life appeared like a dream.

Seeing it like this, it seems he was right.

Bound in the abandoned warehouse. The prince, Kallios Van Orteair, laughing at me.

This was the scene of my life hitting rock bottom.

On this day, I had slapped a commoner girl who had captured the prince’s heart, and for that reason, I incurred the prince’s wrath and was imprisoned.

If we were to pinpoint the timing, it was just before I was imprisoned.

It was the final plea time given to me by the prince who had come to see me.

“Do you have any last words? I’m willing to listen to anything.”

Thinking it was a dream, I felt at ease.

I looked at the prince… no, at this point, the crown prince’s face.

Seeing it like this, it was truly astonishing.

‘This face will become that of a homeless man…’

The Crown Prince’s face, to borrow the expression of a certain lady, was “a face that seemed to gather all the fantasies of every girl.”

Honestly, from my perspective, it was a face that might drive a man to madness, but even so, I couldn’t deny its handsomeness.

“But time is cruel.”

How did this face end up looking like a homeless man’s?

The thought was fleeting.

“Can’t you hear me?”

The Crown Prince spoke, narrowing his brows.

I felt no particular emotion.

Even if I were to speak…

“…It’s just a dream anyway.”

I thought back to the past.

What was my actual response?

– “It’s just a commoner girl, Your Highness! I’m innocent! You should defend me, not her! I’m the heir of a great family! I’m your ally, Your Majesty!!!”

…Hmm, not a very good answer.

No matter how many times I think about my reckless days, shame rises within me.

Anyway, if it’s a dream, I hope it ends quickly.

I didn’t live a great life, but I died defending the country, so shouldn’t I go to the gods’ embrace?

There, I want to leisurely live, eating delicious fruits and drinking wine.

Having spent half of my life in prison and the other half on the battlefield, I long for freedom and peace like never before.

‘When will it end?’

That was the moment I thought.

“Hmph, no answer. Are you scared? How could a coward like you wield violence against a woman? Or is your strength only good for bullying the weak?”

A hollow laugh escaped my lips.

‘Have I ever wielded my sword against someone weaker than me?’

Absolutely not.

Of course not, the person who has faced my sword the most is this man from the future.

Other than that, the only ones who have faced my sword are war-crazed barbarians.

If you think about it, it was this man who wielded his sword against the weak.

On the battlefield, the only one who wielded his sword as much as this man was the king of the barbarians.

When I looked at the crown prince with an expression that said it was ridiculous, he smiled slyly.

It was clear he was trying to provoke me.

‘Sigh.’

I can endure it.

I’m not a child, and I won’t be shaken by the words of an immature crown prince.

This is nothing compared to the future emperor’s insult, ‘You don’t even have a mother or father, do you remember their faces?’

…If it weren’t for the words that followed, I would have been fine.

“You’re a coward. No guts, no answers. It’s chilling to think that someone like you was once considered the future of the empire. Getting rid of you today is a choice for the empire.”

Thud. My body froze.

It felt like something hot had settled in my head.

A feeling of deep anger, or perhaps injustice.

The words “for the future of the empire” scraped at me fiercely.

“Did that man worry about the future of the empire? At this time?”

It’s utter nonsense.

I am certain because I heard the answer directly from his mouth.

-At that time, I was like someone possessed. I couldn’t see anything. Except for her… I really couldn’t see anything else.

Maybe that’s why.

My mouth moved on its own.

“Is that something Your Highness should be saying?”

“?”

“A man who neglects state affairs, enchanted by a common woman, talking about the future of the empire… Is this right?”

In fact, this could be considered a crime of disrespect, but I didn’t care much.

“After all, it’s just a dream.”

I decided to just let it out as a way to vent.

Once I made up my mind, my mouth started moving freely.

These were words that had been pent up for quite a long time.

“Your Highness, please get a grip. Please detach your lower body from your thought process. Or should I do it for you?”

The prince’s expression hardened.

Ah, what a relief.

End

ⓒ papapa.

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