Surviving As The 5Th Prince Of Hellman Kingdom [EN]: Chapter 36

036

For some reason, my throat was dry.

I reached for the teacup, which I had hesitated to do before. As I brought the tea to my lips, only one word filled my mind.

‘A political marriage…’

It was an undeniably good option.

Past life and present life.

Past and present.

There were countless instances of men and women, who didn’t even know each other’s faces, sharing a bed for the sake of mutual benefit.

In that sense, my sister’s suggestion to have tea beforehand could be seen as a gesture of goodwill, allowing us to meet and decide.

I certainly wasn’t entertaining any naive thoughts like, ‘I’m going to have a fateful love.’ Nor was I about to spout such nonsense in front of my sister.

“Now that I think about it, your coming-of-age ceremony is this year, isn’t it?”

The Lionel Kingdom traditionally holds coming-of-age ceremonies in May of the year when one turns 17.

“So it is. I’d like to continue having tea in that garden next year, but I don’t know if that will be possible.”

Although the kingdom has relatively high human rights for women, to the point where they can even have succession rights, that benefit is only enjoyed by those who have shown outstanding qualities as ‘mages’ or ‘knights’ from a young age.

Most daughters from ordinary noble families marry the fiancé chosen by their family by the age of 19 at the latest. Many leave home as soon as they have their coming-of-age ceremony at 17.

‘It’s not like there’s no way to avoid it.’

After a broken engagement, they could be forced to become a nun in a temple, or they could become so capable that they hold key positions in politics or the military, or they could become the head of their family.

That’s why Countess Milroa, who took a key position in politics after breaking off her engagement and won the family succession battle against her brothers, is treated like a celebrity among the young ladies of noble families.

Well, that’s not really a story that applies to royalty.

“You’ll find a good match. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Hehe, how reassuring.”

My sister raised her teacup and smiled.

“By the way, what do you think about what I said earlier?”

“…I’ll think about it.”

But, even if I meet the person my sister introduces and we get along well, can it lead to an engagement?

In the past, the royal family would have reacted with indifference even if I married a commoner from a barony. But the situation is different now.

My throat was dry.

I gulped down the lukewarm tea.

“Don’t think too hard about it. Oh, are you worried that it has to lead to marriage? Don’t worry. Not all relationships have to end in marriage.”

“Cough, hack! Hack!”

I choked on my tea at my sister’s open-minded words.

“Oh my, oh my. Evan, are you alright? Quickly, bring some water.”

***

The next day.

I left the palace with Alphonso.

It wasn’t for any particular reason.

I hadn’t noticed it, but I seemed to be quite exhausted from the events that had rushed in as soon as I became aware of my past life. In the midst of all that, the political marriage my sister mentioned was the final blow, and I had a burnout [state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged or excessive stress].

I woke up at the usual time in the morning, but I couldn’t bring myself to get up. So I just kept sleeping.

“How is it? The air is different, isn’t it? The royal palace is… it feels like it sucks the energy out of you even if you’re just standing there. Take a deep breath. Like this, inhale-”

Alphonso had dragged me out of the palace because I was still lying in bed long after breakfast time.

We were currently in Barona’s square, the royal capital.

We abandoned the carriage after noticing we were being followed and walked the rest of the way.

I watched the water gushing from the central fountain and took a breath just like Alphonso did.

Inhale- Exhale-

“It doesn’t feel that different.”

“That’s strange? It should be…”

His expression turned gloomy at my answer.

Ah, that’s an act. I’m sure of it.

In fact, contrary to my grumbling, the feeling of tightness in my chest every time I took a breath, like when I woke up in the morning, had improved a little, just as he said.

Thanks to the slightly milder weather and the bright sunlight, the square was crowded with people. The New Year’s festival was just around the corner, and the whole of Barona was busy with preparations. The square was already full of street vendors.

“Hey, mister! That’s my spot!”

“What are you talking about? Whoever takes the spot first owns it.”

“Oh, this guy doesn’t know anything. Are you from some backwater village? Don’t you know you need a permit from the royal palace to set up a stall during the festival? Look, here’s my permit. This is my spot.”

“Bullshit, there’s no such rule. I don’t know anything about that. Whoever got here first owns it.”

“Ugh, seriously.”

Just watching the woman and the man arguing over the street vendor spot gave me the strange experience of feeling my depleted energy being replenished.

The man, realizing that two large figures with hoods pulled deep over their heads were watching them, quietly packed up his things and left. The woman setting up the stall narrowed her eyes and continued to be wary of Alphonso and me.

I felt strangely unpleasant.

If I stayed there, she might even report me.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes. I was just about to suggest we move on.”

Ah, that’s right.

There was one thing I wanted to check while I was out of the palace.

“Alphonso, to Perijur Confectionery.”

“Ah, their chocolate cookies are really famous. I’ll lead the way.”

I arrived at the confectionery, paid for a bag of chocolate cookies, and asked the owner.

“Has there been a theft recently? Anything missing from your inventory? Especially these chocolate cookies.”

Perhaps because someone with a hood pulled down low was asking suspicious questions, he scanned me up and down. After confirming that I was wearing clothes made of materials favored by nobles, though not particularly conspicuous, he answered politely with a sullen expression.

“There has been no such incident.”

“I see.”

I had been wondering.

Whether the items obtained from the [General Store] were brought from reality or created from nothing. I had expected it, but the confectionery owner’s answer confirmed it.

After leaving the confectionery, I walked wherever my feet took me. It felt like I was traveling. I even had a fleeting thought of shaking everything off and going somewhere.

As I was moving as I pleased.

“That way is a bit…”

Alphonso blocked my path. Now that I thought about it, the surroundings seemed to be getting a bit shady. A whiff of sewage wafted from the alley.

A foul smell that I couldn’t have imagined smelling in Barona, which has well-developed water and sewage systems.

“Is that the slum?”

“Well, yes. The roads are narrow, so it’s dangerous if we’re attacked.”

“Didn’t you say we shook off the tail?”

“That’s true… but even if the prince tries to run, it will be difficult. And I’ve heard rumors that there are people even I can’t handle deep in the slums.”

I was curious, but there’s always a reason why they’re trying to stop me. It’s not like I’m so clueless that I have to experience something unpleasant to know it’s unpleasant.

I obediently turned around.

Still, Alphonso can’t handle them…

I felt the need for a bodyguard at the level of a royal guard.

And.

– Even if you don’t have the talent of a mage, Your Highness! There’s absolutely no need to worry!

– Of course. Your Highness’s maternal grandfather and the founding ancestor were also knights. The blood of a knight definitely flows in Your Highness!

– Shall we start training tomorrow? Hahaha!

At the same time as that thought, the voices of my childhood bodyguards, who were falsely accused and executed, echoed in my ears.

The sight of me sprawled out on the bed all morning under the pretext of burnout made guilt choke me.

“Let’s go back to the palace.”

“Already? Let’s have lunch before we go. I know a great restaurant that will relieve your stress.”

“You said you can’t taste anything?”

“I can taste spicy flavors. Can’t you eat spicy food?”

Ah, spicy flavor is related to pain.

“It’s not that I can’t eat it.”

It’s that I didn’t have any to eat.

He smiled when he saw the look in my eyes and led the way.

And around the time we were passing through the market.

“Don’t let go of this!!”

((Let’s just have a meal together, why are you being so difficult?))

I came across a commotion.

“It’s a Chink [derogatory term for a person of Chinese descent].”

“Yeah, it’s a Chink.”

I frowned at the Hamel Empire language, with its distinctive accent that grated on my ears.

“You guys! Do you know who this person is!”

((Hey, what is that bitch saying?))

((She’s asking if you know who this young lady is.))

((Shut that bitch up too.))

A fatso who appeared to be a noble from the Empire was harassing a beautiful woman. Judging by the fact that the woman was also accompanied by attendants, she seemed to be a noble’s daughter.

‘The bodyguard is… knocked out.’

Her bodyguard had been subdued by the Empire noble’s bodyguard and was lying unconscious on the ground.

“You guys!”

Thwack!

The woman’s nanny, who was shouting at the top of her lungs, was hit in the back of the head and lost consciousness.

“Kyaa! Nanny!”

“Miss, this person here is a distinguished guest from the Hamel Empire. Please have a meal with him, receive a valuable gift, and then you can go home.”

The Empire noble’s interpreter grabbed the woman with a sly smile.

I looked around.

There were soldiers who appeared to be public order enforcers, but they didn’t know what to do. They seemed to be waiting for orders from their superiors because they suspected he was a noble from the Hamel Empire.

Well, to be honest, it didn’t seem like those guys, who weren’t even knights, would be of any help.

Even though those Chinks belittle and look down on the Lionel Kingdom as a small country, I was curious about the identity of the fatso who was so reckless as to harass a noble’s daughter in the middle of the kingdom’s capital.

If he was treating a noble’s daughter like that, he would have forcibly knocked out and dragged away a commoner.

I immediately stabbed the guy’s forehead with my Ghost Hand.

━━━━━━━━━×

Glut Han Hais

Gender: Male

Age: 22

Race: Human

[Stats]

[Skills]

[Relationship: Normal]

━━━━━━━━━

‘Han?’

I couldn’t help but frown.

Like the royal family of the kingdom who use Lyon as their surname instead of Lionel, he is not a direct descendant but a member of the Hamel Empire’s imperial family.

It seemed he had come to attend the New Year’s banquet.

“Alphonso, can you subdue that Chink’s bodyguard?”

“Um… if he attacks the prince, I will risk my life to buy you time to escape.”

As expected, until I increase my own strength, I desperately needed a skilled bodyguard.

Is my only weapon still my mouth…?

I glanced around once more and said to Alphonso.

“I believe those words.”

“Yes? Are you going to step forward now?”

As a member of the royal family of this country, I could no longer stand by and watch a citizen of the kingdom being harassed by a fatso from the Hamel Empire.

((Stop it.))

I spoke clearly in their language, even if it was a bit clumsy.

((What, who are you?))

I took off my hood and opened my mouth…

“It’s the Fifth Prince!”

“It’s Prince Evan!”

“Prince! Please throw those Chinks into prison right away!”

“Waaaaa! Chinks, get out!”

Before I could even open my mouth, the people in the market, who had been watching like mice, raised their voices.

I had only uttered one word in a slightly clumsy manner, but it felt like [Support] was soaring through the sky. I felt strangely moved.

((What, why are these little bastards like this?))

((He’s a prince of the Lionel Kingdom.))

((So what? Are you telling me to back down here?))

((…The atmosphere is not good. It’s not like today is the only day, let’s go back. I’ll take you to a great place.))

((Tsk, guide me. You, consider yourself lucky.))

Perhaps because he wasn’t crazy enough to subdue even me, a prince of the kingdom, the fatso left with his hands behind his back.

As soon as he and his gang disappeared, the people surrounding me cheered again.

“Waaaaa! Long live the Fifth Prince!”

“Long live!”

“But, what did you say?”

“How would I know.”

“Fifth Prince. I felt it during the hearing a while ago, but you speak the Chinks’ language so fluently. Don’t you think he’s incredibly smart?”

I subtly checked my Support.

[Barona: 12%]

It increased by 2%?

“Madam, madam. Get up. Hey, you too, wake up.”

Without Alphonso telling him to, he woke up the woman’s nanny and bodyguard, who had lost consciousness.

“Miss!!”

“Those Chinks!!”

“Nanny, Sir Belkas, are you awake?”

“Miss, the Chinks?”

“Please kill this wretch who failed to protect you!”

“It’s okay. It’s not Sir Belkas’s fault.”

The young lady, after confirming that they had both woken up, let out a sigh of relief and approached me.

“Thank you so much. Fifth Prince.”

“I only did what I had to do, so there’s no need to thank me.”

As I said that, I looked at the public order enforcers. They couldn’t meet my gaze and lowered their heads.

Okay, it’s not like those ordinary soldiers are guilty of anything.

“You were reckless.”

Huh?

“Sir Belkas may look like that, but he is a 4-star knight who graduated from the Royal Military Academy with excellent grades. What if that Chink, who is taking someone who subdued such a person as a bodyguard, harms the prince? That’s why you stepped forward.”

It wasn’t like I stepped forward without any plan, but hearing such worried nagging made me feel different.

Still, a woman who takes a 4-star knight as a bodyguard… The clothes she’s wearing don’t look that expensive.

I was slightly curious about her identity.

I tapped her forehead with my Ghost Hand.