Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Crown Prince (3)
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The Crown Prince sensed something was off. But because he was drunk, he couldn’t think straight.
“You’d better heed my warning! I never say empty words!”
As he listened to the Crown Prince’s drunken ramblings, Demian began carving the stick with his dagger.
“I hate it when people butt into my business! So you stay out of it too!”
The crudely thick stick transformed in an instant into a hexagonal club.
“Who’d stoop to matching my father’s moldy old way of thinking? Not me, never!”
Next, Demian shaped the handle, carving grooves into it for a comfortable grip.
“I’m warning you one more time! Get out by tomorrow! Or else…….”
“Done.”
Demian swung the finished six-sided club lightly. It had a good weight to it, and the sound it made was crisp. Even though he’d made it himself, it was perfect.
“You little shit…… How dare you interrupt me? You wanna die? Huh?”
Oliver Apple bellowed furiously. Demian gazed steadily at him and spoke.
“I used to be a wastrel myself, so I understand Your Highness perfectly.”
At those words, Oliver Apple flinched. His fierce eyes softened just a bit.
“R-Really?”
“Of course. I understand Your Highness’s feelings completely—better than anyone.”
Demian nodded repeatedly.
“It feels like the whole world is oppressing me, and I hate it when anyone points out my flaws.”
“Y-Yeah! How did you…… Right, you were just like me?”
“Only when I drink do I feel free, liberated, like my thirst is quenched.”
“Exactly! Spot on! That’s exactly it!”
“I know. I know all about it.”
No one in the kingdom truly understood Oliver Apple. They were all obsessed with molding him into the flawless next king.
Oliver Apple had no choice but to close off his heart.
Thinking that Demian truly understood him, Oliver Apple’s face flushed with emotion.
“Damn it! I’ve been waiting for someone like you forever!”
Oliver Apple tried to embrace Demian, his face full of emotion.
At that moment, he realized it.
Demian was tapping his palm with the six-sided club.
“Why do you keep doing that?”
“Your Highness, people like us can never change on our own.”
“W-What?”
“Sure, maybe some can. But I’ve never seen it. So based on my experience…… For the likes of us to change, we need shock therapy. Real hard shock therapy.”
“Why are you coming closer! What’s that club for?!”
“I’ll be that shock therapy for you.”
Demian smiled faintly. Unlike his smiling mouth, his eyes were ice-cold.
“Let’s start with a light hour of it.”
* * *
“You see this crazy bastard?!”
His drunkenness had worn off, and the Crown Prince’s speech was clear now. He jabbed his finger at Demian repeatedly.
“You dare hit the Crown Prince? You think you’ll get away with this? You’ll die, and your whole family with you!”
“Your Highness, that’s exactly why I’m doing this—because it’ll be fine.”
Demian’s words left the Crown Prince dumbfounded.
“N-No way…… Father…… gave permission……?”
“No, he didn’t.”
“Then you can’t be fine! Get out now!”
As Demian approached slowly, the Crown Prince screamed.
“No one outside? Get in here and stop him!”
“Didn’t Your Highness order the servants to let no one in? Forgot already?”
“Right!”
With pleas for help blocked, the Crown Prince scrambled for another way.
He glanced at Demian, then bolted for the door.
“Whoops, tripped.”
Demian immediately struck the Crown Prince’s shin. The Crown Prince rolled on the floor.
“Argh! He really hit me! He hit the Crown Prince!”
“I hope Your Highness knows this is all for your own good.”
“What bullshit……!”
Demian rested the club on the Crown Prince’s shoulder. His face went pale.
“Your Highness, from now on, repeat after me.”
The first rule of personality correction: make the offender admit their wrongs.
“You must not speak informally to me. As your teacher, I expect formal speech.”
“What nonsense! I’m the Crown Prince! I’ve never…….”
Demian unhesitatingly struck the Crown Prince’s crown without hesitation.
“My head! My head!”
Oliver Apple clutched his head and rolled on the floor.
“Your Highness, no informal speech. Watch your words.”
“You…… crazy bastard…… Who does that…….”
Demian hit him twice in a row this time. Oliver Apple screamed and writhed on the floor.
“Your Highness, next is four.”
At Demian’s words, Oliver Apple shuddered.
“A-Alright, I’ll watch my words from now on.”
“Good. You’ve corrected one fault, and I’m very pleased.”
Demian nodded. Oliver Apple stared at him like he was insane.
“Now, next. Repeat after me: I will always be courteous to Father.”
“What? Be courteous to that old fogey? Unless I’ve lost my mind…….”
Oliver Apple’s face went pale.
He’d realized in his excitement that he’d slipped back to informal speech.
“……Well, not easy, is it? But don’t worry. I recently reformed someone just as headache-inducing as Your Highness.”
Demian tapped his palm with the club. Oliver Apple’s face slowly drained of color.
“So let’s beat the dust out on a rainy day.”
* * *
The next day at noon, the King headed to the Crown Prince’s residence with Sir Liam.
Demian had sent word.
He had something to show, and to please visit at this exact time tomorrow.
“Sir Liam, any guess what Sir Demian wants to show us?”
“No idea, sire. What could happen in just one day…….”
The two entered the residence, puzzled.
Soon, they beheld an astonishing sight.
“To care for the people, one must first know their real lives. What they eat. What they do for a living. And further, what hardships they face…….”
Crown Prince Oliver Apple was sitting at his desk, immersed in study.
The King covered his mouth with his hand, overwhelmed with joy.
“Sir Demian…… I finished it…….”
“Then read the 258 Precepts for Thomas Apple’s Path to a Future Society.”
“B-But from yesterday, I’ve already read over fifty books…….”
“I did ask you to obey your teacher without question…… Looks like you need more education.”
“N-No! I’ll read it! Right now!”
He was even using formal speech with Demian Haksen, his new fencing instructor.
A stark contrast to how he’d cursed at any scholar brought before.
“Sir Demian!”
The King couldn’t hold back and entered the room. Demian and Oliver Apple’s eyes turned to him.
“W-What in the world happened? How did the Crown Prince change like this?!”
Demian smiled faintly at the King’s question.
“We shared our similar pasts and had a frank talk. Fortunately, His Highness understood well.”
Oliver Apple shot Demian an incredulous look, but the King noticed nothing.
He was too busy wiping the tears welling in his eyes.
“Sir Demian is my…… no, this kingdom’s benefactor!”
“No, sire. Just doing what was necessary.”
Demian chuckled softly. The King grabbed his hand.
“A moment? We need to discuss your reward!”
“Certainly.”
Demian left with the King. Only Oliver Apple and Liam Bluegreen remained.
“……What scheme are you plotting this time?”
Alone now, Liam Bluegreen spoke coldly.
“You pulled something similar before. Pretended to change, acted reformed, got what you wanted, then betrayed His Highness.”
His face was one of utter contempt, like he was looking at a bug.
“If you try that again, I won’t stand by…….”
“S-Sir Liam! Help me!”
Suddenly, Oliver Apple clung to Liam Bluegreen’s pant leg.
“W-Why this all of a sudden?”
“T-That guy! Do you know what Demian Haksen did to me? H-He beat me everywhere with a club…… All night!”
Liam Bluegreen’s jaw dropped.
But unlike the panicked Oliver, he kept his cool.
“Sir Demian beat Your Highness all night with a club?”
“Yes! Arrest him and execute him as a traitor now!”
“You seem far too fine for that.”
“……Pardon?”
Liam Bluegreen scanned Oliver Apple’s body.
“Someone unconditioned like Your Highness would be gravely injured from one blow. Yet no bruises, no swelling, limbs moving perfectly.”
“N-No…… That’s…….”
Unable to respond, Oliver Apple fell silent. Liam Bluegreen spoke with contempt.
“Your Highness, even if you dislike Sir Demian, to slander him like this? I never imagined you’d disappoint me in yet another novel way.”
“Sir Liam! No! It’s true! Really…….”
Liam Bluegreen left the room, refusing to hear more.
Left alone, Oliver Apple stared vacantly.
* * *
“Here’s the last potion bottle I promised you!”
As soon as they reached the parlor downstairs, the King handed Demian a stone potion vial.
“You can’t know how happy I am right now! I’ve never been this joyful in my life!”
The King’s face bloomed with unending smiles. Seeing him like a proud father, Demian couldn’t help chuckling.
“So…… If we search the royal treasury, there should be one more. So…….”
“Don’t worry, sire. I have no intention of leaving His Highness’s side yet.”
The King’s face brightened at Demian’s words.
“I know well, having a similar past. He’s changed, but temptations will assail him still.”
“Indeed…… Inevitable.”
“So until His Highness shakes them off completely, I’ll stay by his side and give him a good…… thrashing…… no, my support.”
Demian smiled as he spoke. The King grew even more moved.
‘Too bad to end it here.’
While forcing Oliver Apple to study, Demian had learned something intriguing.
The Crown Prince’s genius was real. No matter how difficult the book, he grasped and memorized it instantly.
‘Talent is there, no doubt. But in his past life, he ascended unprepared and ruined the kingdom.’
Demian had to stay until the kingdom’s raid incident anyway.
So he planned to thoroughly reform Oliver Apple while he was here.
Not to saint-king or wise ruler levels, but at least to basic human decency.
‘And snag one more royal jelly while at it.’
Everyone was happy.
Everyone except one.