Yes, yes… Eat a lot, our William. When you’re young, you need to eat a lot to grow well.
They say just watching your own child eat fills your stomach, and that was exactly how I felt watching William. After stuffing food into his mouth for a while, William glanced at me and said:
“What about you? Aren’t you eating?”
“Ah… I can eat later with the other servants.”
Suddenly William threw down his fork with a clatter and began ringing the bell used to summon servants.
“Behern. Behern! Come in.”
Behern entered with a startled face and glared at me.
“Behern, why are you glaring at Daniel like that? I didn’t call you because Daniel did something wrong.”
“Ah, then perhaps there’s a problem with the meal…”
“No! It’s not that. Bring Daniel’s meal too. If he goes somewhere else to eat, who will attend to me?”
Oh my, little one… You were scared after yesterday’s assassination attempt. Then just say you’re scared instead of taking it out on poor Behern.
Even though he was a Dominant Alpha, a child was still a child. After such an incident, being alone even for a moment would have felt unsettling.
However, there are protocols in the imperial family. A lower-class Omega, even if they became a servant, couldn’t eat meals together with him. So naturally, I thought what William was asking for wouldn’t happen.
However, Behern nodded as if it were nothing special.
“I’ll bring Daniel’s portion right away. It doesn’t fit protocol, but we can set a separate table and have him eat on the floor. My thinking was narrow.”
Behern immediately went out and brought my portion of food. It was just soup and bread on a wooden tray, but seeing the food made me hungry. As I sat on the floor eating, I felt a gaze glancing toward me.
“Daniel.”
“Yes? Yes, yes, Your Highness…”
“Does eating only that give you strength?”
I smiled gently and looked at William. To become a wise ruler, he needed to know about commoners’ lives. It was the optimal conditions and timing to teach him that. I put down the spoon I was holding and knelt before him. I intended to speak earnestly with the most serious expression and tone I’d ever used.
William’s shoulders trembled slightly, then his silver-gray eyes shook faintly as they gazed at me.
“Your Highness, most commoners live without being able to eat even this much food.”
William’s mouth fell open. His eyes were shaking – he seemed very shocked.
“I was born as a lower-class Omega, lower than commoners, and grew up without parents. I was so poor that I had to make one piece of bread and one sip of soup last for 3-4 days. I thought it was because of my lowly status and often resented my parents, but as I grew up, I realized.”
Even though these weren’t actually words about me, as I spoke, I became immersed in the role. Daniel’s memories up to age ten came back vividly as if I had experienced them myself. My emotions became intense, so I paused briefly to catch my breath before continuing.
“That commoners’ lives aren’t much different from mine. Half of the harvested grain is taken by the country as taxes, and the other half is often stolen by bandits who frequently raid. However, lords and regional nobles are only concerned with filling their own bellies and don’t care for commoners’ lives. But I’m fortunate to live full and warm beside Your Highness, so I’m grateful even for this.”
“……”
Perhaps shocked by my words, William couldn’t say anything for a long time. I gazed steadily at the Prince, hoping he would feel more about commoners’ lives.
After a long while, he opened his mouth.
“I-is that so? But why doesn’t anyone tell me? His Majesty seems unaware too?”
“Because it’s more convenient for nobles to live when His Majesty’s eyes and ears are blocked.”
“Ah…”
“Therefore, Your Highness, please become a member of the royal family who loves commoners and cherishes their lives…”
I was about to say “wise ruler” but realized that saying such things while there was openly a Crown Prince would be tantamount to rebellion, so I changed my words.
“Please become such a member of the royal family. If even one person knows this, it will be a great strength to the people.”
“Mmm…”
“Every grain contains blood and sweat, so please don’t leave any and eat it all. Behern and I have already confirmed whether there’s poison or not.”
“Ah, I understand!”
Good William forgot about refusing to eat and cleaned his bowl like someone who had never said he wouldn’t eat.
Ha, so cute.
I cleared the table with a fatherly smile and brought tea. William looked dignified as he pensively sipped the hot tea, blowing on it.
***
It was when I had briefly come to the dining hall to change the Prince’s clothes and get dessert. Behern was watching with blazing eyes to see if there were any servants doing bad things to the Prince’s dessert. I watched Behern contentedly and waited for the dessert to be completed.
Then one servant approached me, pretending to push a cart, and poked me.
“Daniel, come this way for a moment.”
“Right now? I need to take the dessert.”
“Just for a moment.”
Following the servant to a small storage room connected to the kitchen, the servant looked around and lowered his voice. It was obviously suspicious behavior.
“Tonight, when the Prince falls asleep, come out here secretly without the Prince knowing. Then someone from His Highness the Crown Prince’s side will come to get you. If you don’t come, you might lose your head, so make sure to do as instructed.”
Chills ran down my spine instantly. It was true that I had agreed to play the role of a double agent, but I didn’t expect contact from the Crown Prince this quickly. No matter how powerless the Prince was, weren’t they being too disrespectful of Prince William’s position? Prince William’s situation was pitiful and sad, making me feel unjustifiably upset.
Either way, the conclusion left for me was simple. I had to somehow avoid William’s eyes, meet the Crown Prince, and return.
“Daniel! Daniel, where are you?”
At Behern’s call, I came out of the storage room. I was already worried about today’s events.
“I’m here. His Highness the Prince is in his room, right?”
“That’s right. But why do you ask?”
I lowered my voice to avoid the eyes and ears of spies who could be anywhere.
“From now on, let’s have Behern and I take turns guarding His Highness the Prince. It wouldn’t be good if we both leave his side.”
As soon as I finished speaking, Behern looked at me with moistened eyes. Wondering why he was acting so suddenly, I was looking at him when he suddenly gripped my hand tightly.
“Now it finally feels like His Highness the Prince truly has someone on his side. Until now, there were only servants engaging in behind-the-scenes schemes… The young Prince ending up like this is all due to my lack of virtue. *sob sob*”
While I felt sorry for Behern dabbing at his eyes with his fingertips, there was no time for this now. I convinced the sentimental Behern to get the dessert and returned to the Prince.
The dessert was cake and black tea. Worried that the Prince might be frightened, I first tore off a piece of cake and put it in my mouth in front of him, making the Prince’s eyes widen.
“What are you doing?”
I bowed my head and spoke calmly.
“Your Highness, when I lived in the marketplace, I once met a merchant from far in the east.”
The Prince’s eyes sparkled at my words. As expected, children love fascinating stories.
“I heard from that merchant that in eastern countries, servants would taste a little of all food before the king ate, and only serve food that was safe. That was the most important duty of servants.”
“Ooh… that’s an interesting story. I’ve never heard such a thing?”
I smiled contentedly and nodded.
“You must not have. The east doesn’t open its doors, so it’s still a country shrouded in mystery. It also means that attempts to poison royalty have occurred regardless of east or west, past or present. Some northern country even has royalty gradually eat small amounts of poison from childhood to build immunity.”
“Ah, so it’s not something that only happened to me. Come to think of it, I’ve heard that previous emperors were also repeatedly exposed to poisoning dangers.”
“That’s right.”
This was exactly the effect I wanted by talking about food tasters. Saving the Prince from poison, and teaching the Prince, who was demoralized by assassination threats, that this was actually part of the path of an emperor.
The clever Prince immediately understood and followed my learning objective.
“It tastes even better eating what Daniel tasted first.”
Usually don’t they say it tastes better when made specially for them? Children really are…
“Y-you flatter me.”
The Prince ate the cake, getting cream around his mouth. I wiped the Prince’s mouth with a handkerchief.
Your Highness, please grow up healthy and become a wise ruler. That’s how I’ll survive.
The Prince, who couldn’t know my ulterior motives, sipped his black tea and smiled brightly at me. He finally looked somewhat childlike.
***
“Where are you going?”
That night, just as I was carefully trying to get up from the bed, the Prince, whom I thought was asleep, suddenly grabbed my hand. I froze completely and couldn’t continue speaking. I thought he was definitely asleep, but suddenly having my wrist grabbed startled me.
“W-weren’t you sleeping?”
The Prince, who had been watching my trembling shoulders, sat up. Expecting him to be angry at me for trying to leave my post, I curled up, but William’s forlorn expression caught my eye. Looking down, I saw his fingers fidgeting below his chest like a child begging for a toy.
Could it be… he’s going to throw a bedtime tantrum because he’s a baby? That can’t be right, can it? A Prince who shows such strong Alpha tendencies that he could cause a rampage as a Dominant Alpha, throwing bedtime tantrums?
“I fell asleep. But I woke up.”
Ah, it’s not a tantrum, I momentarily felt relieved, then tilted my head in confusion.
“You fell asleep but woke up? Do you usually wake up this often?”
“Yeah. I wake up often. Because…”
The Prince couldn’t continue and just pursed his lips.
“Please tell me, Your Highness. I need to hear it, and if there’s something wrong with your health, I should prepare medicine.”
Seeing William hesitating made my heart sink.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
