Giselle's Surveillance
Lying sprawled out on the fluffy bed in the annex, I stared blankly up at the ceiling.
“Arzen, Your Highness!!”
The way Caleb had been dragged out of the banquet hall by Enoch’s knights kept flashing through my mind. That name he’d spat out refused to leave my ears. The First Prince, Arzen.
I carefully combed through the original novel’s plot, but no matter how hard I wracked my brain, almost nothing came up about him. After all, in the source material, Arzen had never once appeared or taken any direct action.
“Sigh.”
I’d assumed this was a dark fantasy military drama with Giselle as the protagonist. But since she dies at the end of Part 1, there was no way for me to know what came after. Maybe Arzen was the true main villain who only stepped into the spotlight starting in Part 2.
What about Kael’s own memories?
I dug through the original owner’s recollections embedded in this body. As expected, there was nothing useful. In Kael’s memories, First Prince Arzen was simply a man who always wore a gentle smile. An unpleasant bastard whose true thoughts were impossible to read. That was it.
“Hmm. So it’s not the emperor—it’s this guy who’s the real deal?”
Honestly, that old emperor came across as nothing but an arrogant, hollow puppet. The way he’d given a free pass for luxury goods was proof enough. A truly clever man wouldn’t have used Baron as a long-term chess piece. No, the true mastermind cleverly manipulating pawns like Caleb from the shadows was far more likely to be Arzen.
“Ugh, my head hurts.”
I pressed hard on my temples and rolled over. In this dogshit romance-fantasy world, losing access to future knowledge was an enormous penalty. It wasn’t like I was some genius.
First Prince Arzen. Just hearing the name made my skin crawl, so I decided to rank him at the very top of my danger list for now. Still, there was nothing I could do immediately about a guy currently sitting in the capital. I needed to set my priorities straight.
The most urgent matter wasn’t the invisible power struggles happening in the capital—it was rebuilding the northern territories so we could survive the coming true harsh winter and the remaining waves of magic beasts. Giselle’s efforts alone had their limits. We had to repair the collapsed ramparts and completely overhaul the heating infrastructure so no one in the slums would freeze to death.
Money could be scraped together by running the four ATM devices at full capacity. If it still wasn’t enough, I’d just borrow a little more from Giselle.
“Hmm. I should have a proper talk with Viola tomorrow.”
I wrapped the blanket tightly around myself and closed my eyes. There was a mountain of work waiting. Whether it was living as a villain or stanning my favorite character, both required serious dedication.
The next morning.
“Ah, that was refreshing.”
After sleeping like the dead, I felt great. The pain in my side had almost completely faded too. I stretched, stepped out of the annex with a light stride, and immediately froze.
“……Huh?”
I doubted my own eyes the moment I opened the door and stepped into the yard.
“Did you sleep well, Your Highness?”
“Good morning, Your Highness.”
Northern knights clad in pitch-black armor were standing like statues not only at the annex entrance but along every single path leading through the garden. No matter which way I turned, there were soldiers. It looked like my annex had been turned into a goddamn fortress.
Wait, did blocking one magic beast wave really leave this much spare manpower inside the castle? I furrowed my brow deeply and approached the nearest knight.
“Hey. What the hell are you guys doing? Why are you swarming my annex like this?”
The knight politely bowed his head at my irritated question.
“The Grand Duchess has ordered a drastic increase in Your Highness’s escort detail.”
“……Escort?”
I let out a disbelieving snort.
“Are you kidding me? You’re stuck so close I can hear you breathing. How is this an escort? This is straight-up surveillance!”
This was more than I’d expected. I’d been too complacent thinking Giselle wouldn’t actually assign watchers.
“Get lost right now!”
I shouted, but the knights didn’t budge an inch.
“We apologize, Your Highness. These are the Grand Duchess’s strict orders. We have no choice but to obey.”
“Ha. Unbelievable.”
I clicked my tongue and scratched my head in frustration. Fine. I could tolerate being watched inside the castle. At least they wouldn’t follow me into the annex itself, right? The important thing was getting outside to meet Viola.
“Move. I’m going out.”
I shoved the knights aside and headed for the main gate of the Grand Ducal Castle. But—
“One moment, Your Highness!”
Two knights immediately glued themselves to my back like leeches.
“What now?”
“The Grand Duchess has ordered that whenever Your Highness leaves the castle, you must be accompanied by two escorts at all times.”
“……What?!”
My jaw dropped.
“So no matter where I go, these two have to follow me around like puppies?”
“Yes. She commanded us not to leave your side even for a single moment.”
I stopped dead in my tracks, trembling with rage. That vicious woman Giselle. She was planning to completely tie my hands and feet!
A short while later.
BANG!!!
I kicked open the door to Giselle’s office with a furious bang.
“Hey!!!”
Giselle had been seated at her desk reviewing documents. She slowly raised her head as I stormed in like I was trying to break the door down. Her expression remained as calm as ever.
“Kicking open another person’s office door first thing in the morning. I see no trace of manners whatsoever.”
“Manners? You think I’m in any position to worry about manners right now?!”
I strode straight up to her desk and jabbed a finger at her.
“What the hell are all those black bastards outside?! You’ve decided to put me under surveillance?!”
“Surveillance? What are you talking about?”
Giselle set down her quill and countered coolly.
“Those are escorts. You are the Eighth Prince of the Empire. How could you possibly walk the barren streets of the North—where magic beasts and bandits could appear at any moment—without a single guard? Consider it a thoughtful measure born from concern for your well-being.”
Her tongue was as smooth as ever. Thoughtful measure? Bullshit. She was just dressing up her intention to monitor my every move in pretty packaging.
I leaned over the desk, growling.
“Don’t make me laugh. Every single one of those guys outside is your subordinate! They’d die if you ordered them to. What am I supposed to trust them with my life for?”
“What reason is there not to trust them?”
Giselle stared straight into my eyes without yielding an inch.
“They exist only to protect your life. Or are you perhaps afraid I secretly ordered them to assassinate you?”
“……”
“If that were the case, the person who would suffer most would be me. I would have to bear full responsibility for failing to protect the prince sent by the imperial family and allowing him to die in the heart of the North.”
Giselle continued.
“Your life is directly tied to the safety of the North. Why would I be insane enough to threaten it? This is nothing more than a legitimate measure to protect you.”
“Hah……”
I had no comeback. When she laid out her argument this logically, I no longer had any grounds to nitpick and throw a fit. In that case, there was only one option left.
I decided to use the trash prince’s signature move—an utterly groundless, unreasonable tantrum.
“Ha! Then what?! When I go to a back-alley brothel to drink with women, do I have to drag these two black bastards along too?! Does that make any sense?!”
At my filthy excuse, Giselle’s brow furrowed slightly. But she didn’t waver. Her response was ice-cold.
“When did I ever tell you not to visit such places? Go wherever you like. What’s the problem?”
“What?”
“Whether you fool around with a woman in your room or drown yourself in a wine barrel, my knights will simply stand guard outside the door in silence. We will not invade your privacy, so enjoy your amusements to your heart’s content.”
“……!”
Giselle had always been weak to vulgar language. Yet if she responded like this, I truly had nothing left to say. And honestly, even if things went exactly as she described, it wouldn’t matter. The original trash Eighth Prince probably wouldn’t have cared whether escort knights were standing outside the door while he was busy with women.
If I threw any more of a tantrum here, I’d only be the one losing out. But the real problem was—
I can’t go to Viola’s tavern like this!
On the surface it looked like a rundown pub, but if I started frequenting a shady back alley while accompanied by Giselle’s escort knights, it would be one hundred percent obvious that something was going on. While the knights stood guard outside the door, I’d be inside discussing northern infrastructure funding with Viola? The Grand Ducal Castle’s knights weren’t idiots. They’d report my every movement to Giselle without fail.
This vicious woman, Giselle!
Last time we’d run into each other in the corridor, she’d said, “No matter what schemes you try, my eyes are watching.” It seemed that hadn’t been an empty threat after all.
I ground my teeth. Raising my voice any further in this office would only advertise that I had something to hide.
“……Ha!”
I let out a hollow laugh and pulled my hand off the desk. Then I pointed straight at Giselle.
“Fine. I understand. Let’s test exactly how good your knights’ stamina really is.”
I spun on my heel and headed for the door.
“Just wait. I’ll make them suffer like dogs.”
BANG!!
I slammed the office door shut behind me. I needed to get to Viola immediately, but these leech-like escorts had attached themselves to me. It was driving me insane.
“Damn it, how the hell do I shake them off……”
I scratched my head and shot a glare at the two escort knights sticking close behind me.