CH 10

Ludwig von Ploiss is the third son of his family, but though that makes him the Third Prince, he is the first in the line of succession for the throne. His two half-brothers are from a concubine from the Marquis Siegen, the king’s second wife Queen Amalie, so their position in the succession line dropped after a legitimate son was born.

Ludwig’s mother was Elizabeth, the daughter of Duke Schwaben, the king’s first wife, and although the Kingdom of Ploiss does not follow first-born inheritance, in terms of maternal lineage, family lineage, and capabilities, Elizabeth and her son Ludwig are the superior choices, much higher than Ludwig’s two older brothers.

Also, Ludwig himself showed great talent in all manner of things, hailed as a genius, a child prodigy, or a savant.

From an early age, he was given an education on a variety of subjects as a future ruler, and he learned them all quickly. History, politics, economics, theology, and the art of manipulating people. And when he picked up the sword, even though he is young, he shows off swordsmanship that puts adults to shame, and was never pushed back against the adult knights. Normally, when children are young, they often lose to adults, but even so, it is abnormal that such a young boy could hold his own against the best knights, those who have trained day and night and passed through strict examinations.

Ludwig, blessed with everything from his origins to his talents, was hailed by those around him as a man who deserved to be king.

Certainly, Ludwig is more talented than his two half-brothers. However… putting all that aside. Ludwig was neither born with his study skills nor his swordsmanship skills. As the eldest son of the royal family, he received a strict education, and even so, he never gave up because of his pride, which is why he has the brains and athleticism he has today. He did not emerge a genius from the womb.

And what of the reactions of those around him? There are two main camps of opinion on Ludwig.

The first is the idiots who unconditionally respect and worship him. All Ludwig’s hard work is dismissed with the one word, “genius”. Ludwig is so skilled because he has innate talent. Because he is a person blessed by the heavens, destined to become king from birth. Ludwig hated this statement more than anything else.

All those who praise Ludwig say the same thing, albeit with different words. He could not stomach any of it. As the legitimate son of the royal family, Ludwig has worked hard to the point of sweating blood. If others could not reach him, it was because they did not work hard enough. Don’t use phrases like “it’s because he’s a genius” to describe his blood-soaked efforts. That was Ludwig’s true, unvarnished feelings.

And the other reaction is that he’s not that talented anyway, he’s just being flattered because he’s royalty.

He supposed anyone could reach the same by studying and practicing swordsmanship like him. It’s the same as any noble son. If you trained from an early age, even those who don’t have that much natural talent will reach a certain level of skill. It’s only natural that Ludwig, with all the opportunities of the royal family, would have reached that level of talent.

Although he wasn’t as big of a deal as the people said, some people looked at Ludwig harshly, thinking he was just making more noise and fuss than necessary as flattery for the royal family.

Of course, there wasn’t someone who’d be so stupid as to openly express those opinions or say them to his face. However, in their hearts, they probably feel, “They’re just making more fuss than he’s worth, anyway.” and look down on him. Or, out of envy, some despise Ludwig’s abilities.

In the early days, Ludwig also tried to get the people around him to give him an honest evaluation. He can’t do it just because he’s a genius. He wants to understand his progress because he has been working hard day and night. He does not want them to look at him with eyes of envy, but to honestly evaluate his true abilities.

But such efforts were in vain. No matter how much he appealed to others or tried to demonstrate his abilities before them, it was all meaningless. Those who admire him unconditionally continue to deny the value of Ludwig’s hard work. They probably thought they were praising Ludwig by doing that, but from Ludwig’s point of view, it gradually became unforgivable.

He has his abilities by directly dueling with those who do not recognize Ludwig’s skill. Even so, those who were defeated make excuses and sought company in misery by claiming they threw the match to avoid harassment for defeating the prince.

In the end, none of them understood anything.

Before he knew it, Ludwig had come to view the world with cold eyes. On the surface, he played the charming prince as usual, but deep down, this world left him in despair.

However, it was not all in vain. Isn’t it easy to control these idiots? Nothing will be easier than this when he becomes king in the future. These idiots who can’t acknowledge their true feelings and only praise him, the scum who won’t recognize his efforts because they’re jealous of him even though they haven’t even put in a tenth of Ludwig’s efforts, so when Ludwig becomes king in the future, he will have to rule even all these people.

In that case, it would be good if he could become smart enough to handle such idiots and scum easily. Isn’t it much more constructive to think about how to control these people than to get angry at them?

It didn’t take long for the cheerful, lively, and intelligent prince to become twisted.

When the Prince turned 8 years old, he began to hear stories of engagement proposals from here and there. Since Ludwig was first to the throne, it would not have been strange if it was already decided earlier, but due to his personally avoiding the discussions and obstruction by Second Queen Amalie, the talks were not going particularly well.

Second Queen Amalie had not yet given up on having her children inherit the throne. She had been interfering with Ludwig’s engagement talks. There was a great deal of importance between engagements and the throne.

Just as betrothal or marriage with a member of the royal family has great influence and benefits for the partner’s House, the royal family also benefits from them.

In the same way, as it would be with the noble house married into, the royal family is now guaranteed their support and backing as well. If you welcome a young noble lady from a large and powerful aristocratic family, the royal family will also benefit from their status and influence.

Queen Amalie was fully aware that even if Ludwig and her two sons fought head-on, there would be no chance of winning. On the other hand, it shouldn’t be easy to assassinate Ludwig, either. Then, what could she do?

Let her sons marry influential aristocrats, and keep Ludwig away from other noble houses so that he won’t get their support. No matter how talented he is or whether he is a legitimate child, if the majority of aristocratic families want Ludwig disinherited and Amalie’s sons enthroned instead, King Ploiss cannot ignore it.

And it was convenient for Ludwig. The daughters of the nobility put up appearances and deceptions to get closer to him… to be honest, Ludwig was fed up with it all. He may offend the crowds of haughty girls who don’t understand a thing about him, but he doesn’t feel happy when he’s being pursued and fawned over like this.

Then, even the nobles who are aiming for a connection with the heir apparent are frustrated. If they could not see Ludwig beyond his title, he had not the slightest motivation to let himself be used by nobles flocking to him, intending to curry his favor for politics.

So, Ludwig accepted Amalie’s interference. In fact, if he doesn’t end up becoming the one at direct fault, he was happy to have broken engagements with all these people he does not like.

From Amalie’s point of view, it was probably a ploy to prevent Ludwig from having contact with other nobles, but as the Second Queen, an outsider to the direct line of succession, her interference was tantamount to war with the crown prince. If Ludwig were disinherited in the future, it wouldn’t be a problem, but she’s a fool who doesn’t realize her jeopardy if Ludwig does ascend to the throne.

That’s why Ludwig had so many engagements interrupted by Amalie and had them broken off. Up until now, all engagement talks with the daughters of dukes and marquises close to his age have failed, and it seemed that there were no promising fiancée candidates anymore.

And just when he was thinking there was finally an end to all these annoying engagement talks, there was one offered to the daughter of Margrave Carruthers. Her family’s status is equal to or higher than that of a duke, so there is no problem.

Among those who prefer the glamorous capital, some make fun of the Margrave’s family as graceless outsiders who can only fight, even if their family’s status is high, but Margrave Carruthers has powerful soldiers who protect the border. It’s perfect for national defense and as a legal measure to retain their loyalty.

However, even at this time, Ludwig had no intention of getting engaged, so he headed to Margrave Carruther’s territory with the expectation that Amalie would break off this deal for him.

In Margrave Carruther’s manor, the one who greeted Ludwig was a beautiful girl who was incomparable to the haughty noble ladies he’d met in the royal capital. She has long, waist-length blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Her demeanor is soft and every move she makes is filled with grace. She is so beautiful that even Ludwig couldn’t help but fall for her.

But this girl, Flora, didn’t seem so interested in Ludwig in turn. Every nobleman’s daughter in the royal capital Ludwig met had desperately tried to get his attention.

Of course, some of them are infatuated with Ludwig’s sweet facade, and others are calculating and simply ingratiating themselves with the next king. But, everyone flocks to Ludwig regardless.

But what about Flora before him? She’s acting as if she’s not that interested in Ludwig. Of course, she follows the minimum manners so as not to be rude. Rather, she’s not complaining.

Unlike the others, she doesn’t try to flatter him nor does she seem to have some sort of ulterior motive. It’s a curt attitude that simply intends to fulfill the minimum obligations of a face-to-face meeting. And with that kind of attitude, even Ludwig couldn’t take offense.

Ludwig has his pride and his confidence. He’s been fawned over and flattered by women in the past, then angering them when he told them he was only meeting them out of duty to his family.

(It’s not that I care what Flora thinks about me… but, I’m still furious that she’s not interested in me!)

It’s a striking contradiction. He should have been annoyed by the women who would always swarm around and flatter him, but when he was being given the barest level of effort, he couldn’t forgive that, either.

Moreover, there is nothing wrong with Flora for him to criticize. Ostensibly because she is only speaking with Ludwig out of obligation, there was nothing more to talk about. Ludwig thought that Flora was not interested in him because it was an act but it seems she really didn’t care about him at all.

If Ludwig points out that Flora is uninterested in him, he would be mocked as a self-conscious clown. Hence, Ludwig couldn’t say it even if he wanted to.

Then what does he do? So, he made a verbal jab at Flora while she was spacing out a bit. Ludwig wanted to make Flora look a little flustered to lower her spirits, but he was unable to do so.

The reason being, Flora revealed her true feelings, that she thought Ludwig was just a pampered young man without much ability to back up the praise. Hence, before he knew it, they ended up crossing blades.

It was inevitable that the Margrave would have one or two training grounds at his manor, but Ludwig never thought there would be such a splendid facility right behind it.

And Ludwig was beaten to a pulp just as the mock battle began. He lost like never before.

It was frustrating. No matter how many times he tries, he’s no match for her. He wonders if the people he had dueled up until now were actually taking it easy and humoring him. He was so overwhelmed by Flora, someone who was supposed to just be a young beautiful girl, that Ludwig thought he was no match for her at all.

As Ludwig is exhausted and unable to move, Flora bows without even being short of breath. Supported by his servants, Ludwig left the training ground with his shoulders trembling.

Ludwig never thought of himself as a genius. He just gave it his all. Compared to a true genius, he is such a miserable young man. Thinking that Ludwig clenched his fists tightly, climbed into his carriage to head for home, then stopped as he saw someone.

“That man… could that be you, Sigmund?” Ludwig asked.

“Your Highness Ludwig, what are you doing in a place like this…? I suppose I needn’t have said that,” Sigmund said. “Did you have business with Lady Flora?”

Ludwig found a person in the royal castle who his father had spoken to several times, often summoning him personally. He then recalled the “Sigmund” Flora mentioned when she was talking about learning domestic affairs and politics. That Sigmund was probably this Sigmund. It can’t be a coincidence that there are two or three Sigmunds who just happened to be experts on domestic affairs here in Ploiss.

It makes him think: what in the hell is Flora learning from Sigmund, a high-ranking bureaucrat, who his father, the king, had such tremendous trust in? Ludwig wanted to hear the details in full, Sigmund happily obliged, and took him into the room that had been given to the tutors.

After Ludwig calmed down a bit, he was shocked at what Sigmund told him. In terms of curriculum, Flora has already learned what someone many years older than her would be studying. It doesn’t make any sense at all. It’s not just about domestic affairs either. Sigmund said that he has finished learning about military strategy from Leon, who also worked at the royal castle.

While learning manners from Olivia, a tutor who is famous among the nobility, how many lessons has she learned about swords, magic, politics, and military strategy? Moreover, the content is so advanced that even experts working in the royal castle, much less Ludwig, would struggle with that level of difficulty.

Is this a true genius…?

Ludwig’s heart was filled with deep feelings of resignation. He was nothing more than a frog in a well having praise heaped on him. Even though he thought of himself as an average person who worked hard, he was conceited after all. After being beaten so thoroughly for his arrogance, Ludwig was stricken with a sense of defeat.

But that wasn’t the end of the story. Ludwig was stunned soon after when he happened to witness Margrave Albert and the great swordsman Erich arriving later that day.

The master swordsman Erich gave Ludwig a lesson, once. But Ludwig was no match for him, he thought Erich was a true warrior who he could not match.

Then there’s the Hero of the Frontier, Margrave Albert, whose swordsmanship was said to surpass even Erich, and then the great magician Christoph who cast powerful spells from a distance. Flora was standing her ground against all three of them simultaneously. She’s been tumbling, getting splattered in mud, and getting injured, but she doesn’t give up and devotes herself to her training.

How did she feel about being called a genius? How did it feel for your hard work to be cheapened by claims of innate talent? Weren’t the feelings he had exactly what Flora experienced as well?

In what world is there a person born with such academic ability and swordsmanship skill? It is because they have put in more effort than ordinary people that they have succeeded on that path. He has tried his best to match it. And Flora’s effort, which surpassed even Ludwig’s own, was so tremendous that it could be said that Ludwig wasn’t even trying. Isn’t that all there is to it?

The sons and daughters of aristocrats learn magic at least once between the ages of 5 and 10 at the latest. There’s nothing wrong with that. Just by reading a picture-book-like introductory text and seeing a little bit of aptitude, there is nothing more to learn unless you go to school at the age of 15, where you’ll have full-fledged magical studies.

Nevertheless, Flora is already using magic freely enough to compete with the great mage Christoph. She is also fighting the Master Swordsman Erich and the Hero Albert with blades.

To begin with, wasn’t Flora the only one who treated Ludwig not as the Third Prince but merely as himself? Has there ever been an opponent who did not hesitate to strike him down with their sword?

Even the adult knights, who actually had an overwhelming difference in ability, were hesitant because he was royalty. For sure, Ludwig has the ability that put adults to shame, but he is not at the level where he can beat anyone. However, he should have been somewhat reserved in his matches with the knights. Flora had no such reservations. Isn’t that because she treated Ludwig not as a prince, but as a fellow swordsman?

On this day, Ludwig secretly watched this girl’s sword and magic training, he was captivated by how rare she was, and overcame Queen Amalie’s obstructions to formalize their engagement.

T/N: I have much to say about the author’s rather black and white opinions about working harder than everyone else is key, especially considering the context of their characters being from such privileged backgrounds, but this is a fantasy and I don’t want to bog this down too much with my opinions.

I will mention, however, that it’s a common sentiment in Japanese culture that one simply needs to work harder to overcome problems.