Chapter 28: Heading to Countess Rosette’s Mansion

"Still, Prince Robby, your fluid is really thick. I almost choked. Is it because you’re young?"

Lily kept repeating it. No matter how much she said it, I wouldn’t know—I’ve never drunk my own.

"Is that so? I wouldn’t know."

"What will it be like once you become an adult? It’s none of my business, but I’m more worried about the women who have to swallow it. If they’re not used to it, they might throw up. Please be careful when you make a woman drink it. If Prince Robby asks them to, they’ll probably force themselves to swallow it anyway."

"No, I won’t be forcing anyone to drink it."

"Is that right? I think there will be plenty of girls who’ll fall victim to your fangs, though."

"I don’t have anyone in mind?"

"Well, that’s probably for the best. Oh, would you like to try it once? I’ll take it in my mouth and then kiss you so you can drink it. Isn’t that a wonderful idea?"

"I’ll pass."

While chatting, we continued across the rooftops. To get from the royal palace to the noble district, we had to drop down into the garden once, climb over the wall, descend to the road, and then climb over another wall into the noble district. It was close to midnight, so there wasn’t a single person around. We didn’t see any patrolling soldiers either. That probably meant the area was safe, and Lily was deliberately choosing routes that avoided the guards.

Countess Rosette’s mansion was surprisingly close to the palace—so close that it was almost disappointing for a countess’s residence.

"Do you know which room belongs to the lady you’re interested in?"

"I think it’s probably that one."

I pointed at a room that currently had no lights on.

"I don’t mind you sneaking in, but I must strongly advise against going alone. Please take me with you without fail."

"Eh? Bring you, Lily? But what if you’re not on night duty on the day I promised to go?"

"In that case, please tell Lady Catherine during the day, ’I’m relying on Lily.’ The message will get through. By night, I’ll be waiting on the roof. If you go alone and something happens—like falling from the wall and getting injured—what would you do? Wait until the patrol soldiers come? You wouldn’t be able to make a good excuse for why you were there in the first place, would you?"

When she put it that way, I couldn’t argue. She had a point.

However, her waiting the whole time until I finished would depend on the weather.

"Even if it’s raining that night, is that okay?"

"Of course. I don’t mind, but will you be alright, Prince Robby?"

"Of course. I’m the one who wants to go. But what will you do while I’m meeting with the Countess, Lily?"

"I’ll wait."

"Even in the rain?"

"Yes. That’s part of my duty, so please don’t worry about it."

If Lily’s job included intelligence work, she probably had to endure waiting motionless in rain, snow, or even swarms of summer insects. Compared to that, waiting in the rain for a while might not be a big deal.

"Hmmm... understood. I’ll ask for your help when the time comes."

We had achieved our goal for tonight, so we could head back, but since we were already out, I wanted to see a bit more.

"Lily, can I take a quick look around the commoner district?"

"That’s a bit dangerous, so I cannot allow it. With your current ability, Prince Robby, you wouldn’t be able to handle things if something went wrong."

"How strong do I need to become?"

"It’s not just about technique. It’s also about whether you can cut down a person without hesitation when the moment comes."

"Like Steve did today?"

"Exactly. Didn’t today’s incident with Steve seem like excessive self-defense to you?"

"Yeah, I was surprised he slashed so suddenly. I even thought he could have avoided using his sword and just run away."

"That’s true. If you were alone, that might have been fine. But Steve’s role was to protect you, Prince Robby. That’s why he took the initiative and cut down the enemy’s advance. You must never let the opponent seize the first move."

"I see. But I don’t think I’ll have any opportunities to cut people down, right?"

"True. However, once your skills improve a little more, you may need to visit the slums in the commoner district and cut down some villains as experience."

"Is it really necessary to go that far?"

"It’s also a problem that I’m getting too close to you, but considering that a succession struggle will likely occur in the future, I believe you should learn what it feels like to kill someone in order to protect yourself from thugs. Once you’ve experienced cutting a person once, you won’t hesitate the next time."

She said something so heavy so casually. Even though I almost felt nauseous watching Steve cut that man down earlier today.

"You could say you’re too soft toward commoners, Prince Robby. Many members of the royal family and high-ranking nobles view killing commoners as no different from killing insects. In fact, that’s the normal way of thinking. They aren’t taught it directly; they naturally absorb that mindset because everyone around them thinks that way. That’s why I found it strange that when you ate sweets and lunch today, you didn’t show any disgust even though commoners were right beside you."

"I see. I... think my current way of thinking is fine. So I don’t plan to change it."

"As for me, I like that side of you, Prince Robby."

She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. It felt refreshingly new!

"But a succession struggle, huh... I really don’t want to get involved in something like that."

"Even if you don’t want to, a conflict between the Crown Prince, the Third Prince, and the Fourth Prince will surely happen."

"It’ll really come to that, huh..."

"It definitely will. Since the Third Prince is the son of the Queen and the Crown Prince is the son of a concubine, it can’t be helped."

"Is there no way other than trying not to get dragged into it?"

"One option is to find some reason to leave the country until things settle down. For example, studying abroad in the Mainz Kingdom."

"I see!"

"However, you would need to be recognized as having sufficient intellect to be worthy of studying abroad. And if it becomes known that you’re that intelligent, the princes aiming for the throne probably won’t let you go easily."

"That won’t work, huh? It’s not going to be easy."

"Yes, it’s quite difficult when you think about it."

"What should I do...?"

"There’s no need to take immediate action, so you can take your time and think about it carefully."

"Understood. I’ll do that. I wonder what the people above you want, Lily?"

"They probably hope that the succession will proceed without any major incidents. Even if there’s conflict within the royal family, they hope it won’t cause trouble for those outside the royal family."

"It’d be nice if it ends as a storm in a teacup. I want to stay outside the cup."

"Prince Robby sometimes says very interesting things. I’m curious where you learned such expressions."

"I won’t tell you. It’s a secret."

"Please tell me someday. If you want, you can do whatever you like with this body of mine, you know? ♡"

Lily struck a seductive pose, but I would still hold back with her.

With that, we ended the night and returned to the rear palace. On the way back, Michelle’s room had its window closed. Their lovemaking seemed to have already finished.

Good night, Michelle. Tomorrow morning, please make breakfast again with that satisfied look on your face.

---

As expected, Michelle appeared for breakfast.

When I saw the white hand placing the plate in front of me, I felt like a black flame was igniting inside my head. *This hand...* No, no. I stopped that train of thought and focused on eating breakfast.

There were no classes today either, so I decided to go out. Since Lily had been on night duty, she was resting, leaving me alone with Stevie. That said, there was nothing remotely romantic or suggestive about our relationship. It was so refreshingly platonic it was almost lonely.

Lily would need to be active at night from now on, so I wanted her to rest properly during the day.

Personally, I wanted to visit the village where Linda was from at least once, to see if she was really working hard in the fields in broad daylight. If I suddenly showed up and caught her in the act, that would be quite something. However, I still didn’t have permission to leave the castle, so it was impossible for now.

The moment we stepped outside, Stevie said,

"Aren’t you having snacks today? That shop is open again, you know?"

*Come on, man. We can’t go there every single day. It’s only special because we go occasionally.*

My main goal for today was to memorize the mansions and streets of the noble district. There was something like a map showing where the nobles’ residences were located. Since printing technology doesn’t exist in this world and paper is valuable, the map was a handwritten copy I had borrowed. Losing it, damaging it, or even getting it dirty would be a big problem.

That’s why I had spent the early morning diligently copying it before Stevie came to pick me up. I was now walking around with it in hand. Stevie followed me with a face that said "What the hell is this guy doing?" and wouldn’t even talk to me. He looked sulky.

I walked in front of each mansion, compared it to the map, and added notes for important landmarks. Eventually, we arrived in front of Countess Rosette’s mansion. The whole point of today’s outing was to come here on foot during the daytime. I needed to confirm I could reach it both day and night. I had retraced the route Lily had taken me on last night to get here.

After confirming the location of Countess Rosette’s mansion, I headed toward the homes of the ladies who had attended my mother’s tea party. That’s right—I might have a bright future ahead with them. I couldn’t keep relying only on the maids from the rear palace forever. Besides, Cass was no longer creating situations where the two of us could be alone in a room. Whenever there was even a chance of something happening between us, she always brought a maid along. Her firm resolve that "nothing like that will ever happen again" was clearly visible. I had hoped that once we crossed that line, we would naturally become a lovey-dovey couple, but apparently that wasn’t the case with Cass. *Maybe just with her mouth...?* No, I should stop thinking about that!

While we were walking through the noble district, Stevie asked,

"Aren’t you getting tired yet?"

I figured it was about time, so we went to the same parlor as yesterday. There was a line again today, so the two of us waited together.