The Same Dream (1)
In the Second Prince's Palace.
Lloyd sat with his legs propped up on the desk, arms crossed.
He stared at the elderly scholar who taught him with a crooked, disdainful gaze.
“...It stretches down from the Dragonia Mountain Range, which is called the backbone of the empire. Do you understand?”
“Yeah, sure~”
There wasn’t a trace of enthusiasm in his voice.
His attitude was so half-hearted that it could have been taken as an insult by the person teaching him. Yet the old scholar remained perfectly calm.
“Are you quite certain?”
“I said I understood, didn’t I?”
At the prince’s reply, the scholar asked again in a composed tone.
“Then would you explain it back to me?”
“Are your ears clogged? I told you I got it all.”
“Please explain it again.”
“Ugh, what a pain in the ass...”
Lloyd grumbled and shot the scholar a glare.
The prince, who had been about to snap back, suddenly whipped his head around.
“Hey. What are you doing? Get over here.”
The small boy who had been standing beside Lloyd stepped forward hesitantly.
The pretty boy with golden hair and blue eyes looked like he was about to cry as he rolled up his sleeve.
His thin forearm was already covered in marks from being beaten.
“You.”
Lloyd lowered the legs he had propped on the desk and leaned forward.
His cold blue eyes gleamed with a dangerous light.
“If you let out even a single groan, you’ll die by my hand. Got it?”
“Y-yes, Your Highness.”
At Lloyd’s threat, the boy trembled violently and held out his arm.
He knew all too well that the second prince’s threats were never empty words.
“Ten strikes this time.”
The prince’s tutor, the old scholar, quietly picked up the switch that had been resting on the lectern.
How many times has this been today alone?
The scholar knew the second prince very well.
Lloyd was smarter than he looked, and his memory wasn’t so poor that he would forget everything he had just heard.
Yet the only reason he dragged out a boy to be beaten instead of answering every question was because that was exactly what Lloyd wanted.
That boy hasn’t even lost all his baby teeth, yet his nature is already so cruel.
Every time the boy was struck by the switch, every time he forced down his pain, every time a fresh bruise bloomed on his pale arm, Lloyd couldn’t hide his delight.
If a child like that becomes emperor, he’ll either go down in history as a tyrant or become the worst ruler imaginable, manipulated by treacherous subjects and ruining the state.
Or perhaps both.
Of course, no matter which future came to pass, it was hardly welcome news for the people of the empire.
But the worst part of all is...
That he himself was too much of a coward to say even a single word during any of this.
The scholar let out a sigh as he watched the boy, who had finally burst into tears from the beating.
If his family hadn’t been indebted to the Radcliffe Marquisate, he would have abandoned the position of royal tutor long ago.
“That will be all for today’s lesson.”
“Yeah, thanks for your hard work~”
The moment Lloyd heard that class was over, he shot up from his seat.
He walked over to the boy who was crouched on the floor sobbing.
“Does it hurt?”
The second prince had the audacity to ask if it hurt while staring straight at the boy’s arms, which were striped bright red.
“Y-yes...”
“But earning money is supposed to be hard, isn’t it? You get a gold coin every single day for this much. How can you complain?”
Lloyd grabbed the boy’s thin, bruised arm and yanked it up.
Then he roughly scraped his hand across the wounds.
“Aaaagh!”
When the boy screamed in pain, Lloyd’s expression twisted.
“I told you not to make a sound.”
His blue eyes burned with rage.
“Do you think the prince’s orders are a joke? Do you?!”
It was completely one-sided.
Lloyd kicked the boy, who was now flattened on the floor like an insect.
In the end, the boy fainted.
“Is anyone there?”
Lloyd gestured to his escort knight.
He looked down at the boy clutching his ankle with icy eyes.
“You called, Your Highness.”
“This one seems useless now, so dispose of him as you see fit. He doesn’t listen at all.”
“...As you command.”
One of the knights gave a small nod, and the others quickly dragged the boy out of the study.
The escort knight who had watched the scene bowed his head again.
“Your Highness Lloyd, Her Highness the Second Consort is looking for you.”
“Mother?”
The excitement from throwing punches earlier still hadn’t died down.
Lloyd ran a hand through his hair as he breathed roughly.
At the mention of the second consort, he asked with clear irritation.
“Why all of a sudden?”
“Well...”
The escort knight hesitated.
He knew exactly how much the words he had to deliver would upset the second prince.
He wanted nothing more than to keep his mouth shut, but he couldn’t.
If he did, he would surely be punished even more severely for failing to carry out his duty as a subordinate.
“The Marquis of Radcliffe has entered the palace.”
As expected, the knight’s words completely changed Lloyd’s complexion.
All color drained from the prince’s face, along with any expression.
“...My grandfather?”
“Yes. Her Highness Helena instructed that as soon as your lesson ends, you should hurry to the Second Consort’s Palace.”
“Ha.”
It was a short but heavy sigh.
Lloyd frowned deeply as he straightened his loosened collar and dirty sleeves.
Even though his face clearly said he would rather die than go, the fact that he was still obediently preparing showed just how terrifying the name Radcliffe Marquis was—even to the second prince of the empire.
“Let’s go, let’s go.”
Lloyd hurried past the old scholar, who offered him a light bow.
His steps were headed straight for the Second Consort’s Palace.
“You’re here.”
Lloyd’s face hardened.
The voice that greeted him the moment the door to the reception room in the Second Consort’s Palace opened did not belong to someone he was happy to see.
But the other party was not someone he could afford to show any displeasure toward.
“It has been a while. How good it is to see you, Your Highness Lloyd.”
Silver-streaked golden hair and faded red eyes that revealed nothing of what he was thinking.
The old gentleman who somehow resembled a fox was Howard Radcliffe.
He was the biological father of the second consort Helena and the maternal grandfather of the second prince Lloyd.
At the same time, he was the head of the Radcliffe Marquisate—one of the empire’s wealthiest and most prestigious families.
“You seem to have grown a little since I last saw you. Have you been well in the meantime?”
The Marquis of Radcliffe sat in his chair and smiled quietly.
Across from him stood Helena, covering one cheek with a handkerchief.
“...I greet my grandfather.”
When Lloyd saw her like that, his eyes trembled slightly.
“Did you enjoy your time at the resort?”
“Thanks to our prince. However, Your Highness, I clearly told you to speak casually with me. Why are you using honorifics again?”
“Even though I am a prince, you are my grandfather, so I believe it is only proper to use honorifics.”
“Hahaha, for one so young, you are remarkably thoughtful. I cannot express how pleased I am.”
Lloyd kept his mouth firmly shut.
He wasn’t raising his speech out of respect for his grandfather. He was simply doing it to avoid provoking the old fox.
“It was good that I returned from the resort a little earlier than planned. If I had come back even a bit later, I would have missed the chance to see Your Highness’s splendid sword dance.”
Howard brought up the sword dance that had been performed at the Founding Festival banquet.
“Your swordsmanship improves by leaps and bounds every day.”
“You flatter me.”
When Lloyd responded with uncharacteristic humility, the marquis gave a faint smile.
He toyed with the glass in his hand as he continued.
“However.”
Howard glanced briefly at Helena, who stood before him.
“It seems you still need to put in more effort. The third prince appears to have grown considerably in the time I was away.”
The second consort, Helena, lowered her eyes as she felt the gaze pierce her like an arrow.
Her other hand, clutching the hem of her dress, trembled faintly.
“Yes.”
Lloyd, having seen her reaction, answered with a deliberately serious expression.
“I will train harder.”
“Such a spirited answer. Well, how could any of this be our prince’s fault?”
Clack.
Howard set the jeweled glass down on the table with a loud sound.
“This must all be the fault of the Radcliffe family for failing to find him a proper teacher.”
Even though he spoke of the family’s fault, his gaze was blatantly fixed only on Helena.
Sensing the strange tension flowing between the two, Lloyd abruptly cut in.
“The swordsmanship instructor you found for me is more than sufficient, Marquis.”
“There is no need for empty pleasantries. Excessive humility is not a good look.”
“It’s not humility...”
“If it is not that, then are you saying you overestimate His Highness’s talent?”
Howard leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed.
His sharp eyes grew even fiercer and more menacing.
“For the third prince—who has never even held a wooden practice sword, let alone a real blade—to be able to spar with Prince Lloyd in such a short time… There must have been some scheme by Duke Crowner.”
As expected of someone with that lowly, filthy blood.
Howard ground his teeth as he thought of Duke Crowner.
It seemed it wasn’t enough that the duke had refused the position of sword instructor for the first prince—who shared his blood—and had even rejected the second prince’s offer despite being promised a fortune.
“I should have realized his intentions the moment he allowed the third prince to join the knights’ training.”