IWTGHFW CHAPTER 31

Episode 31

With the Emperor and the Crown Prince at odds, and the Crown Prince and the Second Prince also in conflict, starting a war under the current imperial circumstances was out of the question—so they were letting things be.
But those people were gradually intensifying their attacks.

“Ah, I wish His Highness the Crown Prince would just ascend to the throne already. Then we could sweep away those Aint bastards for good. Or at least negotiate. Either way, His Highness wouldn’t just sit back and do nothing like this.”

“Shh! Watch your mouth. What if someone hears you?”

“Who else is here besides us? Seriously, what has the Emperor even done so far? Everything’s been the Crown Prince’s work. All the Emperor’s done is mess around in disgusting ways behind the scenes.”

“Is a royal knight insulting the Emperor because he wants to die?”

A different voice suddenly cut in, making Heppy—who had been sprawled on the floor idly swinging his legs—freeze.

When he saw the owner of the voice, Reinolf immediately jumped to his feet.

“Sir Finance, it’s been a while. Have you returned?”

“Yes.”

He had dark brown hair and eyes—so dark they almost looked black, but in sunlight, they could appear light brown.
Finance’s gaze landed on Heppy, still lying on the floor.

Heppy sat up under that gaze, but unlike Reinolf, he didn’t bother with formalities and instead spoke in a lazy tone.

“Please. Who are you to talk about killing or sparing people, Sir?”

“Heppy! What are you doing?”

“Don’t stop me, Rein. Who was it that broke the armory drawer at the training grounds and tried to put the repair costs on the budget? You ended up getting your pay docked for that, didn’t you? And now you’re acting like some senior mentor?”

In truth, there were plenty of knights who broke something and then quietly pushed the expenses into the budget. Even Reinolf had once tried to slip his bar tab in as an expense, only to get caught.

But Heppy’s rebelliousness had a reason.

“I heard there was a skirmish in the east recently—how did you manage to come back alive? Did you survive by using a junior knight as a shield again, like last time?”

Every winter, the Imperial Knights rode north to repel barbarian invasions. It was like an annual event—everyone went except the minimum force needed to guard the capital and the imperial family.

Separate from that, there were also rotations to guard the borders: the north against the barbarians, the east against the Aint Kingdom, and the west against the Duchy of Sium.

Of course, there were standing armies there, as well as knights from border lords whose territories touched the frontiers, but Imperial Knights were also stationed there in case of emergencies, where they could exercise command authority.

Finance had just returned from the eastern border with the Aint Kingdom. Unlike the quiet north outside of winter or the allied west, the east had recently seen occasional guerrilla skirmishes.

Heppy’s eyes grew sharper as he glared at Finance.

“Don’t you dare talk about being an Imperial Knight when you’ve abandoned your chivalry. The junior knights who still uphold the code are furious just thinking about it.”

“Hey, Heppy…”

“Let’s go, Rein.”

Reinolf, who had been trying to stop him half-heartedly, watched Heppy slam the door on his way out, then found himself meeting Finance’s gaze. Those dark brown eyes staring straight at him sent a shiver down his spine. Reinolf gave a polite bow before carefully following after Heppy.

Left alone, Finance’s gaze fell to the spot where Heppy had been lying.
As he mulled over Heppy’s words, his lips pressed into a thin line.

Before leaving for vacation, I dropped by the western palace to say goodbye—and, as had become oddly common, there was a distinguished guest there.

“We meet again, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Indeed. You come here often.”

I almost replied, You come here often too, but swallowed the words just in time. After all, this was the Crown Prince.

Still… I’d wanted to have a nice, quiet chat with Mishy, just the two of us. Tch.

I was a little sulky at the intrusion, but seeing Mishy smile brightly at me melted my irritation instantly. Pretty faces are the best. Handsome faces too.

The Crown Prince and Mishy were sitting at a table in what barely counted as a garden, having some sweets. I hesitated, wondering if I could join them, but the Crown Prince had a servant bring another chair.

The chance to sit beside the Crown Prince—anyone else would’ve thought it was an honor worth recording in their family history.
But me? Honestly, I didn’t care much. Sure, I knew he was an impressive man, but in the end, he was just a silver spoon who’d been born lucky.

Since Mishy gestured for me to sit, I carefully moved closer to them—only to see someone else who’d been hidden by the Crown Prince until now.

“Sir Shun?”

I tilted my head at the familiar purple hair.

He looked like Shun, but he wasn’t.

“Ah, this is Yen, my adjutant. He’s Shun’s twin brother.”

Ah, no wonder they looked alike.

I bowed politely to Yen. He looked exactly like Shun, but with a subtly different vibe—more scholarly, I’d say. If Shun was the type to wear ill-fitting glasses just for the look, Yen was the kind who seemed born with them as part of his face.

As I sat down, still sneaking glances at Yen, Mishy slid some cookies toward me. The smell of chocolate chip—my favorite—hit me hard. I eagerly picked one up, but noticed Yen staring at me with a strange expression.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Pardon? How was I looking?”

“Like you were displeased.”

Unlike with the Crown Prince, I had no reason to hold back with Yen. So I nibbled my cookie and shot back.

Then it hit me—uh-oh. What if the Crown Prince killed me for snapping at his adjutant?

A quick glance showed he wasn’t angry, so I relaxed a little and turned back to Yen, silently daring him to speak his mind. But he quickly averted his gaze.

Hmph. Even more suspicious.

“Ail, it’s not your usual day to come by. Is something up?”

“Oh, right. I’m going on vacation starting tomorrow. I came to tell you—sir.”

I’d spoken casually to Mishy out of habit, but realizing the Crown Prince was there, I awkwardly tacked on a formal ending.

“It’s fine. I told my brother we’re friends. You can speak comfortably when it’s just us.”

“Well, in that case… I won’t be around for a week.”

“Sounds fun. Where to?”

“Hmm… Remibl? Remijérabl… wait, that’s a movie. Anyway, some count’s territory down south.”

“The County of Remiblanc, then.”

The Crown Prince cut in, and I nodded. Yeah, that sounds right.

“If it’s in the south, it’s near the sea. Will you see the ocean?”

“Yes, I heard it’s close to the sea.”

“Lucky you… seeing the sea…”

Ah. Maybe I’d bragged too much.

The sparkle in Mishy’s eyes dimmed into something sad. Being stuck here all the time, he must have been envious.

I was wondering how to cheer him up when the Crown Prince suddenly flipped the tea table.

The crash of crockery rang out, the lace tablecloth flying into the air.

“…What the—”

Cups shattered, drinks spilled across the ground. I sat there, frozen, as the Crown Prince jumped to his feet and barked at Mishy.

“How dare you utter such insolence to the Crown Prince! Unacceptable. You will go south for a while to cool your head!”

What on earth?

Unlike me, Yen looked completely unfazed, and while Mishy’s eyes went wide like a startled rabbit, he stayed surprisingly calm.

Was I the only one who didn’t get it? Was this some kind of hidden-camera prank?

Then I caught sight of a shadow quickly retreating in the distance, and it clicked.

Officially, the Crown Prince and Mishy had a terrible relationship. I’d wondered before, seeing how often the Crown Prince visited him, if that was really the case—but it seemed like whenever there was a chance someone might see, they put on a show like this. Broadcasting their bad blood to the world.

Man, even the Crown Prince has to work hard to keep up appearances.

“Ail.”

“Y-yes?”

After confirming the shadow was gone, the Crown Prince ordered servants to clean up the mess he’d made. As they worked, he subtly came closer to me.

“I’ll say I was so angry that I exiled the Second Prince to the far south. Would it be all right if Mishy accompanied you on your vacation?”

Uh… I mean, I’m fine with it. But is that even possible? Just because Mishy wanted to see the sea, he could arrange this?

“I don’t mind, but is that—”

“Then it’s settled.”

And off he went, attendants in tow, without waiting for me to finish.

Yen lingered nearby like he had something to say, but in the end, he followed after the Crown Prince in silence.

I stared at the now spotless garden and muttered under my breath:

“What the heck just happened?”

Thanks to the Crown Prince’s “exile,” Mishy would be traveling south with me tomorrow.
Outwardly, it would look like the insolent Second Prince was being packed into a shabby carriage and banished from the capital.

But, unwilling to truly do that to his precious brother, the Crown Prince had asked Ron to slip Mishy into my and Mien’s travel plans instead.

Mien hadn’t reacted much when I said a friend was coming along. She didn’t even ask who it was—guess she doesn’t care.

Either way, I was now packing for the trip. It had been a while since I’d seen the sea; I planned to eat well and play hard, free from work.

As I hummed and folded clothes, my roommate Rose plopped down beside me.