“I know that Your Highness is not someone who enjoys killing people.”
William trembled his shoulders while trailing off, “What would you know. I don’t find it difficult to harm people…”
Just from that, I could tell how flustered William was by my words.
That makes sense.
People who didn’t know William well would have believed the savage behavior shown by this young child was real, and rather than being curious about William’s true feelings, they would have been busy trying to avoid him.
But it’s not easy to fool me, Seo Ajun. Even though I don’t have much experience, I’m a teacher who’s very interested in twisted children like you!
Without realizing it, I reached out my hand toward William as I would with students. William pushed my hand away with a smack and shouted.
“Sh-show me proof! Proof that you’re not a spy! If you don’t have that, I can’t trust you.”
To avoid making the mistake of reaching out again for that pitiful and poor child, I firmly grasped one hand with the other and spoke calmly.
“Your Highness is a wise person. You wouldn’t suspect me blindly just because you’ve been through a lot. There must be a reason you suspect me… may I ask what it is?”
William got up from his seat and took a step back from me. It seemed he found stability by putting distance between us. This was embarrassing for a lower-class Omega’s dignity. An Omega whose role is to stabilize the prince ended up making him more agitated instead. Haha, I was worried whether I could properly preserve my life like this.
Anyway, since William began speaking, I listened to his words.
“First, you knew my weakness.”
“…What? A weakness?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. If you didn’t know, you wouldn’t have brought up the story about the sword!”
“……”
I felt wronged because I really didn’t know about the sword, but I decided to quietly listen to his next words for now.
“Second, you wrote on the ground in front of the crown prince to prevent me from getting into a difficult situation, trying to win my favor. But even so, the crown prince said nothing.”
“Th-that… he might not have seen it.”
“Shut up! It was so obvious, there’s no way the crown prince didn’t know. It was clear he was pretending not to know. The fact that a cunning bastard like the crown prince pretended not to know is proof that you’re on his side!”
I had no choice but to nod my head. I didn’t do so because I fully accepted William’s words, or because his words were logically sound.
Thinking about it, I understood why William suspected me, and his thought process was remarkably meticulous for a young child.
Looking at the smart William, I naturally thought that his reform would go smoothly.
William twisted his lips as if certain of victory.
“Now, Daniel. It’s your turn. Show me the proof.”
“Do you think I’m the crown prince’s person, so you personally selected me as an Omega? Taking such a risk?”
The smile disappeared from William’s face. Reacting as expected, I spoke more confidently.
“No, you didn’t. You did it just in case. You didn’t abandon hope. After all, I did help Your Highness. And one more thing – I don’t know what story that sword has. I just really thought the sword was too big for Your Highness to carry around.”
When I mentioned the sword, William’s face noticeably darkened. What kind of story does that sword have that makes him so agitated? Why doesn’t the book tell me at times like this!
Sensing danger for a moment, I put my hand in my pocket and fiddled with the secret message that would become my lifeline. It felt like courage I didn’t have before was emerging.
“If you tell me about the sword, I can also provide clear proof that I’m not a spy.”
William’s eyes grew about twice as large. Then he soon shook his head.
“Why should I do that? I’m a prince and you’re my attendant. Even if I don’t speak, you have no choice but to provide proof.”
Indeed, William isn’t an easy opponent. However, I had clearly confirmed earlier that he was shaken.
“Yes, that’s right. But Your Highness wouldn’t harm or torture me, would you? I know everything.”
“Why not?”
“Because if I, a weak Omega, die while being tortured, you might lose the evidence I’m holding. Your Highness isn’t such a foolish person.”
William narrowed his eyes. Then he turned his body to gaze out the window. He seemed lost in deep thought.
A suffocating silence flowed, and after a short while, he turned around. Only then did the breath I’d been holding burst out.
“Fine. I’ll tell you specially. This sword is a keepsake left to me by our mother, who had to face death after being driven from the palace in poor health under false accusations. You knew this sword wasn’t mine, and you knew I was obsessed with this sword. The crown prince must have told you. He wants me to make a mistake by provoking me somehow.”
Watching the young prince murmur while stroking the sword hilt with his hand made my nose tingle. Thinking about how difficult it must have been for a prince with no proper support between the legitimate crown prince and a heartless father who had no intention of properly protecting him made me feel like crying.
William sighed and continued.
“It was so bothersome. Once, I deliberately made a mistake. In front of His Majesty the Emperor.”
“Did it have an effect?”
William nodded and said.
“He didn’t bother me for a few days. This rampage too… that’s why I caused it.”
The resignation and weariness at the end of his words, and the fatigue that didn’t seem like a child’s, made my chest churn. The prince’s gaze, which had been looking at the sword, reached me. And soon his eyes were colored with surprise.
“…Why are you crying?”
“N-no, I’m not.”
“Ha, this time they really sent a vicious one. How can you act so well? I almost got fooled.”
“It’s not like that.”
At the thought that I had shown tears in front of the young prince, I couldn’t even remember what I was going to say. I just repeated “no” while shaking my head. Then William began pressing me with a frightening face.
“Now, it’s your turn. What’s the evidence you have?”
I wiped around my eyes with my hand and thought. I wasn’t going to side with the crown prince anyway, and keeping such a thing would only hasten my death. It was heartbreaking that William would be hurt by seeing the secret message, but to stay by his side, I had to provide evidence. So I would take out the secret message from my pocket to prove my innocence.
If I were to become a spy, it would be better to side with William, who’s smart and affectionate, rather than the crown prince who only looks cold!
Just as I was about to take out the secret message from my pocket with that thought, the door burst open and Behern entered.
William frowned and looked toward the door.
“What’s the matter?”
“Your Highness, His Majesty the Emperor urgently seeks you.”
“Damn it!”
William irritably pulled out the sword that had been stuck in the floor, cleaned it well, then hung it on the wall. Seeing him do it personally when he could have had an attendant do it, I could feel how deep his affection for that sword was.
William went outside. Other attendants from the imperial palace followed behind him.
As I stood awkwardly in the room, Behern looked me up and down.
“You’re not hurt anywhere.”
I scratched the back of my head sheepishly. It was an action I did to act somewhat childlike.
“That’s fortunate. When His Highness returns, you’ll need to serve dinner, so let’s go to the dining hall. You need to learn how to serve food there.”
“Yes!”
It was perfect timing since I was getting sick of being in the prince’s room.
The best way to learn information about a person is, after all, to hear the reputation from people around them. If I go to the dining hall and listen to the attendants’ stories, I’ll be able to get much more information.
With that thought, my heart began to beat with excitement.
***
When I first arrived at the dining hall, I was impressed by the splendid scale and the sight of attendants working diligently. However, as soon as Behern left the dining hall, I realized that everything was just an act. The attendants who had been sincerely preparing food when Behern was there threw down their cooking utensils and sat in chairs to chat as soon as he left the dining hall. Still, no one tried to stop them.
To show such an attitude while preparing the prince’s food. I couldn’t believe it even seeing it, so I went to where they made desserts, but the situation wasn’t much different. I was starting to get angry. No matter how powerless the prince was, since they were attendants belonging to the prince’s palace, I was curious why people who should be on his side were acting like this.
I hid my true feelings and approached the most manageable-looking attendant to ask.
“Excuse me, sir, why did people stop making food?”
He looked at me with an expression like he was hearing strange talk. Then he soon nodded.
“Oh, you’re the Omega who came new today. Haha, then it’s understandable you wouldn’t know. I’ll teach you how to survive here from now on, so you should follow along well.”
I nodded my head pretending to be good. The attendant looked around, then whispered in my ear.
“This place is anyway a space where Crown Prince Kalroy’s people hold power and wield it. If you fall out of their favor, it becomes difficult to preserve your life, you know?”
Hearing the attendant’s words, I almost couldn’t hold back and angrily told him to stop talking nonsense. If they were afraid of the crown prince, it seemed like they could just pretend when the crown prince was watching, but the people here seemed to be actively moving to become the crown prince’s side.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
