It's Not Like I Want to Play the Role of a Misunderstood, Good-for-Nothing Prince in a Villainess Story! - Chapter 81: It Seems I Have Grown

“You’ve come.”

When I went to the office led by Sebas, Father was waiting.

Count Tufal was in attendance by his side as usual, and Sebas stood on the opposite side from Count Tufal.

Father in work mode was always scary, but today he had an even grimmer look on his face.

His complexion was different from usual.

“I executed the criminal you brought this time.”

When I glanced at Count Tufal, he had his eyes closed and his head bowed.

“Yes, I believe it was a wise decision by Your Majesty.”

“Hmph…”

Creak… came the sound of the backrest.

“I hear you didn’t kill a single person from the Violet family.”

“Yes, because they did not resist.”

“I heard one of the butlers resisted, though?”

A tense atmosphere flowed.

Father looked straight at me. It was as if he was asking why I didn’t kill the guy who resisted.

Even if you said that…

“Did someone stop you?”

“I was told by Lena Violet not to kill him because he is a loyal retainer.”

“Hoh… So you, a royal, listened to the order of a member of the Violet family—a family of traitors?”

“It was not an order; she is a member of the Violet family, but she is an informant.”

“……”

“If I were to ignore her words, I believe informants would stop appearing in the future even if there were people doing evil deeds… Or does Your Majesty believe that I should indiscriminately kill anyone related to a criminal? That that is the behavior of royalty?”

“Zeke, since when did you start talking back to me?”

“……”

Father leaned his body against the backrest while clasping both hands on the desk.

Creak… the sound of the chair creaking echoed in the quiet room.

Immediately, wrinkles gathered between Count Tufal’s eyebrows, and he narrowed his eyes.

At the same time, Sebas also blatantly wiped sweat with a handkerchief.

Father’s figure looking at me as if glaring was indeed the face of a statesman.

Did I anger him?

But I couldn’t avert my eyes here.

While a heavy atmosphere dominated the reception room for a while, Father stroked his beard and laughed through his nose with a “hmph…”. Then he slowly opened his mouth.

“I thought you might have made a soft judgment as usual, but I see growth… Have you become a little bolder?”

…Have I grown?

I couldn’t tell myself.

However, the option to kill that butler there didn’t exist for me.

Even if His Majesty told me to kill that loyal retainer who cared for his master, even if I might have ultimately nodded, I would probably have remonstrated against it.

“……”

I ended up sending a glance at Sebas.

After all, he was close to being a Sebas to me.

A butler who continued to take care of me when I was a child, even though he didn’t like me inwardly when I was hated throughout the Royal Palace.

Even if I had continued to degenerate like that guy, surely Sebas would have taken care of me just like that butler.

Although the ratio might be 90% Father and less than 10% me.

However, when I killed that handsome guy, I didn’t have feelings like guilt or anything like that.

I just did my job dispassionately and accepted the result that he was executed.

Perhaps even though a person who came from the same world died, no… maybe that was exactly why.

A guy who likely came from the same world was trying to entrap me.

Since there was clear malice, I couldn’t make a naive decision there.

“I have no self-awareness. But I just thought it was something I had to do.”

“Is that so… understood.”

Was my reply not wrong?

“Now then, Sebas.”

“Yes.”

I thought I would be told to leave already, but a single letter was placed on the desk.

Since it was placed on Father’s side, I felt an intent telling me not to pick it up.

“This is?”

When I looked, a seal was stamped on the sender’s flap.

Two swords formed a cross diagonally, and a woman was depicted in the upper center.

Huh? This seal, somewhere…

While jogging my memory, I suddenly realized.

“The Pope… Seal?”

Pope… If I recalled correctly, in the game, there was something like a church as a date spot for Misty and her partner.

I see, the fact that there was a church meant the Pope and such important people also appeared!

…Which one was higher, the Pope or the King?

As far as looking at the Humiliation of Canossa I saw in textbooks, the Pope was higher, or rather, there was a possibility it differed depending on the era.

In the first place, this was a game, so I had no clue at all!

–Or rather, why did he bring this out?

When I raised my face, my eyes met with Father who was staring at me.

“Starting next year, it has been decided that we will accept transfer students from the Papal Territory.”

“Transfer students?”

“There have been inquiries from before. After talking several times, it was finally decided to let them transfer starting next fiscal year. It seems the grandchild of His Holiness the Pope will also be coming.”

Sebas supplemented the information, but there wasn’t such an event in the game.

I thought about it again, but I thought it had deviated considerably from the main story.

Well, it was too late for that.

Or rather, even if people related to the Pope came, it didn’t look like it had much to do with me, so I didn’t really care…

“I will tell you this, but the current Pope-dono and we royalty were originally the same clan. You understand what I want to say, right?”

“Ha…”

We were the same clan…?

In other words… Nngh!?

“Could it be that there is a blood connection?”

“……”

Why won’t you answer anything, Father! This was definitely one of those things that were related! It was that thing where the same blood flows, although it had become thin! In other words, succession rights too!?

No no, serving concurrently as King and Pope or something like that was…

Huh? What would happen if that grandchild from over there became first in line for the throne?

Could it be we’d get unified into the Papal Territory?

Father reclasped his hands.

“Zeke.”

“Yes.”

“Make sure you do not betray my expectations.”

“Y-Yes.”

Uwa… this was bad.

Even though I solved one problem, another problem had come again.

What was going to happen next fiscal year?