/
To Lakius’s question, I responded bluntly.
“Tati wants to go to the library.”
“The library?”
Lakius looked a little surprised.
Is it strange that a child, barely four years old, wants to go to the library?
Still, I can’t help it. I have to figure out how to awaken as a Demon King!
“I know the library well. It’s not far from here, so let’s go together.”
Anyway, Lakius obediently led me to the library.
……By the way, isn’t it odd to think that an eight-year-old boy knows the library so well? I mean, at that age, you’re supposed to be playing rather than studying.
I thought back to the original story.
At this point in time, Lakius was still young and weak, so he was being held back by the queen in various ways.
The queen’s control was very insidious.
‘Wasn’t it said that she doesn’t give him the chance to study?’
She couldn’t just bully Lakius openly.
There was the matter of the old Carolingian backlash, and Lakius was technically the only legitimate prince of the empire.
In order to avoid getting caught, she did not physically abuse him.
Instead, the queen’s chosen method was…….
‘To teach him nothing.’
Princes are usually thoroughly educated from an early age.
In fact, it was only natural.
They are potential future emperors, aren’t they?
But Lakius was not allowed to see a single wooden practice sword, let alone a teacher.
The queen’s plan had worked quite well, for there was no way an uneducated prince could become emperor.
‘So…… you read as many books as you could in the library?’
At least he was able to go to the library occasionally, but only because the queen thought he was being stupid, and those visits were as rare as beans in a drought.
Of course, in the original story, he was perfectly adequate as a prince and leader. That’s just because he’s such a genius as the male lead.
‘My male lead, he’s amazing!’
I glanced up at him as I walked alongside Lakius, feeling a little bad for him.
And then.
‘Oops, we made eye contact.’
Meanwhile, Lakius was trying to work out how to interpret the look of regret in my eyes.
He hesitated for a moment, then smiled once more.
‘Ugh.’
I inhaled sharply.
‘He’s cute! He’s so adorable!’
I squealed inwardly.
‘Hold on.’
I paused.
‘Come to think of it, aren’t there people right next to me who would make excellent teachers for Lakius?’
The three heroes who defeated the Five Demons lords and defended humanity!
Besides, Lakius is also in a position to become a hero in the future and defeat me when I become a Demon King…….
I shivered as I thought about it.
‘Well, let’s not think about being overpowered and slaughtered.’
After all, this was an opportunity.
If the three heroes were to teach Lakius, they would see each other often. Wouldn’t I have more interaction with Lakius as well?
It’s a chance to establish a bond between me and the hero!
……Well, it could also help me with my chances of not getting killed if Lakius gets too strong.
After all, in the original story, Lakius becomes the strongest man in the world without anyone’s help.
If that’s the case, I might as well do him a favor by giving him a chance to train from the start.
‘Alright.’
I clenched my fists.
Then Lakius turned to me and asked a question.
“Why do you keep looking at me like that? Is there something on my face…….?”
“Yes indeed.”
“What?”
Startled, Lakius hastily rubbed his face with his sleeve.
I finished the sentence bluntly.
“Handsomeness.”
“…….”
Lakius looked dazed as if he’d been hit over the head.
‘Now you’re acting like an eight-year-old.’
I giggled and tugged on his hand.
“Let’s go to the library!”
* * *
“Damn it, that little wench!” Rudolph hissed, unable to control his anger. “Do you think I apologized because I wanted to apologize to a f*cking wench?!”
On the day of the victory party, after Tatiana collapsed and had to be carried away.
The queen summoned Rudolph and lost her temper, which was a rare occurrence.
‘Although she may be a lowly orphan who doesn’t even know her origins, she is now under the protection of the Three Heroes.’
The queen’s eyes narrowed as she drove the nail deep into his head.
‘That aside, you shouldn’t ever mess with the Three Heroes. Do you understand?’
Rudolph looked up at the queen in frustration.
‘Oh my gosh, do you mean to tell me to apologize to that girl?’
‘Of course, that’s better than being completely hated by the three warriors.’
‘Th- then!’
Rudolph protested in a fit of rage.
‘Must I go all the way to the townhouse of the Duke of Orleans for that lowly wench?’
‘What do you mean?’
The prince was outraged.
‘I don’t think you need to go all the way to the Duke of Orleans’ townhouse because of a lowly wench who doesn’t know where she came from.’
‘Well, still. Shouldn’t you go there to apologize?’
At those words, after a moment’s hesitation, the queen narrowed her brows and spoke.
‘For now, let’s send Lakius as your cover.’
‘Lakius?’
‘Yes. He’s an unsightly little fellow, but he’s an imperial prince, after all.’
The queen muttered in annoyance.
‘And he’s the perfect candidate to serve you and apologize on your behalf.’
Then she softened somewhat and patted her son on the shoulder.
‘Don’t worry about it too much, son. We’ll send Lakius out right now, and we’ll arrange for your apology later.’
‘Ummm………..’
‘You’ll apologize properly in that meeting. Do you understand?’
Rudolph gritted his teeth as he recalled the queen’s words.
‘So I gave the best apology I could, and what?’
Tatiana’s frown of displeasure was visible.
“I’m not going to play with the second prince.”
“I’m going to play with the first prince alone, and you, the second prince, stay out of it.”
As if that weren’t enough, she left Rudolph alone and then disappeared with Lakius!
Suddenly, Rudolph’s eyes lit up.
‘Lakius, that bastard……!’
Lakius, his half-brother, only a year older than him.
Lakius had always been like that.
A subject who wore a nonchalant expression on his face through everything and was overwhelmingly more talented than Rudolph in any field.
This time, he picked up a four-year-old girl in a big hug and disappeared.
With Rudolph’s strength and physical abilities, he could never do that.
Besides.
‘Being such an arrogant bastard just because you’re an imperial prince!’
The core of Rudolph’s inferiority complex.
Rudolf’s most fundamental inferiority complex was the fact that Lakius was the legitimate son of the Emperor and Empress.
No matter how prestigious the Queen’s family, the Marquises of Philomel, were, Rudolph could never become an imperial heir unless he died and was reborn.
‘But you will be emperor.’
The queen had whispered that in a voice as sweet as honey, and Rudolph had not doubted it.
That was why he hated Lakius all the more. It was like an insurmountable wall.
Like an obstacle that stood in the way of a bright future for him…….
Rudolph strode up to the door.
“Your Highness, the Second Prince.”
At that moment, a maid, who was approaching from the opposite direction, inclined her head politely towards Rudolph.
Rudolph glanced up at her.
“Have you seen Lakius and Tatiana by any chance?”
Lakius and Tatiana. One was an imperial prince, the other the favorite child of the three warriors.
Rudolph hissed the words out without hesitation.
‘Does it work like that?’
The maid was a little skeptical, but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything to the prince.
“When I saw them earlier, they seemed to be heading towards the Imperial Library.”
“What, the library?”
Rudolph’s expression twisted into a frown.
He was going to the library to study again. Rudolph hated studying and usually avoided the library.
‘Still, I can’t let those lowlifes have their fun.’
Rudolph turned on his heel and walked away.
It was time to go to the library.
* * *
A sunny window seat in the imperial library.
The sound of her regular breathing rang out.
Tatiana was sprawled across the desk, sound asleep.
“Miss Tatiana?”
Lakius called out to her gently.
But Tatiana only breathed rapidly and showed no sign of opening her eyes.
‘I don’t think she’s going to wake up anytime soon.’
With that judgment, Lakius removed his outer garment first.
Carefully, he draped it over Tatiana’s shoulders.
Tatiana, being so petite, was squeezed into the robe.
‘……Cute.’
Lakius’s expression relaxed a little.