A prince's misfortune

With the empress' permission, I was able to go to the western wing of the diamond palace where prince Trevor is currently in.

The knight led me to Trevor's room.

Crash.

Fragile objects being slam to the ground or walls can be heard from a distance. As we got nearer to the room of the prince from Chejada the screams that were filled with anger and the sound of furnitures being destroyed became clearer and clearer.

Once the door was opened by the knight who was escorting us, there were two other knights inside who were trying to calm prince Trevor.

"Both of you, let go of him!" Yelled by John.

The two knights let go of the prince, not because they obeyed John who is their superior but because they weren't able to restraint prince Trevor any longer.

"For now, please get out. All of you"

"Will you be alright, my lady?"

"Of course. Who is worrying for who now?"

John reluctantly went away with the knights as I entered the room that was in complete ruins.

Unlike the glamorous appearance from the outside, the inside of the room was completely destroyed.

The scene of this room brought back memories when father, the previous duke of Emond, was mad at prince Kainston for asking my hand in marriage.

As the prince saw me, a little noble young lady entered the room, he stop rampaging but instead had a murderous look.

"How can they send a child to me?! Do they not even care about her?!"

His facial expression can be interpreted something along those lines.

"I greet the prince of Chejada, prince Trevor Otto Chejada. I am Dianna Emond, the younger sister of the current duke of Emond in Loate"

I spoke in his language which caught him off guard.

"Forgive me as I am still lacking in many things. But I hope we can have a meaningful conversation nonetheless"

"How long have you learn how to speak Kedarain?"

"I started about several months ago"

"Did someone taught you how?"

"No. However, I did have a lot of books I can use as reference so I learn by translating the words and memorize it one by one"

"You say that you are part of the ducal family of Emond which is in Loate, correct?"

"That is correct"

"Are you also here as a war prisoner?"

"Something like that, but I am more of an honored guest since our country became a vassal state a while after the empire declared war"

"Is something wrong?"

"...."

"Um... why are you not saying anything?"

"Your highness, I'm sorry but I am looking for somewhere to sit"

Prince Trevor looked around the room and was ashamed to greet an actual guest with the state of his room.

"I..."

"Let's go"

"Go where?"

"To another room. I don't think this room would be able to accommodate someone, even if they were slaves"

Prince Trevor pause for a moment and followed me outside to the room next to the room he was using when he was in a coma.

Unlike the room we were in just now, the room now was in a nice condition. No fragments of broken glass nor destroyed furniture in sight.

Since the room was plain, but not too plain, it wasn't as overwhelming as the main palace guest rooms that were filled with ornaments that would shine here and there.

"For the knights to respect you this much, you must have a standing here in the empire"

"Indeed. Well, while that fact is important there are even more important matters right now"

"And those are?"

"Here"

I handed him a letter that came from Anna, my maid in the Emond duchy.

He opened the letter and cried.

Just like how I reeled in Samuel by saving his foster father that he cares about, I did the same for prince Trevor.

"H-how?!"

Right now, prince Trevor is reading a letter from his mother, a concubine or the twelfth concubine to be exact that the king of Chejada had.

For Trevor, his backstory would be the bastard son of the king where he was born due to the king being charmed by the commoner Beatrice, Trevor's mother.

Unlike Samuel's scum of a father, the king of Chejada was better by a hundred of levels in comparison.

After impregnating Beatrice, the king bestowed a village for Beatrice to govern. Although they never met again after that, the king did fulfill his duties and would send money to Beatrice and to his son.

At the age of ten, Trevor was called in to the palace of the king since the king's concubines and queen was unable to produce a boy.

Now, due to the after effects of the war, the village of prince Trevor's mother was ignored.

Although I do not know whether Beatrice did survive the attack or not as this part was never mention in the novel, I did knew that she will die based on the circumstances back then.

Luckily, the village she was governing was close to the borders of Chejada and Loate.

And thanks to the effective blackmail I had to count Payne, he willingly build a village in just a few days so that Beatrice and those from the village can take refugee in his territory.

"Waah! Sniff"

Overjoyed, he was crying as he read the letter that his birth mother that he dearly loves is doing alright.

He knew he cannot go to his mother because he had a duty to stand in the front lines as someone who posses royal blood. If he did escape with his mother, he would be an international criminal with a bounty for his head.

After finishing a few cup of teas, the prince stood up and sat down on the chair facing me.

"Thank you"

"You won't question me why I did it?"

"I do want to but it doesn't change the fact that you did save my mother"

"Putting personal feelings aside, what will you do now?"

"Huh?"

"Prince Andrin will be the grand duke and the entirety of Chejada will be in his hands and the royals will be stripped off of their titles. That is why I am asking you, what will you do now?"

Although he was raised well considering he is a bastard child, he is naive and too earnest in my opinion.

"...."

"Will you step up and beg to protect your subjects as the supposed next ruler of Chejada or will you swallow your pride and go with your mother?"

How unfortunate for someone who is worthy to be a ruler to be put in such a tight spot. Then again, everyone faces unfairness.