CH 90

The prince, who had been pessimistic all along, made up his will to survive, but strangely, he was down.

Oh my, was the medicine too strong?

This was largely due to the influence of people around me.

Bertin was friendly, but his personality wasn’t really gentle.

When he had to do something with a smiling face, he did it relentlessly.

Needless to say, Rany and Zen drove people away in a spartan manner.

Because I thought I was a bit too much, I spoke more softly to him, who was curled up.

“It’s going to be difficult for now, but rescue teams will soon come after the other knights join them.”

“For me?”

He raised his face that was messed up by dirt.

Somehow, the face that asked calmly because I scolded him to not give up easily, looked sad.

Suddenly, I realized that his age was no more than twelve years old.

Even though he pretended to be mature, he liked orange juice, and he was at an age where it was normal for him to childishly argue or whine about difficult things.

“Why can’t you believe in the emperor even a little?”

It was exceedingly over to take this simply because of his timid personality.

Because his level of not valuing himself was borderly over, there might be other reasons for him to think others took him as an unimportant person.

The prince, who was looking in another direction for a while at my question, opened his heavy mouth.

“After Her Majesty the Empress was installed, the one who can stand next to the emperor is only that person. It is customary to send back women who had been attending the palace until that moment.”

“. . .”

“Before my mother left the palace, she brought the news of her pregnancy.”

“. . . !”

“This is a story no one knew about the first prince that ever existed.”

“. . .”

I lost my words at the unbelievable story, but the second prince didn’t stop.

He let out the story that he silently kept inside his heart for a long time.

“Because she was pregnant with the imperial family’s blood, Mother stayed in a detached palace. Also, not long after she was installed, the empress became pregnant, and both of them safely delivered their children.”

The words that flowed out from the calm voice were shocking and unfamiliar.

The offspring of the imperial family were precious, and if she also gained the position of imperial consort, would there be any reason to hide the first prince?

The imperial consort remained in the palace, anyway, so it would have been better to announce the first prince as well.

“His Majesty is a kind person, and I heard he cherished my brother in his own way. However . . .”

I was distracted by hearing the shocking secret and realized that he had been talking using the past tense the whole time.

The first prince was ‘existed’ and ‘cherished’, but what about now?

“Because His Majesty wished for the first prince to live happily even though he wasn’t given the destiny to rule over the empire, he sent my brother and mother to another region.”

After the crown prince, the imperial family’s descendant from the legal wife was installed, the first prince and the imperial consort left the palace.

“That region was Louver Village.”

“. . . !”

My head turned blank as if someone had strongly struck it.

The prince examined my pale complexion.

Now I felt like I could know the reason his face turned dark when I said I had visited Louver Village.

“I don’t know what kind of hell Mother went through there.”

“. . .”

“My brother died, and Mother, who returned alone to the detached palace, had already lost half of her consciousness.”

Then, she became pregnant with the second prince.

The very kid, that this time was not welcomed, cherished, and loved by anyone.

“When they found out about her condition, I’d already grown, and after pondering about it, the emperor announced me as the second prince.”

I wondered if that was because when he looked at how the first prince died while not being announced to the public, the second prince would likely survive if he was announced.

My head was spinning.

“Your situation is different from the first-”

“His Majesty wanted to keep my brother close to him, but because he worried if my brother would get any mishaps, he sent him far from the palace. Even such a consideration was no use.”

“Who on earth would have killed the first prince?”

“It must be the force who believed the crown prince’s throne was in danger.”

“. . . !”

The answer was spoken out with a tone that was rarely filled with certainty.

Suddenly, the thing that flashed inside my head was the figure of the empress, who turned her head with a bored look.

“That . . .”

Even if she was the mastermind behind the elimination of the first prince, it was different now.

The crown prince’s position was already firm and if no problem happened, then it was obvious he would rise to the throne.

All the people of this empire knew of that fact, so there was no reason to eliminate the second prince.

Doesn’t he have nothing that could be called his power inside the palace?

If she had to be wary that much toward a prince who had no territory, or even knight order, there must have been a reason.

“The empress, she can’t give birth anymore.”

“. . . !”

The empress who couldn’t give birth.

The only crown prince, and a prince who had no proper authority.

For now, the crown prince was absolutely in the advantageous situation, but if something happened to him?

If for some reason he couldn’t inherit the throne . . .

The prince, who saw my blank expression, shoved his face on his knees.

“I have no particular intention to snatch my brother’s position, nor do I have the confidence that I could replace him.”

Although this was a very rude thought, I did agree with him.

The second prince wasn’t someone who was enough to challenge the crown prince’s position.

I opened my mouth to comfort him.

“You’re an excellent person too, Your Highness. I think . . .”

If I said that he could catch up with his brother, it meant that I’m saying he had a chance to attain the throne, and if I said no, would it mean that I think he had no talent to inherit the throne?

That is dangerous for sure.

I quickly changed my words.

“I think His Majesty announced your presence to the public in order to protect you.”

However, before I could add that everything would be fine, he spoke again.

“My brother’s death also happened regardless of His Majesty’s will. The prince of this empire died and the imperial consort lost her mind, but no one was punished.”

“. . . ”

“Even the emperor couldn’t touch them, so who could stop them?”

There was no strength in his voice.