Chapter 25: 24

Chapter 24: The Impatience of the Crown Prince (Ethan POV)

　When Garrett and Rebecca were in their final year of school, a saint candidate entered the school.
　Apparently, her eccentricities were noticeable, and Rebecca was giving her guidance from time to time.

　Even among the candidates for saints, there are many different kinds of people. It would be arrogant to impose an image of what a saint candidate should be like.
　For Miss Charlotte Silva, a baroness from the countryside, life in the capital must be unfamiliar. From now on, she will learn what she doesn't know and grow. Everyone thought so.

　The problem was Garrett's attitude afterwards.
　Certainly, as a member of the royal family and as the school's student body president, he had been told to be mindful of the saint candidate.
　However, there are limits to what Garrett can handle, since the other party is a woman. He should have enlisted the help of his fiancée, Rebecca, but after half a year, he said that he kept her away from the guidance of the saint candidate.

　There are things you can’t handle all by yourself. Cooperation with those around you and entrusting them to someone you trust are also important qualities for those who are on top.

　When you are born a Prince, your life of being a guardian of others is already fixed. The rest is up to whether they will be adored wholeheartedly or scorned despite their lowered heads.
　Because you are born into royalty, you must have charisma and become a man who can lead others, or else you will be underestimated. I, who adored my little brother, made Garrett learn that through his education as a Crown Prince. I don't deny that I was killing two birds with one stone, since the throne was an extension of that.

　I called Garrett into the palace and reminded him of this.
　Garrett listened to my words of admonition to always act like royalty in addition to his studies. I was reassured by his sincere attitude and decided to trust and watch over my younger brother's growth.


　However, on the day of the graduation ceremony, a terrible scandal broke out. When I learned about the incident at the graduation party and the fiancée breaking off the engagement, I was on the verge of exploding with anger.

　Garrett had already been squeezed by Father and Mother, and by the time he appeared in front of me, he was limp.
　It seems that my parents, who had gone to a great deal of trouble to woo Marquis Howard, were more annoyed that he had given them the chance to break off his engagement to Rebecca than that their second son's immaturity had been exposed for all to see.

　We never told our parents about the secret meeting between Garrett and I, that is, the (fake) engagement to Rebecca. Garrett insisted that it be a "secret between us siblings”. He said that the sharing of secrets would strengthen our bond, and that he wanted to use the fake engagement with Rebecca as a driving force to prevent anyone from finding out about our plans … Apparently, he was attracted to the idea of a brother's pact or something like that.
　As a result, our parents, who didn't know what was going on, blamed him for not taking good care of Rebecca.

　On the other hand, it wasn't the fact that his engagement to Rebecca was broken that I was upset about.

“Garrett."

　My brother shuddered when he heard me call his name. Despite looking just like his mother and quite beautiful for a man, a look of despair appeared on his face. The second prince of the Kingdom of Lendor was not there, only my brother, who shrank back from his brother's reprimand.

“What the hell do you think you're doing?"

　Garrett looked at me as if he would rather be physically hanged, then turned away.

“Your behavior at school will be the test of your competence as a royal. Didn't I tell you that?"

“What about your engagement to Rebecca, brother?”

“I'm not talking about the engagement being called off. I'm talking about how you intended to play the fool.”

　My brother gulped, and my prediction became a certainty … this guy.

"The reason I kept my distance from … Rebecca was to reduce the despair when I would eventually break off the engagement.
　There were a number of unforeseen matters regarding Miss Charlotte, the saint candidate … but the reason I didn't proactively resolve the situation is as you can imagine, brother …"

　It's been a little over three years since Garrett offered to help me. In that time, the adorable "I" has been replaced by the dignified "I" and has grown wonderfully both physically and mentally.
　That younger brother of mine has made a series of small mistakes in the past six months or so. His interactions with the saint candidate was flamboyant. It seems that the girl, who was called Fushugi-chan, was mostly acting by her own whim, but Garrett was also using her as an excuse to achieve his own ends.

“Don't fool yourself. What do you think I'm imagining?
　I told you to behave in a manner befitting royalty.”

　A king not only governs a country, he governs a people. The education Garrett was receiving as a crown prince was intended to foster that awareness. He was aware of this, and this is what he's doing.

“As you can see, brother, except for the unexpected incident, I deliberately left out the part that was kept tight and aimed for the assessment that 'the second prince is not fit to be a king …"

　Garrett, caught in the grip of my anger, shrank back more and more.
　We are only three years apart in age. But, having said this, the other party was a mere 17-year-old boy. Garrett was unable to withstand my silent pressure of "finish your sentence," and finally revealed his true feelings.

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“If I fail, you will be forced to take the throne. I want you to be king.
　I have been the chain that holds Rebecca down for that purpose, and after this, I will make every effort to stretch the dissolution of our engagement to the very last minute.
　So please, brother …!"

　I knew it, I thought, as I looked at Garrett, who looked at me as if he was hanging on for dear life.He thinks I'm the ideal crown prince, but I wonder what he would say if he knew that all of this was the result of my efforts to win her over.

　I let out a deep sigh and grabbed Garrett by the chest, pressing him against the wall.
　A loud thud echoed through the room. It seemed he had hit his head hard.

“What the hell is going on in your head? How can your head be so full of nonsense?
　Did you think this would silence the second prince's faction? They only think what's good for them. They’ll only gloat that they can use you as a puppet if they think you're spineless."

　When Garrett realized that his well-meaning plan had instead encouraged the faction that was trying to install the second prince, he muttered a small "Oh, no," and sank to his knees.

“Listen, from now on, do everything you can to restore your own honor rather than that of Rebecca. Show that you are strong and capable enough to take the upper hand over those who try to take advantage of you.
　I am not so forgiving as to tolerate my precious brother being mocked by his subjects---understand?"

"... I am sorry! This time I will live up to your expectations!”

　My brother, who had somehow been misdirecting his efforts, finally seemed to grasp the situation. He looked me firmly in the eye and vowed to do better.

　The reality is that the dissolution of Garrett and Rebecca's engagement will be inevitable sooner rather than later.
　I have less than a year until my fake engagement contract expires. Some steps must be taken.
　When it was pointed out to him that his plan was a bad one, Garrett apologized to Rebecca and seemed to ask her to continue with the contractual engagement, which is fine. The response was not fine, and as usual, Marquis Howard is working to dissolve the engagement --- well, I guess that's to be expected.

　Apparently, Rebecca wants to return to her estate and live quietly---in other words, she doesn't want to get married.
　Why did she suddenly get that idea when she knew it was a political marriage in the first place?
　It was a question I could not answer, but I was hopeful that Rebecca had remembered her previous life, and at the same time, I felt impatient.

　If Rebecca remembered her previous life, I wondered what she would do …
　If I let her go, she would become unreachable. Marquis Howard is a very good friend to us, and we are very happy to have him as a friend.

　While the Maruis’ efforts to end the engagement between Garret and Rebecca was slowly progressing, the matter of Princess Aaliyah was not progressing well.
　Originally, the activities in other countries were restricted, and I could not gather as much information as I would like. Only time was passing.

　It was Marquis Howard who shook things up.
　One day, he asked me to speak to him about something he wanted to discuss with me in private.


“Viscount Zhangou has an objection.”

　Viscount Zhangou was a small local official with a fiefdom near the border of the Kingdom of Xium, and as far as the capital was concerned, he was not well known. He was a simple local lord with neither a particularly large territory nor a powerful army. This Viscount Zhangou, however, was against it?

　According to the story, the Marquis had detected a plot to kidnap Rebecca, and while pursuing the culprits, he ended up in Zhangou.
　It seems that Zhangou was behind the scenes using a curse prohibited by international law. He was planning to frame the saint candidate by making it look as if the attack on Rebecca was at the candidate's request, and then use her as a human sacrifice by turning her into an evil spirit.

　Curses and human pillars. There are only so many people you can curse.

“The target is…”

　Marquis Howard said the name, and the low moans of my father and myself overlapped with each other.

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