Anecdote: The Shadow-Fanged Butler of the Reincarnated Prince

In the Kingdom of Gracis that stood as a superpower in the north of the continent—known as the Kingdom in Woe to neighboring nations—a young man was walking down a hallway in the royal castle. The time was already past midnight, but he had come across more than an average amount of knights and soldiers on patrol. This was because one of the princes, the king’s favorite prince in fact, had been kidnapped but returned safe. Every knight, soldier, and constable in the area had been deployed after the kidnapping was discovered. The prince in question, however, simply returned with his nanny as if nothing had happened. Members of the search party were called back to the castle to reinforce security, which had doubled the patrols throughout the castle. The young man in the hall whom Herscherik called Kuro, however, wasn’t bothered by it.

Kuro sneaked past the patrols in the corridor, recalling his conversation with the young prince he had just seen. I wish you could be my butler of service, Kuro, Herscherik had muttered. Kuro wasn’t aware that a trace of a smile formed on his face every time he remembered the prince’s remark. But just then, Kuro’s expression dampened. What the prince was trying to accomplish seemed impossible to Kuro. The prince was ready to charge into enemy territory with no regard for his own safety and without any measures to protect himself. Kuro assumed that Herscherik was aware of how dangerous it would be without Kuro having to tell him so, but Herscherik chose to enact his plan anyway. He chose the lives of his people over his own. While Kuro felt proud of the prince’s decision, he couldn’t help but feel frustrated at his current position. He had no right to criticize, stop, or even help Herscherik in his endeavor. Kuro tightened his fists.

Then, Kuro saw a light up ahead. Pegging it for a guard on patrol, Kuro immediately slipped through a nearby door—after making sure that no one was in the room, of course. The room appeared to be a private office of someone important. A wide desk sat in the center of the room with a large window behind it and bookshelves lining the walls. Double checking that no one else was in the room, he hid behind a bookshelf and remained silent.

I can’t believe I let my emotions get the best of me... Kuro thought, as he waited for the patrol to pass by. Kuro had always been able to remain cold and collected, completing his mission while banishing all of his feelings. When it came to that young prince, however, those emotions proved impossible to overcome.

Suddenly, he sensed someone nearby. “Who’s there...?” Kuro observed the room until he spotted a particularly dark spot.

“Your reputation precedes you... is what I was going to say, Shadow Fang. But seeing that you let me get so close, maybe you’re a little overrated.” A voice came from the darkness, and a silhouette appeared.

Kuro recognized the figure with astonishment. “You’re...”

“Sounds like you know who I am,” the silhouette chuckled.

The person Kuro recognized had no business being here. Moonlight illuminated the silhouette, revealing the figure in full. It was a man older than Kuro with dark green—or perhaps steel-colored—hair and eyes of the same hue that gleamed with a dauntless and piercing light.

Rook Febvre... What’s the king’s right-hand man doing here? Kuro knew the man. Childhood friend and butler of service to the 23rd king, Solye, and the second son of the Marquis Febvre. The Febvres had garnered a reputation for producing excellent officers throughout the clan’s history, men whose services were always cherished by the kings of their time. However, after Solye took the throne at a young age and Barbosse became a minister and advisor to the king, the Marquis Febvre and his family were relocated to the countryside. Rook alone had remained in the capital to serve the king. He excelled at his job just like any of his ancestors and supported the king for years as his right-hand man. Kuro had heard rumors that Rook was so knowledgeable that he even had connections in the underworld, but he had never verified that.

Rook spoke to Kuro, who remained on guard. “I looked into you. You work through the underground guild under the moniker of Shadow Fang. Male, but birth name, birthplace, and age all unknown, no known family members... I was surprised that I couldn’t find out a single thing about you.” Despite saying so, Rook showed no sign of actual surprise. He only stared at Kuro with curiosity. “You perfectly execute any mission, from reconnaissance to thievery and even assassinations... But you never settle down. A lone wolf, freelance, spy-for-hire. Does that hit the mark?”

“What’s your point?” Kuro snarled at Rook, wanting to stop beating around the bush. He didn’t have time to strike up a leisurely conversation.

As if he’d seen right through Kuro, Rook grinned. “You’ve been someone’s dog before, haven’t you?”

Kuro froze for a moment at Rook’s assured tone, practically confirming the fact. Still, Kuro tried to deny it. “What are you—”

“That shook you, huh? So naive.” Rook chuckled and shrugged. “You thought you could explain away all your skills and prowess as mere products of talent and experience?” Rook had accurately deduced that Kuro had not acquired all of his skills on his own. A spy’s most important ability was blending into one’s surroundings without being noticed. Of course, infiltration and combat skills were both important, but not as much as the skill of gathering information. While these all required both talent and experience, Kuro’s work had been much too refined for him to have built those skills on his own. “I can smell a kindred spirit. Besides...” Rook widened his grin. The moonlight eerily flickered across Rook’s face. “You find joy in serving others... That’s how you were trained.”

Kuro’s mind froze. He knew that Rook was right—he had been conditioned that way. Although, Kuro reflected, he didn’t even realize that he was being conditioned back then.

Seeing Kuro immobilized like a fallen marionette, Rook continued. “But, you look for a master with the right qualities. That’s why you were drawn to Prince Herscherik... and became enchanted by him.” Rook noticed the ever-so-slight tremor in Kuro’s shoulders. “Even as we speak, you’re scheming how you can be by his side.”

“Shut up.”

“Why should I?” Rook asked with a teasing tone. “If you keep reacting like this to the truth, you’re not nearly as professional as you think. What would Prince Herscherik think of you if he found out...?”

When Herscherik’s name was mentioned, Kuro lost it. He was the one person in the world whom Kuro wanted to protect from his past. Just imagining Herscherik’s disappointed look was too much for Kuro to bear. He closed in on Rook in the blink of an eye, thrusting the dagger that seemed to materialize in his hand straight toward Rook’s face. Rook dodged the attack with ease, albeit only so easily because Kuro had lost his cool, making his attack predictable. Under ordinary circumstances, Kuro could have taken Rook in a fight easily. After his stab failed to connect, Kuro lowered his center of gravity and turned to kick Rook in the torso. Rook saw that coming too and caught his kick with one hand. Kuro glared up at Rook, almost audibly grinding his teeth.

Rook calmly met Kuro’s glare. “What a mess. Didn’t expect to shake you this easily. Did I really overestimate you so much?”

“Overestimate...?” Kuro relaxed. Finally realizing that he was being tested, Kuro regained his cool.

Rook released Kuro’s leg and cut to the chase. “Shadow Fang, will you be Prince Herscherik’s butler of service?”

Kuro gulped. It was precisely what he wanted the most. Still, he saw many obstacles in the way for him to assume that position. “But I’m...” He couldn’t finish his sentence, so he only shook his head and stared at the floor. Anyone who served royalty was required to have a reputable background. At the very least, he would have had to be born into nobility or to a rich merchant. Kuro, by contrast, was an underground spy who had abandoned his home country to roost in Gracis. What’s more, he had committed numerous crimes throughout this career. Even as he longed for the position, Kuro couldn’t help but wonder if he would actually be allowed at Herscherik’s side.

“I’ll make you a background. Don’t worry about your criminal record, either. We can even do a trial run if you want,” Rook declared, as Kuro silently struggled with the decision.

Rook had begun researching Kuro ever since his first encounter with Herscherik. Using his own network, he had uncovered everything he could about Kuro, as well as the work he had performed. Whenever Kuro gathered information, he always made sure that his target didn’t even realize that anything had been taken from them. He never put any informants in danger, either. He never accepted assassination requests without a good reason behind them, and he never killed anyone he didn’t have to. In particular, he never accepted any mission to assassinate a child, no matter the price. In fact, any such requests proposed to Kuro always vanished in a matter of days. After looking at every piece of information he had gathered about Kuro, Rook was sure that he was the only one suitable to become Herscherik’s butler of service. Rook had intended to propose the idea to Solye all along, and the kidnapping had only sped up the process.

“What do you want?” Kuro asked, expecting Rook to use him to get to Herscherik.

Rook’s answer, however, blew Kuro away. “Just one thing. For you to stay by Prince Herscherik’s side.” Kuro looked up at Rook’s steel-colored eyes piercing through him. “Stay with His Highness, help him, protect him, and support him. Otherwise, do whatever you want.”

“Don’t you think I’ll hurt Hersch...?” Kuro countered, glaring back at Rook.

Rook scoffed. “Could you hurt him if you tried? You two already have nicknames for each other.” Kuro couldn’t deny that. “What say you?”

Kuro closed his eyes at the question. What he saw in the darkness was the prince sitting on his sofa and quietly watching the flames in the fireplace. He had no doubts about it. “What do you think?”

Rook nodded in satisfaction and turned his back. “Then let’s get started. First things first, leave that underground guild. After you take care of anything down there, meet me at my manor. You know where it is, don’t you?”

Kuro nodded and blended into the dark of night, vanishing from the castle.

A shadow entered a certain well-off market through the back door. It silently moved through the abandoned shop and through a door labeled “employees only.” Beyond it, there was a simple room with nothing but a basic set of a table and two chairs, as well as a bookshelf against the wall. The shadow stood before the bookshelf and started pushing on the spines of some of the books rather than taking any of them out of the shelf. Then, the floor directly by the bookshelf slid away, revealing a downward staircase. The shadow descended the staircase to another door at the end of it. Upon opening the door, the shadow was met by a woman.

“Oh, Shadow Fang,” she greeted him. “What are you doing here at this hour?” The faint light of a lantern flickered over the woman’s face. She had brunette hair cut in a boyish style, with piercings on her lips as well as her ears and a ring on each finger of the hand that supported her chin at the moment. Each and every one of those accessories were magical items. This woman, the receptionist of the underground guild, was a highly powerful spellcaster.

“I’m out,” Kuro simply said.

The woman widened her eyes in surprise. “Oh... Really?” She couldn’t help but be skeptical, but as soon as she looked into Kuro’s red eyes burning bright with determination, she knew he was serious. Slowly, she stood up. “All right. Give me a minute.” She disappeared into the space beyond the door.

As he waited, Kuro observed his surroundings. He was standing in the headquarters of the underground guild in Gracis, which also happened to be the guild leader’s hideout. Kuro usually accepted jobs at one of their branches in a separate location, but the guild leader rarely showed up at branches. Ordinarily, leaving the underground guild was an extremely involved process that took some time. Kuro couldn’t afford that. In fact, he had only come to this place a few times prior. The first was when he joined the underground guild, and he had come here occasionally after that to receive important missions straight from the mouth of the guildmaster. All in all, this was not even his tenth time coming here or seeing the guildmaster. The only thing Kuro knew about the leader was that he could never read him.

“Boss wants to see you,” the woman called.

Kuro stepped into the guild leader’s room, where a man greeted him. The man didn’t have any identifying characteristics to speak of and was average-looking overall. The lamps in the room illuminated this average man. His eyes and hair were light brown, the most common shade in Gracis, and he wore a calm smile. If Kuro didn’t know better, he might have forgotten the man by the next day—that’s how unimpressive he was. The desk before the man was piled with papers, with an uncovered inkwell on the corner and a fountain pen leaning on it. The room looked to be nothing more than an ordinary office. For Kuro, who had spent years in the underground, the fact that the man’s appearance and demeanor seemed to actively avoid giving off any strong impressions was a huge red flag.

This man—the underground guildmaster—spoke. “Hello, Shadow Fang... Or do you prefer Thirteen?”

Kuro restrained himself from frowning at the remark. Thirteen was what Kuro had been called in his hometown. When the guild leader asked for his name, Kuro had let it slip. That had been the one and only time he’d ever mentioned that name. He didn’t expect anyone to remember it, but the man before him addressed Kuro with that name, all from behind the same gentle smile. Kuro made a point not to show his discomfort with that and only stared at the guildmaster.

For his part, the guildmaster only shrugged. “Smile a little, why don’t you? You were still kind of cute when you first came here.”

“I’m out. How much?” Kuro cut right to the chase. He had no intention of indulging in idle chit chat.

“You have no charm or patience... Your new master’s not going to like that.”

Kuro couldn’t help but let his brows twist at the remark. The guildmaster, on the other hand, was actually impressed. Kuro had always been indifferent to others. He always remained solitary, doing his job and nothing more. He had built an impenetrable wall around him, rejecting anyone who came near. The guildmaster was now curious—Kuro had obviously met someone so important to him that he couldn’t hide his feelings, and he wondered who that person was.

Noticing the look in the guildmaster’s eyes, Kuro simply repeated, “How much?”

Kuro’s sharp glare seemed to be stabbing the guildmaster like a knife. He let out a small sigh and gave Kuro a price. “Ten gold coins.”

“That’s it...?” Kuro couldn’t help but feel suspicious of the reasonable offer. While ten gold coins was about three times the annual income of an average family, Kuro had made more than that on a single job of moderate difficulty. Money and strength ruled in the Gracis underground guild. There was no room for empathy or the social bonds often seen in legitimate mercenary guilds. In a way, the underground guild was the most efficient organization of all. Kuro had heard that the man before him was the very one who had restructured the guild that way, molding it out of what used to be a lawless ragtag band. The payment required to leave the underground guild, where money trumped all, varied depending on the individual’s skills and contributions to the guild. Even so, this seemed much too cheap.

“Normally I’d ask for at least ten times that.”

“Then why let me off so easy?”

“Does it matter to you?” The guildmaster returned a question, still smiling the same smile. Their eyes met, and heavy silence ruled the room.

Meanwhile, the receptionist was leaning against the open door to the room, holding back a yawn. She had always considered the guildmaster’s condescending tone to be one of his vices. While his calm expression did a decent job of hiding it, he wasn’t the leader of an underground guild for nothing. He was quite the character, to say the least.

“You have done a lot for us, Shadow Fang,” the guildmaster started again. “Fine. I’ll tell you if you’d like. First, you’ve contributed a significant amount to the guild. Anyone who requested you was willing to pay us a little extra, too.”

The receptionist could confirm this. Many of their clients had requested Shadow Fang, and most of them were exceedingly wealthy. Although, it was none of her business as to how they acquired their riches. Moreover, the underground guild was only responsible for setting up communications between the client and agent. Even when Kuro turned down a request, the guild would not refund their cut to the client. While Kuro was picky about which request to take, he had never actually failed any of them. This led to more and more people requesting his services, as his reputation as an agent who never failed spread through the underground. The guild was making bank just on their fee for connecting clients to Kuro specifically.

“And you know the second son to the Marquis Febvre.”

“Marquis Febvre?” Kuro repeated as he remembered Rook’s teasing smile. He couldn’t understand how the leader of the underground guild knew who the king’s right-hand man was. But the emphasis on “the” struck him as odd.

“The Febvres are famous for providing excellent officers to the king, one generation after another. On the surface, at least. Under the surface, they’re the kingdom’s guard dogs. The one you know particularly excels in that department.” The leader had confirmed the rumors about Rook with the nonchalance of meaningless small talk. If the Febvres were the kingdom’s secret service, Kuro could understand why Rook had called him a “kindred spirit.” The guildmaster continued, “The current king seems to keep the Febvres at a distance, but if their second son’s still serving the king, it means that the Febvres haven’t given up on him entirely. The guild doesn’t want to give the Febvre, or any Febvre for that matter, the wrong idea about you.” The leader had implied how powerful a presence the Febvres were in the underground.

Kuro, however, was concerned with something else. The fact that the Febvres were one of the nation’s most prominent houses both above and below the surface spoke volumes as to the power of Minister Barbosse, whom the prince was trying to take on. This meant that Barbosse wasn’t merely a fool drunk on power. He had his connections in the underground, too. Kuro frowned again.

Seeing Kuro’s reaction, the leader internally smirked at getting his point across successfully. Outwardly, he maintained the same gentle smile and continued, “In short, the guild’s much better off letting you leave on a good note. Money rules down here, as you well know. Pay us the amount I specified, and no one will stop you.” The leader squinted. That action alone made Kuro feel like the temperature in the room had dropped several degrees. “As long as you keep your end of the bargain, of course.”

The stipulation for leaving the underground guild was to not divulge any information about the guild or its work. That included everything from the location of any branches to any client information, and any details on the jobs performed. The exception was information gained on any hired job. Break this contract and the guildmaster himself would be on the case. Anyone who breached the contract would end up begging for death before having their entire existence erased from society. No amount of money nor extenuating circumstances would change this rule.

“I know,” Kuro acknowledged and produced a sack full of golden coins. He took out ten coins and placed them on the desk.

The guildmaster counted them. “That’s ten. Now you’re free. But you can come back anytime, you know?”

Kuro ignored the remark and turned right around. The receptionist made way for him, watching him leave.

Once they were alone in the room, the receptionist spoke first. “There’s something you’re not telling him, isn’t there, Boss?”

The leader grimaced. “I’m contractually obligated not to.”

Several years prior, a man had brought a boy to the underground guild—a boy who would later be known as Shadow Fang. The man had joined the underground guild to save his son from an illness. The underground guild did more than assassinations and espionage; dangerous and less-than-legal requests that couldn’t be handled by legitimate guilds were all brought to them. These included searching for precious metals in mines long shut down by collapse or poisonous gas, hunting for rare and protected animals that lived deep in the woods, and smuggling illegal drugs into and out of the country. All in all, these jobs were high-risk, high-return. The man had taken one such request, risking his own life to save his son’s. In the end, he couldn’t make enough money in time to prevent his son’s death. The man paid his dues to the guild for leaving it and returned to his life above ground. In addition to the fee that he owed, he left 30 additional gold coins.

“He’s not the kind of person who’ll end his life here. If the time comes when he wants to leave the guild, put these toward his dues.” The man had shoved the gold coins at the leader, not taking no for an answer. He seemed to care for Kuro, since he was close in age to his late son.

Contrary to the man’s expectation, Kuro had spent his days isolated and uninterested in everyone, doing nothing more than his job. In fact, it seemed like he was actively rejecting everything else. Now, Kuro had changed—enough to show a change in his expression. The guildmaster guessed that Kuro was still unaware of that himself.

“I wonder who caused him to change so much?” The guildmaster, who seldom showed interest in anyone else, couldn’t help but wonder about the person who had moved young Kuro so much.

The receptionist watched her boss in contemplation for a while before shrugging her shoulders and leaving the room.

After leaving the underground guild, Kuro skulked through the dark to arrive at Rook’s manor, the Febvre residence in the capital. By the absence of any servants in the manor, as well as the dust covering the statues within it, Kuro could easily see that the manor had laid untouched for a long time. As Kuro sneaked into the castle without a sound, Rook was there to welcome him, albeit saying, “What took you so long?”

Rook showed Kuro to a room in the manor. On their way, Kuro sensed someone else close to them, but Rook noticed and shook his head to indicate that, whatever it was, it wasn’t a problem. Kuro decided not to worry about it, assuming that it must have been another Febvre. In this room, Kuro was first asked for the measurements of his clothes.

“You’re going to officially be introduced to the castle tomorrow—well, today. You have to dress the part.”

Kuro told Rook his measurements out loud. He sensed the figure outside of the door disappear.

After a few hours, Kuro was given a few butler’s uniforms that fit him like a glove as well as some pairs of shoes and a set of accessories. Then, Rook prepared various papers and documents on his desk and gestured for Kuro to sit down.

“First, I’ll have you memorize the duties of a butler. Then, we’ll go through etiquette—”

“No need. I’m familiar with the customs of this country.”

“Fine. Then the family trees of the royal family and other powerful nobles, their relationships to each other, their underground connections...”

Kuro took in everything that Rook taught him. Memorization was a vital skill for espionage. Memorizing all necessary information was practically a prerequisite to the job. Kuro soaked up every single one of Rook’s words, as well as the contents of all of the documents on the desk. By the time they were finished, it was starting to get light outside.

“Last one.” Rook held out something to Kuro.

“What is this?” Kuro frowned. It was a children’s book.

The cover of the book depicted someone wearing a crown, someone beside that figure, a knight with a sword, and a spellcaster wearing a robe and holding a staff.

“It’s a popular book among the children of this country.” Rook explained the obvious. Kuro raised a brow, but Rook ignored him. “Read it carefully. Now, I’m going to go prepare breakfast for Solye and Prince Herscherik. You’ll see His Highness in the afternoon. Be ready by then.”

After watching Rook leave, Kuro looked down to the book and back at the door a few times before sitting down at a chair and opening the book.

The story of the book was a very simple one, clearly intended for children. The king, wearing a crown, defeated villains and monsters with the help of his butler, knight, and spellcaster. While they were met with danger along the way, the four always worked together and conquered every challenge.

My body is a sword that cuts through your enemies, a shield that protects you from harm, and a staff that guides your way.

Although they were merely drawings, the three characters who knelt and pledged these words in the book somehow seemed full of valor to Kuro.

“An Oath of Service...” For some reason, that phrase sank into Kuro’s chest like a heavy stone. Kuro shook his head. “They’re just words.” What he needed to protect the prince was information on his enemies.

Putting down the book at the edge of the desk, Kuro picked up the stack of papers that he had gone through already. There was plenty of time in the morning for him to double check them. He imagined seeing Herscherik, the prince who would soon become his master. Sure that Herscherik would be surprised and happy to see him, a tiny smile formed on Kuro’s face. He still didn’t realize it.

The Seventh Prince of Gracis, Herscherik, would later be known as the Hero of Gracis. His butler Schwarz Zweig was always by his side. According to official records, the butler was a son of the Viscount Zweig, but no account about his upbringing was available. He devoted his entire life to Herscherik. He lived his life as his master’s shadow and turned his fangs against those that opposed his master, like a guard dog. People called him the Shadow-Fanged Butler.

The Shadow-Fanged Butler of the Reincarnated Prince — Fin.