Surviving As the 5th Prince of the Ruined Kingdom

021

Evan’s exclusive attendant, Alfonso Heimdel.

No, Alfonso Einberg.

The last survivor of the Einberg family, a vassal house that shared the fate of the fallen northern Beirn County during the Hamil Empire’s invasion.

Having cleared the tea tray, he headed toward the kitchen, glancing at the untouched teacup of the 3rd Princess, Annette Lionel.

‘Was it really that tasteless?’

Alfonso stopped in his tracks and brought the teacup to his lips.

He couldn’t taste anything.

It wasn’t always like this. In his childhood, he had been an ordinary person with a normal sense of taste, liking sweets and disliking bitter medicines.

He popped a cookie into his mouth and tried to recall the flavors he experienced as a child, concentrating on the sensations on his tongue.

“Your Highness, don’t you think he’s becoming more and more charming?”

“You’re just noticing that now?”

“The other day at dawn, I saw him going to bathe after his swordsmanship training, drenched in sweat······ ah, his shoulders had broadened so much. It seemed like even if we both hugged him, we wouldn’t be able to fully embrace him.”

“Your gaze is strange right now. And consider the Prince’s age.”

“He’ll be fourteen soon, so he’ll understand everything.”

The giggles of two maids echoed.

They were walking with a mountain of laundry piled on their heads.

Alfonso hastily touched his face, tracing the faint smile on his lips and making sure his mask hadn’t slipped.

“Oh! Mr. Alfonso. Hello.”

“Hello!”

The two maids who spotted Alfonso greeted him warmly.

“You all must be working hard.”

“Mr. Alfonso, there’s a rumor that we’ll be getting more staff at the Emerald Palace too. Is that true?”

“Yes! Mr. Alfonso, you should no longer have to do menial tasks like clearing the prince’s dishes! Look at how muscular our arms have gotten from just doing laundry.”

“hahahaha, I’m not that strong.”

“Oh, come on. Everyone knows you’re the real power in our palace.”

“Aren’t you going straight to becoming the head butler?”

“Wonderful! It’s a reward for the hard times you’ve been through with Prince Evan!”

“That’s right. To be honest, when they said they were hiring Prince Evan’s butler, I saw you applying and thought, ‘That crazy–‘ Oops! I didn’t mean that! Anyway, I’ll be going now.”

“Me too! See you later, Mr. Alfonso!”

The maids scurried away, and Alfonso mulled over their conversation.

There was an inexplicable, nagging feeling in his chest.

‘Ah.’

He realized the reason.

He had applied to be a butler to move more freely around the palace. Unintentionally, others saw him as Evan’s benefactor, which strangely tugged at his heart.

Soon, Alfonso arrived at his destination.

There were piles of dirty dishes, and three people with rolled-up sleeves washing them.

Instead of the kitchen assistant who had poisoned the milk, a new maid spotted him. She stood up abruptly and approached, wiping her hands on her apron.

“There are so many dirty dishes.”

“It’s alright! This is nothing!”

Alfonso handed her a tray, focusing on her swiftly moving right hand.

The head chef and another kitchen assistant, glancing at the two, failed to notice where Alfonso’s gaze was directed. His glass eye’s greatest advantage shone at that moment.

「Save me.」

It was the hand signal used by the Northern Liberation Army.

“Your enthusiasm is admirable. hahahaha.”

Interpreting the signal, Alfonso gestured that it was impossible, then swiftly left the kitchen.

“Chef, did you hear that? There’s a rumor that the Northern Liberation Army assassinated the Fourth Prince.”

He paused at the sound leaking through the slightly open kitchen door.

“Really? But why did the Northern Liberation Army assassinate the 4th Prince?”

“Could it be related to the downfall of the old Northern Kingdom and the 2nd Prince?”

“Shh! I told you before to watch your words. Think before you speak, think. Otherwise, you might get taken away without anyone knowing.”

Only the sound of dishes being washed could be heard seeping through the door crack. It was then that Alphonso moved his steps.

‘I must be careful.’

The rumor that the ‘Northern Liberation Army assassinated the 4th Prince’ was spreading unusually quickly. It was clear someone was intentionally propagating it.

The 1st Prince? The 2nd Prince?

‘It must be the 2nd Prince.’

Alphonso recalled Evan’s expression when he heard the news of the 4th Prince’s assassination.

– Your Highness! Urgent news. The 4th Prince has been assassinated on his way to exile.

– I see.

A calm voice, as if hearing about the passing of a stable boy. For Alphonso, who had witnessed Evan’s treatment of the 4th Prince for nearly a year, it was a perplexing reaction.

Then he realized.

Ah, Evan stabbed the 4th Prince’s heart with the dagger of the 2nd Prince.

‘But how?’

– To the Opal Palace.

– The Opal Palace? If it’s the Opal Palace… The 2nd Prince’s residence!

At first, Alphonso thought Evan was trying to contact the 2nd Prince to clear his name.

But the result?

Was shocking.

Not only did he clear his name, but he also expelled the 4th Prince from the royal palace. Moreover, an arrow pierced the heart of the 4th Prince on his way to exile.

Alphonso was dying to know the rest of the story.

– Can you bring those people to me?

Alphonso did not hear the conversation between Evan and the 2nd Prince. Unlike the shadow lurking in the darkness, whom the 2nd Prince had allowed to be present.

‘That shadow must be one of the 2nd Prince’s loyal followers?’

– Take me with you! Take me too!

– Live, Alphonso. Forget Einberg Castle and live your own life.

His father, brother, and sister, who headed to the battlefield for Viscount Beirne while fully aware they might die, donning swords and armor.

He had thought they were fools.

Loyalty to their lord? Chivalry?

Give me a dog.

I clearly thought that way.

No, I still think that way.

But I don’t know why I keep seeing the image of the northern swords heading to the battlefield and the people of the family that followed him whenever I see Evan.

– Your Highness, sword training is enough, why do you study magic so much? You’ll be short of focus on swordsmanship. After your coming-of-age ceremony, becoming a knight and receiving one of the royal fiefs as your fief will be the sweetest…… Ah! I’m absolutely not saying this because the books are heavy and hard to move.

– No, knight.

– Pardon?

– Emperor.

– You’re joking?

– Tell me to become emperor…… No, I was just joking once.

– Did you dream of it?

– Think whatever you want.

Remembering the conversation he had with Evan the other day, Alfonso couldn’t help but laugh.

Not a king, but an emperor.

If his encounter with Evan had not been in the same form as it is now, if Evan had really had the grand dream of becoming emperor, he wondered if he would have wanted to follow in his footsteps.

He arrived at the reception room.

Alfonso stroked his face to straighten his expression and knocked on the door.

Knock, knock.

“Your Highness! I’m back.”

***

The moment he heard Alfonso’s voice.

He had the intuition that there was nothing for the Royal Inspectorate to move except for Alfonso.

There’s no way they came to arrest me.

Only royalty can investigate and imprison royalty. If I was the target, the Royal Council would have come together.

‘Did they find out that I disguised my status and entered the palace?’

That’s as far as I can think for now.

I still don’t know what he did before entering the palace and what his goal is.

However, I’m guessing.

If it’s something the successor of an annihilated family would do, isn’t it obvious?

Revenge, and the rebuilding of the family.

‘Did the guy do something to get caught? Or was it because of me?’

Knock, knock.

“Your Highness?”

That guy, his voice sounds completely oblivious.

He should have clearly seen the Imperial Guard Inspectorate coming from the corridor window, so what was he thinking that he didn’t notice?

“Come in.”

“Yes!”

Alfonso entered after opening the door.

“But why does your voice sound so bad……”

Alfonso’s expression froze upon seeing the scene I was looking at.

“What have you been up to?”

“……”

Could it be that someone investigated my surroundings recently because I’ve been harsh, and got caught? If so, I’m quite sorry, no, very sorry.

An oppressive silence followed.

And then.

The Imperial Guard Inspectorate barged in.

“Alfonso Haimdel. You are hereby placed under emergency arrest as a spy for the Northern Liberation Army.”

The Northern Liberation Army.

After the invasion by the Hamil Empire, nearly half of the former noble houses in the northern regions of the Rionel Kingdom fell. The survivors formed this guerrilla group.

So Alfonso spent 4 years in the Northern Liberation Army after his family’s downfall.

It doesn’t seem to have been revealed yet that he infiltrated the palace undercover, but it’s only a matter of time.

“Excuse me, then.”

“……”

The Imperial Guard Inspectorate officer, after Alfonso paid his respects to me, tried to take him away.

My mind was very conflicted as I watched the paralyzed and bound Alfonso, unable to take his own life.

To the central nobles, the Northern Liberation Army was a thorn in their side.

Especially to those who actively opposed dispatching troops when the Beirne Marquis and the northern regions requested support during the Hamil Empire’s invasion after the plague outbreak.

Objectively speaking, I have no reason to stand up for Alfonso. I’m already walking on thin ice, and the Northern Liberation Army?

‘It would be troublesome to get involved.’

Or, perhaps I’m already involved? The fact that my maternal family was the Beirne Marquis on the northern border is something I can never erase, no matter what.

Even though they seem to be pinning the death of the 4th Prince on the Northern Liberation Army recently, if that false rumor is disguised as the truth······.

Just imagining it gives me a headache.

It adds one more reason why I shouldn’t help Alphonso.

‘But why?’

I don’t know why his face overlaps with that of the nursemaid who was dragged away on suspicion of trying to poison my sister.

Roughly 12 hours.

The average time I’ve been attached to that guy since my past life’s memories resurfaced. I kicked him out when he was in the study because I wanted to be alone, so that’s about it.

At that level, we’re pretty much like a married couple.

Ah, of course by the standards of my past life, not this current one.

Perhaps that’s why, despite knowing he’s a rotten guy to the core, I’ve grown somewhat fond of him.

There’s one thing I’m sure of.

‘If he’s taken away, he’ll die.’

Even if he survives, he’ll spend his life as a half-wit unable to hold a spoon.

Alphonso’s stats? Skills?

At best, they’d be around the level of a 4-star knight.

“Take him away.”

“······.”

Alphonso’s arms are gripped as he’s dragged away.

Surprisingly, his lips moved.

How?

They weren’t paralyzed?

– Your Majesty.

Those were clearly the shapes his mouth made.

Alphonso’s usual insolent smile crept onto his lips.

Ah, is he referencing that joke from the other day?

“Wait a moment!”

At my words, the military police officers dragging Alphonso all looked at me at once.

Damn it, I ended up doing it after all.