It's Not Like I Want to Play the Role of a Misunderstood, Good-for-Nothing Prince in a Villainess Story! - Chapter 10 – Fire is Forbidden in the Garden!

“Match!”

Rubert raised his hand.

“Hmph. Using such petty tricks like magic… have you no shame?”

His sore loser comment felt great.

“No no, I can’t win in pure swordsmanship.”

“Actually, I always tell you guys to watch out for magic.”

Rubert said exasperatedly, but Garim kept grumbling complaints.

“Even so, Zeke-sama, you use magic skillfully.”

“Really?”

“Yes, when mixing dark magic with swordsmanship you need to catch them off guard, and your timing is magnificent. It probably suits you well.”

“No no, Garim’s just simple-minded.”

“Grrr… Debut! Switch places with… hey!?”

At Garim’s voice, Rubert and I also looked at Debut and were dumbfounded.

“Hehehe… with this, it’s even without magic!”

Debut held a large, thick wooden sword while sweating.

It was brilliantly burning—truly a flaming sword.

“Eh…”

“Y-you…”

“Prince. I applied oil to the wooden sword and set it ablaze. With this… hm? Whoa!”

The wooden sword kept burning more and more, turning black, and furthermore.

It ignited Debut’s clothes.

“Fire! Fire!”

Debut rolled around.

He was currently rolling on the stone pavement that served as a walkway, but sparks were scattering beyond the walkway toward the garden’s plants and flowers, looking ready to catch fire any moment—dangerous.

“What are you doing?! Is there water nearby?!”

“No, there’s no water here! Zeke-sama, what should we do?!”

What to do… that’s right.

“Rubert! Quickly dig a big hole in the garden soil! Garim! We’re putting Debut in it and covering him with dirt! The garden getting a bit messed up is fine!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Understood!”

When Rubert opened a large hole at once with his magic-imbued sword, Garim and I kicked Debut into the hole and immediately covered him with dirt.

Debut struggled in the dirt with his face bright red, but after a while his voice quieted.

Debut slowly emerged from the dirt.

His clothes were singed and smelled burnt.

“I-I’m saved.”

“Nothing turned to charcoal, right?”

Checking again, only his armor was scorched and part of his inner clothing burned—somehow we managed.

“There wasn’t anyone using fire in gardens even in Lindl Duchy.”

“Hmph. It’s fine since you’re safe, but… are you an idiot?!”

Scolded by both, Debut looked dejected.

“Well well, it’s good there were no injuries.”

“But what do we do about this?”

“Huh? Ah…”

Part of the garden was turned over with dirt and dirt was scattered on the stone pavement—hmm.

I made the snap decision to put him in dirt thinking it wouldn’t be a joke if the garden actually burned, but this will get me scolded too.

What should I do? Will they forgive me if I apologize?

“Still, quick thinking to hide him in dirt. I didn’t know dirt could extinguish fire.”

“It’s emergency treatment when there’s no water though. If there’s no oxygen, fire can’t spread further.”

“Wow… you’re knowledgeable.”

“Huh?”

Isn’t that common sense? …I thought, but that was Japan’s case—has such theory not been established here?

“I didn’t know either. As expected of His Highness.”

Garim and Debut looked at Rubert, but apparently Rubert didn’t know either.

Come to think of it, there really weren’t books with that kind of thing written in them.

While thinking that, I suddenly felt a gaze from the side.

Someone was looking this way.

A girl with brown hair and a boy with brown hair as well.

Several soldiers stood around them like attendants.

Both had similar faces—siblings perhaps?

But they stared this way with stern expressions.

“…?”

When I tilted my head wondering what it was about, they looked away with displeasure and walked off.

“What is it, Zeke-sama?”

“Well, they were watching earlier.”

“Hmph. That’s… Lady Driema and Lord Elliott.”

“Names I don’t know. Nobles from somewhere?”

When I asked back, both Garim and Debut showed surprised expressions.

“Hm? What? Are they that famous?”

“Yes, they’re your cousins, Zeke-sama.”

“Huh?”

“Their succession rights are third and fourth, but age-wise they’re older than Zeke-sama…”

“Eh? I had people like that?”

“To not even know…”

Rubert looked exasperated beside me.

“Lady Driema is two years older than Zeke-sama, Lord Elliott is one year older.”

That night, when I went to Sebastian he told me such a story.

Their father was the child of my father Halt Carlaan’s brother.

Halt’s brother was named Lucas, and though excellent, he was sickly and ceded the throne to Halt.

After that, he took a duke’s daughter as wife, had two children, and died of illness.

Those children were Driema and Elliott.

If it ended there they’d just be cousins, but the story didn’t end with just that.

Their mother Hilma Carlaan was a duke’s daughter.

Quite distant, but apparently they had blood relations.

In other words, both parents had royal blood flowing through them.

“The two are children of the king’s brother. Their succession rights are technically below Zeke-sama and Lord Tigos, but that’s not all.”

“Meaning?”

After hesitating slightly, Sebastian explained the even more complicated story.

My and Tigos’s mother Laura was a count’s daughter.

Though she was queen consort, in terms of bloodline, Driema and Elliott could be said to be far more legitimate royal heirs.

“I hear that Lady Hilma and her faction strongly believe they themselves are worthy of the throne.”

“I see.”

Then Tigos and I would be thorns in their sides.

No wonder the children had such hostile eyes.

“You should have met once several years ago—don’t you remember?”

“Not really.”

I don’t have the memory anyway.

When I answered immediately, Sebastian shook his head in exasperation.

But he immediately looked at my face with a serious expression.

“Zeke-sama, please be careful. Among the nobles too, there are many blood supremacists, and some have sided with them.”

I see, blood supremacists would want to make Driema and Elliott king, so many people find me in the way.

“Got it, I’ll remember.”

Sebastian smiled seeing me listen obediently.

“Zeke-sama, you’ve suddenly become reliable. Did something happen?”

“Huh!?”

I think that’s just because the previous me was too useless… but I can’t honestly explain.

“Well… who knows.”

“…Then just one more thing. Please be careful of the knight order.”

The knight order?

“Why? I think Garim and Debut are trustworthy though…”

Actually, wasn’t it Sebastian who first assigned them as guards?

I thought that, but Sebastian shook his head.

“They are the capital knight order. What I’m referring to is the royal palace knight order.”

Royal palace knight order? There are two knight orders?

“By the way, how do those two differ?”

“The capital knight order centers around the capital performing various security duties, and is mostly composed of commoners. In contrast, the royal palace knight order centers on palace security and only those related to noble houses and above belong. They emphasize bloodline, so…”

In other words, the royal palace knight order is more aligned with their faction than me.

“Hmm…”

Even so, lots of people who didn’t appear in the game keep showing up.

And they’re all my enemies.

Maybe Prince Zeke in the game was forcibly made to grow through being trained like this.

Thinking positively, so now is the growth period?

“Zeke-sama?”

“No, haha. It’s fine. I’ll remember.”

Wow, I’d better work hard.

“By the way, Sebastian.”

“Yes?”

When I told him about the second garden, his shoulders dropped heavily.

“Understood, I’ll arrange it immediately.”

“Sorry.”

“No, this is also work. But Zeke-sama is still Zeke-sama after all…”

Sebastian’s deep sigh resonated in my heart.

Sorry even though I seemed to have improved your opinion a bit.