Fourth Prince's Debauchery

There are several reasons I volunteered myself to leave the camp. The first one was that I was bored.

And the second one was to help my sister to build her authority.

This expedition is the perfect stage for Dina to show her talents. And to achieve that, she needs to become the center of attention.

The problem is, I'm widely known among the students. In fact, my reputation as a sword genius eclipses my sister's, and although yesterday I swore allegiance to Dina in public, in the eyes of many students, that was just a strategy I used to slap Alan's face.

Thus, many people still think that I have more authority than my sister.

Therefore, I need to leave. Once I'm away, sister Dina will become the maximum authority in this place, and her position in the heart of the nervous and scared students will rise greatly.

That was also the reason I didn't give any opinion about my sister's plan this morning. To give the impression that my sister is the one that gives the orders.

And that is also the reason I don't simply wave my hand and kill the daemons in the forest. Only when the students and teachers struggle greatly and survive under Dina's lead, Dina's first step as the next emperor of the Arcadian Empire will be consolidated.

This is the perfect training opportunity for Dina. In this forest, she will be leading a group of naïve students with the help of the teachers that are unconditionally in her side. In the future, she will have to lead all the lives of the empire while being wary of the scheming nobles that want to acquire greater authority.

Twenty minutes after the meeting finished, Katherine and I left to scout the route Dina assigned us.

I can understand why my sister was so convinced that I'll be unable to make Katherine fall for me. After all, Katherine is very cold towards me. And she always tries to keep a respectful distance from me when we are alone.

Even now, Katherine has not spoken to me even once since we started our mission.

To be honest, this is a very difficult challenge. Of course, it will be much easier if I use my powers, but that way, this challenge will lose all the fun.

I sighed and started by the basics. You know, trying to find a topic of conversation.

"… So, how have you been, Miss Katherine?"

"… If you have nothing important to say, just keep silent, please."

Woah, how harsh.

Fortunately for me, so many lifetimes have made my face very thick.

"Come one, I'm just trying to start a conversation to pass the time. I don't understand why you are so harsh to me. Did I offend you in any way before?"

Katherine thought for a moment before sighing. "Sorry about that, it's just that I have some awful experiences with princes and nobles in general."

Thinking about it, Evelyn told me something about this before. According to her, the reason Katherine was so prejudiced against me was due to something she experienced before.

Mm… This can be a good entry point.

"I don't want to brag, but I'm not like most nobles, so you don't have to worry about being forced to do something against your will."

Katherine glanced at me briefly and nodded after hesitating slightly.

"It's true you are different than most nobles. In fact, you and Dina are very different from your two older brothers. By the way, I liked what you did yesterday. You did not mind kneeling in public just to help your sister. That is admirable."

Mm, good good. This is in my bag.

"Then, we can be friends, right?"

Katherine sneered.

"Of course not."

… That was not in the script.

Katherine saw my expression and smiled coldly. "I admit you are pretty good for a noble, but in a certain sense, you are even more dangerous than them. You probably are thinking of making me one of your girlfriends, right? Thinking about it, I remember the first time we met you praised my beauty and talent. Were you thinking about putting your claws on me since then?"

I was speechless. This girl's defenses are truly high.

Katherine saw my expression and smiled in triumph.

"Even my master said that spending too much time near you is dangerous. And just before leaving the camp, Dina warned me to be careful of your sweet words. Something about you being a wolf in sheep's clothing that likes to make beautiful girls fall in his hands."

Sister, you are cheating!

And headmistress, how do you dare to say that when you already fell in my hands…?

I looked at Katherine and shrugged.

"What can I say, I'm a charming man."

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Overconfident."

I smirked. "Now that we are talking about that topic, what are your requirements for a husband?"

"…"

"Katherine? Miss Katherine? Are you there?"

"… I'm sure that question counts as sexual harassment."

"Well, I'm just curious. As your suitor, I'm curious about what do you expect in a man."

"So you admit you don't have good intentions, huh." Maybe amused by my words, Katherine decided to speak after laughing softly.

"… Well, he must be strong."

"Like me."

"And handsome."

"Like me."

"He must be gentle too."

"I'm gentle."

"… And he must know how to cook."

"I don't want to brag, but I'm an excellent cook."

Katherine looked at me speechless. I put on a smug expression and grinned.

"It looks like I'm the perfect candidate to be your husband."

To my surprise, though, Katherine looked at me briefly before smiling maliciously.

"There is still the last requirement."

"I'm all ears," I said smilingly.

"… He needs to be loyal."

… Okay.

I'm sure she is doing it on purpose.

"What is the problem, prince? Could it be that you don't consider yourself a loyal partner?"

I could see Katherine looking at me with a teasing expression. This girl, does she think she won?

But before I could turn the tables on her, my senses picked up something from far away.

"Careful!" I acted immediately, hugging Katherine and jumping away.

"Wah!" Katherine's eyes opened wide and her expression turned red. But when she was about to say something, she saw an arrow hit the place where she was just one minute ago, destroying several trees with a powerful expression.

Katherine turned pale. But now was not the time to console her. I grunted and kicked the ground, jumping away again. One second later, several arrows pursued us.

It looks like we finally met the daemons.

...

P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels