The Prince Is a Total Freeloader?
The director’s office at the orphanage was modest but impeccably tidy.
Giselle and the kind-faced director sat side by side behind an old wooden desk, while Chloe and I faced them from the opposite sofa.
Chloe still seemed uncomfortable with the situation. She huddled in the corner of the couch, swinging her short legs back and forth.
Giselle was the one who broke the silence.
“Director.”
Her voice was solemn.
“Can you continue to look after this child without prejudice until she becomes an adult?”
“Of course, Your Grace.”
The old director smiled warmly and nodded.
Giselle’s gaze shifted to Chloe.
“Whether she is a mage or anything else, to me she is simply a young citizen who needs care and guidance. Please make sure the other children do not fear her. I will personally block any rumors from spreading outside.”
“Yes. I will speak firmly with the children. I’ll make sure they never forget that Chloe is the benefactor of us all.”
“Thank you. As for support, I will spare no—”
“Whoa, stop right there.”
I tapped the desk lightly, cutting off their heartwarming exchange.
Both Giselle and the director turned to stare at me. I rested my chin on my hand, slouching lazily, and voiced my complaint.
“Shouldn’t the kid herself get to decide? Why are you two beating drums and gongs, reaching conclusions without her?”
“……”
My pointed remark left Giselle speechless.
It was a rude way to put it, but I was right, so she couldn’t argue.
She cleared her throat softly and turned toward Chloe.
“…You’re correct. Your name is Chloe, yes?”
Chloe looked at Giselle with wary eyes.
“I have a proposal for you. How would you feel about staying here and living with the other children until you become an adult? Once you’re grown, I will personally arrange for you to go somewhere your talent can truly blossom.”
A secure, safe future personally guaranteed by the lord of the North.
For an ordinary orphan, it was an extraordinary offer that would have prompted immediate bows and grateful acceptance.
But I clicked my tongue beside her.
“Tsk tsk, Your Grace the Grand Duchess. You’re good at so many things, yet you know absolutely nothing about how children’s ecosystems work.”
“What did you say?”
“Didn’t you see how the kids outside were looking at her like she was a monster? Sure, they apologized, but do you really think the fear that’s already taken root in their little heads will vanish overnight?”
Chloe’s shoulders twitched at my words.
“Today they thanked her because she just saved their lives. But what about tomorrow? The day after? It could be temporary. If she makes even one mistake with her magic, those kids will start whispering and avoiding her again.”
“That’s… something the director can handle by guiding them properly…”
“Is the director going to watch the children twenty-four hours a day? In the end, Chloe will inevitably end up on the outside looking in. Would you want to spend your whole life walking on eggshells around kids who might treat you like a ticking time bomb at any moment?”
Giselle bit her lip.
She wanted to refute me, but my brutal, fact-based barrage left her without a proper response.
I ignored the now-silent Giselle and nudged Chloe, who was sitting beside me.
“Hey, Chloe.”
“…What.”
“Want to be my bodyguard knight?”
The air in the director’s office instantly grew heavy.
“You bastard, what nonsense is that?!”
Giselle slammed her hand on the desk and shot to her feet.
“She looks no older than fifteen! How can you ask a child to be your bodyguard?! And how dangerous and filthy is the place beside you that you would drag a child into it?!”
“Ugh, so noisy. Sit down already.”
I picked at my ear and waved her off dismissively.
“I just said the decision is hers to make, not yours, didn’t I?”
“This son of a—!”
Giselle looked ready to draw her sword, but I lightly ignored her and turned back to Chloe.
She was staring at me with wide, round eyes.
“Bodyguard knight? What does that even mean?”
“It’s simple. Just stick close to me and keep me safe. I was getting tired of dragging around those bulky old men anyway—this works out perfectly.”
I explained it in the clearest, most straightforward way possible.
“If anyone tries to pick a fight with me or stab me, you just beat them up with that weird thread of yours. In return, I’ll feed you delicious meals every day, give you a room with a soft bed, and pay you a fat salary on time. How about it?”
“…Hmm.”
Chloe stroked her chin, pretending to think it over.
But her eyes had already lit up with interest.
The only adult who didn’t treat her like a monster or fear her.
Instead, this shameless prince was openly acknowledging her power as a real ability and offering her a place at his side. To a girl starved for affection, the temptation must have been overwhelming.
“Well… it doesn’t sound bad. I’ll do it. I’ll be your bodyguard knight.”
“Good choice. After all, I am a prince. Having a mage for a bodyguard is only proper.”
The moment Chloe nodded, Giselle’s face turned deathly pale.
“No, Chloe! You don’t know what kind of person he is! He is the empire’s greatest degenerate and a complete piece of trash! If you follow him, your life could be ruined!”
Giselle desperately tried to persuade her.
But Chloe hopped down from the sofa and stood straight, facing the Grand Duchess.
“Your Grace.”
Her voice was calm and articulate—far too mature for a child.
“He might be a bad person, just like you said. But this man didn’t avoid me. He protected me instead.”
“…Chloe.”
“And above all.”
Chloe looked Giselle straight in the eye, bold as brass.
“You’re not the one who has to live my life for me, are you?”
“…!”
Giselle froze as if she’d been slapped across the face.
If it had been childish rebellion from a naïve kid, she might have kept arguing.
But she couldn’t.
These were the words of a child who had survived the bottom of society.
A brutally realistic truth: no one can fully take responsibility for another person’s life and choices.
Giselle’s lips moved as if searching for something to say, but in the end she sank back into her chair without a single rebuttal.
Wow. That’s my apprentice for you.
Already wielding such razor-sharp words. I felt both reassured and genuinely proud.
I stood up with a small grin.
“Alright, contract sealed.”
I ruffled Chloe’s red hair and flashed her a grin.
“Let’s go, kiddo. You’d better serve your new lord properly from now on.”
“I told you I’m not a kid. And if the food sucks, I’ll quit on the spot, so keep that in mind.”
We left the director’s office as naturally as if nothing had happened, abandoning the stunned Giselle and the director behind us.
The empire’s greatest scoundrel prince and a genius mage kid from an orphanage.
Not a bad combination, if I did say so myself.
—
As we left the orphanage, I lifted Chloe up onto the horse assigned to me.
“Whoa. Kid, you’re heavier than you look. For someone who supposedly doesn’t eat properly, you’re pretty solid.”
“I said I’m not a kid! And I’m not heavy—you’re just scrawny! I saw how pathetic your arm muscles were when you took off your coat earlier.”
Chloe settled herself in front of me on the saddle and shot back defiantly.
“Hah, look at this girl. I may not look it, but I’ve got plenty of lean muscle, you know? You just insulted your lord—”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Just hurry up and go. It’s cold.”
“Sigh. And I’m not ‘mister.’ Call me Your Highness.”
“Sure, sure. Your Highness.”
I let out a helpless laugh and took the reins.
The knights around us looked visibly anxious at how casually Chloe spoke to me, as if wondering whether that was allowed.
But my reputation was already trash, so they didn’t seem inclined to intervene.
Besides, no matter how much I was acting, I had no desire to scream at a child and reinforce my scumbag image.
This already feels less like gaining a bodyguard and more like taking on a little mistress.
Our group slowly rode toward the Grand Ducal Castle along the snow-covered roads of the territory.
Giselle rode a black horse silently on my right, with Hexion and the escort knights following behind.
The only sound was the soft crunch of hooves on snow when Chloe, who had been quietly nestled against me and looking around at the scenery, suddenly lifted her head.
“By the way, Your Highness. I have one question.”
“What is it?”
“Earlier the kids called you the empire’s greatest piece of trash. Your Highness, are you really trash?”
The question came from eyes so pure and clear they almost sparkled.
I flinched and cleared my throat.
“Ahem! Kid, what do children know? The greater a person is, the more jealousy and baseless rumors follow them. I may not look it, but I carry the noble blood of the imperial family and—”
“Liar.”
Chloe cut me off cleanly.
“I’ve rolled around the back alleys long enough to have a good eye for people. No matter how I look at it, you don’t get treated like nobility.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Didn’t you see the way the Grand Duchess looked at you earlier? It was exactly the same expression our neighborhood stray cats make when they stare at a rotten fish head rolling in the gutter.”
“…Hey.”
“You’re supposed to be a prince, so why do people treat you like that? Did the emperor grandfather kick you out because he hates you?”
Wait, why is this kid so good with words?
“Pfft!”
“…?”
I whipped my head around.
I could have sworn I just heard air escaping from someone’s mouth.
Giselle had one gloved hand covering her lips, staring straight ahead. But her red eyes were trembling slightly.
I narrowed my eyes.
“Hey. Did you just laugh?”
“…I did not.”
“Don’t lie. I clearly heard a ‘pfft’ just now. You strongly related to the rotten fish head comment, didn’t you?”
At my accusation, Giselle cleared her throat and schooled her expression.
“It’s a misunderstanding. The wind is so strong that I simply inhaled awkwardly.”
“Don’t blame the wind! Anyone would have recognized that as a laugh!”
“I have no time to entertain your delusions.”
Giselle doubled down with a straight face and looked away.
I could see even old man Hexion behind us lowering his head, shoulders shaking, but since the Grand Duchess herself insisted she hadn’t laughed, I couldn’t press the issue any further.
“Ugh, seriously.”
I grumbled and looked down at Chloe again.
“Kid. Watch your mouth. Your lord is a prince, you know. If you keep spouting nonsense like that, no dinner for you.”
“Tch. Threatening me with food because you’re guilty.”
Chloe pouted, fiddling with my collar, then opened her mouth again.
“Still, since you’re a prince and all, you must have tons of money, right?”
“Obviously. I’m a man of such immense wealth that I don’t even bat an eye at a hundred thousand gold. I throw cash around like it’s nothing. If you stick with me, you’ll never go hungry for the rest of your—”
“But I heard that money was taken from the Grand Duchess.”
“…Huh?”
Before I could even finish bragging, Chloe hit me with another innocent-looking counter.
“I heard the knights whispering behind us earlier. They said the Grand Duchess is pitiful, that you’re squeezing money out of the North like it’s blood from a stone.”
She tilted her head and asked me seriously.
“Having no money of your own and living large off your wife’s cash. From what I know, people call a man like that a kept man, right?”
Chloe drove the final nail in.
“Your Highness, is your job being a gigolo?”
“Pffft…! Kk, kk…”
This time Giselle couldn’t hold it in. She lowered her head completely, shoulders shaking violently.
“Hey!!”
I pointed at her and yelled.
“That one was undeniable!! You just went ‘kkk’!! Your shoulders are shaking like they’re in a typhoon—how is that not laughing?!”
At my outburst, Giselle quickly took a deep breath and lifted her head.
Her face was slightly flushed, but she was desperately trying to maintain her usual dignified expression.
“A-ahem…! The air in the North is… particularly dry today.”
Her voice trembled as she made her excuse.
“My throat was dry… so I merely cleared it.”
“Clearing your throat my ass! Who clears their throat with ‘pffft kkk’?! Why don’t you just roll around clutching your stomach while you’re at it?!”
“It’s all in your head. I do not burst into vulgar laughter at another person’s humiliation.”
Giselle stubbornly fixed her gaze forward and slightly increased her horse’s speed, moving away from me.
Even so, I could still see her shoulders subtly shaking as she rode ahead.
“Ugh, I’m going to lose my mind!”
At this rate my whole concept was going to collapse.
When I vented my frustration into the empty air, Chloe, still nestled in my arms, burst into giggles.
“Gigolo Prince. Why are you getting so angry? Was I wrong?”
“You little… Haah. Forget it.”
I’d gained a bodyguard, but it felt like I’d brought home my ultimate natural enemy.
Still, feeling the warmth of Chloe’s laughter against my chest and watching Giselle desperately trying to stifle her laughter as she rode ahead…
Well, it’s not so bad.
This bleak Grand Ducal Castle, where every day had been nothing but shouting and fighting, now carried the faint scent of actual human life. Strangely enough, it didn’t feel bad at all.
I let out a small chuckle, wrapped one arm around Chloe so she wouldn’t fall, and tugged the reins.
“Let’s go, kiddo. Your lord will buy you so much food you’ll burst.”
“I said I’m not a kid!”
The horse carrying us trotted across the white snowfield, accompanied by bickering mixed with laughter.