I didn’t back down.
“Why is it not allowed?”
“That’s something the likes of you couldn’t possibly know, and shouldn’t know. Don’t be curious, Daniel.”
William spread his hand to cover my eyes. I rudely grabbed William’s wrist and pulled it down, meeting his gaze. His silver-gray eyes blinked with anxiety and his eyelashes trembled faintly.
“Your Highness, have you ever heard that relationships are formed one-on-one?”
“What are you talking about now? I know plenty about human relations.”
The human relations theory the Emperor taught the Prince would be about the relationship between superiors and subordinates. It would be about how to handle those below from a high position. Something like the theory of rulership…
Right now, there was only one way for William to make allies in the palace while avoiding the gazes focused on me.
Act like a tyrant when everyone’s eyes are watching.
In one-on-one relationships, treat them like close friends – the so-called tsundere strategy.
During my childhood reading club activities, I once read a book about “why tyrants emerge from the seeds of wise rulers.” According to that book, tyrants weren’t created because of genes or because of difficult national circumstances.
The real reason tyrants are made was simply “loneliness.” If you can’t make real friends, you need at least many followers, but those who are exposed to various schemes and machinations from childhood become unable to trust people and their personalities become twisted, gradually losing people – that was the logic.
To prevent William from becoming a tyrant, William himself had no choice but to win people over. Fortunately, the Prince had a naturally kind and warm personality plus beautiful looks, so with just a little attention, he could make many allies.
“Daniel, you’re not even answering me and what are you thinking so deeply about?”
I carefully opened my mouth, considering my current position and William’s situation.
“Your Highness, instead of the tiger story, how about the story of a prince who saved his country from schemes and machinations?”
William’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. Not missing the opportunity, I mixed the current situation with the story I wanted to tell, creating a tale as thoughts came to mind. Adding gestures and even the special situation of war gave power to the story.
After hearing my entire story, William unconsciously revealed his inner thoughts.
“So to make allies without falling for schemes and machinations, I need to pretend to be bad on the outside while treating people well?”
Our William is so…
Even though he was young, his ability to grasp the essence was amazing. Pretty and cute, and even smart – truly the image of an emperor. The saying about the seeds of kings and generals must have been about our William. Indeed, the original protagonist is different.
I nodded enthusiastically with a proud heart.
“Therefore, Your Highness, starting tomorrow, please be kind to the servants and the ministers who occasionally visit.”
William let out another deep sigh. Then he immediately straightened his expression pretending he hadn’t, which was cute.
“Well, I understand about the servants. I won’t get angry unnecessarily. But there are hardly any ministers who come to see me. A few did come, but…”
William stopped speaking and blinked. I could guess the rest without him saying it. He probably meant they tried to kill him.
Those bastards. To think they tried to kill the Empire’s prince for their own power. They were unforgivable.
I wanted to get a list of who did it, but since I hadn’t heard it directly from the Prince, I couldn’t dare ask first.
“Your Highness, many will come starting tomorrow.”
The Prince’s eyes widened. Saying many would come was tantamount to saying the threats of death would become more frequent, so he must have become afraid. I embraced the Prince’s shoulders and comforted him.
“Don’t worry. Where power gathers, flies also swarm.”
The clever Prince would have understood what I was saying. The Prince, who cleared his throat with “Ahem,” spoke with a dignified expression.
“Right. I shall listen to your words. Starting tomorrow, I’ll treat people kindly, so you quickly continue the rest of the tiger story.”
What? What? William, you didn’t forget? Such persistence anyway.
Even for a trivial old tale, he was persistent about seeing it to the end, so it was obvious how much more tenaciously he’d cling on in the imperial succession struggle. Feeling like a king maker or a behind-the-scenes power broker, I overflowed with pride as I looked at the Prince.
But, but…
The Prince’s condition as he demanded the story was a bit strange.
His face had turned red enough to show even in the moonlight, his breathing had become rough, and his body was starting to tremble.
C-could it be that a rut cycle had come? Already?
Startled, I got up to ask Behern to call a doctor. As soon as I stood, William grabbed my wrist. A heavy scent seemed to press down on my entire body starting from the top of my head. Even in a state where breathing was difficult, I could hear William’s voice.
“Don’t go… You have to tell me the story before you go. I’m fine.”
I did my best to make my voice heard.
“H-has a rut come?”
“No, it’s not that…”
The Prince’s expression as he trailed off was suspicious. Anyone would be suspicious seeing such an expression.
He was only ten years old now. Severely young for a rut to come. But since his manifestation came early, it wouldn’t be strange if a rut had arrived.
To regain my senses from this unbelievable situation, I slapped my cheek hard. With my mind now alert, I examined William again. Fortunately, I could see his complexion returning and his breathing finding its proper rhythm.
The moment I inwardly sighed with relief, I felt pain in my wrist. It was because William had gripped my wrist too tightly.
“Y-Your Highness, it hurts.”
William was startled and let go of my wrist.
“Why are you hitting your own cheek with your own hand? Don’t do that again.”
“Yes.”
At my answer, William said brightly:
“Don’t go and tell me the rest of the story.”
“You promised.”
“Yeah.”
I told the well-behaved William the story of “If you give me one rice cake, I won’t eat you.”
William was startled or giggled every time I imitated a tiger and shouted “If you give me one rice cake, I won’t eat you!” His good reactions made me excited as the storyteller too.
“So, that’s how it happened.”
The Prince, who had heard the entire story, suddenly tilted his head.
“But you know, I’m curious about something.”
“What is it?”
“The tiger, you know. Even though they gave it rice cakes, it ate them anyway. So whether you give rice cakes or not, it eats you either way?”
“That’s right.”
“Hmm…”
I don’t know what he felt from this story, but after thinking for a while, the Prince smiled with the corners of his mouth raised.
“If you give me one rice cake, I won’t eat you. If you give me one rice cake, I won’t eat you.”
William, who had been laughing for a while, repeated the same words and then closed his eyes. His face was full of sleepiness.
***
“Where did he go! He was definitely in his room just a moment ago!”
“Y-Your Highness, Daniel is right now…”
The Prince’s clear voice could be heard outside the door.
Since this morning, there had been a constant stream of ministers visiting William’s room. As I predicted, rumors spread that William was receiving the Emperor’s trust, and ministers sensitive to shifts in power moved quickly.
Because of this, Behern and I were incredibly busy. We had to prepare tea separately every time guests came to the Prince’s palace. Moreover, since we couldn’t post guards in front of the Prince’s room because of Kalroy, Behern and I had to diligently go back and forth between the dining hall and the Prince’s room, watching and watching again.
Even now, it seemed the Prince was looking for me while I had briefly gone to monitor the dining hall.
“Your Highness, it’s Daniel.”
“Come in! Where have you been?”
I was fortunate that only Behern and I saw William’s expression mixed with anger and resentment. If someone else had seen it, the murderous aura emanating from the young child would have been enough to spread ominous rumors throughout the imperial palace.
I briefly asked Behern to give us some space and approached the Prince.
“Your Highness, didn’t you agree to treat servants kindly starting today?”
“I did. But Daniel, don’t you think this is too much?”
I was more flustered by the unexpected question.
“What do you mean?”
“Telling me to maintain composure when ministers who might kill me at any moment suddenly swarm in under the pretext of greetings. I can’t help but become sharp.”
William’s point-by-point rebuttal was not wrong at all. From the Prince’s perspective, the Emperor who suddenly changed his attitude and the ministers whose attitudes changed as soon as the Emperor’s attitude changed would be frightening rather than welcome.
Looking at the Prince’s face, I pondered how to explain and then answered.
“That’s exactly why you must not let your guard down and not show weakness to them.”
The Prince snorted.
“Do you think I haven’t tried that? When I was seven…”
The Prince, who trailed off, sighed “Sigh” again. I took William’s hand. He looked up and met my eyes.
“It’s alright. As you know, it’s just you and me around. No one can hear, so you can speak comfortably.”
William nodded and lowered his voice.
“When I was seven, there was a time like this too. Suddenly His Majesty summoned me, and starting the next day, ministers began coming to my room with precious items. I thought I needed to make sure they didn’t look down on me. So I treated them as dignified as I possibly could!”
“And then?”
“The next day, during ethics class, my teacher told me that rumors were trying to kill me.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
