The Sweet Alpha Prince Loves Me So Much

Chapter 23

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“When I first stored the Royal Seal, they made two compartments. That was naturally to prevent loss or theft, and if one of the empty compartments is opened, the other is relocated.”

Belfry came to the prince to check the details of the plan, since the ‘I don’t like you, but I like you’ Crown Prince was currently absent right now

“I was fortunate enough to see the real Royal Seal. But I’m afraid I didn’t get a chance to see the storage compartment.”

“And both times it was used by the king himself?”

“Yes, though he was within sight of Kitchener. And although the Royal Seal itself cannot be touched by anyone except the Lindbergh royal family, anyone can touch the storage compartment, so I don’t know if Kitchener took the storage compartment with him.”

In response to the prince’s words, Belfry explained that it was reasonable but difficult.

Leia agreed with that.

“Kitchener may not be a particularly noticeable figure, but it is impossible for him to remain in his position as Chancellor without paying attention to all matters. However, the right to usurp power belongs to the king, and the Royal Seal is an object that confirms his authority. If someone were to report that Kitchener had committed the misdeed of bringing it with him, he would have no excuse even if his head was cut off.”

The king, who is addicted to Kitchener’s unknown hookah, probably didn’t say that, but for now, it was assumed that he did.

Carl Lindbergh, who was listening attentively, stuck his nose on a notebook on the table.

It seems to be the prince’s habit to take notes when listening to important things, and today he was also diligently taking notes.

Belfry closely observed the prince.

The ‘Real Final’ is inside the castle. Only those who have inherited the royal blood can touch it. Last confirmed location was the second drawer of the desk in the office. Location of the fake compartment is unknown.

The handwriting was not bad, but it was all over the place with stars and underlines drawn randomly, making it hard to follow.

Why did the prince refer to the Royal Seal with such a strange name as the ‘Real Final’?

“By the way, what does ‘Real Final’ mean?”

Belfry asked, causing the prince’s eyes to widen.

“Yes? It’s just a name for the Royal Seal.”

“The Royal Seal’s name?”

Seeing Leia and Belfry looking surprised as if they heard it for the first time, the prince turned pale.

There must be something to it.

Even if the prince tried to wave his hand and brush it off as just a nickname, Belfry’s stubborn mouth wouldn’t budge.

It was the first time he’d ever heard of Lindbergh naming the Royal Seal, and now that he thought about it, the prince had called it ‘Real Final’ a few times too naturally.

“Do you happen to know how to read formulas, Prince?”

“Huh? N-No?”

Oh? Now the prince was visibly agitated, rolling his eyes and biting his lips.

Last time, His Highness Adrian asked him if he could read the formula, and the prince answered him that he couldn’t.

Since ‘reading’ and ‘seeing’ the magic formula were completely different issues, Belfry was determined to somehow get the prince to take a look.

“Ahem, anyway, the mechanism of the storage compartment of the Royal Seal is the same as that of a ‘door.’ Do you remember, Prince?”

As Belfry pretended not to know and changed the subject, Carl, who swept his chest in relief, nodded.

“You mean the magic door that connects Heineken and Lindbergh?”

Bingo.

Belfry’s eyes narrowed sharply, but the prince didn’t seem to notice.

However, Leia gave the prince a puzzled look as if she didn’t know what he was talking about.

The prince’s innocent question about the mechanism behind it seemed to Belfry as if he were hiding a sword behind his back.

Belfry quickly concealed his expression.

“To achieve the same magical effect for two objects located in different coordinates, the same formula must be drawn into a magical stone of the same material and matched with the same number of magical stones on both sides to activate them together.”

“Ohh…”

The prince busily moved his hand again.

“In addition, if an object is to be moved, there must be a magical stone at the destination coordinates. It’s like a seesaw. If one side goes up, the other side goes down.”

The prince drew a seesaw on the paper.

“If it’s an object that doesn’t need to be retrieved after it’s discarded, then it doesn’t matter if the formula is wrong.”

“Oh, I see,” exclaimed the prince.

“In that case, even if we discover the fake Royal Seal compartment and open it, it will move to coordinates that have the same formula and the same magic stone as the fake one had.”

“That’s right.”

The prince wrote something on the paper again.

Although the prince was pulling the paper close to him as if he was conscious of Belfry reading it, Belfry was able to read it perfectly.

The ‘Real Final’, finding the magic stone, the fake and the real are in the same position with the same magic stone, which is probably an absurd sentence.

Sentence.

Belfry’s monocle glinted sharply in the light.

‘The prince can read a magic formula. You said he couldn’t use magic!’

Belfry glared at Leia, but Leia responded with a firm posture.

‘What are you going to do if he’s hiding something?’

Belfry glared more intensely at her.

‘Is it a lie that his heat has never come? Is it a lie that he has no magical power!’

Leia frowned.

‘Oh, so what if it’s a lie? What are you going to do?’

In the end, Belfry’s fierce spirit subsided a little as she sent a confident gaze on top of her pheromones, and the prince, who hadn’t paid much attention to their war of nerves, raised his hand to ask a question.

“If we find the real one at once, we won’t have to search for the fake one, will we?”

“Well, it would be good to find both. If you happen to find the real one first, please leave the storage compartment behind and only bring the Royal Seal.”

“Right? Since if someone opens the fake storage compartment, the real one will move away.”

The prince nodded.

Then he raised his hand again and said, “I have another question.”

Belfry, who had become quite sensitive, asked curtly, “What now?”

The prince, in a careful and awkward tone, asked, “But isn’t His Highness coming today?”

The two people who lost their temper because of the prince sighed at the same time.

***

My mouth dropped open in awe as I gazed up at the spire of the inner castle1, rising so high in the sky, and the attendant beside me puffed out his chest with pride.

“Overwhelming, isn’t it? This is the symbol and pride of Heineken.”

“Indeed, it is.”

It took me about an hour to get from the outer castle2 to the entrance of the inner castle by horse-drawn carriage. I thought it wasn’t too far, but it turned out to be farther than expected due to the law of perspective being disregarded.

The Crown Prince, who used to appear at the outer castle like clockwork every day, did not return after our awkward parting last time.

It had only been two days, but I couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling I had, so I asked Belfry. He seemed to want to say something, but after hesitating and pursing his lips, he eventually gave in and said,

〈His Highness is holed up in his office. Why don’t you pay him a visit?〉

Belfry clicked his tongue as I wondered if I needed permission or surveillance.

〈The prince doesn’t need anyone’s permission. Don’t you remember that His Highness pledge his troth3to you?〉

With a hint of reprimand in her voice, Leia coldly said, ‘Young Lord, know who you are talking to first,’ making the atmosphere tense.

I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed that I had made the two of them uncomfortable by bringing up an unnecessary topic, but Belfry quickly said, ‘I apologize,’ and left.

Leia comforted me, saying that although we were from a small country, we were still royalty, while he was just a noble, so we could act with more confidence.

But how could the son of the Duke of the Empire be ‘just’ a noble?

I was apprehensive that it wasn’t a good thing for an outsider like me to come barging into the inner castle, but I was able to pass through the gate with ease, as if I had been invited.

The interior of the main castle4 was clean and simple.

The opulence and crudeness of Lindbergh’s royal castle came to mind.

The servants polished the floors until their knees were worn out, but they were still often dirtied by the clumsy steps of the drunken nobles.

“Oh my, Prince!”

As I passed through the hallway with a troubled mind, a maid I had never seen before ran up and bowed her head holding both sides of her skirt.

“Yes, uh, hello.”

“There you go again, Prince. A mere nod is all that is required from you.”

The maid chuckled.

She was quite beautiful.

Although not as elegant as Leia, her tall stature and striking features were exactly my type.

No matter how much I looked at her, I had no memory of seeing her, so when I stood still, the attendant scolded her.

“Who would be so bold as to speak like this? How disrespectful.”

“Oh my, I apologize for my rudeness, Prince.”

Despite the fact that she appeared to have no remorse on her face, a smile was all it took to make things alright.

“You seem to have no recollection of who I am. I am Natasha, the head maid on the top floor of the main castle, and I serve the prophet. The prince’s bedroom maid is my younger sister, so I used to go there and chat often.”

She said she hadn’t expected to see me in the main castle and seemed genuinely pleased to see me.

On reflection, I realized that there was a young lady who looked like her among the maids I often encountered.

Her name, perhaps, was…

“Oh my, could it be Eirene?”

“That’s right!”

The maid jumped up and down as if pleased that I’d guessed right, then calmed down again as she heard the attendant cough.

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