I, the Villainous Prince, Buy the Ruined Villainess with Money - Chapter 8-9

Chapter 8: Request

There were only two things I needed to think about from now on.

One was avoiding my own ruin. That would be solved if I stepped out of the race for crown prince.

To be honest, I would rather die than take on such a troublesome position.

The crown prince had already been decided at this point, but there were still voices supporting me.

If I gave up my right of succession, though, those voices would disappear.

The other thing was, of course, Yulia.

Since the matter was serious, I first had Yulia leave the room, then spoke with my father.

“Hmm… What exactly are you planning?”

“There’s no plan or anything. I just thought it would make the succession to the throne go more smoothly. There are still factions supporting me, and those must be in your way, Father.”

“That is true… But why you, of all people? Didn’t you keep saying that only you could become emperor?”

Exactly! I really wanted to punch my past self!

It was true that I had wanted to become emperor, but only to prove others wrong.

My mother who abandoned me, my father who kept his distance, and the people who gave up on me and walked away.

But I no longer needed to be trapped by such pointless things.

Yes, from now on… I was going to live for my favorite.

“I already have what I want. I have no interest in the emperor’s throne anymore. In the worst case, I don’t even mind being disinherited. That way, no one would stay by my side.”

“…Those eyes… It seems you are not lying.”

“There is just one thing I ask in return.”

“Hmm, I will at least hear it.”

“Then… Please turn a blind eye if I make an enemy of the church.”

Yes, this was the condition I would offer.

That Lord Guftaf would never give up on Yulia.

In that case, I had to crush him.

So that she, my favorite, could live in peace from now on.

“The church, huh…”

“To be precise, Lord Guftaf.”

“There certainly are things about him that have gone too far…”

“If anything is said, you can just claim I was already disinherited, and that should save face.”

“…You would go that far to protect Lady Yulia?”

“Of course. Isn’t it the job of the second prince to clean up after his older brother’s mess?”

There was no way I would hand my favorite Yulia over to a man like that.

That girl had the right to smile and live happily.

For that, I was willing to throw everything away.

“You have that much resolve… Perhaps I misjudged you… Very well. I may not be able to do anything about the church itself, but I will take responsibility for Lord Guftaf, so do as you wish.”

“Father, I am grateful.”

“However, I will put the matter of succession rights and disinheritance on hold for now.”

“I will leave that entirely to you, Father.”

As expected, since the matter was so serious, he could not decide it alone.

It made no difference to me either way, so I could just leave it alone from now on.

“Understood. Still, it has been a long time since we talked like this.”

“I was the one avoiding you, Father.”

“Hah, you say that right to my face… The way you speak makes it sound like things are different now.”

“There is nothing in particular now. If you want, shall I massage your shoulders?”

The reason I had avoided my father was that he had not loved my mother.

He kept visiting the second queen, Sera, and rarely went to my mother.

Because of that, I thought my mother had gone mad and turned to another man.

But thinking about it now, my father had tried to cherish us in his own way.

The biggest reason was simply that my mother had not created a place where my father could feel at ease.

“What? …Well, then I will take you up on that.”

“No, I was only joking.”

“Hah! You, joking! It seems you really were clouded before… I am sorry.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about, but there is no need to apologize. Well, since my business is finished, I will take my leave.”

“Yes. Alvis, I can say this to you now… Do as you please.”

“What are you saying at this point? I am an arrogant and insolent man. So I have always done as I please, and I always will.”

With those words, I left the room.

This way, I would drop out of the succession race and at the same time save Yulia.

All that was left was to strike back when those people came.

With this, I should be able to solve both my ruin avoidance and Yulia’s survival.

…However, he did not know.

He did not know what influence his own actions would have later.

—

Chapter 9: Emperor’s Perspective

…I never thought he would say something like that.

I relaxed my tension and leaned back against the chair.

My back was covered in sweat, reminding me just how shaken I had been.

“Your Majesty, thank you for your hard work.”

“Yes. Kaizel… What do you think, from your eyes?”

Kaizel had passed sixty, but he was the former captain of the imperial guard knights and also served as tutor to the imperial family.

Naturally, he had known Alvis since childhood.

From his many years of experience, he had the ability to read people.

I was not lacking in confidence myself, but I wanted to hear Kaizel’s thoughts.

“Well now… Even from my eyes, it did not look like Prince Alvis was lying.”

“I see… If it looks that way to you as well, then what he said has a high chance of being true.”

“However, my eyes have grown cloudy too, so please do not rely on them. I never imagined he held such thoughts.”

“I agree with that.”

Alvis was the son born between me and Isabella, who came from a ducal house.

I had met Laura during my student days and married her, then later took Isabella as my second empress to fulfill my duty as a member of the imperial family.

I tried to cherish Isabella in my own way, but it still was not enough for her.

She was arrogant, selfish, quick-tempered, and in a way the perfect picture of a noble.

And I had thought Alvis grew up exactly like her.

“It is a little hard to believe he was disguising himself so well that even we could not see through it… but let us set that aside for now. First, it would be best to sort things out from the situation.”

“Yes, that is right. But where should we start sorting from…”

“There is a lot, after all. Then I will ask questions. First, what will you do about the crown prince matter?”

That was another headache.

I did not say he could not fall in love, but to publicly break an engagement.

If that was the case, he should have consulted me, made Lady Yulia his official wife, and taken Leila as the second empress.

The Yulia family would not complain if she became the official wife, and the wise Lady Yulia herself would have accepted it, I think.

“I am unsure whether to leave him as crown prince as things stand.”

“Well now. He is a little indecisive, but he is serious and kind, so I thought he would not be bad in a time without war.”

“This incident has made even that seriousness and kindness seem doubtful. This may be my fault too. He listened properly to what he was told, and since there were no problems, I took my eyes off him for a moment.”

In that time, his relationship with the young lady deepened at an incredible speed.

Before I could think of countermeasures, it turned into this.

It felt almost as if it had been decided from the beginning.

“Something felt strange about it… Then next, about the church matter. Will you accept that proposal?”

“Yes, Lord Guftaf has gone too far. And the church that leaves him be as well.”

“His late Majesty the previous emperor was thinking of doing something about it too. If Prince Alvis becomes the target, it will be easier for us to move as well.”

“That is a harsh way to put it, but yes.”

The church had been involved in the founding of the country, so it still interfered in internal affairs.

That would be fine if it had good influence, but it had become completely rotten with collusion and bribes.

On top of that, it charged high treatment fees and even demanded offerings from the common people.

“Then finally… how to handle Prince Alvis. The reason he changed is definitely because of Lady Yulia.”

“That is certain. He saved Lady Yulia and showed an attitude of wanting to protect her. But why he did such a thing…”

“Things may actually be surprisingly simple…”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“For example, perhaps Prince Alvis was in love with Lady Yulia from the beginning.”

I was about to laugh at those words… but realized I could not.

Because that would explain everything.

“I see… Alvis, who had fallen for Lady Yulia, deliberately acted incompetent so he would not become crown prince. Because if he lost the power struggle, given the nature of the Yulia family, she would become unhappy.”

“That is right. That family is very strict. They probably would not forgive Lady Yulia for failing to become crown princess… just like this time.”

“Exactly, and the situation changed. Lady Yulia had her engagement broken and went through that… He moved to save her, and there was no longer any need to pretend.”

“That would explain it in theory.”

And he threw away power to protect one woman.

Taking the evil nesting in our country down with him.

…In the end, which one was truly suited to be crown prince.