Chapter Seven: The Prince, the Butler, and the Trap

A week had passed since the incident where Herscherik had left the capital to travel to Meria’s home town. During that week, Herscherik packed by day and gathered all sorts of documentation on Grim’s rule from the various departments in the castle with Kuro in tow. It was a busy week for the little prince, but he even managed to sneak out into the castle town after hearing from Kuro that the fruit stand couple wa worried about him.

The couple had welcomed him like Herscherik was their own. Of course, Louise’s husband remained outwardly stoic, but he ruffled Herscherik’s hair with his large hand as Louise embraced him. When they asked him why he hadn’t been showing up, Herscherik only said that he had been struck with a headache, fever, and dizziness (not mentioning the kidnapping, of course). This led to Louise worrying even more about his health. As a token of her well-wishes, Louise gave him some pastries, while her husband, for some unknown reason, gave him a stuffed bear. On another note, when Herscherik saw this stoic man’s ears redden as he handed over the bear, Herscherik realized why Louise had fallen for him.

On the day of his departure, the formation of Herscherik’s travel party was as follows: the carriage carrying Meria and their belongings trailed Herscherik’s carriage, which were both surrounded by 25 guards in all, including a captain of the Knights’ Order and the coachmen of the carriages themselves.

After a week on the road, the prince’s angelic face twisted in discomfort atop his secured carriage.

“Are we there yet, Kuro?” he exhaustedly asked his butler of service Schwarz, aka Kuro.

Kuro sighed at his master’s question, not even trying to hide his annoyance. “Nothing’s changed in the past ten minutes, Hersch. You know we’re still a week away.”

They had planned for a leisurely two-week’s ride to Meria’s home town. Reminded of the hard truth that they were only halfway through it, Herscherik’s face turned even greener.

“You’re so mean, Kuro... And I feel sick.” The prince groaned and buried himself in the pile of cushions, prepared by the very butler he had just criticized. The young prince, however, was too worse for wear to even thank Kuro for his display of loyalty. “Why is it so bumpy...?” he managed to squeeze out before fighting back a wave of nausea rising up in his throat.

“We’re in a carriage.” Kuro shut him down.

Herscherik, the highest-ranking individual on the entire travel party, had fallen victim to carriage-sickness.

I always got sick in my last life, too. Ryoko had always gotten carsick every time she wasn’t driving and even on trains. Roller coasters were out of the question. Whenever she had to travel, her only defense tactic was to set an alarm on her phone and drift off into dreamland. Even that tried-and-true method of defense was impossible while sitting in a carriage rolling down an unpaved road. Just as Herscherik began to entertain the idea of asking Kuro to forcibly knock him out, his butler of service held out a canteen.

“Water. It should refresh you somewhat.”

“Thank you...” Herscherik accepted it, grateful to Kuro for taking care of him despite his dismissive tone. Taking a sip from the canteen, he gave Kuro a stealthy glance. He’s a bona-fide butler, now. No one would believe that he used to be a spy. Kuro, who now donned a well-tailored black uniform, looked far from being an ex-spy with a dubious background and more like a member of the nobility.

Since assuming the role of butler of service, Kuro had adopted the pseudonym of Schwarz Zweig and the background of being a son of the Viscount Zweig. There was no truth in that, of course, but after Rook pulled some strings and the king accepted Kuro’s role, there was no room for opposition. Naturally, Herscherik kept his mouth shut, too. Kuro seemed to have a natural talent for every skill required of a butler, from table and speaking etiquette to paperwork and self-defense. “Infiltration’s not the only trick in my bag,” he had said when Herscherik couldn’t help but ask him about how Kuro had so easily taken on his new role. Sneaking into places in the dead of night wasn’t his only tactic as a spy. He had disguised himself as a servant in a noble’s manor, a waiter in a café, and even a prostitute in a brothel to collect the information he needed. His job was to blend into any environment so he could manipulate conversations so that people revealed the information he needed. Of course, his job often ended up requiring more violent measures as well, so he could definitely handle a handful of street thugs. Herscherik even guessed that Kuro was stronger than the royal guards who rode with them. Kuro’s job had always been to accomplish the mission by utilizing any and all techniques that best served his agenda. In fact, his successful career had brought him to where he was today.

Those are some high stats... Herscherik thought as he returned the canteen to Kuro and buried himself back into the pile of cushions. He couldn’t help but feel the same sense of defeat he had felt countless times in this world. Why did everyone around him seem so perfect while he had no talent for anything?

After another week of wallowing in his sense of defeat, powerlessness, and carriage sickness, Herscherik finally arrived at Meria’s hometown, formerly ruled by the late Ruseria.

“Welcome, Prince Herscherik!”

When Herscherik’s party arrived in town as the sky was painted sunset orange, they were greeted by Count Grim, who had entrapped Ruseria in the first place, and all of his servants. The sight of all of his servants lined up in a uniform bow was an impressive sight. Moreover, Grim knew how to draw attention to himself. He wore what must have been a top-shelf fur over his shoulder and at least one ring on each finger, every single one made with either gold or silver and jewels. His gut had grown since Herscherik had last encountered him. The count’s skin seemed to glisten more, too, as well as the top of his balding head.

Keep going bald... Keep going bald... Herscherik silently cursed, though he let none of it crack through his flawless, princely smile. “Count Grim, thank you for welcoming us on such a short notice.”

Both the female and male servants let out a sigh at Herscherik’s adorable smile.

“It must have been an arduous journey. I hope Your Highness didn’t encounter any monsters,” Grim asked, with a smile and audible concern.

Herscherik’s dropped his smile and replaced it with an uneasy look. “We did, a few times. I’ve never seen them before.”

Over the course of the two-week journey, they had been attacked by monsters, which were essentially animals that gained magic and grew feral. The monsters that Herscherik saw through the window of the carriage were terrifying and reminded him of a particular horror game. The first horde of monsters they had encountered were wolf-like beings with black fur and eerily glimmering blood-colored eyes. These monsters were easily taller than Herscherik. Kuro had explained to him, as the prince curiously watched through the window, that monsters grow in both size and physical capabilities compared to other animals. Monsters had the instinct to seek out prey with as much inner magic as possible in order to bolster their own magic and physical strength. Naturally, many monsters set their eyes on humans, since almost all people had Magic Within. The Knights’ Order of Gracis regularly deployed monster-hunting teams to various locations, and some regional lords hired mercenaries to deal with them. That being said, the intelligence of monsters was not too different from that of wild animals, which limited how threatening they could be even in packs. While exceptionally powerful monsters would appear occasionally, people dealt with monsters like they were especially troublesome animals for the most part. The monsters that attacked Herscherik’s party were no match for the royal guards and were dealt with in a manner of minutes.

Herscherik didn’t enjoy recalling that scene, though. They don’t just vanish like they do in video games... He felt a little sick thinking about it, in fact. The knights had tossed the monster carcasses to the side of the road or into the woods, which was a gruesome sight that reminded him again of that particular horror game.

While Ryoko was a serious gamer, horror games were the only genre she had steered clear of. Once, she tried a horror game that was recommended to her only to have a dream that night that was scary in more ways than one—a skeleton soldier chasing her down with its weapon in one hand and an invoice in another. The number on the invoice was so realistic that Ryoko double checked her papers at the office the following day to find that she had nearly forgotten to process a payment. Despite that silver lining, she had never felt thankful for the existence of either horror games or sentient skeletons.

“I’ve never seen them in the capital, so I was really surprised.” Herscherik shuddered at the recurring imagery of the monsters in his head.

“Of course, of course. I am relieved to see that Your Highness has arrived safely. It is late in the day, and Your Highness must be tired. Please, enjoy some rest at the annex I’ve prepared until dinner is prepared.” Grim pointed to a building atop a hill on the other side of a patch of woods. “There is plenty of room for the royal guards, of course. I’ve prepared a humble feast for tonight, which should be ready at six o’clock. I hope to see you at the main hall at that time.”

“Six o’clock,” Herscherik repeated as he checked the time on his watch that he produced from his pocket. It was a few minutes past four. “I will escort my nanny to her home, then. I’ll be back in time to... Count Grim?” Herscherik turned to the quiet Grim. The count’s all-too-obvious smile was nowhere to be found, replaced by a colorless and frozen expression. Herscherik cocked his head at the sudden change in Grim the instant he had looked away. “Is something the matter, Count Grim?”

“N-No! Nothing is the matter, Your Highness. I look forward to seeing you tonight!” Grim rushed to cover up the shift in his attitude.

Herscherik, curious of Grim’s reaction, gave Kuro a look. With an understanding smile and elegant bow, he spoke with the leader of the royal guards. They sent the carriage with the prince’s belongings and half of the knights aboard to the annex, followed by the other half of the knights. Then, Kuro put Herscherik and Meria on the other carriage and borrowed one of the knight’s horses. Kuro’s riding style was just as elegant as everything else he did, causing some murmurs among Grim’s servants for a different reason than Herscherik did. Of course, the female servants were the only ones who were stirred by Kuro.

Once the carriage started on its way, Herscherik began seeing houses and fields outside of the window but less foot traffic than he had expected. The fields were mostly barren, too, despite it being mid-autumn.

“Did they already harvest these fields, Meria?” Herscherik asked his nanny, as familiar as he had always been, although Meria had been acting awkwardly around the prince since the kidnapping incident.

Meria jerked her shoulders at the question before timidly looking up at the window to observe the scenery. She slowly shook her head. “No... There would usually be more crops like wheat in the field. My parents told me that the weather was particularly harsh this year, limiting their yield.”

In short, they had already harvested anything they could. Herscherik further learned that a storm had flooded the river and farms in early summer, and there was a long drought in mid-summer. Proper irrigation would have drastically mitigated this damage. Herscherik could easily assume that Grim could not be bothered to do even that. Their soil was not rich to begin with by any means, and their yield was always lacking compared to neighboring lands. When they neglected maintenance on top of that, these results could have been expected.

Herscherik recalled the documents he had read on this land back at the castle. Because of their historically poor yield, they had been receiving financial aid to make up for the lack of tax revenue. Seeing how extravagant Grim’s personal spending seemed to be, Herscherik couldn’t imagine that aid was being used for its intended purpose. Moreover, the lord of the land was supposed to have a reserve of savings to deal with things like the occasional poor yield. Financial aid was supposed to be reserved for regions affected by a catastrophe too devastating for even their lord’s savings to cover.

“Prince Herscherik?” Meria timidly called to Herscherik, whose expression had grown sterner with every thought.

The prince rushed to give Meria a reassuring smile.

Meria’s family acted as the leader of their neighboring farmsteads. While not as extravagant as the lord’s manor, their house was a good bit larger than most others. News seemed to precede Herscherik’s arrival, as Meria’s parents were already standing outside the front door by the time the carriage arrived. Just as Meria had said, her parents seemed emaciated, in stark contrast to the count.

As soon as Herscherik stepped off of the carriage, with barely any introductions, they bowed so sharply in apology that Herscherik thought they might snap in half. “Your Highness, we beg your forgiveness for the despicable actions of our daughter and family members.” They already seemed to know the events that had transpired and believed that the prince was responsible for their daughter making it home alive after what she had done. Herscherik rushed to look around him after the sudden apology, but Kuro had sent the royal guards to patrol the surroundings before the apology came out, preventing them from hearing that part of it.

Herscherik turned back to Meria’s parents, relieved. “Um... It’s chilly out here. May I come in?” He added a dramatic shiver.

It was against etiquette for Herscherik, the guest, to ask without being offered, but he was concerned for the health of Meria’s parents. He was worried that they would go to extreme lengths to apologize for their daughter.

The group settled into the living room with a fireplace, where Herscherik asked Meria’s parents to tell their story. Accordingly, Meria’s cousins had told Meria’s parents about what they did, what they intended to do, and what kind of person Herscherik was, as soon as they’d made it out of the capital. The cousins apologized to her parents.

“Your Highness, if anyone must be punished, all responsibilities for their actions fall on me as their patriarch. I beg you, please forgive those young ones,” Meria’s father said, bowing deeply again.

Meria’s parents seemed to think that Herscherik had come all this way to pass judgment and mete out punishment.

Instead, Herscherik shook his head. “I didn’t come here to punish you or anyone involved in the incident. They asked for help, so I came to fulfill my duty as a member of the royal family... Things must have been tough since Ruseria’s passing.” Herscherik showed them the antique silver pocket watch. Upon seeing the watch, Meria’s parents gasped, their eyes tearing up. Herscherik could tell how much Ruseria had meant to the people of this land from that reaction alone. “I’m sorry you’ve had to endure so much. I’m here to make this better. I promise.” Herscherik smiled.

Meria’s parents nodded over and over again, unable to form any words. The sight of them holding back tears with quivering shoulders reminded Herscherik of the towns he had visited on the trip here.

For consideration of Herscherik’s status and health, they had spent the night in towns along the travel road whenever possible. In fact, Herscherik was worn out by the welcome he received at each stop. Moreover, he was distressed by the eyes of the people that welcomed him. Herscherik had seen fear and disdain in their cold eyes amidst the superficially warm welcome. The looks given to him seemed like the people’s evaluation of the royalty and the nation as a whole.

At this rate, we’re doomed, Herscherik thought.

Meria, her parents, and every single one of those people who had given him those looks along his journey deserved to be protected by their government. Every single one of their cries for help were intercepted by someone before they reached the castle. The interceptor could be a lord, a government official, a noble... anyone under the thumb of the marquis Barbosse. They were cunning at concealing crime and protecting the contents of their pockets. There was no country without its people. Nations that protected their people prospered, and nations that neglected their people only fell. Rebuilding the people’s trust in Gracis might take more trials and tribulations than Herscherik could imagine. That realization had weighed heavy on the prince’s chest. Even so, Herscherik had renewed resolve to change his nation. He gripped his fists tighter.

The “humble” feast Grim had prepared turned out to be an extremely exorbitant affair by the standards of any of its invitees. Dishes made from expensive foods filled the table before them, in massive quantities. There were three different appetizers and entrées mostly made of meat: stew, a white roasted bird, something that resembled roast beef, and sausage platters. Various breads were prepared by the basketful, and desserts ranged from bowls of fruit to pies and cakes. Herscherik could not even finish his share of the mountain of food that filled the dining table, which was not small by any means. At any other time, he might have decently enjoyed a dinner like this. But after being rocked by a carriage for two weeks straight for the first time in his life, his exhaustion crushed his appetite. Even worse, watching Grim guzzling his food down as he chewed with his mouth open completely killed what little appetite Herscherik had left. Herscherik was very thankful for being seated on the other end of the dining table from Grim. Herscherik had sampled a few dishes, after Kuro had tasted them for poison, but his stomach revolted at the greasy food, so he quickly gave up on the meal.

After dinner, Herscherik and his party headed to the three-story annex that was prepared for them. Herscherik’s room was the most extravagant one on the third floor. The royal guards would sleep on the first and second floors, leaving the third floor reserved for Herscherik and his butler. The guards had set up a night watch schedule.

It was almost too cold to be mid-autumn, but the pre-lit fireplace was keeping the room warm. Herscherik checked his watch to see that it was past eleven o’clock. He could see the lord’s manor from the window, most of its windows darkened. Seeing that, Herscherik leaped from the sofa in front of the fireplace.

“I’m headed out,” Herscherik declared as he nonchalantly threw on his coat.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Kuro demanded without a pause.

“Huh? To gather evidence...?” Herscherik crooked his neck, trying his best to look adorable.

Kuro couldn’t help but gaze up at the ceiling. Why would the prince ever even think of taking on the task himself when Kuro was standing right there? Kuro would have demanded his master for some answers, if he could have.

“What do you think I’m here for?” Kuro pointed. “Just stay here and stay out of trouble.”

“Aww...” Herscherik groaned, obviously disappointed. Kuro didn’t ask why but only patted Herscherik’s head and then squeezed down.

“Owow ow ow ow ow ow!”

“Do not leave this room. Under any circumstances. Just go to bed,” Kuro stated, emphasizing one word at a time.

Once Kuro released him, Herscherik clasped his head as he crouched to the ground. “I thought I was your boss.” He looked up at his butler, tears in his eyes.

With a mocking grin, Kuro gave an immaculate bow and left the room. Neither his steps nor him closing the door made the slightest sound.

It’s Kuro. What’s there to worry about...? Herscherik tried to convince himself. He had been an infamous spy, after all. No matter how many times he reminded himself of that, though, Herscherik couldn’t help but worry. Despite being told to go to bed, Herscherik decided to stay up until Kuro’s return. He brought the blanket over from the bed since the room was still a little chilly, even with the fireplace lit. Don’t want to catch a cold. He curled up in the blanket on the sofa and stared into the flickering orange flames... which turned out to be to his detriment. Partially from the exhaustion of the trip, Herscherik began nodding off in a matter of minutes.

“Ryoko, you’ll catch a cold if you sleep at the kotatsu!”

Ryoko woke up from her dream, starting violently. Apparently, she had fallen asleep at the kotatsu at her parents’ house playing a video game. Her mother gave her head a light pat and left the room grumbling. Since Ryoko was there for her own birthday celebration, she wasn’t asked to help with anything. Even her mother, who often nagged her about this and that, left Ryoko to spend a lazy afternoon lounging about the house. Ryoko turned her portable video game console on from sleep mode. A character appeared on the screen—the hottie she was working on scoring in her dating sim.

“Hm-hm-hm...” A muffled, creepy laugh escaped her lips. Anyone would have given her the side eye if they’d heard.

This one’s a huge hit! Yes, oh, yes! Ryoko silently applauded the game, pulling up the stats of the game’s player-character. Alongside the stats, the screen showed her progress in winning over the object of her affection. Lately, many of the female-led dating sims consisted of simply choosing dialog options. Ryoko, a seasoned gamer, wasn’t too happy about that trend. I guess it works for people who just want to look at cute boys.

This new title, however, was perfectly challenging. The player chose from a selection of three potential female protagonists before improving their stats and growing closer to their target hottie. Some events didn’t trigger if the protagonist’s stats were lacking or if the player made the wrong choice. Some events triggered entirely by chance. To boot, the game provided a fruitful selection of twelve sexy men to choose and conquer. In addition to masterful artwork, the game boasted a diverse voice cast, from established industry stars to up-and-coming talent. With an incredible three possible endings per hottie, Ryoko couldn’t help but be impressed by the full potential of the developers. She could nearly hear the joyous cries of other gamers imagining the money and effort that had gone into the game’s creation. To top it all off, there was one love interest that only became available after conquering all twelve hotties and acquiring all the skills available in the game.

Lately, Ryoko had been playing this game nonstop, even cutting into her sleep schedule. Just as she was starting to enjoy her game and creepily chuckling, a voice and a sound came from the front door, though Ryoko was too deeply enthralled to realize.

“...That’s gross, Sis.” The middle sister of the family had peeked into the room from the hallway, looking down at her older sister at the kotatsu.

Ryoko looked up from her console screen. “Welcome home!”

“Aunt Ryoko!” Ryoko’s niece poked her head out from behind her mother.

“What’s up, kiddo?”

Ryoko’s brother-in-law appeared beside them and gave a little nod, at which Ryoko rushed to correct her posture and return a bow.

“We’re here for your birthday,” Ryoko’s sister remarked. “What are you being a walrus for?”

“Who’re you calling a walrus? Is it time, already?” Ryoko checked the clock on the wall to find that it was half past three. They had decided on an early dinner at four.

The front door could be heard opening again, with a voice saying, “I’m home!”

“Stop saying that every time you come over,” Ryoko’s mother responded. “You’re married now!”

Ryoko sussed out that the first voice belonged to their youngest sister.

“I’m home, Sis,” she said, turning the corner into the living room. “Ready to celebrate your descent into your forties?”

“Welcome home. Now shut up.” Ryoko gave a little snarl.

Her youngest sister laughed. While her husband seemed a little nervous behind her, a little back-and-forth like this was merely some sisterly bonding. Since the youngest sister had just married the year before last, Ryoko had not had a long relationship with her husband, who was only a year younger than Ryoko. Because of their considerable age difference, Ryoko’s youngest sister had hesitated a while before marrying her now-husband.

When her sister approached her with the topic, Ryoko had declared, “I don’t care if he’s the same age or even older than me. He will respect me as the oldest sister.” Her youngest sister looked dumbfounded. She must have felt silly to even worry about the age difference after that, as she’d gone ahead with the marriage in the blink of an eye.

“Won’t any of my daughters come help me?” her mother called from the kitchen. “And you better not make your husbands lift a finger!”

Everyone save for Ryoko moved to their places. Ryoko called her niece to the kotatsu. She climbed right under.

“So,” Ryoko started, “how’s it going between mommy and daddy?”

Her niece answered with silence, which Ryoko met with a chuckle. Despite having no children of her own, Ryoko had been asked for advice regarding this niece. She recalled how, when she was her niece’s age, she had followed her mother around like a puppy dog. The second sister of the family had already been born at the time, but Ryoko had been excited about her mother telling her to “take care of her younger sister.” Ryoko wondered if children nowadays reached their rebellious phase early, since they grew up faster.

“Mom gets mad all the time. Dad’s super annoying.”

“Oh, really?” Ryoko shrugged at her niece’s age-appropriate assessment. “Your mom only tells you to do things because she loves you. If she didn’t like you, she wouldn’t bother with it at all. And don’t you call your father annoying. Without him working hard, you won’t have food to eat, nice clothes to wear, or even be able to go to school. But you know all that already, don’t you?”

Her niece frowned. There would be no rebellious teens left in this world if all of them could control their emotions with logic. Ryoko called her over with a gesture and grasped the girl’s face with both hands. Ryoko met her niece eye to eye, keeping her from looking away. “Your mommy and daddy are human, too. They’ll have some bad days and things that bother them. So, sometimes they might be harsher to you than they should be.” No parent was perfect. In fact, parents grew with their children. Ryoko knew that her sister and her husband were figuring things out through their first experience of raising a child, so she tried to take every opportunity to assist in that area as much as she could. “So, I want you to help them a little bit. Promise your auntie that you won’t call your mom or dad annoying anymore. It makes me sad, too, when you do that.” Her niece tried in vain to escape Ryoko’s grasp and turn away. After a few moments, the girl relented and nodded. “Good girl. I’m a proud auntie!” Ryoko released her niece.

The girl muttered, “I wish you were my mom.”

“Now, now. The only reason I can be this way is because I’m your auntie. I have the special privilege to spoil my little niece as much as I want. But parents don’t have that same privilege. Parents have to raise their children right. If you were my daughter, I’d be so worried that I’d nag you with things every day.” Ryoko understood that she had no real responsibility. How her niece would turn out was entirely on the shoulder of her parents. She considered anything beyond spoiling her niece to be overstepping her boundaries, including the little talking-to she’d just given. Still, she couldn’t help but try if her words had a chance of affecting her niece in any capacity so her sister’s life would be easier at home. “Try asking your mom how I was when we were kids. I bet she’ll tell you that I was a nagging Nancy.”

Ryoko had always been the one to scold her sisters at every turn. While her parents had scolded their children too, Ryoko could imagine how annoying it must have been to have an older sister who would scold them for hours on end, repeating the same point over and over until she lost her train of thought and started crying. In fact, she couldn’t imagine anyone more annoying than her younger self. That was a time in her life she wished she could erase from history.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom,” Ryoko declared in embarrassment and left her niece at the kotatsu.

She turned into the hallway to find her two brothers-in-law hiding around the corner. They let out a chuckle as their eyes met Ryoko’s.

“I’m sorry about that,” her niece’s father apologized.

Ryoko shook her head. “You’re raising a child. I know it’s tough. You can talk to me about anything you want. She’s my niece, and you two are my brothers. You can always come to me.” She patted the shoulder of her niece’s father.

“My wife’s pregnant, too,” the husband of the youngest sister said. “We don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl, but, well... we’ll take you up on that.”

“Congratulations!” Ryoko cried. “Why are we bothering with a silly birthday party for me, then?” Ryoko clapped her hands.

Just as she was about to ask what to get them for the baby shower, a voice called out from the dining room. Dinner was ready. Ryoko’s niece turned off the kotatsu and came into the hallway. She made an awkward expression as she made eye contact with her father, but Ryoko patted the girls head and sent her along, and her brothers-in-law followed. When Ryoko finally walked into the room, her father was waiting for her, a bottle of wine in hand.

“Wow, I sure am happy.” Ryoko blurted out exactly how she felt. While she didn’t end up married herself, her days were filled with mundane happiness, surrounded by family. Ryoko wished for these days to go on forever and didn’t doubt that they would. Then, she happened to turn her gaze to the yard. Outside the door to the yard, her dog Kuro was wagging his tail as hard as he could.

“Kuro...?” In an instant, Kuro transformed to a tall young man with deep, ruby-like eyes. That’s when Ryoko realized that she was in a dream. A future she had wished for, without her death or reincarnation. “I know, Kuro.” Ryoko looked down at herself to find that she was no longer Ryoko Hayakawa but Herscherik Gracis, the Seventh Prince of the Gracis Kingdom. Herscherik turned away from the dining room and headed to the front door... where he awaited. When Herscherik opened the front door, he welcomed the prince with a smile and an elegant bow.

Herscherik repeated the words that Ryoko had said each time she left. “I’ll be home soon.” He turned around to find the whole family seeing him off with smiles on their faces.

Herscherik awoke in a muggy heat that resembled mid-summer. Even after opening his eyes he could barely see anything, his vision obscured as if by a cloud of smoke.

In fact, his room literally was filled with smoke.

“A fire!?” Herscherik flashed past a state of panic in an instant to reach a “second wind” of calmness. This could have been attributed to the training Ryoko had gone through; her neighborhood was enthusiastic about fire drills. She remembered fondly how her elementary school principal had furiously scolded the students that slacked off during one such drill. “If this was a real fire, half of you would have died. How do you expect to survive a real fire when you can’t even manage a drill!?” He’d shouted at the students lined up in the school yard and then ordered a redo of the drill. If the students didn’t make it out of the building in time or chatted on the way out, the whole school would have to do all of it over again. After several attempts, the principal welcomed the students with a smile as they emerged from the school buildings with a military-grade march and zero chattering.

“I am very proud of you, students. Even during a real emergency, I am now confident that not a single one of you will be left behind.” The last Ryoko had heard, all of the students in her old elementary school still diligently participated in fire drills. If any first- or second-graders talked during the drill, the older students shushed them, and the younger students followed suit as their upperclassmen meticulously lined up and marched out of the building. As the occasion came with respectful glances from their younger students, the older students were eager to show off. The one-for-all style fire drills had been passed down from generation to generation.

Having calmed himself down by remembering that experience, Herscherik immediately dove to the ground. He knew that smoke rose during fires, leaving more breathable air at the bottom. The first thing he had to avoid was inhaling smoke and falling unconscious. After much struggle, Herscherik arrived at the door to his room to find that it had been bolted or barricaded somehow and wouldn’t move an inch.

A trap? There was no doubt in Herscherik’s mind as to who had set this trap—it was all too easy to guess that it had been Grim. Still crawling on the floor, he checked his watch. It was not yet midnight. Did they catch on to us trying to gather evidence...? No, this is much too quick of a reaction for that. Besides, Herscherik doubted that Kuro, who could easily slip into the royal castle, would make such a blunder. Backed into a corner with nowhere to run. On top of being trapped inside his room, Herscherik had guessed that the fire had already reached the hallway right outside his room, judging from the heat and smoke. He glanced at the window with no emergency escape routes, unlike the buildings in his previous life. Herscherik, who wasn’t even five years old, was out of options. Then, he remembered what Kuro had told him. “Don’t leave this room.” Those were the words of his butler of service. Herscherik decided to steel himself.

Herscherik grabbed the blanket he had been using to shield himself from the cold and created water from the magic in his pocket watch. While magic-generated water wasn’t suitable for drinking, and he couldn’t make enough water to put out the fire with just the Floating Magic stored in the watch, he could dampen the blanket. Patting himself on the back for memorizing at least a few spells he could use with the magic in his watch, he repeatedly cast the spell until the entire blanket was soaked. Throwing the wet blanket over himself, Herscherik crawled to the corner of the room with the least amount of flammable furniture. I’m here, Kuro. Herscherik was determined to wait. He covered his mouth with the corner of the blanket and made himself as small as possible. Still, he could feel the heat of the roaring flames approaching him.

Kuro noticed the fire at the annex only after he had found numerous incriminating documents. He had changed out of his butler’s uniform and into his signature spyware that blended into the night and found piles of evidence for Grim’s corruption in an office on the third floor of his manor. Thanks to Grim’s arrogance, he believed that he had no need to hide any evidence in his own residence, and as a result Kuro had been able to find all of it with astonishing ease, just as he had been able to sneak into the manor without encountering any barriers nor any real security. Kuro pocketed a selection of evidence that Herscherik had requested and turned to the window as he readied himself to return to the annex—it was then that he saw the hill that hosted the annex glowing red, illuminating its surroundings.

Kuro sprung into action the instant he noticed the fire. He flung the window open and dove out of it without hesitation. In a flash, he grasped the branch of a nearby tree and flipped himself in the air to stand on it. In the same fluid motion, he stabbed a dagger into the trunk of the tree and dove off of the branch. The dagger slowed his fall, allowing Kuro to land on the ground silently. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he sprinted off toward the annex. Despite having to weave through the woods, Kuro showed no sign of slowing down.

When he was nearly at the annex, he heard a subtle whish. Kuro instinctively hid behind a tree. Two arrows struck the trunk of that tree, one after another.

“Nice dodge, Shadow Fang. You live up to your reputation.”

“Who’s there?” Kuro ran his eyes through the woods, searching for the attacker.

How does he know I’m Shadow Fang?

A lanky man with a gloomy aura emerged from behind a tree, as if to mock Kuro’s trepidation. Kuro just barely recognized the man, whom he had seen a few times at the underground guild, but only in passing.

“Don’t look so surprised,” the man continued. “It’s already the talk of the underground that Shadow Fang’s gone missing. Most of them think you were finally done in. I used to be one of them...” He scoffed. “No one would ever think that the Shadow Fang became the Seventh Prince’s butler of service. Not without paying a visit to the Oracle, at least. Whose ass did you kiss to make it up there?” He snarled with envy.

A fellow member of the underground, which normally held its residents until death, had emerged above the surface.

Tsk. Should have kept the Oracle quiet, Kuro thought, but he soon realized that it would have been impossible. The Oracle sold information to anyone who paid, without discrimination. It didn’t matter if the client was a noble, commoner, or even a criminal. This was precisely why agents of the underground frequented the Oracle in the first place.

“Been looking for me?”

“As if I have the time. Got a request to bring you in. Had no idea where you were, so I paid up. Well, telling them the truth about where you’ve weaseled yourself off to wouldn’t have boded well for me or the client. As far as they know, I never found you.”

While Kuro’s professionalism was irked by the man’s lying, Kuro guessed that his client must have been scheming for something extreme for this agent to back down that easily... Although the details of that scheme would never affect Kuro, he was revolted by the thought.

As soon as I’m back at the capital, I’ve got to wipe away my tracks. Otherwise, he would bring about all sorts of trouble to Herscherik. That much was as clear as day.

“And now we’re here ’cuz a new client wanted us to make some noise in this village... You get why I told you all this, right?” The man grinned.

Kuro knew full well. He could sense that he was surrounded by a good number of figures, with no easy escape route in sight.

...15, Kuro counted.

Their weapons gleamed under moonlight in the dark of the woods.

“Our client wants the prince gone. The mansion over there’s already a big bonfire. Now all we got to do is keep you busy or whack you right here to get a bonus. Killing the Shadow Fang won’t hurt my reputation, either.” The man seemed assured of his victory.

Kuro turned his eyes to them, devoid of emotion. He had put his work face on. “Make no mistake...” Why had Kuro, the infamous Shadow Fang, been simply standing there without a word, letting his assailant prattle on? No other reason than to gather information on who was stupid and incompetent enough to attempt such a thing. Of course, Kuro already had a good guess. “Dead men tell no tales.” Kuro had heard enough, and he no longer had any use for any of them.

Kuro cracked his expressionless face, letting out a cackle. His face twisted into a cruel grimace that he had never shown Herscherik.