Surviving As the 5th Prince of the Ruined Kingdom

022

5 years ago.

– Olivia Einberg, I’m arresting you on charges of attempted assassination of the royals.

As the Royal Guard began apprehending the nursemaid, followed by the escorts and servants of the Emerald Palace in a row, I could only watch the scene unfold with a face drained of color in sheer terror.

It was only natural.

In my previous life, I was merely a child who had just graduated from kindergarten. On the day of that incident, I was in low spirits after wetting the bed.

But.

I am no longer that child from before.

“What seems to be the issue, Your Highness?”

The officer from the Inspectorate of the Royal Guard asked sharply.

Truthfully, clearing Alfonso’s charges would be impossible. Even if I had the power of the First or Second Prince, it would require substantial sacrifices, if possible at all.

“Alfonso is like my own limb. Who dares to take him away?”

The officer’s nose wrinkled in disdain.

“I understand you must be unsettled that your cherished attendant turned out to be an agent of the Northern Liberation Army. We’ll take him for a thorough investigation now. If it was a misunderstanding, he’ll return unharmed, so don’t worry.”

The officer answered my questions point by point.

Recalling how George, the former attendant of the Fourth Prince, spat in front of me in contempt, I was acutely aware of my elevated status after the royal trial.

“You are aware of what the Northern Liberation Army is, I presume?”

Well, he didn’t treat me with utmost courtesy either. His occasional mocking tone grated on my nerves.

I furrowed my brow and spoke.

“Of course I know. I’m the one who sent them there.”

“…Pardon?”

Not just the officer, but everyone present looked at me as if I had spoken gibberish.

Even Alfonso opened his eyes wide, revealing his usually concealed blue irises. Was he feigning paralysis to avoid being noticed?

“I sent him there. As an agent of the Northern Liberation Army. Not that he came here from there, but that he went there from here and returned.”

“That, that makes no sense!”

“Why doesn’t it make sense?”

“You and that lowlife only met a year ago!”

“You seem to know quite a bit about Alfonso and me? Who was so curious about us? Did the Intelligence Bureau investigate? Or was it the Reconnaissance Bureau?”

The Intelligence Bureau would be under the First Prince, while the Reconnaissance Bureau would be under the Second Prince.

“Or perhaps your own Inspectorate?”

“That’s classified!”

Tsk, I probed just in case, but it seems I hit the mark.

I vowed that if I ever found out who threw the bomb of the Royal Inspectorate at me, I would pay them back.

Repay kindness, and vengeance a hundredfold.

A maxim I quite like, even without knowing who said it.

“But you know, you’re mistaken. It wasn’t a year ago. I’ve known Alfonso since we were very young.”

“That cannot be!”

“Why not? I’ve known that Alfonso Einberg, from the Einberg family who served the Count of Beirne, since childhood.”

“Huh? Ah, Einberg?”

“That guy. His name is Alfonso Einberg, not Alfonso Heimdel.”

The truth would come out eventually if I dug into it. I thought it better to take the lead and use it carefully.

“Surely as an officer of the Royal Inspectorate, you can’t be unaware of the Einberg family?”

“Olivia Einberg……”

Right, no one has forgotten.

“Your claim makes no sense, Your Highness. You’ve hardly ever left the palace, and those who enter are strictly managed!”

“We were pen pals, pen pals. You know how common that still is these days.”

“……. The letters……”

“Not sure where they are. Might’ve thrown them out, but I’ll look.”

The officer bit his lip hard.

“……. Even if what you say is ‘true’, it doesn’t change that he was active in the Northern Liberation Army. We still don’t fully understand that group. He may have changed allegiances and be plotting something at the palace. He could know information about them that we don’t. His detainment is unavoidable.”

Ah, so it comes to this.

‘If they take me, it’s over.’

It’s no idle saying that just a cough from the Inspectorate makes your heart stop.

“……”

“……”

A moment of silence.

I slowly opened my mouth.

“Did you think I’d just let you take him?”

“You, you can’t mean to resist to the end…!”

Five years ago, I didn’t know.

I didn’t know how much power being ‘royalty’ itself held.

“I invoke my right of immunity from arrest.”

“Crack.”

Immunity from Arrest.

One of the three most powerful privileges held by royalty.

– Royals have the right to refuse arrest or detention of themselves and their vassals. This is called immunity from arrest. To arrest or detain a royal who has invoked immunity from arrest, or their vassals, requires a majority vote from the Royal Council’s quorum.

The result of those who engaged in bloody succession battles for the throne in previous generations.

“Now go.”

“……. I shall see you again.”

Biting his lip, the officer’s eyes showed his determination to obtain permission from the Royal Council.

He glanced at Alfonso and placed a small vial on the desk from his pocket.

“This is the antidote for him.”

Waving his hand dismissively, he urged them to leave quickly.

After the Royal Guards left, I checked the antidote with my phantom hand to ensure no foul play.

‘Seems fine.’

After taking the antidote, I went to the window and watched the Royal Guards exit the Emerald Palace.

Only after they disappeared from sight did I look at Alfonso, sprawled on the floor.

Wasn’t he not paralyzed?

“Why are you still lying there?”

“……. Am I your vassal, Your Highness?”

Seems he could only move his facial muscles a bit.

What’s he saying?

Who said he’s my vassal? After pulling a drowning man onto the boat, the least he could do is show some gratitude.

I felt like kicking him off again, but it was too late. I was already on this boat.

“You don’t need the antidote?”

“……. I’ll take it.”

I chuckled and fed Alfonso the antidote. Over time, he started twitching his fingers.

While waiting for Alfonso’s paralysis to wear off, I sat on the sofa and checked the accumulated system messages.

[Your relationship with Hailey Offen has worsened.]

[Your relationship with Ryan Lloyd has worsened.]

In the early days when the [Name Log] was opened, there was a function I didn’t know about. Even without directly bringing a ghost hand, information about the people I converse with gets registered.

It’s convenient when it’s convenient, but seeing it piled up like this feels like looking at spam mail.

‘I wouldn’t mind if they gave me RP.’

I closed everything that wasn’t important.

“Your relationship with Alfonso Einberg has improved.”

“You have acquired 5,000 RP.”

“Achievement, ‘Like Family’ has been achieved.”

“You have acquired 5,000 RP.”

‘Oh.’

I checked Alfonso’s status window.

[Relationship: Trust].

Right, I’ve done this much for him, so it would be disappointing if the relationship was still just ‘Friendly’.

While I was at it, I tried to check his stats and skills window, and it seemed like Alfonso’s paralysis had almost worn off.

“Aah, aeiouu, aeiouu.”

The guy who opened his mouth looked at me.

“Why did you do that?”

“It just happened.”

“But…… could I have been arrested again even if I exercised that immunity from arrest?”

Alfonso asked in an embarrassed tone, as if he didn’t know.

“No need to be embarrassed. Most of the nobles alienated from central politics probably don’t know. Most people would know that if a royal uses immunity from arrest, they absolutely cannot be taken away by the military police or security forces.”

“So, will I be arrested again?”

To invalidate immunity from arrest, a quorum of more than half of the Royal Council must be present, and half of those present must vote in favor.

In other words, theoretically, even 1/4 is enough to make it possible to invalidate it.

Roughly 40% of the Royal Council would support the First Prince, and about 35% would support the Second Prince. Either side would be able to make me a scapegoat.

‘And it would be easy.’

There’s no particular reason for the opposing side to help me, since they’ll probably just not show up because it’s too much trouble.

I explained these facts to him in detail.

“……. You’ve bought some time.”

“Why, are you dissatisfied?”

“No, thank you. ······ But why did you really help me?”

“I don’t know, don’t ask.”

“······ What do we do now?”

“I’ll think about it from now on.”

For a moment, they gazed at each other blankly.

Then Alfonso’s mouth opened first.

“Just one thing, could you tell me just one real thing?”

“What?”

“I asked this before too······ How did you know I was from Einberg?”

“······ You resembled ··· the nursemaid.”

After saying it, he avoided the youth’s gaze at the poor answer.

“I know. I don’t resemble her at all.”

“What exactly is your relationship with the nursemaid?”

If he wanted to know, he could have found out.

He just didn’t bother to check because he didn’t feel it was worth using RP. Using RP preemptively before a bomb like today drops should be avoided as much as possible.

The cases where it’s used proactively are when learning skills to train. He had just thought she might be a close cousin or distant sixth cousin sister, something like that.

“You knew I was from Einberg but didn’t know that? She was my eldest sister. She left home before I was born, so I’ve only seen her face in portraits. I was the youngest of the family.”

So Alfonso was the youngest child.

But the age gap with the nursemaid······ The lord of Einberg must have been a strong man.

But how could siblings not resemble each other at all? If they did······ it would only be in having blue eyes? For the record, one in five people in the kingdom has blue eyes.

As if my thoughts showed, Alfonso gave me the answer.

“I’m the son my father ······ had after divorcing and remarrying.”

An illegitimate child. Akard······ no, since he’s unlucky, I won’t even mention that guy’s name anymore.

Since Alfonso brought up the story he had hidden, I also felt I shouldn’t just keep my mouth shut. I decided to tell him as much as he could understand, but not the details.

“On the day I got my head cracked by the 4th Prince. Think of it as receiving something similar to the sacred marks received by saints and holy maidens.”

Though limited, they can see the future and perform miracles like restoring limbs lost by humans.

“A sacred mark? I know that receiving a sacred mark makes one unable to use mana. And I’ve heard that using the abilities requires an enormous price afterward······.”

Of course, it doesn’t make sense to just use such abilities willy-nilly.

“That’s why I said something similar.”

“And scars are usually on the back of the hand or forehead······.”

“There were also scars on my chest and thighs. You haven’t seen my butt, have you?”

“No, never ma······ I mean, no ma’am. I’ll keep my mouth shut even if I’m dragged back to the Royal Guards.”

That brat, he must have thought I made a pact with the demons.

“Anyway, I haven’t made any pact with demons, so you can rest assured.”

At my firm statement, he nodded his head ‘roughly’. Hmm······ I wonder if this will lead to me getting a real tattoo on my butt later.

The atmosphere had become somewhat tainted, and I felt it was time to have a proper conversation instead of idle chatter.

“I unintentionally got entangled with the Northern Liberation Army. Tell me everything you know. And about yourself too. I can find out either way, so don’t hide anything.”

“Can’t you just find out with your princely abilities?”

“It’s not that convenient an ability. I told you it’s similar to scars. I need to pay a price too.”

“A price?”

“Yes, something like that.”

For instance, saying I need to get close to you was a bit awkward.

“······.”

But suddenly, he seemed lost in thought.

What’s he thinking about?

Could it be!

“Not demons. You must know that most of them crave the blood of humans, especially children and virgins? You’ve witnessed that I haven’t had the time for such things.”

“Ah, I wasn’t thinking that. I was right by your side, so I know. Let me talk about what you asked. How much do you already know?”

“For starters, about you, I know that you could have easily taken down the likes of George, but you faltered and got beaten. You have a knack for poisons. And you knew about the poisonous plant [Cozy Nightmare] by my bedside but left it there.”

“······ I’m surprised you didn’t know I was part of the Northern Liberation Army. More than half of the survivors from the fallen Northern noble families belong to it.”

Suddenly, a thought occurred to me.

If I could get the Northern Liberation Army on my side. And furthermore, if I could rally the fallen forces of the North again.

Wouldn’t I gain a status akin to a kingmaker, deciding who becomes king based on which of the first or second prince I side with?

‘From the Ghost Prince to a kingmaker······.’

This is like a lowly insect ascending to become a dragon.