Chapter 21. Escort

Translator: AdCaelum

Editor: meli

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TL: Guys, it’s your favorite sus character Ward again xD

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Marquess Clarke and Asher chatted casually for some time before the marquess had to leave. Finally left alone in his room, Asher exhaled, but then there was a knock at his door. The maid Ellie bowed, approached Asher, and stood before him.

“Prince Asher, will you be attending tonight’s dinner?” she asked him.

“No, I’ll eat alone in my room as usual. Also, can you bring it over a little later?”

“Yes, as you wish.”

After making sure that Ellie had left the room, Asher sat down on his bed. He hadn’t attended dinner with the royal family since returning to the castle. Likewise, he hadn’t met Augustine either. It appeared that the king himself also wasn’t going to take the initiative to meet Asher, so Asher was thankful to avoid any awkwardness between them.

He knew his escapes from his room would be discovered one day, but how did his mother find out about them? Nevertheless, he had managed to say what he wanted to say.

From the previous Asher’s memories, he’d had some idea of how Angela would react, but Marquess Clarke’s reaction saddened him. He thought Marquess Clarke would have been happier, but that didn’t appear to be the case.

According to the memories, Marquess Clarke had always praised Asher whenever he did the right thing. Naturally, such praise seldom came, and he was instead, more often than not, reprimanded for his wrongdoings. The image of the marquess firmly scolding “Asher”, regardless of their status, appeared vividly in his head. However, the marquess had also just protected him from Angela. If Marquess Clarke hadn’t, Asher didn’t know what Angela would have said.

“That reminds me. Mother also said she was busy… for my birthday.” He muttered to himself but raised a question. “Hm? My birthday…? Oh, right, I’m turning 16…”

Dias had the tradition of hosting a national event for royal birthdays. Nobles and high-ranking families were invited to the castle for an evening banquet while the citizens held festivals that started on the birth date and spanned over the next two days. And this time, the event would be centered around Asher.

“And it has to be my 16th birthday of all things!”

In Dias, boys became men at 16 and were allowed to marry at that age. Asher pulled from his memories the grandiose event two years ago when Hugo turned 16. The noble sons and daughters had surrounded Hugo as if he were bait thrown in the middle of a fish-infested lake.

“A b-banquet now of all times… with me at the center?!”

All the blood drained from his body, and he buried his face in his pillow. He hated being the center of attention, yet that was exactly what this event would do. He tried to think of a way out of it, but nothing came to mind.

“I’ve only focused on how I was hated by everyone… But I am a prince first and foremost, and princes have duties to fulfill. I know that, but at the same time, I don’t know what I should be doing…”

Fortunately, thanks to the past “Asher”, his body knew how to act and present itself properly through muscle memory. But, it didn’t change the fact that he disliked and was scared of appearing before a crowd.

He continued to wrack his brain for a while until dinner came. He couldn’t even taste the food as he desperately tried to think of a solution.

　

The next day, Asher finally had a lesson with Marquess Clarke. After reading and writing text in an archaic language, they took a break to enjoy that promised tea.

“It’s been a while since I drank Randalim,” Asher commented.

“The leaves are expensive, so they’re hard to come by. I wish I could bring you some each time,” Marquess Clarke said.

“It’s fine. Thank you for sharing this luxury with me.” Asher thanked Marquess Clarke, but he stared with a dark expression at the liquid in the cup. He recalled memories of “Asher” happily enjoying this tea and drinking it often, but even without having drunk any himself, he could tell by the smell alone that Randalim was horribly saccharine. He was certain, without a shred of doubt, that it would give him heartburn.

However, he couldn’t exactly avoid drinking it with Marquess Clarke in front of him, so he took a deep breath and took a sip.

Urk! It was much, much sweeter than he thought.

It appeared that the past “Asher” not only had the complete opposite personality to his current self, but their food preferences also differed. Just one sip made him so sick that he needed to cancel the remainder of their lesson due to suddenly feeling ill. Marquess Clarke showed concern when he left the room, but Asher truly couldn’t spend another second smelling that tea or he would become nauseous.

“What am I even doing? This… can’t go on,” he reprimanded himself.

Everything he had done so far after finding himself in the body of a hated prince had turned out for the worse. He had accompanied Jeffrey to the orphanage in an attempt to change his circumstances, but he was caught up in an unexpected attack. He managed to return safely to the castle, but as a result, he was no longer permitted to leave the castle. The only thing he managed to accomplish could only be described as “making himself look pleasant to everyone,” but even that was beginning to feel like the wrong choice to have made. Ward warned him that he was defenseless, and Angela reprimanded him.

“I hoped… to make some kind of change…” But in the end, he couldn’t do anything.

Sighing, Asher sat by the window and opened it. It had all been shallow thinking. Instead of letting things remain this way, he would work hard to change this life he was given. That way, things would be different.

“If this was a story and I was the protagonist, I would have happened upon a villain committing evil when I left the castle and arrested them…” Asher bitterly smiled. He knew nothing that convenient could happen, but he had to admit that he’d hoped for it. He was disappointed that there weren’t any such dramatic developments.

In reality, those around him were divided in their views on him. For example, some soldiers worshipped Asher while others felt some fondness (although Asher hadn’t noticed that their numbers had been increasing these past few days). Naturally, there was the opposite side; those who originally felt hostile toward Asher grew even more wary of the prince.

Asher refused to take the path of passivity again. However, he was greatly reminded that nothing good would come from acting without thinking, and his shoulders dropped.

During the month leading up to his birthday, the more Asher thought about what he should do, the more he turned in fruitless circles. He hadn’t skipped a day visiting the infirmary, but now that the healed soldiers went back to the barracks, he no longer needed to go. On their last day, they said they would be sad now that they couldn’t see him anymore, but he felt bad that they were forced to say that out of consideration for him. As he continued to lose the things he thought he should be doing, the preparations for his birthday steadily proceeded.

　

Today, when he was choosing the accessories for his outfit, he’d barely been given any time to think about anything. The day had already been hectic enough, but then, while he was eating dinner by himself as usual, there was a knock at the door. He stopped eating and prompted the person to enter his room.

“My apologies for interrupting your meal, Prince Asher.”

“Ward? What’s the matter? Did something happen?” After wiping his mouth with a napkin, Asher stood up. He hadn’t seen Ward since Angela scolded him for sneaking out, but now here he was in his room. Concerned that it must be something urgent, Asher ran over to him.

“Yes, it concerns your birthday banquet.”

“About the banquet?”

“Yes, I wish to be your escort.”

“What?! You want to escort me?! But I planned to ask Marquess Clarke to accompany me…” It was common for those unmarried or not engaged in Dias to be escorted by relatives or friends. In fact, Hugo was often escorted by Samuel. Marquess Clarke wasn’t a relative, but since he was Asher’s teacher, no one had any objections.

“Please allow me to. Do you remember how I said I would teach you about love?”

“What does that have to do with escorting me?!”

Ward grinned, knelt by Asher’s feet, and gently took Asher’s hand. He reminded him, “Don’t forget. The noble sons and daughters around your age will be attending the banquet. Naturally, there will also be plenty of single adults among the guests. Do you recall what I told you before?”

“Huh?”

“The crazy fools who fully lose themselves in their desires aren’t limited to the soldiers. Rather, it is the nobles you need to watch out for… In fact, I predict that some would surely try to approach you at the banquet.” The grinning Ward continued to hold Asher’s hand as he warned the prince. Asher’s face tensed. He wanted to avoid the banquet even more now. “I can prevent those folk from approaching you far better than Marquess Clarke ever could.”

“Huh? How?”

“Hm, well, you can think of me as some kind of pest repellent. Besides… this is to help you learn about love.”

“Can you let go of my hand first?”

“I will if you allow me to be your escort.” Ward held his ground.

After some deliberation, Asher relented and nodded. “Fine. You’ll escort me no matter what I say anyways, right?”

“Hm, maybe? Anyways, I appreciate the quick response.” Ward promptly let go of Asher’s hand, gave a quick bow, and left the room.

Ward as his escort, huh? Before Asher gave Ward the okay, a certain person popped in his head for a moment. Asher shook his head to rid himself of the thought, but it stubbornly remained.

“gh! I’m terribly sorry…” Theodore had said and left without looking at Asher in the face. They hadn’t seen each other since then.

The future, himself, his circumstances… and Theodore— The more Asher thought about everything, the more anxious he became and the less sleep he got.

This continued even up to his birthday.

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