Chapter: 239
Why on earth is this person showing up in person?
I couldn’t hide my confusion as I observed the hypocritical smile of Serane Soladin. It honestly hadn’t crossed my mind that she would personally make contact at this point.
You really don’t have the time for this! The king’s going to announce the heir in a year and a half, and you’re running around like there’s no tomorrow!
Why is someone who barely appeared in the game wandering around showing their face?!
The situation wasn’t looking good. Serane was the Second Queen of the current kingdom and the daughter of the Bedper Duke—essentially the real power behind the Second Prince’s camp.
To put it plainly, this woman wielded a level of power that could easily be counted among the elite in the Soladin Kingdom.
Just imagine offending someone with that much power. It would lead to some seriously annoying consequences.
Given that I had already called the Second Prince a “dumbass prince” and built up some serious resentment from that camp, mixing in personal animosity could lead to all sorts of trouble.
Not something I wanted to envision.
What worried me even more was that I couldn’t figure out how the mesugaki skill would refer to this woman. Since Serane played a minor role in the game, she didn’t have a nickname.
From what I gathered in her profile later, “scandalous,” “messy,” or maybe “troublemaker”? Something like that would probably be on point.
Honestly, there’s a chance I might have to refer to her as “dumbass queen mother” or something equally ridiculous.
With that thought in mind and the expectation that speaking could lead to trouble, Serane let out a little chuckle.
[It seems you’re quite flustered. I understand. I just appeared without any warning, after all.]
She interpreted my silence as surprise and continued talking freely.
[I have many things to say. From trivial updates on how Sir Benedict is doing to the reason I’m speaking with you. Or perhaps about the recent events involving the Second Prince.]
Between her cutesy smile, I caught a glimpse of her icy cold eyes.
Those judgmental eyes.
Normally, that look would imply anger towards anyone insulting her child, but in Serane’s case, it was different. She didn’t care one bit about how much the Second Prince was getting wrecked.
So, why was she frosted over?
It was obvious. I was the reason for the Second Prince’s plummeting reputation.
[Dumbass prince. Such a direct and insulting term, yet so perfectly fitting for our prince. This could lead to trouble. The more suitable a derogatory name, the faster it spreads.]
See? She didn’t mind me calling the Second Prince a dumbass.
In fact, she practically acknowledged that the nickname fit her son. If that nickname hadn’t spread through the gossip, she wouldn’t even be bringing it up.
[To resolve this, it would be best to formally complain to the Alrn family while providing gifts of thread and needle to those who use the name.]
Listening to her, I felt it was a threat, no doubt about it.
[But I won’t do that,] she claimed, shaking her head.
What?
[It’s partly our prince’s fault, too. We can’t burden someone destined to be the future of our kingdom over something like this.]
She categorically declared that she wouldn’t press the matter further.
[If you think about it, the prince has learned a lesson from this incident. As a result, his weaknesses have also become known. It seems like more is gained from this than lost. So, I prepared a gift. Nabil? ]
“Yes.”
It wasn’t just that. As soon as Serane finished her sentence, Nabil produced two phials from inside his robe.
[These are elixirs! I prepared them to help the Young Lady’s growth.]
I was able to confirm through my emotional clarity skill what they were.
A power elixir and a stamina elixir.
Items so rare that the Alrn family had barely a few in stock, and undoubtedly useful for me right now.
So she presents something like this as a gift.
Even though the incident with the Second Prince started with me picking a fight and ended with me wiping the floor with him, here I am getting gifts?
‘…What is going on? Grandpa?’
It’s been nearly a year since I took the elixir, and I need to obtain more. Out of the three I need, two were just handed to me for free, so I should be happy, but I couldn’t manage it.
It’s not the enemy that scares me—it’s the favor. What could happen if I accepted it?
What the heck is this woman playing at?!
This isn’t who you really are!
Are there variables involved here?
Just what kind of variables are we talking about?!
[I have several anticipated reasons.]
While I was floundering in confusion, Grandpa’s calm voice explained further.
Maybe she valued my worth that much.
Or she thought I wasn’t the type to buckle under threats.
Even if we ignored the Second Prince, she might think the Second Prince’s camp isn’t a bad thing.
[But the biggest reason is likely that she’s trying to lure Benedict in through you.]
‘…What does that mean?’
[Think about it. If it’s his daughter speaking, he’ll probably fall for it. If you tell Benedict you want the Second Prince to be king, what do you think would happen?]
Oh come on, Grandpa! You’re overselling it! As much as Benedict is a daughter fool, he wouldn’t jump into royal politics like that.
…Would he? I can’t be too sure.
If I called him that way and flirted a bit, I can just imagine that he wouldn’t be able to resist. That man really is quite the daughter fool.
[Even without that, just creating a debt with Benedict would be beneficial for them. After all, he’s a born knight; he would never lightly forget such a favor.]
I recalled Benedict’s reputation.
Hero of the nation. Guardian of the kingdom. The continent’s strongest knight. An object of admiration and envy.
If he had a debt to pay with someone like that, it would be worth forgiving.
Ah. Could this also mean what the First Prince referred to as a debt?
Was this her way of having an ace up her sleeve with Benedict?!
That’s why she covered for me!
…Wow. Benedict’s backing is surprisingly solid.
[In simple terms, it’s a political calculation. She thinks it’s more beneficial to be seen as forgiving and generous than to press charges.]
Hearing Grandpa’s explanation, I let out a relieved sigh. I was worried that this woman had changed into someone unrecognizable, but she was exactly the same as I knew.
Thank goodness. I was really nervous she’d turned into something else.
[We hold you in high regard…]
[Your Majesty. One moment.]
Suddenly, a voice that wasn’t Serane’s came through the crystal ball. Serane asked for understanding and then stood up and headed somewhere.
[Apologies, Young Lady.]
Not long after, she returned, mentioning there was an urgent matter, and cut the connection.
I had no idea what it was about, but it felt like a relief. Now I wouldn’t have to find out what the mesugaki skill would refer to her as.
“Wow. Sorry. As you know, our queen is an incredibly busy person, so I’d appreciate your understanding.”
Nabil wore an awkward smile and put the crystal back into his robe as he continued speaking.
“In that case, let’s wrap up our talk here. You said you’re busy as well.”
Really? Just like that, he’s leaving the matter regarding the Second Prince behind? Shouldn’t there be suggestions or some kind of coercion involved?
I blinked in perplexity as Nabil donned a bowler hat.
“Oh, and if you get another chance to talk with her, please extend my respectful greetings to the Second Queen. She is, after all, a queen.”
Err, but if I could, I’d rather not meet the Second Queen at all.
If I open my mouth, it’s guaranteed trouble.
It’s a situation where my mouth is the source of all evil.
Ugh.
‘Sorry!’
“Why on earth should I show respect to that crass, old hag of a queen?! I’m not into those wrinkled faces like yours!”
Inadvertently, I apologized in my mind, and I froze when I caught the words that slipped through due to the mesugaki skill.
Nabil had the same reaction.
His face lost all formality as he simply gaped at me before he snapped back to reality and started chuckling.
With an utterly bewildered look on his face.
“…Oh? Interesting.”
With a final short exclamation, Nabil disappeared, leaving me all alone with the two elixir bottles sitting on the table as I leaned back into the chair, letting all my strength drain away.
…Thank goodness I managed to keep my mouth shut during that conversation.
I genuinely almost got wrecked.
*
“Um, employer? Did you just say crass old hag about the Second Queen?”
‘Yeah, guess it turns out I did.’
“Doesn’t suit her, does it?”
“…I get it. I’ll do my best to ensure you don’t cross paths with the Second Queen again.”
The mesugaki skill decided to refer to Serane as just that.
Crass old hag.
A nickname that insulted both her actions and appearance was something Serane could definitely use to justify going after me.
Just as I had traversed the bomb known as the “dumbass prince,” here I was with a fresh new bomb.
I guess the only silver lining is that Serane won’t bump into me all that often. She’s probably too busy running around regarding the throne succession.
“By the way, it seems the Second Queen personally reaching out to you means she wants you for something.”
I think so too. It’s uncertain if I am important or if their interest lies with Benedict, but it seems clear she’s keen on dragging me into her plans.
Not just sending Nabil but personally revealing herself too? If that was the case, wouldn’t it have been smarter for her to have approached me directly and avoided the whole ‘dumbass prince’ fiasco?
Wait. If that happened, then it’d be Serane instead of the dumbass prince popping up. Now that’s even more serious bad news!
Ugh.
“I guess the Second Queen is busy moving around concerning the Burrow Duke House, and then somehow finds time to have a chat with you.”
‘Burrow Duke House?’
“Burrow?”
“Ah, I see. You don’t know yet—it’s not common knowledge. You see, the Burrow prince, who’s in your same grade, put in a leave of absence from the academy. The reason for this absence is what I’m talking about.”
The Burrow prince? Has he been skipping school all this time?
No wonder I’ve never run into him!
I thought he was just avoiding me like he did during the first semester, but he’s actually been taking time off? What on earth happened to make him—
Wait.
This is weird.
In all the scenarios I know, there’s no equivalent of a loser prince taking time off from school.
He’s the type who, despite feeling inferior, would fight tooth and nail to keep going.
The same person who couldn’t put down his pen even when he was in life-threatening illness is skipping classes?
A chill ran down my spine.
This is a variable.
A type of variable I have no knowledge about.
I have overcome countless variables up until now.
So I know.
Most of these variables turn out to be problems in the end.
A sense of foreboding washed over me.
Even if I tried to convince myself it wasn’t a big deal, all the worst-case scenarios started coming to mind.
I couldn’t think positively about this.
Not with all the risks I’ve faced so far.
—Ding.
My thoughts abruptly halted at the sound that rang out.
No, no. Please don’t do this.
Stop butting in, you pathetic god.
This is not the time to joke around.
I’m really something serious right now.
Hoping that maybe, just maybe, this was the usual childish prank of that pathetic god, I looked up, but—
[Burrow Duke House Abnormality]
It wasn’t that.
[It appears something strange is happening with the Burrow Duke House.]
That message carried no hint of levity.
[Please verify this.]
It was definitely a prophesy of calamity.
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