There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 182

Afterward, Eustice found the remaining guard and informed him that Dale was the assassin from last night and that Ronald was his accomplice.

“…I see.”

The guard seemed somewhat surprised but showed no further reaction. In a world stained with betrayal and blood, such things were hardly out of the ordinary.

“What are you planning to do now?”

Eustice lowered his gaze before the man, who asked with a weary face, as if already burdened by the work he would have to undertake alone.

“I’m going to the city’s security force to explain the situation. They will arrest Ronald and take care of the bodies.”

“What? But if we do that, the Imperial Family will–”

“Yes, our journey ends here. We’re not going to the Earldom of Orletta.”

The guard didn’t try to stop or persuade Eustice. He simply studied the young prince’s face for a moment before stepping back to faithfully carry out his orders.

From the beginning, their relationship hadn’t been built on any significant loyalty or trust.

Eustice realized with a strange detachment that he was less shocked by Dale’s betrayal than he’d anticipated. Perhaps he had vaguely foreseen the ambition hidden beneath the surface and the catastrophe it would lead to. After all, they had known each other for a long time.

“It’s okay now.”

Eustice murmured and headed to his room.

He didn’t want to think about anything anymore. Nothing at all.

The following events unfolded as expected.

The security force of the small city was thrown into disarray by the scandalous incident involving a prince. They clearly wanted nothing to do with the power struggles of the imperial family. Eustice watched them quietly clean up the situation as if it were someone else’s problem.

And, predictably, the Imperial Family, upon hearing the news, ordered his immediate return. The powerless seventh prince couldn’t defy the Imperial Family’s order, nor did he particularly want to.

Thus, on the day before his scheduled departure for the capital…

Eustice stared blankly out the window before his feet, seemingly of their own accord, carried him out of his room. It was his first time outside since the assassination attempt.

“Your Highness.”

“I’ll be back in a little while. I want to be alone.”

“But–”

“Don’t make me repeat myself.”

The guard who tried to follow him wore a troubled expression, but after hearing Eustice’s next words, he quietly stood his ground.

“Let me take a walk alone. This freedom won’t last long anyway.”

His destination was the garden. He hadn’t intended to enjoy a walk, but that was where his feet had led him.

He walked, walked, and simply walked.

As he wandered aimlessly, a pond came into view. It was a fairly large pond, adorned with beautiful aquatic plants and several carp swimming within.

He remembered walking here with Dale, who had pointed at the pond and advised him:

“I heard that the pond is quite deep. Even an adult could struggle, and a child could easily drown if they fell in, so Your Highness should be careful.”

“Don’t treat me like a child.”

“I apologize, but ten years old is definitely a child.”

It had only been a few days ago, but it felt like a distant memory.

What had Dale been thinking when he pretended to worry about the safety of the person he was planning to assassinate?

What had he been feeling when he laughed and talked in front of him?

Eustice glared at the pond as if trying to penetrate the traitor’s inner thoughts. But no matter how long he stared at the water, he couldn’t see the bottom.

As Dale had said, it must be really deep. Deep enough that no one would know if someone fell in.

“Hey.”

At the sudden voice, Eustice froze.

The voice belonged to the only guest currently remaining in the hotel, aside from Eustice’s party.

Given the unusual circumstances, the security force had tried to persuade him to leave, but the man had refused, even after all the other guests had departed.

Even Eustice, holed up in his room, knew that the security force had finally relented and that the most luxurious VIP room was still occupied by this man.

“What do you want?”

A sharp tone came out naturally.

Now that he thought about it, the man had saved him from Dale’s attack, but the young prince still felt uneasy around him.

It wasn’t just because he had taken the life of a long-time servant.

What was it? He instinctively sensed a certain lack in the man. He couldn’t explain exactly what it was…

“You have a terrible look on your face.”

The magician approached the pond at a leisurely pace.

“What’s making you so sad? The betrayal? Or the death?”

“What’s it to you?”

“I don’t understand it. Shouldn’t you be happy that you uncovered the enemy’s intentions and that the enemy is dead?”

At first, Eustice thought the man was being sarcastic, trying to upset him, but his face looked genuinely puzzled.

At that moment, Eustice felt as if he had glimpsed another facet of the deficiency the man possessed.

“…There’s no reason for me to explain my feelings to you.”

“Don’t do it if you don’t want to. I wasn’t that curious anyway.”

Eustice thought he would leave, having said what he wanted to say, but instead, the man stared at him intently.

“You gave up, didn’t you?”

Eustice ignored him, but he continued.

“How pathetic. To give up completely without even putting up a proper struggle.”

The boy just pursed his lips. As if this man knew anything.

It wasn’t like he *wanted* to give up.

There was no way to succeed in the first place.

In fact, Eustice knew better than anyone that the cunning Earl of Orletta would never be a true source of support for a weak prince.

He simply wanted to provide his daughter with a suitable partner who possessed a decent amount of divine power and a good lineage.

But that was only true if the Crown Prince had no intention of eliminating his half-brother.

The Earl would surely abandon Eustice as soon as he realized the Crown Prince’s intentions. Maybe he already had.

So, Eustice’s decision to stop struggling here was a wise one.

This man knew none of that, yet he was free to say whatever he wanted.

“Well, it’s not really my business what your view on life is. But before we part ways, I want to say this.”

Then, the man cleared his throat and said something unexpected.

“Isn’t your life too precious to give up like this?”

Eustice reflexively met his gaze.

“There are many valuable things you can do in this world. You have infinite potential.”

“What?”

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Completely unexpected words from a completely unexpected person.

The man’s eyes were unusually serious, and he didn’t seem to be lying.

“…What’s your motive for suddenly saying this to me?”

Was he going to give a clichéd, pretentious sermon?

*Life is precious, think of the people who care about you, live with the determination to die,* and other meddling sentiments as vast as the ocean.

If that was his intention, Eustice was going to laugh at the absurdity. *It’s easy for you to say because you’ve never been in my position.*

But the man snapped his fingers without saying anything else. Then, a piece of paper flew in from somewhere.

“Here, read it and sign below.”

Eustice inadvertently read the beginning of the paper, which was filled with text.

[Consent Form for Body Donation and Waiver of Rights]

It was a very ominous title at first glance.

“Actually, one of the subjects I want to research next is the divine power of the Belleroph Imperial Family.”

The magician smiled and replied to Eustice’s questioning gaze.

“Well, there are more interesting things than that, and it’s troublesome to mess with the Imperial Family, so I was putting it off as a second priority, but I happened to meet you here.”

“…So?”

“Your life will be the foundation for my precious research activities. It will hurt a bit to extract your divine power, but I’ll adjust it so you don’t die.”

“…”

“You’re a valuable test subject, so I’ll be in trouble if something goes wrong. Oh, and I’ll limit some of the freedoms you enjoy as a human, but I’ll guarantee your safety instead. How about it? It’s much more valuable than the pathetic life you’ve lived so far–”

Tear, tear. Eustice tore the paper, and the man screamed in surprise.

“W, w, what are you doing! It’s a document I carefully wrote!”

But Eustice went one step further, dropped the torn pieces of paper on the ground, and trampled on them.

“Do you think I’ll do as a human like you wants!”

Even after that, he wasn’t satisfied, so he pointed his finger at the man’s impudent face.

“Just you wait! I’ll make sure you never say anything about being pathetic or a test subject again! You moron! You gangster! You rude bastard!”

Something like a volcano erupted from within Eustice, who was shouting as if he had lost his mind.

It was anger that had never been properly expressed, suppressed by things like fear and sorrow.

“I’m going to live the way I want!”

Once the erupted lava paralyzed the other emotions that had been suppressing him, it burned everything in its place.

Only then did Eustice feel a clear anger towards the beings he should have been angry at long ago.

After throwing everything away in front of Dale, who was running at him with a sword, that was all that was left. A single, fierce flame that would be the driving force of this life from now on.

“Why is he like that…”

And the person who unintentionally provoked his anger shook his head as he watched the prince leave with an angry stride.

“He seems to have trouble controlling his anger.”

Unaware of how much influence the small spark he had lit would have on a person’s life afterward.