0&1 Ch 16

Plan

I stopped attending Duke Pie’s lessons.

Edward said he didn’t want to see me, so I decided to do as he asked. It would be impossible for Edward to refuse his lessons. If he didn’t attend Duke Pie’s lessons, he wouldn’t be able to study.

The excuse of being sick was a good one. The Queen was cautious with me and didn’t want to cause any unnecessary trouble.

Grey was the only person I had seen during that time. He was the only one who came to visit Joffrey during his illness. And Grey was not someone who could help Joffrey’s future, whatever that future might be.

When I had refused lessons for over a month and the Queen’s patience was reaching its limit, Grey came to visit Joffrey for the second time.

“I will give you extra lessons. If you allow me.” Grey said, putting down his book.

Allow him, he said…

“Why would you do that?”
“Because I want to help you, Your Highness.”
“Why?”

“To win your favor?” Grey smiled politely.

“Don’t you think it’s too late?” What does he want to win my favor for?

“It’s not too late. I’m confident I can help you.”
“Ah, I see…”

I had nothing to say. What did he eat to be so confident?

Well, Grey isn’t my enemy or anything

Grey’s lessons were surprisingly effective. I memorized a page of the book without any motivation, and I looked at Grey in surprise. “You’re a good teacher, aren’t you?”

“Is that surprising?” Grey looked offended.

“I didn’t understand anything when Edward explained it to me before.”

“His Highness Edward is very intelligent.” Grey frowned.

“He’s a little weird, but… I don’t know. He might be a genius.”
“Oh, really?”

Then why don’t you like him?

“I’m certain I’m not a genius, though.” Grey concluded.

Edward’s extra lessons were terrible. I knew it was because he was smart. What surprised me was Grey’s modesty.

“Really? You’re not a genius?”

“I’m just smart enough to have few people my age who can compare to me. It’s no big deal.” Grey pretended to be modest. Yeah, good for him. 

“By the way, the Queen and His Majesty had a big fight.” Grey glanced at me as he spoke. 

I don’t understand what his genius has to do with the deteriorating relationship between the Queen and His Majesty.

“Did you hear?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you know why?”
“No.”
“It seems like you have a useless servant.”

Dot, who was about to take away the cold tea, stopped.

“Don’t bully my servant. Tell me what happened.”
“His Highness Edward was attacked.”
“What?”

I couldn’t help but think of the Queen.

“He was on his way back from visiting Lady Rosé’s grave.”

The lady’s grave was outside the palace. She wasn’t a member of the royal family.

All sorts of thoughts raced through my mind. Edward never leaves the palace. It’s dangerous. If he went to see Lady Rosé and died, the Lady would be heartbroken.

But now the Lady who would be heartbroken is dead.

My heart was pounding. “Is Edward all right?”

“Yes. He doesn’t even have a scratch on him. It is not known to the public, but there were only three attackers, and His Highness Edward had five times that number of guards.“
“That’s a relief.”

”However, His Majesty is very angry and has ordered His Highness Edward to learn how to defend himself. A royal guard has been assigned to be His Highness’s sword master.” Grey said.

I understood. Grey was kindly explaining everything as if he were giving extra lessons. The attack was staged by the King, who was pretending to be angry and had strengthened security measures to protect Edward.

That was good for Edward.

This family is still a mess.

“His Majesty cares for Edward.”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Or maybe he hates me.”

Grey hesitated. Not lying was one of Grey’s virtues. “That could be.”

Surprisingly, I started to like Grey a little.

The people around Joffrey and the Queen only said nice things. In Dot’s case, it was so embarrassing that it was sometimes hard to listen to.

“You’re right. You seem to be helpful to me.” 

When I acknowledged this, Grey smiled excitedly.

“I told you I would be.” 

His words were annoying, though.

Surprisingly, Grey’s visits were really helpful. He came almost every day and told me what was going on in class.

The Queen, who was looking to find a new teacher, seemed to want to keep Grey around for the time being. She liked that I had a friend like Grey, and he took full advantage of that.

After observing my learning ability, Grey concluded that I was not a bad learner, but that I lacked technique.

“Have you been studying this way all this time?” He didn’t seem to realize how rude he was being. My notes fluttered in his hands.

“Well, I am a bit ignorant.”
“What did I just say?”
“I’m ignorant?”

“I think you misunderstood what I meant.” Grey rolled his eyes. “Anyway, that’s not the point. Your study method isn’t efficient. If you break your wrist from writing everything down, it won’t be funny.”

“Well, wouldn’t that be kind of funny? If I tell her I broke my wrist studying, will the Queen tell me to stop studying?

Grey fell silent. He seemed to be thinking about it quite seriously, so I thought about it too, but I couldn’t come up with an answer.

Huh? Are Joffrey’s wrist and studying on the same level?

“Anyway, that’s not important.” Grey returned to the main topic. “Don’t keep interrupting me.”

“Yes, Master.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Then what should I call you?”

Grey didn’t like Joffrey calling him by his name. It was in his nightmares every night.

“Just call me by my name.” Grey said as if it was obvious.

“Grey.”
“Yes.”
“Grey.”
“…”

When he didn’t look at me, I called him again.

Our eyes met. When I stared at him, Grey looked away first.

“Anyway, that’s not important.” Grey repeated what he had said countless times.

Would I be able to hear what was important today? Grey seemed to have the same question as me.

“Now, don’t disturb me. I’m telling you my secret study method so that you can become a better student.”
“Thank you.”
“You just don’t want to study, do you?” 

Grey got it right.

In any case, the situation had become dire, and Joffrey’s future was bleak. I needed to find a way to survive other than winning Edward’s favor.

“I believe in you, Your Highness.” That’s what Grey said during one of his visits. “I believe that you are not that kind of person. It is not right for His Highness Edward to resent you.”

Grey only said the right things.

Was that true?
Was it?

Edward had every right to resent me. In the story, he didn’t need to be betrayed by Joffrey. He just needed to hate Joffrey.

I was the one who made Edward open his heart to Joffrey.

It wasn’t a question of right or wrong for Edward to resent me. He had every right to.

No, Edward wasn’t the important thing. As Grey said, it was my future.

Did I want to live? Of course I did.

In the game, Joffrey met his bad ending at the age of eighteen. If I met another bad ending, both of my lives would end at eighteen.

I didn’t want that.

I didn’t realize that I was someone who wanted to live so desperately. I didn’t want to die.

What should I do?

I thought about it over and over again. So much so that I couldn’t even hear Dot when he spoke to me. Even after the sun went down, the curtains were closed, and the servants lit candles and left. I kept thinking.

About the fundamental problem with my plan.

The story of the Queen, the King, and Lady Rosé was something that Joffrey couldn’t touch. That’s where the problem started, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t solve it.

Adults had a tremendous influence on children, yet they never let the children hold the reins to their problems.

What should I do?

One idea did come to mind. It was an extension of the question I had asked Grey.

Even if I were a worthless Prince with no hope, would the Queen still want to make Joffrey King?

Would she make him Edward’s enemy?

I hoped not. Before the Queen, her followers would weaken first.

If no one supported Joffrey, Edward could easily expand his influence.

The plan was to become a dog with its tail between its legs.

Even though I made a plan, I couldn’t muster any energy. None of my plans had ever worked out before.

But it would be easier to ruin my reputation than to win someone’s favor.

All right. Let’s ruin Prince Joffrey’s reputation.

The first thing that came to mind was…

“I’m sure Your Highness doesn’t need secret funds. But I would advise you to stay away from that place. It won’t do your reputation any good.“
”What are secret funds?“
”Well, there are all kinds of things in this world.”

Sir Baumkuchen avoided answering, saying there were all kinds of things.

Gambling? Should I put an 11-year-old boy in a gambling den?

I racked my brains.

It had been several months since I became Joffrey, and my head was filled with all kinds of historical knowledge. But it was all from a virtual game world.

According to history books, Kings who ruined their countries did one of two things.

Luxury and debauchery.

There was an age limit for the latter. Then luxury?

Was there no age limit for that?

A month had passed since I had been confined to my room. Dot told me that rumors were spreading throughout the castle that I was seriously ill.

The Queen’s maid came to see me.

“I heard you’ve recovered enough to meet a friend. Could you come to see me?” The maid relayed the Queen’s message.

I left the palace with Dot. It felt like it had been a long time since I had been exposed to the sun.

The servants bowed their heads and stepped aside. It seemed as if I was the only person moving in the world. The servants had always been respectful toward Joffrey, but now it struck me anew.

The Queen’s authority. They didn’t do this for Edward.

Edward…

I looked up and rubbed my eyes. I saw the person I was thinking of.

Edward was approaching from a distance.

I stopped in my tracks. My heart began to race. Cold sweat soaked my hands, and I realized I was clenching my fists.

This isn’t the right path.

Before I could make up my mind, I grabbed Dot’s arm and turned around.

I was afraid of Edward. Not because I thought he would do something to me or because I knew what he might do in the future.

I remembered the night I left home, leaving my sleeping mother behind.

Since that day, I had been a son who listened to my mother’s words. Although I didn’t listen when she told me to study. Although I didn’t listen when she told me not to use my cell phone on the street…

I could never disobey my mother’s word

“I don’t want to see you.”

Those words were like a spell.

I had no choice but to obey.