Chapter 8: Dad, it’s so hard

The world of [Old Tales] is not peaceful, not even by empty words.

The political situation is a mess, and the country’s landscape is hell.

All sorts of monsters, including orcs, goblins, and vampires, are rampant, and the so-called allies are just looking for a chance to backstab each other at any moment.

‘The fact that there’s even a meme like, “After I kill that guy, I’ll kill you,” says it all.’

It was a relief that I was the protagonist of the side story.

You can tell just by looking at how the imperial family operates.

Look at them thoroughly destroying the surrounding situation just to get rid of one person.

It’s truly a viper’s den.

It’s not like it’s the Slytherin common room.

If a normal person were in a place like that, they would surely go crazy in no time.

‘In that sense, this crown prince guy is pitiful too.’

Is this when they say you met the wrong parents?

I hid my pity and continued to press the crown prince, who had barely regained his senses.

“Your Highness.”

“Why.”

“Are you feeling any better?”

“No.”

“I see.”

“I’d rather just die…”

Cancel that about him regaining his senses.

He’s still far from a mental recovery.

“Still, let’s get ready. Now is not the time for this.”

“You should try being in my shoes. Yesterday, I heard the secret of my birth, and today, I heard the secrets of those around me. What human can endure this situation with a sane mind…”

The crown prince is whining again.

This man is starting to get on my nerves again.

“So, are you going to just sit there and die?”

“……”

“The more you drag your feet because it’s hard, the more those guys will run rampant. You compared them to bugs a moment ago, so I’ll do the same.”

I made a gesture of sweeping the top of the table with my hand.

“Now, look. Cockroaches have laid their eggs in Your Highness’s mansion.”

“What’s a cockroach?”

“……”

This f*cker.

Look at him not even knowing what a cockroach is, as if to prove his noble status.

“…Let me change the analogy. Ants have laid their eggs in your house. Are you going to just stand by and watch?”

“…I can’t do that.”

Whew.

The crown prince lifts his head after washing his face with his dry hands.

Soon, he looks at me again, and I can feel that the light has returned to his eyes.

“Tell me. What should I do?”

“It’s simple. We get rid of the heads one by one.”

“The heads?”

I made a gesture of cutting off a head with the side of my hand.

“If you catch the head, the body can’t help but shrink back. We take care of the troublesome ones first.”

Cultists, imperial separatists.

Their names may sound grand, but if you look closely, they’re ultimately just rebels and a pseudo-religion.

The cultist bastards are especially nasty; these bastards want the very destruction of the star.

Needless to say, that’s not the mindset of a normal person.

Maybe it’s because they were beaten with a leather belt in an off-beat rhythm by their fathers when they were young.

These guys had to be beaten up first.

‘Though I say this, I’ll end up beating them both up anyway.’

Ahem. I cleared my throat and stood up from my seat.

I gestured for the puzzled crown prince, who was looking this way, to come along.

“Your Highness.”

“Why?”

“Let’s start right now.”

“…Now? At this hour?”

“Yes. We’ll take their heads today. I think I’ll only be able to rest easy then.”

“Hmm…”

Even after hearing my words, the crown prince seems to be contemplating.

He’s not doubting what I told him earlier, but seems to be worried if it’s okay to move so hastily.

“Are you hesitant?”

“…I can’t seem to hide anything from you. That’s right. I am a little hesitant. I’m wondering if it’s too hasty.”

“Of course it is.”

“What?”

“What’s there to hide? This is hasty. However, this is a moment when we must move even knowing that. Do you not understand my meaning?”

“How about we pick a better day?”

“That day will not come. Today, the day you learned the truth, is the day. After hearing those words just now, can you sleep with your legs stretched out at night? Even with enemies roaming all over the mansion?”

I shot a direct line at him.

Hey, you bastard. Are you really that strong-hearted?

“If it were me, I would get rid of them first. I think I would sleep better then.”

“That’s not wrong.”

“If you agree with me, let’s go together. I’ll help you. There are times when faster is better, and now is one of those times.”

“…Hoo. This, it feels like I’m being possessed.”

The crown prince sighed and stood up from his seat.

You little brat. You were going to move eventually anyway.

A brat who does well when he tries.

“If it were someone else who said it, I would have thought about it more. But, is it because it’s you?”

“?”

“I feel like I’ll get a beating if I drag my feet for no reason. I’m honestly a little scared.”

I was inwardly impressed by the crown prince’s words.

This man, his perception has improved a little.

Could it be that my evil intentions have been discovered in the meantime?

“Your joke is a bit much. I wouldn’t do that.”

“If not, then that’s a relief.”

The crown prince chuckled, then put his hand on my shoulder and asked.

“So.”

“?”

“In the end, what’s the plan? What should I do?”

“…What do you mean? Why are you asking the obvious.”

What can I do.

I’ll have to do a sword dance under the moonlight.

At least the atmosphere will be killer.

---

The head butler’s day was very busy.

The number of servants in the mansion was in the triple digits.

As the one who had to manage them all, he couldn’t help but be busy.

‘It’s finally over.’

Head Butler Marcus had just finished his work and was passing through the mansion’s hallway.

The time was already late at night.

Perhaps because the crown prince had returned today, he was more tired and exhausted than usual.

‘It would have been better if he had returned a little later…’

Thinking of the crown prince, his expression soured rapidly.

Though he usually hid it, the two’s personalities were polar opposites.

If it weren’t for the old mission of dividing the empire and returning to a kingdom, he wanted to barge into his bedroom right now and kill him with a single stroke.

‘Why did he come back so early in the first place. What on earth happened in Germano.’

Marcus had been surprised to hear what had happened in Germano.

It was surprising that an airship had suddenly crashed at the festival venue, but he was even more surprised to hear that the crown prince had disappeared.

Of course, that was only the surprise on the surface.

Inwardly, he was rejoicing.

A troublesome person had finally disappeared, so how could he not be happy?

‘First, I need to send a letter to my comrades before I sleep. And reply to those Berta family bastards.’

The Berta family.

To be precise, Berta de Demolo.

Thinking of those bastards, Marcus’s expression soured rapidly.

The thought of cooperating with those vulgar things who went around seducing noble ladies at banquets made his stomach churn.

‘How long do the higher-ups plan to cooperate with those bastards? The thought of having to keep seeing those powder-scented faces makes my stomach twist.’

Marcus sighed and continued to move.

He passed through the hallway and was just about to turn a corner when someone’s voice caught him.

“Hey, Marcus.”

“…Your Highness?”

The one who spoke was, surprisingly, the crown prince.

Crown Prince Alexios was standing at the corner of the hallway, looking at him.

“…What is it? Why are you here?”

“Why, you ask? I was just taking a walk.”

“…At this late hour?”

“Isn’t that what makes it better? They say exercising under the moonlight is especially good for your health. What do you say, want to join me?”

The crown prince spouted nonsense as usual.

What a mindless man.

“I’m fine. I’m a little tired from work.”

“Is that so? That’s a shame.”

“Yes. Then I’ll be on my way-“

Shing.

At that moment, a sword blade was placed at Marcus’s neck.

“…Your Highness? What is this-“

“It’s a little lonely exercising alone.”

“Pardon?”

“It means I want you to go with me. Still don’t get it? Why are you so slow on the uptake. Huh?”

The crown prince tilted his head at an angle.

His tone was the same as usual, but now, this was clearly a warning to anyone.

‘Did he notice something?’

Marcus’s mind raced.

He pretended to be scared on the outside and acted as if he had no choice but to follow.

“…I understand. Please calm down first.”

“That’s right. Good thinking.”

“Please put away the sword as well. Why do you have to use a sword while saying such things?”

“My apologies. I’m a little drunk.”

“Pardon?”

Suddenly, the crown prince came up next to him and put his arm around his shoulder.

Still holding the sword to his neck, he forcibly dragged Marcus along.

“Is it because I’m drunk? I’m not in my right mind right now. Let me lean on you for a moment.”

“……”

“Now, shall we go? It was fun when I was alone, but it’ll be twice as fun with you, right?”

The crown prince chuckled with his arm around his shoulder.

Marcus was at a loss for words.

He couldn’t tell if this was the crown prince or just some drunk neighborhood thug.

The fact that the sword blade didn’t tilt or shake at all in the meantime made him especially afraid.

‘What on earth is going on. Could it be that my information has leaked? That’s impossible.’

He moved in a state of confusion.

Before he knew it, the two had arrived in the mansion’s inner garden, and after walking along a stone path, they soon reached a secluded place.

“Your Highness. We’ve come too far.”

“Isn’t it better this way? Only then can it be called a walk.”

“If I have done something wrong, please tell me. I will fix anything.”

At the following words, the crown prince stopped his steps.

What, did just that have an effect?

“You’ll fix anything? Did you just say that?”

“Yes.”

“Is that really true? Huh?”

“I am the head butler of this mansion. If I do not listen to and follow Your Highness’s words, how can I be a model?”

Marcus lied without batting an eye to the crown prince who was glaring at him.

A person’s heart is unknowable anyway.

Judging by the atmosphere, it seemed he had caught a thread of suspicion, but if it wasn’t decisive, it was ultimately just a rumor.

‘The imperial family itself is a collection of such conspiracies and rumors, isn’t it.’

Marcus focused even more on his acting.

He bowed his head slightly and maintained a frightened tone.

He might have overreacted based on a simple suspicion, so he couldn’t back down now.

Perhaps moved by Marcus’s actions, the crown prince let out a small sigh and spoke softly towards the forest.

-That’s enough. You did well.
“It was nothing. This is my role.”

“?”

Marcus was bewildered by the voice he heard.

What, who is that?

-Thud!

At that moment, the sound of footsteps was heard from the forest.

Someone was approaching.

Marcus stared ahead with wide eyes, and before long, the owner of the voice revealed their identity.

“Marcus Veyle.”

“…?”

“Head butler of the mansion and holder of the 2nd class knight’s medal. I heard you don’t like being called that. Am I right?”

What appeared was a face Marcus knew.

Gray hair, and a pretty-boy face that he wanted to grind into the ground.

His name was Noah, right?

The strange outsider the crown prince brought today.

“…Are you not the guest who came today?”

“Let’s cut the obvious act. We both know everything, so what’s the point…”

“Pardon? What on earth do you mean by that…”

Haa… Noah let out a long sigh.

“Is it because you’re an imperial separatist? You talk a lot. No, did you hate being called that?”

“Pardon?”

“Separatist, kingdom restorationist. Honestly, aren’t those too grand names? In the end, you’re just a rebel. Aren’t you?”

“W-what are you suddenly-“

“You’re going to pretend you don’t know until the end? You lost your whole family acting like that in the past, and you still haven’t fixed that habit?”

“!”

At that moment, the look in Marcus’s eyes changed completely.

“Who are you.”

“Now we can talk.”

“I asked who you are. How do you know about my past? There shouldn’t be anyone who knows.”

Marcus threw off his mask.

Acting, bullsh*t, the prince, whatever.

Now is not the time to care about such things.

‘How dare he bring up the old days in front of me.’

Marcus drew up his mana.

The color of his mana was uniquely black.

It was the magic of vampires, which he had obtained through his comrades after hiding in the darkness of the empire.

‘It doesn’t matter if I’m discovered now.’

Losing the position of head butler is a shame, but he can cover for it in other ways.

The other comrades left in the mansion will take care of the crown prince.

And, more than anything else, he couldn’t just let this bastard in front of him go.

“Did you ask who I am?”

“Yes.”

“Alright. I’ll tell you.”

Regardless of Marcus’s reaction, Noah acted nonchalantly.

“Actually, I was sent by your dead daughter.”

“…What?”

“She was a cute little girl with purple hair. Her pigtails were especially cute. Did she die because she was caught up in an incident because of you? She asked me to deliver this.”

Noah moved next to the crown prince, who was maintaining his distance, and made a gesture of strangling his own neck.

“Dad. It’s so hard. Please don’t do bad things anymore.”

“…”

“You killed our whole family for that stupid mission, and you even hung me on the gallows, and you’re still clinging to that? The rope around my neck is still perfectly fine, isn’t it?”