This Bastard is Too Competent

I'm Glad I Didn't Give Up

 

 

 

There was only one step left.

 

[“Your Highness! The Crown Prince has given up the war! A messenger from the surrendered side has come with a white flag in his hand!”]

 

[“His command is to come up to the throne and receive the crown.
Your Highness has finally been recognized as the rightful heir to the throne!”]

 

It was the moment when becoming a king was just around the corner. 

But it had become just a dream.

 

Shruakk!

 

A rough pain came from the skin tearing.

Somebody’s blade stabbed me through my chest.

 

“Duke? Why would you?”

 

He was definitely a loyalist I believed in.

The only man who supported me when I had nothing to say once I declared I would become a king.

Such a man was thrusting a dagger into my back.

Instead of answering, he whispered absurd words.

 

“If I had met Your Highness a little earlier, maybe it would have been different.
It’s too late.”

 

I didn’t know anyone else, but I knew he wouldn’t betray me.

He took me who lived without knowing that I was of a royal family and made me dream of being a king.

But I couldn’t believe he stabbed me in the back at the last minute.

I died just like that.

 

King Tenon’s 7th son, Ian. 

 

He once had only two dukes in the kingdom as his sponsors, only leaving the succession ceremony behind.
His life ended in a lonely way without anyone knowing.

 

No, I knew it.

 

However…

 

***

 

Ian was staring blankly in the mirror.

There was a little boy with a puzzled look on his face.

 

A particularly conspicuous expression.

A body without muscles.

 

There were no royal symbols, no weapons.

If there’s anything good about him, it’s just his handsome face and golden eyes that were rare on the continent.

However, Ian was embarrassed in a different sense when he saw it.

 

“I’m back in the past?”

 

Ian couldn’t even laugh.

 

Looking at the scenery inside the room or hearing the voices of the servants and serfs preparing for a festival called the ‘32nd Harvest Festival’ from the outside, he was certain.

 

He was definitely 12 years old at this time.

 

Far from entering the royal capital, it was still before the Duke’s knights came to find him.

Ian thought he had a dream in vain.

 

“The Duke’s stab wound remains.”

 

It didn’t make sense.

Not only in his childhood but also during his succession to the throne.

He had never had a wound on his chest.

Except for the last time the Duke stabbed him.

 

“I’m back in the past, but the Duke’s wound remains intact.”

 

The scar that remained clear was not painful.

However, resentment and anger toward those who left this wound grew.

But what he really didn’t understand…

 

“Why did you betray me?”

 

The Duke had no reason to betray Ian.

He had the king’s blood flowing in his veins, but it was the ball the Duke held that made a mere bastard a real king.

Then he betrayed Ian just before he received the crown.

Ian couldn’t understand it no matter how hard he thought about it.

 

“Would it have been easier for him to be the king? He could have taken over the kingdom at will.”

 

But one thing was for sure.

 

‘I will make sure you pay the price for betraying me.’

 

And this time he would never miss the throne he had to sit on.

Sooner or later, the Duke’s knights would pick him up.

 

‘Before that, I need to organize my belongings and make slush funds.’

 

It was at that time when he smiled like that.

 

Bang!

 

Someone pounded the door hard as if they would break it.

 

“Hey, man! How long are you going to be sleeping?”

 

“!”

 

“Didn’t you hear the Lord is coming because of the Harvest Festival? I told you to get there before sunrise.”

 

Ian was like, ‘Oops.’

It occurred to him that he had forgotten it for a while.

 

‘Right, I was a serf in these days.’

 

Far from being independent, he’s a slave to a vicious supervisor who had to be beaten if he didn’t work right away!

 

***

 

“Oh, look at that bastard.
Is he oversleeping when the Harvest Festival is just around the corner?” 

 

The serfs stormed at Ian, who arrived late.

 

“Get to work before the supervisor comes! Those of you who didn’t finish your job until the Harvest Festival, be prepared!”

 

“Ian! Your area is from here to here!”

 

Ian managed to move his body reluctantly.

 

‘Damn it.
What should I do?’

 

Now he knew he had royal blood, but at this time he was just a serf.

He was sure he had done enough when he was a kid.

 

“What are you doing now? Can’t you move straight?”

 

Maybe it’s because he had been living in a Duke family for a long time?

He was familiar with the sickle when he was young, but why was it so unfamiliar to him now?

 

‘This is not going to work.’

 

Before leaving the village, Ian had to hurry up and clear his mother’s grave and retrieve her belongings.

 

‘I must find it before I enter the Duke’s castle.’

 

This is because in the future, there is no such thing as a huge debt from the Duke.

It must be somewhere in the accommodation, but he couldn’t find it no matter how hard he searched.

It was time for Ian to go back on his memory and guess where the relics might be.

 

Baam!

 

“Ian!”

 

Ian fell at someone’s kick.
And he heard a voice.

 

“You’re late for work, your hands are not moving, you are late.
You don’t do anything right.” 

It was none other than supervisor Johnson who kicked Ian.

 

As he approached, the serfs who worked with him looked at Ian with disgust.

Johnson had a joyful face as if he had caught a case.

 

“Slug, did you eat something wrong today? What’s wrong with you?”

 

He was holding a whip in one hand.

Unlike his vo