Chapter 7: Demetrio Is the Crown Prince!?
The person who was called “His Highness the Crown Prince” and stepped forward to receive the envelope was none other than Demetrio—the black-haired royal guard.
I almost screamed.
I was just supposed to be a maid standing quietly by the wall—an undercover guest, here only to quietly receive whatever Grandpa had left me and slip away unnoticed. Drawing attention was absolutely not part of the plan!
When I’d seen Demetrio standing beside an important-looking nobleman earlier, I’d just assumed he was there as a bodyguard.
But no—he wasn’t guarding anyone. He was the Crown Prince!
So then… why on earth had a crown prince been spending his afternoons in the royal garden playing chess with Grandpa?
None of this made sense!
While I stood there silently panicking, the Prime Minister continued to hand out letters one after another.
Among the maids along the wall, I was the only one to receive an envelope.
Well, of course—since I was the only fake maid here. Still, the piercing looks I was getting from the real maids next to me hurt.
So much for “attending in secret.”
“Then, Your Majesty, please begin by opening your letter.”
“Very well. Hm… yes, yes.”
“Yes, yes”? Who answers a royal will like that!?
The new king—a middle-aged man with dark brown hair—gave a small, wistful smile as he began to read.
His face, I realized, looked a lot like both Demetrio’s and Grandpa’s.
Ah, of course. They were father and son. It suddenly all made sense.
“Well, to sum it up, it basically says ‘Become king.’ The rest is unfinished business he’s passing on to me. There’s a bit of unnecessary meddling too, as usual. This last page is personal, so it’s not relevant to the inheritance—I’ll keep that one private.”
The king showed only two of the three pages to the Prime Minister.
“Next, His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“…Tch. Damn old man.”
Did I hear that right?
The Crown Prince just called the former king a damn old man!
The entire audience chamber erupted in shocked murmurs.
“These two pages are the inheritance list and… the usual unnecessary meddling.”
Demetrio handed both pages to the Prime Minister, who widened his eyes and stared at him.
Demetrio glared right back, clicking his tongue again, while the king peeked over his shoulder and let out a tired chuckle.
Then, for some reason, all three of them—the king, the Prime Minister, and the Crown Prince—kept glancing in my direction, toward the back wall where I was standing.
What on earth was going on?
I looked around, but there was nothing unusual nearby.
A few other nobles also seemed confused, glancing about the room.
I couldn’t hear what the three were whispering, but the tension was clear.
Demetrio’s irritation practically filled the room.
—Grandpa, what on earth did you write in that will!?
