Episode 5: The Light and Shadow of the Royal Family
Upon Leo’s arrival at the training ground, he immediately spotted me.
“Alfred! Come here!”
Ugh, how bothersome… Ideally, I would have escaped without uttering a word. But since he went through the trouble of coming all the way here, skipping school and all, he wouldn’t let me off easily. In fact, hewon’t stop until he catches me.
“Well, there’s nothing I can do about it. I’ll resign myself.”
“Are you serious, Al-sama? How can you even think of that?”
“Don’t say such things to the Crown Prince.”
“Because my master is only Al-sama. I don’t care about the others.”
Makina makes such remarks casually… She’s something else.
“Ugh… Seriously. Who does this attitude remind me of?”
“Well, it’s Al-sama. In other words, Al-sama has a negative influence on this maid education.”
“What does that mean?”
But it’s true… Maybe it is. Makina’s attitude is very similar to mine.
It’s unbecoming of a member of the royal family.
If that’s the case, fine. I’ll talk to him. Don’t tell Charl.
“Understood.”
It wasn’t long ago that the engagement was called off. Anyway, it’s better that CHarl and Leo don’t meet.
“Al-kun… um…”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m used to dealing with Leo.”
I stand in front of Leo, who takes a watchful position on the training ground.
“What do you want, Leo?”
“To correct the way you address your older brother. How many times do I have to tell you?”
“What is it, older brother? What made you come all the way here even skippping school?”
When did he stop allowing me to call him “elder brother”? Well, I suppose for a member of the royal family it is the proper way to speak.
“If you hadn’t run away with your tail between your legs, I wouldn’t have had to come all this way.”
“I see. I apologise for the inconvenience. Please go back. I’m busy, mostly watching humans.”
“Did you think I’d just leave without correcting you after what you did to Lucille?”
“Are we going to talk about it again? Have you found any proof?”
“What did you say?”
“I mean proof that I was scheming against a woman called Lucille. As far as I know, no evidence has been found, has it?”
Leo’s face contorts as if he’s chewing on a bitter bug.
Naturally. After all, there is no evidence anywhere. Unless evidence is presented, my alleged despicable acts cannot be proven. In other words, no matter how hard Leo struggles, he won’t be able to defeat me in an argument.
…He doesn’t have to go so far as to start a losing battle.
As the Crown Prince, is that really something he should do? It’s not like he can make a living off of pride and honor.”
“Shut up! Are you still planning to act innocent?” Leo retorted, angrily throwing a training wooden sword
“Pick it up! I’ll personally train you. I’ll beat some sense into you!” Leo demanded.
Reluctantly, I slowly pick up the thrown wooden sword…
“Take this!” Leo lunged forward, swinging his sword.
…and I snapped it in half.
Phew… That was close. We were about to fight in a training session.
“What?! You…! What are you…!” Leo stammered in disbelief.
“I don’t want to. Training is bothersome,”
“Even so, you’re still a member of the Leuyer Royal Family!”
“I just don’t want to fight my older brother,”
“Are you saying such spineless things…! Do you really want to belittle me that much?”
Knowing Leo’s personality, Alfred understood that he wouldn’t back down until he was somewhat satisfied.
There’s no helping it…
“Alright, fine. Let’s train. But I broke the wooden sword, so… In exchange…”
I trailed off, picking up a sword leaning against the nearby wall. then drew it from its sheath, revealing a polished steel blade that gleamed dully under the sunlight.
“I’ll use a real sword,”
Alfred gripped a steel sword with a dull gleaming blade in his hand. It appeared capable of easily striking down the training wooden swords brought by Leo.
The surrounding soldiers began to stir, their hostility towards Alfred evident, despite him being the third prince.
“You coward…!”
“Leo-sama is using a training wooden sword, you know?”
“Aren’t you embarrassed?”
“He doesn’t have any sense of pride, does he?”
“He’s just a cursed child, after all…”
The soldiers’ whispers reached Charlotte and Makina, who observed the scene. Alfred remained composed, seemingly unaffected by the hostile remarks.
“What will you do, my brother? If you agree to this condition, I will accompany you in practice,” Alfred provocatively smiled at Leo.
In response to Alfred’s provocative smile, Leo quietly respond “Fine. Do as you please,” causing the surrounding soldiers to become even more restless.
“No way…! Leo-sama, it’s too dangerous!”
“He’s planning to harm Leo-sama by pretending it’s an accident!”
“It will be too late if something happens to you!”
Leo restrained the soldiers and readied his wooden sword.
“Don’t worry. I won’t let myself fall behind such a coward.”
“As always, you are admirable, my brother. What will you do if I accidentally slip?” Alfred taunted.
“Slip as much as you want. I won’t lose to a coward like you,” Leo declared.
And so, a mock battle between the first prince and the third prince commenced.
At first glance, Alfred’s actions may have appeared cowardly. But Charlotte saw through the charade—it seemed staged.
The more cowardly Alfred acted, the more dignified Leo’s figure shone, like light against shadow.
“Al-kun’s face…”
It was reminiscent of the night when he rescued Charlotte after their engagement was called off.
“Oh? Did you notice, Charlotte-sama?” Makina smirked beside her.
“Are you aware of Alfred’s scheming, Makina-san?”
“Well, of course. I assisted in the preparations. Besides, it’s something I always do.”
“Well, if you pay close attention, you’ll understand,” Makina said, and with that, the training session between the two commenced.
“Uwoooooo!”
Leo roared fiercely and lunged forward boldly, striking with his sword.
Right from the beginning, Alfred closed the distance and defensively guarded with his sword.
“Get him, Leo-sama!”
“Please defeat that coward!”
Amidst the jeers, Alfred continued to defend against Leo’s attacks with his sword.
“Huh…?”
In that moment, Charlotte’s eyes caught something unusual.
“Is it just me, or does Alfred’s sword… doesn’t the blade seem chipped? It appears to be disguised with paint, but it looks oddly old… it might break soon…”
“Eh? Charlotte-sama, you noticed that?”
“Yes. I have good eyesight, and I also have experience with swords.”
“Speaking of which, Charlotte-sama, you were one of the best swordsmen in the academy… even so, your observation skills are remarkable.”
While being praised by Makina, Charlotte continued to observe the fight between the two.
“…He’s not blocking Leo-sama’s attacks with the blade… and deliberately taking them in the same spot… could it be…!”
A speculation popped into her head in that moment.
“Haaaah!”
Leo swung his sword down. A powerful magical strike followed, chasing the steel blade.
As the broken blade danced in the air, Leo delivered a second blow to Alfred’s stomach.
“Gahaha…!”
Alfred crumpled to the ground with a thud as the surrounding soldiers cheered.
“Wow! he broke a steel sword with a wooden training sword!”
“Truly, it’s Leo-sama!”
“The First Prince is definitely on a different level than any coward!”
Leo pointed his sword at Alfred to the cheers of the crowd.
At the same time, the broken blade stuck into the ground.
“Have you finally grasped a fraction of Lucille’s pain?”
“Cough… Come on, brother… I said there’s no proof.”
“Are you still denying it…!”
The unfolding scene might give the impression that the first prince had directly defeated the cowardly plan of the third prince.
But in Charlotte’s eyes she saw something else.
“Could it be… Did he lose on purpose?”
Hearing the whisper, Makina nodded quietly.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Al-kun broken sword, was it tampered before?”
“He prepared a sword that was about to break in advance and leaned it against the wall. He intentionally made the exterior look new, so it wouldn’t be noticeable at first glance. And instead of the blade… He took it with the edge of the sword… and ensured that the attacks focused on one point, so it would break just like now.”
How much skill did that require?
Charlotte, who had picked up the sword and trained, understood.
It was an incredible feat.
“…Al-sama knew Leo-sama would skip school and come here from [Shadow] report, after that Al-sama made preparations, anticipating Leo-sama arrival at the training ground.”
“Why did you go to such lengths to deliberately lose? What’s the purpose…?”
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? It’s for Leo-sama.”
“Huh…?”
“Al-sama is playing the role of the [cowardly and treacherous third prince] himself, in order to highlight Leo-sama’s dignified figure. This way, the ignorant soldiers will have a higher opinion of Leo-sama… As a result, the majority of them have pledged their loyalty to Leo-sama.”
In the distance, Charlotte could see the soldiers gazing at Leo with admiration.
“What kind of expressions will they have if everything is revealed?”
Makina spoke with a sarcastic expression, referring to the soldiers within her field of vision.
“…It’s not just today. Al-sama has always, always been in the shadows to highlight Leo-sama. No… Not just Leo-sama. He has willingly remained in the shadows to illuminate the royal family’s brilliance. No matter how much he is despised.”
“Why would he go to such lengths…?”
Leo, receiving cheers from the soldiers, while Alfred knelt on the ground, faced cold gazes from the soldiers.
It reminded Charlotte of the moment she herself was faced with the annulment of her engagement and was looked at with accusing eyes by those around her. The memory of that nightmare was deeply ingrained in her mind, sending a slight chill down her spine.
“To sacrifice oneself… for the royal family…”
Makina spoke softly, yet her eyes held a hint of sorrow.
“For Al-sama, the most important thing is [family]. Not the [country] or the [people]; they are strangers. It’s family. That’s why he plays the role he can for his beloved family. Even in the matter of Charlotte-sama’s broken engagement… If Al-sama hadn’t caused a commotion, Leo-sama wouldn’t have escaped unscathed. Al-sama took all the blame for that incident.”
“The role he can play… Is it self-sacrifice by becoming the [villain]?”
“That’s how he sees it. He believes there’s nothing else he can do… although I don’t think that’s the only way.”
The emotions behind Makina’s words were difficult to gauge. Charlotte, who had stood by his side all this time, couldn’t utter superficial words to him.
“Stand, Alfred. This is far from over.”
“Ugh… I really hope you’ll spare me. I mean, I’m weak, you know.”
“Hmph… Fine. I’ll let it slide for today. But it seems you plan on denying everything until evidence is presented.”
Leo put away the wooden sword, his gaze clearly looking down on Alfred.
“Do you know about the ceremony that will take place in two weeks?”
“Yeah… Well, it’s an annual event, you know.”
“We’ll have a match there, you and me. If I win… There’s no need to wait for evidence. You will admit your guilt and apologize to Lucille in front of the entire school!”
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Thanks for the chapter.
Lucile -> Lucille
scheming with ->
scheming against
The phrase “scheming with” means that Al is working with Lucille, “scheming against” means that Al is plotting to harm Lucille..
thanks, fixed