The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 192

Before I knew it, the year had passed.

The Winter Magung Palace was now right around the corner.

Recently, an uneasy atmosphere had been brewing within the empire.

The conflict between the First Prince’s faction and the Third Princess’s faction had reached its peak.

The world was no different from the calm before a storm.

I hoped things would pass without incident, but a storm was a disaster.

It would undoubtedly sweep away many things.

On the eve of that Winter Magung Palace,

I now had one important matter to resolve.

I had to reconcile the two women who had fought because of me.

“You’re not kids anymore, so why are you still sulking after fighting?”

Seron, who had been trailing behind me, grumbled.

Sorry, but by my standards, they’re still kids.

In fact, this was an entirely normal exchange of emotions.

Relationships formed during the immature years of adolescence were bound to have problems.

Of course, in this world, we were already adults, so it was a meaningless discussion.

“Prince Sweet Potato, hurry up and make them reconcile. If they keep this up in the Winter Magung Palace, I’ll lose my temper.”

“Do you really think they’ll act like that even in the Magung?”

“The magic fox would do that and more.”

Seron’s assessment of Sharin was harsh.

Apparently, even in Seron’s eyes, Sharin seemed to live freely without a care.

A slacker who went with the flow as long as she wasn’t the one suffering.

I wanted to argue, but truthfully, Sharin didn’t show much enthusiasm for anything except magic and me.

Probably a lingering effect from her childhood.

Just as I was racking my brain over this, Seron suddenly shoved something in front of me.

When I looked, it was a small gift box.

“And take this.”

“What is it?”

“A gift, obviously. Prince Sweet Potato, tomorrow’s your birthday, right?”

Birthday.

Now that she mentioned it, it was.

Technically, it was Vikamen’s birthday, but a birthday was still a birthday.

“I was going to give it to you tomorrow, but my intuition’s good, right?”

That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that.

“Are you really going to make that kind of face?”

“I’m just curious where you got the confidence to say your intuition is good.”

“I may not know much, but I’m definitely good at sensing misfortune.”

That… is a fairly credible statement.

Unfortunately, Seron had the worst luck.

It wasn’t like major disasters happened, but she was constantly plagued by minor misfortunes.

For her to have a premonition of bad luck was an instinctive awakening.

There was enough basis for it.

“For some reason, I had a feeling I wouldn’t be able to give you this gift tomorrow.”

Seron narrowed her eyes.

Coincidentally, today, a single strand of her hair was sticking up, making her seem all the more credible.

Resisting the urge to yank that strand, I fiddled with the box in my hands.

“Can I open it?”

“Hmph, fine, I’ll allow it.”

Seron grinned broadly.

She must have been really happy to give me a gift.

I untied the neatly wrapped red ribbon and opened the lid of the box.

Inside was a bracelet embedded with small red gemstones.

“It’s a tool that can heal injuries once a day.”

“Isn’t this a blessed artifact sold by the Church? It must’ve been pretty expensive.”

Unlike high potions, which were worth their price, these blessed items were overpriced for their performance.

Their healing ability didn’t match high potions,

and they were nowhere near as effective as an actual priest’s healing.

So realistically, they were just expensive luxuries.

“High potions come with a cost. This heals you without any side effects.”

Seron exhaled and lightly punched my arm.

“I thought if you had this, you might get hurt less.”

Maybe it was because I’d shown up in front of her in rough shape a few times.

She must have seen me as someone who always came back injured wherever I went.

This bracelet was a gift to ease her worries.

Even if not for me, I should wear it for Seron’s sake.

“I’ll keep it on me at all times.”

“Good. Then my gift won’t have been in vain.”

Seron scrunched her nose slightly, as if embarrassed, and swung her foot in circles.

Typical of her to act cute while pretending otherwise.

When I put on the bracelet, it fit perfectly around my wrist.

At least now I had a decent safety measure.

Even if I got moderately injured, this would heal me safely.

“So? Aren’t you super grateful? Don’t you just adore me?”

Seron stood on her tiptoes, puffing up proudly.

But her eyes kept flickering to the inside of my collar, checking if the bandages from the injury were still there.

She wanted my emotions to return more desperately than I did.

I was grateful for that.

Fortunately, the joy still left in me knew how to appreciate devotion.

“Yeah, with this, I’ll worry a little less in the Magung.”

“……Just to be clear, I didn’t give you this so you could go wild just because you have it now.”

“What do you take me for?”

“A self-sacrificing tin can.”

Accurate.

Seron’s instincts were sharp today.

Anyway, like that, the last day of the year passed as Seron and I chatted about this and that.

Since it was the new year, I exchanged greetings with familiar faces I met along the way.

But everyone seemed more focused on the upcoming Magung than the new year itself.

They’d already enjoyed everything there was to enjoy during the Christmas season.

Now was the time to stay calm and maintain tension.

And then, an unexpected problem arose.

January 1st, morning.

Iris was suddenly summoned by His Majesty the Emperor and had to return to the imperial palace.

The reason was that the Emperor’s condition had taken a critical turn.

The Emperor had already been bedridden.

So it wasn’t surprising that he could pass away any day now.

But my face twisted with unease.

‘……Even in the original story, there was a time when the Emperor’s condition worsened and Iris was summoned.’

This was definitely something that happened in the original.

But the timing was different.

In the original, the Emperor summoned her not now, but during the summer vacation.

The summoning had been moved up by at least half a year.

My brows furrowed.

‘Even if the original story has changed…’

Could the Emperor’s condition have deteriorated ahead of schedule?

A distinctly suspicious stench hung in the air.

This situation was clearly being steered intentionally.

‘Could it be the work of the Heavenly Duke?’

Had the Heavenly Duke caused the Emperor’s critical condition?

The thought crossed my mind, but I quickly shook my head.

Even the Heavenly Duke wouldn’t find that easy to pull off.

Besides, the First Prince’s faction was currently pushing the Third Princess’s faction into a corner.

If the Emperor fell ill now, the Third Princess’s faction would only suffer more.

‘It’s not the Heavenly Duke’s doing.’

Messing with the Emperor was too risky.

Then why had the Emperor suddenly taken a turn for the worse at this timing?

My eyes narrowed drowsily.

The word “what if” floated in my mind.

What if.

Just what if—what if someone from the First Prince’s side was behind the Emperor’s condition?

At a time when the First Prince’s faction was aggressively pressuring the Third Princess’s faction,

if the Emperor’s health suddenly declined, the vassals would inevitably waver.

Would they side with the unstable Third Princess’s faction or the First Prince’s faction?

The answer was obvious.

The Emperor’s critical condition clearly worked in the First Prince’s favor.

‘In the original, the Emperor’s decline always happened at the same time, so I never considered it.’

Even then, the Third Princess’s faction had been in a worse position than the First Prince’s.

If it happened once, it could be coincidence.

But twice, three times—it became inevitable.

My head was a mess.

I didn’t think of the First Prince as a particularly good person.

He was someone who would stop at nothing to become Emperor.

A man with an unshakable belief that only he could lead the empire to prosperity.

That was the First Prince.

If it meant ending the conflict, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill even his own father.

A man already on the brink of death from illness.

He’d probably think it was better for the Emperor to die than to prolong the empire’s instability.

It felt like I was seeing the ugly, bare face of politics.

‘The Heavenly Duke and the First Prince…’

Both were fiercely scheming for the throne.

Which of the two would ultimately claim the Emperor’s seat?

One thing was certain—the Heavenly Duke wasn’t the type to quietly accept losing the throne.

“I even prepared to celebrate your birthday, but now I’ll have to do it when I get back.”

At that moment, Iris, who was waiting for the carriage, wore a slightly sullen expression.

As a second-year combat instructor, I had come to see her off.

In times like these, I appreciated the freedom that came with being an instructor.

More than that, had she prepared for my birthday after Christmas?

As the first friend I’d made here, her sincerity was unmatched.

“We already had a party on Christmas. That’s enough.”

“Still.”

Iris grumbled and glanced at my side.

Hania was standing next to me.

Normally, Hania would have followed Iris, but the timing was bad.

With the Winter Magung Palace just around the corner,

it was unthinkable for Hania to leave when Iris, one of their strongest fighters, was already absent.

“Hania, take care of Oppa for me. He’ll probably come back injured from somewhere again.”

“Yes, I’ll keep a close eye on him.”

Hania looked like she wanted to follow Iris but was forcing herself to stay.

As Hania sniffled, Iris and I locked eyes.

“Iris, the atmosphere feels strangely ominous.”

“I think so too.”

Iris agreed with me.

Even to her, the current situation seemed off.

But that didn’t change the fact that she had to go when the Emperor’s condition was critical.

Whether she liked it or not, Iris was fighting for the throne.

If the Emperor were to pass away, she would immediately have to compete with the First Prince for succession.

This was a critical moment that would determine the empire’s sovereignty.

The Magung was important, but the empire came first—there was no way around it.

“If by any chance the Heavenly Duke demands something you don’t want, come back to Jerion Academy.”

If that happened, I’d find a way to handle it.

Iris flashed a bewitching smile.

“How reliable. Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”

With that, Iris boarded the imperial carriage and left.

The carriage carrying her quickly disappeared into the distance.

“……Will Lady Iris be alright?”

Hania asked hesitantly as she watched the departing carriage.

I patted her shoulder and nodded.

“It’s Iris. She’ll be fine. More importantly, we need to focus on the Winter Magung Palace.”

“……Right. Let’s finish this quickly so we can go welcome her back.”

“I’ll do my best too.”

With that, Hania and I headed back.

And the next day.

I realized Seron’s ominous premonition had been exactly right.

“The Winter Magung has opened earlier.”

With Professor Veganorn’s declaration, the Winter Magung Palace had begun.