The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

The Imperial Sword Castle is a large place.

Unless you are part of the imperial family who lives in this castle, it is not a place you can easily find your way around. Even the Emperor himself doesn’t know of all the hidden rooms and passages as each generation of the emperor newly construct their own.

At the middle floor of such a castle.

One girl is lost.

“Unnn……I’m lost!”

With a troubled expression, the girl shouted out.

The upper area of the castle is where the Emperor lives while the middle area is for other imperial family members and nobles. The reports that need not be sent to the Emperor are being examined here.

Al and Leo’s rooms are also in this area. However, it was too dangerous for a lone unidentified girl to be lost here.

If she is caught, she will be detained until her identity can be confirmed.

However, the girl is still carefree.

The girl whose blond hair is being arranged into a side ponytail is probably eleven to twelve years old at the oldest.

With a wooden sword on her waist, anyone in the castle can recognize her as a knight apprentice or something close to that.

However, most knight apprentices will not be in such a place.

“What to do, What to do………..what would I do if someone ate all my lunch……”

If Al saw her then he might have a disappointed look on his face while saying, [so you were worrying about food!?].

The girl raised her face up and started walking again.

She has embraced the reckless idea that she will find a place she recognizes before long if she keeps walking.

“A stair, should I go up or down? Instructor told me not to go up the stairs didn’t he, eh, was it not to go down, hmmmm.”

“Oi! The kid over there!”

When she heard that, she immediately straightened her back.

She then slowly turned her head back to look at the source of the voice like a broken doll.

At that place were two guards carrying a spear. Both of them are looking at her with suspicion.

“Who are you? How did you get in here?”

“Isn’t she a knight apprentice? I guess she broke the rule and came up here. Those who can’t keep the rules can’t be a knight you know.”

“Umm, you see……”

“A dropout huh. Come with us! We will take you to your instructor.”

Saying so, the guards reach out to the girl.

However, as if to stop them, a black-haired man calls out to the girl.

“Oh, so you are here. That’s a no go, isn’t it. Leaving my side like that.”

“Y, Your Highness Leonard!?”

“Aah, sorry. I called this girl up here. Since she looked like she had nothing to do I was having her helping me carrying my luggage. Can you lend me a hand too?”

“N, no! We have our prior duty!”

“We are sorry, we didn’t know that you were called here by His Highness Leonard! We will return to our post now!”

“I see. Thanks for the good work.”

Smiling and waving to the guards as they are leaving, Leonard takes a look around and confirms that there’s no one around. After confirming that they are gone, he let out a sigh and spoke to the girl.

“That was dangerous.”

“…I, I.”

“I?”

“An Ikemen! Nii-chan! Nii-chan is exactly like the Ikemen that Sensei told me about! Thank you for saving me!”

The girl smiles cheerfully.

Leo was a little confused because of her overly familiar attitude but he immediately smiled at her and beckoned her over.

“You really are an energetic one huh. Are you perhaps a knight apprentice?”

“Un!”

“I see. Then I will accompany you to your instructor later. If I go with you, you shouldn’t get scolded right. But you have to help me with my work first okay?”

“OOH! This is called a deal right! OKAY! I accept it!”

“Alright then. I am Leonard. My friend calls me Leo. And you are?”

“Rita’s name is—-.”

“Nn, so your name is Rita huh.”

“How did you know!?”

“Ahaha, you are quite an interesting child aren’t you.”

Saying so, Leo took Rita to his room.

“Alright, Rita. This is an important task. Can I trust Rita to do it?”

“U, Un! I will do my best!”

Leo places a lot of sweets in front of Rita.

All of them are gifts from noble ladies and women from the castle town. The poison tasting has already been done but the total amount is still too large.

After returning from the south, Leo’s popularity has increased tremendously, especially among women. With that said, Leo thought that most of this was his brother’s fault.

The story of how he has done everything he can to save the survivor of the wrecked principality’s ship has reached the imperial capital, especially the one where he leaped into the sea to rescue a survivor and the story of how he raised the white flag in order to save the seriously injured people on board his ship has become the most popular story inside the imperial capital.

Because both are Al’s actions, even if Leo wanted to tell everyone that it was all thanks to Nii-san, he couldn’t do it and have to eat all the sweets being sent to him every day.

However, no matter how much Leo’s stomach can take in, there is still a limit.

“Ca, Can I eat everything!?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. It’s Rita’s job to eat all of it after all.”

“GOT IT! Rita will do her best!”

Rita began to open the bag containing the sweets with sparkling eyes.

Her face is beaming with a smile at the sweets she has never seen before.

Looking at such Rita, Leo felt a little guilty. Luring a little girl to his room and making her do what he doesn’t want to. It somehow felt cowardly.

(TLN:( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) )

However, Leo can’t eat anymore of that and Al wouldn’t even think about eating them. It would be a waste to throw away what he couldn’t finish so it’s better to have someone else eat it.

Leo convinced himself and started pouring tea for Rita.

“Delicious! It’s super delicious!”

“Is that so, I’m glad. Here, have some tea. It’s hot so be careful okay.”

“Thank you! Leo-nii.”

“Leo-nii?”

“Un! Leonard-oniichan. Leo-nii for short! I can’t?”

“No, it’s alright. Call me whatever you like. I will do my paperwork for a bit so when I’m done, let’s go to your instructor together okay.”

“ROGER!”

A natural smile bloomed on his face as Leo looked at the energetic Rita.

Rita’s cheerful and unreserved atmosphere was refreshing to Leo. Inside the castle, everybody always behaves themselves carefully.

Their smiles are fake, and there are a lot of occasions that felt so suffocating. It has become even worse since they know of his success in the south.

In such an environment, Rita’s pure and cheerful attitude is like a tonic that heals Leo’s heart.

“Hey, Leo-nii. Is Leo-nii some kind of a big shot?”

“Why are you asking this so suddenly?”

“Un, you see. The person earlier used -sama to call Leo-nii right. Sensei said that people who have -sama following their name is a big shot you see.”

“Well, my father is certainly a great person you see. People just use -sama to refer to me because of that. I am not someone great. Incidentally, is that sensei referring to your instructor?”

“UUn. He’s the adventurer-oniichan that taught Rita her swordplay. He probably is as old as Leo-nii too. But Leo-nii is way more cooler than him! Sensei always gets bullied by the kids at his dojo and he always gets dumped by women too.”

“He sounds like an interesting person isn’t he. Since Rita likes him as well, should I try meeting him?”

“Un! Rita loves Sensei! It’s thanks to Sensei that Rita can train in the castle like this too! Rita will become a great knight or an adventurer like him in the future.”

Rita took a bite on the fruit on top of the pie.

“You don’t have to push yourself you know?”

“N, No…….Rita is a woman who keeps her promise….Rita has to eat it all……..”

“Fufu, good girl. Then you can eat everything you got in your hand alright, I will eat the rest.”

“Ro, Roger…….th, this is nothing……”

While saying such a thing, Rita puts the last piece of chocolate in her mouth

During that time, Leo eats all the remaining sweets. However, with only a handful left, Leo doesn’t rush to eat it. He slowly takes his time to eat it while looking at Rita.

Then.

“A, All Done ! !”

“Good job.”

“Ehe!”

Leo strokes Rita’s head and Rita is having a wide smile on her face while receiving it.

After that, Leo walks Rita back downstairs.

“Hey, Leo-nii. Can I see you again?”

“Sure. come over whenever you want.”

“Un! I will come again!”

With that said, Rita parts way with Leo.

He gave her detailed instructions so that the instructor won’t get angry at her and told the guards to let her pass when they saw her.

Leo returned to his room, tidying up the leftover trashes and wondering if she would be a good friend to Christa.