How a Two-Life Scoundrel Lives - Chapter 87
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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【Chapter 87】
‘Did that fellow know proper etiquette?’
Grand Duke Guntram was quite surprised that Carlisle knew the exact protocols for dealing with the Royal Family.
Of course, noble children are educated from a young age on how to show respect to the Royal Family.
But it was questionable whether Carlisle would even remember what he had been taught, yet here he was performing so admirably…
“It’s good to meet you, Sir Carlisle.”
“Sir? That’s not appropriate. I am not a knight.”
“Then what should I call you?”
“The second son of House Sigmund, or Private would be proper, I believe.”
Carlisle inwardly suppressed the thorns rising in his mouth and his boiling anger.
Crown Prince Gordon was also one of the main characters in the game [Overlord], so Carlisle knew far too much about him.
The Crown Prince appeared courteous on the surface, but that was merely a hypocrite’s mask.
His goal was to weaken the noble families of the United Kingdom, and furthermore to kill them and seize their lands to establish a unified dynasty.
Among the main characters of the game [Overlord], the Crown Prince was the most dangerous person, so Carlisle could not let his guard down in front of him.
One wrong move and not only Carlisle but House Sigmund itself would be troubled by the Royal Family’s claws.
“The reason you are a Private is to uphold House Sigmund’s traditions, so it wouldn’t do to call you that. You’ll become an officer soon anyway, so I’ll call you Sir.”
“As you wish.”
“Grand Duke, could you excuse us for a moment?”
The Crown Prince turned to look at Grand Duke Guntram.
“That is…”
“It’s fine, so please step aside for just a moment. I would be grateful. I won’t go back on my word.”
“Please speak then.”
Grand Duke Guntram seemed quite anxious as he sent a subtle glance toward Carlisle.
– Please don’t cause trouble. Please.
– We’ll see.
Carlisle responded to Grand Duke Guntram’s glance with a blank expression.
‘If he pisses me off, he’ll pay the price.’
Carlisle sharpened his blade inwardly.
There were countless ways to make the Crown Prince uncomfortable.
Carlisle had an enormous amount of knowledge about the game [Overlord].
“I heard that you have corrected your past mistakes and reformed yourself.”
“No. I’m still just an immature fool.”
“How modest.”
“Not at all.”
Carlisle gave a slight bow.
“I called you here because I wanted to ask you just one thing.”
“Please speak.”
“Where does your loyalty lie?”
“With Decaron and the Royal Family.”
“Which takes priority?”
“In the end, it would be the Royal Family, wouldn’t it? Decaron is the Royal Family’s most loyal servant.”
“A good answer.”
The Crown Prince smiled broadly.
“Then you will do your best for the prosperity of the Royal Family.”
“If I am capable, I will do so.”
“But why don’t you send your maid to study abroad with the Royal Family?”
Carlisle realized why the Crown Prince had summoned him and sneered inwardly.
‘So that was it.’
He had already expected this.
There would be no other reason for the Crown Prince to call out the Northern Scoundrel separately.
“She’s my maid, so I simply wanted to keep her by my side.”
“But for the kingdom’s prosperity, wouldn’t it be right to send her to study abroad?”
“She’s such a talented friend that I don’t think studying abroad is necessary, and I judged that she could contribute sufficiently to the kingdom’s prosperity by my side.”
“Of course that would be true. But wouldn’t it be better for her to receive proper education in the Capital?”
“The person in question has a strong identity as a Northerner, so she doesn’t want to leave the Northern Region. I also cherish this maid greatly, so I’m reluctant to send her away. I’ll keep her by my side and guide her well so she can contribute to the kingdom.”
“Kuk.”
The Crown Prince’s face turned cold.
“Even when I speak nicely, you don’t seem to understand at all, Sir Carlisle.”
“…”
“Does this look like a suggestion to you right now?”
Carlisle did not answer.
“I’ve been speaking indirectly out of consideration for House Sigmund’s loyalty to the Royal Family and the Grand Duke’s position, but are you too dull to understand even that?”
“I understand that matters concerning my maid are my right. I am merely exercising that right.”
“Then raising Decaron’s tax rate is also within my authority, so I suppose I should do that.”
A cold smile appeared on the Crown Prince’s lips.
“That would be Your Highness the Crown Prince’s right and the Royal Family’s legitimate exercise of power.”
Carlisle’s tone changed.
“So please do as you wish. I have no intention of having my maid taken away.”
“Are you saying let’s see what happens?”
“How could that be? What means would a mere Private like me have to oppose Your Highness the Crown Prince? I’m in a position where I must die if told to die.”
“It seems raising the tax rate alone wasn’t enough.”
“Why are you telling me that? It’s not me who pays the taxes, but Decaron.”
Carlisle responded as if it had nothing to do with him, but inside he was furious.
‘Ah, so you raised the tax rate? Because I didn’t send Evangeline?’
Murderous impulses began rising from within.
The reason the Decaron Army had forced the mining operations and why countless soldiers including Gwen had died was because of the Crown Prince’s petty revenge…
‘You, I won’t let you get away with this.’
Carlisle vowed revenge against the Crown Prince.
“Utterly foolish. I heard you had matured, but apparently not.”
“This is me after maturing.”
“…”
The Crown Prince found himself at a loss for words.
He knew he was a scoundrel, but to this extent…
“Do you have anything more to say?”
“I assure you, you will bitterly regret today’s events.”
“Is that prophecy?”
“What?”
“I was wondering if you were seeing into the future.”
“…”
The Crown Prince was so dumbfounded he couldn’t even get angry.
“Get out of my sight immediately.”
“Yes.”
After Carlisle left.
“Haha.”
The Crown Prince simply laughed.
* * *
“With His Highness the Crown Prince…”
Carlisle ignored Grand Duke Guntram’s words and strode purposefully toward his room.
“Hah.”
He heard a deep sigh from behind him that seemed to shake the ground, but Carlisle didn’t stop walking.
Right now, Carlisle was blind with rage.
– Raising taxes alone wasn’t enough, it seems.
The Crown Prince’s words kept echoing endlessly in Carlisle’s ears.
Carlisle had already been feeling guilty, thinking that the royal family’s unreasonable tax increases might be because of him.
But when the Crown Prince said with his own mouth that the tax increase was because of Evangeline, it was enough to make Carlisle lose his mind.
‘Regret? Let’s see who ends up regretting this.’
This time, Carlisle had no intention of staying quiet.
He wasn’t planning to openly pick a fight with the Crown Prince.
That would put House Sigmund in danger.
‘How should I deal with this?’
Carlisle holed up in his room and didn’t budge an inch, lost in thought.
‘Assassination isn’t possible. Isn’t there some way to screw him over?’
Of course, Carlisle had several means to exploit the Crown Prince’s weaknesses.
However…
‘If I mess with him at this time, things will get complicated.’
It wasn’t the right time to expose that the royal family had lost their prophetic power.
That should be saved as a trump card for the appropriate moment.
Revenge had to be carried out cleverly and secretly.
“Young Master, you don’t look to be in a good mood.”
“Yeah, it’s bad.”
Carlisle answered Maranello’s question.
“With His Highness the Crown Prince…”
“We had a big confrontation.”
“What?!”
“It was just a bad atmosphere. We didn’t actually fight.”
“Even so, opposing His Highness the Crown Prince…”
“He’s demanding I hand over Evangeline. What am I supposed to do?”
“Young Master…”
A complex expression appeared on Maranello’s face.
“Perhaps that matter…”
“Absolutely not.”
Carlisle firmly shut down the idea as if it were out of the question.
“She’s an indispensable existence to us.”
Carlisle wasn’t being stubborn for no reason.
Evangeline was one of the protagonist characters in the game [Overlord] and would serve as the closest aide to Frey van Sigmund, who would become the head of House Sigmund.
If they lost such a precious human resource to the royal family, it might seem fine for now, but they would surely regret it greatly in the future.
“Butler, why are you so angry? What happened?”
“What’s it to you if you know?”
Carlisle replied curtly to the baby dragon’s words.
“Are you going to talk like that? I’m wiser than you, you know?”
“Oh, is that so.”
Carlisle was being sarcastic, but the baby dragon didn’t mind and spoke in a calm voice.
“What is it? Tell me.”
“If I tell you, you won’t know anyway.”
“I might know.”
“You better not know.”
Carlisle roughly explained the situation to the baby dragon.
“So the Crown Prince is threatening you to hand over that maid?”
“Yeah.”
“Your family and all the other families are trembling because of the royal family’s prophetic power?”
“That’s right.”
“Ugh, idiots.”
The baby dragon shook its head.
“Something like prophetic power would have disappeared long ago, but they’re still afraid of it. Humans really are foolish, aren’t they?”
“…!”
Carlisle and Maranello were startled by the baby dragon’s words.
“How do you know that?”
“Wh-what do you mean by that?”
The baby dragon answered.
“How could mere humans use prophetic power that even we dragons don’t have? Ridiculous, really.”
“…?”
Carlisle and Maranello stared at each other.
“What is it saying?”
“Perhaps your hearing has gotten poor with age, Young Master.”
This was the first time Carlisle had heard such a story.
According to the scenario of the game [Overlord], didn’t it say that the royal family gained prophetic ability through a contract with an ancient dragon?
“Ancient dragon? Dragons live for about a thousand years. It’s been that way from the beginning of creation until now, and there’s no dragon clan with prophetic abilities. The reason dragons are said to be able to see into the future is because they’re wise and have excellent insight, not because they actually have prophetic abilities.”
“But the royal family has had prophetic abilities passed down through generations?”
“To deceive others, you need to deceive even yourself. That’s the only way you can boast about having prophetic abilities, right? It’s a lie with soul behind it.”
“…”
“If you can’t believe it, try testing it.”
“Test it? How?”
“Cause an incident on purpose. Something so cleverly done that they can’t respond in advance.”
“Hmm.”
Carlisle thought the baby dragon’s words might be right.
Certainly, the royal family had no prophetic ability.
The main scenario of the game [Overlord] dealt with the division and civil war of the United Kingdom following the royal family’s loss of prophetic power.
“It’s a bit surprising that prophetic power never existed from the beginning. As expected of the royal family. Amazing, really.”
“No, Young Master.”
Maranello grabbed Carlisle and said.
“Surely you don’t believe those words?”
“What’s not to believe? It’s also a dragon.”
“But…”
“Why, because it’s not a real dragon?”
“Since it’s not a naturally born existence, we can’t completely trust it.”
“That’s true, but…”
Though Carlisle and Maranello’s conversation should have been offensive, the baby dragon didn’t mind at all.
Instead, it laughed as if it found it amusing, holding its belly.
“Kyahaha, kyahahaha!”
“What, why are you laughing?”
“Really, both Butler and Grandfather are idiots.”
“…?”
“You’ve been thinking that I’m some artificial life form created by a mere mage this whole time?”
“Huh?”
“Sorry, but I’m a real dragon. I just couldn’t hatch and was sleeping for a long time.”
“Really?”
“Have you been living in deception? Should I go visit the other dragons once? To see if I’m a real dragon or not?”
The baby dragon spoke confidently.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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