In a fertile valley surrounded by the Alps lay the inhabited region of the Barony of Kufstein. A great tributary of the Danube River ran through the valley, and its crystal-blue waters gave life to every living being in the region. As the morning light illuminated the harmonious territory, the crowing of roosters awakened the peasant class for the beginning of a long workday.
And although the nobility remained asleep, completely oblivious to the people they governed, Rose had risen very early—practically an hour before the peasants themselves—to complete his morning exercise and still have time to take care of what he had planned for the day.
He had meant to do it the previous day, but he ended up spending a couple more days than expected speaking with Ludwig about some exercise machine designs that would help him recover his physical condition as soon as possible. The old engineer had informed him that he would need the help of one of the village blacksmiths, since his own specialty was theoretical engineering rather than practical work. Of course, Rose wasn't about to ask Ludwig himself to forge the equipment.
Naturally, the equipment wasn't built yet. Unlike in his previous era, where mass production allowed such things to be manufactured in a matter of hours, in this world the technology lagged far behind—even for the Middle Ages. As a result, construction would take a couple of weeks. Not that he really minded; he could already feel his soul slowly strengthening this body, and it was only a matter of time before he regained his former power.
Putting that aside, after a grueling workout session and a relaxing bath to ease the tension in his muscles—something that, incidentally, caused the servants to watch him with growing curiosity due to his new habits, since he now bathed once in the morning after exercising and again before going to bed—he decided to continue with his daily routine.
He had tried to convince his family to adopt the same practice, assuring them that their health would improve, but they were incredibly stubborn and clung to their traditions with tooth and nail. Honestly, he feared it was some kind of cultural stubbornness, and although they bathed relatively frequently for the time—once a week—they still didn't understand the benefits of regular bathing: healthier skin, stronger hair (as long as the water had no chlorine), among many other advantages.
However, even if he couldn't convince his family, he had managed to get the castle staff to adopt the habit of washing their hands after using the bathroom or performing any task that could dirty them. This small victory had earned him a certain reputation—more like infamy—among the workers, especially after he scolded the kitchen staff upon discovering their atrocious hygiene habits.
His father did not scold him for it, but he was decidedly concerned by these new habits, although he could at least understand the part about cooks washing their hands after using the latrine.
Rose had at least managed to convince Henrietta. Not that it required much merit—at this time, daughters obeyed their father and elder brothers out of simple custom—but it still brought him some comfort to know that his sister now followed all his recommendations. She had even begun bathing before going to sleep, a habit that, in this particular age, bordered on revolutionary. Naturally, that made Rose immensely happy: it significantly reduced the risk of Henrietta contracting one of the countless diseases born from medieval filth.
The other diseases… well, that was another matter. Rose wasn't entirely sure how to protect her from those. He had never paid real attention in his first-aid classes, and regarding penicillin he only vaguely remembered that it had something to do with bread and mold. Not his best area.
Even so, among the priorities he'd established now that he controlled this new body, the construction of a public bathhouse was near the top of the list—just after the drainage system. Both projects would take considerable time, but he intended to use every minute to instill—through yelling, threats, and whatever else necessary—basic hygiene habits in the local people. He also needed to convince his father to build an onsen: for hygiene, yes… but also because when he eventually had a wife, a shared bath would be as romantic as it would be indecently pleasant.
He shook those thoughts out of his head as he finished his morning routine. His hair had improved a little since he changed his diet, gaining shine and strength, but it was still far from the absolute pitch-black luster he once had as Prince Rose Uchiha. That was precisely why he planned to visit the town that day: he remembered that with pork lard one could make a halfway decent hair wax. Royal jelly was superior, of course… but even if he weren't allergic to bees, he had no suicidal intention of approaching a hive to obtain it.
Once fully dressed and prepared, he headed to the dining hall. For the past few days, his entire family had been gathering there to wait for him—probably because Rose tended to lock himself in the bath for too long. In the twenty-first century, people would have made unpleasant jokes about it; here, they simply considered it an eccentric habit. Nothing worth discussing.
His father blessed the table, and as he looked up, Rose immediately caught Lambert's gaze: a spark of carefully restrained malice. For anyone else, the boy might have seemed innocent, even charming… but Rose was not "anyone else." He had seen professional killers who murdered with nothing but intent in their eyes; he had grown up under the shadow of a man whose presence alone made a hundred thousand soldiers kneel. Compared to that, Lambert was the worst kind of schemer: one who flaunts virtue while his eyes ooze hatred.
And it all fit. Judging by the symptoms he remembered from the original young Rose—before his soul inhabited this body—Rose was almost certain that Lambert had been poisoning him with microdoses of arsenic. Nothing surprising: if their father didn't intimidate the younger sons so much, assassination attempts would be a weekly event. Even Sukuna and Kenjaku had learned never to challenge the First King… and one was a monster who lived to fight, while the other was a manipulator capable of igniting wars with a single word.
Lambert, in comparison, was a mediocre amateur.
Even so, he had accomplished something important: isolating young Rose from the court and the nobility. His predecessor's illness prevented him from socializing with other nobles, and Lambert—charismatic and skilled with the sword—had taken that space to earn their favor. Rose would even admit that Lambert had been the rising star of the von Kufstein family… if not for the fact that he was almost certain the entire business with the count's daughter was a scheme of the count himself, not Lambert's merit.
Lambert had support, yes.
But Rose was something else entirely.
He was a son of Hades.
A son of the First King.
The petty intrigues of nobles meant nothing to him. He knew a fundamental truth his father had demonstrated a thousand times:
"A people who love their king will fight for him to the last man."
And that was his goal: to win the heart of every inhabitant in the town. He trusted that by improving their quality of life and giving them better conditions, the people would fight for him if it ever became necessary—and would love him as their ruler. After all, it mattered little if the nobles commanded the soldiers; it was the peasants and the common folk who filled the grain stores, and without full stomachs, soldiers would not fight for a ruler who would starve them to death.
While he was thinking about this, he failed to notice how Henrietta watched him with a slight hint of caution in her lovely blue eyes. Of course, she was fully aware that her older brother had changed greatly since he regained his health—so much so that she was convinced he had been possessed. But he never acted maliciously, and his change of personality left her completely confused. Still, to be honest, she obeyed him despite everything, for he was now much kinder to her. So much so that, if she were ever to learn about Lambert's attempt on Rose's life, she might even stab her second brother while he slept.
Which was fortunate for Lambert, since although Rose always noticed when she spied on him, Henrietta was surprisingly slippery when she wanted to be. What was the point again? Oh, yes: fortunately for Lambert, aside from his older brother, no one else had discovered his intrigues.
While the family ate quietly, Sieghard broke the silence, feeling a deep curiosity about the conversation his son had had with Ludwig the previous night.
"So, Rose, boy—how was your discussion with Ludwig last night?" he asked, genuinely hoping the old engineer might help refine his son's new attitude even further.
Rose, for his part, had to swallow the bite of roasted fish he'd been eating at the exact moment his father spoke. Then he wiped his mouth with a napkin and looked at him with his best reassuring smile. Yes, he had been born a prince, but he had never been the type to show off.
"You can rest easy, Father. We simply adjusted a few points that weren't entirely clear, and I can guarantee that the project will begin as soon as possible. We only need to gather the manpower for the construction. I'm confident it shouldn't take more than a couple of months."
In truth, Rose was overestimating Ludwig's capabilities.
Sieghard could only sigh in relief at that answer, and afterward allowed a deep expression of satisfaction to spread across his face. He felt relieved that his son's sudden change of attitude wasn't just a momentary whim and, to be honest, he was excited about the prospects of this new technology.
As for his mother and sister, they had absolutely no idea what in the world was happening, but they assumed it had something to do with the boy's sudden interest in engineering, which their husband/father had mentioned. The only one who seemed slightly confused—though it was more consternation than confusion—was Lambert himself, who had no idea what was going on, and he disliked not knowing what was happening in what he believed would one day be his domain.
"Project? What project? Is something wonderful happening?" Lambert asked with a look of feigned innocence.
One that made Rose roll his eyes, refusing to believe the boy was really stupid enough to think that would fool anyone. What kind of man spoke in that disgustingly sweet and charming tone with his own family? Well, his father acted like that with his wives, but that was different.
Even Sieghard seemed to notice that his younger son's tone was far too syrupy for his liking, but he didn't reprimand him, assuming the boy simply wasn't used to his older brother having actual projects instead of just being a lazy good-for-nothing, and feared losing his status as the family's golden child. Sieghard himself had had problems with his own brothers, so he let the matter slide. Besides, he was more than happy to share the plans to expand the barony's steel industry, even if he had no remote idea how it worked, since Ludwig hadn't explained anything beyond the fact that the design functioned.
"My son—your older brother—has presented me with some rather interesting plans to develop the territory's steel industry! With this new technology, we'll be able to produce a great deal of steel in a very short time!"
Rose felt the dramatic shout at the end was a bit unnecessary, but he was pleased to see his father proud of his work.
Even though Qin had always told him he would be proud of him no matter which path he chose, Rose had never felt he had truly earned that approval. But according to his biological mother, his father had grown up without a father's love, and for that reason he gave all his love and support to his children regardless of the paths they took. Because of that, hearing the father of this world shout with pride over something he had achieved made him feel unexpectedly warm.
Lambert, for his part, simply smiled at the news; however, anyone observant enough would have noticed that he was furious on the inside.
Where in hell did he get such technology? Why wasn't I informed? Damn it! I have plans for that iron ore in my mountains! he raged inwardly, glaring at his older brother—who had never been so… so… there weren't even words to describe him right now.
However, his older brother soon noticed his murderous stare and offered him a small smile. And in an instant, Rose's gray eyes turned into a deep, intense crimson red. It had lasted for only a second—so brief that Lambert was certain no one but him had seen it—but in that gaze he saw something he never wanted to see in his life. It wasn't the gaze of an assassin, nor that of a wild beast.
It was the gaze of someone fully aware of every intrigue against him—someone who had struck a deal with the devil himself to take revenge on all who had conspired against him. And yet, as soon as that eternal second ended, Rose finished eating, wiped his mouth with his napkin, and stood from the table.
"Father, if you'll excuse me, I have some matters to discuss with Ludwig," he said—the most elegant withdrawal he could muster, though in his defense he hadn't needed to use table manners in… approximately forty thousand years, if his calculations weren't failing him.
"Of course, my son, go. I wish you the best of luck with this project," Sieghard said with a smile, completely unaware of the rivalry between his two sons—or at least assuming it wasn't serious enough to require intervention.
With permission granted, Rose bowed slightly before leaving the dining hall, leaving Lambert and the rest of the family with mixed expressions. Well, not really: only Lambert was acting differently. Henrietta kept happily eating her food, occasionally scolded by her mother. But Lambert himself could not contain the trembling in his hands, for in his mind he saw only his brother's red eyes—those eyes that had looked beyond his very soul.
"Lambert, your hands are shaking. Are you all right?" Gisela asked with a trace of concern in her voice.
Only then did Lambert look down at his hands and realize they were indeed trembling; and upon examining them, his brother's red eyes seemed to appear reflected in them, as if—even without being present—Rose were watching him. Instinctively, he dropped his knife before clasping his hands together.
"I'm fine, I just feel a bit unwell. Nothing more… if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go lie down for a while."
After being excused by his family, Lambert left the dining hall with elegance, but once he was out of sight he ran frantically to his room and locked the door with the bolt. Inside the large stone chamber, he collapsed against the door, covering his eyes with his hands and muttering under his breath:
"What demon has possessed my brother to make him aware of my plans?"
The trembling young man couldn't help but feel that his plan to kill his older brother had completely backfired—and had invited a demon to stand among them.
End of Chapter.