Giselle and the Orphanage Visit
The next morning.
“Ugh, my head…”
I clutched my forehead and stepped out of the annex, putting on a convincing show of suffering from a hangover. Of course, my mind was actually spinning with entirely different thoughts.
How the hell do I pry the slum demolition rights out of Giselle?
She already despised me, and after what happened last night, her opinion of me had probably plummeted straight through the bedrock and into the planet’s core. At this point, my usual trashy behavior might not even faze her. And if I tried the straightforward approach—offering compensation to the residents and announcing I wanted to build something—Giselle would be instantly suspicious.
The imperial trash suddenly playing philanthropist? He must be plotting something in the slums! She’d think exactly that.
Tricking her last night had been a success, but the road ahead was still a mountain. Sigh. Maintaining this villain persona while trying to do good deeds is a massive pain in the ass.
I let out a long breath and glanced around.
“Oh?”
Luckily, last night’s little performance seemed to have worked. The swarm of grim-faced knights that had been camped around the annex was noticeably thinner. From Giselle’s perspective, she probably had no desire to keep a large force watching the building where her husband rolled around with other women. It would be too revolting. She was also likely considering the feelings of the knights forced to stand guard outside a degenerate’s door all night while he was busy with his debauchery.
As expected, Giselle really is kind.
“At least I can breathe a little easier now…”
“Your Highness, have you risen? Where are you headed?”
Just as I stretched and started to walk, two burly knights appeared at my sides as if on cue, bowing deeply.
“……”
I clicked my tongue. The overall surveillance had decreased, but these two personal watchdogs remained. Well, I was the Eighth Prince of the Empire. Letting me wander around without any escort would be absurd. And given Giselle’s personality, it was impossible. If I actually got stabbed by an assassin sent from the imperial family or some blind thief, the Empire would use that as an excuse to trample the North.
To be honest, even I get nervous wandering around alone.
With this powerless shell of a body, if I really did get shanked while sneaking through back alleys, I’d be the only one feeling wronged. Even I had to admit that reliable escorts were absolutely necessary. The problem was that I needed my own people as guards, not the Grand Ducal knights who served as Giselle’s eyes and ears.
Maybe I should recruit a useful mercenary or hunter from the territory?
It was an appealing idea. Either way, I needed to go out and inspect the territory to make any progress. Whether I was looking for capable mercenaries or personally surveying Slum District 3 and 4—the areas Viola and I had marked for demolition and reconstruction—I had to leave the castle. The only issue was the two leech-like knights glued to my sides. It was driving me insane.
“Hm?”
Come to think of it, the main gate of the Grand Ducal Castle was unusually noisy. When I turned to look, I saw Giselle already mounted on a warhorse, accompanied by Hexion, a few others, and a supply wagon, preparing to head outside. She wasn’t wearing her combat gear, but rather simple, modest everyday clothes.
I quickly jerked my chin at the knight standing beside me.
“Hey, where are they all going?”
The knight gave a short bow and answered.
“I believe she plans to visit the orphanage…”
“The orphanage?”
Oh, this was perfect timing. If I wandered around the territory with two escort knights for no clear reason, Giselle would definitely suspect I was up to no good again. But if I ran over to her like a spoiled child and whined, The castle is so boring I’m dying of boredom, so take me with you! wouldn’t that look exactly like the impulsive whim of a hedonistic degenerate?
Besides, traveling with Giselle would let me naturally scout the slum terrain. I immediately broke into a run toward her procession, which was about to leave through the gates.
“Hey!!”
At my shout, Giselle pulled on the reins and looked back.
“……”
Her gaze toward me had grown even colder because of last night. A chill ran down my spine.
“What do you want?” Giselle snapped sharply.
I deliberately put on an even more sleazy smile and stopped in front of her horse.
“Where are you going? To the orphanage, right? The castle feels so stuffy I think I’m getting depression. Let me tag along. Take me with you.”
“Y-You scoundrel! How dare you throw a tantrum like this!”
Hexion, standing nearby, exploded at my shameless demand.
“Your Highness! We cannot bring someone like him to a sacred orphanage! I fear the children will be tainted by his filthy aura!”
Giselle raised a hand to calm Hexion, but she still drew a firm line with me.
“I refuse. I have no desire to bring trash like you to a place where we care for children and ruin the atmosphere. Stay in the castle and sleep.”
It was the harsh rejection I had expected. But I had no intention of backing down here. I curled the corner of my mouth and let out an exaggerated, hollow laugh.
“Hah, really? Well, if you hate the idea that much, I guess I have no choice. I’ll just go separately then.”
I turned around and jerked my chin toward the two dedicated escort knights standing in the distance.
“Hey! You two, get over here! Prepare the horses! We’re heading out!”
At that, Giselle’s brows furrowed deeply. The idea of me going to the orphanage separately with just two escort knights was absolutely unacceptable. She pressed her temples as if a headache had struck.
“…Sigh.”
Giselle let out a long breath. It seemed she had concluded that constantly worrying about that trash running loose all day was worse than the disgust of keeping him within sight and under control.
“…Bring him a horse.”
“G-Grand Duchess! Do you truly intend to bring someone like him?!”
“I will supervise him personally. That will be easier on my mind.”
At Giselle’s command, Hexion could only grind his teeth in frustration. I cheered inwardly.
Nice!
A short while later, I was wrapped in a thick fur coat and mounted on the horse assigned to me. A small group of people and a carriage loaded with relief supplies began making their way through the snowstorm toward the outskirts of the territory.
Riding alongside Giselle, I casually asked,
“So, where exactly are we going?”
“…The largest orphanage in Slum District 3.”
“Oh?”
Slum District 3? Wasn’t that exactly the area Viola and I had marked on the map last night as the site for demolition and reconstruction? Perfect. This is jackpot timing.
Giselle saw my face light up with a bright, cheerful grin and immediately shot me a look of pure disgust.
“Let me say this one more time. If you pull any nonsense in front of the children, I will not let it slide. Keep your mouth shut and stay huddled in a corner.”
“Yeah, yeah. I got it. My ears are going to grow calluses.”
I waved my hand dismissively and answered shamelessly.
“I actually like kids, you know? Don’t worry, I won’t make them cry.”
“…Just seeing your face would probably make them burst into tears.”
Giselle let out a sigh that was genuinely filled with contempt, then turned forward again and tugged the reins. I let out a small chuckle and began carefully taking in the scenery of the territory.
The northern cityscape was desolate and barren. Yet thanks to the food that had been distributed not long ago, the people’s eyes held a faint spark of vitality that hadn’t been there before.
After riding for some time, a single worn-out building appeared before our party on the outskirts of the slum, where the biting wind howled. It was the orphanage in District 3, our destination.
The orphanage in Slum District 3 was essentially the only one in the area, so it occupied a fairly large plot of land. But what surprised me even more was the number of children filling the courtyard.
“Kyaaaah! Catch me!”
“Run faster!”
Dozens of children were running around, laughing and playing. It was hard to believe this was an orphanage belonging to a single territory. I nudged Giselle, who stood beside me, and picked a fight.
“Hey, why are there so many kids? What kind of territory management have you been doing that there are this many orphans in a backwater like this?”
At my sarcasm, Giselle narrowed her eyes and clicked her tongue.
“Tsk. If you don’t know, just keep your mouth shut. Not all of those children are orphans.”
“Huh? They’re not?”
“We have opened the facility so that ordinary commoner children with parents can come here to play and study with the orphanage children. It is also a measure to help working parents who don’t have the resources to look after their kids.”
“I see.”
At her calm explanation, I let out a small sound of admiration. Children could sometimes be crueler little demons than adults. They often drew a line at orphans, calling them “kids without parents” and ostracizing them. Yet she had created a space where they could naturally mingle and play together from a young age. Thanks to that, the children of this territory seemed to have no discrimination or prejudice toward orphans at all.
The awareness has been properly instilled.
It was a glimpse of just how deeply Giselle’s benevolent and steadfast rule had taken root in this frozen North.
“Stay put and don’t cause any accidents.”
After leaving me with that warning, Giselle walked toward the supply wagon. There, an elderly woman with an incredibly warm and benevolent face—the orphanage director—had come out to greet her.
“My goodness, Your Grace. Coming all the way to this humble place yourself…”
“It’s fine. Stay as you are.”
Giselle took both of the director’s hands and exchanged a gentle greeting. Among the people who had followed Giselle, I noticed a man who appeared to be a builder. They were pointing at the orphanage’s partially collapsed wall and the cracked roof, seemingly discussing repair costs and estimates.
“Stay put? What am I, a dog?”
I whistled and wandered away from Giselle’s line of sight, strolling around the orphanage courtyard. In every corner of the yard, three or four sturdy-looking men stood guard. Despite their intimidating builds, when children swarmed them and clung on, they laughed heartily, gave piggyback rides, and played with them. They looked like former mercenaries or well-trained fighters at first glance.
Hmm, not bad.
That was why the orphanage could operate safely in the middle of this rough slum. I stroked my chin, turning the gears in my head.
When we raze the slums with Viola later and build new structures, maybe I can offer to completely refurbish this orphanage with my own money as part of a deal?
If I presented it as a bargaining chip, perhaps Giselle would hand over the redevelopment rights for Districts 3 and 4 more easily. I was grinning to myself while organizing various plans when—
“Hey, hey. Look over there.”
“Isn’t that the prince who came from the capital?”
The little kids playing tag nearby started whispering among themselves as they looked at me. Wearing the flashy coat of the imperial family while standing in the slums made me impossible to miss. I didn’t approach them and simply watched.
But then—
“Yeah, my dad said that guy’s a complete piece of trash.”
“Whoa, a walking piece of trash!”
“If you get close you’ll catch bad stuff! Let’s run away!”
“……”
The children’s pure yet brutally honest verbal beatdown left me dizzy. Hey, kids. I can hear you, you know? No matter how badly my reputation had spread, hearing people openly say a piece of trash was walking around right in front of me felt pretty awful.
“Hah, this is awkward. I can’t even scold little kids.”
As I looked around, clearing my throat in embarrassment—
“Khup…”
From a distance, the knight commander Hexion was watching me. He was desperately trying to hold back the laughter leaking out, his mouth corners twitching violently. His expression screamed serves you right.
“Ugh, I really can’t say anything!”
My insides were boiling, but if I yelled at the kids here, Giselle would have me forcibly removed. Besides, I didn’t want to act like even more of a piece of trash in front of children. To escape the embarrassment, I headed toward a quiet, secluded spot behind the orphanage.
“Man, those kids really hit you right in the gut with facts.”
Grumbling, I walked behind the old storage building and suddenly stopped in my tracks.
“…Huh?”
In the deserted area behind the building, someone was squatting. It was a girl with red hair tied in twin pigtails. She looked to be around upper elementary school to middle school age. She looked up at me and said,
“What are you looking at?”