Chapter 4 : The Axis of Evil (3)

“Do you have something to say to me? Or perhaps, something to say to others?”

His face, covered in an obvious ridicule, also held the confidence that I wouldn't be able to do anything.

“Something to say, you ask…….”

I slowly uncrossed my legs and stood up.

“Isn't that dangerous? Such remarks.”

At my words, Sein's eyes widened as if he truly didn't understand, and he asked back.

“How can a loyal subject's sincere remonstrance be dangerous?”

There was no way the bastard didn't know I wasn't referring to just 'having something to say', but he maintained a face of not knowing what I meant.

“Is that so?”

So that's how it is……. I muttered and approached the three maids, who still couldn't lift their faces, and spoke coldly.

“Hey.”

“Ye……Yes, Your Highness.”

I felt Sein glancing this way, as if he expected me to start taking my anger out on the maids.

“This isn't a conversation for the likes of you to hear, so all of you cover your ears. The day you're caught having eavesdropped on even one word, you'll have to work without fingers.”

After confirming that they had all turned pale and were firmly covering their ears at my words, I turned my body back to Sein.

“Sein.”

“……Yes, Your Highness.”

Sein looked at me as if puzzled.

“As you know, I'm not an eloquent speaker like you, Sein.”

“What does that…….”

“So I have no choice but to show you with my actions. Shall we start with knocking?”

To Sein, who had an expression as if asking what I was talking about, I gestured with my chin and ordered.

“Go out and come back in. This time, like an adjutant. Come in when my permission is given.”

“……Ha!”

Sein, realizing I was trying to train his habits, snorted as if it was pathetic.

“Was what you thought so hard about just dog training?”

If necessary. I answered with a shrug of my shoulders.

“I will accept your words, Your Highness. Though I don't know if you can teach me properly, no matter how many times you repeat it.”

He stomped and went outside.

If he properly asked for my permission and came inside, I was planning to just let it go this time.

But he probably wouldn't.

As he had just announced before leaving, his will to 'not listen no matter how many times you repeat this' seemed clear.

True, with his pride, he wouldn't want to show an obedient side after picking a fight first.

Especially in front of the servants.

Still, I fiddled with the handle of the porcelain teapot, hoping he would make a wise choice.

Knock.Knock.Knock.

Burst.

After knocking on the door rhythmically, he, just as before, opened the door and came in without a word of permission from me.

He looked at me for a moment with eyes that said, 'What are you going to do now,' but that didn't last long.

Horror dawned on his face as he checked my hand, and

CRASH!!!

“Aargh!!!”

Because he soon had to curl up his whole body and crouch down.

The teapot that left my hand grazed his left side, hit the wall, and shattered with a loud crash.

The warm tea that was inside splashed in all directions.

“Wh……What is this, all of a sudden…….”

He lifted his eyes, which were trembling with fear.

“You couldn't understand my words, so I taught you. With your body.”

I answered with a cynical smile.

I tapped his shoulder, which was trembling minutely.

“Now do you know how dangerous your actions were?”

I added, but he didn't seem to be listening.

“Leave for today. If you need repetitive learning, come back anytime.”

When I grabbed his arm and pulled him up, he stood up unsteadily, like a paper doll.

“Though next time, my hand might slip, and I don't know where it will fly.”

Sein, pale as a sheet, dragged his trembling legs and quickly disappeared.

This should be enough.

Thinking it would be quiet for a while, I approached the three maids who still had their ears firmly covered.

Seeing the tips of my feet, they stealthily lifted their faces.

When I motioned to take my hands away from my head, they all awkwardly removed the hands that were covering their ears.

“Now, clean this up and get out.”

Watching the three, who were even more creaky than before, I sat back down.

With this, the rumor that the 7th Prince was still a psycho who threw dishes at people would circulate again.

***

Sein became quiet after that incident.

Though the servants, who disliked Sein for lording over them as if he were the master of the castle, were a bit noisy about this.

A small commotion also arose in the maids' dormitory after the day's work was over.

“Do you still think the Prince has changed a bit lately, Anna?”

At the older maid's words, which asked as if teasing her, Anna's lips pouted.

At that, Lin, who was next to her, grabbed her shoulder and said.

“Why are you teasing the kid? No, Anna. You were right. He really has changed.”

“You think so too, right, sis? A bit…….”

“He's become terrifyingly scary.”

The maids, who were preparing for bed, cackled and booed at her words.

“Hey! I told you not to tease the kid!”

“No, but it's true! I was there too, during the commotion with the adjutant this time. He was violent before, but now…… he's calmly violent.”

“What's that supposed to mean? Are you 'prettily ugly'?”

When the colleague next to her teased her, as if she'd heard all kinds of nonsense, Lin glared at her.

“……I'm never switching meal duties with you again. Hey, Ann. You know what I mean, right? We saw it together then!”

Lin asked the remaining maid who had attended to that problematic lunch with Anna.

Ann, who had her gaze lowered to sew an apron, glanced up slightly before focusing on her mending again and spitting out.

“His accuracy seems to have dropped a bit. Seeing as he couldn't hit that jerk's head.”

Another burst of laughter erupted at her calm reply.

Presently, the dormitory lights were turned off, and a gradual silence settled in the noisy room.

While everyone was asleep, Anna lay still and reminisced.

About the 7th Prince's gaze, which had briefly checked their hands that were tightly covering their ears, right before he threw the teapot.

‘He's still strange, a bit…….’

“I think he's become……kinder.”

Muttering softly, Anna quietly closed her eyes.

Still, in a way, it feels like he's become scarier than before.

The fact that Anna came to work in the Imperial Palace at the youngest age was partly because there was no one who wanted to work under the 7th Prince, but the biggest reason was that she was quick-witted.

Now that I know from this incident that the Prince wants to appear rough, I really have to be careful with my words from now on.

Making her resolve, Anna gradually fell asleep.

Ran's performance ended, having achieved only half of its initial objective.

***

The incidents of Sein opening the door without courtesy disappeared.

In fact, he didn't even set foot in this direction at all.

Fortunately.

I'd never been told I had a good personality, but I still didn't have a hobby of hitting people in the head with a teapot, so I was a little relieved.

Furthermore, whether the servants were more frightened after Sein's incident or what, the people who would step into my bedroom or office without an order disappeared.

Except for the times they came for necessary cleaning or laundry, everyone tried to stay far away, as if this place was a haunted house.

Thanks to that, I am idle.

I can sit on a tree like this, get some air, and rest.

I can even flap my wings a few times.

And preen my beak a bit…….

Yes, I have currently turned into a crow and am sitting on a tree.

To be precise, on a branch of the acorn tree by the office window.

Even after the first time I turned into a crow, I had tried turning into a crow a few times as a test.

Not many, just once or twice.

There was this reason, too, for not letting people into the office or my room.

This is the most bothersome point.

Why can I turn into a crow?

[Dark Header] is an old fantasy novel.

Powers like magic exist, and scary monsters and non-human races also appear.

In this world, there is something called Manis, and a person who possesses it can use special powers.

Manis is innate to only a very few people.

The 7th Prince being treated so badly is all because of that.

Because he is the only member of the imperial family who was not born with Manis.

It's a setting value that contributed to making the owner of this body such a lump of complexes.

-But the fact that I can transform like this, no matter how I look at it, seems to be because of Manis…….

“Caaaw- Caaaw-”

I can't get used to this damn caw.

Anyway, Manis manifests as a different ability for each person.

The abilities that appear in the novel were all related to nature.

For example, the Emperor uses the power of fire, the 1st Prince uses the Manis of water, and the 2nd Prince uses fire.

But what is this?

A Manis that transforms into a crow was an ability I had never seen, even in the novel.

Or I also considered if the crow whose neck I grabbed on the first day had placed a curse on me, but seeing as I'm not some crow who can only be turned back into a human by a princess's kiss, and I can turn into a crow and back into a human whenever I want, it didn't seem to be that either.

I don't know why I came to have this ability, but it seems clear that I must not be caught by anyone.

Because I want the current situation to proceed according to the novel's development.

Of course, the protagonist might suffer a little less, and he might be able to take a slightly easier path, but I wanted things to proceed safely according to the original work I know.

The reason I'm here so leisurely is also because I know that there's 1 year left until the original story starts and 3 years left until I die, but above all, it's because I know the entire original story.

[Dark Header] is a novel I really like.

This is an unchanging fact ever since a 14-year-old kid first discovered the old fantasy novel series gathering dust in the corner of the district library's fiction section.

I want this novel, which I must have read over 100 times, to end with the ending I know.

Of course, if my body doesn't return to normal after about 3 months, I'm going to bolt immediately.

I flapped my stiff wings, listening to the sounds of people's conversations coming from all around.

***

“What's happening today?”

“Th-They are holding the evening r-ritual. The 7th Prince must also attend today.”

The attendant, who came to deliver the message in place of the adjutant, tried to do his duty while watching my reaction, as if I would start screaming at any moment.

“I get it, so get out.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The young attendant must have thought that I, with my frown, would throw the ink bottle.

Otherwise, there would be no reason for him to be unable to take his eyes off the desk while busy walking out, as if running.

“Dammit.”

As soon as the door closed, a sigh burst out of my mouth automatically.

A gathering where the Emperor and my siblings get together.

The Emperor holds this holy ritual time with the Emperor's children once a month, or more.

It's called a ritual, but you can see it as a test for the successor.

Naturally, the 7th Prince isn't even in the running to be a successor, so he's just a fifth wheel.

If that's the case, they could just not call him at all, but the logic is that it's customary for all of the Emperor's direct children to participate, so that's not allowed either.

It didn't feel great to think about sitting for several hours in a place like that, which would obviously be more uncomfortable than a company dinner.

Besides, even if we rarely meet, if they are my siblings, there might be someone who knows me well.

A situation might arise where they suspect my conduct is strange.

It's because I was an avid reader of [Dark Header] that I know at least this much about the 7th Prince; in truth, the owner of this body is an extra villain with little importance, so meticulous habits, lifestyle, and all human relationships and such do not appear in the book.

I'll just have to frown as much as possible and only look at the floor.

I ordered the servant who came to help me change to leave the clothes and prepare some digestive aids, making my resolve.

Today, I was sure to get indigestion even if I hadn't eaten anything.

***

The banquet hall I arrived at, guided by the attendant, was, compared to the dining hall of the collapsing palace I live in, so magnificent it could be called radiant.

It seemed not everyone had arrived yet, as there were empty seats here and there.

Naturally, the Emperor's seat, the most honored one, was empty.

I walked as naturally as possible and took a seat at the very end of the long table.

Fortunately, this much was a setting mentioned in the novel.

As expected, no one seemed to pay any attention to me.

I looked around a little.

After all, they were the siblings I was meeting for the first time since my possession.

And my first impression of them was, first, 'they're blinding'.

Not an idiomatic expression like 'their beauty is blinding', but my eyes literally hurt.

They all had brilliant blond hair, so it was hard to keep my eyes open in the feast of light reflecting off the chandelier.

It certainly seemed that, amongst them, the 7th Prince would look just like a crow.

Viewed from above, it might look like black ink stamped on golden silk.

Now, if I just sit still, pretend to participate in the ritual, and go back to my room, it will be quiet again for about a month.

So, I just have to repeat this act two or three more times.

“The half-wit bastard doesn't even know to be ashamed and is holding his head up stiffly.”

Do I have to come to such a fancy place every time?

“Hey. Did you just ignore me?”

Company dinners at least save me food expenses, but this is…….

“Hey!”

Are they calling me right now?

I turned my head toward where the voice, full of displeasure, which I had been faintly hearing for a while, was coming from.

It was a young man with reddish-blond hair and red eyes.

He, who had spoken, looked at me with contempt-filled eyes and went to find his own seat.

The 8th Prince, Cellos Abalan.

He looked half a head taller than me, but he was my younger half-brother, 2 years my junior.

Ah, I had a strong premonition that this would not be a very good evening.

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