Chapter 60: The Miscreant Prince

『Maybe in another life, I’ll be a cute Chinese highschool girl instead of a prince fighting for his life in a romance novel.』

The wise words of a man who went by many names.

Miscreant Prince.

Baron Korvan Thale.

Wastrel Nobility.

Trash of the Royal Family.

The Fifth Prince.

The Man with No Qualities.

But above all else, he’s Prince Adonis Kallias Falsbane.

Usually, the royal court never concerned itself with Adonis’s comings and goings. In recent months, though, he was all they could talk about.

...

"Three nights ago, the Sweet Orchid."

"Two nights ago, the Bushy Rose."

"Last night, I hear he rented out the entire Silk House!"

"A shame to the royal name, that’s what it is!"

"Greedy bastard, the boy goes from one brothel to another like a hunter preying after beautiful women!"

The long council table was loud with outrage.

King Aldrius sat at its head, rubbing his temple. Old Hershant stood behind him, hands folded over his round belly, and wore the face of a man who’d heard this complaint a hundred times and was still going to hear it a hundred more.

Halfway down the table, Queen Minerva sipped her tea.

"Hm."

She set the cup down.

"Forgive me, my lords. I’m a little confused."

Every head turned.

"Almost every noble at this table visits the most expensive brothels in the kingdom. I’ve even seen a few of your precious carriages parked outside. And yet, no one complains about it."

She smiled very impishly, perchance to mock them.

"But when it’s Adonis, suddenly it’s a problem? Or is there another reason you have a problem with him? Hmmm?"

The room stiffened.

A fat baron went red to the ears. "Y-, You dare—!"

"A woman has no business speaking over men in this court!"

"Especially a witch!"

"Know your place, blood scorpion!"

Minerva rolled her eyes and picked her teacup back up.

The shouts and taunts of men as spineless as her husband would never do anything to scare her.

Case in point, Aldrius said nothing.

He looked like he’d rather be anywhere else.

... KSSSHHHHHHH! A chair scraped back.

"Your Majesty!"

Count Vesta rose to his feet.

He was a lean man in his fifties, with oiled grey hair and rings on every sausage-sized finger, and a smile that always seemed to be hiding a knife. The House of Vesta had controlled half the kingdom’s trade routes for three generations, and the Count never let anyone forget it.

He also had an eye on Adonis, and not a friendly one.

During the Gilishon City Auction, it was Count Vest who’d led the push to strip Minerva of her post as inventory manager. And he smiled viciously the entire time while hiding to avoid any sort of backlash, like he always did.

"How can Your Majesty allow this woman to speak so disrespectfully in the royal court?!"

All eyes turned to the king.

Aldrius opened his mouth, nothing came out at first.

Until. "...The meeting is dismissed."

"Your Majesty—"

"I said dismissed!"

"But Your Majesty, if the throne won’t address—"

"His Majesty has dismissed us."

It was Old Hershant who said it.

He hadn’t raised his voice nor moved an inch. All he did was look at Count Vesta, and for a moment, there was nothing soft about the elegantly fat chamberlain at all.

The nobles saw something cold behind his eyes, and they remembered how he’d survived thirty years in this palace.

One by one, they stood and hurried out. Even the frustrated Count Vesta followed along with his chest puffed out and his reddish, chubby face squeezed tight.

...Hmph! Minerva finished her tea.

...

"Mad! The boy has gone mad!"

The throne room boomed with the king’s footsteps.

Aldrius paced from one pillar to the next.

"How dare he disgrace the royal name? I know he may not truly be a member of this family, but after that performance at the Realm of the Seven Knights, the people would turn on me if I judged that bastard unfairly!"

"Indeed, Your Majesty. Especially now that more and more people are siding with the church and its miracles."

"And where is he even getting the gold?! I’ve heard some of the girls are paying HIM to sleep with them!"

Hershant gave a small laugh under his breath.

"Surely that’s only a rumor, Your Majesty."

"You know how I feel about rumors."

"I do, Your Majesty."

The chamberlain nodded sagely and thought to himself that his plan might have worked too well.

Failing so grandly before so many eyes had crushed the boy’s ambitions for the throne. Whatever fire Adonis once had was gone. He was a waste now.

’A harmless waste...’

"Hershant!"

"Yes. Your Majesty. What do you wish to do about him?"

Aldrius waved a hand. "Nothing. I have no time for that bastard. I’d rather focus on more important matters."

"Such as?"

The king stopped by the window and tucked his hands behind his back. His face was disturbingly serious.

"I hunger for coitus."

"...Eh?"

"You heard me."

Aldrius snorted coldly.

"Esmarie is so focused on her son being second in line that she’s off campaigning for him across the kingdom. Lucelia is busy caring for Leander. And Minerva..."

"She’d never sleep with you even if you forced her."

"Exactly! And the maids aren’t as wild in bed as they used to and I suspect Adonis is behind that as well!"

He sagged against the window frame and sighed.

"What do I do, Hershant?"

Hershant felt immense relief.

For one terrible moment, he’d thought the king was asking him to offer his bottom as a comfort meal of sorts.

He cleared his throat.

"Why not... visit one of the expensive brothels, Your Majesty? As the nobles do?"

Aldrius turned slowly and glared down at him.

"How can you suggest something so insane?! Do I look like an idiot to you?!"

"Forgive me, I only—"

"I’ll need a disguise first, of course."

"...Of course. Leave it to me."

...

The Diplomatic District was the second most prestigious place in Gilishon, after the Emerald Palace.

Foreign embassies lined its marble streets, and visiting princes and ambassadors slept in its guest estates. But to the nobles of Falsbane, it was known for something else entirely.

It had the best brothels in the land, and the most expensive.

There were top-tier slaves from faraway continents, with the kind of foreign beauty nobles always thirsted after. There were slave auctions so competitive the regulars shamelessly called them "the Olympics" for clandestine purposes.

Upper crust lords strolled the golden streets with two to four women on their arms. More beauties leaned from balconies, calling out for attention.

There were giggles and kisses everywhere.

It was a dreamland for any starving man.

And tonight, King Aldrius was one of such men.

He sat in a VIP room on the upper floor of the district’s finest house, dressed in a rich merchant’s robes and a false auburn beard. Behind him, Hershant stood in a heavy cloak, trying to look like furniture.

The head of the brothel bowed deeply.

"Allow me to present our finest. Lily."

A blonde maiden stepped forward.

Full strawberry lips, emerald eyes, slender limbs and her front was pushing out seductively.

Truthfully, her chest was so generous that her corset looked like it was fighting a losing battle.

"She has skills that can make any man squirm, sir."

Lily smiled shyly and tugged at the laces.

"Sir... I hope you can help me with this. It’s quite tight."

Aldrius was already salivating at her meaty cleavage that was covered with oil and her hot sweat.

Behind him, Hershant nodded approvingly.

The king reached for the corset, to "test" her assets, of course—

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

The floor shook.

"What is that noise?!"

King Aldrius stormed out onto the gallery and looked down at the great hall.

There, surrounded by more than thirty top maidens, stood a golden-haired man in dark luxurious attire tossing handfuls of gold coins in the air. They were the exact color of his hair, and he threw them like they were worth nothing.

"Tonight’s drinks are on me!"

The hall exploded with screams of joy.

The maidens dove for the coins, giggling.

A chill rushed up the King’s spine.

"A... Adonis?"

The man glanced up with an impossibly radiant smile.

"Ahh, Aldrius! You scallywag, you’re here too?"

Behind the king, Old Hershant quietly sighed.