Do Your Own Revolution-Chapter 186

< Emperor-010. >

Friedrich walked forward wearing luxurious imperial robes.

Behind him followed Kalkas, Kassel, and Andrei.

It had been a month since Margaret’s execution.

Now that all the complicated and tedious award ceremonies were finally over, Friedrich was walking with his companions to attend his coronation ceremony.

“What happened to the other imperial family members?”

“Dealt with them all as discussed. Thought I’d feel better about it, but not really.”

“Revenge is empty… Something like that?”

“No. I meant it wasn’t much fun cutting down puppets who couldn’t even speak.”

Brutal conversation exchanged as they walked along the well-polished red carpet.

The former imperial family members whose minds were destroyed after becoming Margaret’s puppets.

They were executed by Kalkas’s hand, charged with participating in Margaret’s plot.

It wasn’t exactly a just verdict.

But as she had said while alive, it was a decision made because breaking Margaret’s brainwashing proved impossible.

And simultaneously, it was a purge to stabilize Friedrich’s imperial authority.

“That aside…”

We shouldn’t be having such dark conversations on a day like this.

Muttering that, Kalkas smirked while looking at Andrei who was walking silently beside him.

“Are you sure you don’t need to go? I heard your wife is…”

“This is His Highness the Prince’s coronation ceremony. It’s a crucial matter determining the nation’s fate, so my wife will surely understand.”

Andrei replied with a resolute expression.

However, Friedrich, who stole a glance at Andrei’s face, noticed his change.

‘This fellow’s eyes are trembling.’

To think something could instill fear in the great Andrei.

Friedrich smiled slightly and returned the salutes of the knights bowing to him.

“Are these the newly selected royal guards?”

“They are the newly established Imperial Guard Knight Order directly under the imperial family. We prioritized selecting magical power awakeners with no connections to noble families.”

“Good. Their eyes are alive – they’ll make fine knights.”

With those words and a gesture, two knights nodded and forcefully opened the iron doors.

Bang-!

Intense sunlight poured in from outside the doors.

Under the bright weather, crowds filled the space, celebrating the birth of a new emperor.

“You finally did it, Freddie.”

“This is just the beginning.”

With those words, Prince Friedrich stepped forward.

When he appeared at the coronation venue, the cheers that had been echoing throughout grew even louder.

Whether these voices would remain cheers or turn into agonized screams.

That would likely depend on the path he would walk from here on.

“Loyal citizens of the Empire-!”

With slight tension, Friedrich called out to the countless people watching him.

“The rule of the immoral has ended!”

“The traitorous groups eating away at the Empire have been completely uprooted, and gathered here are only true loyalists who care for the Empire!”

After shouting thus, the emperor looked at the heads of magic noble families lined up on both sides of the coronation venue.

‘So they’re my next opponents.’

Margaret’s brainwashing of the emperor had proceeded with their tacit approval.

However, the moment they deemed her out of control, they mercilessly expelled Margaret and supported him instead.

Moreover, now that intelligence indicated the Westraine Republic had completed monster suppression and was expanding their military.

The Knight Orders these nobles possessed would become core forces responsible for imperial defense.

The Knight Orders would gradually grow larger and more powerful.

A tumor of the Empire that must be eliminated.

But contrary to his thoughts, they had become patriotic contributors who helped defeat Margaret alongside him.

“Together with them, Kalhyram shall prosper forever-!”

“Waaaaaah–!”

Along with the cheers, flower petals began fluttering everywhere.

The magic nobles lined up before the emperor to welcome him.

Duke Nachtval with his uneasy expression, and Duke Buckenheim wearing a triumphant smile.

The two exchanged glances, then presented the crown to Friedrich, the next emperor, and paid their respects.

“To the Kalhyram Empire.”

“May glory be with it.”

With the brief congratulatory words, the magic nobles led by the empire’s two dukes drew their swords and thrust them into the ground.

Turning his gaze, Friedrich looked over the people as emperor.

At the forefront of his view stood another key figure who helped make this plan succeed.

Karl Buckenheim.

The man who elevated House Count Buckenheim to ducal status and secured the position of successor. ƒreewebɳovel.com

Seeing him bow with a subtle smile, the emperor secretly clenched his fist.

“Yes. This is just the beginning indeed.”

After all, the enemies I must face from now on will become stronger and cleverer.

“…Hmm?”

As the banquet began and the imperial capital took on a festive atmosphere not seen in a long time.

While walking through the banquet hall with complicated feelings, Friedrich spotted Andrei talking with knights in one corner.

Andrei’s face was pale as his lips trembled.

The reason this stoic friend was so terrified became clear not long after.

“She’s… giving birth today?”

“Yes. The midwife had already entered the room when I left the mansion, so by now…”

“Go.”

Surprised by Friedrich’s words, Andrei looked over.

“Your Majesty, but right now…!”

“This is an imperial command, Andrei. Return to the mansion and stay by your family’s side.”

A firm statement.

Friedrich spoke with a stern expression, then slowly softened it as he continued.

“Right now, you are not my guardian knight, but a father-to-be.”

***

The celebration, followed by a stream of elders from noble houses and distinguished guests from all walks of life.

By the time he finished the tedious conversations and greetings with them, the sun had long since set.

“Y-Your Majesty has arrived!”

“Thank you. Call me when it’s over.”

As soon as the banquet ended, the emperor made his way to a quiet mansion located on the outskirts of the imperial capital.

As he approached the mansion exuding a tranquil atmosphere, the startled gatekeeper straightened up and bowed formally.

“Your Highness the Pri-! Ah, no! Your Majesty the Emperor!”

“No need for formalities. I’m still getting used to it myself. Where’s Andrei?”

“Ah, he’s in the main building. This way!”

The emperor and his entourage headed to Andrei’s family home in the imperial capital.

While servants bustled about, Friedrich followed the gatekeeper’s guidance to a room located at the end of the mansion.

“May I enter? Is there any possibility of harm to the child…?”

“Ah, don’t worry. It’s been quite some time since the birth.”

After double-checking, he entered the room to find Andrei sitting there.

“Your Majesty.”

Andrei was holding his child as if it were a fragile bowl.

Seeing the baby grinning without crying, Kalkas and Kassel’s expressions brightened.

“Hey, already looking bright? Doesn’t take after their father at all!”

“Kalkas, either joke or congratulate, pick one.”

Saying that, the two greeted the wife resting in bed.

However, during all this, Friedrich remained frozen in place as he stared at the child’s face.

“Freddie, what’s wrong?”

“I can’t see it.”

“Can’t see what, the baby?”

“No, that’s not it…”

I can’t see the future this child will create.

Just like when I first saw Margaret.

Just like when I met that man, Karl Buckenheim.

And what that means is just one thing.

This child holds the potential to overturn the empire’s history.

“Hee, heehee! Heehee!”

Friedrich slowly approached and silently extended his hand toward the child.

The sight of the baby beaming while grabbing his finger.

Seeing this, Friedrich broke into a warm smile.

“The next generation’s flame is already being kindled.”

From now on, countless such children will be born in places beyond his sight.

New flames will continuously change the future.

Numerous inflection points, distortions, and changes.

It meant the prophecy he saw could change at any time.

Even if his plans failed, there would always be what comes next.

That became his greatest consolation.

“A flame… But that’s not entirely a good thing, is it?”

Kalkas spoke up while looking at the child in its mother’s arms.

“That annoying guy from Buckenheim is supposedly one of those flame-whatever people too. So, doesn’t that mean this kid might go crazy when they grow up?”

“Kalkas, that was an extremely rude thing to say just now.”

“I’m just saying it’s a possibility.”

“That’s the problem. In the first place, to say such things in front of a newborn…”

As Kalkas and Kassel bickered over the child, Friedrich watched them and slowly spoke.

“Perhaps you’re right.”

“Freddie, you too…!”

“Not everything we do can be called right, and we can’t assume all our plans will succeed.”

A flame is just a flame.

If there’s something it deems unjust, it will begin burning the empire without distinguishing friend from foe.

“We might succeed, or we might fail in the worst possible way.”

“…”

“But all those causes and effects always leave behind small fruits.”

Emperor Franz’s reforms failed due to Margaret, but left behind the possibility of connecting the empire with a single road.

Though they executed Margaret and restored imperial authority, as a reaction, the magic nobles began uniting to form a massive faction.

Success and failure, second-best and lesser evil.

Humans endlessly rise only to endlessly fall again.

However.

“That’s how people move forward originally.”

Looking at his companions, Friedrich spoke with a bright expression.

“Failing, making mistakes, slipping, rolling in the mud. Even then, so minutely it’s barely noticeable. That’s how the world gradually moves toward something better.”

Because in the end, all humans aspire toward life.

Regardless of good and evil.

Regardless of noble or common birth.

Everyone in this world yearns for a tomorrow better than yesterday.

“…Your Majesty.”

At that moment, Andrei exchanged glances with his wife, then approached the emperor while holding the child.

“If I may humbly request, would you name this child?”

A moment of silence.

Friedrich stared at Andrei wide-eyed and asked back.

“Me…? But that’s…”

“Please do so.”

The smile that bloomed on Andrei’s face.

Seeing it, Friedrich’s eyes grew wider.

A smiling expression on this man’s face, just how many years had it been…?

“This happiness that has come to my house, to someone as insignificant as me… It’s because Your Majesty chose me.”

“Hah…”

Hearing those words, Friedrich slowly looked into the child’s eyes.

Pure, clear eyes.

A seed that would bring winds of change to the era he would create.

A new inflection point in history that neither he nor Buckenheim could measure.

“For such a child, there’s a perfectly fitting name.”

Long ago, a great one who led the twelve houses.

The name of a great magician who created the five magic imprints stored in the imperial archives, and a politician who, together with the first emperor, laid the foundation of this empire.

“Maximilien.”

With a warm smile, Friedrich said.

“You will change the world someday.”

He prayed for blessings upon the life of this newly born child.

Author's Thoughts

Hi everyone, I've completely translated this novel! For those who love this novel and wanted to binge read until the last chapter, you can go to my Patreon "Shop" page. There, I have a product in which you can read them with discounted price!