The Heroic Tale Of A Villainous Prince

Just when I was about to give my brother Leo the satisfaction of being beaten up moderately, things suddenly started to look suspicious.

“I’ve heard that only those recommended by the school will participate in the tournament.”

“I don’t care what it takes.”

In other words, you are forced to participate? I see.

Well, I don’t really want to win, and …… my apology is just going to explode in front of the whole school.

“With all due respect, brother. Why do you have to go to such lengths to send me to the Imperial Games?”

“It’s decided. All the students of the school will gather for the game. There is no better place for you to admit your sins and apologize to Lucille than at ……. Otherwise, the scars of grief carved deep into Lucille will never heal.”

“Oh, ……, is that a grief mark?”

While I was tilting my head, Brother Leo’s gaze turned to Charu, who was watching the situation.

“I heard you got engaged to Charlotte.”

“Yes. I should have reported it to you myself, but ……”

“Lucille was hurt because you tried to take Charlotte away from me. If that’s the case, you’ll have to apologize to Charlotte when you lose.”

Yes, yes, apology apology apology ……, what the hell!

“…… brother. Charl has nothing to do with this matter. If you’re looking for an apology, I’m sure I can do it on my own.”

“Huh? So you admit your involvement?

Oh, shit. Oh, no. It’s like I just confessed to a crime I didn’t commit.

“No, sir. I’m saying there’s no need to involve Charles …… my fiancé.”

“It’s getting more and more suspicious that you’re so desperate to cover for her. …… I see. So Charlotte’s an accomplice! How despicable! I guess I should have condemned her right then and there. ……!”

“No, it’s nothing like that! Charu truely had nothing to do with this!”

“I don’t know. …… It’s only what the abomination says. There’s no one who trusts your words except for a few people who love you, right?”

“…………!”

You’ve hit a sore spot, …….

Well, that’s true. If everyone would just take my word for it, I wouldn’t have taken the villainous prince’s way in the first place.

“I’m convinced. I’m convinced that Charlotte is an accomplice. …… This two-week reprieve is my brother’s mercy. You and your fiancé should be able to get along and write an apology at the very least.”

With that, my brother left the training grounds with a majestic gait.

“Brotherly mercy. ……”

Don’t you realize, Brother Leo. The old you was not someone who would do something like this in the first place.

It seemed unlikely that we would be able to stay in the training area, so we left early and moved to the garden.

“Sorry. Charlotte. I’m sorry I dragged you into this.”

At the moment, I felt like I had screwed up.

I’ve dragged Charlotte into this.

“Don’t worry about it. …… It was rather nice.”

“Good”? What’s good? You’re supposed to be an accomplice.

“And we won’t have to make Al-kun the only villain anymore.”

“………… It’s staged, and it’s the only thing I can do. Don’t worry about it.”

“I do care. If possible, I don’t want you to hurt yourself like that anymore.”

“I am the Abominable Child. A cursed child who has been blessed by the Witch of the Night. A symbol of bad luck……. There’s no way people around me will take the words of such a person seriously. There is no way they will trust you. They will only look down on you and despise you behind your back. You can’t help your family with that. …… But if you’re the villainous prince and you do it this way, people will take you seriously.”

When I give orders, the only one who will act properly is my direct subordinate, the Shadow.

I wasn’t born this way by choice.

But what’s born can’t be helped.

How do you live with the cards in your hand that you can play? I’m sorry to say that I didn’t have any cards in my hand to choose from.

So I gave up. I decided to give up and play the role of the —- villain prince.

‘Then let’s try to get them to trust us! I’ll help you!”

“It’s hard for me to do that as a trustworthy …… ‘abomination’, so I use this method, the villainous prince.”

“It’s difficult, but the possibility is not zero. But if you don’t try, nothing will happen……., right?”

This is exactly what it means to be caught off guard.

This is the day Charlotte handed me the picture book she tried to leave behind when she was a child.

That’s what I told her at ……. I’m sure I said that . The main character in the picture book had a beautiful line.

“You’re trying to get back at me.”

“Hmmm. …… You remembered.”

“How could I forget? In fact, I’m surprised you even remembered.”

I’ll never forget it. At that time, Al’s words saved my life. He saved me from losing my faith in the goal that I held in my heart, which was on the verge of …… disappearing.”

Even though Charlotte and I spoke to each other, it was only for a short time compared to my brother Leo. So I thought that she had long forgotten about that time.

“I was and still am …… twice saved by Al-kun. I’m sad to say that people around here have the misconception that Al-kun is a villain, and I don’t want to be prejudiced against him as an ‘abomination.”

“Besides.” Charlotte flashed a smile.

“A country where everyone can get along. That’s my dream.”

Too childish.

“Even though your fiancé betrayed you, even though no one believes you, …… Char, you can still say it. Such a beautiful line.”

But it’s too dazzling.

If it weren’t for Al’s help, I might have never told you.”

You can still say such beautiful things about —-, can’t you?

“I’m not saying it’s the same as Al’s, but …… I know it too. I know how hard it is to have people around you not believe in you.”

At the time when Charles was forced to break off the engagement, the students around her who believed in …… Brother Leo’s words looked at her as if she were a sinner.It's always sad when people don't believe in you. ...... Especially if it's someone you care about. ......Because I know, I want to stop it. I don't want anyone else to have to go through that."

It’s always the “abomination” that does the talking. There is no one who trusts your words except a few people who love you, right?

My words did not reach Brother Leo.

…… In the end, me and Charu were the ones who were not trusted by Brother Leo.

“Oh man, …….”

It stung me more than I thought it would.

And Brother Leo’s words. And Char’s wish.

“I only know one role that I’ve been given. I’ve only known one role, and I never …… thought there was any other role.”

No matter what Charu says, it is always a beautiful thing.

I don’t even think I’ve been given the wrong role. But I thought it would be a shame to …… let this beautiful thing, her light, go out.

“Then let’s think about it together. I’ll help you, and so will Makina-san.”

The hand that wraps around you is warm. But they are trembling slightly.

I’m worried. Even Charu. Still, …….

“Since your cute fiancé is asking for so much, why don’t you give in once in a while, Al-sama?”

The one who entered the conversation was Makina, who made an extra pot of tea.

I appreciate her lightness as usual. No, I think she dared to do so.

“………… I guess.”

Other paths I hadn’t considered. Other options.

Maybe —- is a good place to start if someone has shown that to you.

“Sometimes you just have to do things differently.”

“Haha …… Oh dear. My cute fiancé finally asked me to do it. You’re a real cash cow, aren’t you Al?”

“Shut up! That’s not the point, it’s what we’re going to do now!”

Oh, he’s getting away.

“You’re running away..”

Charu and Makina are giggling in a friendly manner. They’re in perfect balance. I hope you don’t get any strange influences from …… Makina.

“So let’s get the situation straight. As of now, Al-kun will participate in the game in front of the Emperor in two weeks time, where he will have a match with Leol-sama, right?”

“If you lose, it will be a public apology show by Al and Charlotte. I’m going to be honest and ask you this. So, let me ask you bluntly. Master Al.”

Makina took a breath.

“Do you intend to defeat Master Leor?”

She asked the root of the problem.

So be it. The way things have been going, I’m going to lose to Brother Leo on purpose in the first place.

But I can’t do it this time. I’m not going to involve Charu in my ways.

“…… Honestly, I won’t know until I try. I’ve never really fought my brother Leo before.”

Makina must have some thoughts about my words.

She looked down, as if to pretend she hadn’t noticed something.

“Hmmm, ……, you’ll need to have an insurance policy. It’s no good if you lose the game the first time you try it.”

“I guess. Well, Brother Leo’s goal is to get us to confess to our crimes and apologize in front of the whole school. Winning or losing is secondary. So the most important thing we have to think about is ‘proving that me and Charu are not the culprits who were persecuting Lucille.”

“If that’s the case, we need to find out if Lucille was actually harmed in any way in the first place. …… We also need to look into that. If you can find the real culprit, that would be the best.”

“That’s right. Well, leave that to us, the shadows.”

Shadow’s research skills are excellent. The fact that it has been lent out to the King’s father from time to time proves its ability.

“Two weeks to go before the game. …… The only thing we can do is ……”

“Right on! “Let’s get more allies! Operation Image Enhancement! That’s right!

“Don’t take my line!”

And what’s with the name of the operation?

“Hmmm. Makina-chan is a plundering maid.”

Some maids are so annoying!

“I’m sure that Leol-sama will claim that Al-sama and Charlotte-sama are accomplices, based on what he just said. If this continues, the image of Charlotte-sama as a ‘victim’ that Al-sama has created will be destroyed.”

“I guess. When that happens, there’s no telling when the absolution show will start again, like it did at the exchange party. There will be nothing for at least two weeks before the preliminaries are held, but there are no …… guarantees.”

“Even if not, the more Al-sama’s reputation falls, the more Charlotte-sama’s reputation will also fall in no small measure. You understand that, don’t you?”

“………… Well, yeah. That’s what my dad wanted when he made Charlotte my fiancée.”

I was still going to change my ways, but it had the opposite effect. I thought that as long as I could get rid of my brother Leo, I could just cancel the engagement or whatever. That was shallow.

I realized that my actions had a negative impact on Charlotte, and that I was putting her in unnecessary danger.

“You don’t know what it’s like until it hurts, do you? Master Al is.”

“Shut up. I feel bad for …… Char.”

“I don’t mind. In fact, don’t you think it’s more like your fiancé to get involved?”

“It’s a good thing your pretty fiancée is positive, Master Al.”

There was no room for objection on that point, so I kept silent. Whether she knows it or not. Machina’s smiling face is a bit annoying, oi.

“In the first place, it is strange that the third prince should be exposed and made to apologize in front of the whole school. But now, it’s acceptable. Why? It’s because Al-sama’s image is bad and he has too few allies to easily allow such a thing to happen.”

“Can’t we ask His Majesty the King to help us?”

“Hmmm, …… that might be a good idea, but it’s difficult. Even though there is no proof, the fact remains that a commoner named Lucille was tricked by the third prince. If you cover for him in a big way, it will lead to distrust of His Majesty the King.”

“I see. …… Then we can’t ask for His Majesty’s help, can we?”

“So what we need to do is to improve the image of Al-sama and Charlotte-sama. At the very least, we need to overturn the current image of us as accomplices to Lucille’s atrocities, otherwise we might be falsely accused again, and we won’t be able to gain any allies.”

“I think the quickest way to improve your image is to get some kind of credit or achievement.”

That’s right. In other words, it’s fine if Al-sama and Charlotte-sama play an active role and take credit for it. At the same time, it would be best if you could sell your favor. You might be able to get that person on your side.”

“If we don’t increase our allies, we’ll be left on our own when the time comes, or worse, we could be deported.”

“It’s the so-called ‘Al-sama Faction’. Well, compared to the biggest faction, the Leol faction, they are as good as nothing, so if they were to be ordered to leave the country at this rate, they would be gone before they could even argue. If the other royals want to, they can easily get rid of him at any time, because Al-sama has few allies.”

“But if we increase our allies, they won’t be able to touch …… Al-kun as easily, is that right?”

“That’s right. If we can get the big fish on our side, Leol-sama won’t be able to get to him easily. And above all, the trustworthiness of the people around you will increase. It’s a good idea to have a good image with your friends and family. ……Ah, but now that Charu-sama is here, I’m sure we can expect the cooperation of the Dukes of Mersenne. In addition to that, it is certainly better to increase the number of other people.”

“I see. …… So, ‘improving your image’ is also connected to ‘increasing your allies’?”

“That’s what I’m talking about. So let’s review. What we need to do during the two weeks before the game starts is to improve the image of Al-sama and the others. And to increase the number of allies. However, this is an insurance policy based on the premise that Al-sama will lose the match, so it would be best if he wins.”

“You don’t know that until you try it.”

“Let’s just say it’s ……. Whether you win or lose, you’ll need something like this in the future.”

Ignoring that meaningful look, Makina shrugged her shoulders

“Whether it’s ‘improving your image’ or ‘gaining allies’, it’s going to be very difficult to do in two weeks.”

“Still, let’s give it a shot.”

“…… I agree.”

I don’t care what strangers think of me, but I wanted my …… family to believe me.

But the words didn’t reach Brother Leo.

He didn’t believe anything I said.

So at least I want to be the one who can make my family believe in my words.

That’s what I thought.

I’m done being a shadow.”

It is a resolution. It is a declaration.

It’s a way to give shape to the resolve that comes to my heart.