ADAM
“HA HA HA! Aaaah, this monstrous country is nothing but fools after all, isn’t it?”
I reclined on the guest sofa, propping my feet up on the table with a laugh. My thin, fox-like eyes bulged with excitement, and the corners of my lips curled with mirth. My chief of staff and generals stood out in the hallway alongside the knights Freesia had dispatched to protect me—a courtesy for me, crown prince of the Rajah Empire. I kept my mockery hushed so those vigilant and dutiful knights would not overhear me.
I’d polished off two bottles of wine since last night. Now it was morning, yet I poured myself another glass. I’d intended to leave along with the rest of the guests, but none of them had even called for their carriages yet. I couldn’t return to my country early without drawing suspicion, so I had no choice but to stay in this room until the other guests finally departed. I’d have to pretend I was so concerned about the firstborn princess that I wouldn’t even think of leaving. In reality, I couldn’t care less about her condition—if she never woke up, I’d consider it a boon.
I savored the celebratory wine between bouts of laughter, barely resisting the urge to muss my slicked-back, dark-purple hair.
My plan was working well. When Pride let out those first screams, it took everything in my power to contain my laughter. I played the part of a dramatically dismayed guest as they carried her out of the party, being careful not to smirk when the knights and guards questioned me.
This was the first time they’d allowed me to attend a Freesian ceremony. My country had a peace treaty with Freesia, but not an alliance, so I was only invited to the largest, most special events. I’d invited Freesians to my own country on several occasions, but they always claimed they were too busy.
“We can host you on this day.”
“We’d love to have you attend our party on this date.”
Despite us dishing out so many invitations, the Freesians always had some utterly important plans on those days. I came to believe someone close to me may have been leaking information to them so they could avoid me. Thus, I’d cracked down on my aides with threats, violence, and even torture—half to relieve my own anger, and half to amuse myself. Even with all that, I didn’t find a single lead.
“And then that last prince’s birthday took place on the same date as the Chinensian king’s…”
Hanging my head, I sighed in disgust. I spit on the floor and rubbed it in with my shoe. Freesia’s peaceful partners weren’t previously invited to simple birthday parties, only to “special occasions.”
Normally, I would have jumped at the opportunity when I received an invitation at last, but I had to confirm something first. Servants working for me in other lands had reported that the previously bedridden Cercian king was making appearances before his people—and that he planned to attend the Chinensian king’s birthday party!
It was impossible. Utterly unthinkable! But I had to see it with my own eyes.
Once I infiltrated Cercis, I swiftly found the king alive and well. I couldn’t believe it. While I considered killing him right then and there, Rajah would be the obvious suspect if King Lance was murdered at a time like this. I considered killing King Yohan instead, but Freesia’s representatives were set to attend his birthday party. They might ramp up security if they saw him die, and that would complicate my future plans. I even thought about targeting the Freesian firstborn princess, who attended as a guest, but unfortunately, that didn’t go according to plan.
Prince Stale’s birthday happened a few days later, which I also couldn’t attend, following that string of failures. My anger had reached its limit—but that was when an opportunity finally arose.
It was the second-born princess’s sixteenth birthday.
“Ugh, these people throw their weird parties just because one of the princesses became an old hag? Seriously, a dance party?! How stupid. Don’t tell me they’re that desperate to get it on with the men? Revolting!”
I snickered, but my lone attendant didn’t respond to my tirade. He stood in a corner of the room like a piece of furniture, dressed in an outfit that made him look like a noble.
“Aaah, I just want to go home already. That princess won’t be waking up either way. For a minute, I thought she was so weak that she croaked right there on the spot, but I guess she’s hanging on. Oh well. All the better for me.”
Without bothering to take my shoes off, I moved to the bed. Gripping my wine glass, I stretched out my legs.
“She was soooo boring! I wanted to see her freak out more and really convulse, but then she went and passed out. I guess it was too much for a puny little princess.”
I kicked in frustration, dirtying the bed with my shoes. Once I’d had enough, I snickered and sipped more wine, a bit of the drink spilling from the corner of my smile.
“I bet they’re running around looking for the culprit about now. Or maybe they’re calling all their doctors? What a bunch of morons.”
Quietly, I sneered at the knights outside my door. Despite my criticism of the heavy guard and my inadvertent captivity, I couldn’t be happier to have sent all those Freesians into such a panic.
“You’re all a bunch of monsters who think your country’s special. You’ll never figure out what happened to her, much less trace it back to me.”
I snorted and downed the rest of my wine, let out an undignified burp, and dropped the empty glass to the floor. I’d grown bored of drinking, so I yawned and rolled over.
“Should I leave things be for a month…no, maybe three? I wanna come pay my respects to the princess when she’s down to skin and bones. I wonder how much I can wring out of them when there’s no hope left for her.”
I covered my mouth with both hands to keep my laughter in check as I pictured the skinny, haggard princess, as well as the despair on the queen’s face when she realized she had no choice but to give in to my demands. Would Freesia institute slavery themselves, or would they send their people away to work as slaves? Taking the second-born princess as a fiancée was a trivial component of the plot, but it would all be for nothing if I didn’t marry her after the firstborn princess died.
“I just don’t get why that idiot king is back.”
I couldn’t contain my one genuine disappointment. No one had ever managed to recover the way that king had. Every last victim withered away until they died with very, very few exceptions. They either died fast with some meat on them or slow as they withered to a pathetic husk of skin and bones. Since the king had managed to recover, perhaps it was Cercis I had to be most wary of.
Heaving a sigh, I offered my most heartfelt desire to the air. “Can’t I just go home already?”
Accompanied by only a single servant doing everything possible to avoid my eyes, there was no one around to clean up the room I’d trashed beyond recognition.