Rise of the Fallen Kingdom’s Third Prince

Yuri’s third wife.

Her identity was none other than Asana.

“I didn’t know breaking schools was such an important matter.”

Her expressionless face was the same as before, but now that Yuri had gotten closer to her, he could read the subtle emotions Asana let slip.

“Breaking schools, huh…”

She was clearly enjoying herself.

She looked as if she might go and spread it all over the neighborhood at any moment.

Who knew what she might end up telling the other wives.

“Ah, no!”

“What is it?”

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of spreading rumors.”

“That depends on what I see you do.”

With a faint smile on her lips, Asana stepped aside.

“Looks like you want to fight the people here. Fine, go ahead. Try it.”

The instructors watched Yuri with stiff expressions. Clearly, they didn’t know Asana’s true identity.

One of the instructors asked Asana,

“Guest instructor, it seems you know that ruffian. Could you tell us what this is about…?”

“Hmm…”

Asana gave a mischievous smile.

“He’s my ex-boyfriend.”

Everyone except Asana widened their eyes. Yuri even opened his mouth.

“Ahem… How could you go out with such a violent man…?”

“It was a mistake.”

“Even so, I’m glad you broke up with him. Next time, please find a good man. For your sake, and for the honor of the Blue Star School, we will see to it that we dispose of that man cleanly.”

“Thank you. Take good care of him.”

“Gosseu!”

The instructor shouted the slogan while clenching his fist and puffing out his chest.

Yuri asked,

“What’s this ‘Gosseu’ thing?”

“It’s the motto that represents the spirit of the Blue Star School.”

“And what does it mean?”

“The master’s path is bitter! We shorten it to ‘Gosseu.’ It’s our determination to persevere.”

“I see…”

“Gosseu!”

“By the way, that ‘guest instructor’ thing… Asana, what do you teach here?”

“Do you still have feelings for your former partner?”

“That’s not it…”

“Don’t get sentimental — accept it and move on!”

“This guy…”

Behind the instructor, Asana made a gesture with her hand as if throwing a shuriken. Apparently, she had been teaching throwing weapon techniques during her visit.

“Haa…”

In any case, he couldn’t forget his main purpose.

Yuri composed himself and shouted,

“Putting that aside! Master Moyongchan… No, Moyongchan, where is he?”

“The head instructor isn’t here right now!”

“Why?”

“It’s lunchtime and he’s gone to eat!”

Then Yuri realized the sun was high overhead.

“In that case…”

With a trembling hand, Yuri pointed at the Blue Star School disciples surrounding him.

“Are these disciples still training without having eaten?”

“That’s right! To become true masters!”

“Training to the point of skipping meals…”

“That is the spirit of the Blue Star School!”

“I see…”

Although he had come with the excuse of breaking the dojo, in the end, these were practically his own disciples.

Moved by their passion for martial arts, Yuri softly murmured the school’s motto.

“Gosseu…”

The instructor’s gaze softened.

“Seeing that you understand the meaning of Gosseu, you don’t seem as bad a man as I thought.”

“Of course. This is all a misunderstanding.”

“I understand. Relationships between men and women don’t always flow as one wishes. Even if the world separated you and the guest instructor against your will, and that has labeled you as trash, it’s a burden you must bear as a martial artist.”

“That’s not it, and nobody called me trash.”

“There’s no need for words!”

The instructor raised both fists.

“What do you say we settle the rest of this conversation with martial arts?”

“Alright.”

Yuri raised his fist in response.

“Let’s continue the conversation with our fists.”

A martial arts conversation.

For Yuri, it wasn’t absurd at all. He had already reached the level of a master who could read and convey another’s heart with a single exchange of swords or punches.

“I’ll let you take the initiative.”

“You’ll regret it.”

The instructor didn’t hold back and charged at him.

At the same time—

Bang!

The barrel of Yuri’s weapon spat fire.

“…”

“…”

Everything fell silent.

The instructor froze in place.

Yuri’s bullet was embedded right in front of his feet.

If he had aimed a little further ahead, the man would have been left limping.

Seeing the tension in the air, Yuri excused himself.

“Ah, sorry. Was it just with fists?”

“…”

“I guess we weren’t on the same page. For me, a duel is a fight to the death.”

“Trying to intimidate me like that… a cheap trick.”

“I’m serious.”

Yuri handed the weapon to Jared and raised his fists again.

“Let’s do this properly. Let’s talk with both fists.”

“Gosseu!”

The instructor’s fist flew toward him.

It was fierce.

“Not bad!”

Yuri decided not to dodge it.

An unexpected exchange of blows began. Even as he took the hits, Yuri didn’t stop smiling.

“Hit me harder!”

Yuri didn’t want a one-sided fight.

Just as the instructor had said, this was a conversation — a physical conversation.

Having transcended the human level in martial arts, Yuri could feel what the instructor was thinking and wanted to say by directly receiving his punches.

It was as if he could hear his voice.

‘My name is Ronni! Since I was young, because of my upright nature, I often clashed with others. But I have never abandoned what I believe is right!’

A man of firm principles.

‘In my hardest times, the Blue Star School took me in. A man must always be loyal! I will live for the Blue Star School!’

A passionate man.

Yuri began to burn inside as well.

“Come at me with everything!”

“Gosseu!”

They both struck each other in the jaw.

They exchanged punches mercilessly.

The desire for martial arts improvement!

The pride in the Blue Star School!

The faith in the principles of humanity, justice, courtesy, wisdom, and loyalty!

The instructor’s passion was transmitted to Yuri like fire.

“Hahahaha! Excellent! Come at me harder!”

The instructor’s fist flew again. This time, what it carried was hotter than anything.

“You bastard!”

Without realizing it, Yuri threw a stronger punch.

The instructor’s body went flying, smashed through the main door of the Blue Star School’s central building, and broke several walls before crashing to the ground.

Once again, everything went silent.

Even Roland and Jared frowned as they looked at Yuri.

“Why… did you suddenly lose control…?”

“Are you trying to kill me?”

Yuri coughed discreetly.

“By accident…”

“By accident what?”

“This is self-defense.”

The conversation with fists had gone too far.

Without realizing it, Yuri had ended up reading the most secret thought of Instructor Ronni from the Blue Star School.

‘The guest instructor is truly beautiful! It was love at first sight! I’m going to confess! But first, I’m going to beat up that ex-boyfriend of hers!’

No wonder he had been talking nonsense.

Yuri dusted off his hands as he looked at the fallen Ronni.

“We were just exchanging opinions with our fists and had a disagreement.”

“That is…”

“Of course Asana also bears some of the blame.”

Yuri leaned toward Asana and whispered.

“That guy likes you.”

“That’s impossible.”

“Then why did he call me your ex-boyfriend…?”

“He knows I’m married.”

“What?”

“He said ex-boyfriend, not that I was single. I told him I’m married.”

Asana raised her hand, showing a wedding ring that gleamed on her ring finger.

Yuri’s gaze shifted toward Ronni, who was lying embedded in the main building.

Suddenly, carried by the breeze, the last unspoken pure thought of Ronni reached Yuri.

‘I don’t care if you’re a married woman!’

Yuri regretted not having hit him harder.

“So you turned out to be a man who betrays justice and righteousness…”

The disciples of the Blue Star School carried Ronni’s body away somewhere.

In any case, the dojo demolition wasn’t over yet.

Yuri shouted,

“One down! What’s wrong, is there no one else who wants to face me?”

“…”

“The Blue Star School is full of crybaby gentlemen! All of you standing there with long faces and sniffling! I’ll take your plaque, so from now on you’re not the Blue Star School, but the Sadness School! Hahahahaha!”

Several officers chuckled at Yuri’s wordplay.

Encouraged by the reaction, Yuri shouted again.

“And tell your master Moyongchan to change his name to Uselesschan! Because he’s good for nothing! Hahahahaha!”

A few more laughed.

Yuri continued.

“And his lackey Simon, change his name to Simon the Close! And Guinness, call him Shortness!”

This time, the reaction was rather weak.

Yuri clicked his tongue and was about to crack a joke from his favorite book Nights in the Walled City when—

“What are you doing?”

A familiar voice sounded behind him.

Yuri grinned widely.

Finally, the face he truly wanted to see had appeared.

“He’s here.”

When he turned around, he saw Moyongchan standing with his hands behind his back in front of the shattered main gate.

At his side, Simon and Guinness stood tall and imposing.

One of the Ten Greats of the Continent.

Head master of the Blue Star School.

Moyongchan.

He had made his appearance.

Yuri spread his arms and said,

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. You had spicy pork soup for lunch today, didn’t you?”

“How did you know?”

“There’s a red stain on the collar of Simon’s shirt. In Liberta, there aren’t many dishes with red chili powder.”

Simon hurriedly brushed off his clothes.

Yuri smiled and greeted.

“As always, master.”

“And you the same.”

Yuri’s words stirred up the Blue Star School once more. No one had imagined that this scoundrel would be Moyongchan’s disciple.

But then, Simon and Guinness bowed.

“Always so playful, Your Highness.”

“It’s an honor, Your Highness.”

And at the same time, the thug threatening the Blue Star School peeled off the slime mask covering his face.

“Impossible…!”

Underneath was black hair, black eyes, and a handsome face.

This could only mean one thing.

Prince of the Kingdom of Briol, husband of the Empress, the strongest swordsman on the continent.

Yuri Briol had appeared.

It was well known that he had learned swordsmanship from Moyongchan. Surprising that no one had thought of it sooner.

In an instant, the atmosphere changed.

The disciples of the Blue Star School welcomed Yuri with cheers, and he responded by high-fiving each one as he made a round.

One of the instructors even tried to hand him the dojo’s plaque.

“If it’s for Your Highness, I gladly give it to you!”

“I’ll just accept the gesture.”

The instructor stepped back, intimidated by Moyongchan’s gaze.

Moyongchan asked,

“So, what have you come for?”

“Do I need a reason to come?”

“Not necessarily, but arriving unannounced makes me think there’s something important.”

“Sharp as ever, master.”

Yuri nodded.

“I’ve already greeted your disciples, so let’s get to the matter.”

***

Yuri was sitting in the Blue Star School’s reception room.

The wall was split wide open from Ronni’s body having crashed through it.

“…”

They served him steaming tea. From the aroma, it seemed imported from the East.

“You must have gotten it from the Elaine Association.”

“No, I bought it from the Charles Association.”

“What?!”

Yuri flared up for a moment, but quickly calmed down. Now that the route to the East was open, competition was inevitable. They couldn’t keep a monopoly forever.

“Elaine will be busy too… anyway.”

Yuri lowered his voice.

“Master. And Cheongun.”

Cheongun was seated next to Moyongchan.

Incidentally, upon hearing the commotion outside, he had waited in hiding until Moyongchan arrived. His years as a ronin had taught him to survive with caution.

“Please, take a look at this.”

Yuri placed a book and a dagger on the table. Moyongchan and Cheongun frowned in unison.

“It seems to have history.”

“This is…”

Moyongchan examined the cover and then flipped through the pages. His and Cheongun’s eyes moved quickly.

Yuri asked cautiously,

“What is that book?”

But he received no answer.

“…”

Yuri waited with his hands on his knees. From their expressions, it seemed truly serious.

Finally, Moyongchan spoke.

“Jeong su bul beom ha su!”

Yuri’s eyes widened.

“What does that mean?!”

“That the water from the well does not invade the water from the river.”

“And what does that mean?!”

“It’s an expression meaning that the government and the Murim do not invade each other’s territory. In the East, the imperial court and the Murim have maintained a tacit non-aggression pact to preserve the balance of power.”

“You could have said that from the start.”

“But it seems someone wants to break that rule…”

“Huh?”

“To explain briefly, what’s written in this book… are martial arts of the Blood Church!”