William’s plan was flawless, but his opponent was a politician who had been rolling around in this field for a long time. He probably had about a million cunning snakes inside him, and things like grasping the truth from incidents or pointing out masterminds would be easy for him.
Though Kelton’s power had weakened now, if we made a mistake, we might face a counterattack. Deceiving the nobles and even the Emperor’s eyes wouldn’t be easy.
I closed my eyes and threw out questions that could become Kelton’s weaknesses as they came to mind. The more specific the questions, the more detailed the answers.
I divided my questions into bribery, anti-imperial tendencies, private soldiers, and then scandals with the government that would interest the public, asking them one by one.
The information window that had been spinning dizzily suddenly stopped and began displaying answers to my questions one by one.
[1. Bribery: About 70 percent of Duke Kelton’s wealth was made by selling noble positions. Not only that, but he extorted money from countless people on the condition of taking them in as servants. There are no cases of actually taking anyone in. If they complain, he sends them to labor camps without anyone knowing.]
This was a huge scandal, but it was dangerous because the nobles and officials who gave bribes wouldn’t admit to their crimes, making it difficult to secure evidence, and it could create more enemies for William, who already had many.
Pass for now.
[2. Anti-imperial tendencies: None. Since he has much to possess, he has no complaints about society.]
I couldn’t help but feel disappointed at this part. If he had anti-imperial tendencies, we could tie him up with that and the game would be over… No complaints about society! Well, someone who has everything wouldn’t have any. If anything, he’d be anxious about not having more.
[3. Private soldiers: Because he has many enemies, he not only recruited a knight order for personal protection but also separately gathered mercenaries to protect his wealth.]
Ooh… If we touch on this part well, we could drive Kelton into political scheming rather than just scandal. I made good notes thinking to tell Aren about this separately later.
[4. Scandals: He touches all Omegas regardless of rank and gender. He tries to resolve the inferiority complex from not being a Dominant Alpha in that way.]
Haha, we can create scandal with this!
I wanted to shout “Jackpot!” but held back and quickly scanned down, then stopped short. The content written below was unusual.
[Among Kelton’s various Omegas, by far the number one is Ihelina, the Empress of the Stamili Empire and Kalroy’s mother.]
The moment I read those words, electricity shot up my spine. The Empress Ihelina and Kelton were in that kind of relationship.
It was unbelievable and absurd content. Kelton, who manipulated Kalroy and made him a scapegoat for power, was the Empress’s lover…!
I can watch this because it’s someone else’s business. If it were my situation, I would have collapsed clutching my neck.
If the information window’s content was true, it meant Kalroy had trusted and relied on his mother’s affair partner. The Empress, blinded by love, had essentially made her own child a scapegoat and puppet for power…
It was truly outrageous.
Hah, poor Kalroy…
The more my sympathy for Kalroy grew, the deeper my anger toward them became.
“Daniel… Daniel!”
Hearing the prince’s voice calling me, I went outside and saw William getting up from bed.
“Why do you keep going to that room?”
“Because it’s my room.”
William glanced at his side and said:
“The bed is wide, so you could just sleep here.”
“Your Highness, that won’t do…”
“What won’t do? You’re a Regular Omega. Your status has been raised! Don’t you know what it means to be a Regular Omega personally selected by a prince?”
“…What?”
I couldn’t continue speaking due to confusion. I needed time to sort this out. So the reason I entered here was to scent the prince’s bedroom to help prevent the prince from going on a rampage. A lower-class Omega was in a position where they couldn’t even speak with the prince or look directly at his face. That’s all I knew… I didn’t know what Regular Omegas who weren’t companion Omegas did?
As soon as I thought that, an information window appeared in the air.
[Duties of Regular Omegas – Unlike lower-class Omegas, Regular Omegas and above can become concubines and share beds with royalty. They bear the duty of pregnancy and childbirth to prevent companion Omegas from failing to continue the bloodline.]
What? P-pregnancy and childbirth?
If I had known there were such duties, I wouldn’t have wished for a status promotion. There were hardly any restrictions I faced for being lower-class.
Hah… I can’t take this back either. Damn it.
Tiger cub William opened his eyes sleepily and crawled toward me. Even knowing it was absurd to be afraid of a child, I was scared. Without realizing it, I kept backing away, and the tiger raised his front paw to grab my hand.
No matter how young my body was, we had too big an age gap. No, the age gap could be dealt with somehow, but the bigger problem was that William was still a minor.
“Are you sick somewhere? Why is your face so pale?”
“N-no. Your Highness’s scent is too strong for me to handle… that’s why.”
William tilted his head.
“That’s strange? I’m in a very stable state right now. I’m holding your hand. Could it be that you…?”
At his suspicious gaze and sharp voice, my heart sank, worried that my inner thoughts had been discovered.
Kid, that’s not it. Anyway, it’s not. Since it’s not anyway, let’s not have strange thoughts alone.
I spoke to myself like reciting an incantation and closed then opened my eyes. When our eyes met, William smiled slightly.
“You’re not pretending to be sick because you’re too lazy to tell stories, are you?”
“……?”
Pretending to be sick because telling stories is bothersome…
I, who had been having strange thoughts alone, ended up with my face turning bright red at William’s excessive cuteness.
The embarrassment was brief. Seeing William looking at me with bright, sparkling eyes brought me back to my senses.
To have strange thoughts alone about such a little kid, worrying about age gaps and whatnot…
What on earth was I thinking about a child who was just fussing about sleeping alone because he didn’t want to be by himself? After slapping my cheeks repeatedly, I took William’s hand and lay down beside him.
“Your Highness, there are still many stories left. There will be enough to tell you until Your Highness safely ascends to the Crown Prince position and becomes Emperor.”
“Really? I knew it would be like that.”
Only then did William seem relieved as he let go of the hand he had been gripping tightly and urged me to hurry up and tell a story.
“I’ll tell you a story, so could you grant me just one small favor?”
“Mmm… say anything! I’ll grant anything as long as it’s not about going somewhere else.”
“It’s not difficult, I just hope you could give Duke Aren one hint tomorrow.”
William’s eyes sparkled in the darkness.
“What hint? Are you talking about a hint regarding how to eliminate Kelton?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“What is it? Tell me.”
William came closer. Since our bodies ended up pressed together in an embracing position, I had to continue speaking in an uncomfortable posture.
“I briefly overheard this when I was captured by Kalroy. There were rumors that Kelton illegally recruits knight orders. As far as I know, recruiting private soldiers by nobles is illegal in the Stamili Empire except in special cases.”
William twisted his lips in a smile. Seeing his face, which had seemed childlike just moments ago, change ominously made the back of my neck feel cold.
“I understand what you want to say. You want to spread scandal while also waging political warfare using anti-imperialism, right?”
Wow, he truly was a prodigy who understood ten things when taught one. At this rate, there’s nothing for me to teach?
William was gentler, cuter, cleverer, and wiser than I had thought. I had never seen such a perfect ten-year-old in either the original world or this world combined.
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“Alright. Good! That black propaganda or whatever, what else did you call it? Media play? Let’s do that well!”
William, lying down, slapped my palm with a loud clap. For the price of one story, this was more than excellent.
***
The next day, I came out in front of the prince’s palace to watch the knight order’s parade. It was difficult separating from William, who wouldn’t leave my side for even a moment, but it was a rewarding escape worth the effort.
Broad shoulders, stiff fabric that wasn’t wrinkled anywhere, baldrics cutting diagonally across them, thighs that looked ready to burst underneath, swords hanging by their thighs, and boots that made thumping sounds with each step!
While living in this world I was forced to be transported to, if there weren’t small pleasures like this, I might have gone crazy long ago.
I was contentedly watching the knight order’s parade when I heard rustling sounds from somewhere.
What’s this sound?
During the knights’ morning parade, it was the busiest time for servants, and this was my secret place where people rarely passed by. Had someone discovered the place I had difficulty finding? Or was it someone else?
With an anxious heart, I held my breath.
The rustling sound came again. The parade was almost over too. Rather than getting caught having snuck out of the prince’s palace and suffering for it, I thought it better to quickly run away, and just as I was about to move my body, someone called my name.
“Daniel!”
Though they only called my name, my body froze as if unable to move. I could tell who the voice belonged to without having to turn around.
Why does he come to the prince’s palace front every single day?
I had much to say to Kalroy, but I held back and quietly stayed put, pretending not to know.
“Daniel! Can’t you hear my voice?”
How could I not hear it? I can hear it too well, that’s the problem… Can’t you just pretend you didn’t see me and leave?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
