The Third Prince Of Darkness

Ensuring the security and order in the village of Blackswamp took me about a month. After an investigation, I led in the village and surrounding settlements. The reason for the rebellion was revealed. Frankly, I already suspected that Baron Dayoesnis was corrupt and embezzling royal gold, but I did not expect that soldiers from the 12th cavalry unit sent here months ago were also involved in this dirty business.

Months ago, by royal decree, three teams from the 12th royal cavalry unit were sent to control the rebellion area and repair the places damaged by the rebellion. This means approximately 300 soldiers, led by three captains. These three captains, in agreement with Baron Dayoesnis, embezzled the royal gold. Fortunately, the people in the rebellion area rose up again, and due to the renewed rebellion, my father, King Richard, decided to send support to the region, and as a result, I was assigned here.

However, due to my still being a child, they thought they could deceive me and even had a backup plan to escape if I suspected anything. But thanks to my immediate arrest of Baron Dayoesnis, all their plans fell through. For now, I have slowly taken control of things. I had to write many tedious reports and send them to the capital, and I also sent a letter requesting permission to execute Baron Dayoesnis.

Even though I am a prince and sent to this region with broad powers, I could never execute a noble of my own accord. I could execute common people and soldiers if they committed a crime, but this was not applicable to a noble. Fortunately, since Baron Dayoesnis committed at least two of the greatest possible crimes, the answer sent from the capital was evident unless a miraculous situation occurred.

Moreover, I had already interrogated the captains who collaborated with Baron Dayoesnis and obtained confessions from each of them. After sending this much evidence of Baron Dayoesnis' crimes to the capital, I had the captains executed.

And today, a letter had arrived from the capital. It bore the seal of King Richard himself, and I quickly opened it to read.

As I read the letter, a wave of peace spread within me. My father, King Richard, had approved the execution of Baron Dayoesnis due to his crimes. The letter read:

"My dear son, hearing of your success and determination in the village of Blackswamp has made me proud. The crimes of Baron Dayoesnis and the treachery of the captains are unacceptable. I approve the execution decision and grant you full authority. 

However, be careful during this process and do not forget mercy while ensuring justice. Remember, a leader's power lies in their justice. I wish you continued success. 

Proud of you, your father, King Richard"

After reading the letter, I took a deep breath. Preparations would be made to carry out the execution of Baron Dayoesnis. This was an important step to regain the trust of the people.

At the same time, feeling my father's support gave me great morale. While preparations were being made for the execution of Baron Dayoesnis, I continued to ensure peace and order in the village. To regain the people's trust and show them that I was on their side, I frequently walked around the village and talked to the people. Each passing day, the villagers began to trust me more. One reason I did this was to uncover the location of the remaining rebel units hiding in the depths of the forest.

Fortunately, after trying to find the rebel camp's location for a month, we roughly identified the locations of three potential rebel bases and, thanks to the scouts I sent, learned there were two rebel camps. One was small, and the other was in a different region but was big, but they seemed to be in communication with each other. In fact, there was no attack or rebellion during my time here.

This peaceful situation strengthened my second hypothesis of the cause of the rebellion. Most likely, the rebellion broke out because of the exploitation of the population by the regional lords led by Baron Dayoesnis, and now a temporary truce has emerged as the rebel groups await my decision on Baron Dayoesnis. Also, the report that the rebellion was because of the people wanting to join the Tamerid Empire was likely the work of Baron Dayoesnis.

Even if the rebels had such a desire, it was because of Baron Dayoesnis. For all these reasons, I quickly decided to execute Baron Dayoesnis and two of his three sons today. Unfortunately, as permission to eradicate all of Baron Dayoesnis' household was not granted from the capital, I had to spare one male child. Fortunately, Baron Dayoesnis' second son had a mild nature and was not at least greedy, so I allowed him to become the new Baron.

After a quick cold bath and my daily routine exercises, I dressed. Following tradition, it was proper for a dying person to die without hunger, so I ordered Baron Dayoesnis and his two sons to be fed and sat down at the breakfast table myself. After having my breakfast, I commanded the village people to gather in the square, and about an hour later, the villagers had gathered in the square.

The faces of the people showed both concern and curiosity. The villagers, who had gone through hard times because of Baron Dayoesnis' abuses and his men's betrayals, were waiting for justice to be served. The gallows set up in the square was in plain sight, and the people were waiting in significant silence.

I approached the square step by step and ascended the podium. All eyes were on me. Taking a deep breath, I began to speak.

"Dear people of Blackswamp, today we have gathered here to ensure justice and restore peace. Baron Dayoesnis and his men abused your trust, embezzled royal gold, and exploited you. This is an unacceptable situation, and they must pay the price for it."

Baron Dayoesnis and his two sons were brought to the stage by the guards. They stood with handcuffs on their hands and a helpless expression on their faces. There was some movement among the crowd, but no one raised their voice.

"Baron Dayoesnis" I said in a stern voice, "for violating royal laws and betraying the trust of the people, you will be executed by royal decree. This is the price of betraying both the justice of the kingdom and the trust of these people."

For a moment, a look of regret appeared on Dayoesnis' face, but then only fear remained in his eyes. His two sons stood silently, awaiting their fate.

"This act of justice is a step taken for your safety and peace" I said, looking into the faces of the people.

"From today onwards, I will do everything in my power to ensure peace and order in this village. Together, we will be stronger and united."

Baron Dayoesnis and his two sons were put on the rope prepared for them and the ropes were tightened. The log under their feet was kicked one by one and the feet of the three men were suspended in the air. Their faces quickly turned red and their pupils began to roll, but they could do nothing because their hands were tied.

*Coughs–Coughs!!

As the executions were carried out, a sense of relief spread through the population. Freed from Baron Dayoesnis' oppression, the villagers breathed a sigh of relief. But my work was not done. I still had work to do to eliminate the remaining rebel camps and restore peace to the village. Thus began a new era in Blackswamp Village. Justice was served, peace was restored, and public trust was regained.

After the executions, the bodies were quickly taken away by the soldiers and handed over to Baron Dayoesnis' wife and second son. I offered my condolences to the new baron and returned to the mansion. I also wrote a recommendation to the capital to change the new baron's territory. Although Baron Dayoesnis' second son did not show any hatred towards me, he definitely harbored some anger.

Of course, he would not do anything foolish again, but his mother could manipulate his mind and direct him against the kingdom. For the Asina kingdom, a barony is insignificant, but the village is very close to the Tamerid Empire, and if they betray us in a possible war with the Tamerid Empire, the kingdom could lose a lot. After handing the letter to a mounted courier to send to the royal capital, I instructed Emilia to prepare the army and then went up to my study.

Now, I laid out my future business plans, which I had been working on in my spare time, on the table. Initially, I wanted to establish three companies, but of course, I would not open these companies simultaneously; I would open them one by one over time. The first company would be a cigarette company. Cigarettes had not yet been invented in this world, but some southern clans had primitive cigarettes that could be considered their equivalent.

To establish a cigarette company, I needed a large area to grow tobacco, but this was a simple task for someone like me, a prince. There were two reasons I wanted to sell cigarettes: the first, of course, was to make money, and the second was to use the addictive nature of cigarettes to gain influence over the masses. I also had a theory that cigarettes would be less harmful even to people with an average level of Kaizer, but since testing and waiting for the results would take years, I would not conduct the tests.

Since I would offer cigarettes at a cheap price, there would be a market network, from the lowest commoners to the highest nobles. I believe this is quite a profitable business.

The company I would establish after the cigarette business would be a newspaper and magazine company. The main reason for setting up this company was not money. Of course, I would make the media company profitable, but the main reason was the power I would have over the masses. The more I thought about the benefits of owning a newspaper company, the more excited I became. If I wanted, I could even have the newspaper write that cigarettes were a healthy product, and that they were recommended by healers. However, there was a significant obstacle to achieving this.

The printing press...