I Became the First Prince

Facing a real knight, after losing power for hundreds of years, was not something I could handle.

I was honestly beaten down.

If my enemy did not hold back and used his full power, things might have been pretty bad for me.

My pride was hurt because I knew Uncle was looking at me like a weakling. I hate this sluggish body! My flesh jostled with every little movement, and this fat face didn’t follow my control.

“Hundreds of years in vain…”

I was knocked out by my opponent even before I pulled the sword.

“Again!”

I sighed and calmed my mind.

“Quad Chain…”

The powerful and fierce eyes that rose like a tsunami resembled some of the beings I knew.

Sword Master.

They were like superheroes who could do anything armed with a single sword, and Uncle was like them. But what made him a superhuman are his four rings, not a single heart.

“The world has definitely changed.”

The blue sky was the same as I saw it hundreds of years ago. However, the world under it had changed drastically.

“Your Majesty!”

The maid ran in hurriedly while I was deep in thought.

“The Queen is coming this way!”

“What? Why again?!”

The news about the battle had already passed on to the Queen.

“The Queen has come!”

The Queen arrived.

Her motherly ways of treating me like a child made me uncomfortable, so I wanted to avoid her as much as possible.

“Ian! What happened here?”

She asked my escort while her eyes remained fixed on me.

“It’s just that he kept insisting and provoking me to battle.”

The answer came from Uncle.

“A provocation? This child? What do you mean?”

“He wanted to test his skill.”

The Queen seemed to want to know more about the situation, but Uncle seemed unwilling to speak.

“I’m afraid that you might hurt this child.”

He already did.

“He’s your blood, your own nephew. I hope you will not forget that.”

The Queen’s love for her child was overwhelming.

Uncle simply nodded and turned to me.

“Back to training.”

It looks like we were just getting started.

* * *

“Shhh!”

My breath was coming in rapidly, but Uncle hasn’t told me to stop.

My body may be exhausted, but my pride was burning. Somehow, I need to endure it.

“Stand up.”

I ran on these weak legs and rolled on the floor in exhaustion. However, Uncle did not stop training and kept forcing me to stand up.

Uh, this human. I think he is laughing now.

“What? Are you mad at me now?”

“I’m just telling you what to do.”

The uncle said without hesitation.

As I watched him answering questions that I didn’t even ask, I found out that Uncle had an excellent skill at provoking me.

He pretended to be a big man, and it was outrageous.

“You thought you would be recognized for such ingenuity.”

“Double chain? Even a single chain win would have done the job.”

“If it is hard, give up. There will be no more trouble.”

Finally:

“Then, that’s it for today.”

Immediately after he stopped the training, I collapsed on the floor and rolled in exhaustion.

Lying on the floor, I saw the sky. I heard footsteps. As I turned my head, I could see Uncle walking away without even friendly words of goodbye.

Well, I have no intention of doing that either.

Rather than staring at his ugly back, I forced to bring my heavy body up.

“Hoo.”

I sat down and held my breath. The breath that had filled up to the tip of my chin went down to my chest and back. I slowly pulled the mana around me into my body.

My day was over, or so I thought.

“Your Majesty, I was waiting.”

I almost returned to bed, but a middle-aged man with a goatee was waiting for me at the door.

“What?”

The royal wizard exuded glory throughout his body.

“Why did you come?”

When I asked what he was doing here, the wizard walked over to me and replied.

“Let the god of faith be able to examine His Majesty’s jade body.”

He must have been sent by the Queen, who couldn’t stand any damage to her son.

I waved my head, but he came to me. Bright white light was shining in his hand. I was frightened.

“No!”

He was surprised by the sudden reaction and stepped back. The light of healing gathered in his hand was disappearing.

“Me, Your Majesty? You may be mistaken …”

“Mistake? I don’t want to do it, stop.”

“Your Majesty may not understand what he is saying…”

“Just go. I don’t need it all.”

The wizard insisted that it was an order from the Queen.

“I don’t care! Go!”

I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I started to act wildly. He disappeared quickly, almost running away.

“Your Majesty, why did you not receive the magic of healing?”

My escort, Carls Juli, asked once the wizard disappeared.

“Healing magic is poison to me.”

My overused muscles were torn and swollen. However, if I accepted the healing magic, the muscles will completely heal.

My hard work would become useless.

Carls was staring at me with a look of surprise.

“Hmm.”

* * *

The next morning, I found Uncle already waiting for me when I arrived at the training area.

“So you met with the mighty wizard in the royal palace.”

“Think again.”

Uncle frowned, because I was eagerly responding. He looked at me up and down and realized something.

“You weren’t even healed.”

I nodded.

“If I received it, I know it will be poisonous.”

Uncle did not react like Carls. He just nodded once.

“Run, until I tell you to stop, like yesterday.”

I didn’t say anything and started to run.

Stop it; I’m going to die.

My whole body screamed. Every time my foot hits the ground, pain traveled upwards through my legs and my whole body.

But I was patient. Or is it pride?

Somehow, I lost my weight.

“Stop.”

Today, I was prepared to go long lengths. But Uncle stopped training sooner than I expected.

“I thought you would receive healing magic.”

Uncle said, too crude for an excuse and too stingy for an apology.

“This is enough for the day.”

Uncle declared the end of the training and walked away.

At that time, my body, which I was holding up because of pride, collapsed.

“I’m really dying.”

* * *

My daily life didn’t change the following day or the next.

I ran every day.

My body didn’t get time to let go of the fatigue of the previous day. The pain from the bruised muscles throbbed through every step.

But I gritted my teeth and endured it.

I couldn’t do anything without taking this damn flesh out.

Uncle didn’t give me a break, either. He tried to control me thoroughly.

Running, walking, and resting – everything started and ended with the words of the housekeeper.

My diet also changed significantly from the past. There was no seasoning on the meat and vegetables.

Uncle got himself involved in my whole life under the pretext of reducing my weight.

However, there was only one thing that the outspoken man would not touch.

Mana Heart.

He didn’t care what I did with mana hearts.

Whether I insisted on collecting mana during the break or turning my mana back and forth to raise my tired body during training, he didn’t care.

It’s as if mana hearts did not matter at all for him.

So a week has passed, and then a month.

“Well?”

Uncle was standing in the middle of the training area, holding something in his hands.

It was a wooden sword.

“You must be knowledgeable about how to handle a sword.”

The uncle spoke deeply and raised a wooden sword.

“The knights of the kingdom used wooden swords in the past, when they lay the foundation. I have no intention of repeating this lesson, so watch closely and listen to my instructions.”

“Did you say that the knights of the kingdom use these swords when they lay the foundation?”

“As a training sword, it lacks power. But since it is a sword used to learn the basics, it is not too bad.”

“It’s not too bad – how can you say that?”

I laughed involuntarily.

“That’s what people say about this sword.”

I knew better than anyone about the sword that they deemed trivial.

It was one of the traces I left in the world a long time ago.

Wooden swords have been used before to kill dragons, now it is being used insignificantly and treated as a training sword.

How funny.