I Became King by Following My Little Sister's Advice. Now the Princess I Forced to Marry Is Giving Me Death Stares, What Should I Do? - Chapter 01: We Successfully Pulled Off a Coup

Chapter 01: We Successfully Pulled Off a Coup

“This can’t be… The castle has fallen in just half a day!?”

The castle gates were breached, and a flood of soldiers poured into the castle.

The fortress, considered impregnable, was on the brink of ending its three-hundred-year streak of invincibility since the kingdom’s founding.

“Find the king!”

“Where did that damn crown prince go!?”

“After squeezing us dry… now it’s your turn to hang!”

Shouting insults at the royal family, the enemy soldiers stormed into the castle without mercy. 

Their faces were filled with anger and excitement from their victory, intoxicated by the bloodshed.

Servants and soldiers still in the castle fled in panic. Despite the enemy’s invasion, no one stayed to fight. 

Both the enemy and allies knew the truth: the royal family of this country was finished. They were no longer worth protecting.

“…What was it all for? I wanted to save this country too. I wanted to… protect it.”

Looking down at the enemy soldiers from a castle window, one of the royals spoke in despair. 

It was Princess Medina Aidron, daughter of the king.

The Aidron Kingdom had been rotting for years.

The royal family imposed heavy taxes on the citizens, yet none of it was spent on public works to improve their lives. Instead, they indulged in luxury.

The king bought expensive wines from abroad, drinking them like a whale gulping water. The queen was only interested in adorning herself with dresses and jewels, hosting evening parties every night.

And the crown prince, who was supposed to be the next king, would take women he fancied from the city, tormenting them with his entourage before discarding them.

In the midst of all this, Princess Medina was the only one concerned about the country’s future. 

She worked tirelessly to reform the government, advising her parents and brother to reduce their power bit by bit and striving to build a nation for the people.

However, her efforts were in vain. 

Before her reforms could show any visible results, a rebellion broke out among the populace.

At the onset of the uprising, the king and the royal family dismissed it as insignificant.

They believed a coup could never succeed and would be quickly suppressed by soldiers and knights, with the ringleaders hanged. 

They continued to indulge in luxury until the very moment the castle fell.

But they made a grave miscalculation. 

The rebellion was led by Van Arlengs, the kingdom’s strongest knight, whose overwhelming charisma caused half the knights sworn to protect the kingdom to betray it. 

Van, who had distinguished himself in the war with the neighboring country, was demoted to the frontier by the authoritarian crown prince because he was a commoner.

(But… he has returned, leading a huge army. As an enemy of the Kingdom…)

The rebel army, led by Van, who knew the castle’s layout inside and out, breached the walls and entered the inner castle in just half a day. 

At this point, there was no way to stop them. 

The king and the crown prince would soon be dragged out among the people and hanged.

“No… it can’t end like this. I-I couldn’t do anything…”

Princess Medina was not exempt from this danger. 

She hadn’t oppressed the people; in fact, she had advocated for tax reductions to help them.

But how many knew that?

To most citizens, Medina was just another hated royal, someone to be killed.

“Your Highness! We can’t stay here! You must escape quickly!”

A maid serving Medina cried out.

Medina slowly turned away from the window.

“You must not die, Your Highness. You’ve always served this country, and you are invaluable! Please, escape the castle and survive!”

“Anne…”

Medina’s face filled with sorrow at the maid’s words.

She didn’t know what she could do if she survived, but dying here wouldn’t change anything either.

“…Alright. Let’s hurry.”

“Your Highness…!”

“There should be a hidden passage in the castle. If we use it, we might be able to escape. First, let’s survive, and then think about what we can do as royals…”

“That won’t do, Princess Medina.”

“…!”

A chill ran down her spine at the flat, emotionless voice.

Immediately after, the door to the room was sliced in half, and a man appeared.

“VAN ARLENGS…!”

Medina called out his name with a look of anger.

The man was indeed Van Arlengs, the mastermind behind the rebellion and once hailed as the strongest knight. 

Van held a large black sword in one hand, his muscular frame clad in blood-stained black armor. 

His features were noble enough to blend in with the aristocracy, but his eyes were cold. Just looking at him head-on, one could sense a deadly intent.

“P-Princess! Please, run…”

“Anne!”

“…”

The maid tried to shield her mistress, but Van swung his sword without a word. A dull sound echoed as the maid fell to the floor.

“How dare you… to Anne!”

“I didn’t kill her. See?”

The maid lay on the floor, not bleeding but unconscious. 

Van had struck her neck with the flat of his blade, knocking her out. 

A slight miscalculation in force could have broken her neck, but Van hit her with just enough strength to render her unconscious.

“Shame on you for pointing a sword at an unarmed woman! Is this what knights do!?”

Even though he had held back, Medina couldn’t stay calm after seeing her close friend fall. 

She yelled at Van and tried to grab him.

“What a knight should do…”

“…!”

Van repeated Medina’s words as he grabbed her slender arm and twisted it.

“Indeed, I’ve done something a knight should never do. How did it come to this?”

“That’s because…!”

Medina felt a sharp pain in her chest, as if pierced by an ice spear, at Van’s casual question. 

Van had turned his blade against his own king, an unforgivable act for a knight. 

But who was responsible for driving him to such actions? Who caused this?

“…Are you saying it’s our fault, Van Arlengs?”

“…”

“Because we, as royals, didn’t fulfill our duties… because we took everything from the people and didn’t uphold our responsibilities, you’re saying that’s why this rebellion happened?”

“…”

Medina shouted, but Van remained silent, twisting her arm and holding her captive.

His silence felt accusatory, though perhaps it was just her own guilt imagining it.

“I wanted to serve the country too. Little by little, I tried to curb my father and brother’s excesses and reform the government…”

“…”

“Three more years. In three years, I could have turned this country around. I could have taken power from my father and brother and rebuilt the kingdom for the people. If this rebellion hadn’t happened, the Aidron Kingdom could have been reborn. But now…”

“…How many?”

Van, who had been silent until then, finally spoke.

“How many will die, Princess Medina, before you can rebuild the country… how many lives will be lost by then?”

“…!”

“I’m not smart enough to know. Tell me.”

“That… is…”

Even if the government improved in three years, many innocent people would die in the meantime.

They would be deprived of food, money, and dignity, and eventually return to the sands of the barren land. 

Medina was not shameless enough to ask people to quietly accept such sacrifices.

“I will ensure your safety. As long as you cooperate, you won’t be harmed.”

“…”

Medina had no words to argue and was silently taken away by soldiers who had entered the room.

On that day, the Aidron Kingdom, with its three hundred years of history, came to an end. 

The mastermind who incited the people and led the rebellion against the royal family was Van Arlengs. 

This marked the beginning of the path for the warrior who would later be known as the “Union Emperor,” the first in history to achieve the unification of the continent.