The Villain Changed the Ending

086 Changed appearance

***[Richard Wang]***

Rumors about Crown Prince Robert are bad.

18 years old this year.

Emile, the first prince, was busy with his literary career at that age, but rumors were circulating that Robert was already into girl games.

Not too long ago, I heard that you participated in a masquerade where men and women play together.

He said he was forced to go out despite the chieftain’s dissuade.

It was a family dinner with a particularly bad reputation.

‘It wasn’t a good place for a prince to set foot.’

It seems that even a commotion broke out when he forcefully dragged a dancing woman into the room.

It is said that the prince’s figure was revealed because the mask was slightly twisted.

The other woman was the daughter of an insignificant baron.

It was the first time I participated in a masquerade, and I heard that you cried and appealed to people on the spot, saying that this had happened.

Perhaps it was a trap.

Because she openly appealed in front of people, she had no choice but to put the woman into the prince’s concubine.

We are currently discussing it with the baron.

Because of this, fierce protests came from the princess of a foreign country who was still engaged.

Well, anyone would be angry.

A prince who hasn’t even married yet has to make a concubine first.

Even more so, he forced himself to drag a woman away, and was greeted in a dishonorable form.

The engagement story, which was already going through difficulties, seems to be broken.

That too, by paying a huge amount of compensation from this side.

‘How did this happen?’

He was a smart kid when he was young.

I thought the future of our kingdom was bright, but really, how did this happen?

If there are outstanding talents around him, that will motivate him to become a better person, but Robert falls into abyss when compared to Duke Weiss.

Recently, he had eaten too much food and his whole body was spreading to the side.

I gain weight day by day to the point that I can’t wear the clothes I wore last year at all this year.

A few months ago he had been a beautiful young man, but in no time he had become a pig standing there in the shape of a human being.

His personality is also quite violent.

I heard that several of the servants next to Robert have changed over the years.

The chief chamberlain doesn’t tell them, but it seems the prince often beats them.

He may have even laid a hand on a lady-in-waiting.

The chief chamberlain entrusted all the attendants to the attendants.

To the extent that King Richard had such suspicions, Robert was becoming a helpless idiot.

If you put Robert and the Duke of Weiss in one place, the contrast is stark.

It’s really like a handsome man and a pig.

“…”

King Richard offered tea to the Duke of Weiss, hiding his bitter feelings.

The Duke of Weiss is still beautiful.

I don’t feel like a girl anymore, but the word beautiful would be appropriate.

His silver hair, which shone much brighter than his grandfather or father, showed the characteristics of the clan that ruled the dukedom in the past.

For that reason, it is said that it is particularly popular in the dukedom.

‘Really, I don’t like this operation in many ways.’

The royal family propagates that we, the royal family, are the chosen clan of the gods, but looking at the duke like this, it felt like the current duke was receiving God’s love.

Wouldn’t you like being compared to yourself?

Robert’s expression is getting worse.

Although he was still trying to hide it, Robert’s gaze occasionally stung at the duke.

‘A fool.’

In front of a duke whose prestige is higher than that of the royal family, if the simple crown prince, not the king, was like that…

‘No, he himself knows.’

That’s why I suppress my dissatisfaction and sit with a forced smile.

Considering Robert’s behavior these days, it must be doing its best in its own way.

‘Because even I get depressed when I’m in front of a duke.’

Even he, who has gone through all the battles of childbirth, becomes jealous when he puts the duke in front of him.

Robert, who is not even 20 years old, is probably suppressing his mind well beyond his imagination.

Even that child secretly liked Catherine, the daughter of the Marquis of Petrie, no, already the Duchess.

‘Haa, to be honest, I have to reduce the power of the Duke of Weiss a bit… but there’s no way.’

Duke Weiss’ reputation grows day by day.

At one time, Bernd’s reputation tended to diminish, but now there is no sign of it.

Not only his popularity in the duchy, but also in the aristocratic society, his reputation is rising day by day.

and become richer

Even more than the royal family.

The amount of money he had borrowed from the duke’s family was growing to the point where he was afraid to even look at the ledger.

At the same time, the amount of interest returned to the duke’s family and the benefits offered instead were increasing as it was difficult to afford.

‘The duke is younger than Robert.’

Even compared to King Richard himself, of course.

The skill and reputation of the Duke of Weiss is not limited to finances or land management.

Now only 16 years old, the Duke of Weiss is also dabbling in trade with the continent across the sea.

I’ve heard that the profits made there are huge.

Investors share items such as spices, silk, and ivory, and sell them through merchants.

It is said that the duke took the items that other investors judged to be of little value after making some concessions in the distribution of expensive items.

Is one of them called cigarettes?

Something like a tree root, which is fashionable in aristocratic society these days.

It is said that they cut it into small pieces and put it on one side of a long stick with a hole in it to inhale the smoke.

I don’t know what’s so good about it, but it’s rumored that there are many people who keep looking for it after using it once.

Investors belatedly wanted to have the root of the tree, but they said that they were only moving their feet after a distribution contract was signed to have all the cigarettes in the future.

Even when we first signed the distribution contract, people said that it was stupid to concede the distribution of spices because of the roots of trees whose value was unknown, but this has changed in just a few years.

‘Where else did I hear about cigarettes?’

Without knowing it, there was no way I would have given up even a part of the precious spice.

That he is not such a person can be fully understood by Oscar’s actions after becoming a duke.

He must have heard the information from somewhere and prepared it step by step.

The royal family also belatedly invested in other trading ships, but the results were not good.

Ships never returned without knowing why they were shipwrecked by storms, encountered pirates, or sometimes went missing.

Comparing the amount invested and the goods of the returned ship, it was not a big loss, but I did not see a big gain.

Too few ships return with a properly loaded cargo after leaving port.

Pirates in particular were a problem.

‘Tsk tsk.’

King Richard clicked his tongue inwardly.

The captain of the ship chosen by the Duke of Weiss is a fairly poor quality pirate.

From the perspective of the royal family, he was a garbage person, but it seems that such a person survives better in the sea.

‘By the way, why doesn’t the duke bring it up?’

It was two days before I received the request for an interview.

Unlike usual, it was a fairly tight application.

There must be something important going on, but he doesn’t say anything.

Continuing a gentle conversation, the duke simply presented a few precious gifts.

From nob le mt l dot com

Just now, I was given tobacco powder, which is currently popular in aristocratic society, and a pipe to smoke with it.

It was an exotic item crafted from silver, gold and ivory.

‘Is it a craftsman who is good at handicraft, or is it an item brought in from abroad?’

I don’t know, but it’s a fairly rare decoration.

Robert was examining it with greedy eyes to see if he had seen a cigarette recently.

Cigarettes are not that expensive, but they say that they are difficult to obtain because the quantity is so small.

‘That’s probably because the duke is deliberately adjusting the quantity.’

Of course, the price of the cigarette holder that puts it in is also high.

Besides, it wasn’t long before tobacco had spread, so the only way to get a tobacco pipe was at a store where the Duke’s family had reached.

“…”

It’s nasty.

There’s really no gaps to the point of being nasty.

It seems that the Duke’s gift is still not over.

An attendant who had accompanied the duke approached with a box.

“This is something that will be on sale this New Year.”

Receiving a glance from the duke, the attendant opened the box and took out the item.

The box contained two round objects in silver and studded with jewels.

One is decorated with a red gem and the other with a blue gem.

It’s very beautiful, but it won’t be just an ornament.

If that were the case, he wouldn’t have come to see the duke.

King Richard leaned forward a little.

The interview with the duke was not held in the hall, but in a room made up of tables and chairs.

It was because the duke, while applying for an interview, informed them that he wanted to have a somewhat intimate conversation.

However, no matter how many rooms it is, the tables and chairs are spaced apart, and the distance from the Duke is rather far.

You can see it well, but it’s not a distance where you can reach out and touch the silverware.

“What’s that?”

At King Richard’s question, the duke smiled with a pretty face.

“It’s a magic tool. Warm air and cold air come out.”

The duke touched the magic tool and turned to the chamberlain.

“I want to show it to Her Majesty and Her Highness Robert.”

The head chamberlain approached the table and checked the goods, then gave a slightly surprised face.

Then he carefully picked up the red silverware and held it close to King Richard.

“oh!”

An exclamation flowed involuntarily.

No matter how you look at it, warm air flows from objects that only look like ornaments.

When the chief chamberlain brought the blue magic tool closer, this time the cold air rushed towards his face.

“Is this a magical tool invented by your family?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. It is neither hot nor excessively cold when you touch it.”

Let’s put our hands on those words, indeed, silver products are only subtly cold or warm.

“It’s amazing.”

His face was smiling, but something bitter came to mind again.

There were many rumors that the duke was inventing various magic tools.

Some even go so far as to say that it may not be long before they can recreate ancient magic tools that were once called lost technology.

However, King Richard’s attention was focused on arrows, not those magic tools.

‘If I dare to receive a gift, I prefer magic arrows.’

If only a few of those arrows were in hand, I’m sure I could make something similar.

But arrows seem to be strictly managed.

There was no word that it was acquired by another family other than the Hoven and Petrie Marquis, who are related by blood.

‘I can’t even ask for it.’

King Richard sighed inwardly, but soon smiled.

The fact that this item was brought before the sale means that the ducal family cares about the royal family.

‘I should think that it’s fortunate that I’m not the type to rely on prestige.’

If the duke had looked down on the royal family and acted recklessly, the royal family’s situation would have been worse than it is now.

“Thank you, Duke. Thanks to you, I saw something strange.”

Anyway, it is a valuable item.

The fact that the duke himself donated this magic tool to the royal family also appeals to nobles.

I wondered if he might have asked for an interview to do so.

‘Did he save face for the royal family?’

I was worried that he was asking me to repay the amount past the due date, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

I was really relieved to sweep my mind, but suddenly the duke corrected his posture.

“Your Majesty, something strange has been happening lately. Do you know about it?”

Is this the main point?

My body tensed up on its own.

“What if it’s strange?”

When I asked with a bit of caution, the duke’s face turned worried.

“The other day, when I was returning from the capital to the dukedom, I witnessed an area where the number of monsters suddenly increased.

The Duke’s story was something that even King Richard knew at first glance.

There were reports of a surge in demon numbers in some areas.

King Richard, of course, sent an interrogating letter to the lord of the region.

It was because he thought it was because he neglected to hunt monsters.

However, according to the duke’s words, that may not be the case.

“…”

King Richard’s face hardened.

‘If the words of the duke are true.’

He has caught a ridiculous fault with the lord, who is working fine.

Even if he didn’t say it outwardly, the lord would have rebelled internally.

‘If I had a crush on the royal family.’

The mind becomes restless.

Besides, the duke is obfuscating the point, but if you hear it a little worse, it has been said that the god is dissatisfied with the king’s reign.

Words I hate seem to come out of King Richard’s mouth.

But he forced his lips together to stop the words from coming out.

In the future, the Duke’s family will need to borrow money.

Besides, he had already borrowed a lot of money, and he couldn’t say anything bad about him.

‘Above all… the duke doesn’t seem to have a bad heart.’

The duke, while coming to the audience for that matter, gave several precious gifts so as not to harm the pride of the royal family, and only mentioned it as if passing by at the end.

To others, it would just look like the duke came to present a new object to the king.

There was consideration for the royal family.

King Richard sensed it and calmed himself down.

But Robert is still young.

I wasn’t careful enough to pay attention to those details.

King Richard was barely holding himself in, when Robert spoke harshly.

“Duke! Are you saying that God is dissatisfied with your father’s reign?”

Robert!

Don’t you know you’re saying that clearly now?

The duke tried to blurt out the words, but rather, the boy called his son spoke them clearly.

Originally, good words do not spread well, but bad words spread far away without knowing it even if no one listens.

‘Why don’t you know that it can materialize and spread through your words.’

Now, he is letting the crown prince participate in the place where he can be with him so that he can gradually learn the king’s duties, but this time it may have been a mistake.

In the first place, when the Duke said he wanted to meet secretly, he probably meant to meet without Robert.

‘But if the relationship between Robert and the duke gets too far, that’s in trouble, so they came together.’

King Richard suppressed his tongue-tied feeling and forced a smile.

“Duke, please forgive Robert’s rudeness. This child is still young and full of energy. When I was young, I was more than that child, not less.”

The Duke smiled a little vaguely.

If the duke was a little older, I could answer that I was like that back then, but in reality the duke is younger.

I wouldn’t have had a proper answer.

After Robert’s eyes pressed him to say more, King Richard smiled at the Duke.

“I’m well aware of your loyalty. The royal family was already paying attention to the Witchbeast. But I thought it was too early to announce it, so I was looking at the timing.”

King Richard looked at the duke’s face and continued with a somewhat solemn expression.

“For the time being, don’t talk about it. If the people and other lords panic, the whole country will be in chaos. I’ll take care of this when I see the timing.”

“I understand, Your Majesty.”

The duke lowered his head without any objection.

When the duke withdrew, Robert bit his lip indignantly.

“Isn’t your father angry? The duke is sarcastically saying that our royal family is not incurring the wrath of God.”

stupid guy

King Richard first gave his gaze to the chamberlain.

“You urgently need to find out if the number of monsters is really increasing. Secretly so that no one else notices.”

“I understand, Your Majesty.”

“father!”

Robert calls out disgruntledly.

“…”

King Richard let out a small sigh.

It’s easy to notice that from the Duke’s words, but why don’t you try to understand the Duke’s consideration or the destructive power if this is true.

frustrated.

But this kid is the next king.

If you don’t know, you will have no choice but to teach.

“Robert.”

When King Richard saw that the chamberlain had gone out, he opened his mouth.

While explaining one by one, the son seems to understand, but his dissatisfaction with the duke does not seem to disappear.

No matter what, he just seems to hate the duke.

The consideration he was doing just seemed disgusting.

A small sigh escaped again.

If the relationship with the duchy goes bad, the one who will be in trouble is the next king, Robert himself.

‘Even though I should have known that.’

Still, Robert, who suffers from jealousy, can’t seem to hide his hatred for the duke.

A small sigh escaped my lips again.

As someone else did, the child is the one who is the one who is the one.