Adults and Children (2)
The nanny must have taught the prince quite thoroughly.
The duke removed his hand from Edwin with a displeased expression.
“Why do you hesitate?”
“That is…”
Edwin trailed off.
No matter how much better his situation had become compared to before, he knew better than anyone that in truth, nothing had really changed.
That’s why I’m even more unsure.
What if accepting this offer led to something terrible? Or what if refusing it caused an even bigger problem?
For young Edwin, it was impossible to tell which choice would bring a positive outcome.
“Haha.”
Jerome, watching him, let out a small, mocking laugh.
“Your Highness is the type who cannot make a single decision on his own.”
“…Pardon?”
Edwin was simply bewildered by the sudden shift in the man who had been so friendly just moments ago.
Just as tension gripped Edwin’s small fists, Jerome continued in a sigh-laced voice.
“I don’t know what that nanny of yours has been telling you in the meantime, but I am making this offer to Your Highness with nothing but pure goodwill.”
The nanny told him? Rachel?
Edwin frowned.
“What do you mean by—”
“I understand. Since Your Highness is still young, it’s only natural you would be swayed by the words of the adults closest to you.”
Jerome nodded as if he understood completely.
“However, Your Highness is a prince. A lion does not listen to the words of a dog.”
“……”
At the duke’s words, Edwin’s face darkened.
But Jerome continued without the slightest concern.
“Did you know that Your Highness’s nanny is an adopted child from a count’s household?”
Edwin flinched at his words.
“That woman is nothing more than a foolish girl who knows nothing of the world.”
The duke criticized the prince’s nanny, who wasn’t even present.
“So do not be swayed by useless talk and think carefully—”
It was right then, just as the duke was about to finish speaking.
A resolute voice rose from beneath his chin.
“Duke Crowner.”
Blue eyes, the same shade as the emperor’s, were fixed directly on him.
“Rachel is not that kind of person.”
At some point, the young prince had begun staring straight into the duke’s eyes.
“Do not speak of her that way.”
In the two eyes that held the duke’s reflection, a spark of defiance dared to rise.
Look at this.
Jerome’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“…Your Highness Edwin.”
He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again.
“Commands can only be given when one holds a higher position than the other party.”
In that instant, an overwhelming killing intent swept over Edwin’s entire body.
“Huk—!”
The young prince gasped and bowed his head.
Sweat poured down his pale face.
“What a shame.”
Jerome observed the sight with complete indifference before withdrawing his killing intent.
“I truly believed Your Highness would understand my heart.”
Edwin panted like someone who had nearly drowned.
“Then I will take it that you have refused my offer.”
With an expression that showed no emotion at all, he turned his head back toward the training grounds.
“The conversation is over. You may leave now.”
You may leave now.
Did that mean he was no longer to attend training in the future?
Edwin hesitated, his face filled with dismay.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you joining the formation?”
It seemed he wasn’t planning to kick him out of training after all.
Just as Edwin breathed a sigh of relief and tried to follow after the knights, Jerome added one more thing.
“Oh, and if you fail to complete today’s training quota, you need not come anymore from then on.”
Seeing Edwin’s face turn deathly pale, Jerome smiled kindly.
“Because stragglers only get in the way.”
The afternoon sun beat down aggressively from directly overhead.
The knights of the Gloria Knights’ 3rd Division occasionally glanced back while running.
“Is this really okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“No matter what, he’s still the prince. Making him roll around the same as us feels a bit…”
“Just leave it. The commander told us not to pay it any mind.”
“Still…”
“Yeah, he’s just a child…”
The knights frowned as they watched the third prince chasing after them, covered in tears, snot, and sweat.
“But why is a member of the imperial family so scrawny? My youngest sibling back home is way chubbier than him.”
“You didn’t know? His Highness the Third Prince is called the Shabby Prince.”
“Shabby Prince? What’s that mean?”
“It means he’s got nothing, just like us.”
Most of the 3rd Division knights were commoners with exceptional skill.
The only reason they remained in the lowest division despite their talent was simply because of their commoner status.
“Well, if that weren’t the case, why would someone like His Highness be training with the likes of us commoners?”
“Hey, isn’t he going to pass out again at this rate? No matter how you look at it, making a kid train like this with us is a bit much, isn’t it?”
“Mind your own business. We’re dying here too—who has time to worry about someone else?”
“Hey, pick up the pace! If the prince catches up to us, the commander will kill us!”
“Damn it! Everything’s going wrong today!”
The knights soon stopped paying attention to the prince.
Meanwhile, Edwin felt exactly the same—like he was already dead.
No, maybe I really am dead.
His knees creaked and the soles of his feet burned.
He wanted to quit everything and just run away.
His mind was a complete mess, too.
Why had Duke Crowner offered to teach him?
What had happened between him and Rachel?
Actually, none of that mattered.
I made Sir Jerome angry.
Edwin frowned.
It was heartbreaking that his hero had come to dislike him.
Still, I don’t regret it.
He couldn’t stand by while someone insulted the person he trusted most right in front of him.
In fact, this incident had left Edwin deeply disappointed in the duke.
The fact that his hero was someone who could casually insult another person’s precious someone.
That truth had been quite a shock.
“…I’m an idiot.”
“Talking to yourself? It seems you can still endure.”
“Ack!”
Edwin let out a high-pitched scream at the sudden voice.
“P-Philip?”
The person who had approached without a sound was none other than Vice Commander Philip Meyer.
Edwin looked back and forth between the formation and him in surprise.
“Um, this is the very back of the line…”
“There’s too much tension in your shoulders. Make your stride narrower.”
Philip ignored the prince’s words and simply gave his instructions.
“Don’t swing your arms randomly. Clench your fists lightly and swing them back and forth.”
At the continuous corrections, Edwin stared at him blankly.
“Running on a mountain is different from flat ground. Plant your entire foot, not just your heel.”
“Um, Sir Philip…?”
“Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.”
His silver armor sparkled under the sunlight filtering through the leaves.
“If you wish to continue participating in training, it would be best to follow my advice.”
Edwin corrected his posture exactly as Philip instructed.
Then something astonishing happened.
Running suddenly became much easier.
His speed even seemed to have increased slightly.
“Then I’ll go on ahead.”
Philip said only what he needed to and passed the prince.
Did he just help me?
Edwin stared blankly at his retreating back.
Why?
He couldn’t understand it at all, but there was no time to think about it for long.
The other knights’ backs were gradually disappearing from view.
Edwin hurriedly moved his body, grateful for his now much easier breathing.
Twenty round trips to the mountain summit.
Edwin somehow managed to complete the entire training.
And that wasn’t all. He even finished the ladder crossing that had made him pass out yesterday.
The knights didn’t show it, but they were all inwardly astonished.
None of them had expected the small, young prince to keep up with the knight order’s training.
“Hoo…”
Meanwhile, Edwin sat alone beneath the shade of a tree.
He watched the knights gathered on the other side, cooling off their sweat.
Despite the harsh training, they all looked cheerful.
Edwin sat quietly, hugging his knees.
I’m so thirsty.
Perhaps because he had sweated so much.
Edwin felt an intense thirst but decided to endure it.
To get water, he would have to ask the knights, and he simply couldn’t bring himself to do that.
They must all find me uncomfortable to be around.
The prince knew that the knights didn’t welcome his presence.
Even the late Emma had always warned him to be careful with his behavior.
That simply by being a member of the imperial family, he could make others feel uneasy.
It was then.
A small canteen suddenly appeared before his eyes.
“Whoa! Sir Philip…?”
It was him again—Philip Meyer.
Having approached without a sound once more, he plopped down beside the prince.
“Water.”
“Ah, thank… you.”
Edwin hesitantly accepted the canteen.
After glancing at Philip for a moment, he quickly opened the lid and drank.
It was plain water, yet it tasted as sweet as honey.
“…Thank you. I drank it well.”
Edwin carefully handed the canteen back to the man sitting beside him.
“Is it all right to accept something from another person so easily?”
“H-huh?”
Philip added to the flustered young prince with an expressionless face.
“How do you know I didn’t put something in it?”