My Childhood Friend Is An Archmage Chapter 52
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Translated by d6y (ko-fi)
Chapter 52
While I was dumbfounded by the absurdity of his confession of sleeping habits, Phoebe bowed to the crown prince. "Greetings, the little sun of the empire."
He returns the greeting and goes straight to business, "I thank you for your care of the princess, but can you step out for a moment? I need to speak with the princess alone."
"...I will do as you command."
She glanced at me and the crown prince before slowly walking out of the doorway.
'Why do you always kick me out? What are you two up to?' Phoebe grumbled inwardly.
The door closes and a short silence comes. Confused and unsure of what to do, I look at the crown prince across from me. He stares at me curiously, like watching a small animal.
Unable to stand his prickling gaze, I struck first. "I heard Your Highness visited me while I passed out."
"Your maid must've told you. Yes, I was worried about you and came to see you."
"I apologise." I bowed in an instant, words flowing from my mouth like greased cogs.
"As the next head of the Kaerun Duchy, who serves the imperial family, I apologise from the bottom of my heart for causing you such concern by not being able to protect myself-"
"Pause." The crown prince cut me off mid-sentence, "Princess, why are you apologising to me?"
"Because I have caused Your Highness unnecessary worry."
He asks another question, "And why is that wrong?"
"...." I was speechless for a moment. I've never had someone ask me questions so insistently before. I never thought it would be so hard to give out my apology.
"...Your Highness the Crown Prince is an important figure who's going to become the next Emperor, so I owe you an apology for taking up your valuable time." I took a moment to compose myself before answering him.
Yet, he doesn't respond. He only stares at me without a word.
What? Why is he looking at me like that?
It makes me nervous, so I try to hear what he's thinking, but there's nothing to hear.
Why am I only able to hear his thoughts at certain times? If I couldn't hear him at all, like with Lancer, I would've thought that maybe it doesn't work on royalty.
But when I danced with him at the ball, I definitely heard him. That wasn't an illusion.
I don't understand why you're doing this.
I wait for his answer, thinking that the crown prince is a man who can't be overseen.
His eyes were as clear and still as glass balls. Just looking at them seemed to calm me down.
"Since the princess is so eager to apologise, it would be impolite for me to keep refusing." Moments later, his relaxed voice came through. "Then we'll do it this way: if the princess grants me one request, I will forgive you."
"Very well. What is it?"
"Allow me to call you Kayla."
Kayla, Kayla.
I remembered what he told me during the ball, "I shall call the princess by a nickname from now on."
Right.. He said he'd call me by my nickname to show people how close we were, and I didn't like it.
Was he still thinking about it after that?
The crown prince tilts his head slightly, studying my complexion. "No good?"
'It's a nickname I've been thinking about for a while. I hope you like it.'
Woah.
My eyes widened unwillingly. I'm sure of it this time, I could hear the crown prince's thoughts clearly.
"You seem surprised." His good perception catches my reaction and points it out.
"Oh, it's…."
What should I say? He has no idea that I have the ability to hear other people's minds.
I can't just say, "I'm surprised to hear Your Highness' inner thoughts for the first time in a long while!" If I did, he'd think I was crazy and ask to end our engagement.
In a desperate attempt to cover up, I clear my throat. "I wasn't expecting Your Highness to give me a nickname, so I was a little surprised."
"Is that so? We're about to announce our engagement, so I think a nickname would be good."
"That is absolutely right, excellent, and wise."
As I'm reciting praises mindlessly, he interrupts me. "So you should call me Ryan from now on."
"You want me to call you by your first name?"
"No, technically, it's a nickname. Ryan isn't my real name."
What is that supposed to mean? I blink several times, not quite understanding what he's trying to say. Everyone here knows that the crown prince's name is Ryan, but now he's telling me that's not even his real name?
"This is a secret that only my closest confidants know, but…" The Crown Prince whispers to me seriously as if he's telling an imperial secret. "...In fact, my real name is Dandelion."
"...."
I'm dumbfounded.
Dandelion…? His Royal Highness the Crown Prince… is Dandelion…?
It feels like the majestic imperial backdrop burnt to reveal a picturesque hill with a dandelion fluttering in the breeze.
The soundtrack of a grand symphony fades into the background, replaced by the nursery rhymes sung by children with laughter.
No, give me back my reverence for the imperial family! The next emperor is named Dandelion?!
My patriotic feelings fade among others into the background.
"Then why don't I just call you Prince Dandelion…."
"You may do so if you wish."
D*mn. I thought I was talking to myself, but it turns out I was talking out loud. Not in single quotation marks, but double!
I quickly changed the subject to ignore the situation, "I'm sure you didn't go all the way here to give me a nickname, what do you need?"
"As expected, you're quick to notice. It's why I like you so much, Kayla."
Kayla. As soon as he spoke of the nickname, I somehow felt unreal.
The second most powerful man in the country was calling me by my only nickname in the world with a friendly voice.
The realisation makes my heart pound wildly.
I… did it!
This is what power tastes like! Not only am I friends with the next emperor, and I'm finding out the secrets of the imperial family too! This is what it must mean to be successful! Now, if I can just inherit the Kaerun Duchy, I'll be able to rise to the top of the power ladder!
As I'm thinking, the crown prince's voice pulls me back to reality. "I was going to explain it to you slowly, but… I'm sure you've already heard from your maid, right?"
I nod to his question. I could easily guess what he's gonna talk about.
Lancer.
"Will Lancer… really be banished to the north?"
The crown prince nods, "For the time being, by father's… no, by the judgment of His Majesty the Emperor."
"What should I do to prevent his banishment?" I ask.
He seems to be a little surprised at that. "I thought you'd ask me not to banish him. Asking me what to do is refreshing."
Of course, I was planning to tell him to not banish Lancer as soon as I saw him.
But Phoebe was right, I was just not being rational earlier. Now that I'm facing the crown prince, my head has cooled down a bit so I can think things through.
Looking at Lancer's situation objectively, the odds were stacked against him in every way.
My tears and whining about how he's not bad won't make a difference. There's no reason for the Emperor to change his mind and say, "Oh, you're right".
So let's change the strategy.
"I'll be straightforward, Your Highness. Lancer is an archmage, one of the few in the Empire. Moreover, he's a once-in-a-millenium archmage. Do you really intend to leave such a talent in the north?"
"I can't admit that Lord Lancer is a talent." The crown prince points out, "Kayla, I am well aware that you're close friends with Lord Lancer, but right now he's an immature person who couldn't even control his magic power, so to call him a mage sounds like an insult to the imperial mages."
"Hmm." I couldn't argue with that.
"We'll chalk this one up to just breaking the walls of the palace, but how can we be sure that the next target won't be the Emperor's bedroom?"
"I will tame Lancer." I declared proudly. "I will put a leash around his neck and make sure he doesn't get into trouble. I will also train him so well that he will never cause a stir again, so please don't throw him away."
I'm serious. There's no way I'm gonna see him off to the north.
Besides, although I can't bring myself to say this to anyone else, it was my fault that Lancer's feelings were hurt and rampaged to nearly destroy the imperial palace.
So I'll take the blame. It's my duty as his childhood friend.
Nailing my point, I look at the crown prince's reaction. Will this work?
But the look of bewilderment comes over his face.
What's wrong with him? Stupefied, I soon overhear his inner thoughts.
'A leash…? Kayla's taste is quite…'
"Of course!" I clench my fists. "Your Highness… I mean, Ryan, As you know, the leash is a metaphor! An innocent literary expression!"
"Ah, of course, I understand."
'That's too bad.'
Did he just think that's too bad?
"I get what you mean." He nods, his eyes fixed on me.
"But there's no guarantee that you'll be able to train him well. From what I know, his parents, the Duke and Duchess of Soli, struggled with raising him, so how do you, Kayla, who's not even his family, make him your person?"
I clicked my tongue.
You've already dug up Lancer's background.
No, I don't think the crown prince needs to even do that. The Duchess of Soli is the Empress's bookkeeper, so he must have been somewhat aware of what goes on there.
Nothing he said was wrong, the Duke and Duchess of Soli did try several times to keep Lancer out of the public eye.
They gave him tutors to fill in the gaps in his social knowledge. They even invited mages from the Hebnia Kingdom to manage him.
All of which failed. Otherwise, Lancer wouldn't be here in the first place.
From the start, He was looking at the world differently from others. He was like an outsider, observing the world through his own unique lens.
Therefore, it's understandable if the crown prince isn't easily convinced by my argument.
How can I persuade him? I pondered before carefully speaking, "Prince Ryan."
"Speak, Kayla."
"If I can't get Lancer to control his emotions within a year…" I pause to take a long breath.
"If that happens… I will go to the north with Lancer." I uttered such a bold and outrageous statement.
