0&1 Ch 24.1

A Very Dim Light

Alex Baumkuchen woke up at dawn. Prince Joffrey was sleeping curled up. His shirt had ridden up above his stomach, and his blanket had slipped down below his legs.

Alex pulled the blanket up over the Prince’s stomach.

The Prince woke up twice in the early morning. He got up, checked that Alex was there, and sighed.

His breath touched Alex’s chest, and Alex couldn’t breathe in or out.

The Prince fell back asleep immediately. Alex had never slept soundly when sharing a bed with the Prince.

It was the same when he was very young and was taken by the Prince and laid down on his bed.

It was still dark. Alex quickly washed and changed his clothes. He strapped the sword at the bedside to his waist and stood next to the bed.

The Prince said that if he left before the Duke Grey Cracker entered, no one would know that Alex had slept there.

The Prince wanted to hide the fact that he had shared the same bed with Alex.

It was natural to hide it. It was the Prince’s order. The Prince’s servant had already warned Alex. Alex remembered the warning, but he lay down on the Prince’s bed without hesitation the night before.

There was an excuse. The Prince had been attacked and was in an unstable state. It was not a knight’s duty to leave his Master, who needed him, alone.

As he closed the door, the double lock clicked into place. Alex pulled on the door to make sure it was securely closed.

He often woke up early to exercise in the morning. He already knew that the students did not wake up early.

But there were always exceptions. Alex heard a faint sound behind him. Somewhere, a door closed. It was obvious that someone had closed it secretly, aware of someone else’s presence. Alex was certain that the person had been trying to avoid him specifically.

Alex rushed to the source of the sound and roughly opened the already closed door.

“Ugh! What the hell!” A frivolous-looking nobleman was holding the doorknob from the inside. Alex wedged his foot between the door and the wall and pushed his body forward. The nobleman was terrified and backed away.

He had seen this nobleman before. He was definitely one of the people who had been hanging around His Majesty.

Pavel Sanson?

Alex put his index finger to his lips.

Sanson didn’t understand the signal and tried to scream, so Alex had to cover his mouth. With his face covered, Sanson struggled. Alex showed him the blade of his sword.

“Shut up,” Alex warned him quietly. Sanson nodded with his eyes wide open.

“What did you see?”

When Alex loosened his grip, Sanson whispered hoarsely, “Nothing…”

“That’s right. You didn’t see anything.”

That should be enough. Sanson grabbed Alex as he was about to leave.

“How could you do this…!”

What a frivolous guy. He has no integrity. Has he forgotten what he just said?

Alex grabbed Pavel by the throat. He squeezed just hard enough to make it difficult to breathe, and Sanson couldn’t resist.

Alex didn’t believe him. Sanson looked scared, but he would start talking again as soon as Alex left. Alex decided to scare him some more.

“Where did I come from?”

Sanson shook his head desperately. At least he had enough strength to do that.

Alex waited until Sanson’s face turned red as if it were about to burst, then loosened his grip slightly.

“You didn’t see anything, did you?”

Sanson coughed. He nodded his head while squirming.

“Don’t forget.”

Sanson continued to nod his head.

Alex closed the door and left. This time, no one saw where he came from.

Alex turned his stiff neck from side to side and returned to his room.

Lowell’s bedroom was occupied without anyone noticing. Lowell, who had fallen asleep with his face buried in a pillow, woke up at the sound of footsteps.

“Baumkuchen? Where did you go?” His throat was dry.

Alex stared at him with contempt, saying nothing. Lowell didn’t care and went back to sleep.

Alex couldn’t sleep. When dawn broke, he would wake the Prince and take him out for exercise. Or maybe not. Maybe he should rest today.

A lot had happened yesterday. His Highness needed rest.

The Prince Joffrey that Alex knew was a strong man. He had to stop being happy that the Prince was clinging to him. His master would say that such feelings were not appropriate for a knight.

But didn’t it mean that His Highness relied on him as a knight? Wasn’t it something he should be happy about?

The sun rose beyond his closed eyes. Alex got up and returned to the Prince’s room. He knocked on the door and waited, and after a moment, the Prince opened the door. With his eyes half closed, he called out, “Alex.”

“Alex,” he mumbled.

Alex liked this time of day.

The guards said they were collecting the bodies of the attackers and checking their identities. They were trying to figure out how they had entered the city, but it seemed that they had not yet confirmed anything.

They had not entered the city within the last day or two. The guards already knew that they were not common criminals who had tried to rob the Prince without knowing who he was.

No identification tags were found on the attackers. I didn’t mention that they might be soldiers.

The guards, who were in full military formation, seemed ready to smash their heads on the floor if I permitted them.

I don’t know how many times I heard them say that something terrible had happened, that they were sorry and ashamed before His Highness the Prince, and that they deserved to die.

“Yes, it was dangerous. I think there is something you must do to prevent this from happening again. If I kill you, will this city be safe?”

When I stopped the guard from repeating himself like a broken record, he finally reported the countermeasures.

Security in the Academy City was set to become even more thorough.

The soldiers would work in two shifts, guarding the city day and night, while also patrolling every two hours.

Are they trying to shorten their own lives because I didn’t kill them? I can see that it’s an impossible schedule for living people.

“Where is the captain of the guards?”

The guards hesitated.

“Didn’t he come with you? Is he out investigating?”

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. The captain of the guard is with Prince Edward.”

I was surprised to find myself surprised.

There were two Princes. Joffrey had always received special treatment, but things had changed since Edward’s return.

Of the two Princes, if anyone had to be reported to about catching an intruder, it was Edward.

“Thank you for letting me know. It would be best to discuss security with Edward. He would be better at it than I. That’s all I can say. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”

“No, Your Highness. Thank you for your answer.” The guards bowed apologetically and withdrew.

When I returned to the dormitory after meeting with the guards, I found something in front of the door to Room 306. It was a first aid kit. It was a common item that appeared in games and could be purchased at the academy store.

What’s this kit?

Did someone forget it? What a strange person to leave something like this behind.

He pushed it aside and entered the room. After a while, someone knocked on the door. I heard the sound of someone running down the hallway.

Was someone playing a prank?

It was the first prank I had ever experienced as a Prince. Perhaps the academy students were bolder than I had thought.

There was no one in the hallway. It was a time when most students would be in class.

However, there was a change after all. A note was stuck on top of the first aid kit.

This doesn’t seem like a simple prank.

It was suspicious. Could it be explosives?

I tossed the kit into the trash can outside the dormitory and put the note in the recycling bin.

If it exploded there, no one would get hurt.

I dusted off my hands and returned to my room. Every student I passed greeted me with, “Prince Joffrey!” I realized that I couldn’t put it off any longer.

This attack was just an event for me, but for the students, it was a serious incident.

It would be the same for the Queen and Dot.

I sat down at my desk and took out the letter I had bought earlier. I couldn’t think of anything to say to the Queen. ‘I’m safe.’ That was all I could say.

Sometimes I wondered what would have happened if the Queen had done nothing.

If she hadn’t done all those things in the name of Joffrey. Things wouldn’t have gotten this bad.

Whenever I thought about it, I wondered. Would the real Joffrey have resented the Queen?

At least he wouldn’t have hated her. He lived to fulfill the Queen’s expectations. 

I must not resent the Queen.

That was the line I couldn’t cross as long as I was called Joffrey.

To Dot, I began.