Vol. 3 - Chapter 105.3 - A Quiet Story: The Dark Side of Crown Prince Richard
Author-nim:
This is from the point of view of Richard.
This is a brief tale that I wrote for the second part of the book.
Why did he suddenly get engaged in the third part? I believe this is the reason for the sudden engagement in the third part.
So, I\'ve decided to add a new story about the crown prince and the prime minister.
Today\'s update is about ch 47-48 of the second part.
Crown Prince Richard\'s POV
The night of my visit to the Marquess de Grandeur, I was scheduled to stay at the accommodation I had arranged in advance.
The Marquisate de Grandeur, located in the northern part of the Kingdom of Findalia, is known for its harsh winters. By the time we left the Marquis de Grandeur\'s house, there was quite a bit of snow in the air, but as we drove south, the snow ceased to fall. I stood in front of the window, which was fogged up by the temperature difference, and remembered what had happened earlier in the day.
Chris was still the same. But I\'m glad to see that she\'s doing well.
My sister Chris is cute. However, sometimes I feel that she\'s a little cocky, perhaps because she is mature for her age.
"Your Royal Highness, the Crown Prince. The innkeeper said it would be cold tonight. Please come near the fireplace so you don\'t catch a cold."
Will, my escort knight, prepared a chair for me near the fireplace. He also doubles as my attendant when I travel across the country. I don\'t like to take along people I don\'t trust.
Will is a skilled knight, but he is also a very capable chamberlain.
When I learned that he had come back in time from ten years in the future, I thought he was insane, but he had known that I had the Appraisal’s Eye. The only people who knew that I had the Appraisal\'s Eye at the time were my family and the Chief Court Magician. The Chief Court Magician is very tight-lipped, so it is unlikely that the information was leaked by him.
Will\'s father, the Earl of Walls, is the deputy commander of the third division of the Royal Knights and is an honest man. Even if he knew that I had the Appraisal\'s Eye, he would not tell anyone. Moreover, Will, his third son, would have no way of knowing.
And that\'s not all. The future events that he talked about happened in reality. If it happened once or twice, it could be called coincidence, but if it happened three or more times, it could no longer be called coincidence.
The only thing I\'m not sure of is the existence of two ladies with Light Magic. Baron Campbell\'s Charlotte-sama was a non-attribute. As for the other lady, she has yet to appear.
Did Katariona-sama\'s magical attributes change?
"...... No. It\'s the same as before."
Taking a sip of his tea, Will rested his cheek on the armrest of his chair.
"Oh, I see......."
He is trying to appear calm, but he seems disappointed.
"I\'ve heard that magical attributes can change and that non-attributes can be given magic."
"Yes ......."
However, I have recently come to believe that the requirements for my fiancé do not necessitate that the person has a light or dark attribute. For example, my mother has neither light magic nor dark magic, albeit she has three magical attributes.
Above all, I heard that my parents married for love. A love-based marriage is very rare among royalty and aristocracy, where most marriages are for political reasons.
I also wanted to marry a woman I truly loved.
And I found my girl.
Seeing her again this time, I was convinced.
I am in love with Rio.
Rio likes animals, too, she said. The way she tried so hard to explain reindeers to me was endearing.
What bothered me was…
A young boy named Leon, who is a relative of the Marquis de Grandeur, was not present the last time I visited. I\'m curious about him.
He was wearing glasses, maybe because of his poor eyesight, so I couldn\'t really see his expression, but he didn\'t seem very friendly to me. He might just be a taciturn guy.......
Above all, he always paid a great deal of attention to Rio. Maybe he also likes Rio.
If that\'s the case, Leon and I may become rivals.
Yet, I could feel a strange power coming from him. A unique atmosphere that I had never encountered before.
Just to be sure, I did an appraisal and the result was Plant Magic with earth attribute. It was the same as Rio\'s.
I realized that we might be rivals, but for some reason, I wanted to be friends with Leon.
The next thing I knew, I was expressing it out loud. I asked him to be my friend.......
I do not know why. Is it because I don\'t have many friends around my age?
"......, Your Highness. It\'s time for you to get some rest."
I was pulled out of my thoughts and back into reality at Will\'s call.
"Yes, you\'re right. It\'s time to rest."
There is something I want to do as soon as I get back to the capital.
The first thing I did when I arrived back at the palace was to go to the Prime Minister\'s office.
"Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I\'m glad to see you\'re back safe and sound."
The Duke of Paulford, the Prime Minister, stood up from his desk and offered me a seat on the sofa as I entered the room.
"Prime Minister Paulford, I have a favor to ask you."
The Prime Minister, sitting across from me, tilted his head.
"What can I do for you? What is it?"
As my father\'s right-hand man, Prime Minister Paulford was skilled in both domestic politics and diplomacy. He was also Rio\'s uncle.
"If I don\'t find a girl with the light or dark attribute by the time I\'m fifteen, I want Rio to be my fiancé."
"You want my niece Rio to be your fiancée ......?"
The Prime Minister pondered for a while, and then eventually looked me straight in the eye and stated: "I understand."
"I understand. I have no objection as long as Rio will be happy."
When you turn fifteen, ...... Rio, I will ask you to marry me.
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