Chapter 80
“Yes.”
Alice answered lightly as she spooned soup into her mouth. She also ate bread with butter and salad.
While pretending to enjoy breakfast, her attention was entirely focused on Kylus.
What could he want to discuss with everyone present?
Could it be about the Third Prince?
Or the reason he came back late yesterday?
Alice was curious, but Kylus just kept eating silently.
When Alice’s hand slowed down as she felt full, Kylus put down his juice glass and spoke.
“Since it seems the meal is mostly finished, shall I get to the main point? Is that alright?”
Kylus asked Alice.
“Of course.”
Alice, who had been waiting eagerly, answered with a brightened expression, and Kylus immediately began speaking.
“What I have to say is about His Highness the Third Prince. To get straight to the point, as the Duke of Dearrut, I intend to support the Third Prince as the next Crown Prince.”
Support the Third Prince as the next Crown Prince.
He definitely just said that.
Alice’s golden eyes widened with joy.
It was exactly the news Alice had been hoping for.
She never expected Kylus to choose the Third Prince so readily.
Perhaps due to the emotional turmoil caused by Sienna, Kylus recognizing the Third Prince’s true worth made him look incredibly endearing to Alice.
So much that she wanted to hug him tightly.
Of course, she didn’t actually do such a thing.
Just as Alice was suppressing her impulse and internally screaming with delight,
Suddenly, Sienna exclaimed with wide eyes.
“Brother, no, Your Grace! That’s absurd!”
It was a loud voice that echoed through the dining room, quite unlike Sienna.
The intense emotion in Sienna’s green eyes shone clearly.
Of course, it wasn’t a positive emotion.
Kylus, who had slightly furrowed his brow at the loud voice, turned his head towards Sienna.
“Sienna, are you opposing this?”
“Yes!”
“Why?”
“His Highness the Third Prince is not fit to be Crown Prince. He is emotional and impatient. And on top of that, his actions are rough. How can such a person be suitable as Crown Prince?”
Sienna recited to Kylus exactly what she had been telling Alice all last evening.
“Hmm.”
Kylus leaned back in his chair and let out an indecipherable hum.
Then he lowered his gaze slightly, as if in thought.
Surely he’s not going to change his mind because of Sienna?
That can’t happen.
We can’t spill the rice when it’s already cooked!
Even if Sienna feels hurt, I need to tell Kylus about the Third Prince.
Just as Alice was steeling her resolve and turning her head towards Kylus, his voice resonated across the table first.
“Emotional and rough behavior…”
Tapping the table with his fingertips, Kylus straightened his body that had been leaning back in the chair.
Then he spoke to Sienna, who wasn’t hiding her displeased expression.
“From what I saw yesterday, his emotional state was due to his mother’s keepsake, and as for rough behavior, wasn’t it you who acted more roughly? Am I wrong?”
“That’s…”
Sienna hesitated and trailed off. She seemed to recall blasting away the Third Prince.
“It was you who blasted away His Highness the Third Prince yesterday.”
“…”
Sienna closed her mouth at these words that drove the point home, but Kylus didn’t stop.
“Sienna, you didn’t even have a proper conversation with His Highness the Third Prince yesterday. How can you claim to know him accurately?”
Sienna’s lips moved wordlessly, unable to answer Kylus’s rebuttal.
Kylus looked at Sienna and raised one eyebrow crookedly.
“Somehow, it seems the emotional one isn’t the Third Prince, but rather you. To be swept up by emotions and not even try to see a person properly, that’s unlike you.”
“…”
Kylus’s last words resonated heavily across the table.
Sienna closed her mouth and lowered her gaze. Her face showed she was deep in thought.
And Kylus quietly waited for Sienna, who seemed to be organizing her thoughts.
It looked like he was hoping for Sienna to realize on her own what had gone wrong.
Alice glanced at Kylus.
Contrary to his appearance, he has an unexpectedly caring side.
Just looking at his sharp eyes, you’d think he’d cut you off if you tried to argue with him.
Kylus, feeling Alice’s gaze, turned his eyes towards her.
Alice, who had been watching him with unconscious fondness, flinched and awkwardly pretended to look elsewhere.
As she shook her head as if it was nothing and turned towards Sienna, Sienna opened her mouth with perfect timing.
“Brother is right. I… was judging His Highness the Third Prince based on my own emotions. As brother said, I haven’t even had a proper conversation with His Highness the Third Prince. I guess the image of him violently trying to snatch the item as soon as he woke up yesterday left too strong an impression on me.”
“That’s because that item was the only keepsake left by his mother. You might not know much about the Third Prince, but his mother was a maid who, despite giving birth to a prince, was never recognized as a royal concubine. It’s said she died of illness, but she never received proper treatment. So it’s not even certain if it was truly illness that killed her.”
“…”
“Moreover, even in death… her body wasn’t laid to rest in the imperial family’s tomb. It was the only thing left by his mother who was miserable to the very end… The Third Prince must have lost his reason because of that.”
Sienna’s green eyes wavered slightly at Kylus’s long explanation.
“…I had no idea there was such a story behind it.”
“Of course. Anything related to the Third Prince was thoroughly hushed up as a disgrace to the imperial palace, so there were few who knew about it to begin with.”
“…I see.”
Sienna lowered her gaze with a strange expression.
“Alice, what are your thoughts?”
Alice, who had been focusing on Sienna’s changed expression and gaze, flinched at the sudden question.
She looked at Kylus with a puzzled face.
“My thoughts… about what?”
“I’m asking what you think about my intention to support the Third Prince as the next Crown Prince. You must be very interested in my support for the Third Prince.”
Alice’s face stiffened slightly at Kylus’s meaningful words.
“…”
Very interested… How did he know that?
She had never openly asked about the relationship between the Third Prince and Kylus.
And hadn’t she only seen the Third Prince for the first time yesterday?
Alice knew about the Third Prince’s existence, but… that was something only she knew.
But Kylus’s last words gave her an eerie feeling, as if he was saying, ‘I know everything you’ve done.’
Could he really have noticed something?
That she had deliberately brought the Third Prince?
Alice searched the black eyes staring at her, but couldn’t find any hint of suspicion.
No, to be honest, she couldn’t guess at all what Kylus’s intention was in asking.
The black eyes were like a deep marsh, not revealing emotions easily.
But it was too unsettling to just let it pass.
Her lips dried up from the rising tension. At that moment, Kylus, who had been waiting silently, slowly moved his lips.
“…In the carriage on the way to the temple before, you asked about the Third Prince, so I thought you’d be interested in this matter too. Was I wrong?”
“Ah.”
Alice let out a small exclamation as she remembered upon hearing Kylus’s words.
In the carriage heading to the temple.
When she heard about searching for a Crown Prince candidate among the collateral lines, she had asked Kylus about the Third Prince’s existence.
It was her who had asked.
She had forgotten about asking then because too much had happened recently.
Thank goodness.
It was just me being oversensitive.
Alice smiled and nodded.
“I am curious! How could I not be interested when the person who saved me yesterday was none other than His Highness the Third Prince? I was even planning to ask you today if His Highness had returned safely.”
Kylus stared intently at Alice before slowly answering.
“…His Highness returned safely. And it seems you don’t oppose my support for the Third Prince.”
“Of course not, I thought he was a wonderful person from the moment I first saw him. Even before knowing he was the Third Prince, he had a certain unique dignity about him. I’m sure he’ll make an excellent Crown Prince.”
Alice smiled brightly with an intense gaze that showed unwavering belief.
Was it just her imagination that Kylus’s expression seemed to crumple for a moment?
“…I think so too. Also, since the Third Prince has a spirit, he won’t be easily overshadowed even if the Second Prince brings up the purity of bloodline.”
“A spirit?”
Sienna’s eyes widened in surprise, but Alice remained calm.
It was a fact she already knew.
“Yes. The Third Prince is a spirit user. I was quite… surprised when I found out about it too.”
Kylus’s gaze briefly turned towards Alice, who showed no reaction. But Alice didn’t notice as she was looking at Sienna.
“…So that’s how he changed his eye color without a magic incantation. I thought it was strange.”
“It’s been over 300 years since spirit users disappeared from the continent. The appearance of a spirit user alone will cause a big ripple. And if the protagonist of that story is the ill-fated prince of the empire, not only the people of the empire but also the bards will create plausible stories on their own. As those stories spread, they will naturally elevate the Third Prince’s status.”
A prince who overcame a dark past to become the Crown Prince.
Regardless of the reality of the person’s life, someone’s success story tends to capture people’s interest.
And the Third Prince fit that story perfectly.
Sienna nodded slowly, as if agreeing.
“Then… are you going to start underground work right away?”
“No. Before that, we need to move the Third Prince’s heart.”
“Pardon?”
Sienna furrowed her brow, not understanding.
Alice had an inkling of what Kylus meant.
