The Kind Crown Prince
The Mado Academy entrance ceremony opened as a feast of magical devices.
With a low whir, auto-flying golems soared through the air, painting the Academy's emblem—a book and a staff—across the sky.
Cannons thundered, and magical fireworks bloomed overhead, sketching living pictures of flame against the heavens.
"Wooow…"
Alice, standing beside me, seemed even more captivated by this spectacle than by anything she had seen in Academia City. Her mouth hung open, growing wider by the second as her gaze was stolen away. The size of that open mouth was a perfect measure of her amazement.
Pretty impressive, I'll give it that.
I felt the same. It was similar to a modern drone show or fireworks display, yet different enough that it felt like traveling to another country.
Though of course, I've already crossed over into an entirely different world.
Since there was no going back to my original one, I intended to enjoy things like this in earnest.
From behind, I heard voices mocking Alice's dramatic reaction, but I ignored them. I didn't care much about that sort of talk.
What matters for winning Alice over isn't society's prejudices. It's that I sincerely repent for my sins and change. If anything, comments like those work in my favor—they earn me sympathy points.
Gossip from nameless students was unlikely to alter the original story's major flow.
Most of the key figures are already gathered here.
The majority of those seated in this special section would eventually be moved by Alice's pure-heartedness and rise as romantic candidates.
Maximus, Crown Prince of the Mado Empire—the male lead of Volume One.
The person I needed to be wary of right now was the man sitting right beside me.
There was no incident that brought him into contact with Alice at the entrance ceremony. What would he think if he saw her now?
His brilliant golden hair—and golden eyes to match—made him far too conspicuous. Conspicuous enough that my gaze was drawn to him of its own accord.
"…Hmm?"
The Crown Prince seemed to sense my stare and turned to look at me.
"Is something the matter?"
"I simply found it remarkable that Your Highness happens to be seated right beside me."
There were only a few people in the novel to whom Yosef used honorifics. He never used them with a duke's son or a marquis's son. The only ones he addressed formally were the head of House Goldrain and members of the imperial family.
"Is it remarkable that the Crown Prince is here? Or is it remarkable that I am the Crown Prince?"
"The former is my thought. The latter would be Your Highness's."
"Huhu. Is that so? Your way of thinking is truly peculiar."
At the very least, all the male-lead candidates in this novel were fundamentally good-natured. None of them would casually slap Alice across the face the way I once had. Perhaps for that reason, the Crown Prince looked at me—a Goldrain—without so much as a frown, conversing with a light smile.
"A man's life is ordained by the gods, so there is nothing to be done about it—yet I wish They had given me some sign. I am thoroughly bewildered."
And this Crown Prince Maximus had not originally been the heir. He had an older brother who died in an unexpected accident, after which he became Crown Prince.
"I came to the Academy with a light heart, only to suddenly find myself Crown Prince. Things will be difficult from here on."
Maximus was under enormous pressure. The capabilities expected of a royal at the Academy and those expected of a Crown Prince were on entirely different levels. Even if he couldn't take first place in every subject, he would at least need to maintain a solid second-place ranking.
He'll have to study and work himself to the bone. Still, with royal blood in his veins, as long as he doesn't give up, he can keep his grades up.
I looked at him with pity, but the possibility was there. In the original story, Maximus had managed through fierce effort to push his grades in every class he took to the absolute peak.
"Given how things have turned out, I'd like to hear your advice. What do you say?"
To my surprise, Maximus offered to hear my counsel.
"Everyone only tells me what I want to hear. I have a feeling you, at least, would give a different answer."
"Y-Your Highness…"
The attendant beside him tried to stop Maximus's impulsive action.
Nothing good can come of associating with me.
Getting close to someone as notorious as I was could damage Maximus's reputation. Perhaps he was deliberately speaking to me just to step even a little outside everyone's expectations.
His reason for growing close to Alice seemed similar.
Worn down by the crushing pressure, the Crown Prince meets free-spirited Alice and feels a sense of freedom. Then, among the nobles who see him associating with someone from an insignificant family, his reputation drops. But the Crown Prince recognizes Alice's worth, supports her in turn, helps her grow, and eventually raises his reputation again.
Come to think of it, it's a bit different. Even if the Crown Prince supports me, I don't think my reputation would rise so easily.
I had a mountain of karma I'd accumulated. Alice had nothing wrong with her except her low status, so she grew easily—but for me, it would be hard.
"What sort of advice would Your Highness like?"
Of course, that didn't mean I had any reason to make an enemy of Maximus right away. After all, he was the Crown Prince of the Mado Empire—a being who possessed authority, legitimacy, and status.
"When those who follow me inflate their expectations of me to grand proportions—how would you act, if you were in my place?"
This was a problem that worried most noble heirs, the Crown Prince included.
Without the support of one's vassals, you can't wield the family's power. So you have to act in line with their expectations, and Academy grades are a convenient way to meet those expectations. They're even expressible as numbers.
Looking past the Crown Prince, I could see not only his attendants but countless eyes fixed on this place. The Emperor held influence over the entire Mado Empire, so not only members of the imperial family but every noble was watching the Crown Prince.
Yosef had struggled to gain his family's power, but the Crown Prince would feel pressure hundreds of times greater.
What should I say to someone like this?
Alice would just tell him to do whatever he wants—but unfortunately, I'm not Alice. I'm Yosef.
When a cute, pure-hearted girl says "live freely," people take it at face value. But when a noble heir with shady rumors says the same thing, of course it can be misunderstood.
I dressed it up in words the Crown Prince would find pleasant enough to hear.
"Does Your Highness truly need to meet their expectations?"
"Hmm? What do you mean by that?"
"Rather, they should come to meet Your Highness's expectations."
When I looked around, those who wished to form ties with the Crown Prince were not looking at me kindly.
"You need not satisfy every one of their expectations. First decide what kind of ruler you will become, then choose those who align with that vision."
"Hrm…"
When the Crown Prince followed my gaze and looked around, their stares softened like gentle lambs—but he raised one eyebrow slightly, as if unconvinced.
"Your Highness has the power to choose. Whom to keep, and whom to cast aside."
In any case, the Emperor wasn't going to die anytime soon. This was the period when the Crown Prince began building his own network and political foundation.
"You may take your time. The period Your Highness has to prepare is not short."
Students think their lives end with graduation from the Academy. But the real beginning comes with everything that happens after.
So don't fall for a girl—work on building a life of your own. Got it?
If the Crown Prince didn't fall for a woman, that period would be long enough. It was with that thought that I advised Maximus.
"I see. Your advice was rather unusual, but I shall not forget it."
"I am merely grateful that Your Highness takes the counsel of a dullard so seriously."
When I finished speaking with the Crown Prince, Alice poked me in the side. So I poked her right back.
"Hyaat?!"
"So there was a maid here who pokes her master in the ribs."
"I-I'm sorry…!"
As I'd seen in the novel, she had no sense of distance at all. Whether it was the Crown Prince or her master, she seemed to treat them much the same.
"So, what is it?"
"Who is that person?"
The one Alice pointed to was, of course, the man I'd just been speaking with.
"That is His Highness the Crown Prince."
"Wow, the Crown Prince is here?"
"Yes."
Alice peeked out from behind my body, watching the Crown Prince with curiosity. I stayed on guard, wary that Maximus might react upon seeing her. But Maximus only glanced briefly at Alice sitting behind me and showed no particular interest.
"He's so handsome…"
Alice had never fallen in love simply because someone was good-looking. Until she properly shared feelings with someone, she watched from a distance the way one watches a celebrity.
Should I start sharing feelings with her too?
I'd planned to build things gradually, but Alice-as-maid was moving differently from the novel's flow, so I wasn't sure how things would turn out. Moving too fast could have side effects, so I still wasn't certain.
"B-but Young Master is handsome too."
"Thank you."
The fact that she threw a compliment my way as well suggested these were just simple observations. After a moment's thought, I decided to return the compliment.
"You're cute too."
"…Thank you?"
The way her face flushed suggested it wasn't an unwelcome thing to hear.
Entrance ceremonies are boring.
After listening to the Academy headmaster drone on for a while, I felt a weight settle on my shoulder.
Alice, who until moments ago had been so lively, had dozed off listening to the tedious speech, her head bobbing gently.
Unbelievable. A maid who falls asleep leaning against her master's body.
Karen looked sleepy too, but she was pinching the back of her hand, forcing herself to stay awake.
"Young Master? What…"
Sensing my gaze, she turned toward me—then saw Alice asleep against my body.
"…!!!"
How did I used to react in situations like this?
Watching Karen, startled but unable to make a sound during the ceremony, I briefly recalled the past.
The original Yosef, seeing a sleeping maid, would have tormented her mercilessly, saying he'd punish her.
In practical terms, that wasn't possible. If someone like Karen had contracted from outside and enrolled in the Academy, she would be bound to me, and I could impose personal punishment. But for Alice, a student belonging to the Academy, only punishments according to school regulations were possible. And I had no intention of punishing her over something this minor to begin with.
I could force a punishment if I tried hard enough, but I can't afford to build up Alice's resentment over something this trivial. After all, I need to win her over.
"I'll wake her…!"
"Leave it. She'd just fall asleep again. Let her be."
I stopped Karen. Whether from a restless night before, even if woken she'd probably drift off again soon. So I pulled her waist closer, drawing her against my body.
But I felt a gaze from behind. Turning my head, I found the Crown Prince looking at me.
Was he looking at Alice?
A slight suspicion and wariness took root. Given the original story's flow, it would be strange not to be wary.
"…Is there a reason you brought a maid like that?"
"Pardon?"
But the words the Crown Prince spoke were not what I'd expected.
"Since you showed me goodwill, I'll say this—if you give your subordinates too free a rein, discipline falls apart. The advice you just gave me may be more necessary for you than for me."
The words I'd just given the Crown Prince came back like a boomerang.
From the outside, it does look like I'm treating Alice far too generously. But does the Crown Prince have no interest in Alice at all?
The Crown Prince was actually taking my side and framing Alice as the one in the wrong. In the original, the man who found Alice's free-spiritedness charming was now viewing that same free-spiritedness as dereliction of duty.
"If you wish, I could introduce you to some new personnel…"
"This child is only temporary, so it's fine."
"Even temporary, wouldn't a properly trained person be better?"
"If Your Highness shows me favor, others will grow jealous."
"Let them be jealous. The choice is mine to make, is it not?"
"…?"
His tone was still gentle, but a confidence that hadn't been there moments ago now colored his words.
Wait a second—this reaction is…?
It was a reaction I'd seen somewhere before, like déjà vu, and my brain began searching its memories.
In the original, everyone had been pouring excessive expectations onto the Crown Prince, and every student who met him treated him with the utmost deference. Living like that, one day he encounters Alice, who is thriving at the Academy.
Just live however Your Highness wants!
Really? But I'm the Crown Prince…
Even so, that doesn't change the fact that Your Highness is Maximus!
After roughly saying something like that, Maximus becomes a free man.
Your Highness the Crown Prince, there are still books Your Highness must study.
Why should I deal with those?
Pardon? But as the heir, of course…
Because I'm the heir, I must? This is nothing more than a means for you all to keep watch over me. The only reason I've endured until now was to see how far you would go!
Your Highness…!
I had delivered that line in place of the sleeping Alice, and Maximus had taken it far too deeply to heart.
Don't tell me… I triggered that event myself?
The Crown Prince's rebellious phase had begun far earlier than in the original!