Chapter 49
Hey! Is no one there? I’ve come!
[……What the hell is that bastard doing?]
Ria stared blankly outside with a dumbfounded expression.
The Crown Prince, who had been scolded and chased out yesterday, was somehow standing in front of the mansion.
It’s a doppelgänger who looks exactly like me! Open the door!
Bang bang!
[Well, well, now he’s banging on the door too?]
So dumbfounded she was speechless, she went straight outside and looked Leopold over.
He was dressed like an attendant, just like yesterday.
[Don’t tell me…… he slipped out alone?]
Seriously, what is this guy doing? What kind of Crown Prince runs around alone without even an escort?
“Why is no one here? Yesterday there were definitely people.”
Click-
“Ah, it opened.”
[W-what?! Why are you opening the door, you idiot!]
Ria, who hadn’t expected him to open it, panicked and unconsciously stepped in front of him to block him.
But since he couldn’t see Ria, he passed right through her and entered the mansion.
[……Damn it! Lucian is training at the practice yard right now!]
Maybe he’s heard the commotion by now. First, she had to tell Lucian about this…….
“Oh, what’s this?”
[You bastard! Why are you wandering around causing trouble?!]
The moment she looked away, Leopold started roaming all over the place. Ria hurriedly locked doors here and there so he couldn’t barge in wherever he pleased.
[This won’t do. I need to scare him and chase him out!]
She used the methods she’d always used whenever humans came.
Crash-!
Dropping things where someone just passed.
Bang-! Bang bang-!
Shaking the framed pictures on the walls like crazy.
Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
Making the candle flames bigger to look threatening.
And so on—she used every trick in the book, but Leopold didn’t budge. If anything…….
“Ooh! What’s this now? Does a ghost really live here?”
[……Is he a nutcase?]
Well, he came back even after all that yesterday, so there’s no way he’s normal.
[Argh! Enough of this—just get out already, you bastard!]
Ria let out a screech—Kyaaah—pouring out her energy, but Leopold only passed straight through her body with a bright, innocent face.
[Why are you so damn strong?!]
Lucian was weak enough to sense my presence from the start! If you’re twins, you should be the same too!
What is this irritating feeling? Strangely familiar, and unpleasant.
“Aha! This is pretty nice stuff?”
Seeing him get distracted by something else again, Ria suddenly thought of someone.
[K-Kaiser……?]
‘Kya-kya-kya! I am a great red dragon!’
No way. If there’s another one like Kaiser, that’s a disaster.
And since that guy was innocently cheerful without any malice, it was even more annoying.
“I wondered what all the noise was…….”
[Lucian!]
“Ah! The doppelgänger!”
Lucian, coming in through the back door, spotted Leopold and furrowed his brow.
Ria relaxed when she saw Lucian’s hair and eyes had changed to brown.
[This crazy bastard barged into the mansion on his own! No matter how much I scare him, he won’t be afraid! And his energy is so strong that even when I pour mine out, he can’t even see me!]
“……So that’s what it was.”
“See? It’s not a ghost, is it? He’s really alive!”
[Ugh! Where are you going, you bastard!]
She lunged from behind, but Leopold was faster in getting to Lucian.
Lucian flinched and stared at his twin brother approaching without hesitation.
“Daring to trespass. I’d have every right to attack you on the spot, wouldn’t I?”
“Ah, is that so? I didn’t do it on purpose! I kept calling, but you didn’t come out.”
“Should I welcome an uninvited guest?”
“Why am I an uninvited guest?”
At the incoherent answers, Lucian’s face twisted. It was like he was thinking, ‘What kind of guy is this?’
“I came because I have something I want to say to you!”
“I’ve got nothing to say. Get out, now.”
Lucian coldly dismissed him and shoved his back. Leopold panicked and struggled.
“M-my name is Leopold Odelion!”
When he said his full name, Lucian paused. Leopold didn’t miss the opening and turned back around.
“I came to become sworn brothers with you!”
“……What?”
[What the hell is this bastard saying?]
Ria and Lucian both wore dumbfounded expressions. But Leopold was even snorting, eyes shining.
“Ahem! You heard my name, so you know, but I’m the Crown Prince! And I don’t have any brothers or sisters.”
Lucian’s eyebrow twitched. But Leopold, clueless, continued.
“Ever since I was little, I’ve always wanted siblings. But now that I’m fifteen, even if I got a new brother, it’d just be a much younger little brother, right? And then you appeared right in front of my eyes!”
“……Because we look the same, you want us to play at being twins?”
“You know too? That you and I look exactly alike!”
[This bastard is the Crown Prince—why is he so dumb? Isn’t it something anyone can see if they have eyes?]
And what, is his head decorated with a flower garden? Looking at that baseless confidence, it seems he never even considered being rejected.
“Sure, we don’t share blood, but since we look this alike, it’s fate! From what I can see, you live alone in a remote place like this without family—aren’t you lonely too?”
Lucian’s gaze sank deeper, quietly glaring at Leopold.
“So what you’re saying is, you want to play at being brothers?”
“Play? Even if you don’t share blood, how many people make sworn brotherhoods and live like real brothers.”
“Ha, unbelievable.”
“How about it? Having a Crown Prince brother wouldn’t be bad for you, right?”
Lucian’s lip, which had curled in a sneer, dropped in an instant. Then he stared at Leopold, killing intent leaking out.
Only then did Leopold sense that Lucian’s eyes were not normal.
“Why are you looking at me like th—”
“It’s too ridiculous to even listen to. In the end, you’re just saying we should do some childish make-believe about sworn brothers, whatever you feel like.”
“It’s not childish make-believe—!”
“That’s enough. I’m the idiot for expecting anything. Ria, this time, for real, throw him out.”
[Far away?]
“As far as possible.”
“What are you even talking about by yourself?”
[Okay.]
Before Leopold could understand Lucian’s words, Ria struck first.
Leopold, now floating in midair like yesterday, widened his eyes.
“You can use magic too?!”
“……Ugh, I shouldn’t even engage.”
[I agree. How is a kid like that even the Crown Prince.]
“Yesterday and today, you kept saying ‘Ria.’ Is it some special magic spell?”
[How could it be, you idiot!]
“Ria, don’t engage. You’ll only get a headache.”
“Ah! You said Ria again!”
If she kept listening to that yapping voice, it would drive her crazy. She covered his mouth.
Mmph? Mmph! Mmph! Mmmph!
[……How is he still this noisy even with his mouth covered?]
She could roughly guess what he was trying to say.
Only after binding his mouth and thrashing body tightly with mana did his struggling stop.
Ria hauled him up into the air and gently tossed him outside the fence.
She could see Leopold sprawled on the ground.
“Don’t ever come back. This is a warning.”
Lucian shut the door with a bang, turning his back on Leopold, now covered in dirt.
He let out a weary sigh and rubbed his face.
[Lucian, are you okay?]
“……Yeah, I’m okay.”
After yesterday’s emotional turmoil, she was quite worried. She hovered nearby with lingering concern, and Lucian gave a faint smile.
“I’m really okay. You said it, Ria. Family doesn’t have to be made of blood. My family is you and Kaiser.”
[That’s true, but…….]
“And this time, we warned him properly, so he won’t do something that stupid again. I’m more disappointed. To think that idiot is my twin brother.”
Lucian’s grumbling looked a bit better than yesterday.
[Yeah, no matter how dumb he is, he must have understood this much. Let’s forget about today.]
Ria soothed Lucian and went up to the second floor with him.
* * *
Bang! Bang!
Doppelgänger! Open the door!
[Ugh, he’s at it again.]
Two weeks had passed since Leopold proposed sworn brotherhood to Lucian.
From the next day on, for two whole weeks, he came to the mansion without missing a single day.
Some days he stayed only thirty minutes, and other days he held out in front of the mansion from morning until evening.
If he’s the Crown Prince, doesn’t he have mountains of work to do? Yet he came here every day, which was both amazing and baffling.
Grrr-
Even though it was only 2 o’clock, it was dark outside. Seeing storm clouds rolling in, a heavy rain would soon pour down.
[What’s he going to do now?]
Lucian, who had been organizing the lesson materials, twitched. Ria pretended not to notice and leaned her head out a little, checking where Leopold had been camping out.
[What? He’s still there?]
“……Hmph, if the rain stops, he’ll leave on his own.”
Lucian just roughly gathered his things and left the library.
It might be good that he’s no longer swayed by family, but to her eyes, it just looked like he was trying to avoid reality.
[This is hard.]
If avoiding reality keeps Lucian from getting hurt, that’s a good thing. It’s better than him suffering alone, silently stewing inside.
But maybe because she’d been watching Leopold come without getting tired for two weeks, she started thinking: wouldn’t it be better if Lucian at least tried talking to Leopold?
[I want to teach Lucian what family affection is.]
She did tell Lucian that family doesn’t need shared blood—that being together is enough—but there would still be a subtle difference from a real blood family.
She only said the right things because she didn’t want Lucian to feel abandoned by his family.
If there’s a family that can cherish him enough, she would help him return to them anytime.
[Of course, if they hurt Lucian, I won’t let it slide.]
Ria looked down at Leopold with sunken eyes, then stepped away from the window.
* * *
“Ah- choo! Ugh, why the sudden rain.”
Shaaahhh!
Maybe because summer was nearing, the rain poured down in sheets. Like this, he couldn’t return to the imperial palace.
He’d come dressed lightly, so the air, cooled by the rain, felt fairly chilly.
Bang bang!
“Open the door! I’m cold!”
He whined for them to open it, using the rain as an excuse, but as always, the door never opened.
“Tch, so this is how it’s going to be? Today too, let’s see who wins…… ugh, I’m cold!”
For a moment he seriously tried to think of a way to drag out the doppelgänger inside, but Leopold soon squirmed in the cold and collapsed to the ground.
At first, it was curiosity that started it.
A doppelgänger was fascinating, and even after revealing his position, being handled roughly like that was a new experience that also stoked his stubborn pride.
But now he couldn’t accurately understand why, for two weeks, he’d been humoring someone who wouldn’t even show his face.
“……Somehow, without even knowing why, I can’t stop worrying.”
When he was properly rejected and returned to the palace, the doppelgänger’s face—clearly disappointed somewhere—wouldn’t disappear from his mind.
“And what was I even expecting?”
He said it clearly.
That I was the idiot for expecting anything.
Not something the one who mercilessly throws people out should say.
“Come to think of it, it’s strange. Even when I said I was the Crown Prince, he didn’t look that surprised, and he acts like he knows me, somehow.”
It feels like the answer is shimmering right in front of him, hard to grasp, as if he almost knows it.
“I want to at least talk properly…… I didn’t know I’d be hit with an eviction spell for two weeks.”
Chuckling hollowly, Leopold stared at the rain still pouring down.
Wheeeeee- shaaahhh!
Then, suddenly, a strong gust blew in, and the rain penetrated under the eaves.
“Ptooey!”
Leopold looked down at his soaking-wet body and trembled.
“Just open the door, anything is fine! At this rate I’m going to freeze to death!”
He was a Crown Prince whose seriousness didn’t last even one minute.
