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Although the question was directed at me, I kept my head bowed and remained silent. I couldn’t forget that this was the royal castle. In other words, this wasn’t the Academy, which was renowned for its equality. I tended to forget about this because His Highness, Prince Alforth was very friendly, but there was no way a mere butler like me would be allowed to answer a prince directly. I was waiting for his servants to instruct me to answer His Highness’ question, but I suspected that Prince Lancelot had stopped his servant from speaking. Once more, it was Prince Lancelot the one who spoke right after.

“It’s alright, I allow you to answer me directly. Raise your head.”

“Yes, Your Highness. I certainly am called Cyril.”

I raised my head and answered his previous question. Before me stood a young man who looked very similar to Prince Alforth. Although his aura was similar to Prince Alforth’s, his facial features, framed by golden hair, were sharper and more masculine. His green eyes  observed me appraisingly. 

Various questions were surging inside me, such as why Prince Lancelot knew me and why he had stopped me, a mere butler, to converse. However, keeping the difference in our positions in mind, I swallowed them all down.

“…I see, it seems like you know your place. But it’s hard to have a conversation this way. Just act as if you were talking to an upperclassman from the Academy.”

Here it was, the ‘You don’t have to be so polite to me.’ phrase. If the day came when I actually said something like: ‘Thank you, upperclassman.’ in response, most people would chide me for being an insolent fellow. That being said, if I didn’t change the way I spoke at all, I would be called dense.

“Then, I shall take you up on the offer. May I ask you a question?”

I didn’t change my manner of talking that much, but I took a step forward by expressing that I wished to ask him something. In reaction to my words, I heard a murmur of: “I see, so you’re not slow-witted either.” 

He probably muttered it in such a way on purpose so that I would be able to hear it. It seemed that he was testing me to see my reaction. Therefore, I didn’t mention Prince Lancelot’s comment and awaited his answer to my question.

But–

“In that case, I will answer your question. I know what you look like because I saw the play.”

What I got in response wasn’t permission to ask a question, but the answer to my unasked question itself. Did he answer it accurately, even though I didn’t voice the question out loud? He got me. He had probably been guiding my thoughts, but he was so shrewd that I almost couldn’t believe that there was only a year’s difference between him and Prince Alforth.

“I sincerely thank you for answering my question.”

“Haven’t I told you to talk to me as if you were talking to an upperclassman?”

“…Thank you.”

I was a little puzzled about the reason why he was so insistent about this. However, I didn’t even need to know his answer.

“Cyril, I am grateful to you. You did well in saving Fol1.”

“No need to thank me, that was Lady Sophia’s accomplishment.”

“Do you believe that I don’t know the circumstances of the situation?”

“My deepest apologies. This honor is more than I deserve.”

Apparently, he cared about me because I was the person who had saved Fol. That was probably the reason he said that I could speak more casually with him… At least outwardly.

“Don’t be so cautious with me. I truly am grateful to you. I… heard that Fol didn’t have a lot of time left. So I hoped for her to be able to do whatever she pleased until the end.”

‘I had given up.’ Was there some regret like that hiding within his words? 

“It’s for this reason that I am very grateful to you, as the one who saved Fol. If you find yourself in trouble, I promise to lend you my help,” he continued.

Thinking back on it, he was still just a middle schooler as well. But, unlike Prince Alforth, Prince Lancelot wasn’t a member of the Student Council. According to his words earlier, it would seem that he hadn’t joined the Student Council just so as not to rob Fol of a place she could be herself in.

“With that being said, I would like for you to answer something too.”

“If it is something I am able to answer, you can ask anything.” 

Prince Lancelot watched as his servants withdrew, and the way I had spoken was a little bit closer to how upperclassmen and underclassmen spoke to each other, as well. Prince Lancelot nodded, pleased, and began to talk by saying that he wanted to enquire about Lady Sophia.

“…About Lady Sophia?”

“I heard that she has established her own faction. Moreover, she’s a member of the Student Council, just like Fol. Also, isn’t she a supporter of Alforth as well? What are her intentions?”

Chills ran down my spine. If I had only known what he had just said about her, it wouldn’t be surprising if I had thought that Lady Sophia was intending to get Fol’s support in order to help Prince Alforth ascend to the position of Crown Prince. To say nothing of the fact that Lady Sophia had also crushed Count Ares, a former member of the First Prince’s faction. Depending on my answer, Prince Lancelot might become Lady Sophia’s enemy.

“…Firstly, I must let you know that Lady Sophia wishes for peace.”

“All her actions seem to be pretty far from peaceful. But I won’t refute your statement without hearing you out. Let me hear it from your own mouth. Why would a girl seeking peace take such actions?”

“Of course. She created a faction because–”

The important thing was that the reason behind Lady Sophia establishing a faction was Prince Alforth’s decision to surround himself with Elitists. She hadn’t done it in order to support the Second Prince. Rather, she had established it so as to avoid getting tangled up with them. Afterwards, she proceeded to join the Student Council on Teacher Tristan’s request, and ended up improving Prince Alforth’s position on Fol’s request. I explained this, emphasizing that her actions were just a natural progression of events, and that she didn’t have any intentions to oppose Prince Lancelot in the slightest.

“…I see, that’s roughly the same story I had heard.” 

Surprisingly, Prince Lancelot didn’t doubt my explanation. Or rather, it seemed that he already had someone he trusted investigate the matter. When I considered who this could be, I could guess the answer somewhat.

“Have you heard this from Her Highness Princess Folcenia?”

“Yeah, she told me a lot of things.”

That was the answer I expected. If Fol had advocated for her, Lady Sophia must have already been cleared of suspicion. I was about to ask if he also wanted to have this confirmed by the actual person in question, but in the end, I thought that this might be overstepping my bounds… As if he had read my inner thoughts, Prince Lancelot opened his mouth.

“I’ve told you this before, but I truly am grateful to you two. Although there would be no way for me not to ponder over this matter, I don’t wish to be hostile towards you. Therefore, I apologize for Count Ares causing you trouble.”

“…”

Members of the royal family should not apologize recklessly. Since Prince Alforth was very open, he would apologize from time to time. However, given the impression I got of Prince Lancelot from our conversation up until that moment, it seemed as though he understood that rule very well. Therefore, I was able to feel the great weight behind his apology.

“Under normal circumstances, I would meet with her and apologize in person, but we both have our own circumstances. Please tell Miss Sophia what I said.”

“I will definitely do so.”

The Prince and I meeting back then had been a coincidence. And if such a coincidence hadn’t happened, it would have been very difficult to talk to him without servants present. Even more so, in a meeting between Lady Sophia and Prince Lancelot, there would definitely be eyes and ears pointed their way. There probably wouldn’t be an opportunity for the Prince to personally apologize to Lady Sophia.

That was the reason why he had asked me to pass on the apology. Since he didn’t appear in the first game, ‘Espressivo of Light and Darkness’, I hadn’t gathered much information about him, but he seemed to be a more reasonable person than I had thought.

“Well, that’s all I wanted to discuss about Miss Sophia. Now, there’s something I want to talk to you about, Cyril.”

“Talk to me about…? What is it?”

“In order to maintain my own faction, I have had to curry favor with people with many different opinions, but I don’t believe in the Elitist ideology personally. Therefore, I don’t mind giving someone a position that is proportionate with their abilities.”

…What? Why is he suddenly talking about something like this? This is way too sudden, I don’t understand his intention at all.

Precisely because I didn’t understand his goals, I voiced out a generic opinion.

“There are many advantages to meritocracy. However, at the same time, excessive meritocracy brings forth problems as well.”

“It’s exactly as you say. Everything has its limits. It is a fact that a difference in social standing is an obstacle and that it has the power to completely change someone’s life as well. I am greatly concerned about this. What do you think?”

…Hm. I was glad to be agreed with, but the person agreeing with me was quite unexpected. I didn’t understand what Prince Lancelot wanted to imply. Was I perhaps missing something fundamental? I almost wanted to say that I would like a more detailed explanation, but, in my position, I wasn’t able to utter this out loud.

“…Certainly, I believe that your concerns are justified, Your Highness.”

“I see. As long as you understand, I can rest assured. Fol is my dear cousin. No matter how many times a person saves another’s life and gains their trust, I cannot just simply hand her over to a butler.”

“…It’s just as you say.”

No, I have no idea what you’re talking about. 

I could still understand if he was trying to say that he couldn’t appoint me as her butler since I come from a commoner family. But what did he mean by saying that he ‘cannot hand her over to me’?

Wasn’t he phrasing it like Fol would come work under me? Did Fol say that she wanted to try being a maid or something?

Or… no, that was impossible. She wasn’t Alicia, there was no way Fol would fall in love with me. To be more precise, she probably had already given her heart to Teacher Tristan. 

If that was the case, could it be–

“I will say it once more. You saved Fol’s life, so I am grateful to you from the bottom of my heart. And, if it’s something Fol wishes for, I don’t plan on standing in your way. But…”

…Of course, why didn’t I realize this? The original work’s storyline was that Prince Lancelot gave up on getting engaged to the cousin he yearned for because she was destined to die and fell in love with Pamela, whom he met afterwards. In other words, now that Fol wasn’t destined to die anymore, he was still pining for her. Moreover, that meant that, in other words, I had taken on Pamela’s-

“I won’t hand Fol over to you.”

The villainous daughter and the capture target were replaced!

In all honesty, I did consider the possibility that I might become the capture target and get courted by Pamela, which would lead to Lady Sophia being in danger of falling into darkness. But it was totally unexpected for me to take Pamela’s position, and that Prince Lancelot, who was supposed to be the capture target, would come to stand in my way… No, I had no time to feel astonished. I had to clear up this misunderstanding quickly!

“Please wait a moment, Your Highness. I don’t desire Fol – no, Princess Folcenia – or have any other discourteous feelings like that.”

“What did you say? Are you trying to say that Fol isn’t attractive?!”

Aaaah, he’s such a pain in the neck!! But considering that he was the villainous prince, a replacement for the villainous daughter, perhaps it wasn’t really that strange?

“Her Highness Princess Folcenia is a charming lady, but there is no way someone like me, a butler, would be a good match for her. I find that even simply imagining such things disrespectful.”

“…Oh? But didn’t you say to Fol that one’s social standing wasn’t important?”

I could never ever say out loud something like ‘That was probably about Teacher Tristan.’ But, if Fol told him this, then it was most likely that… 

No, there was no way that he could have heard it from Fol, so this had to be just a mere hunch of his.

“It’s possible for me to treat her as a friend in the Academy, but, considering the gap between our social status, way too many issues would arise. More importantly, I do not intend to leave Lady Sophia’s side.”

“…I see. Good, I shall hope that you’ve told me the truth,” Prince Lancelot remarked and left.

…For the time being, I was safe.

But it was still too early to relax. There was no way that the misunderstanding with Prince Lancelot had been completely cleared up, and there were still two other routes left. 

I had to think a little more about the ramifications of me assuming Pamela’s role.  

Thank you for reading and all your support! Any and all donations are most welcome!!

Also I for sure didn\'t see this plot twist coming…!

1. Just like Alforth, Prince Lancelot refers to Fol as フォル姉さん – Foru-neesan.