Fourth Prince's Debauchery

"According to the news, the daemon empire has started to attack."

The words of the emperor raised a commotion in the hall.

Since hundreds of years ago, humans have never had a good relationship with daemons. The two races can be considered as mortal enemies.

Moreover, such feelings have increased lately with the incident in the forest of wolves. After a big number of noble descendants were killed by daemons, many parties in the empire have started to push for war.

But even so, many people were taken aback for the news.

"… How many enemies are there?" A noble asked the emperor.

"We are not sure." The emperor said. "But according to our estimates, the daemons troops number more than one hundred thousand people. Moreover, each daemon is an elite warrior."

One hundred thousand daemons. That was a big army.

With these numbers, breaking through the borders of the empire was almost guaranteed.

The nobles looked at each other with grave expressions. None of them wanted to see a daemon invasion.

Fortunately, not everything was bad news.

"The daemon empire has not launched a full-out attack yet. Just some small skirmishes." Explained the emperor. "Moreover, I already gave an order to mobilize the nearby armies. They are already ready to face the daemons."

"But your majesty, I don't think the armies in the borders are enough to face an all-out attack of the daemon empire." A random noble opined.

The emperor nodded. "That is the reason we are here. I'm planning to announce a conscription order. Since today onwards, each male in the empire older than fifteen must get ready to participate in the war."

"That is…"

"Each male older than fifteen...?"

"What are we going to do meanwhile with the works that need that manpower?"

Once more, the nobles raised a commotion.

At the same time, they realized the seriousness of the situation.

"There is not another option. In fact, the situation is more troublesome than you think." The emperor sighed with a complicated expression. "The daemon empire is not the only one that started to move. Recently, the Beastkin Alliance seems ready to make another move. Our spies have told us that the Blood Empress is getting ready for war again."

I frowned. Emilia?

So she is unable to wait anymore, huh.

Just a few weeks ago, the Beastkin Alliance destroyed two human kingdoms under the orders of Emilia, the Blood Empress. But it looks like she is not satisfied with that.

If I'm not wrong, she is planning to continue waging war until she finds me.

And once she finds me, we will have to fight.

To be honest, I would prefer not to have to fight her.

I sighed tiredly in my mind and continued hearing the emperor.

But to my surprise, the emperor spoke to me.

"Claus. In a week, you will be going to the frontlines. I hope you take advantage of this situation to gain experience on the battlefield."

... What the hell?

What are you planning now, father?

As expected, I was not the only one that found the situation strange.

"Wait a moment, Your Majesty." Headmistress Evelyn stepped forward with an ice-cold face. "I don't think it's prudent to send a prince to the frontlines in this kind of time."

"It's an order, headmistress. Not a suggestion. A prince in the frontlines will help to raise the morale of the empire's armies. Plus, Claus's martial skills are pretty good, so I don't think he will be in much danger." The emperor looked at Evelyn indifferently. Then, he turned towards me. "Claus, do you have any objection?"

I looked at the emperor and narrowed my eyes. How suspicious...

But soon, I smiled.

"None, Your Majesty. I accept your command."

No matter what he is planning, I don't need to care.

It's a shame, though. I just got my harem mansion and I'm already leaving.

I wanted to enjoy it a bit more.

I could see Evelyn and Dina biting their lips. It seemed they were not happy with the emperor's decision.

However, there was nothing they could do.

Unless we were ready to completely fall out with the emperor, it's better to follow his orders for now.

Plus, it's not as though I'm in danger.

I smiled at Evelyn and Dina to indicate to them that everything was alright and I continued paying attention to the meeting.

During the rest of the meeting, the emperor and the nobles discussed several different countermeasures to face the daemon army. I could feel the sense of urgency in their words.

Mainly in the nobles whose territories were close to the border. These nobles were the most invested in finding a solution to the daemon threat.

Thus, the meeting reached an end like that.

But when the meeting was about to end, Evelyn stepped out.

"Your majesty, I hope you can give me an answer about the thing I asked of you before."

The emperor was confused. Seconds later, he remembered what Evelyn meant.

"The situation with the seeds and the people being mind-controlled, huh."

"Yes, Your Majesty. From the information I have got, there are several people in the capital with seeds in their minds. All these people can be controlled at any moment for the mastermind behind this."

The emperor did not reply immediately.

A few weeks ago, he received the first report about the seeds. It was a report where Evelyn told him about students that were mind-controlled to kill other students. Moreover, the report also included information about other people in the capital being controlled in the same way.

In truth, the emperor did not pay it much attention. A few students and citizens killing people were nor enough to enter his sight.

But a few days ago, he received a new report from the Ferret Family with more information about the case.

The report of the Ferret Family said that there were more than one thousand mind-controlled people in the capital, enough to even incite a rebellion.

That was enough for the emperor to worry.

"Headmistress, do you know who is the person behind these 'seeds'?" The emperor asked.

Evelyn shook her head. "Unfortunately, we have been unable to find the culprit. The best we can do is to destroy the seeds as soon as possible."

In truth, Evelyn knew that the person behind these seeds was an Immortal from another world, but there was not the way the emperor would believe something like that.

The emperor frowned. He did not have time to lose with a crazy man mind-controlling others.

To him, the war against the daemons and finding ways to get rid of me were more urgent.

However, he admitted that having someone mind-controlling the subjects of the empire was not a good situation.

Hesitation slightly, the emperor sighed.

"Okay, I understand. Headmistress Evelyn, I authorize you to take the measures you consider necessary to deal with this situation. But at the same time, I hope you keep the casualties at the minimum."

"Understood, Your Majesty."

...

P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels