Chapter 87
Chapter 87
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: The Prince's Gambit
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*He knows his etiquette?*
Grand Duke Guntram was quite surprised that Carlyle knew the proper etiquette for addressing the royal family.
Of course, the children of nobility are educated from a young age on how to show respect to the royals.
But it was questionable whether Carlyle would even remember his lessons. To think he would handle it so flawlessly…
“A pleasure to meet you, Sir Carlyle.”
“‘Sir’ is too much. I am not a knight.”
“Then what should I call you?”
“The second son of the Sigmund family, or Private, would be correct, I believe.”
Carlyle fought to suppress the thorns in his throat and the rage boiling within him.
Crown Prince Gordon was one of the main characters in the game [Overlord], so Carlyle knew him all too well.
The crown prince appeared polite on the surface, but it was nothing more than a hypocrite's mask.
His goal was to weaken the noble families of the United Kingdom, eventually killing them and seizing their lands to build a unified dynasty.
Among the main characters of [Overlord], the crown prince was the most dangerous, so Carlyle couldn't let his guard down.
One wrong move, and not only Carlyle but the entire Sigmund family could find themselves in trouble at the hands of the royal family.
“You are a private to uphold the Sigmund family tradition, so it would not be right for me to call you that. You will soon be an officer anyway, so I shall call you Sir.”
“As you wish.”
“Grand Duke, could you give us a moment alone?”
The crown prince looked at Grand Duke Guntram.
“That is…”
“It will be fine, so I would appreciate it if you would step out for a moment. I am a man of my word.”
“Please, speak freely.”
Grand Duke Guntram, still uneasy, shot Carlyle a look.
-Please, don't cause any trouble. Please.
-We'll see.
Carlyle responded to the Grand Duke's gaze with a sullen expression.
*If he pisses me off, he'll pay the price.*
Carlyle sharpened his blades inwardly.
There were countless ways to make things difficult for the crown prince.
After all, Carlyle had an immense amount of knowledge about the game [Overlord].
“I hear that you have corrected the errors of your past and turned over a new leaf, Sir.”
“Not at all. I am still just an immature child.”
“You're being modest.”
“Not at all.”
Carlyle gave a slight nod.
“I called you here because there is one thing I wish to ask you.”
“Please, speak.”
“To whom does your loyalty lie?”
“To Decaron and the royal family.”
“Which takes precedence?”
“Ultimately, would it not be the royal family? Decaron is its most loyal subject.”
“A good answer.”
The crown prince smiled faintly.
“Then you will do your utmost for the prosperity of the royal family.”
“If I am able, I will.”
“However, why have you not sent your handmaiden to study with the royal family?”
Carlyle realized why the crown prince had summoned him and sneered inwardly.
*So that's what this was about.*
He had already expected it.
Otherwise, there would be no reason for the crown prince to summon the North's mad dog for a private meeting.
“She is my handmaiden, so I simply wished to keep her by my side.”
“But for the prosperity of the kingdom, would it not be right to send her?”
“She is an exceptionally talented girl, so I don't believe she needs to study abroad. I judged that she could contribute sufficiently to the kingdom's prosperity from my side.”
“Of course, that may be true. But would it not be better for her to receive a proper education in the capital?”
“She herself has a strong identity as a northerner and does not wish to leave the North. I, too, am fond of her and am reluctant to send her away. I will keep her by my side and guide her well so she may contribute to the kingdom.”
“Hmph.”
The crown prince's face turned cold.
“It seems you are incapable of understanding when I speak nicely, Sir Carlyle.”
“…”
“Does this look like a suggestion to you?”
Carlyle did not answer.
“I was speaking indirectly out of consideration for the Sigmund family's loyalty to the crown and the Grand Duke's position. Are you so dull that you cannot even comprehend that?”
“I believe the matter of my handmaiden is my right. I am simply exercising that right.”
“Then raising Decaron's tax rate is my authority. I suppose I will do just that.”
A cold smile formed on the crown prince's lips.
“That is Your Highness's right, a legitimate exercise of the royal family's power.”
Carlyle's tone changed.
“So, do as you please. I have no intention of letting my handmaiden be taken from me.”
“Are you challenging me?”
“Of course not. How could a mere private like myself possibly stand against Your Highness? I am in a position where I must die if commanded to do so.”
“It seems raising the tax rate was not enough.”
“Why are you telling me that? I'm not the one paying the taxes, Decaron is.”
Carlyle retorted as if it had nothing to do with him, but inside, a fire raged.
*Ah, so that's why you raised the tax rate? Because I didn't send Evangeline?*
A murderous impulse slowly surged within him.
To think that the Decaron army was forced into excessive mining operations, and that countless soldiers died because of the crown prince's petty revenge…
*You… I won't let you get away with this.*
Carlyle vowed to take revenge on the crown prince.
“How utterly foolish. I heard you had matured, but it seems that was not the case.”
“This *is* me being mature.”
“…”
The crown prince was left speechless.
He knew he was a mad dog, but not to this extent.
“Is there anything else you'd like to say?”
“I assure you, you will bitterly regret what you've done today.”
“Is that a prophecy?”
“What?”
“I was just wondering if you were foreseeing the future.”
“…”
The crown prince was too dumbfounded to even be angry.
“Get out of my sight. Now.”
“Yes.”
After Carlyle left.
“Haha.”
The crown prince simply laughed.
***
“With His Highness the Crown Prince…”
Carlyle ignored Grand Duke Guntram and strode towards his room.
“Hah.”
A sigh that seemed to sink the very ground came from behind him, but Carlyle didn't stop walking.
Right now, Carlyle was seeing red.
-It seems raising the tax rate was not enough.
The crown prince's words echoed relentlessly in his ears.
Carlyle had already been feeling guilty, thinking the royal family's unreasonable tax hike might have been his fault.
But now that the crown prince had admitted with his own mouth that the tax increase was because of Evangeline, it was no wonder Carlyle was losing his mind.
*Regret? We'll see who's going to be regretting this.*
This time, Carlyle had no intention of staying quiet.
He didn't plan to openly challenge the crown prince.
That would put the Sigmund family in danger.
*What should I do to him?*
Carlyle shut himself in his room, not moving an inch as he pondered.
*Assassination is out of the question. Isn't there some way to screw him over?*
Of course, Carlyle had several ways to exploit the crown prince's weaknesses.
However…
*If I mess with him at this point in time, things will get complicated.*
The timing wasn't right to reveal that the royal family had lost its foresight.
He had to save that as a trump card for the right moment.
Revenge had to be carried out cleverly and secretly.
“Young Master, you do not look well.”
“Yeah, I'm not.”
Carlyle replied to Maranello's question.
“With His Highness the Crown Prince…”
“We had a huge fight.”
“What?!”
“It was just a tense atmosphere. We didn't actually fight.”
“Even so, confronting His Highness is…”
“He told me to hand over Evangeline. What was I supposed to do?”
“Young Master…”
A complicated expression appeared on Maranello's face.
“Perhaps regarding that matter…”
“Absolutely not.”
Carlyle stated firmly, as if there was no room for discussion.
“She's indispensable to us.”
It wasn't as if Carlyle was being stubborn for no reason.
Evangeline was one of the main characters in [Overlord] and was destined to become a key aide to Frey van Sigmund, the future head of the Sigmund family.
Losing such a valuable human resource to the royal family might seem fine for now, but it was obvious they would greatly regret it later.
“Butler, why are you so angry? Did something happen?”
“What's it to you?”
Carlyle retorted bluntly to the hatchling.
“You're going to talk to me like that, Butler? I'm wiser than you, you know.”
“Oh, are you now.”
Carlyle scoffed, but the hatchling paid him no mind and spoke in a calm voice.
“What is it? Tell me.”
“What would you know even if I told you?”
“I might.”
“You'd better.”
Carlyle roughly explained the situation to the hatchling.
“So, the crown prince is threatening you to hand over that handmaiden?”
“Yeah.”
“And your family, along with all the others, are trembling in fear because of the royal family's foresight?”
“That's right.”
“Hah, idiots.”
The hatchling shook its head.
“Something like foresight should have disappeared long ago, yet they're still afraid of it. Humans really are foolish, aren't they?”
“…!”
Carlyle and Maranello were startled by the hatchling's words.
“How do you know that?”
“Wh-what do you mean?”
The hatchling answered.
“How could mere humans possess foresight, a power that even we dragons don't have? It's ridiculous, truly.”
“…?”
Carlyle and Maranello stared blankly at each other.
“What is it saying?”
“Perhaps my hearing has worsened with age, Young Master.”
It was the first time Carlyle had heard such a thing.
According to the scenario in [Overlord], hadn't the royal family gained the power of foresight through a contract with an ancient dragon?
“An ancient dragon? A dragon's lifespan is about a thousand years. It's been that way since the dawn of time, and no dragon clan possesses the power of foresight. Dragons are said to be able to see the future simply because they are wise and have exceptional insight, not because they actually have precognitive abilities.”
“But the royal family is said to have passed down the power of foresight for generations.”
“To deceive others, one must first deceive oneself. You have to go that far to be able to boast about having foresight, don't you? It's a lie told with conviction.”
“…”
“If you don't believe me, try testing it.”
“Test it? How?”
“Cause some kind of incident. Something so subtle they can't react to it in advance.”
“Hmm.”
Carlyle thought that the hatchling might be right.
Indeed, the royal family had no power of foresight.
The main scenario of [Overlord] dealt with the division and civil war of the United Kingdom following the loss of the royal family's foresight.
“The idea that they never had foresight to begin with is a bit surprising. That's the royal family for you. Truly impressive.”
“No, Young Master.”
Maranello grabbed Carlyle and said.
“Surely you don't believe what it's saying?”
“Why not? It's a dragon, too.”
“But…”
“Why, because it's not a real dragon?”
“Since it wasn't born naturally, we can't completely trust it, can we?”
“That's true, but…”
The hatchling could have been offended by Carlyle and Maranello's conversation, but it didn't seem to care at all.
Instead, it held its stomach and laughed as if it found the whole thing amusing.
“Kyahaha, kyahahaha!”
“What? Why are you laughing?”
“You and the old man are both idiots.”
“…?”
“Did you really think I was just some artificial lifeform created by a mere magician all this time?”
“Huh?”
“Sorry, but I'm a real dragon. I just failed to hatch and was asleep for a very long time.”
“For real?”
“Have you been living a lie? Should we go find some other dragons? See if I'm a real dragon or not?”
The hatchling said confidently.