The Seventh Prince Runs Away from Awkward Situations Chapter 104

Suppressing his queasy heart, Cellos left his castle for the first time in a while.

There were many places to refresh his mood, but the place his steps headed to was, ludicrously enough, the old castle that had now lost its owner.

He knew it was not a wise choice to go to such a place where there wasn't even a single good memory he could think of, but still, Cellos wanted to verify it with his own two eyes.

Cellos repeated to himself that it was only because he wanted to verify the death of the guy who knew his secret and feel relieved.

Thud, thud.

Stepping into the desolate castle, Cellos scanned the surroundings for no reason.

Although the impression was always that it wasn't a place fit for living, the castle where even that 7th Prince guy disappeared from could no longer be called a place for people to live.

It seemed there were servants remaining whose disposition hadn't been decided yet, but the castle was quiet.

The fact that there wasn't a single knight guarding the entrance made the 7th Prince's death feel more real, but Cellos climbed the stairs with an even more sunken mood.

He didn't even feel like scolding them for the disrespect of daring to greet an Imperial family member like this.

Cellos couldn't pinpoint the exact cause of this dirty feeling.

Whether it was because the number of Imperial family members with less Manis than him had decreased, or just…….

Rattle.

At the noise that pierced his ears before the assumptions filling up on their own could occupy his head, Cellos raised his head.

At the sign of someone's presence felt from inside the room where there should be no one, Cellos walked as if running and flung the room door open.

“Kyaak!!!”

A thin and slender voice that couldn't have come from the owner of the room screamed.

Cellos, feeling his strength drain away for some reason, glared at the cause of his disappointment.

“What are you doing here?”

“I, I greet the 8th Prince.”

Anna, who still hadn't fixed her stuttering, bowed her head in front of Cellos.

Cellos's eyes quickly scanned the inside of the room.

Bedding and clothes were rolling around on the floor, and not a single ornament hung on the bare walls.

Although it was originally a beggarly room, it wasn't to this extent before.

With fire igniting in his eyes, he grabbed Anna's arm threateningly.

“Even if he was a guy like vermin, he was a guy who inherited the blood of the Imperial family. Did you think stealing the belongings of the master you served would be forgiven?”

At his furious face, tears welled up in Anna's eyes.

“N, no, Prince! Stealing, that is something unimaginable!”

Anna's desperate defense rather touched Cellos's temper.

“Then what is this mess!”

As Cellos pointed at the room cluttered in a mess and shouted, Anna shut her eyes tight and shook her head strongly.

“T, this is something the 7th Prince ordered himself! He said we could take anything that could be money!”

“What?”

At the unexpected answer, the grip holding Anna's arm weakened.

Feeling that, Anna did not miss the opportunity and continued her words.

“I, it’s true! Lord Ran told me to tell the others that if something happened to him, they could take valuable things from the castle and leave…….”

“Shut up! That kind of thing isn't important!”

Cellos blocked Anna's words as she spat them out frantically.

Whether the servants stole or not was no longer an important issue.

Startled, Anna looked up at Cellos's glistening eyes.

“Are you saying that guy knew in advance that something would happen to him?”

“I, I don't know well. I just delivered the words…….”

“That’s what that means! You stupid wrench!”

Unable to hold back his temper, Cellos shouted again.

Anna, on the verge of fainting, sank to the floor, but Cellos, having even forgotten Anna's existence, racked his brain quickly.

The guy definitely knew something would happen to him.

With that personality, would he have just sat there and taken it?

He was a guy with many incomprehensible corners.

He didn't know if he was dead or alive, but one thing was certain.

That the guy didn't simply die getting swept up in an accident.

Cellos's head, which couldn't even dream that Ran Abalan had survived by selling him out, spun quickly.

His sharp gaze fixed on Anna.

“What else did the guy say? Were there any other strange signs before he died?”

“N, no, there wasn't…… Ah.”

Anna, who was answering reflexively, stopped talking as if she recalled something.

“What is it? If something comes to mind, say it quickly! Don't dawdle!”

At his urging, Anna pulled her neck in like a turtle and gauged his mood.

“R, recently he seemed to be in a good mood. I thought…… his expression seemed a little better after he got close with the 8th Prince.”

“…….”

Anna's answer became slower and slower.

Because she felt that Cellos's face, which had been pressing her, seemed to distort a little.

But before Anna could fully check it, Cellos's face was covered in anger again.

“Who says I am close with a guy like that.”

Muttering low, he glared at Anna again.

“Then why are you remaining here? Everyone else must have taken a share and fled.”

“N, not everyone fled. People with nowhere to go decided to stay here for the time being. Until…… there is a funeral ceremony for the 7th Prince…….”

At Anna's words, the corners of Cellos's mouth twisted.

“How stupid. There is no way there would be something like a funeral ceremony for a half-wit guy like that.”

The Imperial Castle was in turmoil due to the sudden death of the 1st Prince.

There was no one who cared about the life or death of someone like the 7th Prince who had no abilities.

“No one cares about his death.”

At his ridicule, Anna opened her eyes round.

“T, then why did the 8th Prince come all the way here?”

Although she covered her mouth with both hands in shock at the words she spat out unknowingly.

“…….”

Although Cellos glared fiercely at Anna, he couldn't press the child with sharp words like before.

It was partly because he was at a loss for words for a moment, and also because Anna's question was a doubt for which he himself couldn't come up with an acceptable answer.

“……Shut up.”

The curse that barely came out lost some strength, to the extent that even Anna felt doubt rather than fear.

However, while Anna, feeling strange, was gauging Cellos's mood, Cellos regained his original temperament.

“Hey, before that half-wit bastard left, no, before he gave you that strange order, what did he usually do?”

Anna rolled her eyes to recall.

“He mostly read books in his room. Although there were times he was soaked in alcohol, he still read books the most in the study.”

At the elegant lifestyle that didn't suit him, a sneer hung on Cellos's face.

What reading for a guy not that smart…….

However, having a small radius of activity had its own advantages.

“Are there any servants who rummaged through his study?”

“Yes? No. Although books are expensive, they are difficult to keep compared to their volume. No one coveted the books.”

“That turned out well.”

Anna looked up at Cellos, not knowing what turned out well.

“You tell the remaining guys. Tell them that if anyone sets foot in the study as they please, I will make sure they can never walk again.”

At the terrifying warning, Anna nodded her head in fear despite not having done anything wrong.

However, Anna's hardship did not end there.

“And from tomorrow, you watch the study. If anyone shows strange movements, report to me.”

Anna's face turned pale as she ended up unable to leave and was tasked with serving Cellos suddenly.

Because it was a bolt from the blue for Anna, who had made up her mind to return to her hometown and find a new job sooner or later.

At Anna's appearance of losing words, Cellos's eyebrows shot up again.

“What? Why is there no answer?”

“I, I apologize. I will follow your words!”

Anna bowed her waist hurriedly.

“Neither that guy nor the guys working under him, there is nothing proper about them.”

Until he, muttering complainingly, left the door, Anna could only look at the floor worrying about her twisted situation and future.

***

The situation of Abalan, where the most likely Emperor candidate disappeared overnight, was chaos itself.

Rasia who met a questionable death, a large fire in the capital's temple, and the fall-but-not-quite-fall of the Piteos Ducal Family.

Duke Millio wiped off the glistening sweat as he walked down the corridor leading to the conference room.

Information that enters the inside of the Imperial Family does not come out.

Because no one dares to harbor thoughts of betraying the Imperial Family members.

All matters happening inside are swallowed into them.

In such an extremely conservative group, the flow of power once decided never changed.

Duke Millio knew that this confused time right now was an opportunity that would not come to him again.

A golden opportunity to elevate his family as the right arm of the Imperial Family, instead of the Piteos family which was as good as fallen.

“Duke Millio, you have come.”

As he entered the conference hall, people welcoming him stood up one by one and greeted him.

At that sight, the corners of Duke Millio's mouth went up in a grin.

Look, the treatment is already different.

Duke Millio found a seat and sat down slowly, enjoying the gazes of the nobles sitting while glancing at him.

It was so enjoyable now that the annoying humans were gone.

Everyone must be frustrated and afraid, thinking that he was different from the guys who came to flatter somehow out of fear of sudden change, Duke Millio thought.

‘I am different from other guys, for me…….’

“His Majesty the Emperor enters.”

Following the sound of hurriedly rising from seats, silence arrived.

The splendid door opened, and the Emperor entered.

It was customary for a likely Emperor candidate to be present in the conference room.

Everyone was on edge to check the successor who would take Rasia's place.

Following behind the Emperor, a man with platinum blond hair entered.

Checking the owner of the platinum blond hair standing by his side, Duke Millio used all his strength to block his grinning mouth.

“Today’s meeting will be joined by the 2nd Prince, Dito Abalan.”

With the Emperor's simple introduction, the new Emperor candidate raised his head and looked down at the nobles sitting below.

Duke Millio straightened his short upper body ridiculously stiff to catch his eye somehow.

Dito, having scanned everyone, raised the corners of his mouth gently and smiled.

***

When the time came for the meeting to end, Dito Abalan stood up elegantly and looked down at the crowd.

Everyone looked up at him who had a gentle atmosphere unlike Rasia.

Dito opened his mouth to those staring at him blankly.

“Unfortunately, a large fire broke out in the temple's tower this time. I intend to restore it. It will be a bigger project than ever before. For that, a lot of help will be needed.”

At the calm proposal different from Rasia, everyone's eyes grew wide.

This was, in other words, a clear sign of opening.

Like a small side door of a firmly closed castle opening, he was teaching them to come here, that the proper direction was this way.

Because a large wall had always been erected between the Imperial Family and the nobles where the hierarchy was distinct.

The guards protecting the castle never changed for a long time.

However, the Piteos family, the Crisa family, and the old families that had solidified their positions for a long time were shaking.

Dito's sweet proposal was a rope of opportunity for them.

One that could bring down this system old to the point of being stale and write a new history.

“O, our family can support as much as needed.”

“Please give us the honor of helping the Prince.”

Words burst out from here and there as if competing.

“Ah, of course, I know the heart of the country well. However, there was someone who said they would take over the shelter project that the Piteos family was proceeding with.”

A flush returned to the face of Duke Millio, who had been watching the situation anxiously since Dito brought up the topic.

“The Millio Ducal Family and the Count Family will handle the work first.”

It was the moment the trend changed, and the moment announcing the reconstruction of Abalan which had been built up solidly.