Surviving As the 5th Prince of the Ruined Kingdom

005

Contrary to his icy expression, Alfonso was greatly flustered.

He was confident that with just a deathly glare, he could make even street thugs who walked around shoulders squared in back alleys wet their pants. He had actually experienced that before.

Evan had endured his deathly glare.

Rather, he was sending a gaze as if asking if I could kill him.

“How did you find out?”

“Is that important? Ah, since only I know, you don’t need to worry. And if you’re not going to eat me, stop glaring like that.”

“Ha……”

Alfonso let out an involuntary laugh, having received an unexpected response.

His gaze turned to the pendant hanging around Evan’s neck. No matter how he looked at it, it was indeed the relic of the Three Queens that protected the wearer from evil spirits and all kinds of curses.

It was absolutely impossible for any evil spirit to possess him.

He had heard a few stories of people who suffered a major head injury and became a fool. But could someone really change as if possessed by another person like that?

“Since when did you know?”

Evan remained silent.

Sensing that he would not get the answer he wanted, Alfonso changed the question.

“If I were to harm the Prince and run away, why are you suddenly interrogating me like this?”

This time, Evan’s mouth opened.

“Alfonso, can you kill me? You must have had some purpose for infiltrating the palace too. No matter how much of a neglected prince I am, I don’t think you could kill a royal in the palace and still live unscathed? You hid your identity to sneak into the palace, so there must have been something you needed to do.”

That’s right. Alfonso had something he needed to do.

The enemies who had a hand in the demise of the Einberg family. He had vowed to rip out their hearts one by one and chew them to pieces without missing a single one.

The heads of those hidden behind the veil. He had taken the risk of infiltrating the palace to catch their trail.

But Evan knew his true identity!

“And truthfully, I’m not that curious about your purpose itself.”

“What is it?”

“I’m more interested in how your actions to achieve your goal might affect me. You never know? There might be some scraps for me to pick up. If that’s the case, I might even lend a hand.”

A brief silence ensued.

The wind that had entered through the window, unable to bear the awkward atmosphere, repeatedly went back out.

It was Alfonso who broke the silence first.

“Your Highness’s help is not needed.”

Evan chuckled at his words.

“Really? I don’t know what you’re up to in the palace, but just letting you be absent from my side when you’re supposed to be there would be a huge help.”

It was a statement he couldn’t deny.

“Might my actions cause harm to Your Highness?”

“I’ve been thinking about it, and it seems unlikely that whatever you do would cause me much harm. You know, my situation is already at its worst.”

“Even if I were to **assassinate** His Majesty?”

It was no joke.

Alfonso had no intention of giving up on revenge, even if the one at the end of the trail he had followed turned out to be the king.

“Hmm……. Regardless of its feasibility, that would be a bit tricky.”

Evan’s expression, contrary to his words, did not seem troubled at all. Alfonso couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.

“I need to know more about why you came to the palace. It would be a big deal if I got caught up in this for no reason.”

“Can you answer one question?”

“Ask.”

“Are you really Prince Evan?”

“Yes. The fifth prince of the Kingdom of Lionel. Ninth in the line of succession. Evan Sol Philip de Lionel.”

It was an immediate answer without a hint of hesitation.

“Why did you suddenly change?”

“Didn’t I say one question? Well, I’ll answer as a service. Think of it as my head getting cracked and turning me around.”

Evan grimaced, tapping the spot where the fourth prince had hit him with his index finger.

“Anyway, that’s enough. You don’t have to tell me right away, so think it over slowly. I won’t report you even if you disappear like this, so I hope you don’t plan on messing with someone just minding their own business.”

After uttering a few more words in a casual tone, he seemed to lose interest and turned his chair away.

‘Interesting.’

It was a feeling he hadn’t experienced in a long time. Without realizing it, Alfonso slightly raised the corners of his mouth, but immediately startled, he put his mask back on.

“Oh! The wind is blowing hard, and a lot of leaves have fallen again. With those dark clouds, it looks like it’s going to rain soon. If I don’t clean it up now, they’ll stick to the path, and it’ll be a huge hassle. I’ll clean it up and come back right away!”

“Do as you wish.”

***

Click.

I watched silently as Alfonso closed the door and left.

“Phew-“

It was a while before I let out a sigh. It seemed to be the most tense moment in this life and my previous one combined.

Still.

‘I got what I wanted.’

I smiled contentedly as I looked at Alfonso’s status window.

[Relationship: Normal]

The moment I turned my back, unable to bear his gaze, my relationship with him suddenly changed. The faint red ‘Wary’ had turned into a white ‘Normal’.

And a flurry of notifications popped up.

“You have improved your relationship with Alfonso Einberg.”

“You have acquired 1,000 RP.”

“[Achievements] has been unlocked.”

“Achievement ‘I Am Not Your Enemy’ has been attained.”

“You have acquired 1,000 RP.”

“Achievement ‘No More Empty Pockets’ has been attained.”

“[Library] has been unlocked.”

“You have received a free [Library] trial pass.”

In summary, by improving my relationship with Alfonso, I gained RP and unlocked two locked features: [Achievements] and [Library].

After dismissing the cluttered notifications, I investigated the two new features.

First, [Achievements].

It seemed that upon meeting certain conditions, I could earn large amounts of RP or unlock initially locked status window features.

Aside from the ones I had just attained, it was completely empty. It would be nice to know what achievements exist in advance……

“At the very least, they could tell me how many are attainable. There’s no easy way around this.”

Grumbling softly, I moved on to [Library], where an empty screen and virtual keyboard appeared.

What is this?

“Welcome to the library, Evan. I am ‘Genie’, the librarian. How may I assist you?”

Ah, is this like TalkGTP?

Using a phantom hand, they quickly typed a question on the virtual keyboard.

┕ What is this place for?

“My task is to provide users with information that is currently ‘recorded’ in this world.”

It was hard not to think of the Arcana Library, where knowledge from all worlds across space and time is said to be recorded.

They raised an eyebrow slightly.

┕ Is this library, by chance, the Arcana Library?

“This library does not have a special name.”

Since they said it wasn’t, it didn’t seem like pressing further would yield anything. They decided to ask a question related to the library’s core function.

┕ Is the information provided for free?

“To provide information above a certain level, a reasonable amount of RP is required, corresponding to the quantity and quality.”

Right, it couldn’t be free.

‘What other question should I ask…….’

After a moment’s thought, they asked something they had been curious about since awakening to their past life ability.

┕ Can you tell me why I gained this ability?

“It’s difficult to give an accurate answer since I don’t clearly understand what ‘this ability’ refers to.”

Aren’t they being evasive?

┕ The Emperor Raising Simulation, Lost Saga. I’m talking about this system.

“I can’t answer about the content you asked, as there is no information recorded anywhere in this world about it.”

┕ What exactly does “recorded” mean?

“It means preserved in a way that can be conveyed to existences other than the creator. Common examples are information recorded in books, documents, videos, and so on.”

┕ What level of information can I obtain with the RP I have?

“To aid your understanding, Evan, here are some examples of information you could obtain with 2,000 RP:

1. ⴦⴦ Countess’s first love interest.

2. The identity of the person ⴦⴦ Count has a secret crush on.

3. ⴦⴦ Viscount’s hidden illegitimate child.

That is all.”

They got a rough sense of it.

‘Gossip about lower nobility, huh?’

The kind of information that would be quite popular if shared at a noblewoman’s tea party. Quite disgraceful for those involved, but not fatally so.

Suddenly, I remembered that I had received a [Library] free trial pass.

┕ Is there no limit on using the free trial pass?

I thought I should keep it safe, just in case there are any restrictions.

“The free trial pass can only be used for information valued at 1,000 RP or less.”

I see, I see.

I paused my conversation with Genie and got up from the chair, walking over to the window.

I saw Alfonso diligently sweeping the path with a broom. The brat, noticing my gaze, grinned repulsively and nodded his head.

Watching Alfonso sweep the fallen leaves, I pondered how to utilize the information obtainable through the [Library].

After a while, I noticed a large man approaching Alfonso. It was one of Prince Fourth’s exclusive servants who really disliked Alfonso.

Why did that guy come to Emerald Palace?

– ······ Fonso. ······ Miserable······?

– hahahahaha······ That······

As expected, he immediately cast a headlock on Alfonso and started bullying him. The distance was too far for me to make out most of what he was saying. Not that it mattered much, as it was bound to be nothing significant.

In the past, I felt a bit sorry for Alfonso when witnessing such scenes, but now… Knowing he’s wearing a mask, I can’t help but admire his impressive acting skills.

But what was that guy’s name again?

‘It was a very common name.’

I flicked my ghostly hand, poking his forehead.

━━━━━━━━━×

George Watson

Gender: Male

Age: 19

Race: Human

[Stats]

[Skills]

[Relationship – Distrust]

━━━━━━━━━

‘Ah right, George Watson.’

I stroked my chin with my right hand, gazing at the status window that appeared before me.

His habit of constantly bullying Alfonso, and the way he treats servants in general, makes him a typical case of the powerful oppressing the weak. Not someone I’m particularly keen on befriending.

Wait a minute.

I cannot trust the one I’m in a relationship with, can getting closer be the only way to improve it?

‘Emperor Upbringing Simulation…….’

Rosa’s genre flashed through my mind.

A story that now feels so far away, but this system was meant to make me the ‘Emperor’.

I don’t know the reason for that.

For now, I just hope it’s the idle amusement of some bored deity, and I’ll use the abilities given to me frugally.

Back to the main point.

The Emperor is not one who exists alone. The support of all the people, as well as the vassals, is essential. That’s also why I speculate that after the ‘trust’ relationship, it’s not unrelated to the ruler-vassal relationship.

‘Not all vassals can be loyal.’

No, rather, the loyal ones are probably the minority? I think most are established because they are ‘beneficial’ to each other.

Besides that……

There are also vassals who follow the sovereign while hiding feelings of awe, fear, and dread.

I brought up the conversation window with Genie that I had pushed to the corner of my view.

┕ Can you tell me George Watson’s fatal flaw that could get him expelled from his servant position?

“The fee for using that information is 950 RP.”

[Library] The information usage fee is 50 RP short of the 1,000 RP free trial limit.

After a moment’s thought, I decided to use it once.

I figured it would be hard to find information that fits exactly the free trial limit.

┕ I’ll use the free trial. Tell me, what is George Watson’s fatal flaw?

“George Watson stole the ruby earrings meant as a gift for 4th Prince Akard Lionel and gave them to Dorothy Estina, a maid of Emerald Palace.”

Dorothy Estina?

Ah! The maid who cleaned my room this morning. The earrings she wore did look overly expensive.