Ikemen ni Tenseishita kedo, Cheat ha Dekimasenshita

99 Muttering of A Certain Illegitimate Prince

My self-proclaimed best friend was sleeping on the sofa with a relieved expression on his face. Really, truth aside, the current situation was this guy was being treated as an intruder. Yet, he was still sleeping here soundly. This guy was simply too bold. Well, that or the trust he had in me was simply that huge.

At least, that was how I thought from the way that, despite the fact he showed considerable resistance when I told him he had to be my attendant to hide, he still accepted it and said it might be the best method in the end. It was further proven from the way, though it might just be because he was really exhausted, he fell asleep as soon as he sat on the sofa.

“He really is the spitting image of Duke.”

I wasn’t referring to his appearance but his gesture. Just a glance was enough to notice that he was a bold person who was careless and jam-packed with naivety too. He easily puts his trust on others, a person who’s extremely good natured and honest to a fault. And I remembered that I was saved by someone similar. A ridiculously gentle and lovable person.

I wondered if it was really him who saved me and not Duke? He did insist that all of us forgot about him due to the demon king’s scheme, and Duke took his place in our memories. Not to forget that he also claimed Duke was the demon king.

Sure, if both of them stood silently next to each other, Duke looked more like the demon king than him. Still….

“This coat though… no matter how I look at it, I’m sure it’s the garment exclusive to the main Six Gods.”

The coat he threw away after he snatched the waiter’s vest was the garment of the Six Gods. Of this, I was sure. However, Duke should be the one playing that role in the festival. Yet, I saw with my own eyes that this Demon King-kun was the one who wore this attire.

Heaving a sigh, I took the coat he threw away and used it as a blanket for him.

“Maybe I have to do a little test.”

That decided, I took out six enchanted magic crystals and arranged a simple barrier formation around the sofa. Although the crystal I was using was scrap crystal, considering I wouldn’t be able to uncover his true identity with my own power anyway, he should still show some reaction. If he really was part of the demon race that is.

Adjusting my breath, I poured my magical power into the enchanted magic crystal, and formed an evil repelling barrier. The result of my experiment? Demon King-kun was still sleeping peacefully inside the completed glowing barrier. However, there was black smoke coming out from his left hand.

When I opened that hand, I saw black string attached to a crystal. One that, fortunately, was rapidly vanishing like smoke and left only the clear crystal behind.

The crystal shone beautifully. In fact, in my opinion, it might be one of the best enchanted magic crystals I have ever seen in my life.

“… Is the string corrupted?”

If that was the case, then it might have gotten purified when I invoked the barrier.

“Good grief. Just who in the world are you?”

Despite my question, the person himself was sleeping quite peacefully, unheeding of the headache and worries he caused me. True he was sleeping, but I wanted him to at least understand a bit of my worries here.

“― I’ll take this as my reward.”

I think I had to be rewarded for saving Demon King-kun’s life, but when I took the crystal, it suddenly lost its brilliance and became cloudy.

“…”

I placed the crystal back in Demon King-kun’s hand again, and it rapidly regained its brilliance. However, once I took it from his hand, the crystal turned cloudy again. It glowed once more when I returned it back to his hand.

“… Is this crystal telling me that it chooses him over me?” I asked out loud, causing the crystal to shine again.

When I saw this shine, I felt a splitting headache. Seriously? Were you telling me this crystal had a will of their own? Even the crystal hated me.

Although I had no choice but to receive such cruel treatment anywhere I go for being an illegitimate prince, I had never expected that even an inorganic material would hate me too….

When I heaved a sigh, whether it was of bitterness or resignation I didn’t know nor want to find out, a rustling sound came from his coat. Startled, I waited for a moment, expecting something to happen. However, nothing happened. At all.

Still, the rustling in his coat pocket kept going on. Soon, a chick doll came out right from that pocket. The chick then flapped its wings and leapt onto Demon King-kun’s head. It pushed its way into his hair, as if making a nest there, and went to sleep.

“This… may be a bit too unrealistic for an explanation.”

However, I soon recalled a certain story, one in which told about Duke creating a miracle during his engagement with Miss Muriel. I heard that the chick doll was moving on its own back then….

“… Are you kidding me…?”

Demon King-kun was holding onto the chick doll that was supposed to be owned by Duke. However, no matter how I looked at it, the chick doll was clearly attached to Demon King-kun, which was….

The fact that my own memories had started to become inconsistent was starting to make me feel uneasy. In fact, I felt nauseous upon knowing that almost everything I remembered had become inconsistent.

At that moment, I heard a knock from the door.

Covering Demon King-kun with the blanket to prevent whoever was knocking the door from seeing him, I loosened my tie and unfasten a few buttons of my tunic. Then, I opened the door. When I did, I saw Duke standing alongside Miss Muriel.

“Hello, folks. Is there something you need?”

“Uhm, Frederick-sama, the demon king seems to make his appearance. Duke-sama has been looking for him, but… did you, by chance, see someone suspicious around this area?”

Miss Muriel’s voice was trembling. She seemed to be frightened. However, Duke was completely focused on the commotion in the venue to the point he even neglected Miss Muriel.

……

This kind of behavior was also inconsistent with his behavior in my memories, making me question everything. I truly had no idea what was right and what was wrong now.

“Fre- Frederick-sama…?”

“Ah, my bad. Are you talking about the commotion that happens in the venue due to the appearance of the demon king?”

“Yes. The soldiers have been searching for him, but they still can’t find him. Even His Majesty has sent an order for General Crimson and his subordinate to find the demon king.”

Come to think of it, the soldiers did indeed run around before Demon King-kun arrived in front of this room.

“Duke-sama said that he came in this direction, but his presence suddenly vanished according to him. He might be hidden by something. Furthermore, there’s another problem….”

“I see. Sorry, but I was having a nap till you woke me up, so I have no idea what the situation was like.”

I let go of the door as I spoke and let them in to see the room. And though they couldn’t see his face, they should’ve known that someone was sleeping on the sofa just by the lump there.

“U-uhm, my apologies for disturbing your rest.”

Miss Muriel averted her beet red face from me. However, I just got this feeling that she was misunderstanding something here.

“So, what about the other problem?” I tried to ask her while buttoning up my tunic again.

“Y-yes. Uhm, His Highness Elliot is dancing with the saint representative from the academy, Irene-sama, which seems to cause some commotion with Katrina-sama….”

Miss Irene, eh? She was a problem child, but she was indeed chosen as the current saint representative from the academy.

Eh? Was that really the case? Darn it, my headache just worsened.

“And due to the commotion caused by the demon king, Katrina-sama pulled Irene-sama….”

What the heck? Katrina was the daughter of a Duke. She was also the Saint. She actually pulled someone? There must be a mistake. The one who pulled first should be that baron’s daughter, Miss Irene, right?

“Strangely enough, Katrina-sama had asked why did Irene-sama come to the venue despite not being invited… but, Irene-sama should be able to come since she was chosen as the representative… right?”

That was strange indeed. Both of them acted unlike themselves. As far as I know, Katrina was the kind of girl who always acted impartial no matter what. There was no way she was acting like that.

“Duke, Miss Irene is your cousin, right? You should at least scold her. The circumstances around her are rather unfortunate, but she has to learn proper etiquette since she has become a noble. That’s for her own safety.”

When I called Duke out, he turned around and glared at me, something that he had never done before.

“I know. That girl is just a bit tomboy-ish. She will learn properly later. Moreover, are you sure that you don’t see the demon king?”

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Suddenly, it felt like I was sucked into his bright red eyes as he stared at me, as if he was telling me he had no problem killing me if I dared to lie to him.

Good grief. His gaze made me feel disgusted at once. Even a shady character like me looked more brilliant compared to him. Furthermore, did he really think that this kind of child play was enough to force me to obey him? I had no reason to do so, okay?

“I’ve already told you, I don’t know the demon king. Besides, I don’t even know his face in the first place.”

No one was going to remember his face amidst such chaos happening, really.

“Indeed. Even though I’m supposed to have met him in person, I’ve already started to forget how his appearance is for some reason….”

From the look of it, Miss Muriel was trying to recall something, but it seemed she couldn’t remember it at all.

“I see. That’s troublesome.”

Duke turned around and walked back toward the venue, and seeing this, miss Muriel bowed in a hurry before chasing after him. And though I was really confused as well, in the end, I decided to go to the venue to see Katrina.