“Then what about the Duke of the Southern Colony?”
“I must respectfully decline, Your Highness.”
“………”
The Crown Prince’s face crumpled.
However, the professor standing across from him merely gazed at him in silence, showing no concern.
“May I ask why?”
“There’s a severe illness from beast fur, you see.”
“Hah… That’s quite a half-hearted excuse.”
“If you ask again, I’ll come up with a more believable excuse.”
“………”
The Crown Prince clicked his tongue and folded his arms.
Due to the Duke Lorraine of the Southern Colony staging a rebellion, the dukedom was now vacant.
News had arrived that one castle had been seized on the first day of battle, so completely suppressing the rebel army wouldn’t take long.
To prevent the Imperial Knights from garrisoning and presiding over the administration, a duke had to be appointed quickly.
After all, the Imperial Knights were part of the Imperial Army, and military rule was something that could absolutely not be tolerated.
“Do you have no heart at all?”
“If you hand over the Supreme Command Position of the Imperial Army, I might reconsider.”
“………”
“It was a joke. Yes. I have no intention of accepting any conditions.”
Such was the serious nature of his joke.
“Then that’s enough.”
“Yes. Thank you very much for the proposal, Your Highness.”
“Enough with the empty flattery. Just get lost.”
“Yes.”
The Crown Prince waved his left hand deliberately to show it off and turned away.
The Count stared at the Crown Prince’s left-hand ring finger for a moment before turning his back and leaving.
“Hah…”
As the door slammed shut, a sigh escaped the Crown Prince’s lips.
He had been searching for a suitable person for the dukedom but found no one appropriate.
No matter what anyone said, the optimal candidate was Count Bermanstein, and he had personally invited him, but he had, of course, been rejected.
It was obvious that he was worried about accepting the dukedom in case the war dragged on and he couldn’t reclaim the territory of the Southern Colony.
If such a situation arose, there would be no benefit from the dukedom, and the huge position would only lead to more attacks.
Soon, the suppression army would retake the remaining three castles, so it wouldn’t matter.
One could say he was careful, but on the flip side, he was a coward.
“Tsk. The chief professor of the Imperial University has no guts at all.”
Or maybe he had no guts, which is why he was a life-long chief professor?
The Crown Prince drummed his fingers on the desk while tongue-clicking repeatedly.
At that moment, a worried-looking aide walked in as the door opened.
“Hah… Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
“What is it?”
“Are you still wearing that ring?”
More nagging.
The Crown Prince completely turned away.
“I’ve told you many times. There are some rather nasty rumors circulating among the nobles. They say that you and Schlus Hainkel have become engaged through that ring…”
“That’s not true.”
“The important part is that it’s not true. It’s how others see it. Right now, it’s causing a lot of confusion. His Majesty is worried that, ahead of your coming-of-age ceremony this year, the families wishing for your engagement will band together.”
“That won’t happen. I will clarify the truth at the appropriate time.”
“So the truth is… Hah.”
The aide finally fell silent.
She had repeated the same thing several times.
Yet the Crown Prince deliberately ignored her, not because he didn’t understand the seriousness of the situation.
Being sharp-witted, she must have understood everything.
Her stubbornness had never been more frustrating.
“In worst-case scenarios, the coming-of-age ceremony might be postponed.”
“What? That can’t be. Who’s spouting such nonsense?”
“His Majesty said so.”
“………”
The Crown Prince pouted his lips and tapped the armrest of his chair.
Seeing that, the aide sighed deeply and took out an envelope from her sleeve, placing it on the desk.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a request for a meeting from Schlus Hainkel.”
“Schlus?!”
As expected, a flush of color spread across the Crown Prince’s face.
The aide let out another big sigh while observing him.
“But how did you know it was a request for a meeting?”
“………”
“You opened it, didn’t you?”
“Yes. That’s correct, Your Highness.”
“Don’t ever open letters exchanged between Schlus and me again. That’s an order. Understand?”
“I will remember.”
Watching the Crown Prince gleefully tear open the letter, the aide thought to herself.
Next time, she should get approval from His Majesty before opening the letters.
*
I definitely sent the letter to the palace this morning.
And now a reply had already arrived.
It wasn’t a letter from the palace staff saying a meeting was impossible.
From the way it was crumpled up, it must have been a handwritten letter from the Crown Prince.
The one who would soon occupy the throne still had such a handwriting…
Of course, I can’t criticize too much.
“What does it say?”
“He says it’s fine to come.”
“I’m sure that wasn’t the only thing. It looked pretty packed.”
“Well, the rest is just filler.”
“That’s a lie. The Crown Prince is writing frivolous things in a formal reply to a meeting request?”
Emilia looked unconvinced.
It certainly was unlike the Crown Prince.
He said he would allow the meeting, but it was so roundabout that one only figured it out at the end of the letter.
I couldn’t help but suspect he wrote it while tipsy.
If it was anyone else but the Crown Prince, that might be believable.
“What’s the date?”
“Today…”
“What?! Really? Then we need to get ready fast!”
“It’s fine to come today. Tomorrow works too. The day after is okay.”
“You surprised me…”
“Let’s go tomorrow.”
“Got it. Can I come along?”
“If you promise to behave.”
“I won’t go messing around at the palace…”
I know.
Even while joking, he’d do his job properly.
So does that mean he’s relaxing right now?
I doubt he’s going through the extreme hassle of forcing himself to act relaxed for a sudden mood shift.
It seems the kidnapping incident made him trust me somewhat.
Given that Emilia has to act all day, it makes sense she’d want to relax around me to minimize her energy and emotional expenditure.
“What do you want for dinner?”
“Is there a choice?”
“No. It’s pasta today.”
“……..”
Then why did you even ask?
Emilia chuckled and disappeared into the kitchen.
There was still time until dinner.
I went upstairs to my room on the second floor for a moment.
“Hu…”
I closed the door tightly and opened the safe under my desk.
Then a broken pocket watch that no longer worked came into view.
I thought about moving it to the Black Steel Safe.
It would be foolish to let the Black Steel Safe rot after I got it from the palace.
It might be worth a good amount in itself, so I hadn’t thought about putting anything inside it.
Marie’s pocket watch needed to be hidden in the safest Black Steel Safe, lest it be discovered by the Intelligence Agency.
I picked up the pocket watch.
“What…?!”
At that moment, the scenery around me began to change.
It felt like reality was instantly invading my mind.
The image was hazy, but I could tell there was a pile of snow around and Schlus was holding a perfect pocket watch.
A woman walked toward me from a distance.
I couldn’t see her face clearly…
“Oh.”
At that moment, my hand, no, Schlus’s hand, let go of the watch.
And with that, I returned to reality.
That was it.
“Schlus’s memory… Why the hell…?”
My head started to ache.
What I just saw was undoubtedly the ‘Memory of True Self.’
I recalled the skill description to see if I had missed something.
[Ability: Memory of True Self]
[Grade: Rare]
[Description: Performing specific actions has a low chance of awakening related memories of the True Self. Time Limit: 1 hour.]
[Reader’s Note: Shouldn’t there be a smidgen of consideration for the owner of the body being possessed?]
That note at the end continued to irk me.
Looking this way and that, I saw no other conditions.
If a specific action could show the true self’s memories, that meant…
What I just witnessed was surely part of Schlus’s past.
“Could this be tied to Schlus?”
With trembling hands, I looked at the pocket watch.
It was hard to make precise comparisons due to the blurry image, but it seemed to be of similar size and color.
Still, I couldn’t be sure it was exactly the same pocket watch.
Since the condition was ‘if a specific action is performed,’ holding the pocket watch itself triggered the ability, not necessarily holding Marie’s pocket watch.
“Could it be?”
There was no way it could be like Marie’s.
In this world, how many people could have memories related to a pocket watch?
Surely, it couldn’t be the case.
The doubts I had must surely be wrong.
After all, the surnames are different.
Marie Ayle.
Schlus Hainkel.
If you take a closer look, the cultural backgrounds differ too.
Ayle is an English-derived surname, while Hainkel is Germanic.
That was where I went wrong.
I, or rather, Schlus Hainkel, being Marie’s son was a hypothesis.
Right. That must be wrong.
“Dinner is ready, Schlus Oppa!”
“Oh! I’ll be down right away!”
I gently placed the pocket watch into the Black Steel Safe and closed the door.
Soon, the twelve spells interlocked and locked away.
Now, even if a Majin were to come, they would not be able to open it.
“I will definitely convey this.”
I promised.
To pass down that watch to the son.
Once spoken, a promise must be kept.
I gazed at the safe for a moment, calming my conflicted thoughts, then turned away.
