“There’s no point hiding it, Max! I know you were looking at Rose’s ample bosom! There’s no two ways about it!”
“Yes, I saw it too. Unfortunately, Your Highness, you’ve been caught.”
“You really can’t hide it, Your Highness. We only just learned ourselves that...she notices even the sneakiest of our glances.”
His mother, the prime minister, and the captain of the knights kept piling on with excitement.
“No, but... I-I didn’t...”
“Yes, you did!”
“Agh...”
He tried to make excuses for himself, but the queen, prime minister, and captain of the knights didn’t seem like they were willing to let this slide. He’d never seen the three of them acting with such solidarity like this before. But as the firstborn prince, he couldn’t possibly have done such a thing. And even if he had, he couldn’t acknowledge it. He couldn’t deny...he might have looked, but it was only for a split second. Just for that split second, his eyes just...were drawn to them all on their own. It wasn’t on purpose. It was just like...a sort of reflex.
Hmm? Wait. What was it the captain just said?
The captain’s warning finally sank in.
We get caught...even if we’re just sneaking a glance? But that’s ridiculous...
Maximilian looked at Rose again.
If that’s the truth, then...does that mean this whole time...?
When Maximilian met Rose’s gaze, she put her hands to her flushed cheeks and smiled bashfully.
“Nngh...” Even if she was his stepmother...she was so cute. Had she always been the type to smile so gently?
Wait, no! Does that really mean she... She’s known? She’s known it every time?!
“Oh, he looked again! Maximilian peeked at Rose’s breasts again!”
“M-Mother, please! Not so loud!”
Please, stop! Why does my mother have to announce to the whole world that I tried to get a glimpse of a girl’s breasts?! Maximilian’s face grew flush but then pale. This is hell, isn’t it?! I-I can’t help it! It’s just a thing men do if they see a bountiful bosom! I-I can’t help that! It’s just instinct! Pure instinct!
“Your Highness... Please don’t be so self-conscious... It’s not just you. Er... Everyone does it.” Rose timidly tried to offer him a lifeboat, her cheeks still red. She had her hand on her chest with embarrassment, and her eyebrows were lifted ever so slightly as she told him not to worry about it.
Even that little action is so adorable...
“I-I’m so sorry!” If a tiny little glance like this was enough to get him caught, then it meant every time he looked, he’d been caught too. Maximilian threw off his blankets and lowered his head. The royal family wasn’t meant to lower their heads so easily, but...he had to apologize for this.
“Er, i-it’s really quite all right. Please, raise your head. Really, it’s not just you. Everyone does it...” Rose replied sheepishly. They hadn’t brought him there to make him apologize. There was a lot that needed to be explained, so Rose gave the prime minister and captain of the knights a pleading look.
“W-We’re sorry too!” Unfortunately, they mistook her intention and they lowered their heads too.
Boys of the world, listen closely: No matter how much you think you’re getting away with it, you’re not.
The queen let out a sigh of relief as she looked at her son bowing down in apology. “I’m so relieved... I really am.”
“Wait... You think this is a good thing?” That I’m being a creep? Maximilian couldn’t believe his ears.
“I am too.” Rose agreed with the queen.
“Huh?”
“Because it means you’ve finally returned to your senses.” The prime minister was pinching the bridge of his nose with joy.
“I-I have?”
“We were really worried for a second there...” The captain rubbed his shoulders and cricked his neck.
“Huh?” Did this mean... “Did you all realize I’d had a spell cast on me?”
The kingdom hadn’t had a mage in many long years. That was why they had next to no defenses against magic. The Western Empire was a major power with plenty of magic. With such an advantage, they were sure the kingdom wouldn’t have recognized if the Western Empire had made a move. By the time they did, they would have already been invaded. That was exactly what the mage who cast the spell on him had said between cackles.
“Why, of course. We’ve already dispatched the knights to Simmons Harbor too,” Queen Victoria responded reassuringly.
“What?!” At this, Maximilian crawled out of bed and rushed to the window. How could he have been spacing out this whole time?! The castle, and the whole capital, was going to be nothing more than a sea of flames by evening! Once the sun set, cannons would be fired right at them from the harbor... “Huh?”
The sun had already set. It was out of sight, and the lights around town were already burning. Apparently, several hours had passed since he’d lost consciousness.
“The capital...is safe?” The prince collapsed to his knees as his head whirled with what was happening. The plan was that the capital would be a sea of flames and the castle would have been utterly destroyed by now.
“Prince Maximilian, now’s not the time to slouch. We need you to tell us what the Western Empire did to you, what they plan to do to the kingdom, and anything else you can remember,” the captain said, still in the royal bow. The only information the kingdom had had come from a single merchant, and they desperately needed more.
“There’s nothing we can do,” Maximilian murmured. He knew that even if the capital hadn’t been engulfed in flames, the kingdom still had no way to survive. Maximilian had been despairing ever since the day he’d come face-to-face with the horrors of magic. There was magic on a scale that people of the kingdom couldn’t possibly imagine. Nobody could have imagined the enemy could invade from places other than the sea. “There’s no time left.”
“Your Highness?”
If the king had gone on the school field trip like he had every year, then even his great father was no longer with them. Maximilian felt tears stream down his face. Finally, his body belonged to him again. He could finally cry again. He could finally cry for his country, and for himself.