While I was away, the crown prince somehow managed to make two mistakes. That's what I get for taking too long choosing an ordinary bottle of champagne. And of all places, he had to sit right in my seat and start causing trouble the moment I wasn't around.
But why was the crown prince lying face-down on the floor? Probably Lina hit him.
The king and the sword saint looked surprisingly calm.
The queen, however, was glaring angrily at Lina, while the princess stood there completely lost, unsure of what to do.
I walked toward them, straight to the only two people here who knew my secret, and asked:
"Your Majesty. Duke Somart. Did Lina say anything incorrect?"
"None," they both replied in perfect unison.
"And was Lina wrong to hit His Highness the Crown Prince?"
"Not wrong at all."
Both the king and the sword saint had clearly witnessed everything. So they really just stood there and watched the crown prince cause trouble? No… based on those expressions, they must've been testing Lina—to see if she'd actually fight back. That explains it.
But the queen, who knew nothing, burst out angrily.
"How could she be blameless?! She hit the crown prince—the future king of this nation!"
"Leanna," the king said, his voice heavy, "when I say she's not guilty, she's not guilty."
"But—"
"I'll explain once we return to the castle. Karen, do as you wish with Steve."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
I bowed, grabbed the crown prince by the collar, forced him upright, and began my lecture.
"Your Highness, aren't you supposed to be a gentleman? Do you not know it's rude to interrupt someone's conversation? And as I've told you before, touching a woman without permission—have you ever considered how she might feel? Most importantly, you called Lani a pet. Do you know she's a citizen of our country? Are you saying our people are no different from pets?"
Lani had been officially recognized by the king himself as a citizen. She already had full human rights. The crown prince must have read the report back then… or did he just ignore it?
I looked at the prince's face and almost gagged. How filthy could one man look? At his age, how does he still not know how to eat properly? And when I looked further down, even his clothes were dirty. And that smell…?
Vomit. Definitely vomit.
Still holding his collar, I dragged him aside and glanced behind him. The couch and the floor were smeared with puke. So Lina had beaten him until he threw up. Honestly… the floor was easy enough to clean, but the couch would be a headache.
Finally, unable to accept being lectured, the prince snapped back at me.
"It looks like a pet! What else would it be?!"
"Have you ever seen anyone keep a dragon as a pet?"
"It's a dragon!?"
Why was he acting so shocked? Lani looked like a dragon no matter which angle you viewed her from—and she even had the iconic wings.
"As expected, Your Highness really does have bad eyesight. Have you ever seen a cat or dog with wings growing out of its back? Now… how do you propose to fix this?"
I had plenty of ideas, but I wanted to hear his own solution. And the prince came up with something laughable.
"We'll settle this with a gentleman's duel!"
There he went again, chanting gentleman like a spell. He'd already done three extremely ungentlemanly things today, and he still had the face to say that. Whoever taught him etiquette should have their license revoked.
"A gentleman's duel? After doing three things that completely violate gentlemanly conduct? Why don't we do it the thug way instead? But are you sure you want to duel me?"
I had no idea what a gentleman's duel was supposed to be, and it sounded troublesome anyway. A thug duel sounded much more my style. Yet the prince answered firmly—
"Yes. Exactly."
I stared at him in disappointment. Had his IQ gone offline? No—maybe it had never been online to begin with. Or perhaps he really was stronger than the sword saint?
…Well, whatever the case, I'd one-shot him anyway.
Shaking my head, I turned to the king with a sigh.
"Then that's unfortunate. Your Majesty, please begin preparing His Highness's funeral."
"What!?"
The prince's pupils dilated as he shouted in shock. The king stood up and raised a hand to stop me.
"Karen, he is my only son. Please forgive him."
I shot the king a look sharp enough to kill. He just told me to deal with I wanted, but in the end, I still wasn't allowed to kill him. Fine, half-dead would do.
"Very well, for Your Majesty's sake, I won't kill you. Lina—tell me why the crown prince called Lani a pet."
The king finally lowered his hand, exhaling several deep breaths.
But I was curious what situation had led the prince to interact with Lani in the first place.
"Because he wanted to be my friend." Lina replied with clear disgust.
Ah. One of those classic scenarios. I got the picture immediately.
I released his collar, placed both hands on his shoulders, and pushed him down slightly.
"Trying to make friends, huh? You own a pet, don't you? And you used it as a pretext to talk to a girl?"
"Mm. Its name is Petty."
Oh~ Lina confirmed it. As expected—exactly the cliché I thought it was. Not a shred of originality in this man. I lifted one hand and patted his shoulder, half amused and half furious.
"So you were trying to hit on her. I invite you here to eat, and you try to take advantage of me the moment I turn my back. Great. Wonderful. I thought you were quiet because you were reflecting, but instead you tried pushing my bottom line."
"Lina is so beautiful! Any man would hit on her!"
He still dared to argue—and with a reason I absolutely refused to accept.
As if all men think with what's below their waist.
Fine. I'd make sure he couldn't think with anything for a while.
I tightened my grip on his shoulders and glared at him with widened eyes. The prince didn't flinch, still wearing that stupid expression. Good. He'd be scared soon enough.
"So now it's Lina's fault for being too beautiful? You can't control yourself and still dare blame someone else?"
Before he could reply, I slapped him across the face—hard.
PAK!
Aside from Lina, everyone stared wide-eyed at the prince whose head had snapped sideways. I let go of him.
He was the first to react, rubbing his cheek and shouting the classic line of a child spoiled beyond repair:
"You dare hit me!? Even Father has never hit me!"
Well, since the king never hit him, I'd help make up for it. He wasn't my child, and I've never needed to educate someone this stupid before. Then a thought sparked in my mind, and I turned to the king.
"Your Majesty, does he have a fiancée?"
Most noble children were betrothed young. And as the future king, he should have been betrothed even earlier.
"Yes. A very good girl." the king answered.
"She is not good!"
If she was good enough for the king to praise, then she must truly be a fine young woman. I trusted the king's eye.
The prince's protest didn't sway me.
I shot him a look like he was trash.
"Your Highness, you really are garbage. His Majesty says she's a good girl and you don't appreciate her? Instead you go around hitting on other women? Maybe I should break your legs so you can't leave the royal castle."
"That's harming royalty! That's a capital offense!"
His angry outburst did spark a thought—
If I didn't have strength, wouldn't everything I had done up to now be punishable by death?
But the king was on my side, so I didn't care.
I looked at him lazily.
"Your Majesty, do I have any crimes?"
"None."
With that one word, every negative emotion the prince had exploded. He flailed desperately, panicked, terrified as he appealed to the king.
"Father! I'm your only son! Do you really want to see me unable to walk?!"
"Good. Then you can stay in the castle forever and help me with affairs of state. I'll train you to become the next king."
That part, I disagreed with.
"Your Majesty, with His Highness's eyesight and intelligence, that's not going to work. Why not have him produce an heir instead and let that child take over?"
That was the solution I'd come up with.
The king nodded in agreement.
"Good suggestion. I'll consider it. We can begin preparations for the wedding ceremony soon."
The crown prince immediately panicked again, falling to his knees and grabbing the king's pant leg.
"Father! No! I don't want to marry Elena—she's terrifying!"
Just what kind of trauma had crown prince gone through?