The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

“Reporting! Viscount Helmer is expanding his control!”

“Persuade them! Do not allow any more people to change side!”

“Reporting! Captain Remer of the Imperial Garrison has been taken in by Her Highness Zandra.!”

“What!? Kuh! We can’t let there be another deserter! Use all the people that we can move, we have to protect our supporters! I will move out as well!”

Night, inside the imperial capital, a battle is unfolding.

Ever since I took over Zandra’s plan, Zandra has started robbing Leo of his supporters as a retaliation.

Right now, Leo has his hands full dealing with it.

“Must be hard on you huh.”

“Help us out here too Nii-san! The one who started this was Nii-san in the first place right!?”

“No no, I was certainly the one who suggested to help the poor Earl out but you were the one who agreed to do it right? I will apologize that it has come to this but even if we stay still, the other side will come to us anyway right. Isn’t that good.”

“Lend me a hand then…….”

“A fistfight is not my field. There’s nothing I can do anyway.”

“If there’s nothing Nii-san could do then there’s nothing I can do either right.”

“Oi oi, too much modesty is a bad thing, you know. If you personally head out, your supporters will hesitate to leave your faction aren’t they. In the end, the only ones left will be your true supporters. Well, hang in there.”

“You make it sound like you are not related to this. Seriously, I will absolutely have you help with the ambassador work alright?”

Leo puts on his jacket and leaves the room.

Seeing that, I let out a huge sigh.

Zandra has launched an attack on us but the central figure of our faction still hasn’t made any move. The only ones that got pulled away were those who only recently came to support us. Losing them won’t hugely affect our faction’s influence.

The problem is how to keep those who are at the core of our faction. Well, that’s Leo’s job to deal with.

What I should think about right now is what are our enemies planning behind the scenes.

“Sebas.”

“Sir, what’s the matter.”

“If you are Zandra what would you do? Who would you target?”

“If it’s me I will not launch any attack. Evidently, I can use other tricks to achieve the same result after all. Moreover, in the case that I plan to do something I would wait for a little time to pass first. I believe that the most important matter is to protect my own supporters first after all.”

“I know that but we are dealing with Zandra whose blood already rushed to her head. If that’s the case what do you think she is planning?”

After pondering a little over my question, Sebas looked at the bag of sweets on the desk and muttered.

Did he notice? Right. Anyone will notice with a little bit of thinking.

“It’s Finne-sama isn’t it. If it’s me I would target Finne-sama.”

“Right. Only Finne will be left with our faction once we’re gone. That’s why if they are going to aim for anyone it would be Finne.”

“Yes. However, it will cause a problem if they simply attack Finne-sama aren’t they.”

“Yeah, my dad wouldn’t keep silent about it. But, for example, what if Finne got attacked by some thugs when she is running around trying to protect our supporters? Father’s anger will be directed toward us instead right?”

“Then should we leave Finne-sama in the castle? I can not see that happening though?”

“No, I already sent her to a safe place. I can’t say that this place is safe either, I would be troubled if they use someone from the castle and bring her outside after all.”

The security at the Imperial sword castle is thorough. But that only applied to the outside threat. The same can’t be said for the inside. Well, the security around the upper level where the Emperor lives is perfect but just because there’s danger doesn’t mean I can just send Finne to him.

“A safe place? As far as I know, I think that the safest place is by your side though?”

“No, since they knew that I was the one who got Earl Baelz to join our side, the person that Zandra want to slaughter the most right now is probably me. I can’t put her at my side knowing that.”

“I see. Then, wasn’t it a mistake to bring Earl Baelz to our side in the first place? It might be possible that Her Highness Zandra has noticed that you are hiding your claws after all. I don’t think that the earl is worth the risk for that.”

“That fact can’t remain hidden forever anyway, Father probably already has some idea when I sent Elna to him as well. Moreover, they will know that you are originally a famous assassin with a little bit of research. Right now, I will let them misunderstand that everything is your work for a while.”

“It will be bad if you are looking down on your siblings too much. Optimism is a taboo you know? Those three siblings of your all have the blood of your esteemed father in their vein too after all.”

“I know. Don’t worry, I’m not underestimating them. Rather, I don’t think anyone recognizes their abilities more than myself.”

It is because I took the utmost caution that I keep her away from me.

This attack of Zandra is undoubtedly aiming for Finne. If she can’t drag Finne away from me then she will keep peeling away our supporters. Well, it will more or less do some damage to our faction but it is definitely better than losing Finne.

“It seems you really are not looking down on them. You seem a lot more serious than usual. Is it because Finne-sama is involved after all?”

“Well yeah. Finne is Duke Kleinert’s daughter. If she got taken away by this then you can consider us retired from the race.”

“Is that really the case? If you know your opponent’s aim, the usual Arnold-sama would immediately make a counterattack. But this time not only have you not set up such a counter, but you’ve also planned out such a perfectly defensive plan. Isn’t this because you don’t want to see Finne-sama in danger?”

“What do you want to say?”

“No, I think it is a good thing. Mitsuba-sama will be happy as well.”

When I tried to complain to Sebas, I immediately shut my mouth when I saw the know-it-all look on his face.

It’s clear that no matter what I say back to this butler he will still have a perfect comeback anyway.

That’s why I started preparing to go out without saying anything.

“Are you heading out?”

“Yeah, a certain butler told me not to look down on my enemy so I’m going out to check the security a little bit.”

“That’s great. If you told her that you were worried when you met then it would be perfect.”

“I won’t.”

“That’s a shame. Even so, where did you hide Finne-sama?”

“It’s a place you know well. The safest place in this imperial capital and it is also where the strongest people of the Empire live.”

“I see. The Amsberg mansion is it. Certainly, no one would be able to lift a finger to that place.”

That’s how it is.

Leaving behind the convinced Sebas, I head to the Amsberg mansion.

————————————

The residence of the Amsbergs is near the castle.

When I arrived at the mansion I was immediately allowed to go inside. Among the princes, the only one who they allow to enter this easily is probably me. 

Elna, I and Leo are childhood friends but ever since we were children, the one that got involved with them the most is me.

I don’t know how many times Elna made me cried while dragging me to this mansion.

After a while, the knights at the gate started to say welcome back every time they see me. Their familiarity at that time was quite scary.

Even though this was the first time I visit in a few years, the gatekeeper still said welcome home to me. To the people of this house, I am the friend of their cute little princess after all.

“If you really think about it, why were you saying welcome home to a crying child though…….”

“From the adults’ point of view, it would look like the kids are getting along isn’t it.”

“How about you?”

“I know that Arnold-sama hated it, of course.”

“………”

The words [Then stop doing that] came to my mouth but I swallowed it down. If I give them some appropriate reply my pace would just get swept away by them anyway. It’s all in the past, and thanks to that past, I was able to entrust Finne with them so easily.

With that in mind, I arrived at the entrance. There was a woman with the same hair color as Elna there. Her eyes are blue. She looks young and beautiful. If no one says anything, people would think that she is Elna’s elder sister……..

“It’s been a long time, Al.”

“Sorry for the long absence Anna-san.”

“Nothing unusual with you too, Sebas?”

“Yes. Madam Amsberg.”

This person is Anna von Amsberg. She is the wife of the Amsberg’s family head and also Elna’s mother.

My mother is almost the same but this person’s youthfulness is truly magical. It seems that the concept of time doesn’t apply to her at all. Thanks to that I have been hesitating to call her Oba-san and ended up just attached -san to her name instead.

Anna-san smilingly guides me inside the mansion.

“Unfortunately, my husband is away right now. Ah, you are already a full-fledged prince right. Talking with you like this might be disrespectful perhaps?”

“No, please remain as you are. I will feel uncomfortable if Anna-san starts using polite speech with me after all.”

“Arara, let me take on your words then. Elna and Finne-san are in the bath right now. You can enter with them if you want, you know?”

“I don’t want to die so please allow me to decline.”

“You are so difficult now. You used to enter the bath together in the past, right?”

“That was when I was a child and do you still remember that I was almost drowned by Elna in the bath here?”

“That did happen, wasn’t it. Then do you still remember when you were crying together? You cried when Elna was training you to beat up the bullies and Elna ended up crying too because you never improve no matter what she did wasn’t it.”

“It’s unreasonable for you to ask me that now.”

As I thought, that girl is my natural enemy.

It’s strange that I haven’t received some serious trauma from that.

If I have a weak mind that might lead to suicide you know.

This person is quite dangerous when she is smiling as well.

“For now, can I have you wait at the innermost guestroom?”

“Understood.”

“Sebas, can you help me serving the tea?”

“Certainly.”

The fact that I came here often means that Sebas also came along.

He is following after Anna-san like he is her butler.

As I was told, I headed to the farthest guestroom and turn the doorknob without thinking.

However, when I opened the door a little, I felt humans presence inside. Additionally, I also heard a woman’s voice.

However, I thought that the maid was making the bed so I decided to open the door anyway.

That proves to be a mistake.

“……”

“You really look good in a dress Elna-sama, how about we try on this white dress next.”

“Fi, Finne…..can you stop changing me into a dress-up doll…….”

Inside the room are figures of two women in their underwear. Finne is wearing a pure white one while Elna’s is pink. Surprisingly, the one Elna’s wearing has cute frills adorning it.

Her white skin that she wouldn’t normally show to anyone is exposed. Perhaps, they thought that there are only girls here so both of them have felt no need to hide their bodies. Since Finne usually wore loose clothes there’s not much emphasis on her chest but she is much more glamorous than I thought. Elna hasn’t grown much since I last checked but there’s a lot of people who like it slender too.

When I was having such a thought, the two of them notice me.

They were confused for a moment but their expressions immediately turned completely red.

Then Elna grabbed a nearby pillow and enter a throwing posture.

It’s already meaningless to resist, the rest is to just accept the punishment.

I forgot. The most troublesome person here was Anna-san. To think that she would guide me to peek at her unmarried daughter. She is already a villain who takes pleasure in people’s reactions to her crimes.

“Al!? You!”

“Al-sama!?”

With the realization that I had fallen into a trap, I end up receiving a pillow thrown at ridiculous speed on my face.

———