Surviving As the 5th Prince of the Ruined Kingdom

003

“Your Highness? Why are you scrunching your face like that while staring so intently?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Do you know how creepy you look whenever you do that? Like you’re seeing a ghost.”

“My head hurts. I’ll eat on my own, so you can go.”

Alfonso’s already narrow eyes narrowed even further.

“……. Prince Evan. Are you really Prince Evan?”

His question was laced with doubt.

I could understand why he would think that.

In my current life, I had a habit of mumbling in a small voice and slurring my words.

The prince with a meek way of speaking, whose presence was faint, as if he wasn’t really there. The derogatory nickname that was attached to me was the ‘Ghost Prince of the Emerald Palace’.

“You really……. seem to have changed.”

But now, my way of speaking has changed 180 degrees. Perhaps it’s because I’ve become aware of my previous life, when my personality was fully formed before the turbulent years arrived in this current life.

I couldn’t tell Alfonso the truth. That guy is also wary of me deep down. He might go around spreading rumors that the Ghost Prince has finally gone mad.

As I pondered how to respond, I brought my hand to my chin but stopped. Stroking my prickly beard when deep in thought was also a habit from my previous life.

I had lived more than twice as long as the current Evan Lionel……. Wait, why can’t I remember my name from my previous life?

Throbbing, throbbing.

The more I tried to recall my previous name, the worse the headache became.

– ……. seems like a good person.

– ……. sir. It’s unfortunate what happened.

– ……. ah. Why did we…….

Fwoosh–!

“Argh!”

A shock like a knife piercing my brain made me let out a scream. An excruciating pain I had never experienced before. I curled up in a shrimp-like position on the bed, clutching my head.

“Nnghh……”

Even gritting my teeth, a groan escaped.

“Your Highness! I’ll bring a healer right away! Please wait a moment!”

Through my blurring vision, I could vaguely see Alfonso rushing out. Comforted by the fact that I didn’t have to make excuses to him, I let go of consciousness.

***

The sound of insects chirping somewhere made me open my eyelids. Alfonso’s status window, which I had been looking at before losing consciousness, came into view. Next to it, a ghost hand was waving cheerfully, as if asking if I had woken up.

Whenever I see such sights, I can’t help but wonder if there really is a ‘self’ present.

Using the ghost hand, I minimized the status window to the smallest size and tucked it into the corner of my vision. Then I looked out the window.

From the position of the moon in the sky, it seemed to be late at night. I gazed absentmindedly at the starry night sky that looked like it could shower stars, and began sorting out the jumbled thoughts of my previous and current lives.

Fortunately, although there was a dull headache, the excruciating pain I had experienced before losing consciousness did not return.

Shortly after.

I realized that there were holes scattered throughout the memories of my past life. The biggest of these was my name. I could not recall my name from my previous life at all.

‘It’s fine. That life is already over.’

Anyway, I had no relatives.

I decided not to dwell on the name from my past life that I couldn’t remember. I took it as a sign to focus on my present life.

There was only one thing I firmly resolved.

‘To live a life without regrets.’

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After organizing my thoughts, I glanced at the table.

A blue flower resembling moonlight had taken the place where [A Cozy Nightmare] had been. Annette Lionel, the third princess, three years older than me, my sworn sister, loved that flower.

‘When did she come and go?’

It had been difficult to see her face recently, so I wondered how she found out I was injured and came and went.

Her schedule must have been packed with lessons from select tutors. Unlike me, who was confined to the Emerald Palace, reading books alone.

The reason was simple.

A difference in strategic usefulness.

My sister possessed such exceptional beauty that she could catch the eye of foreign royalty, high-ranking nobles of the empire, or even the imperial family, if she was lucky.

At every meeting, the kingdom’s diplomats would engage in heated debates over which marriage would be most beneficial for the country’s interests.

On the other hand, the fifth prince, no more than a good-for-nothing, had likely been marked long ago to be sent to a suitable border region to die at the appropriate time.

‘Probably about 5 years ago.’

Around the time when my maternal family, the Bairn County, fell into ruin while being in charge of the kingdom’s northern border.

I closed my eyes slightly.

Memories of events that had occurred within just a month after my maternal family’s downfall resurfaced.

– Lady Olivia! Someone has poisoned the food for the third princess······ Oh! Prince Evan! Why are you here······.

First, a maid brought news that someone had tried to poison my sister.

– Olivia Einberck. You are under arrest for the attempted murder of a royal.

Next, the Royal Guards suddenly barged in.

They took everyone away, including the governess, escort knights, and personal attendants. The worried look on the governess’s face as she gazed at me is still vivid in my mind.

– Your Highness, live like a dead rat. Be there, yet not there. Then you might just be able to keep your life. Perhaps. Heh.

The rat-like officer of the Guards seemed to whisper those words into my ear with a wry smile, as I was left alone.

‘That bastard······.’

I found myself gnawing on my lip unconsciously.

A bitter taste lingered in the saliva I swallowed. I wiped the blood trickling from the corner of my mouth with my thumb and looked in the mirror.

My face from back then, stricken with terror, stared back at me.

It wasn’t a metaphor—the people around me truly lost their heads overnight. It was only natural that an eight-year-old child couldn’t cope with such an ordeal. That’s how I became the Ghost Prince of Emerald Palace.

“Did you believe that keeping a low profile would save your life, you fool?”

The child in the mirror wore a hurt expression at my scathing remark. But soon, he gave a bitter smile, as if he had no choice.

Yes, the truth was, I didn’t believe it.

I only wanted to believe.

Once the line of succession became clear, or even right after coming of age, the chances were high that I’d be cast out to a place where survival would be difficult.

Still, living as the Ghost Prince has allowed me to keep breathing until now. If I had acted out even a little, it wouldn’t have ended with just swapping “A Quiet Night” for “A Cozy Nightmare” as a prank.

‘I would have met an untimely demise long ago.’

Throb.

The headache I had been enduring returned. I frowned and pressed my temples with both hands. After a while, it gradually subsided.

It felt like a warning to prepare for the future. To heed it, I pulled up Alfonso’s status window, which I had tucked away in the corner of my vision.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━×

Alfonso Einberg

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Race: Human

[Stats]

[Skills]

[Relationship: Wary]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

‘Einberg…….’

Five years ago, the worst plague ravaged the northern region of the Leonel Kingdom.

A deadly pandemic with over an 80% mortality rate.

As dark blossoms bloomed all over the body and the brain melted from scorching fever, it was dubbed the “Dark Blossom Fever.”

The Dark Blossom Fever, which devastated the north, finally subsided after three months, and it was only natural that the Bairn County, the epicenter of the outbreak, became a wasteland.

That’s when the Hamel Empire’s army marched south. And not long after, news of the Bairn Count’s demise arrived. My great-grandfather, known as the Northern Sword, had passed away in such a wretched manner.

The Einberg family served as knights under the Bairn Count. I was told there were no male survivors.

‘So an Einberg had survived after all.’

Concealing his origins was understandable.

The one whose neck was severed under the suspicion of assassinating royalty was Olivia Ainberck. It was a sensational case that caused an uproar across the kingdom.

Even in the formality of registering at an inn, he must have hesitated before writing his own ‘name.’ Eventually, he likely wrote a different name instead.

‘Why did he come to the palace?’

The moment it’s revealed that Alfonso’s original surname is not Haimdel but Ainberck, it won’t be easy for him to escape with his life.

No, even before that.

How did he become a palace servant without being discovered?

The fellow was promoted from a servant to a personal attendant.

He must have undergone verification twice – once when hired as a servant, and again when promoted to an attendant. It might have been possible to be hired as a servant if he had enough money, given how many rotten fellows there are…

‘But being promoted to an attendant must have been different.’

Could it be that he carelessly investigated my background, assuming he would be assigned to me?

‘And what’s his relationship with the nursemaid?’

I pondered Alfonso’s relationship with the nursemaid for a moment.

He’s not her son.

Not only do they not resemble each other, but I’ve heard the nursemaid lost her husband and child in some accident. She would take leave once a year to commemorate her departed family.

‘I don’t know.’

Since they’re both from Ainberck, at the very least, they must be distant relatives.

If he ever shows any inappropriate emotions towards me, like hostility or murderous intent, I’ll simply leak it to the palace security forces.

Leaving it at that, I opened Alfonso’s status window.

━━━━━━━━━━×

HP: ?

Strength: D+

Stamina: ?

Cardio: D-

Agility: ?

Flexibility: ?

.

.

.

Mana: ?

━━━━━━━━━━

There were more stats indicated by question marks than what was visible. Whether to show or hide them……

No. There must be some that could be confirmed, even partially. I decided to think positively.

With the ghostly hand’s index finger, I firmly pressed the stats marked with question marks. There was no reaction. I had expected a message like ‘Consume XX RP to reveal?’ to pop up.

Pass.

Since there was no way to check them now, I decided to focus on what was visible.

‘Strength at D+? I thought it would be around E like mine.’

Alfonso, treated as a weakling among the servants. And perhaps because he was promoted from servant to valet, he often got caught up in bickering.

Whenever that happened, he would squint his eyes and cower. But that was all an act.

‘Could it be that the average for humans isn’t D but C?’

The thought crossed my mind, but I shook my head.

There’s no way.

The physical abilities of humans unable to wield ‘magic’ are the same in this life or the previous. My flexibility at C-, allowing me to stretch like a promising gymnast.

I recalled how Alfonso would sometimes jeer “jellyfish” when I stretched.

‘That cheeky brat.’

Erasing the image of Alfonso’s smirking face from my mind, I closed his stat window.

‘Let me check the skill window too.’

Breathing, walking, running, throwing……

The first screen listing even trivial skills didn’t seem much different from mine.

To check for any extraordinary skills, I swiped up the ghostly index finger.

[?]

[?]

[?]

.

.

.

The barrage of [?]s made me frown instinctively.

I barely resisted the urge to close it outright.

Still, I did glean some information from the scant data. Unlike my skill window that showed everything, this one only displayed possessed skills.

And.

‘Many.’

It seemed to be twice the amount of skills I possessed. Even though things like breathing occupied a space in the skill window, it clearly exceeded the normal range.

‘I’m definitely learning something special.’

I fell into thought while stroking my chin.

The Einberg knight family.

Did Alfonso also receive knight training?

It didn’t seem so, given his confirmed lack of physical strength. It seemed like a problem I could only know for sure when I confirmed the [?] that filled his status window in front of me.

‘How do I confirm that?’

The situation surrounding me was already unpleasant enough, and now this shady guy was next to me too.

As the moon set at dawn.

My brooding time deepened.