TPOP 116

Chapter 116

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The young crown prince of Ormance was a charming boy with rosy cheeks and slightly curly, lemon-colored hair. He certainly used to be, but what on earth was with this shaggy mop of hair….

“This is my first time in the land of Dortes. I’ve heard that Kairam was the second most prosperous city after Mepen.”

How can this kid be so calm? Far from being as nervous as Diana, Elliot actually looked thrilled.

What kind of atmosphere must the Ormance royal family have to send a twelve-year-old crown prince all the way to this dangerous region?

On the day Diana expressed her intention to leave for Dortes before winter arrived, the queen, after some deliberation, reached a clear conclusion.

“You can go with Elliott.”

“…Huh? With His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?”

“We must prepare for every possible scenario. Even if your true identities are exposed, as long as the Crown Prince of Ormance is by your side, the Empire’s minions won’t be able to drag you away so easily.”

“Queen Ianna. I told you I intended to enter Dortes Castle disguised as a pauper.”

“I heard you clearly. Then Elliott can pose as Diana’s younger brother. What do you think, Crown Prince?”

She had expected the Crown Prince to show at least a hint of surprise. But Elliott nodded seriously; he had actually followed Diana all the way to Dortes. The knights from Ormance who had come with them were also dressed in rags, blending in among the long lines of paupers.

“Are you really sure this is all right, Your Highness? I’ve staked my life on this.”

“And I am here to help Diana preserve her life.”

“…Are you hiding your age from me? No matter how I look at it, you seem to be lying about being ten years old.”

Whether judged by his bearing or his detached demeanor, Elliott simply did not look like a twelve-year-old. The young Crown Prince smiled faintly.

“I wasn’t raised by Her Majesty. My late older brother raised me. If I seem unchildlike, it’s probably a remnant of my brother.”

By “older brother,” he meant the late Crown Prince who had died a few years ago. What kind of temperament did he have, after all…

As Diana let out a faint sigh, Elliot shrugged.

“Anyway, it means you don’t need to worry about me, Diana. Believe it or not, I’ve been through a lot.”

“Then shall we start by fixing your speech, Lian? Ordinary twelve-year-olds don’t talk like that.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Start by speaking informally to me. And call me ‘sister’.”

“But it seems Diana needs to practice speaking informally to me too. You’re using way too many honorifics right now.”

After exchanging this somewhat odd conversation, their turn finally came.

A soldier with a grim expression asked without even glancing their way.

“Name?”

“It’s Let. Here’s my ID.”

The soldier glanced back and forth between the ID Diana handed him and her face, then scowled with disdain. She had smeared dirt all over her face before lining up, making her complexion unusually rough and bumpy.

“You’re not sick, are you?”

“I was born this way. I’ve never had a single illness, sir.”

“Is that kid next to you your family member?”

“No, he’s not family. He’s just a kid who follows me around. He was a homeless child, so I took him in.”

Since she bore no resemblance to Elliot whatsoever, she made up a quick excuse. It wasn’t hard to pretend to be a pauper. After all, she’d been in a similar situation just last year.

The soldier scanned them from head to toe and nodded.

“Alright. You’re through.”

Diana bowed deeply and strode through the city gates. Elliott followed close behind her, taking small, quick steps.

‘So this is Kairam….’

It was once said to be the second-most prosperous merchant city after Dortes. Goods bound for the capital, Mepen, were meticulously sorted in Kairam, and there was even a joke that Mepen couldn’t exist without Kairam. 

Once upon a time.

But the Kairam of today was nothing more than a gloomy, desolate city.

Diana stopped in the desolate square and looked around the city. There was no trace of the peaceful, charming scene from the fairy tales her father and mother had told her. 

Trees stripped of their leaves by the biting wind surrounded the square like monstrosities. The ivy climbing the walls had withered completely, and moss filled the cracks between the stones. The faces of those selling goods from stalls spread across the square lacked any vitality.

That was the first sight of her hometown that Diana ever saw.

***

Kairam was teeming with both long-established immigrants and newly arrived poor people. Even in the city of a fallen kingdom, a social hierarchy existed.

The Karman people, who shared a border, occupied the upper class, followed by a large number of immigrants from the neighboring kingdoms of Traiga, Hanan, and Ormance. Ironically, the commoners who had originally lived in Kairam found themselves at the very bottom of the food chain. 

The treatment meted out to the citizens of a fallen nation, stripped of their homes, could hardly be considered fair. Yet, if they were caught fleeing with even the meager possessions they had managed to gather, a slave brand would be immediately stamped on their chest. 

Consequently, these people were left with no choice but to spend their days bound to this land, unable to go anywhere, possessing nothing. Diana felt a pang of sadness upon seeing the reality of her homeland.

In contrast, the new settlers worked as servants under the established Karman people in exchange for money or food. After working for several years and saving up, they could buy a small plot of land. They would farm that land, sell the harvest, and use the money to buy another plot, gradually increasing their assets.

Even in a land without a nation, the structure of the community and the flow of capital were no different from anywhere else. Yet the people from Dortes, who had been stripped of even what little they had, could not even own a single plot of land to call their own. This was due to the prevailing attitude of disregarding and discriminating against the people of a fallen nation.

“Still, with the population growing, things are much better than they used to be. When a city regains its vitality, there’s bound to be a shortage of labor. It’s a relief that you can find work anywhere.”

A middle-aged man with a thick, red beard spoke with a sigh.

“Even the Imperial Army that guarded this place until last year has withdrawn to the capital. Things are finally starting to breathe a little easier.”

“So the Imperial Army is stationed only in the capital now, sir?”

“That’s right. They rarely come out to the suburbs like this. Except to stop by for a drink every now and then.”

It was useful information. Diana carefully committed the man’s words to memory.

While surveying Kairam’s square, what caught her eye were the job postings plastered all over the walls. This was essential information for Diana to settle down here.