Raised in Dungeon
Chapter 146 Throne War

"With my resignation as crown prince, competition for the throne will begin."

Then he continued,

"The competition for the throne was set to kick off with the participation of the princes, and the proceedings would be carried out in the form of a democratic election. All registered citizens would have the right to cast their vote, and the election would not be concluded until at least 70% of the popular vote was obtained."

After mentioning that, the aura spreading from Eldritch slowly dissipated, but even so, everyone was still frozen, trying to comprehend what they heard.

The one who spoke first was...

"How naive, you think the council will accept this?" asked Queen Regina, who stood up to show her disappointment at Eldritch.

Alicia then thought,

'That's right, brother. Just because you stepped down from the throne doesn't mean you can decide to start a competition for the throne. I wonder why mother is disappointed in Eldritch's choice; can't she get rid of Eldritch without doing anything? Since brother Eldritch has already stepped down from the throne, it means that Harald will be the next king, and if Harald also steps down, it could be me or maybe Leonard who will become king. There is no need to hold an election that consumes so much time and effort! The council will not decide to do so.'

The whispering voices began to sound loud; everyone doubted Eldritch and still wondered why Eldritch was doing all this.

Eldritch turned to look at queen Regina with a sharp gaze. But that didn't affect the queen at all; instead, she tried to dominate Eldritch back,

"As the queen and your mother, I cannot accept your treatment of this sacred ceremony."

"Don't refer to yourself as a mother, auntie Regina. I only have one mother; she was a fool to marry that bastard king."

"Putting aside your contempt for the king, do you think Queen Odelina will be happy with your decision?"

"My mother's wish was to see me with her own eyes at my coronation. She wanted to see my coronation with my future wife in tow, and I have just fulfilled her wish. My vow to her is over."

'Aaah so that's it, you brought me here just to fulfill your vow to your mother. I really shouldn't expect much from this guy; he's called the coldest prince after all,' Jihye thought with a slightly disappointed face. Inside, she still hoped that Eldritch loved her because then Eldritch might still have a human heart. So she would try to love Eldritch back and even pretend to love him if necessary. That was, after all, Eldritch's reward for saving her.

Queen Regina could not say anything when she thought she could attack Eldritch's heart by mentioning her dead mother; Eldritch replied coldly and provided the logic in the promise she made with her mother.

The Adfeqtus Reliqua Eldritch disappeared, then appeared suddenly around him.

"Auntie, do you know the original form of the crown?" asked Eldritch.

"What do you mean?"

Eldritch looked at the crown and asked, "Why are you silent? Isn't it time to show your true self? King's crown?"

The princes immediately looked at the crown that was lying on the ground.

'Did he just talk to the crown?' thought all the princes.

Because Eldritch was not a joking figure and always gave surprises to everyone, they really thought that the crown would start talking,

But no, the crown was just silent.

"So you don't want to talk, or maybe you can't talk in the first place."

Eldritch raised his right hand, signaling his relics to attack the crown.

The relics began to glow, and they pointed their hands at the crown together. The rays that were all over their bodies began to move to the tips of their hands, then the rays shot into the crown.

"What happened?"

"What is the prince doing?"

After firing the beam for a few seconds, they all stopped.

"As expected, we can't do anything to it," Howl said.

"It is... probably… asleep..." Guiltia said.

"This feeling...I felt the same when master pulled me out!" said Denia.

"Eldritch-boy, it's most likely that this thing does have something we can't reach, so this crown is just as you predicted," Destroia said.

The Adfeqtus Reliqua were the negative emotions of warfare locked inside the dungeon, they also had an inexplicable connection. Once they found their siblings, they could sense their presence while fighting, which was why Eldritch ordered all his relics to attack the crown.

Crestfarren continued what Destroia wanted to explain.

"This crown is the Adfeqtus Reliqua."

Once again, that shocking fact seemed to hit everyone over the head, shooting into their minds like a pistol shot.

"If it really is an adfeqtus reliqua, then everything makes sense. The reason why the Norttish massacre continues and why father suddenly changed after wearing the crown," Eldritch said.

"The crown is adfeqtus reliqua?" Harald said.

"How do you know that, Eldritch?" asked Mathilda.

"You'll know once you have them."

Then Leonard said, "So what if it's true? Crowns are dungeon relics, so what's wrong with that? What are you trying to say, Eldritch?"

Eldritch turned around to look at the queen and the council, then said:

"You must already know about this; at least some of you do. The ceremony we are performing is not just a coronation ceremony as kings, but a ceremony of transferring the will of the crown. The crown has a will of its own, and the will of the crown will be passed on to the next king.

I am the next rightful king, I am the one who should continue the will of the crown, but I refuse the crown, and as the rightful owner, I can insert a rule on the crown.

That rule is the election. Currently, the crown will not allow anyone to wear it other than the person who is legitimate under the new rule. If you want to try it, go ahead, the crown will damage all your mana and then damage your brain. Only the crown's legitimate and recognized heirs can wear this on their heads."

"Crestfarren, revenite," Crestfarren glowed and then attached himself to Eldritch's body as armor. Then Eldritch picked up the fallen crown again.

"I will add a new rule. The election will be held when the youngest prince is 25 years old. Until then, I don't expect any bloodshed from my fellow brothers."

Hearing that, the princes thought this...

'That means... As long as we don't kill directly... It's allowed.'

"Prince, do you know what this competition will bring to the kingdom?" asked the man far ahead of Eldritch, standing behind Archbishop Benedict.

"Archbishop Doumer Chaundeler..." muttered Eldritch.

"A bloodbath, and not just between princes but between nobles, knights, and commoners. All of that is very likely, I'm sure you already knew about it, and even though you knew that it would happen, you still chose to do it. Why, your highness? Why do you have to do this? If you don't care about this kingdom and don't want to be king, just leave. You don't need to make a show of this struggle," Doumer said.

"Doumer Chaundeler, you are my mentor who has taught me many things about the other world. Among all people, other than my mother, you are the person I respect the most."

"Thank you for your respect, but that does not answer my question."

"Because I did not intend to answer your question. If I answered it and saw your reaction, then you would become a person I no longer respect. But I will say a few words,

This struggle for the heir will be the event that leads me to my goal. Your imagination of this bloodbath that has not yet happened is the thing that the council must stop.

This should be enough to answer your questions."

Eldritch walked to the outer door, followed by Jihye and her relics, and out of the room.

"God's blessing, space illusion," Eldritch muttered, activating the illusion that made him no longer visible to people.

But,

"Brother!" while everyone was still lost in thought due to the sudden information, one person who didn't care about that, exited the room ahead of the others and entered the isolation room created by Eldritch.

"Francis..." muttered Eldritch, looking back, seeing Francis who had called out to him.

"I haven't... I haven't talked to you yet! There are many things I still want to talk about, and many things I want to do with you!"

For Francis, Eldritch was his idol, the strongest figure that everyone always talked about. He even started training and sparring with Eldritch gradually five years ago. Leofric was originally a replacement for Eldritch who never came home. But now Eldritch had returned. Since Eldritch's return, he had never had the chance to see him because of what happened to Sabine and Felicia, and every time he tried to meet him, the other princes were also talking to him.

"We haven't even had dinner together like we used to," Francis said, pouting with a hint of water in his eyes.

"Uuugh... this kid is so cute! Hey Eldritch, can we stay for a while?" asked Jihye.

"HAH?! Of course we can't! We're already-" as soon as Destroia wanted to say something, Howl immediately covered her mouth.

Eldritch then approached Francis and took him by the shoulders.

"Are you burdened by Leofric's death?"

The moment Eldritch asked that, tears instantly came flooding down her cheeks.

"OF COURSE!" replied Francis.

"Everyone is weird! Why did everyone act so casual when brother Leofric died! Why did everyone not care about his death at all? I feel strange myself, and I'm also forced to hide my tears from everyone! It's as if I'm the only one who's sad here.

I'm sorry...

I'm sorry for crying like this, even though I'm a prince and a man, but I couldn't hold back my tears anymore when you asked me."

At that moment, Eldritch rubbed Francis' head, and what Eldritch did surprised Jihye and all the relics.

Not only from his actions but also from his face.

Because at that time, Eldritch smiled for the first time.

"You will be a good king."