Chapter 3 :

Chapter 3 — The Axis of Evil (2)

An afternoon when a cool breeze and the damp scent of autumn blew in.

I still had not escaped the Seventh Imperial Prince’s body.

Nothing much had happened in the meantime.

There was one time when I spent an entire day in bed, thinking that maybe if I fell asleep and woke up again, I could return to my original world, but that much was not enough to be called an incident.

Other than that, I was adapting to this world surprisingly well. In truth, it was not that different from the time I had spent in the real world.

Thinking of nothing other than safely surviving that day.

If I had to find a difference, it would be that this time, death was truly right beside me, its jaws wide open.

Taking that into account, even I thought I was doing suspiciously well.

Since I had read the entire ‘Dark Header’ series more than a hundred times, the developments of this world were as obvious to me as looking at the palm of my hand, so I did not feel particularly impatient. Besides, there was still one year left before the original work began.

If my body did not return to normal during that time..... Well, even then, there was not much I could do.

I still spent my days acting as the Seventh Imperial Prince, and no one in particular interfered with me.

From time to time, that girl Anna’s suspicious gaze would stab into me, but the girl trembled like an aspen tree and lowered her eyes whenever I merely looked at her, so no strange rumors spread.

Still, it would be troublesome if she went around telling other people that I was strange, like last time.

Knock, knock.

What pulled me back to reality as I blankly tapped on the desk was a cautious knocking sound.

“What is it?”

“Your Highness, we have prepared your meal.”

I put down the book I had been reading to gather information and answered.

“Come in.”

Three maids entered while pushing a silver tray.

Anna, as it happened, was pushing the wheels while clinging to the tray like sugar syrup reduced down in a pot.

That girl is the problem.

The only kid who muttered that I was strange at the laundry area and paid attention to my changes.

I sat with my legs crossed and watched the maids prepare the meal.

The maids could not even raise their heads, sweating coldly as they portioned the food into bowls little by little.

When they set down the porcelain teapot filled with hot tea, they even made a slight rattling sound and anxiously watched my reaction.

The fact that I had not been found out after possessing the Seventh Imperial Prince’s body was largely thanks to this sort of reaction from the employees.

Because everyone feared the Seventh Imperial Prince’s temper, which was worse than a beast’s.

Ran was a character in the novel who was looked down on the most among the imperial family, and he had a personality that relieved the inferiority complex caused by that on those below him in status and easy to bully.

By “relieved”, I mainly mean violence, murder if severe, and irritation if light.

In a word, he was trash.

Perhaps because he had done so many damn awful things before, even when I merely watched them quietly, the servants were busy lowering their heads deeply and begging forgiveness.

It did not feel very good to pressure innocent people, but thanks to that, no one noticed my changes.

I had also worked hard in my own way to act like the Seventh Imperial Prince from the novel.

For now, what I wanted was to stay quiet and return to my original body before the novel’s plot began in earnest.

I also had to be careful if I wanted to consider the flow of the original work.

But that child had sensed something.

I remembered how she had said that it was strange that I did not throw dishes at people these days.

Was it my mistake to throw teacups at the floor a few times because I could not bring myself to throw them at people?

Would it be all right to leave her alone?

If she kept trying to tell the other employees that I was strange like earlier, there might be trouble.

Knock, knock, knock.

While I was thinking about what to do with Anna, a rough knocking sound suddenly rang out.

Soon after, someone flung the door open and came in without my permission.

“Your Highness, it is Sein. I have entered despite knowing it is discourteous.”

A tall, lanky man apologized with an expression that did not look discourteous at all.

He bowed his head deeply, but on his raised face was a light of contempt toward me.

It was the man who had chased me out when I became a crow on the first day.

* * *

Sein.

The Seventh Imperial Prince’s aide.

Finding it fascinating to see the first appearance of a character mentioned in the novel, I examined him carefully.

Neatly swept-back light brown hair, hollow cheeks, small glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, and lastly, a thin body that looked to be about 190 centimeters tall.

Unlike his appearance, which at a glance made him look like a scholar, his practical abilities were terrible.

He was a distant relative of the current Empress, and he was a character who despised the original Seventh Imperial Prince, who feared the Empress.

In truth, the very fact that he worked here meant the Empress did not care about him at all, but the foolish Ran in the novel did not know that and believed Sein’s words whenever he brought up the Empress.

—Since Your Highness is this foolish, I do not know what I should say to Her Majesty the Empress.

When he said that, the Seventh Imperial Prince usually shut his mouth.

After being dealt with by Sein, the Imperial Prince would throw even more hysterics at his subordinates.

Sein especially liked seeing the Imperial Prince display that undignified and disgraceful appearance.

Because he knew the Imperial Prince could never treat him carelessly.

That must be why he was standing in front of the Imperial Prince with such a relaxed expression.

I slowly opened my mouth.

“What is it?”

“I heard that your honored body has been unwell for the past week. This lowly one has never heard that a noble member of the imperial family could fall ill, so I was very worried, Your Highness. However, there are important tasks that Your Highness must handle, so I came. You may not understand because you are still young, but these are very urgent matters.”

He ostentatiously placed the stack of papers he had brought beside the table where the meal was clearly set out, then continued speaking.

“Please sign them immediately.”

At the end of his lengthy speech, he gave the glasses perched on his nose a twitch.

Of course, it was long-winded nonsense.

First of all, because the Seventh Imperial Prince was so stupid and incompetent, no urgent matters were entrusted to him.

They were simply documents sent over for the sake of appearances.

At best, they were utterly useless matters such as what to change the feed for the horses in the stable to.

Among the things that man had said, the only correct statement was probably that it was his first time seeing an imperial family member sick.

Normally, imperial family members rarely fell ill.

They did not really get sick, either.

That was the setting given to them in the novel.

The Seventh Imperial Prince was, in his own way, sturdier than ordinary people, but compared to his siblings, he was almost an ordinary person.

That must have been a point the Seventh Imperial Prince, who was a bundle of inferiority complexes, would not have wanted touched.

There was no way Sein did not know that.

If it had been the Seventh Imperial Prince, he either would have been too stupid to understand, or even if he understood, he would have simply trembled with rage.

Of course, I was not the Seventh Imperial Prince, so I merely felt businesslike about what I should do with him.

When I silently looked at him without saying anything in particular, he must have thought I was holding back my anger, because a sneer appeared on his gaunt face.

“Do you have something to say to me?”

He asked without hiding his mockery.

“Or perhaps, something to say to others?”

As he said that, he glanced sideways at the maids who had moved aside and had been trembling since a while ago.

As if to say, if you are going to do it, then try.

It seemed a good opportunity had come to clear up suspicious Anna’s misunderstanding.

* * *

That stupid Seventh Imperial Prince bastard.

Sein moved his feet while chewing over the Seventh Imperial Prince, who had shut himself in his room for a week without coming out.

Since a week ago, the Imperial Prince’s condition had been strange somehow.

The bastard would not listen.

Even though he showed his displeasure, that idiot used to sign whatever he was told to sign, and even though he was humiliated, he used to listen obediently.

In the first place, it was absurd that someone who did not even seem like an imperial family member occupied that position.

The imperial family was the race of gods.

As if the whole world existed for them, all things revolved around the imperial family.

The beautiful blonde hair that only imperial family members were said to possess was the object of everyone’s envy.

Sein, too, had grown up hearing about the imperial family from a young age, and had been educated to revere and serve them.

On top of that, he was even a distant relative of the Empress.

Though the relation was so distant that it was awkward to even call them relatives.

The pride that came from being close to the imperial family, and the regret that he had narrowly failed to form a bond with them, made him nurture the dream of working in the imperial palace.

However, with no special talent in academics or martial arts, he had only barely managed to obtain this position after secretly offering bribes.

The imperial family he saw after going that far were literally incarnations of gods and symbols of nobility.

Their lives in the imperial palace looked luxurious and beautiful, as if modeled after the world of gods.

And all of it looked completely justified.

Except for the Seventh Imperial Prince he served.

Sein could not forget the day he first saw that black-haired Imperial Prince who looked ill-tempered.

He was stupid, unimpressive, and vulgar.

When Sein entered to report to him, the Imperial Prince threw a stack of documents, and it even scratched his cheek.

That thing is supposed to be imperial family?

The Seventh Imperial Prince, who looked even stupider than himself, lived while enjoying everything he could, claiming to be imperial family in his own way.

Even if he existed like dust among the imperial family, the nobles could not treat him carelessly because of the name “imperial family”, and they pretended not to see his atrocities.

Even if he did not live as luxuriously as the other imperial family members, he lived a life that seemed to have never known worry over money.

It was different from Sein, the third son of an impoverished count family, who had to go around begging for money here and there.

What is so great about that useless-looking bastard?

Sein could not control the boiling anger and jealousy inside him.

Living as the hands and feet of the imperial family, as he had dreamed, was not supposed to be like this.

After pouring in so much money, the position he finally ended up with was merely a role taking care of an abandoned Imperial Prince.

However, he had already strained himself to gather money and offer a bribe.

Since he could not quit now, he had no choice but to endure while working under the Imperial Prince.

Until the stupid Imperial Prince asked him that.

—You..... Is it true that you are Her Majesty the Empress’ relative?

Sein read the fear, slight curiosity, and hope reflected in his eyes.

Ah, this Imperial Prince may be stupid, but it seems he has some use.

After that, everything went smoothly.

The stupid Imperial Prince signed what he was told to sign and wrote what he was told to write.

Even when Sein siphoned off the budget coming into the Imperial Prince’s palace, the bastard knew nothing.

When his patience seemed to be running out, if Sein occasionally mentioned the Empress, he quickly became quiet.

And then he vented that stress on the maids and servants.

Sein liked seeing that ugly sight.

There was the sense of superiority that, even if he was only a halfwit, a member of the imperial family could not touch him carelessly, but more than anything, the Imperial Prince’s trashy deeds gave him justification.

The thought that trash like him deserved to go through this made Sein’s heart feel at ease.

Each day was a path of success.

And yet.

A week ago, the Imperial Prince had suddenly ordered that no one be let into his room.

No matter how much Sein told them to say that the aide had come, the servants and maids merely repeated the same words.

In truth, if the Imperial Prince said so, there was really nothing Sein could do.

No matter how defective an imperial family member he was, if he gave an order, unless Sein was truly the Empress’ beloved relative, Sein was in a position where he had to follow that order.

When that unpleasant fact was recalled anew, the inferiority complex Sein had buried surged out.

That could not be allowed.

He always had to remain an ugly and stupid Imperial Prince.

Because of the money Sein had borrowed in advance while trusting that he could siphon off the Imperial Prince’s palace funds, he was also starting to need the Imperial Prince’s signature on forged documents.

“Is His Highness still shut up in his room?!”

Unable to hold back any longer, he pressed a passing maid.

“R-Right now, he is having a meal in his room.”

Frightened by his bloodshot eyes, the maid spat out only the bare minimum information and ran away.

A meal..... He is having a meal, is he?

If he was having a meal in his room, then there would be maids around him as well.

That was better.

Today, he would humiliate him in front of the lower ones.

Then that stupid Imperial Prince would once again tremble, unable to control his anger, and yet would not be able to say a word to him.

Perhaps he might even grab the maids beside him and kill them on the spot.

Could there be a sight uglier than that?

Not even knowing what expression he was making, Sein knocked and immediately barged into the room.

The Imperial Prince was sitting in a chair with an arrogant posture.

“Your Highness, it is Sein. I have entered despite knowing it is discourteous.”

Excited at the thought of humiliating the Imperial Prince in front of the employees, Sein failed to notice that the Imperial Prince, who was tilting his head and looking at him, was not frowning or intimidated, but gazing at him with a perfectly expressionless face.