“Ha ha, right, you must be seeing me for the first time, huh?”
Rupert had a blank expression at the Crown Prince’s perplexing greeting.
Despite Rupert’s reaction, the Crown Prince remains friendly, leaving everyone around them equally puzzled.
“I could tell just how hard you’ve been fighting all alone.”
“Your Highness…”
Rupert’s mind was racing faster than ever.
If the Princess had come, it would be surprising but understandable. Her obsession with his work was risky at best after witnessing it for just a moment.
But with the Crown Prince, they had only exchanged letters.
And not just any kind of letters, but ones filled with quite uncomfortable content. If he had come to cause trouble, he would understand, but why the warm reaction? It didn’t make sense.
‘Looking back, that was a crazy thing to do.’
Rupert recalled the Crown Prince’s letter urging him to be cautious, remembering how he once shielded himself behind the Princess.
Thinking back, that outrageous response from the wild guy who couldn’t control himself left him doubting if it was truly him.
“By the way, the mansion seems noisy. Is something going on?”
“Um, forgive me, but there’s someone already here at the mansion.”
“Oh? So, I’ve come at a rather awkward time then. Who’s the guest? If it’s a noble, I might know them.”
“Well… the Saintess of the Goddess Church is visiting.”
“The Saintess? Ah, she’s here? What in the world could be going on…!”
The Crown Prince was visibly shocked upon hearing the identity of the guest.
No wonder, as there were only two people within the Empire that the Imperial Family could not treat lightly.
Those two were the Pope of the Goddess Church and the Saintess.
Even the Emperor, the Crown Prince’s father, had shown utmost respect whenever he interacted with them.
Especially the Saintess, an individual so rare that even Crown Prince Alex could count on one hand the number of times he had met her.
Suddenly, the Crown Prince felt an ominous sensation as he pondered why such a Saintess would come to this rural area, the Somerset Count’s domain.
“Where is the Saintess now?”
“…She is in the family workshop.”
“Lead the way!”
With a stiff expression, the Crown Prince spoke firmly, and Rupert hesitated, as if reluctantly forced to guide him.
“Hmmm…”
As they passed through, the Crown Prince’s eyes met Count Bradley’s.
The Count bowed his head naturally, but a disapproving click from the Crown Prince caused the Count to internally wonder what he had done wrong.
It was the first time meeting the Crown Prince—what could he have possibly done to offend him?
“This workshop is quite large.”
“Yes, it started small, but it grew larger as it was expanded.”
“I see. It seemed smaller the last time I saw it.”
“The last time?”
“I visited once before. I think I left a letter?”
At the mention of having previously visited the mansion, Rupert recalled his memory tucked away in a corner.
He had thought some madman was just messing around, wanting to ignore it; however, a chilling feeling warned him to keep the anonymous letter safe.
Only now was everything clicking in place like puzzle pieces.
The Crown Prince had come in person after receiving that blasphemous letter.
‘But why didn’t anything happen?’
It was perplexing that the wild Crown Prince came directly but left without causing any incidents, merely leaving behind a letter.
It was hard to comprehend.
“Right! Uncle called Aida chubby!”
“Ha ha, I apologize, Aida. I meant no offense to such a lovely young lady.”
Watching the seemingly close interaction between the Crown Prince and Aida, Rupert began to form a hypothesis.
‘Could it be that he has a thing for…?’
By the time he realized, he was quickly dismissing any dangerous thoughts as he tried to think more realistically.
“Did you perhaps visit Aida during your last trip?”
“Oh, yes, it was a really delightful time.”
“Right! Uncle, let’s play again!”
Aida’s impudent address almost made Rupert unconsciously grow accustomed to it but he quickly regained his composure.
“Aida, you shouldn’t use such rude titles with His Highness. You should say Crown Prince.”
“It’s fine. Aida, I’ll grant you the right to call me freely.”
Rupert’s mind became tangled, seeing the Crown Prince gently pet Aida’s head with such a kind expression.
The Crown Prince, whom he knew from the original story, should have been in the middle of reckless debauchery, getting himself into trouble with the Emperor by this time.
Of course, he hadn’t been completely dethroned yet; there was still the Emperor’s bombshell statement about choosing another heir.
Rupert knew this was an important event signaling the beginning of the third prince’s rise to the throne, keeping an ear out for when it might unfold.
The lack of news about the Crown Prince’s downfall had left him uneasy.
‘Am I the problem?’
He didn’t dismiss the thought, pondering whether the changes in the original story could be attributed to his being reincarnated as Rupert.
Usually, people would think it would be a common butterfly effect.
But what exactly had changed to prevent the Crown Prince from being dethroned?
He couldn’t dwell on it for long.
“What happened in the workshop, Sir Rupert?”
“Uh?”
“Earlier, I couldn’t speak freely because there were so many eyes watching, but I already noticed something was happening in the workshop.”
“How do you know, Your Highness?”
“The fact that the Saintess is still in the workshop while knowing I am here means something must have happened.”
Rupert was taken aback.
Given the Crown Prince’s notorious reputation, he had underestimated him.
He was surprisingly quick-witted.
“They’re probably unconscious in the workshop.”
“…That’s correct.”
“I’ve heard that you also collapsed.”
“I merely felt fatigued…”
Shush.
The Crown Prince nodded knowingly, extending his finger to silence Rupert.
“Is the Saintess aware of this grand conspiracy?”
What conspiracy?
Before Rupert could respond, the Crown Prince strode into the workshop.
“Ugh…mom….”
“Stop! If you eat that…”
“An assassination… Someone has attacked us…”
Gathered in one area, the workshop staff lay unconscious, murmuring as if trapped in nightmare.
“Greetings, Crown Prince. Please forgive my inability to greet you under such urgent circumstances.”
“There’s no need for formalities, Saintess. I am already aware of the urgency of the situation.”
“Y-yes?”
“I thought I had managed to get rid of those dark wizards, but they’ve already made their move!”
—Search every corner of this area! The remnants we missed are likely still nearby!
At the Crown Prince’s command, the knights surrounding him quickly dispersed.
“Saintess! Can you help them?”
“Yes, I can provide treatment… It’s merely food poisoning…”
“Thank goodness! But what about that person?”
Without even waiting for the Saintess to finish her words, the Crown Prince was urgently scanning the scene.
To his eyes, a woman was crammed into a corner and quietly standing by.
A beautiful lady with blue hair.
But her expression was one of someone who had committed a crime, looking around nervously.
“This is Miss Amelia, the Noble Young Lady of the Bluewell House.”
“Did they come to know about this from the Duke’s house? But why did only the Young Lady come?”
“What could the reason be…”
The Crown Prince, furious after seeing the unconscious staff, continued to speak in confusion.
‘What does this food poisoning incident have to do with the dark wizards?’
Artisans had collapsed after eating dishes made by Amelia.
And coincidentally, the Crown Prince had chosen this moment to visit the family.
It all felt too messed up to comprehend.
The Saintess had claimed she would go to the workshop to heal the collapsed staff, instructing Rupert to welcome the Crown Prince.
Thankfully, she didn’t make the mistake of keeping the Crown Prince waiting. But now how was he to explain this incident to the Crown Prince?
He had known that the Young Lady of Bluewell was visiting to make them a meal while they were sick.
Yet unbeknownst to him, it turned out this meal was an assassination attempt?
Seeing Amelia panicking at the sight of the craftsmen, he felt it was shamefully disgraceful for a Noble Young Lady.
‘I don’t want to see her like that.’
She was a character from the original work I liked. In that cliché romance fantasy filled with drama, Amelia struggled between love and family.
One line of hers still echoes in my memory:
– Even if the world ends tomorrow, we loved each other today.
That line, uttered during a crisis to the third prince, may seem cliché.
But that moment when she expressed it, despite hiding her feelings due to her family burdens while always dreaming of a romantic love, was when Amelia’s character truly came alive for me.
“Crown Prince, the Young Lady is in no way involved in this incident. She simply came to visit me to express her gratitude for the book and happened to witness this event.”
I didn’t know what would happen afterward.
But I just wanted her to get out of this place.
“It is only natural that the Young Lady is uninvolved. This is surely the dark wizard’s vicious scheme.”
“Your Highness… do you have any knowledge about this matter?”
“I know quite a bit. Thanks to you, Rupert, I was able to thwart their plot in advance.”
—Of course, I lost an arm in the process.
The Crown Prince took pride in showing off his missing arm, oblivious to the somber nature of the situation.
As Rupert listened to the Crown Prince’s remarks, he felt the strange feelings he had been noticing for a while begin to fall into place.
There were three key points to remember.
Dark wizards, Aida and Rach, and the ‘Iron-Blooded Alchemist’.
Rupert now saw a way to resolve the situation.
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