If You Take the Enemy Prince as Your Knight

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The number of princesses remaining in the Magnarod Imperial Family was eight. Out of a total of sixty-one daughters, only that many had survived. Most had been executed for displeasing the mad emperor, some had fallen victim to palace intrigues, and others had lost their lives protecting their brothers.

The surviving princesses had changed into dresses as vivid as their colorful hair. The mad emperor was obsessed with beauty, permitting only what was aesthetically pleasing to exist.

I, too, wore a dress layered with lace, my waist tightly cinched by a vest intricately embroidered with jewels. My platinum hair, which had been neatly pinned up, was now styled into an elegant half-updo, the lower half flowing freely. Anticipating that I would be summoned in the middle of the funeral, my personal maid, Hamel, had meticulously prepared my hair from the early morning.

In the audience chamber, eight chairs were arranged in two rows, four on each side of the carpet, facing each other. My sisters and I sat in order of succession, waiting for the mad emperor to arrive.

“It was exhausting changing clothes in just 30 minutes.”

“Sasha, you’re unbelievable. You even changed your hairstyle in that short time?”

“You must have a skilled maid. What’s her name? If you die, I should take her in.”

“Shushu is the youngest. Shouldn’t you pass her on to Shushu instead?”

Such absurd conversations were common in the palace. Without any reaction, I responded to my half-sisters. “That would be for His Majesty to decide.”

Seated beside me, Nanaen clapped her hands. “Oh my! Then I’ll get everything since I’m the Empire’s Golden Deer. Sister Sasha, I’ll make sure to put all your belongings to good use once you’re gone.”

“That’s so unfair! As the older sister, you won’t even leave anything for Shushu, the youngest?”

“That ‘youngest’ title won’t last long. Once you’re dead, I’ll be the youngest.”

“Eek!”

Nanaen and Shumel bickered.

Shumel, who was eighteen this year and the youngest, was nearing adulthood but often kept her twin pigtails to emphasize her cute appearance and her position as the youngest.

“E-Everyone, please quiet…”

“Silence.”

Before my eldest sister could finish her hesitant plea, Orlette, the second eldest, coldly cut in, instantly restoring order.

“Why is there so much idle chatter today?”

No one in the room was unaware of the reason. It was anxiety. Now all the princes were dead, what would become the Imperial Palace’s power structure? How would our father, the mad emperor, treat his daughters?

A shift was certain, but every possibility seemed ominous. He was a man of unpredictable madness, capable of the worst horrors imaginable. At the most extreme, he could have all the remaining princesses massacred today.

At this point, one might wonder—how could a ruler this insane maintain his throne without facing resistance? The truth was, it wasn’t that people couldn’t resist. They simply couldn’t. The answer lay in the Imperial Knights surrounding the audience chamber.

Some individuals in this world possessed the ability to wield mana. Those who manipulated mana through incantations were called mages, while those who channeled it through weapons were known as knights.

In this era, mages have disappeared, and the age of knights has dawned. Even the lowest-ranked knights of the first tier boasted such overwhelming power that they could easily take on a thousand ordinary soldiers. Their strength was on a completely different level from that of regular humans.

And above these knights—the world’s top predators—were the bloodline of the Magnarod Imperial Family. Every member of the Imperial bloodline, myself included, was born with an innate authority to command those who wielded mana. This power varied from individual to individual. The stronger one’s authority, the more powerful knights they could subjugate or the greater number they could control.

Unfortunately for the world, the mad emperor possessed authority akin to that of a god. Over 200 knights had sworn absolute loyalty to him. Even the weakest among them could single-handedly defeat a thousand soldiers, effectively making each one an army in themselves. With 200 such knights under his command, who could possibly dream of rebelling or staging a revolution against him?

Even the dream of poisoning him has failed. I took a moment to silently mourn my fallen brother once more.

“Glory everlasting to the reign of the Great Emperor! Your Majesty, the Great Emperor of the Magnarod Empire, is entering!”

“We greet Your Majesty the Emperor.”

We all stood at once, offering formal bows. As his measured strides echoed through the chamber, the tension and fear in the air grew thicker. Flanked by knights like a human barrier, the mad emperor ascended the steps and took his seat on the throne.

The mad emperor’s platinum hair was slicked back with meticulous care, and wore an extravagantly adorned robe. Perhaps due to the countless potions and medicinal herbs he consumed, he appeared to be no older than his mid-thirties—a deceptively youthful, strikingly handsome man. Yet, looking at that face, which concealed the truth of his real age, it became clear that even the thought of his natural death was a distant, improbable fantasy.

A monster wearing the skin of a man, pretending to be human, has arrived. I kept my gaze lowered, concealing the disgust and hatred in my eyes.

“My beloved daughters, raise your goblets for a toast.”

“…”

Servants presented each of us with ornate golden goblets. It was so fitting of him to make us drink to a toast on the day his last son had died.

Even without looking in a mirror, I knew my eyes were as lifeless as a dead fish’s. The expressions of my sisters were similar. A few, unable to control their emotions, had trembling fingers as they lifted their goblets.

Fortunately—or unfortunately—the mad emperor didn’t seem to care about his son’s death at all. The reason for this toast was entirely different.

“The banners of victory have been raised.”

Apparently, another kingdom had fallen to his conquest. Which kingdom was it this time? His empire expanded in so many directions that I couldn’t even guess.

“My loyal knights have crushed the Eastern Allied Nations and planted the Empire’s flag upon their lands.”

The Eastern Allied Nations? Wait. That meant…

“Of course, that includes the Kingdom of Lohengrin, which had long resisted our rule.”

“…”

The wine in my goblet trembled slightly.

“Fifteen long years. There is no greater joy than finally crushing Lohengrin, which had prolonged this war for so long. To eliminate the roots of trouble, we have purged the entire royal family of the Allied Nations.”

“…”

“As for Lohengrin’s particularly impudent royal family, we made a fine example of them. We beheaded the king and princes in the town square for all to see, then impaled their heads and bodies upon spears, displaying them like grotesque puppets above the city gates.”

“…”

“It seems the rumor about the third prince of Lohengrin being loved by the people was true. Several citizens tried to scale the walls at night to retrieve his corpse, but dozens were executed for it. Had we kept him alive, we might have been treated to a far more entertaining spectacle. What a shame.”

“…”

I fought to keep my eyes open. I feared his face would appear before me if darkness overtook my vision.

“One cannot speak of the joy of victory with an empty mouth. My beloved daughters, I shall bestow the spoils of war upon you.”

The doors to the audience chamber swung open, and chests overflowing with gold and jewels were carried in, seemingly without end.

“We are deeply honored, Your Majesty.”

“Not yet. The true gift begins now.”

His smile curved like a scythe, filled me with dread. And such forebodings never proved wrong.

“Bring them in.”

Clang, a heavy clunking sound echoed across the floor.

Chains?

My sisters and I stiffened at the noise.

What entered in a line were dozens of men. Their legs, once accustomed to moving with discipline and purpose, now dragged heavy shackles and chains across the floor. Their bodies, which should have been clad in knightly armor, were stripped bare, revealing the merciless scars of torture.

“Each of you, choose one.”

So this was what the mad emperor meant by ‘true spoils of war.’

“Now is the time for all of you, as daughters of the Imperial Family, to use your power. Here are fifty knights captured from the Eastern Alliance. Among them are those who are capable of taking on the entire legion alone and others who have razed small cities by themselves. Let’s see which of my daughters has the best eye for talent.”

“…”

“If you successfully tame them with your power, they will be yours. You may take them as knights to stand in the way of any sword that comes for you. Or you may keep them as playthings to warm your bed. Of course, both would be even better.”

Some of my sisters brightened at the offer, but most remained impassive, suppressing their emotions.

A knight’s oath was meant to be sacred. As a princess, I knew that one day I would take a knight, but not in such a coercive and inhumane way. I didn’t want this.

“Your Majesty, su-such an extravagant gift is far too much for us…”