Chapter 19 – D―Day Night

There were two Princes in the Otranie royal family.

Among them, the second Prince, Dieldo Edem Kate Otranie, was famous for other reasons. Officially, he was the Second Prince; in the public’s eyes, he was called a complete scoundrel. Petricks could confidently assert: his master was more famous for his beautiful face and messy behavior than for his title.

In fact, the Prince would create more scandals in ten days than most people did in years. He would frequently leave the palace and flaunt his escapades in the headlines. Today he attended a party, met someone, got slapped…

The funny thing was, Prince Dieldo never denied it.

On the contrary, he would call himself a ‘degenerate’ without shame. It wasn’t self-mockery—he just didn’t deny the truth.

Anyway, given his typical behavior, when the Prince went missing, his close aides didn’t think much of it. Petricks Arno, his chief secretary and loyal confidant, was no exception.

“Looks like he won’t be returning tonight, so no need to prepare dinner.”

“Yes, Sir Petricks.”

It was only in the morning of the second week of the Prince’s disappearance that Petricks realized something was wrong. After breaking the record for a week’s absence, and even the tabloids stopped reporting on his whereabouts, Petricks finally suspected he might be missing.

Had he gotten drunk and been kidnapped?

Or assassinated while drunk?

Or maybe…

With these unpleasant possibilities, Petricks grew worried. He judged this was not something to gloss over as usual.

Petricks prepared to seek an audience with the King.

But he couldn’t meet the King. The King had passed the ‘Second Prince Missing’ report to the Crown Prince. Not that the Crown Prince cared much… When Petricks appeared behind a mountain of paperwork, the Crown Prince just clicked his tongue.

“Isn’t it obvious? He’s probably buried between some woman’s legs. Why don’t you try the brothels first?”

“I doubt it’s a brothel. I think it’s more likely to be a kidnapping…”

For once, Petricks spoke with confidence. The Prince did fool around, but mostly with widows or consenting noblewomen. In other words, he was a libertine with principles.

“No way. Or just wait—he’ll come back when he runs out of money.”

The Crown Prince waved dismissively, not wanting to waste more time on his brother’s affairs.

‘So the Second Prince is a lost cause.’

Petricks wasn’t disappointed. He’d expected this.

In the end, Petricks had to organize the search himself. Since the Prince’s disappearance couldn’t be made public, everything was done secretly.

A blink of an eye, and a month was gone; then another month wasted. The Prince was nowhere to be found. They searched the capital and nearby regions, but not a single hair was found.

At that point, Petricks’ patience wore thin.

‘That idiot… Did he mess with someone’s precious daughter and get buried somewhere? Should I have started with the back alleys?’

Petricks even considered embezzling the Prince’s palace guard funds for his own retirement. Of course, those thoughts never became reality.

They say even if the sky falls, there’s always a way out.

The Crown Prince summoned him again after two months.

“Still haven’t found Dieldo?”

“No, I’m starting to think someone deliberately kidnapped and hid him…”

“No way.”

Déjà vu—same mountain of paperwork, same conversation as two months ago. Still, the fact that the Crown Prince called him in meant even that iron-hearted heir was worried about his brother.

“You’ve heard about the peace treaty with the Cadis Empire, right? This time it’s supposed to be real.”

…Or not?

“Don’t tell me you haven’t kept up with affairs because of my foolish brother?”

Apparently not. The sudden change of topic was confusing, but Petricks agreed.

“I’ve heard positive replies.”

The peace treaty had been discussed for half a year and was a key issue for anyone in royal circles.

The Empire had been a long-standing problem for the Kingdom, regularly violating borders. The only fault of the Kingdom was its weak power, unable to stand up to continental dominance.

What was worse, the Empire suffered no consequences, and even toyed with the Kingdom, promising peace and then pulling back. It was like a cat playing with a mouse, threatening its life. People even joked that the King’s hair loss was from the endless standoff.

Anyway, the ‘talking treaty’ was finally over. With the arrival of a ‘real’ peace agreement, everyone was paying attention.

“Yes, we’re getting positive words, but I think we need more than words—we need a real guarantee. What kind of guarantee do you think that would be?”

Anyone who’d studied diplomacy at the academy could guess the answer, and for Petricks, the youngest entrant and top graduate, it was even easier. His face darkened.

“The Prince wouldn’t want a royal marriage.”

“The Emperor has a daughter, I hear.”

“But… if I may, I worry a royal marriage might actually harm peace between our countries.”

The Crown Prince raised an eyebrow.

“Hmm, you know as well as I do, Dieldo isn’t exactly pure.”

“What’s the problem? The Princess won’t have just one husband, will she?”

The Crown Prince dismissed it as trivial.

Even with all his scandals, the Prince’s value remained. If the Prince heard this, he’d probably curse at the absurdity.

But the bigger shock was the Crown Prince’s determination. Within a day of sending the official letter, a special unit was formed to find the Prince. Petricks was reminded of the power of true authority.

You really need money or power in life.

Petricks didn’t just sit back. Assuming the Prince was alive, he leaked word through Dustane Company about the search. The Dustane Company, with fewer stories about the missing Prince, was happy to run the tip.

『Believe it or not, exclusive. The infamous libertine D missing? Royal knights have been searching for three months.』

The nobles were instantly abuzz. The royal family, sensing a crisis, published counter-articles in other weeklies.

『Breaking news! Otranie royal family, peace treaty with Cadis Empire. Royal marriage to be expedited…』

What the royal family overlooked was that conflicting news only fueled public interest…

Still, it wasn’t all for nothing.

The decisive clue came to the palace on its own a little later. It was a beautiful woman. With hair as dark as the night sky, she looked sometimes like a newly adult girl, sometimes as old as the King.

But what shocked both the Crown Prince, who now held the Second Prince’s jurisdiction, and Petricks, his closest confidant, wasn’t her appearance.

“Dieldo became what?”

“The Prince became what?”

The woman spoke with the same calm face as before.

“He became a d*ldo.”

The Crown Prince thought she was crazy and mocking him, but Petricks, ever the open-minded prodigy, believed her.

‘Still, to become a d*ldo…’

Petricks grieved, and the Crown Prince looked at him with pity.

“You don’t actually believe that nonsense, do you?”

“Why not believe it…?”

Given the Prince’s past, it was plausible enough. The Crown Prince dismissed both master and servant, and snapped at the woman.

“You must not know how dangerous it is to insult the royal family. Knights, what are you doing? Throw out this crazy woman.”

“You’ll regret it.”

Despite her warning, the Crown Prince didn’t back down. Petricks, worried she hadn’t been heard, repeated to the Crown Prince,

“She says you’ll regret it.”

“I have ears.”

Well, a person can’t become a d*ldo. It was just nonsense.

…But why did he feel so uneasy? Even as the woman was dragged out, her calm attitude made Petricks uncomfortable. It felt like the moment in the academy when he almost miscopied his answers—a sense of having made a huge mistake.

Luckily, it turned out to be just nerves. A report soon came in of a man resembling the Prince. Petricks, upon hearing the news, selected knights and set out first.

“A port city… fitting for the Prince.”

Was he on another s*x tour? With all the women and delicacies in the Kingdom’s busiest port, it made sense he’d be there. If he’d boarded a ship, it explained why they hadn’t found him. Of course, maybe it was just a lookalike. It had happened before.

This worry vanished immediately upon finding the Prince. After 549 tips and 548 disappointments, Petricks was sure. Even if he didn’t know why the Prince was serving at a restaurant under the name George… that beauty and subtle arrogance were unmistakable. This was the infamous Second Prince, Dieldo Edem Kate Otranie.

The Prince, oblivious to being watched, worked without complaint and finished his shift.

‘Where is Napolia, anyway?’

Petricks, determined to know where the Prince was staying, followed him. The Prince got into a carriage and arrived at a village an hour from the port. It didn’t suit a Prince. In fact, knowing the Prince’s personality, he’d scoff, ‘People live in this backward place?’

Was it another false lead?

Just another lookalike?

Petricks was doubtful, but soon had to believe.

“I’m not a d*ldo? I’m a Prince?”

Why are bad omens never wrong? The Prince had not only lost his memory, but truly believed he was a d*ldo.

Seeing the Prince’s open confusion, Petricks felt his head cool. That meant the crazy woman thrown out for insulting the royal family had been right.

He should have believed her.

He should have stopped her.

But the more he regretted it, the calmer he became. When one side loses it, the other must stay sane. He decided to bring the Prince back to reality.

“Yes, Your Highness, you were as much a libertine as any d*ldo.”

It took a lot more persuasion before the Prince agreed to get in the carriage. After the carriage had been moving for a few minutes, Petricks broke the silence.

“Since it’s just the two of us here, I’ll be blunt. You haven’t really lost your memory, have you?”

“…”

“If you return to the palace like this, you’ll be forced into a royal marriage. We need a plan.”

“…”

Bringing up the topic the Prince hated most, but only getting a cold look in return. Petricks’ face turned pale.

Did he guess wrong? Wasn’t he a genius?

“…So you’re not pretending? I thought you were just acting for the knights.”

“So I’m the one who needs an explanation.”

That natural informal speech… Did he believe he was a Prince now? Petricks cleared his throat and made excuses.

“You spoke informally from the start. I guess I was mistaken.”

“You’re below me, aren’t you?”

“…Yes. You’re always quick to notice that.”

He’d just been testing. Even with memory loss, he was still rude—just another useless fact. Born to be a pain.

As even his faint hope faded, Petricks felt a headache. If the Prince had really lost his memory, it was the worst case for both of them.

“Then, Your Highness, you’ll have to tell me what you do remember.”

He needed to hear the full story he hadn’t gotten at the house. Rubbing his furrowed brow, Petricks listened to the Prince’s account and could only sum it up as ‘we’re screwed.’ In the Prince’s words: ‘D*mn it.’

“D*mn, this is bad.”

It was the first time he’d cursed in front of royalty, but it couldn’t be helped. He was about to make a decision. Smoothing his messy hair, Petricks spoke seriously after a moment.

“Your Highness, from now on, you need to listen to me.”