# 84 - 84
* * *
“His Highness Crown Prince Ferdinand.”
Ferdinand, who was just walking, turned around.
His red eyes were as cold as frozen rubies, yet they held a look of intense indifference towards the person standing in front of him.
“Dave.”
Second Prince Dave.
The son of Empress Karmi, and his younger brother, who was not much different in age from him.
Dave was not as attractive as Ferdinand.
However, he seemed to be entering the full “young man” phase.
The dividing line between boy and young man.
Their father, Emperor Alessandro, was tall. So Dave is definitely going to grow a lot taller when he gets a little older.
Dave believed his mother's words.
He will be different from this accursed Crown Prince, who will not grow taller no matter how old he gets.
“I heard you proposed to Lady Sophia Fraser?”
Dave continued, smiling.
"She's from a dependent family anyway. Isn't she adopted?"
It was a sarcastic remark.
If the Crown Prince had been in a “normal” state, no matter how much the girl belonged to the Fraser family, he would not have proposed to a mere daughter adopted from a vassal family.
How refreshing he felt when he heard this news from his mother!
So Dave expected Ferdinand to maintain his pride with an answer like “She's still a Fraser.”
He hoped that the person who always acted so cold would do so.
Knock, knock.
“…?!”
A look worthless more than looking at the mud falling on the ground.
After Ferdinand glanced at Dave, he ignored him and walked past him.
No one in the world dared to ignore him, the prince of his mother, Empress Karme!
However!
“A defective product suffering from Divine Power Excess Syndrome, how dare he!”
Although he was boiling with anger, he did not dare to block the Crown Prince's path.
Such were the strict rules of conduct in the imperial palace.
Moreover, there was something strange and difficult about the Crown Prince.
He suspected that his body had instinctively shrunk due to that damned divine power flowing out.
“His Highness the Crown Prince.”
Dave forced his lips into a smile and hurriedly followed Ferdinand.
Unlike Ferdinand, who was only as tall as a 12 or 13-year-old boy, he was much taller and could catch his stride quickly.
He tasted a subtle sense of victorious pleasure from such things.
“If it were me, I would propose to the lady who is said to be a true descendant of the Frasers.”
“Real blood?”
“Ah, right.”
Dave laughed.
"Thinking about it, that lady's name was… well… ah! Tulip…? Really? Tulip, ha-ha-ha! What a carelessly chosen name. I guess the rumors that she's not the Marquis's daughter are true after all…"
“Tulia.”
"…pardon?"
Her name is Tulia Fraser.
It was not a name chosen at random.
“Dave Evechkate.”
Ferdinand's words as he corrected him with a slight frown.
After a moment, Dave's face turned red with anger.
“That bastard!”
Was he indirectly calling him stupid now?
Of course, unlike himself, Ferdinand was a leader in almost everything, and stood out remarkably even among members of the imperial family throughout history.
How could this be a human?!
As his mother said, such outcomes were only possible because he was a “real” monster.
Rather, he himself was human.
Dave, who had barely managed to take a deep breath, barely regained his smile.
“Yes. However, there are rumors circulating that Ms. Tulia Fraser is also a fake.”
“…”
“As expected, Grand Duke Fraser’s house is large in size but lacks substance. Like seedless grapes.”
To please Emperor Alessandro, Empress Carme always taught her son Dave to look down on the Fraser family.
This was because Emperor Alessandro took pleasure in whenever they flattered him by belittling the Fraser family.
Ferdinand stared blankly at the confident Dave.
As befits the son of a woman who betrayed her master by gaining the favor of the emperor.
He was doing his best to win the Emperor's heart in such a despicable way.
“What is the standard of falsity?”
“Well, when one is not a legitimate child born of a legitimate mother and father.”
"Is this correct?"
Ferdinand laughed.
His chestnut hair swayed gently.
“That's right. That's the truth.”
There was no further explanation.
Dave only belatedly realized the meaning of Ferdinand's words and exploded in anger.
“This, this bastard?!”
Did he indirectly describe his mother, the current Empress, and himself as “fake”?!
"What a vile scoundrel! A brutally defective product!"
Although Dave shouted angrily, Ferdinand had already left the inner palace corridor and was unable to hear him.
No, from the beginning, Ferdinand had no interest in Dave at all.
Since he was about to leave the imperial family and head straight to the battlefield, he couldn't even sleep three hours properly a day.
Even Schultz-Schmidt, his soul, began to worry about his health.
But Ferdinand had not been allowed any free time from the moment he was born, so this lifestyle was familiar to him.
But suddenly.
Stop walking.
Ferdinand looked at the inner palace garden where the flowers were gradually blooming, and furrowed his eyebrows slightly.
“…”
He felt like he was telling him that for no reason.
Mrs. name is Tulia Fraser.
Maybe he should have let him think it was Tulip.
He felt strangely disturbed. Discomfort.
Even Ferdinand himself did not know why.
He looked at the pink flowers for a moment before he started walking slowly again.
Instead of walking forward as usual, his steps subconsciously followed the blooming pink flowers and greenery, although he still didn't know why.
* * *
In the meantime.
"damn it!"
Dave finally calmed down after smashing five expensive vases that decorated the palace's inner corridor, growling and seething with anger.
“Would a defective product engaged to an adopted family member dare call me a fake?”
Dave got really angry. Anger boiled in his body as if he was immersed in lava.
How could he break that monster's arrogance?
A motherless crown prince, even his father, the Emperor, found him disgusting and kept him at a distance.
Dave has never defeated Ferdinand in a crushing manner.
No matter what he did, he always had to taste defeat psychologically.
Until now, when he rushed over excitedly upon hearing the news of the engagement of “an adopted child from a wealthy family.”
“...Wait a minute.”
At that moment, a sudden thought occurred to him.
“What if I actually proposed to the real Mrs. Fraser...?”
Dave's eyes lit up immediately.
Tulia Fraser.
Although he had momentarily forgotten her name, Dave knew that young woman well.
In the White Tower, he was severely insulted by Grand Duke Assis Fraser because of that damned woman!
Even on the carriage journey home, he was so severely reprimanded by his mother that for a time he would break and trample any tulips he saw adorning the imperial palace.
“Her face was beautiful, very beautiful.”
Even though she was wearing that wet, dirty dress.
“But my mother told me then that she was famous for her difficult personality...”
Thanks to this, and despite Tulia's extreme beauty, Dave did not feel the slightest romantic interest in her.
After all, women are supposed to be kind and affectionate.
Strong-willed women were not his type at all.
'But…'
After thinking again, if they got married, he would be the husband anyway.
Can't he teach her how to serve her husband well?
“…hmmm.”
His sharp character could have been taught by his mother, Empress Karmi, to be a galloping horse.
“Tulia Fraser...”
She was also, fortunately, a motherless lady.
Although it was a spontaneous idea, the more he thought about it, the better the plan seemed.
Wouldn't she be proud to receive teachings from my mother?
While she receives education on how to properly serve her husband.
No doubt she couldn't help but fall in love with him, he was the second prince and extremely handsome.
I'm basically a prince on a white horse personified.
Moreover, rumors were quietly spreading that he, who had gained the emperor's favor, might become the next emperor in place of the “flawed” crown prince.
“…”
What if he got the powerful matriarchal family of the real Fraser family?
Killing two birds with one stone.
One shot, two kills...?
Dave raised his head as if enchanted.
“…So this time for sure.”
Won't I finally be able to defeat that monster?
And forever?
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