The Winds Of War

World Era 1902.

Another year had passed, and Ian was now twelve years old. He continued his school life in a state that was neither particularly good nor bad. In fact, not standing out at school made life more comfortable.

As usual, Armin stuck close to him. At this point, whenever someone mentioned Prince Ian, the name Armin was immediately associated—he followed Ian around like a shadow. Meanwhile, younger princes and princesses had begun to attend the same school, but Ian didn’t interact or speak with them.

‘I just need to greet them politely. It’s not like we’re going to become close anyway.’

There was fierce competition among the concubines behind the scenes, and this tension extended to their children. So, even the princes and princesses seldom talked to each other.

Ding— The bell rang, signaling the end of classes, and everyone sprang up with excitement. Ian also stood while gathering his textbooks. Armin approached him.

“You’re going to the beach again today, right?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“No one loves the sea like you do, Prince Ian.”

“I don’t especially like it.”

“There you go again, saying things that don’t make sense. Then why do you go look at the sea every single day?”

“Just… sightseeing. There’s a lot to see.”

“That’s true. It is kind of fun when you catch a glimpse of warships now and then.”

Though I went there to train using seawater, I sometimes wondered what would’ve happened if Armin didn’t enjoy watching those things. From the start of the school year until now, he’d always stuck close. I sometimes questioned why he followed me around so much when it didn’t even seem fun for him.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

With Armin following behind, we left the hallway. Other students were also on their way home. We blended in among them like any other students. Despite being a prince, I was no longer a point of interest to them.

‘Everyone thinks they’re grown up now, so they just ignore me.’

It was definitely different from my first year. Still, I actually liked this change. While thinking that, something outside the window caught my eye. It reminded me of what happened with Armin in the past.

At first glance, it looked like bullying. And upon closer inspection, the one being bullied was someone I knew well: Dian di Polia, the Tenth Prince, a blond kid. He was surrounded by several other students.

‘Let’s just ignore it.’

“Huh? Isn’t that Prince Dian?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Isn’t he being bullied right now?!”

“Well, maybe.”

My indifferent tone reminded Armin of when he was bullied himself—he wondered if Prince Ian would step in like he had before. But Ian turned his head as if uninterested.

“Just leave it. They won’t actually lay a hand on him.”

Even nobles couldn’t touch a royal physically. If they did, their family could be accused of treason and be wiped out entirely. That’s why no one would ever dare lay hands on a royal.

‘They’ll probably just scare him with words. Poor Dian—he’s too timid.’

“Uh-oh, look! They’re grabbing Prince Dian’s collar now!”

Hearing that, I stopped in my tracks and looked back out the window. Sure enough, one of them was tugging on his collar. They weren’t trying to hurt him directly—just yanking at his clothes to intimidate him. Even that kind of action would terrify someone like Dian.

‘That’s pretty nasty.’

I thought the bullies were particularly sly—trying to avoid leaving evidence. In a way, it was a clever tactic. Still, the sight of a prince being treated this way was pitiful. A situation like this would never happen to those higher in the line of succession.

‘If I’m treated like this, the Tenth Prince must have it even worse.’

In truth, status depended heavily on maternal lineage. Dian’s maternal family was only a viscount house. His mother had caught the king’s eye at a party due to her beauty and became a concubine, so their family’s influence wasn’t great.

‘Still… this is going too far.’

I had intended to ignore it. But yanking on someone’s collar? That crossed a line. Of course, I had no intention of stepping in myself. I just wanted to get through school peacefully until I became an adult at eighteen.

‘In situations like this, nothing beats psychic powers.’

There was a simple way to end this. Holding back a grin, I quietly activated my power. Zzzzt—a current of telekinetic force surged out, hitting the bullies instantly. How? Just watch. From beside me, I heard Armin gasp.

“Gasp! Prince Ian! Prince Dian is hurt! These kids these days are out of control! How could they do something like that?!”

As he said, Prince Dian had fallen—and rather hard. The telekinetic power had subtly strengthened the bully’s pull. When the collar was yanked, it became stronger than expected, and Dian was flung to the ground.

At that moment, Dian began to cry. As a prince, he should’ve maintained dignity, but blood was pouring from both his knees. The pain was too much for a ten-year-old to bear—he was two years younger than me, after all.

‘They must be panicking.’

The bullies were clearly flustered. Especially the one who pulled his collar—he looked terrified. He’d caused a royal to bleed. Even if his family had power, this wouldn’t be easy to sweep under the rug.

‘If the family’s influential, they might survive—but this won’t end lightly.’

While I felt satisfied watching the scene unfold, I also felt a bit sorry for Dian. I was the one who made him fall, after all. But no one would ever guess it was me. Still, I felt refreshed.

‘It’s great. I didn’t even step in, and the situation resolved itself.’

“Let’s go.”

“But over there…”

“They’ll figure it out.”

With people watching, it wouldn’t end so simply. I walked on through the corridor, and Armin, unable to do anything else, followed after me. Internally, Armin thought he couldn’t quite figure out Prince Ian’s personality.

‘He’s cold, yet seems considerate… I just can’t get a read on him.’

Still, whatever the case, to Armin, he was someone good. The two of them got into their waiting carriage and headed to the beach as usual. Ian used the seawater to train, like always. Compared to last year, he could now move much greater volumes of water.

‘Good. I’ve regained about 80% of my former power. I should hit 90% before the year ends.’

It was a staggering rate of growth. After all, he was still only twelve years old. In just a few more years, once he fully regained his former strength, who could imagine how much stronger he would become? Just then, Armin was casting a fishing line into the sea.

“A fishing rod?”

“I figured I’d pass the time and try fishing. But why is the bobber drifting to the right like that?”

Even as he spoke with confusion, the bobber he had cast out was drifting rapidly to the right. Ian released his telekinetic power, and the bobber stopped moving. He realized the bobber had entered the space he was manipulating with his powers—an unintended interference.

‘Or maybe… this could make for some precision training?’

Suddenly, Ian thought that keeping the bobber still could be good practice. In fact, his current control over telekinesis was far more refined than in his past life. That was likely because he now had ample time and no pressing dangers to focus on his training.

‘Back then, I was always fighting for survival. No wonder I couldn’t train properly. Peace like this naturally leads to faster growth.’

With that thought, he began manipulating the seawater broadly while delicately keeping Armin’s bobber from moving. At first, the bobber jerked around, making Armin think he was catching fish. But after an hour, it didn’t move at all.

“Why haven’t I caught a single fish?”

“This place is polluted. Of course you won’t catch anything.”

“Still… if there are fish swimming around, I should’ve gotten at least one, right?”

“Yeah, I wonder why.”

Just as Ian played dumb, he noticed something in the distance—warships approaching the capital’s naval port. They were clearly heading toward the naval base. Something about their number felt unusual. It wasn’t just Ian who sensed it—Armin seemed to notice as well.

“Why are so many warships heading to the naval base these days?”

“Was it like this yesterday too?”

“Even when you were just staring at the sea yesterday, I saw one or two pass by. I think more ships have been arriving lately. It’s like they’re preparing to defend the capital. Have you heard anything from the palace?”

“Not really. But isn’t it strange for so many warships to gather?”

“It is. There’s no talk of training exercises or anything. Normally, this many ships only show up for major naval drills.”

“If not training, then what else?”

“Well… war. Ah—never mind. Please pretend you didn’t hear that. A war couldn’t possibly happen, right?”

Seeing Armin shake his head nervously, Ian felt an ominous chill. Just as he said, if it wasn’t for naval training, there was no reason for this many warships to gather. Could a war really be brewing?

‘But against who?’

The Doicheun Empire up north? Or the Magnia Empire in the east? Maybe the Noma Empire in the continent’s north, or the Moria Empire in the central region? Ian knew that relations with all four empires weren’t particularly bad or good.

‘Outside of the empires, there shouldn’t be any country willing to go to war with us.’

Even if some kingdoms were on poor terms with theirs, none were foolish enough to provoke war. That meant the odds of friction with an empire were high. It was starting to feel like a full-scale war might actually happen.

‘I’m only twelve. What would I even do if war broke out?’

Still, nothing had been confirmed yet. Ian decided not to jump to conclusions. It was probably just regular training.

One month later.

‘There’s really going to be a war?’

Since yesterday, the palace has been in chaos. Now, even Ian had heard the word “war” floating through the halls. At this point, it was close to confirmed. War—a very serious word.

‘The only comfort is that our country is a strong one.’

Even if the king was a disaster, and the nobles spoiled beyond reason, the country had invested heavily in building naval strength. Technologically, they still lagged behind the empires, but had caught up enough to put up a fight.

‘We’ve maintained a balance so far… there shouldn’t be a cause for war.’

Ian had heard that their kingdom maintained neutrality, carefully balancing diplomacy between the empires like a tug-of-war. War with any of them would be unwelcome. Still, he hadn’t heard which country they were going to war with.

‘A war is certain… but no one knows who the enemy is?’

Being stuck in one of the many secondary palaces made it hard to get information. And if he tried to dig too openly, it might raise suspicion. For now, he had no choice but to wait. Once war really broke out, word would spread even outside the capital.

Just as Ian thought that, he finally heard who the opponent was. The enemy was a country called the Nubea Kingdom. It was located in the central part of the continent and had moderate national strength. Still, the difference in power compared to the Polia Kingdom was significant.

‘Must’ve been a colonial clash in the New World.’

Apparently, colonies near the New World had clashed without his knowledge. At least it wasn’t an empire—that was a relief. Facing another kingdom meant they didn’t have to worry as much about losing.

Relieved, Ian set aside his worries and returned to focusing on school life.