WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

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◈ The Romance Fantasy’s Pushover Crown Prince Is No More ◈

Chapter 11: A Walk in the East (1)

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There were characters like that in comics.

Characters who were incredibly capable, cool, and impressive, yet too busy going out and having fun.

Usually, those characters were symbols of cheerfulness. They left tedious paperwork to subordinates just as capable as they were.

Then they pulled off all sorts of bizarre stunts and made people laugh.

'Characters overflowing with a sense of justice, straightforward and refreshing... A little foolish, but full of humanity.'

The key to those characters was that everything they did ultimately served a greater cause or led to a positive result.

'Maybe it's because he's decided to give everything he has to a woman, but he's just disgusting.'

Kailen, as seen through the vision Silphiner shared with me, was nowhere close to that sort of character.

'Still, this is incredibly useful.'

Silphiner, the wind spirit.

Perhaps because it was a helper-type spirit that had aided the protagonist from the beginning, its utility was absurd.

It moved unbelievably fast and could even share its vision.

Its efficiency was incredible, too.

Even though I'd watched Kailen for quite a while, it hadn't put any strain on my body at all.

Of course, that was probably possible because the original owner of this body, the Crown Prince, possessed ridiculous power.

'It's so strong that I can't understand how someone with this kind of power acted like such a pushover.'

How kind and foolish did someone have to be to watch the Empire fall apart while possessing this much power?

I couldn't understand it at all, but it wasn't something I could solve immediately, so I decided to let it go for now.

"By now, everyone should be done preparing."

I decided I'd slept in long enough and got out of bed.

I'd said I wanted to receive the reports as soon as I woke up, so the time I got up would be the cutoff.

To give them as much time as possible, I'd deliberately rolled around in bed for a while.

Once I decided that was enough, I opened the door.

"Ha ha, I hope you aren't all suffering because of my greed."

"Not at all. How could this be called Your Highness's greed? We found the work quite enjoyable as well."

"I'm glad to hear that."

The moment I opened the door, I saw the officials standing in a neat line against the wall across from it.

Every official who had attended yesterday's State Council Meeting was holding documents and watching my reaction.

It was a very satisfying sight.

"I'll receive them in order. Ha ha, now that I think about it, the Chancellor is first in line despite holding such a high position. Impressive."

"Shouldn't someone in such a high position fulfill the responsibilities and duties that come with it? It is not something worthy of praise."

"It is absolutely worthy of praise."

As I said that, I gave the maid beside me a look.

Taking the hint, she held out both hands to receive the documents.

Stack, stack.

The documents began piling up in the maid's hands.

'Come to think of it, I should reply to the letter he sent directly to me, too.'

First, I needed to read these reports on the eastern region.

Then I'd write an appropriate reply.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, I have received them all."

I'd been lost in thought for a moment when I heard that they had finished handing over the documents.

"Ah, right. The key officials have worked hard as well. Everyone, rest comfortably today... I guarantee there will be no State Council Meeting."

"Your grace is boundless."

I dismissed the officials and ordered the maid to move the documents to my office.

'East Grand Duke, please, at least stay within reasonable limits while you're giving things away.'

I hoped he was having fun within reasonable limits.

If not, if he was fooling around like the Second Imperial Prince.

'Tsk.'

Then there was nothing I could do.

Just as I was about to head off to check the documents.

"Ah."

As if I had remembered something, I spoke to the Imperial Guard Knight following behind me.

"Come to think of it, are there any people dispatched from the northern and eastern regions within the Imperial Palace?"

I checked for variables I might have overlooked.

"I will confirm it immediately."

"Check, and if there are, I'd like to see them. Ah, and make sure to bring them here kindly."

"I obey."

As soon as the Imperial Guard Knight heard my words, they took the Sun Bell from inside their robes and rang it.

Cleaning was always like this.

No matter how much you did, it never seemed to end.

You wondered when it would finally be over.

Still, it had to be done.

That was cleaning.

+++++

"Kailen Marin! How can you neglect your duties as Grand Duke and focus all your energy on running around and having fun?"

"Father, I'm not playing around. I'm exploring the vast sea."

"I heard you've practically leased fast ships to the Macelin Kingdom indefinitely."

"It's an investment! An investment in the Macelin Kingdom! So that if something valuable turns up there, we can acquire it first!"

"And I hear you intend to buy it for the highest price possible?"

"Valuable things must be paid what they're worth. That way, there won't be trouble later."

Javiren Marin let out a deep sigh as he looked at his son.

When Kailen inherited the title of Grand Duke, Javiren had thought he would make the eastern region's future shine even brighter than his own.

But once he actually saw it, Kailen was just a child who loved playing around.

'Not that I can take the position back now.'

Still, there were some fortunate things.

Capable officials still firmly supported the eastern region, and his son had an extraordinary talent for finding rare artifacts.

How did he find treasures beneath the sea so well and tuck them away in the vault?

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the eastern region had continued to prosper because of that one ability.

"By the way, are you still paying attention to the goods that must be sent to the Empire?"

"I haven't been able to properly support the Macelin Kingdom because I've been worrying about that the whole time. Do you know how long ago I made that promise to Crown Princess Mirne...?"

"Why are you so concerned with the Macelin Kingdom in the first place?"

"Because I see incredible potential! And think about it. What if I ended up with the Crown Princess of a kingdom with that kind of potential? Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"Ho ho."

Javiren found it difficult to tell whether those were childish words or whether Kailen was seriously thinking about the eastern region's future.

'Recently... I've been far too curious about what has been happening in the Empire.'

Rumor had it that blood was flowing through the capital.

Knowing that, was his son truly this thoughtless?

So.

"Do you know what is happening in the imperial capital?"

Javiren tested his son.

"I heard they're withdrawing all support and investments from the Macelin Kingdom. I wondered whether that would affect the eastern region too, so I sent a messenger bird."

"You sent a messenger bird? To whom?"

"Obviously Crown Prince Brother. Who else?"

Smack.

The moment he heard his son's answer, Javiren slapped his forehead.

Even though he was a Grand Duke, Kailen had directly contacted the Crown Prince, who might as well have been in the Emperor's position now?

'If he said he sent it, then he must have sent it to the Crown Prince's sleeping quarters. Good grief.'

Normally, Javiren would not have cared.

But with the Empire's current movements being anything but ordinary, how could Kailen act so rashly?

'Still, the current Grand Duke is my son. It would be strange to interfere too much.'

Javiren wanted to meddle in all sorts of things, but he worried that doing so might lead to bad results, so he gave up.

Unaware of his father's concerns, Kailen, the East Grand Duke, casually headed to his office.

As soon as he arrived, he looked at the moderately sized pile of documents.

"All right, then. Shall we get this work done quickly?"

Because of his father's words, he resolved to work for the first time in a while.

Hearing that resolve, an employee quickly stepped up beside him and began listing the day's tasks.

"First, we need to carefully inspect the goods that must be sent to the Empire. I believe this is the third time I've said it, but we must not forget the seafood, the artifacts obtained through this Sea Ruins expedition, the navigation log, the maps, and the taxes."

"Hmm, I think Crown Prince Brother might overlook some of it if I ask him... He has overlooked it a few times already, hasn't he?"

"If he keeps overlooking things, it will set a bad example for the provincial nobles. Why would nobles follow rules that even a Grand Duke does not follow?"

"That's true, but... Hmm, I want to give the Macelin Kingdom more proper support."

Kailen listened to those words slowly and was already getting bored.

"Come to think of it, the personnel sent from the imperial capital are still there, but aren't the people we sent from the eastern region still there too?"

"Yes, of course. You mean the port construction workers."

"Mhm. Mirne said she wanted the port to be bigger."

At the mention of the Macelin Kingdom, Kailen's lips curled up slightly.

'No matter how much I support them, it never looks like I've supported them enough.'

A kingdom that never seemed to have enough, no matter how much it received.

That was Macelin.

A small, fragile kingdom, and his delicate love within it.

He still couldn't forget their first meeting, the day he had gone to the Macelin Kingdom himself and traveled there by ship.

"Mm... Just thinking about it makes me happy."

As he indulged in that happy fantasy, he reluctantly approved the documents.

Crash!

The window of Kailen's office suddenly shattered.

Screeeech!

A red bird that looked vicious at first glance perched on the windowsill.

"W-What is this?!"

The employee was startled.

"...That's His Highness the Crown Prince's messenger bird. Pirande."

Kailen slowly approached the bird that had broken the window, his face stiff.

The Crown Prince did not use Pirande.

It was too violent, too savage, and not at all kind to living creatures other than its owner.

'But it's incredibly smart, and I heard it wasn't even a bird suitable for use as a messenger bird in the first place...'

Even now, it showed just how smart it was.

It smoothly removed the letter tied to its leg with its beak.

Ptooey.

Then it tossed it onto the floor as if spitting.

Screeeech!

It cried out once more, as though showing off its majesty.

Flap.

Then, looking as though its business was finished, it flew back toward the Empire.

"Huh."

What could the letter possibly say for the Crown Prince to use Pirande to deliver it?

Kailen unfolded the letter with that question in mind.

"...."

He was so dumbfounded that he couldn't say anything.

[See you soon.]

There was nothing about where or how they would meet.

Just a blunt statement that they would see each other soon.

"Huh? See you soon? Why did Crown Prince Brother send something like this? Does that mean I have to go there, or that he's coming here?"

Kailen could not grasp the true meaning of the message.

+++++

My office was comfortable now.

"I appointed him Grand Duke. I didn't separate an entire country from the Empire and tell him to act like a king."

I let out a hollow laugh as I read the eastern region analysis reports submitted by the officials.

Even if he was a Grand Duke, he couldn't act above imperial law.

That went for taxes and the tribute that should rightfully be sent to the imperial capital.

He had played quite a few tricks.

And the profits from those tricks had been going to Macelin.

'But if you think about it, Macelin shouldn't need support even at this level. Why are they still receiving support?'

Based on the amount of support I'd heard about so far, the Macelin Kingdom should have become far stronger than it was currently believed to be.

Even so, the Empire's idiots kept saying the Macelin Kingdom was weak.

The possibility that Macelin had been deceiving the Empire came to mind.

'It would be quicker to assume they're pretending to be weak. If they showed that they were growing stronger, they wouldn't receive support anymore.'

If every time they received something, they said, "We're fine now. You don't need to give us any more. We're strong now, too," people would stop giving.

But every time they received one thing, something else was difficult, then another thing was difficult. They kept taking whatever they could get.

If they did their best not to show that the support was changing them too much, it was entirely possible.

'Maybe they aren't full because everyone keeps giving them things. Maybe they have no intention of being full until they're satisfied.'

Mirne was a really funny woman.

Was that the level of social maneuvering she had because she was a modern person from the twenty-first century?

'Well, that's over now anyway.'

The Empire had no intention of giving Macelin anything anymore.

'I wonder whether the letter arrived safely.'

Who knew Pirande was such a capable messenger bird?

Though I still doubted whether it was actually a messenger bird.

As I considered various things, I checked just how foolishly and haphazardly the eastern region had been run.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, as ordered, I have kindly brought the officials dispatched from the northern and eastern regions."

There was a knock, and I gestured for the maid to open the door.

The moment it opened, I saw terrified officials kneeling on the floor.

"You certainly brought them kindly."

"Yes."

"Y-Y-Y-Y-Your Highness, uh, uh, guh, guh, hhk..."

The officials who had been brought here were so terrified they could not even breathe properly.

I didn't understand it. Everything below their knees remained intact. Why were they so scared?

'Are eastern nobles weak-willed?'

That thought only lasted a moment.

I went straight to the point.

"According to the reports, the reports submitted by you officials differ from the figures reported by our Empire's key officials. Your reports understate the support for the Macelin Kingdom, and the number of Sea Ruins discovered through exploration differs as well. Even the number of artifacts is different... Who ordered this?"

"I-I have committed a crime deserving death!"

"Ah, it is a crime deserving death, so don't worry about that. I will make that part certain. Don't think about it and tell me the truth."

Even though it belonged to the same Empire, the eastern region had stuck a straw into the Empire and played tricks.

Things had not become a problem only because no one had raised an issue with them.

'These were the things the Crown Prince had just laughed off because he was such a pushover.'

There were many matters that could grow as large as anyone wanted if they truly pursued them.

There was even information that the eastern region had recently been growing poorer.

I needed to hear everything properly, from beginning to end.

"Th-That is... What happened was...!"

The terrified eastern leeches began to speak, and as their story slowly neared its end, I let out a deep breath and reached a conclusion.

"...Call the Executioners."

It seemed I needed to take a walk through the eastern region myself.

Footnotes:

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