The Crown Prince Who Raises Alt Characters

Chapter #205: Demon Kron (3) - Violence for Bullying The Eizern Empire is vast. If you ask just how vast, you could answer that it's vast to the point of being somewhat creaky for an individual called an 'Emperor' to rule. If the monarch were a training dummy and real power lay below, that would be one thing, but in the Eizern Empire, imperial authority is also strong. You might think strong imperial authority is a good thing, but power is fundamentally the right to decide something according to one's will. That the Emperor's power is strong also means there are that many more matters that the Emperor must directly decide and handle. Fortunately, thanks to cultivating the bureaucratic organization well, ordinary matters were handled below and only the cream of the crop reached the Emperor, but since the Empire's territory was so vast, even that alone was no small burden. And this was also why those commonly called 'territorial nobles' could survive in an empire with powerful central authority. Converting all the Empire's territory to direct imperial control and dispatching local officials to act as feudal lords would be possible in principle, but if they actually did this, the Emperor's workload would physically explode, so they decided to just run the nobles like subcontractors. The fact that the nobles' rebellion itself against suddenly having their land taken away and falling from boss to wage earner was a secondary concern showed the majesty of the imperial family. "But the Ospin family doesn't seem to have much enthusiasm for territorial development. To think such a forest area in the middle of the territory is left neglected without proper management." Some forest in Count Ospin's Territory. At Kron's evaluation delivered with an indifferent face, Kuella carefully asked back. 'I heard they at least prohibited commoners from entering carelessly.' "That's even more of a problem. Despite blocking external intrusion, the Count's family itself isn't properly utilizing the forest. All sorts of things in here are resources, yet not even placing a single forest keeper and just neglecting it is a bit too much." Trees that grow too densely compete to steal each other's sunlight and nutrients, which actually slows their growth and makes the trees themselves thinner. So it's better to thin them out to some degree. Fallen leaves and twigs rolling around the floor shouldn't be removed too much since they decompose and return nutrients to the soil, but if there are too many, they become vulnerable to fires and pests, so it's efficient to intervene from outside to achieve proper balance. If they had some kind of environmental beliefs and were preserving the forest, that would be one thing, but preventing commoners from touching it while neglecting it themselves without lifting a finger is nothing more than disliking lowly people touching their things. From a ruler's perspective, there's no inefficiency like this inefficiency, but at the same time, for 'Kuella Ospin' it was also an opportunity. Thanks to this, there was no worry about securing food. Slice! With the silver knife in Kron's hand, the neck of a brown-furred rabbit was separated from its body. The series of scenes where a noble young lady dressed in a gown skinned the rabbit, removed its organs, skewered it, and roasted it over a campfire would have been extremely surreal even to complete strangers. Needless to say, it was even more so from Kuella's perspective, the original owner of that body. While the meat was cooking, Kuella in her spirit form watched with an indescribable expression as Kron picked and crunched on fruits from trees and bushes. Sensing such a gaze, Kron tilted his head and asked. "Do you perhaps want to eat? I didn't season it separately so honestly it doesn't taste good, but if you want to try it, I could return your body briefly." 'No, it's not that I particularly want to eat it... But you eat more normally than I thought. Since you're supposedly a demon, I imagined something like tearing throats raw and drinking blood.' "Animal blood is indeed a high-nutrition food, but honestly I don't really recommend it. The risk of parasites is great. And it dirties your clothes." Kron's appearance as he said this was so neat that it was hard to believe he had been hunting and eating in the middle of the forest. If he just washed off the blood and dirt on his hands with water, he could walk down the street without any problems. Just how skilled was he? "I'll solve meals like this for a while. If it's just investing about 30 minutes a day, it can coexist sufficiently while attending the academy." 'But won't they find it suspicious at home?' What would they think if they saw their daughter, whom they had tried to break by starving, acting as if nothing was wrong, or rather getting plumper and more energetic as days went by? But despite Kuella's worries, Kron showed no concern whatsoever. "Even if they find it suspicious, there's nothing they can particularly do. It would be even better if they try to force something." 'What do you mean...?' "More than that, Kuella. There's something I want to ask." 'Yes?' "—Your maternal family. That is, do you know anything about your deceased mother's family?" *** The woman who was Count Ospin's mistress and now earned the title of Count Ospin's wife, Melinda. The emotion she felt when she first heard news of Kuella's rebellion was amusement. Specifically, it was close to 'Ah, is it time for that again?' "Goodness, she never gets tired of it no matter how many times, that girl." This wasn't the first time Kuella had rebelled in this way. And every time there was such rebellion, Melinda had thoroughly crushed Kuella, breaking her will and pride. Defying her was impossible anyway. The more she tried to defy, the more pain she would see, so she should quietly follow orders. "First, let's starve her. When she feels like she'll die of hunger, she'll crawl over on her own saying she was wrong." Threatening with food might seem petty at first glance, but it's also that effective. It's not for nothing that slave traders start by starving slaves for several days when training them. Having given orders to the servants, she pushed matters concerning Kuella to a corner of her mind. To her, who had the important mission of boasting about newly purchased accessories at the noble ladies' gathering, the previous wife's daughter was such a trivial existence. But a few days later. After receiving a new report from the pale-faced servants, Melinda too had no choice but to frown. "She's fine?" "Yes, madam. Rather, she's gained more weight than before and her complexion has improved." "Does that make sense? One of the servants isn't secretly bringing her meals, is she?" "No. I was also suspicious of that so I thoroughly monitored the kitchen and room entrance, but couldn't find any traces." The middle-aged maid who had previously been verbally beaten down by Kuella (Kron) whispered to Melinda with a cautious attitude. "Perhaps when she goes out to the academy, she's getting food from somewhere? While we can monitor her when she's in the house, we can't do so while she's out." It was a face-saving statement with the nuance that since it happened outside, there was no responsibility for those inside the estate, but even to Melinda's ears it was quite a plausible story. "Goodness, no matter how vulgar she is, for a noble young lady to go around begging for meals outside. She must be determined to ruin the Count's honor." As the mistress of the Ospin family, she couldn't continue to overlook such a situation. Melinda immediately gave an order. "Lock her in her room for a few days. Contact the academy saying she can't come because she's sick." "Yes, madam." It was an absurd level of tyranny, but neither Melinda who gave the order nor the maid who received it considered it unjust. As long as it didn't go against the Count's own will, within the Count's household Melinda's words were as good as law. However, if there was one thing they hadn't anticipated at all. "—What? Stay confined in my room? I don't want to." It was that Kuella was no longer the girl they had known. At her daughter's appearance of asserting with her whole body 'Me? Why? I don't want to?', Countess Melinda momentarily gaped with a dumbfounded face. But that was only momentary, and soon she glared at Kuella (at least in Melinda's perception) with a venomous face. "Are you crazy? You dare defy this mother?" "If you wanted to be treated as a parent, you should have done parent-like things. Instead of going around buying new dresses every day." "You've really lost your mind!!" Without a moment's hesitation, Melinda swung her palm toward Kuella's cheek. But when Kuella lightly leaned her head back, her hand crossed through empty air without touching anything. "Dodged?" Swish! Swoosh! Enraged, Melinda swung her hands several times, but Kuella avoided all those attacks far too easily. Feeling shame at her own flailing appearance before Kuella who was graceful as if dancing, Melinda shrieked toward a nearby guardian knight. "What are you doing!! Grab her!!" The large-framed knight had a face that seemed like he wanted to sigh inwardly, but soon hid his emotions with a businesslike attitude and spoke. "Please stay still, miss. If you dodge carelessly, you might get hurt." As if the title of knight wasn't just for show, a calloused hand stretched out as if to grab Kuella's shoulder. However, before his hand could touch Kuella, Kuella's hand caught the knight's wrist. And the next moment, the knight's body flew through the air. Crash bang!! The knight's large frame collided with luxurious furniture, rolling around with loud noises. All the servants gaped at the sight of slender-framed Kuella throwing a person, but even that was trivial compared to the shock Melinda received. "You, you, what in the world is..." Melinda couldn't believe what had just happened. Kuella was just an ordinary noble young lady. Though she attended the academy, her major was clerical work through and through. She was just a miss who hadn't properly learned swords or magic, close to being an outsider when it came to fighting. But what was this scene unfolding before her eyes? Suddenly, Kuella and Melinda's gazes met. At Kuella's extremely indifferent gaze, as if this wasn't particularly something to make a fuss about, Melinda unconsciously became dispirited. However, soon she screamed convulsively as if unable to accept that fact. "Are you really sane!? Do you think you'll be safe after doing this!?" Kuella slowly, very slowly tilted her head sideways. "If I'm not safe?" "What?" "Just because I don't listen, is there something you can actually do, stepmother?" Melinda, who was about to retort 'Of course there is,' suddenly found herself speechless. What... should she do? Starve her? If she takes care of eating outside herself, it would be meaningless. Stop her by force? Didn't she just show her smashing a knight right before their eyes? "Let me declare in advance, this territory's forces cannot do anything to me. Whether it's a frontal confrontation or targeting rest or sleeping time, it's all the same. Ah, of course, tormenting people isn't only possible physically. Like not properly serving meals like last time, or messing with bedding or clothes, there would be various methods." However, Kuella added. "The moment I suffer, you will suffer the same, no, double that. If meals aren't satisfactory, I'll overturn the dinner table, and if you mess with clothes, I'll turn all your precious dresses into rags. And this applies not only to you, stepmother, but also to the servants who carry it out." Kuella stared at the servants who had been watching this scene from the corner of the room. They hastily buried their heads downward to avoid her gaze. Contrary to people's common perception, what's crucial in the act of bullying isn't the superiority of physical strength. Rather, the victim's sense of helplessness that they can't escape no matter what they do, and the perpetrator's peace of mind that there will be no consequences for committing such acts play much bigger roles. It's not that they can't resist because they lack the strength to resist, but because bullying is cruel and frightening as it forcibly teaches them to fear the very act of resistance itself. But now, that prerequisite had been shattered. The victim no longer feared the perpetrators, and the perpetrators could no longer look down on the victim as they had before. The next day. Looking at the lavishly set table unlike before, Kuella in her spirit form let out a cheer. 'It worked! Lord Kron! Things really changed!' Kron answered in his mind. No, Kuella. This is just the beginning.