The Spoiled Prince's First Lesson
Three figures emerged through the teleportation magic circle installed outside the castle walls.
"Huh? Whoa!"
The mage stationed at the circle, waiting for the next shift change, hurriedly offered a respectful bow to the boy who had appeared alongside two sturdy-looking attendants.
"Of the glorious Halrot Kingdom…!"
The mage began to spout something that was half greeting and half hymn of praise, but the boy who had arrived through the magic circle ignored him with an irritated expression and strode out of the building.
Damn it. Why the hell do I have to do this sweaty crap?
A prince whose place in the line of succession had been pushed far back, and who lacked the backing of any powerful family, had only three choices left to him.
Accept a dukedom and live with his belly exposed to prove he would never threaten the throne; marry a foreign princess and become a live-in son-in-law; or be used however the royal family needed him, whenever it suited them.
Third Prince Jeraid was the third option.
The entire kingdom still reeled from the aftermath of civil war and the undead outbreaks, desperately needing time to recover. Yet the Karayden Margrave had steadily strengthened her forces under the banner of holding back the Saryeong Kingdom.
Akina had not been content with that. She hated the idea of needing royal support simply to keep her army standing, so she crafted policies for complete self-sufficiency—and succeeded so thoroughly that she could now maintain her forces without anyone’s aid.
On top of that, she had recently acquired the strategic resource known as Dertium.
With knight armor still scarce after the civil war, the royal family swallowed its pride and decided to forge a connection with the Karayden Margrave.
And the one sacrificed to create that connection was the Third Prince, Jeraid.
Knight training under Akina? That means years wasted with no parties, no fun, nothing.
Jeraid was to become Akina’s disciple and receive knight training.
Because her disciple would be a member of the royal family, it would appear to the outside world that the crown had joined hands with the noble house that fielded the strongest army.
That alone would keep other noble houses—those with no true loyalty to the throne, who had only inserted themselves for profit—from acting too freely.
And even if results would not come immediately, in a few years they could expect to buy Dertium below market price, or receive larger allocations than anyone else.
On the surface it looked as though only Akina lost, but of course she was a noble who ruled her own territory. In exchange for accepting Jeraid as her disciple she had been promised various privileges of her own.
Naturally, none of this had involved Jeraid’s will or consent.
Haa… look at the state of this city. You call this a city? It’s just a backwater village.
The cityscape that greeted him outside the building was excellent as a production hub, but it inevitably lacked the entertainments of the capital.
Akina herself knew the place was short on diversions; she had simply judged self-sufficiency the higher priority and only recently begun improvements.
To Jeraid, who had lived in comfort and luxury within the royal palace, everything about it was distasteful.
"We have been awaiting you, Prince Jeraid."
A short while later, knights of Akina who had been briefed in advance stepped forward to receive the prince.
They explained the magic installed throughout the fortress and the purpose of the identification card they handed him.
"This card grants access to every area except the most critical facilities."
"Just guide me already."
Snatching the red card with open irritation, Jeraid urged them onward so he could meet Akina as quickly as possible.
Countess Akina won’t expect much of me anyway. I’ll just ask her to leave me free since I won’t cause any real trouble.
He had no intention of diligently attending knight lessons.
The royal family had already given him ample support funds, and living expenses would follow in time; he planned to live off those and enjoy himself.
There’s a teleportation circle here, so I can wander wherever I like and have fun.
With the circle he could travel anywhere. He could even play the mysterious young noble in the capital itself.
But the moment he faced Akina, those burning hopes turned to ash.
"First, let us check the prince’s physical condition."
"Huh? Uh… uh?"
After a few perfunctory greetings she had him change clothes and dragged him straight to the training grounds. Under the pretext of a fitness test he found himself forced to run laps.
"Um, Margrave Akina? Suddenly making me run—what is this…"
"It is only natural. To forge the prince into an excellent knight."
"No, I…"
"Run first. Conversation comes afterward."
"Would you just listen to me for a—!"
"Run!"
"Eek!"
Displeased that Jeraid kept hesitating instead of running, Akina released her presence and barked the order in a commanding tone.
For the first time in his life the prince felt genuine threat—and from a powerhouse who had reached the Origin realm. Startled, he broke into a run.
She continued to pour her aura against his back, leaving him no room for other thoughts and forcing him to keep moving.
Simply managing him so he cannot go off the rails would be enough.
Both the royal family and she had already gained what they wanted; there was no real need to put Jeraid through harsh knight training.
From his expression, his speech, and the rumors that have reached me, if the Third Prince continues growing this way he will clearly cause no end of trouble.
Though only sixteen, Jeraid already carried rumors of promiscuous relations with women and a streak of casual cruelty.
Left uncorrected, he would become a major problem later.
For whatever reason he has become my disciple, I will first hammer some backbone into him.
Knowing full well why the royal family had pushed the Third Prince onto her, Akina set aside the privileges she had been promised and resolved to remake him into a proper human being.
"Lady Akina! Such rudeness toward the Third Prince!"
One of the attendants who had accompanied him finally spoke up, challenging her for threatening the prince and forcing him to run.
"Before he is the Third Prince, he is now my disciple. Is there any problem with a master giving proper instruction?"
"The method is the problem! You projected your presence and threatened him!"
Anyone could see she had pressured him with her aura; the attendant pressed the issue of her training methods.
"I stopped at that because he is a prince. Had it been one of my own daughters I would already have taken the punishment rod to her."
"…"
They had known Akina was a martial artist, yet the attendants—who had never imagined a noble would discipline her own children so harshly—wore blank, stunned expressions.
"And a warning."
"Ugh!"
"Urgh!"
"Never question my training methods again."
She pressed down on the attendants with her presence, making it clear she would grant no special treatment simply because he was the Third Prince.
"Huff! Huff! Huff! Haaah!"
Having silenced them, Akina watched Jeraid, who could no longer run and was now gasping for breath.
As expected of a royal, he has learned Prana. Roughly Standard 2nd class. Because he cultivated the royal family’s secret Prana arts, his actual capability is closer to Standard 4th class.
Yet the distance he had managed was not even at Standard 2nd-class level—far worse.
He has only grown stronger through Prana; he has never truly trained his body. Still, looking at his breathing, he has enough left to squeeze out his limits and manage another half-lap.
To gauge how much grit the boy possessed, Akina withdrew her presence and simply watched in silence.
"I… I can’t run any more…!"
Disappointingly, Jeraid showed no grit at all and simply collapsed where he stood.
Far from reaching any true limit, for a boy who had never even sweated like this before, the entire situation was pure hell.
If it were Kaisent, he would have wrung every last drop from himself and kept moving.
She found herself naturally comparing him to Kaisent, who was of similar age, and her eyes filled with open disappointment.
From the very first moment she had met Kaisent in that nameless forest, he had squeezed out his limits and charged at her without ever flinching.
Jeraid, by contrast, had been startled by her presence and possessed none of the grit needed to push past his limits.
No… perhaps this is the natural state of things. Kaisent occupies a special position.
A prince raised in luxury without a single hardship, versus a mercenary who had rolled through dirt and dust, burning with the mission of finding Dang Seol-yeong—of course the difference would be vast.
Watching Kaisent has raised my standards too high. The Third Prince has never known desperation; I must not compare the two.
Their levels of talent were different to begin with, after all.
"Sir Rivil."
"Yes, Lady Akina."
"When the prince is able to stand, guide him to his quarters and explain the daily schedule here."
"Understood."
"Training begins this afternoon, so help him prepare."
With that, Akina left to attend to her own duties.
A short while later, having recovered enough strength to follow the knight’s guidance, Jeraid discovered he had been assigned a luxurious private suite that preserved a prince’s dignity.
"Aaaaaaah!"
Crack! Crash!
The first thing he did upon entering the room was to seize every object within reach and smash them indiscriminately.
"What the hell! What the fuck is that bitch!"
"Prince, this is Margrave Akina’s territory."
"Shut up! When I was treated like that you should have done something—anything—to stop her!"
"W-we did try, of course… but Margrave Akina had no intention of listening to us at all…"
"Aaaaaah!"
Never having suffered such treatment in his life, he poured out his rage without restraint.
It had been only one day.
Not even a full day—less than an hour since he had first met Akina.
"Live in this hell?! No! I refuse!"
Yet that single hour had felt like an eternity. Jeraid shouted that he would quit being a knight, quit everything.
As a member of the royal family who had always received the respect of others, he simply could not endure such treatment.
Having reduced the room to chaos, he seemed to remember something and suddenly began stuffing his money pouch and clothes into a bag.
"I’m leaving."
"What? Prince? What do you mean?"
"I said I’m leaving. I will not spend even one more day in this hellish place."
"But if you leave like this…"
"Shut up! If I say I’m leaving, I’m leaving!"
Jeraid headed straight for the teleportation facility through which he had arrived.
Who would dare stop a prince when the prince himself declared he was finished?
His steps, however, were blocked at the castle gate.
"I am sorry, but that is impossible."
"What? Do you know who I am? I am a prince of this kingdom! A prince!"
"I am aware. However, without the permission of your master, Margrave Akina, you may not leave."
"This is lese-majeste! How dare you place the orders of a mere noble house above the royal family itself! This is lese-majeste!"
The knights and guards stationed at the gate stood firm, barring his path outside.
Jeraid ranted and raved, spouting every charge from lese-majeste to rebellion and more, trying by any means to force his way out. Those who answered only to Akina’s command did not budge.
"Kill them!"
"What?"
"That is an order! Kill them!"
Having never before experienced a mere knight defying his command, his reason vanished completely beneath the flood of rage.
Killing them would certainly create problems, but he was a prince—who would dare hold him accountable?
If it truly became an issue he could simply toss a few gold coins as blood money.
The two knights the royal family had assigned to protect and attend him could not refuse the order; they began to draw their swords.
"That is enough."
Just as the blades cleared half their scabbards, a clear voice—as though spoken directly beside every ear—rang out.
They spun around and found Akina standing behind the prince’s party, spear in hand, her face set and hard.
"May I hear an explanation of this situation, Third Prince?"
"Ugh… uuu…!"
Jeraid stumbled backward under the pressure of her presence.
Yet the fear staining his face twisted into stubborn pride and obstinacy.
"Sh-shut up! I don’t need to be your disciple or anything! I don’t need it!"
"This is a path every knight must walk."
"I have no intention of becoming one!"
"If you leave like this, the royal family will hold you accountable."
"Let them! Staying in this hell is worse!"
"Haa."
Having tried to reason with him as calmly as possible, Akina simply sighed at the boy who insisted on leaving no matter what.
"How dare you! To me, a prince, that kind of—!"
"Prince."
"Guh…!"
About to berate her for daring to sigh at him with such a pitying expression, he suddenly felt as though hundreds of kilograms of weight had been hung from every part of his body as Akina raised her presence once more.
"Seeing that face, I find myself regretting how gently I treated you earlier."
"W-w-what are you trying to… Don’t come closer! Don’t come! Stop her!"
As Akina approached, the terrified Jeraid hid behind his attendants and ordered them to block her.
Selected from among the most loyal knights for the duty of protecting a royal, they stepped forward to obey—yet
Thud! Bang!
"Urgh!"
"Guh!"
She swung the shaft of her spear lightly and dropped both attendants to the ground.
"I am very pleased to see you still have so much stamina remaining. First, let us exhaust that vigorous energy of yours."
"U-uaaah!"
Having felled the attendants with casual ease, she pressed toward him with intense aura. Terror seized him and he tried to flee through the castle gate.
The gate guards, however, blocked him with their own bodies and fulfilled their duty.
"Let go! Let go of me! I’ll have every one of you executed for treason! I’ll massacre three generations of your families!"
"First, it seems we will need to correct that manner of speech."
Seizing Jeraid by the nape as the guards held him, Akina dragged him straight toward the training grounds.
"Aaaah! No! I don’t want to stay in this place—gack!"
When he continued thrashing without pause she struck the back of his neck and knocked him unconscious, then paused mid-step.
"Around afternoon I will issue leave permits and reward money. Once your guard duty ends, prepare to take your leave."
"Th-thank you!"
Akina bestowed rewards upon the knights and guards who had carried out their duty even in the face of a prince.
Faithfulness to their posts was part of it, but that was secondary.
The true purpose was to ensure the incident spread quickly as rumor, so that no matter how the prince threw a tantrum, the guards would never again open the gate for him.
Hoo… it seems I will have far more trouble than I anticipated.
Never having expected the Third Prince’s character to be this thoroughly rotten, she allowed herself a quiet, private sigh.