I Regret The Kindness I Gave You - Chapter 73

Werner was unusually desperate. He had no choice.

How much had he mistreated and looked down on Magnus when he bore the Fondo name, unlike now?

The moment Magnus is recognized as royalty, everything he has done becomes an insult to the royal family.

Even if the powerless royal family cannot punish the head of the Fondo family, it was irritating to have such an annoying flaw.

“Proof. It’s sad that I have to prove my own blood, but it’s not impossible.”

So when Magnus stepped forward with such a confident face, Werner couldn’t hide his dismay even more.

Such confidence means he already has something prepared.

Confirming the ominous prediction, a kelpie revealed its massive form and majesty at the entrance of the hall.

“Gasp! Isn’t that the divine beast of the Fondo family head?”

“My goodness. It really is…! How is this possible?”

“…If he’s truly royalty and born with strong dominance, it’s not impossible.”

Among those chattering, not a single person was from the six meritorious families.

The heads of the meritorious families and their direct descendants were all silent, busy grasping the current situation.

A new royal appearing at this time of all times?

If it’s a powerful royal who can take control of the Fondo family head’s divine beast as if it were his own… his mere appearance could change the game.

The nerves of the family heads, more sensitive than anyone to such trends, were on high alert.

“Well, would you like to give it any commands? Tell it to return to you, or even order it to attack me. Do whatever you’d like, Lord Fondo.”

“……”

No answer came from Werner. From the moment his kelpie entered the hall, he had already made countless attempts to regain control over it.

However, all those attempts failed, and the kelpie ignored its real master, staying by Magnus’s side.

“How about it? Is this enough to sufficiently prove my ability as royalty?”

Silence. Or rather, a quiet affirmation. That was the conclusion reached by the numerous people gathered in the vast hall.

Cutting through the heavy air where no one dared to speak, Magnus smiled slyly.

“Well then, let’s start a new meeting. Including me, the agenda will be the upcoming royal succession battle.”

The heads of each family sat around a large oval table.

Among the family heads, Werner Fondo was the last to sit, and of all the people, Magnus sat at the very end.

The table being round, there was no specific seat of honor. Yet, the five family heads all looked at one person.

Magnus, who had gently placed both hands on the table, opened the conversation softly.

“You lords have two choices.”

He raised his right hand and nimbly pointed his index finger.

“One is to support me as king and swear loyalty to me.”

Then, pointing his left index finger, he looked at each of their frozen faces and said,

“The other is for the five families here to compete and narrow down to the most promising candidate, and that one to contend with me for the throne.”

Most of the faces, including Werner’s, were tense with the effort of holding back what they wanted to say.

Only two among them didn’t have serious expressions or maintained relaxed postures as if observing distant events.

Rena Aquila and Rude Lupinus.

Stretching her stiff arms high, Rena yawned.

“Why should we choose our arguments only within the options the prince has presented?”

She lightly and playfully questioned. It was a voice of genuine curiosity.

Who are you to? For someone who had just put on the skin of a prince, it was an excessively loose attitude. And a loose command as well.

“According to the prince, we five must fight to the death among ourselves to gain the right to vie for the throne… isn’t that a decision that only brings losses?”

No one who isn’t a fool would make such a decision, Your Highness.

Rena added flutteringly. Perhaps representing the stance of all family heads, those words were like a fuse for them.

“…I agree with the Aquila family head’s words.”

“I share the same thought.”

Those expressing agreement were Giselle Ardor and Mariette Benenum, but it was essentially the same as the agreement of all other family heads.

Only Rude, who was crossing his legs and casually scratching his neck, was different.

He consistently didn’t blend with the other flow and did his own thing. His attitude was so indifferent that he seemed almost detached from this space.

After scanning Rude’s dead fish-like eyes last, Magnus suddenly stood up.

“I understand your thoughts well. However, it seems none of you are grasping the situation.”

His eyes, looking around the audience, were infinitely sad and compassionate.

As if looking at a naive child approaching a blade, not knowing they would die.

“There is one reason why I gave you lords these options.”

Thud!

Dull noises arose here and there.

Several family heads were pushed to the floor as if bounced from their chairs, gasping and groping the ground roughly.

The royal power, dominance.

That irresistible force crushed the five family heads. Most had to bow their heads while coughing.

The situation of crawling on the floor like struggling insects was both shameful and shocking.

Their faces, flushed red from barely breathing, trembled their eyelids.

This can’t be. This shouldn’t happen. How is this possible?

“As you can see, I am already stronger than you lords. I am clearly superior. So I could forcefully take the throne anytime.”

After pressing down on everyone except himself without a gap, Magnus calmly sat back down.

It was an impeccably elegant movement.

“Also, I am one of the six families as prophesied by Widentia. Although I was expelled due to an unfortunate incident and am not in the family register, isn’t it true that by birth and roots, I belong to the Fondo family?”

When he mentioned Fondo, a chill seemed to frost over his face for a moment.

Magnus, sitting straight in his chair, tapped the armrest with his fingertips.

“A royal, with roots in the six families. Moreover, Magnus Iker, who has such dominance to make you lords kneel like this… Could there be anyone more suitable as the protagonist of the prophecy?”

Huff, huff. As soon as the dominance disappeared, the exhausted family heads breathed out heavily.

It was delightful to see those who always pretend to be noble and hold their noses high squirming beneath him, but one person stood out particularly, and Magnus enjoyed observing him.

Rude Lupinus. Only the head of the Lupinus family withstood his dominance.

Not falling to the floor and stubbornly stuck to his chair, he brushed back his hair irritably while breathing quite roughly.

Reading his moving lips, Magnus couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“…Really an interesting guy…”

It was as if explicit curses echoed in his ears.

To think a family head would openly use such vulgar swear words. Though he knew it was directed at him, he couldn’t help but laugh uncontrollably at how unbearably amusing it was.

Wasn’t he the one who said he would hang himself for Merche Benenum?

Magnus was well aware of Rude’s desperate history of courtship, which he had heard through reports.

Sometimes, even while listening to reports from his subordinates, he felt pity.

What was so good about such a stupid woman… While he couldn’t understand the taste, he had to acknowledge that extraordinary devotion.

Magnus, who had been laughing for a long time with his eyes almost closed, took his gaze off Rude and opened his mouth.

“If you all had been aiming for the throne, you would have known that there are divine objects of the first king in the Kingdom of Ipero.”

The three symbols that King Iker was said to have kept on his body until the day he died. And the powerful authority of King Iker left on each of those divine objects.

Too faded to be called old, false records, yet the kingdom’s numerous histories prove it, and myths and legends that are not mere fiction support it.

“This gathering today is to inform you that I have already obtained two of those three divine objects.”

The family heads, who had just managed to grasp their senses and were trying to stand up, swallowed empty breaths once again.

Gazes tinged with despair poured onto the red ruby ring shining on Magnus’s right hand and the laurel wreath he took out from his bosom.

“You have just experienced firsthand how real the power imbued in the divine objects is, and how powerful that authority is.”

“…Then, is the throne already…”

In your hands? Unable to fully express his bloody despair, Werner shook violently.

“My, don’t give up and despair prematurely thinking the throne is already mine, Lord Fondo. Didn’t I clearly say that I would give you lords options?”

Magnus smiled gently at Werner and spread his arms wide.

What a merciful and loving figure he appeared to be. The family heads stared at the scene in a daze.

“There are always exceptions in worldly affairs, so there might be a true protagonist of the prophecy among the six families other than me. So I want to give you a chance.”

“…Kind prince. Please tell us more. What kind of opportunity are you talking about?”

“The answer has already come out, hasn’t it, Lord Aquila? You need to select a challenger to face me.”

Clap! A cheerful sound of hands clapping filled the silent space. Those who were exhausted beyond measure looked dazedly at those meeting hands.