Chapter 33
“So, let me get this straight. You knew all this and stayed silent without reporting it?”
Crown Prince Alfred interrogated the fool, who had bruises around his eyes and his arms tied.
With his arms crossed and leaning casually, Alfred looked supremely confident.
Truly the royal family’s worst troublemaker (at least in appearance).
But the fool had no intention of speaking. He kept his mouth shut as tightly as if glued and hung his head in silence.
“…”
“What about the other servants of Queen Irina? Do they know about this too?”
“…”
“Brother, I don’t think this guy’s planning to answer. Why don’t we just hand him over to Father?”
Even though Eldric was indifferent to most matters, this was a serious issue that might prompt a different reaction. Then again, he might just tell them to execute the man quickly to avoid complications.
Alfred pondered. If it were Father, that’s probably what he’d do.
In times like this, threats work best. If this guy spills even a little, it’ll make my job easier.
“Hey, you heard what Kaelen said, right? You know what’ll happen if Father hears about this, don’t you? You must really want to lose your head. I couldn’t care less, though. Now, then…”
“I-I’ll tell you everything I know!”
“Oh, really?”
A simple, light threat, and the fool’s eyes widened as he finally opened his mouth. His sheer lack of resolve left the red-haired brothers dumbfounded. Still, at least it worked.
Being as foolish as he was to participate in Queen Irina’s nonsensical scheme, the man clearly hadn’t considered what to do if caught.
How did someone like this even pass the aptitude test to become a palace servant?
The now-talking servant spilled everything to the brothers, sparing no detail.
Of course, he tried to downplay his role as much as possible, but it was all in vain.
There was no system for reduced punishment for confessions, so his fate remained the same: execution.
Fools can only be fixed by death.
Meanwhile, oblivious to this, the servant continued blabbering, trying desperately to save his life.
At the same time, Muriela and the little expedition team were venturing into Katrina’s mental world.
“Sister K! So, your mom told you that every day?”
Kasper, as if allergic to full names, shortened Katrina’s name to one syllable despite not being close to her.
“Y-Yeah… Ah, ahh! My head hurts again…”
Since the expedition members had no stake in the royal succession, they had completely evaded Queen Irina’s already loose radar.
Katrina didn’t feel any irrational rejection toward them.
“Sister, do you still think your brothers are trying to kill you?”
“Uh? I-I don’t know… But I’m still scared when I close my eyes…”
Solinor contemplated.
What should we do? Physical wounds can be healed by a skilled healer, but for mental issues, all he knew was to isolate the person and pray that therapy would eventually work.
At first, he thought she needed isolation treatment, but that was an extremely harsh measure.
Being isolated, meeting hardly anyone, and spending monotonous days in endless therapy with no guarantee of recovery.
Moreover, there was no way to know how long it would take for her to heal.
From his conversation with Katrina, Solinor could tell that she was inherently kind. Her troubles seemed to stem from being led astray by a power-hungry mother.
As a grandfather, he didn’t want to send Katrina to an isolation facility where she might never come out. If there were no other options, it couldn’t be helped, but…
She’s such a pitiful child. How can I lock her away? Isn’t there another way?
Ah! Come to think of it, Sylvius mentioned researching souls.
But how do I contact him? If I had known this would happen, I would’ve created a signal for summoning him or scheduled regular meetings.
In hindsight, Solinor realized he was as careless as Queen Irina.
The three children continued their impromptu mental clinic session for a while. How effective it was, remained unknown.
Meanwhile, the red-haired brothers finished interrogating Queen Irina’s servant and ordered others to take him where he needed to go.
Still oblivious to his fate, the servant turned around to thank them for sparing his life.
Alfred, feeling awkward, couldn’t help but comment as he watched the man being dragged away.
“Hm, in a way, that guy’s incredible. How can someone be that stupid?”
“People become unbelievably foolish when consumed by greed, Brother.”
Oh? Unexpected? Alfred looked surprised.
“Well, well, you’re capable of saying something so profound? I thought your head was full of swords.”
“Actually, it’s something Muriela said when I tried to copy Grandpa’s technique and fell. I was so surprised I asked where she learned it, and she said it was from history class.”
It wasn’t particularly relevant to the situation, but to Kaelen, whose education was even more limited than Solinor’s, it left an impression.
“I take history classes too. Was there something like that? Well, I guess it depends on the teacher.”
“Listening to things like this makes me want to take history lessons. Not that I ever will.”
“You, seriously. I’m not one to talk, but you really should study. Even as the Second Prince, how can someone cram all their lessons with swordsmanship? Among all the royals, you’re probably the dumbest.”
“Hmph. If I got smart and capable, wouldn’t I become a threat to you? What would you do if Father asked me to become Crown Prince instead?”
Kaelen’s joke made Alfred pause and think seriously. He looked up at the sky and spoke earnestly to his brother.
“Hey, do you really think I’m fit to be king?”
In truth, Alfred had intentionally sent the servants away with the fool to have this conversation.
Hit with an unexpected serious question, Kaelen stammered.
“…What? What do you mean, Brother?”
Has my brother suddenly gone crazy? What’s he talking about?
“Don’t you understand my words? Do you think I’d make a good king? Be honest. I won’t get mad.”
Hmm, surely this isn’t some subtle way of gauging whether I’m a threat, right? No way. While Kaelen had only recently grown closer to Alfred, he trusted him enough for that.
“Well… I’m too ignorant to say for sure, but I think you’d be okay as king. Better than some others, anyway.”
Who are these “some others”? The brothers both knew, but neither dared to say it aloud.
Still, treating Father like this… Is this how it’s supposed to be? All his children are useless. Just useless.
“Hey, comparing someone to zero will always make them look good. What kind of compliment is that?”
“But at least you’re not in the negatives.”
“You don’t even study math. How do you know about negatives?”
“Oh, Muriela told me…”
Solinor, despite his shortcomings, was still better educated than the average person. Kaelen, however, seemed like he didn’t even have a metaphorical schoolbag.
“Muriela again? That kid is such a mystery. How does an eight-year-old know so much? Until a couple of months ago, she was practically a corpse holed up in some palace corner.”
“Come on, Brother. ‘Corpse’ is a bit much to say about your little sister.”
“Your tone’s starting to sound like Muriela’s.”
They both chuckled quietly.
After a brief silence, Kaelen crossed his arms and looked up at the sky, mimicking Alfred, before dropping a bombshell.
“To be honest, I think Muriela would make a better king than you.”
Alfred didn’t reply for a long while. Just as Kaelen was about to turn to check on him, Alfred muttered softly.
“You know saying something like that could get you in serious trouble, right?”
“Yeah. I know.”
“Then why’d you say it?”
“Because I trust you.”
“What?”
“After talking with you over the past few days, I’ve realized something. You’re actually a good person.”
“…”
“I’m sure you wouldn’t hurt me just for saying this.”
“What if your judgment of people is wrong?”
“Then I’ll just have to take responsibility.”
“…”
“Muriela told me that, too. Of course, I’m not saying this just because she has some nice words. Muriela’s been acting strange lately—in a good way.”
“Yeah, she’s strange, alright.”
Alfred chuckled again.
“She really has changed. It’s not just me who thinks so. I talked with Kasper and Adeline, and they also think Muriela is amazing. Of course, others might say kids like them wouldn’t know any better.”
“No, surprisingly, children’s opinions might be spot on.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I take more than a few lessons, and listening to those so-called educated teachers makes my blood boil. They’re always saying things like, ‘You’ll be a great king,’ or ‘You’ll be a successor who won’t shame your father.’ Just empty flattery. Listening to rotten adults like that is pointless.”
“I see. I don’t deal with that since I only train in swordsmanship.”
“That’s how it is. That’s why I’ve been losing confidence in whether I can actually rule properly as king. But look at her. She hasn’t had any formal education to prepare her for kingship, yet how does she do it?”
“Yeah, seriously.”
“She’s bold, passionate, and thoughtful. I’ve never seen an eight-year-old like her. Of course, she’s still young, so she does silly things sometimes. But when she’s my age, I’m sure she’ll be a better adult than me.”
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