I Became the Youngest Prince in the Novel

TL/Editor: Rungir

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When Rubrious finished speaking, silence fell over the room.

His words were more extreme and unexpected than what he had told Evelyn before.

In the midst of this, the First Prince waited for Zion's response with a gentle smile on his face.

Zion stared at him, puzzled.

'What's his plan?'

Instead of feeling angry, he was first curious.

There must be a clear reason why he offered this to Zion and not the other royals.

But looking into Rubrious's eyes, filled with faith in his god, Zion couldn't guess his motives.

'After all, trying to understand a fanatic is useless.'

With that thought, Zion began to speak.

He had known his answer from the beginning.

"I see."

"I knew you would, Zion. Now..."

"But."

Zion's quiet voice cut off Rubrious's words.

"If you can surpass me."

"...What?"

For the first time, the smile faded from the First Prince's face.

If you can't surpass me, you're beneath me.

That basically meant Rubrious hadn't yet surpassed Zion.

"Hahaha!"

Soon after, a big laugh burst from Rubrious's mouth.

The moment he abruptly stopped laughing, Rubrious looked at Zion with an intrigued look and asked.

"Surpass you... how should I prove that?"

"You figure that out."

Zion answered with a smirk.

"Is that so? Then it seems I could do it right here, right now."

That was the moment.

From the depths of the First Prince's golden eyes, the brilliant starlight of the Celestial Sea began to shine.

Vroom!

With that, everything around him, including Zion, started to feel pressed all at once.

Rubrious didn't do anything.

He had simply unleashed the Celestial Sea stored in his sacred power.

That alone was enough to stir the atmosphere around him.

Zion saw six stars slowly rising in the eyes of the First Prince.

'Indeed.'

The same number of stars as Evelyn.

An incredibly high level, but in a way, that number was expected.

Rubrious Agnes.

He was one of the greatest warriors mentioned in the history, and until he devoted himself to the God of Light, he was the closest to the throne.

So it made sense why he was so confident.

However.

"That's what you think."

This didn't mean that such pressure would work on Zion himself.

Three black stars began to rise and spin in Zion's slowly curving eyes.

Their number was less than Rubrious's, and their total power was different, but that didn't matter.

From the start, the Celestial Sea was a power created as a lower-level version of his own power.

So, in this power struggle, not an actual fight, he held a definite edge.

This advantage was significant enough to offset the three-star difference.

'What is this?'

For the first time, confusion filled the First Prince's eyes.

His power was disappearing.

As if it had never existed.

The moment he saw the three black stars rising from Zion's eyes, his own force evaporated completely.

Like it had been sucked into an endless abyss.

A strange and unknown feeling, the likes of which he had never experienced.

'What is this power...'

Did he instinctively feel he should stop?

Huff!

Rubrious, who curtailed the remaining force instantly, gazed at Zion, bafflement written on his face.

"I can't understand. Why do you, who has received divine trust, refuse to serve the God of Light?"

Soon after, a questioning voice slipped from his lips.

"...What?"

The moment Zion's eyes also filled with confusion at his unexpected words.

"Stop."

A voice interrupted their exchange.

The voice belonged to Evelyn, who had drawn near unnoticed.

A sword-like force erupted from her, engulfing the space around her.

"If you keep disrupting the funeral, I will remove you."

Her voice was as cold as ice, not tolerating any arguments.

"And let's talk."

Evelyn, whose eyes were colder than her voice, turned around.

At that, the First Prince followed her without any resistance.

'Divine trust...'

Watching his back, Zion imprinted the newly arisen question in his mind.

Afterwards, the funeral proceeded without any significant interruptions.

What Evelyn and Rubrious talked about remained a mystery.

However, the First Prince quietly attended the funeral, his initial audacity absent.

The person leading the funeral was still Evelyn.

The only change was that a eulogy from the Church of Light was added to the proceedings.

"We will now read the Emperor's will and his achievements. Please move to your designated places."

Solomon Valdemir, the head of the Valdemir family, who was conducting the ceremony, stood next to Urdios's coffin and spoke, glancing at the crowd filling the funeral hall.

The nobles and envoys moved to their designated spots.

But their movement was slightly unusual.

They neatly cleared the central area starting from the front of the stage where the Emperor's coffin was placed.

The reason for clearing the center became clear soon enough.

Thud, thud.

Starting with the First Prince Rubrious, one after another, the direct members of the imperial family stepped out into the middle from the right.

Immediately thereafter, the nobles, knights, and bureaucrats loyal to their respective factions began to line up behind them, one by one.

This was the time-honored procedure for funerals, handed down since the founding of the empire.

Yet everyone present understood.

Such a formation was to gauge and evaluate the strength of the direct imperial family.

The Agnes royal family was always under scrutiny, and not even a funeral could be exempted.

'No, because it's a funeral, scrutiny should be even more intense.'

Diana mused, noting the key power figures of Hwangseong, including Egrasia lining up behind her, and the forces recently absorbed from the Enoch side.

Once the funeral of the previous Emperor concluded, the question of the next imperial throne naturally emerged.

Therefore, the competition and assessment for that needed to begin at the funeral.

'In that sense, the current alignment is more crucial than anything else.'

The direct imperial family members standing in front of the Emperor's coffin and their subordinates aligned behind them.

It was a representation that most objectively displayed their power and influence.

'Firstly, Evelyn and Utekan's factions...'

Her thoughts caused her gaze to drift sharply to the right.

The forces of the two caught her attention.

True to their reputation of wielding significant influence in their respective realms, they had divided the knights and military power holders perfectly.

Moreover, for reasons unknown, their forces had grown notably since the last time she saw them, almost as much as her own forces had grown since she had incorporated the Enoch forces.

Yet what surprised her was something else.

'How could this be?'

The First Prince Rubrious, standing beside Evelyn.

In all fairness, only the priests who came from the Church of Light should be standing behind him.

After all, for the past few years, the First Prince hadn't engaged in state affairs and had even renounced his princely title.

However, now behind him stood not just priests, but also a sizeable number of other nobles.

Could it be because he was once considered the leading candidate for the throne before he joined the Church of Light, and had now reasserted his ambition for the throne at this funeral?

Even so, the number was astonishing.

'He must have used some other method....'

How did he manage to draw in these nobles, all of whom seemed to share only their faith in the God of Light?

It was an inexplicable matter.

'Compared to that, on this side....'

With that, Diana's gaze now moved to Zion, standing right next to her.

Zion's force, markedly different from the other royal families.

Although he had absorbed the forces of the late Third Prince, it was a predictable outcome for Zion, who had practically no base of support to begin with.

Furthermore, some of those Enoch forces had defected to other royal families, reducing his numbers even further.

Hence, his appearance seemed almost pitiful.

'It appears there's no other option this time.'

A faint smile crept onto Diana's lips.

As she had contemplated earlier, this place was a stage to showcase one's power to the influential individuals assembled not just from the capital but across the empire.

This was of paramount importance, and such a display would undoubtedly have a significant impact.

It was likely to be a substantial hurdle that could stymie his formidable ascent So far.

"Ha ha ha!"

Contrary to Diana, who was smirking covertly, Utekan couldn't help but laugh out loud while observing Zion, despite the solemnity of the funeral.

He was the one who had seized most of the forces from Enoch.

Along with him, quiet smirks began to materialize in the eyes of others.

Zion's calm amid the derision was somewhat unsettling, but Diana forced herself to dismiss the notion, directing her gaze elsewhere.

'It appears the Ascalon family still doesn't support Zion....'

A bit removed from the center, at the back.

There, including the five major houses of Ascalon and Ozlima, were those who didn't pledge allegiance to any of the royal families.

'Did they also attend?'

Her eyes gleamed upon noticing a particular group among them.

Despite the emperor's funeral, their rough, fierce auras were impossible to hide.

Their scar-filled bodies bore witness to the numerous battles they'd endured.

The Boundary Legion.

They were the elite forces stationed at the border with the demon realm, thwarting the demon invasions at the frontlines.

Being one of the empire's most potent military forces, anyone who could enlist them could potentially upset the balance amongst the royal families.

That's why many, including her, had courted them, but all efforts had been flatly rejected.

'After all, they have no interest in power whatsoever.'

For them, the singular purpose in life was to vanquish demons at the boundary.

That's why even Utekan, who received overwhelming support from the military, had long since given up on recruiting them.

'Why are they here?'

Even for the emperor's funeral, it was exceedingly rare for the Boundary Legion to dispatch their top leaders like this.

Therefore, Diana's eyes brimmed with suspicion.

At that moment,

Thud, thud.

The muted sound of footsteps reached her ears and those of the others.

Despite the funeral's commotion, the sound was so distinct that people instinctively turned their heads.

In their line of sight appeared a solitary figure.

The man who sauntered in was constructed of iron-hard muscles and coated in a tapestry of scars.

With cropped hair, a rough-hewn beard, and unyielding eyes that seemed eternally steadfast.

"...The Beast King?"

A startled voice emanated from a noble who recognized him.

Surprise painted the faces of others as well.

The Beast King, Liam Rainer.

The former commander of the Boundary Legion, and the former leader of the Anti-Demon Force, the elite unit in the Great Demon War.

Furthermore, even in retirement, he was celebrated as one of humanity's most formidable war heroes.

'Why is the retired Beast King here....'

While the crowd's baffled gaze was upon him, Liam Rainer kept striding until he came to a stop in front of a man.

"I beg your pardon for my tardiness."

Liam then offered a respectful bow and greeted the man.

"No, your arrival is timely."

At that moment, the man, Zion, responded with a faint smile.

The Boundary Legion, which until now hadn't stirred, gradually started to align behind Zion.

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