“It seems my brother was too indifferent to our younger sibling. He must be really upset for not taking care of her.”
“Ugh-“
Princess Lasiell, who pretended to gag, suddenly turned around and spoke to me.
“I’ll leave now.”
“Yes, please go in, Your Highness.”
“Oh? Our younger sibling made a new friend, and I guess that’s the priest! I can’t not greet them. Nice to meet you.”
“Ignore him.”
Princess Lasiell said, but the prince, unfazed, approached me and extended his hand.
“May the light bless you. Nice to meet you.”
“I am Prince Lorath of the Deltrak Empire.”
Since Princess Lasiell had lowered my expectations so much, I thought maybe this person wasn’t so bad after all.
Of course, that didn’t mean I thought Princess Lasiell’s dislike was just childish whining.
‘Even though he looks normal on the outside, he hired someone to kill Princess Kanabi and Princess Lasiell.’
I had failed when I tried to recruit them too.
‘Come to think of it, they must have learned about me back then, and now they’re pretending to ask if they’re friends with Princess Lasiell.’
Among Princess Lasiell’s insults, she once mentioned that the prince was very cunning and vile.
I couldn’t believe all of those insults, but I thought some of them might be true.
And now, looking at him, I thought:
‘The fact that he looks normal on the outside makes it even more chilling.’
If he had openly shown that he was a strange person, I wouldn’t have felt this way.
‘It’s like a psychopath pretending to be a normal person around others.’
Yes, that’s exactly it.
A psychopath.
Of course, this might be a prejudice.
Even I, as much as I liked to bend my arm inward, would have to side with Princess Lasiell, who I had a closer relationship with than with the prince.
However, from what I knew of the situation, seeing Princess Lasiell show affection for her “younger brother” like this…
‘It really wasn’t just childish dislike.’
He had tried all kinds of tricks to kill her behind her back, but now he pretends to care for her?
It’s a perfect way to mess with someone’s mind.
If the prince had openly shown that he disliked her, Princess Lasiell probably wouldn’t have reacted like this.
“I’m quite a devout believer. May I come often to pray?”
You shouldn’t be devout.
It’s hard to believe that a man who has tried to kill his own siblings is truly following the words of God. I can’t even speak of his audacity.
‘He’s probably going to say he prayed for forgiveness after killing someone and that it’s okay because he was forgiven.’
That kind of behavior would be a problem for someone who claims to be a devout follower of the light.
‘He’s using God, not following Him.’
Perhaps he’s just trying to maintain an image due to his relationship with the church.
“The prayer room is open to everyone.”
“Really? Well then, let’s meet often. If you’re close to our younger sibling, you should be friendly with me too.”
Princess Lasiell clenched her fist.
Then she raised it and slammed it into the prince’s back!
BAM!!
“Oh, Lasiell. What are you doing, acting so undignified in front of others?”
But surprisingly, Prince Lorath stood there without reacting, looking perfectly calm.
It seemed like Princess Lasiell had expected this, as she could not hide her frustration and was seething.
“Since when were you so devout? If you lie to the priest, you’ll get struck by divine punishment. Everything that comes out of your mouth is a lie, so now it must be a habit. You can’t speak without lying. How pitiful.”
“Lying? I never did that. Our little princess is still so absorbed in her fairytales, thinking of her brother as the villain. How long will she wait before giving you the role of the hero?”
I was stunned by the sight of Princess Lasiell’s strength not working, but it seemed like both the prince and princess were familiar with this situation.
‘The prince must have some abilities too. He must have used that power to block Princess Lasiell’s strength.’
Whatever the ability was, if it was related to ‘defense’, it was the perfect ability for royalty to possess.
“It seems Lasiell suddenly attacked and surprised you. Our siblings sometimes play pranks. The sound was a bit loud, but did you get surprised because I didn’t budge?”
I wanted them to talk among themselves as if I weren’t there, but, contrary to my thoughts, the prince seemed to be quite interested in me.
…Or maybe he wasn’t planning to let me go?
Perhaps the prince didn’t come only for Princess Lasiell but also had his sights set on me.
The prince’s question felt like he was testing me, which only made me more suspicious.
“This is a temple, Your Highness. Even if it’s a prank, you shouldn’t use violence here.”
“Ah!”
“Now that I think about it, my younger sibling committed a great offense. I will apologize on Lasiell’s behalf.”
The prince didn’t seem to react much to my lack of answer.
But when I saw his expression, looking like he had missed his prey, I realized something.
‘It was a trap after all. If I had answered, something bad would have happened to Princess Lasiell no matter what.’
I think it was a good decision to change the subject without reacting to the prince’s words.
“Anyway, I was planning to come pray often, and since my younger sibling made a mistake, I will make up for it.”
True to his royal status, the prince’s purse of money appeared without fail.
As expected, the purse the prince offered was quite heavy.
“I’ll take responsibility for my mistake!”
Moreover, the appearance of that purse was enough to make Princess Lasiell go into a frenzy.
‘Princess Lasiell and the prince are definitely a bad match. No wonder Princess Kanabi was worried.’
As soon as the prince appeared, Princess Lasiell was visibly shaken.
She was being tossed around and treated like a toy in the prince’s grasp.
It was painful to watch since it seemed like she didn’t realize it.
Considering Princess Lasiell’s age, it wasn’t a good look for an adult to treat a child like that.
“Don’t worry about it too much. It’s not strange for an older brother to take responsibility for his younger sibling’s small mistake.”
“Put that useless thing away and get out. Don’t try any strange tricks here.”
Despite Princess Lasiell’s sharp response, the prince was still smiling with a friendly expression.
“I already said I would pay as a donation, so I can’t do that. How old are you? Are you still throwing a tantrum like this?”
“Ha, what is this…”
It seemed that Princess Lasiell was speechless at Prince Lorath’s words.
Her anger had turned her into a rebellious teenager, whining with a single word.
‘This is familiar. The princess is belittled while he praises himself.’
Thanks to my past life experience, I knew exactly what this behavior meant.
‘It’s gaslighting.’
If you get caught up in that, your self-esteem drops, and you become mentally lost, swayed by one person. The fortunate thing is that up until now, Princess Lasiell hasn’t fallen for the prince’s tricks.
The reason she was able to avoid that was probably…
“It seems that in just a few months, your words have become harsher. This is what happens when you neglect your education. I should’ve paid more attention earlier. I feel a heavy and crushing sense of responsibility. Don’t you want to go back to the palace and continue your education?”
“If I ever want to go back to the palace, I’ll go on my own.”
“Princess Kanabi promised to raise you well, but it seems that promise was never kept.”
“Don’t say her name so carelessly! You don’t have the right to!”
“This is embarrassing to show others. I think I’ll leave now.”
I was worried about letting Princess Lasiell go like this.
Shouldn’t she be separated from the person who made her so angry?
“Leave right now!”
“We should go together, little sister. We haven’t seen each other for so long, and you’re not planning on leaving me alone, are you?”
The prince, pretending to be pitiful, made Princess Lasiell sigh before she tried her best to calm herself and spoke.
“If you want to talk to me, leave.”
“…I have no choice. If I have to appease my difficult little sister, I’ll follow. Here, take this.”
The prince grabbed my hand and placed the purse on it.
“This is for the donation box…”
“That’s something the priest will take care of. I’ve passed it on, so now I don’t have to worry about it.”
He was saying he didn’t care if the money was used as a bribe or placed honestly in the donation box.
Normally, a priest would probably either swallow the bribe or pocket half of it and put the rest in the donation box.
The prince must have been thinking of that when he spoke.
But I had never received a purse like this from anyone before.
“Your Highness.”
“Oh, no need for thanks. This is hardly anything to feel burdened by. Haha!”
“The donation should go in the donation box. I can’t personally accept it and put it in.”
“…….”
“Ha!”
For a brief moment, I think I saw the prince’s real expression for the first time.
His face froze, then relaxed, as if nothing had happened, and Princess Lasiell, seeing the prince flustered from my words, burst into laughter.
“What are you doing? The priest told you to put it in the donation box.”
Princess Lasiell personally took the purse from my hand and handed it back to the prince.
“Should I show you where the donation box is?”
“……The priest is really incorruptible.”
“You seem to think that just because you’re dirty, everyone else is too, but the priests here aren’t like that. So, if you want to donate, put it in the donation box yourself.”
I didn’t know why Princess Lasiell was acting so superior by telling me to put the money in the donation box, but thanks to that, I was able to return the purse to the prince.
If he was going to put it in the donation box himself, I had no problem accepting it, no matter how much money it was.
Additionally, I could give my thanks and blessings for the generous donation.