“I will only trust my uncle. I don’t want to send this child anywhere.”
As Aren nodded, William lowered his voice and whispered.
“Even if I were to ascend to the Crown Prince’s position, this child will be by my side.”
Aren’s shoulders flinched at the dangerous statement, but he soon regained his composure. William seemed to have finished his calculations with his sharp mind. He understood that Aren had steadily built up his power, ended the difficult war and returned to obtain the duke’s title, and only now revealed his identity – all to make him Crown Prince and resolve his wronged nephew’s resentment.
Though he should have been immersed in emotion after finding family after so long, his negotiation skills in coldly assessing the situation, throwing bait, and seizing what he wanted were no less than an adult’s.
“I understand. How could I not grant one wish of my nephew whom I’ve met after 10 years?”
When Aren accepted with a trembling voice, William smiled brightly. The way he gripped my hand tightly then let go as if showing off was like a tiger cub.
After that, the two shared various stories. I focused on their conversation.
It was mainly William talking and Aren listening. Several times when William spoke about his harsh daily life, Aren’s body trembled with rage.
Aren’s father, who had been a baron from the Dierephel region, was apparently a man with great lust for power. However, because he wasn’t a Dominant Alpha, he was always steeped in an inferiority complex, but in such a household, both sons were born with dominant traits. So what he planned was to send Aren, a Dominant Alpha, to the battlefield to achieve merit, and send Cephilia, a Dominant Omega, away for adoption with the Crown Prince’s companion Omega in mind. The siblings, who had a good relationship, missed each other even after being separated, but when Cephilia became a concubine rather than a companion Omega and was later cast out, she pretended not to know her birth family.
Aren vented his indignation, saying he couldn’t forgive the political enemies who had made Cephilia that way. And he had reached this point to meet his nephew William, left behind by his only sibling. Regret could be felt in Aren’s expression as he said he had never forgotten even for a single moment.
My eyes reddened and my nose tingled for no reason at the stories the two shared. Then when Aren hugged William and said he had missed him, tears finally burst forth.
I was originally the type to cry easily, but I had been holding it in since coming here. I was afraid that if I cried, it would make an already difficult situation even harder. Perhaps because these were tears I had been holding back, I couldn’t easily stop them.
While I was crying, William’s voice was heard.
“Why are you crying?”
“N-no, it’s nothing.”
I hurriedly rubbed my eyes with my sleeve to wipe away the tears. When I blinked to clear away the tears that had formed, William was looking at me with a worried expression.
“It’s really nothing at all.”
In a situation where he was facing Duke Aren, for the prince to not focus on the duke but show interest in a servant crying was behavior similar to disrespecting Duke Aren.
“Your Highness… Duke Aren is also here.”
Even though Aren was his uncle, I felt we should maintain at least minimal courtesy, but William’s gaze didn’t leave my face. Since he seemed like he would keep staring only at me forever, I quickly racked my brain.
“I just thought about what it would be like if I had family too, seeing you two being so close. As you know, I’m an orphan, so I tear up whenever I hear stories related to family.”
Although I had the merit of saving William’s life, it was still absurd for a prince to be interested in the tears of a lowly servant. Aren cleared his throat with “ahem” and showed his discomfort.
Despite this, William continued to treat Aren as if he didn’t exist. If this continued, we wouldn’t even be able to have the important conversation, so I looked straight at William and said:
“Really. There’s no other reason. I sincerely congratulate you.”
William wrapped his arm around my shoulder and whispered:
“Good things will happen to you too.”
I responded with a smile instead of words.
The sound of Aren clearing his throat again could be heard, as if he was displeased by the prince and servant being too close together. I whispered in William’s ear that Aren seemed uncomfortable, so it would be better to quickly talk about Kalroy’s mastermind. Smart William caught on and nodded.
“Uncle, I have something to say about the Crown Prince.”
“Are you perhaps wanting to tell me that Duke Kelton is behind the Crown Prince?”
William asked back in surprise.
“You knew?”
“I am someone who has endured and endured again for this very moment over many long years. I know not only the Crown Prince’s mastermind but also everyone entangled in interests. Actually, I was going to discuss that matter with you today.”
This was welcome news for us. If Aren knew all their schemes and machinations, it would be much easier to proceed with our work.
“What about Your Highness?”
Though it was a question with many words omitted, both William and I knew the hidden meaning within it. William spoke with a calm attitude.
“I know that if I don’t inherit the throne, I’ll have to face life-or-death situations every day like now. If that’s the case, I’d rather inherit the throne.”
“Then Your Highness need not worry about anything. I will stake my life to definitely make Your Highness the Emperor of the Empire.”
Confidence was rampant on Aren’s face as he said this.
However, there was a serious problem with doing as Aren said. Brothers fighting over the throne was something that happened easily regardless of time and place, but the victorious side had to bear the infamy of having seized imperial power through the blood of blood-related brothers.
My goal wasn’t just to put William on the emperor’s throne. No matter how much things had changed bit by bit, as long as the main framework of the original story was maintained, William would become emperor whether I worked hard or not. Therefore, what was important wasn’t sitting on the emperor’s throne, but becoming a wise ruler.
To become a wise ruler, he couldn’t be known as someone who killed his brother and stole the Crown Prince position. If he became emperor with such a background, it would be like carrying a time bomb that could explode at any moment.
Since ancient times, those who committed treason were considered unqualified to be emperor, so it would be good ammunition for those opposing William.
How was Aren planning to solve this problem? Though I hadn’t known him long, despite his title as a military god, his words and actions overflowed with dignity. Despite his young age, he had gathered the scattered progressive faction into one force, so he must be a person knowledgeable and wise about politics too. There was no way he wouldn’t know what I knew. The moment I raised this question, William seriously opened his mouth.
“I will not become an emperor stained with blood.”
Blood cannot be deceived – there was a reason our William was unusually clever and wise for a child. His mother’s blood runs strong!
“What do you plan to do with Kalroy?”
“Your Highness should pretend not to know. I’ll take care of everything else.”
Aren kissed the back of William’s hand and left. A warm energy began to circulate in the prince’s room that had been so cold.
And beautiful William smiled while watching Aren mount his horse beyond the glass window. The sunlight coming through the window made his smile shine even brighter.
***
That night, William and I giggled while discussing what kind of strategy Aren would use to deal with Kelton. Strictly speaking, we weren’t the same age, but since William thought of me as around his age and treated me as a friend, I seemed to have returned to childhood innocence too.
“Your Highness, it’s late at night now, so it’s time for you to go to bed.”
“I know. But…”
Just for today, I was trying to put him to sleep without telling him a story. However, when William grabbed my hand with a wistful expression and said, “The East is a mysterious place. That’s why I’m so curious,” I couldn’t shake him off.
Looking at those wistful silver-gray eyes, I couldn’t possibly shake him off.
Hah… Was the reason I was transported here to hone my oral storytelling skills? Since it’s come to this, let me use the story!
With this resolution, I decided to mix into the story teachings from humanities classics like ‘The Prince,’ ‘The Art of Rulership,’ and ‘Meditations’ that I was forced to read and write book reports on in college.
Looking at William, I organized my breathing and calmly began the story.
“There was a king. The king had two princes. The older brother was a son born to the legitimate queen, and the younger brother was a child born to a concubine.”
When I got this far, William was startled and swallowed.
“…It sounds like my story.”
“Haha, Your Highness isn’t the only one experiencing such things.”
“Ah…”
William swallowed and focused on my story.
“The older brother was born with everything, but had to suffer from tremendous pressure. Both the king and queen pressed down on the young child’s shoulders, saying he must become a wise ruler. In contrast, the younger brother was dismissed as merely an obstacle who would steal the older brother’s position. It was an unfair situation. So the younger brother performed good deeds to solidify his position.”
“The story is strange. If you perform good deeds, you’re bound to stand out. If you stand out, you would have been bullied…”
Indeed, the effect was gradually appearing.
I was glad I never missed the bibliotherapy or story therapy classes as electives. William was projecting himself onto the story as an excellent client. If this process goes well, he would be able to judge his situation as a third party, and I learned that this method was excellent for trauma treatment and breaking bad habits.
When I worked at school, I was too busy keeping up with the curriculum to actually experiment with this, but now that I’m here, I finally have time.
“Of course they bullied him. However, that bullying didn’t last long.”
William’s eyes sparkled.
“Why? Political strife isn’t something that disappears easily.”
“Yes. It didn’t disappear, but because the younger brother gained allies.”
William nodded, saying “Ah…”
“Because he performed good deeds, heartwarming stories spread! So the group following him grew. I learned this in ethics class. Establish policies with razor-sharp reason and realize them with a warm heart! So that’s what it meant.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
