The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

Chapter 127-128: Alois

A month has passed since the battle with Duke Kruger. With the army and the magistrates dispatched by my father, things are starting to get calm in the south again.

As things started to calm down, a problem arose.

Main gate of the imperial capital.

Passing through it is a group of gray figures riding on horses and I am approaching them in the appearance of Grau.

Keep it walking just like that.

Yes..its been a while. Grau.

Yeah, Alois.

The group of gray figures was Aloiss party.

Since his mother safely got back to his territory, he is here to apologize to Father. The reason for him to travel here incognito is for his own safety.

Alois has crushed the plans of two powerful factions namely Gordons and Krugers. Even if you take that out of the calculation, he is a young lord who endured the assault of 10,000 imperial soldiers with only 1,000 men. There are many reasons for him to be targeted.

Is your mother alright?

Yes, thanks to you.

I didnt do anything. It was Prince Leonard who rescued your mother.

It was thanks to Grau that I got to meet her safely.

Saying so, Alois makes a charming smile under his hood. While smiling at such Alois, I get to the main subject. That said, I should finish this soon.

Alois. Your position is a delicate one. There wont be any punishment for you but there is no doubt that you will be used politically here.

Yes..but I am prepared. I was able to protect my territory and the south. If I wish for anything more than this then I would be asking too much.

The eyes of Alois as he said were ones of a person who made his resolve. 

So he made up his mind before he came here huh. Even if I told him that there wont be any punishment, it is still not certain that it will be the case. A death sentence for him is still a possibility. Still, with that resolve of his, he should be able to get through it no matter what happens.

He is quite an accomplished guy. If I was at the same age, would I be able to prepare myself to face death?

No, I still cant do it even now. In that sense, Alois is much better than me. That is exactly why he is worth helping.

I prepared a present for you.

A present?

Its all up to you. If you be yourself things will definitely develop in a good direction for you.

I see.I will keep that in mind.

Yeah.

After telling him as much, I left.

There were already many eyes watching Alois. Since there are imperial knights guarding his group, there must be assassins aiming for his life as well. Some of them followed me but after I entered a black alley, I transferred away and disappeared.

The room that I transferred into was an inn facing the main street where Sebas is waiting for me.

Welcome back, sir.

Yeah, how is the target?

Right on schedule, sir.

Hearing so I look out the window.

Many carriages and horses are traveling through the main street. 

Stopping at the side of the main street is a simple but well-built carriage.

He really hates standing out as always huh.

It is probably in his nature.

Onboard that carriage is Franz the Prime Minister. Franz is a known devoted husband and whenever his work gets busy it is known that he will always buy a gift for her. Right now his attendant is buying it for him. After all, he would stand out too much if he goes himself.

I apologized to Franz in my heart and lightly snapped my finger. As a result, the horses pulling Franzs carriage started to panic.

Then the connecting rope snapped and the carriage began to run out of control.

Forgive me, Prime Minister..

It couldnt be helped, sir. This is the best way to get him to ally himself with Alois-dono.

I know but I feel sorry for him you know. I still did it though.

It would be bad for your heart to stay alone on a runaway carriage. Well, since it was intentional, the direction the horses are pulling him toward is adjusted by the barrier so there shouldnt be any damage to the surroundings. There wont be anyone hurt by this but Franz who is inside might have started to hate riding on a carriage from now on though. Well, it should be fine.

The runaway carriage accelerates more and more. The horses are excited and there is no driver to control it nor does Franz have any way to stop them from rampaging.

No matter what happens, I can save him using magic but there is no need for that.

He is quite an able man for his age isnt he.

That compliment came from Sebas. At the end of his line of sight is Alois galloping his horse side by side with Franzs carriage.

How do you think he will do it?

To make sure of the result, rescuing the Prime Minister from that carriage is the best choice. It shouldnt be hard considering the knights following behind him. However.

The runaway horse might hurt people in the surroundings right.

Yes. His first priority should be given to calm the horse down. However, it is dangerous to approach the already excited horses with another horse. At worst, his horse might get excited as well and he might end up shaken off its back.

Well, it is certainly dangerousbut he is a guy who took up arms against 10,000 imperial soldiers you know. That kind of decision, he would be able to make it easy.

It is true that he got the help of Silver. There is no denying that I pushed his back. Even so, Alois himself chose to point his sword against an army ten times the number of his. He didnt run away and chose to stay to protect his territory as its lord. He decided to protect all the people as an imperial noble.

That was the decision of a twelve years old boy.

He will surely be a good subject for Leo once he becomes the emperor.

The Empire is vast. It can not be governed by one emperor. After all, a trustworthy noble is necessary.

Thats right, I nod. The south lost an influential noble. Surely, his territory will get distributed. However, it is true that there is no noble who can act as its center at the moment.

However, Alois is an outstanding talent to play that role. He has taken enough credit to do that. There are many things he will have to learn but I am still looking forward to seeing his future.

Apparently, it seems Alois chose to calm the horse. While desperately galloping his horse in parallel with them he tried to calm them down.

After a while, the horses pulling Franzs carriage slowly stopped.

Animals are sensitive to those who are afraid. To be able to calm them down meant that Alois himself was calm.

With this, it should be safe for Alois now. The Prime Minister isnt someone who helps someone out of sympathy but he is someone who always looking into the future. Once he places expectations on Aloiss future, he will definitely stop Father even if he tries to punish him.

His Majesty wouldnt punish him in the first place though.

Well, thats true. If he punishes Alois now, it will stir up an uproar in the south again. To tell you the truth, having him make contact with the Prime Minister has another purpose.

And that would be?

If the Prime Minister has expectations for Alois, he will try to keep him within the Emperors reach. In other words, he will try to keep him at the castle and educate him. If that is the case then he will have the opportunities to get in contact with Leo and he will be able to learn various kinds of things.

If His Majesty takes a liking to Alois-dono then the number of the nobles trying to approach him will also increase. Shouldnt you take the possibility that he will be taken by another faction into the calculation as well?

Thinking about something like that, you really have a bad personality, you know that?

One can not work as a butler without having a bad personality. If I can not come up with trickery and sinister plots, some might start finding fault in my work after all.

.

I silently stare at Sebas but he simply acts oblivious to it.

Seriously, he has no respect for his master at all.

Its your influence that I am so pessimistic you know. Im certain of it.

I am honored.

Seeing the proud Sebas, I give up since it seems that nothing affects him at all.

Lets go. We are done here. Thanks to Father, people started to pay attention to me lately so I cant really move around as freely as before.

His Majesty did call you the black twin prince after all. If everything keeps going as it is, your standing will definitely improve. His Majesty really did utilize a good plan.

Its a bother.

While having such a conversation, we leave the inn. The arrival of Alois is evidence that the south has calmed down. I was doing post-processing until for the previous incident but from here on things will certainly get busy again.