150.5 Rambling — Past Leonardo
Updating two chapters tonight.
side: Leonardo
"This kid's a prince?"
The woman raised an eyebrow. What was this nonsense?
Fair point. A prince is the emperor's son.
I know that better than anyone—no memory of such a thing.
The wristbands granted to every citizen of the empire—those reached even the slums.
During the inspection process for the emperor's genetic markers, they declared his son a prince.
"There are two kinds of princes: bloodline princes and natural princes. He's a natural prince—the rare case of someone born with the emperor's genetic signature."
At that moment, the life of a mother and her child—alone in the slums—changed completely.
Suddenly, they were lords of an entire star system.
And he was a prince. A candidate for emperor.
His name was Leonardo. A bastard—father unknown.
"Mom, this is tasty, huh?"
"That’s right. You were sent on an assignment to a famous restaurant in the Imperial Capital—of course it’s delicious."
Mother speaks, her fingers adorned with large gemstones, fumbling awkwardly as she tries to eat.
Mother and son had suddenly drowned in luxury, indulging in extravagance without restraint.
Once a pauper, now declared the thirteenth prince—her son’s mother now lavished the estate’s wealth like water.
And then came the annual assessment day for imperial succession rankings.
Leonardo’s mother’s reckless spending had backfired—the entire star system’s economy was teetering, citizens fleeing, and as a result, the succession ranking had plummeted to fifteenth place.
The natural-born prince who’d fallen to the bottom spot—fifteenth—would be disinherited after five consecutive years at the bottom.
Leonardo was now on the brink of being cast out.
"Leonardo! You have to raise your ranking—no matter what!"
"Mother, to do that, we’ll have to sell off gems and set up a budget for economic revival."
Leonardo was sharp, but his uneducated mother slapped him for it.
"Leonardo! You’re saying you’ll steal my treasures? You ungrateful wretch!"
Even Leonardo knew violence wouldn’t solve anything.
But he couldn’t defy the one blood relative he had left.
So he racked his brain.
And that’s when he noticed the loophole in this bottom-ranked, heir-removal system.
If the 14th and 15th heirs kept swapping positions every year, nobody would ever be disinherited.
Leonardo struck a deal with the 14th prince—swap rankings every year, indefinitely.
But succession rankings were based on points: military strength, economic development, and social standing.
Leonardo’s economy was a shambles—constantly losing to the 14th prince.
Which meant the 14th prince had no incentive. The incentive being…
Leonardo started human trafficking. He kidnapped beauties from his own territory and smuggled them into the 14th prince’s domain.
In return, he rigged trade deals to make it look like Leonardo’s land was profiting—on paper only.
Naturally, the next year he reversed the scam, returning the profits.
That’s how Leonardo avoided disownment.
But the underlying economic problems? Still unsolved. The longer the years passed, the more the realm crumbled.
Eventually, Leonardo couldn’t repay the profits anymore.
The 14th prince erupted in fury. But he couldn’t admit he’d been defrauded via cheating—he’d lose face.
So it came down to a duel. The 14th prince arrived with overwhelming force. Leonardo, outmatched, fought back—and won.
The Fourteenth Prince was disinherited. His territory passed to Leonardo.
The economic scale tripled. By keeping the ignorant mother in the dark, Leonardo secured additional budget—plus managed the original territory’s economy more efficiently.
As a result, the following year, Leonardo advanced his succession rank to the Twelfth Prince.
Higher succession rank meant more appearances at social gatherings.
But Leonardo was originally from the slums. Often mocked by lesser nobles.
That’s when the temperament he inherited from his mother surfaced.
He challenged every noble who looked down on him to duels—on the spot.
With the compensation from his victories, Leonardo built up his military. Before anyone noticed, he was known as a warrior prince among the heirs.
Afterward, several natural-born princes were discovered. One vanished after being tricked by Leonardo. Another survived under the protection of a higher-ranked prince.
The more the organization grew, the more the economy ran on its own—so matured, in fact, that even Leonardo and his mother could run wild without the whole thing collapsing.
The imperial succession line had climbed all the way to the fifth prince, based purely on military and economic power. The highest rank among natural-born heirs.
But that was as far as the arrogance could go.
He’d picked a fight with a lower-ranked prince protected by a higher-blooded one.
The outcome had been decided from the start. The disparity in forces was over twenty to one.
Leonardo surrendered, handing over multiple star systems as tribute.
Hearing the news, Leonardo’s mother died in fury.
That very cluster of star systems would later become Lorenzo’s domain—possibly what invited the invasion.
That was the moment something inside Leonardo snapped.
Leonardo, his bloodline weakened by rivalry with higher-ranking princes and his economy drained, still held on as the fifth prince—thanks to military strength and steady territorial management.
The gap between him and the fourth prince had widened, but he hadn’t fallen too far behind the sixth, so he was still holding his ground.
Then—shock. A new natural-born prince had been discovered.
And not just any prince. He’d defeated the thirteenth (Prince) and seized his star system.
“Huh? Why the hell’s the sixth prince suddenly popping up like this?!”
“Akira-sama possesses one of the rarest imperial traits among the princes. All he lacks is military might and economic power.”
“So… it’s just a matter of time before he overtakes me?”
The attendant remained silent. No answer.
Even Leonardo understood the silence meant yes.
That was the moment jealousy and resentment toward Akira took root.
Akira’s relentless advance continued.
Built up his own star system, boosted his economic power, defeated rival princes in competition, and claimed reparations as his own.
The Emperor himself remembered him well—briefly entrusted him with command of the Imperial Army.
Even worse, during the campaign against Neahyūm, he single-handedly crushed a fleet of one million Neahyūm ships, earning the whispered nickname “The Million Killer.”
There was no way he’d avoid being overtaken in the next succession ranking.
Leonardo’s sense of crisis mounted.
“If you hate Akira, I’ll help you.”
That’s when a man and woman—dressed as a black knight with a black mask—appeared.
They claimed to have the ability to turn Neahyūm into allies.
Right now, Lorenzo’s territory was already at war with Neahyūm.
Neahyūm was closing in on Leonardo’s domain too.
If Neahyūm could be neutralized… no, not just neutralized—turned into a fighting force… then…
“We can win!”
That was the moment Leonardo made his reckless gamble.
Added and revised for better expression.