____

The Empress remained calmly sitting on her seat. "Bloodshed depends on the ."

From the mention of crown prince, I glanced at Aureus, her silver orbs lit up with a meaning, as if telling me to put the oblivious prince of Aguincii in his rightful place.

I suppose the fight for status is not only here at our own empire, but also to prove authority against other empire.

I only gave her a small firm nod. She helped me get an opportunity to reprimand the prince, so I have to make good use of the situation.

Noted, mama!

The Duke beamed, drowning the tense atmosphere for a split second. "Crown prince, I think you can be friends with Prince Estello. He's quite the bold prince!"

Thanks to the change of aura, I got to earn the courage and calm my raging self to punch the shit out of Estello. Walking forward, I stopped infront of the prince who have his forehead creased as he looked down on me.

Either it slowly sank on his mind or he's in denial, that depends on him, not me.

With the same method of curtsy like how Klydeur bowed down to him, I greeted him once again. "I greet Prince Estello of Aguincii. I am Clydeur Aurum Xi Vermillion, and..."

Straightening my posture, I stared up at him seriously. "...the Crown Prince of Vermillion. "

He blinked his eyes. I blinked mine too. Not until he looked like he had seen a ghost from how he suddenly panicked. "Wait...what..."

"A very pleasant meeting. It is my first time to be greeted with a book on top of my head." I then flashed him a grin which probably triggered his anxiety. "Quite intriguing, if I say so. Your. High. Ness."

There was silence for a few seconds before he spoke in a low voice.

"...tell me this is a joke."

Ha! How dare he?!

Before I can slap the facts straight to his slappable face, Klydeur unexpectedly stepped up. "Unfortunately, this is not a joke. He is my older twin sibling, the crown prince of Vermillion."

Well, I should probably be grateful to Klydeur. Whether he can read my mind right now or not, thanks, bro.

"Hah, shit." The Aguincii prince could only slap his face, in humiliation or annoyance, I am not certain. He glanced at me again, before kneeling down on one knee. "I...apologize for my rude behavior. You may give me any punishment for having ridiculed his highness."

As I looked down at him, a smirk crept up to my lips. "For now, I'll let it slide. You're probably tired and didn't realize your manners."

His eyes twitched, before straightening his posture. Now that he stood up properly, we can see the height difference once again. Even Klydeur pales in comparison.

"I thank you for your generousity, your highness."

I smiled. "It's best you don't do the same mistake again, prince Estello."

He closed his eyes, probably to avoid rolling his eyes or glare daggers at me again. "Understood."

With a single clap, we all turned our heads to the Empress. "Then it is settled. You may leave."

Estello bowed down and excused himself, before Klydeur and I also exited the room since they still need to continue their disrupted political meeting.

Now that was resolved fast.

Well, not that I mind it.

I thought the prince has already left, but he's still standing by the door. Glancing at us, he particularly gave me a look of distrust. "I don't understand."

Klydeur and I exchanged glances, not sure how to react. "What exactly?" He questioned, sparing me the effort to ask instead, his silver eyes focused on the tan prince.

"The crown prince," he clicked his tongue, brows furrowed. "Must be why I disliked him from the start. I hate my brother too, and he's the same with this blackhead."

I narrowed my eyes at him, ignoring the fact he called me a blackhead. "Are you still going to complain?"

"Well, who wouldn't?" Estello deadpans. "You probably told the Empress about what happened earlier. Bastard, are you a crybaby or what?"

Raising two fingers, I calmly responded. "First, I never told her anything except informing her of your arrival, as you told me earlier."

"Second, I am not a crybaby. And even if I were, you don't get a say with it."

Before he can bitch at me again, I stopped him immediately. "Also! Learn some decent manners. If you hate me just because your brother's position is also a crown prince, then that's very childish of you."

"Can't you see why I hate people like you? Then let me tell you why!" With a blink of an eye, he lunged at me, holding my collar with his other fist about to hit my face. The knights weren't able to react fast enough.

Except for a certain person who managed to catch the latter's fist.

"What—" Estello focused at my white lotus brother. He probably didn't expect him to interrupt or step in. "Let go, bastard!"

Yanking me away, I managed to balance myself. With his fist still held by him, he used his other fist to strike the latter.

My instinct suddenly kicked in, making me grab his fist as well. Now he looks even more frustrated. "To hell with you two!"

"Hey, where did your apology go?" I chirped, trying to change the topic or matters would turn into worse. I even signalled the knights not to move, but given that they are still frozen in place, I didn't see any reason to have done that.

Estello flinched, his strength slowly loosen. I decided to let go of my grip as he stood there, facing different kinds of internal crisis.

"Tsk." In the end, he bumped into me before walking away without another word. Typical exit of a side character who got into an arguement with another character.

Whirling my head to look at the dumbfounded knights, I internally sighed, before giving them a thumbs up accompanied with a small smile. "Good job."

It looked like they were splashed with cold water at the sight of my praise. "A-apologies, your highness!"

"It's fine. Had you stepped in, he could have hurt you." I explained, before looking at the back of the figure walking away until he's out of sight. Indeed, he possess a great amount of mana and stamina.

He seems to specialize in fire and earth magic, which means he can easily fold the knights had they interrupted him. It was a good thing that I also signalled for them not to move, aside from them going AFK. I sighed to myself again, before attempting to leave.

"Brother."

Halting, I turned my head to look back at him. He have this serious look on his face that I can't think of a reason why he's talking to me right now if he'll just look at me like that.

Right. We saved each other from having our face smashed.

I should probably say something.

"Ehem. Thank you for earlier. You're welcome. Now I'll take my leave."

But before I can even walk ahead again, he gripped into my sleeve. "What is it?" I really want to take a rest and reread the book Eldest retrieved back for me years ago.

"Did he..." Klydeur paused for a moment, before shaking his head. "Nevermind. Excuse me." I can only watch him leave without even knowing what he wanted to say or ask.

What the heck...

I just ruffled my own hair out of stress and confusion. "Seriously. Can't I meet one unproblematic person out there?"

With the arrival of a bratty prince from Aguincii empire, it seems the welcoming banquet is drawing near. At best, the crown prince, Aether, might arrive tomorrow or the day after that. Which means I have two to three days before I get wasted at socializing.

Good thing I managed to clear my schedule and finished up all the paperworks needed to be finished within this week. I have plenty of time to rest easy.

~*~

"Your highness, here's a salad for snack."

I immediately closed the book I was rereading when I heard Jamie enter my room. She put down the tray into the table and served me the delicious and good-looking salad.

Yep. A healthy-lifestyle. I used to eat lots of sweets back then that I almost thought I might get diabetes, so I'm thankful that my nannies care about my health.

"Thank you, Jamie."

"Shall I taste it for you?"

I stared at the salad, then I shook my head. "No need." As I picked up the spoon, I took a spoonful of the salad as she watched me earnestly.

"Is there something wrong? Is the taste to your liking, your highness?"

I simply nodded with a smile. "Mhm. It's good."

She sighed in relief. "That's good to hear! Mia and Ria made it. Surely, they'll be happy to know it pleased you." She informed me with a smile that can melt other people's hearts.

"Aha, Jamie, I have a question." I put down my spoon for a moment as she waited for what I am about to say. "Is someone courting you lately?"

She blinked her eyes repeatedly, processing the question, before she became flustered. "Oh, there's isn't any, your highness!"

I squinted my eyes, legs crossed as I laid my back on the couch. "Hmm. Really?" How can not a single decent man court her? Isn't she at the age where she can have a husband or a family of her own?

It seems she noticed the worried look in my face. She flashed me a reassuring smile, patting my head. "Do not worry about me, your highness. For the long time I have served you, I treated you as a nephew."

Ah, I'm glad to know that. I actually think of her as a kind auntie!

"That is why, I consider his highness and the rest of my friends here as family." Jamie continued. "Family is not only defined by blood, but also by bond."

I nodded, remembering that quote very well. "Well said, Jamie."

"Oh my, pardon me your highness. I think I rambled too much."

I laughed, waving a hand to dismiss her concern. "Not at all. It's nice to know what your thoughts are." Looking back at the book which opened my eyes to the new truth, I maintained my smile. "Jamie?"

The latter hummed. "Yes, my prince?"

"Thank you." I closed my eyes, ignoring the deep feeling within my chest. "Thank you for everything. You, altogether with Mia and Ria as well."

Jamie chuckled as she took out some laundry. "It is our duty to serve you, your highness." As soon as she left my room, I opened my eyes and stood up. Opening the drawers, I pulled out a tiny bottle containing a pure transparent substance in it.

Opening the cap, I drank a tiny drop of it, feeling all better. The weight and the deep pain in my chest instantly vanished. Glancing at the salad and the tip of the silver spoon that turned black as coal, I can only sigh to myself.

"I guess Clydeur's journal is helpful." I mumbled to myself before putting aside the bowl of deadly salad. I grabbed the book, scanning the pages again, before recalling the first thing I saw in the very first page.

Everyone thinks I'm a fool.

And so, I turned myself into a fool they claimed me to be.

I only have myself, no one else. I shall trust no one, ever again.

Clydeur, I wish you went straight to the point and wrote down the name of the people I shouldn't trust in your behalf.

But I guess you couldn't, since you either didn't know who it was, you didn't want them to be suspicious of you, or you're denying the possibility of being betrayed by your trusted companions.

These days, I usually get served a meal laced with poison. I managed to get by, thanks to an antidote I found the second time I ate a poisoned pie.

Naturally, I should be resistant to poison. But someone must have been a genius to lace a kind of poison that will not exempt me from its effect. It's a miracle I'm not dead yet.

I can't even tell who is behind it all. Those who serve my meals sometimes differ. It could be the chef, it could be Jamie, then today, Mia and Ria.

If I were to doubt all those years I spent with my nannies, will that drive me to the point of having trust issues?

Or what if someone's trying to diverge my trust towards them, and even tried to frame them?

Also, the few things I learned about the truth of this world aside trusting no one, is this world's language.

Remember, Klydeur calls me hyung when we were kids. Aureus, however, knows Japanese as she gave my black cat the name Kuro. She even mentioned it meant black in Japanese!

This world seems to have the same language from the world I originally lived, even the names are the same. The only thing that differed is the alphabet, and the so-called-ancient alphabet that Klydeur learned with the Empress before.

I can consider this world parallel to my former world due to their similarities, except the genre of reality over fantasy.

But, the information that was hard for me to digest is the fact that I might not be the only one who got reincarnated as Clydeur. Since it is proven that there are other dimensions with the same people but different timelines, Eldest wrote down the possibility of other transmigrators.

And that among them, I have to fight against them. In the end, this whole situation is to look for the perfect replacement of the original Clydeur.

I'm just not sure if it is really necessary, since I know that one Clydeur from the other world I got sent into before is already dead.

Does this mean whoever survives last is the winner?

There were other small details and information about the original Clydeur's life. Including minor and major events in his miserable life. The people whom he met, his foe, his allies. I've had them instilled in my mind so I have no questions regarding it.

I sighed, slumping down the couch. Eldest told me all my questions will be answered by this book. But it seems that as soon as one question is answered, another question shows up which is left unanswered.

Who do I trust?

What do I do?

Why am I here?

Where should I go?

When can I be at peace?

A knock on my bedroom door made me flinch. I realized I was clenching my fist too tight that my nails dug into my skin, making it slightly bleed. Breathing in and out, I calmly responded. "Come in."

The moment the door swung open, I already went back to my innocent oblivious prince act.

From now on, I won't be as transparent as I once was anymore.

____

☕