ALL NOVEL chapter 30
30 – The Princes
After the banquet, when everyone retired to their rooms to rest, someone knocked on my door.
I opened the door to see who was knocking.
“Who is it?”
“Greetings, Viscount. I am Hert, His Highness Christopher’s valet. His Highness wishes to convey a message to you and asked me to find you.”
“Ah… Won’t you come in first?”
“There’s no need to take up too much of your time. Well, here you go…”
Hert handed me a small piece of parchment.
“Well, please read it carefully…”
“Just a moment, sir?”
Without looking back, Hert left after handing me the parchment.
“What’s going on?”
I closed the door and sat down, reading the letter written by His Highness Christopher.
[Viscount, can you come to my office in two hours? I wish to discuss Godmilla.]
“What is it? It should be a simple matter that can be discussed in person.”
Regardless, it was a conversation about Godmilla…
According to my memory, the princes and princesses seemed to hate Godmilla beyond just being negative about it. If that’s the case, I can guess why His Highness called me.
Anyway, I wanted to give Godmilla a taste too. It wouldn’t be bad if His Highness could help me with my plan. I just wonder if the princes and princesses would be satisfied with just a taste.
Sighing, I roughly organized my thoughts in my head and lay down on the bed.
I should go see His Highness in about two hours.
**
“Security is quite strict here.”
No matter where you go in this palace, you won’t see any servants rushing through the corridors leading to His Highness’s office.
The only presence in the corridor was the soldiers guarding ferociously, to the point where not even a mouse could enter recklessly.
As I approached the soldiers, they stopped me.
“Who are you, and what is your business visiting Prince His Highness’s office?”
“I am Count Silverwood. Thanks to His Highness summoning me, I’ve come to visit.”
“Oh, are you Count Edric? Please forgive our rudeness. I will escort you right away.”
Naturally, it was an obvious thing, but it seems that wherever Prince His Highness lives, he is protected by elite soldiers among elites.
“Other people used to tremble at me when I said I was Edric, but here, everyone is just doing their own tasks.”
Wherever I went in the palace, once people found out who I was, they would flatter me as if I were a hero of Silverwood. It was annoying, but it didn’t feel too bad, like becoming a celebrity thanks to the unprecedented popularity I’ve experienced in both my past and present lives.
But these soldiers, since they knew I was Count Silverwood, they seemed to know who I was, yet they silently dedicated themselves to their tasks without saying a word. Considering the fact that every other person I encountered used to pretend to know me, they must have incredible self-control and professionalism.
Anyway, the soldiers led me to the office.
“There’s another door inside.”
When I opened the door, another space with another door unfolded before me. It seemed to be designed with double doors to prevent intrusions.
I waited briefly in front of the door, and the soldiers on both sides of the door grabbed the handles and opened it simultaneously.
Creak-
“Here we are. I hope you have a good time.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
Inside the open door was a quite spacious room for one person.
“How much are all these books?”
Just the books placed on the large bookshelf amounted to several hundred.
As I mentioned before, books in this era are made of parchment, and the content of each book has to be written by hand, making them extremely valuable items. The quality varies greatly, but each book is worth about 0.1 to 10 Limer gold coins. So, in terms of my previous life’s currency, they range from tens of thousands to tens of millions of dollars.
There are even cases where books made with genuine craftsmanship reach astronomical values.
“As expected, the royal family is truly the royal family.”
Heads ceded a war for his superiors when he gone through the bookshelves reminding him anew the fact that the royal family was rather wealthy than the Bacchus.
No… To be exact, he was walking towards the place where the Princes mentioned.
“Oh, Bacchus. You’ve arrived on time as I requested.”
“You are here.”
“Bacchus. Thank you for coming.”
“Please come in.”
“Your Highness.”
I bowed my head to the princes and greeted them.
‘As expected, all the princes seemed to be cautious to Gatden Mila.’
I spoke to the princes seated beside me ‘Ambiguously’ for now. It wouldn’t be wise to criticize my thoughts on Gadmera from the beginning when I didn’t know the exact goal of the princes.
“We were very impressed with your story at the banquet today.”
“Right. If I was you, I wonder if I could die for the people like that.”
“The Lord’s older brother is right. Where could you be an ordinary person?”
“You have a point.”
This nuisance of adulation doesn’t get tired. Well, whether he really likes me or just flattery me to pull me into being gatden militia, it’s hard to say …
“Today, when we arrived at the castle, the princes welcomed us greatly, and I was very grateful.”
“Of course you should when we receive a hero like you.”
“The Lord’s brother is right. If you were so brave to sacrifice yourself for the people.”
“This guy …”
“I couldn’t do that because your life is dear to you, didn’t I? Of course, as a leader, you should cherish the lives of lower people than your own life. If I only cherished my life and safety and didn’t care about the people or the soldiers, would they have tried to fight for me in the end? It’s a relief if I wasn’t sold to the Kamusins, tied up hard.”
“Hmm …”
“The nature of what you spoke of is indeed enigmatic. Yes, because you sacrificed your life for the people, people have sacrificed their lives for you. I really learned a good one.”
“Your Highness. I was a little envious and jealous that I, who is the same age as you, drank wine alone with the marquess at the banquet tonight, but now that the marquess seems to have enough qualification to drink wine shoulder to shoulder with the adults.”
“Who would say the marquess isn’t qualified to drink wine? He’s a lot wiser than us.”
“I don’t know where to put the excessive compliments.”
I shivered at the princes’ enthusiastic flattery. At this rate, I will really go bald.
“It’s about the story of the banquet, but unfortunately there was a slightly unsightly incident at the banquet today.”
Is this to get to the point? When Christopher spoke, the expressions of the other princes changed.
“Well… there was a regrettable incident. But I think it’s the marquess’s fault that I didn’t learn proper table manners because I became the marquess. I’m just endlessly sorry to Ms. Niersera, who taught me because of me.”
“What are you talking about, Marquess! It’s your fault for that incident!”
“Christopher is right. That’s just Gode Millah’s forced tantrum!”
“You’re right. How can anyone perfectly observe etiquette and dine without making any mistakes in every situation? I sometimes make mistakes too, and I’m only 15 years old.”
“She is just throwing a fit because she can’t bother us while you stay at the palace, Count.”
“What do you mean by ‘can’t bother’?..”
“Ah, because Mama told her not to bother us while you stay at the palace.”
“Oh, that happened? No wonder they greeted me so warmly when I first met them at the castle gate. It must be because I won’t receive lessons from Gode Millah as long as I’m here.”
“Well… it’s true that Lady Gode Millah is not exactly… ‘gentle’ in character, but it seems like she has quite a reputation among the princes.”
“Oh, ‘reputation’? Count, she is more than just a woman who can be described like that.”
“You’re right, Christopher. She is a person who wouldn’t be satisfied even if we chewed her to death with our words.”
“Exactly what terrible things did Gode Millah do to the princes that they curse her like that?”
“Terrible things… yes. She did many terrible things to us, just as the Count said.”
“If the Count finds out what that witch has done to us, he will understand why we curse her over and over again.”
The princes started recounting all the things Gode Millah had done to them, one after another.
“Hmm, it seems quite severe.”
Gode Millah seemed to have inflicted numerous abuses on the princes, to the extent that even Niresera, the Master of Beatings, seemed like an angel compared to her.
It’s understandable that the princes wanted to tear Gode Millah apart.
One prominent abuse case involved being stripped naked in front of everyone in the palace and whipped until blood flowed from their buttocks. It happened to His Highness Christopher when he was fifteen and His Highness William when he was fourteen. Even now, they say they wear thin clothes during bathing due to the trauma from that time.
It seemed like a quite severe trauma, being publicly humiliated among numerous people, but at least they didn’t develop stage fright, which can be considered fortunate.
In addition, Gode Millah seemed to enjoy aggressively punishing the princes even if they just slightly resisted or, even without any resistance, simply annoyed her.
Actually, it’s not a big deal in this era for parents or teachers to punish children (I have been slapped by my father and am still being slapped by Niresera). But hearing the stories, it was clear that Gode Millah went far beyond what is considered normal.
If she hadn’t used healing miracles, one would think she would’ve killed several children with sheer eagerness.
But while listening to the princes’ stories, I had one question.
Why does the king not take any action against Gode Millah when she abuses his own children so severely?
I wondered if Richard favored Princess Celenor and allowed Gode Millah to beat the princes. But based on what the princes were saying, Princess Celenor was also beaten just like them. Also, judging by how the princes did not seem to hate their father or Celenor, it seemed that wasn’t the case.
To resolve my doubts, I asked His Highness Christopher.
“Listening carefully to the princes, Gode Millah doesn’t seem to be an ordinary wicked woman. However, I’m curious why Your Majesty keeps favoring Gode Millah despite her mistreatment of Your Majesty’s children. Surely Your Majesty must be aware of the abuses committed by Gode Millah against the princes and princesses? It was quite strange when Gode Millah showed disrespect to you and me at the banquet today, Your Majesty barely reprimanded her and just let her go.”
“…That’s because…”
Christopher looked troubled by my words. Other princes also avoided my gaze, turned their heads away, or feigned distraction.
“Pardon my insolence, but could it be that Your Majesty doesn’t cherish the princes and princesses? I thought so seeing how you treat Princess Celenor… but considering Your Majesty’s affectionate actions towards her, it doesn’t seem to be the case…”
“Your mother loves me and our siblings dearly. As the Count said, she doesn’t view us in a negative light.”
“If so, then why..?”
Christopher paused for a moment and made a sound like ‘uhh…’ before reluctantly opening his mouth to speak to me.