Crown Prince Alex checked his appearance once more in front of the mansion’s gate.

He pulled out a small mirror and saw his reflection was flawless.

To avoid being recognized, he used a potion to change his black hair, the symbol of the royal family, to brown.

This was part of his plan to play a trick on Rupert, the manga author.

The idea was to visit Rupert's household in disguise, act rudely, and then, when Rupert inevitably blamed him or got angry, reveal his true identity and threaten him for insulting the royal family, specifically the Crown Prince.

Visiting openly would only result in being treated with excessive politeness, so this was an opportunity to learn the man’s true nature.

In fact, if anyone were to complain about rudeness, it should be himself for showing up without notice and getting angry.

But rumors of him being a scoundrel were already widespread, so this kind of behavior wouldn’t be seen as strange.

“Hey, is there anyone here?”

He had intentionally brought only one escort disguised as a servant, so they wouldn’t assume he was of high status.

He was playing the role of a provincial noble visiting Somerset territory and needing a place to stay for the night.

It would be rude for a noble to turn away a visiting guest, so they’d probably offer him a place to stay, and when he acted insolent, Rupert wouldn’t be able to hold back his temper.

‘Thinking about teaching that arrogant guy a lesson already makes me feel better.’

The Somerset household, which would have otherwise been unconnected to him, was now set to face royal wrath for daring to disrespect the Crown Prince.

And all because of Rupert Somerset, who had dared to mock him from behind the Princess’s skirts.

He was curious if Rupert could act so boldly in front of him.

“Excuse me, what is your business here?”

Two guards at the entrance asked him for his identity.

Alex signaled with a nod to his escort disguised as a servant.

“This is Lord Lex, eldest son of Baron Clazen of the West, visiting Somerset territory to pay his respects to the Earl.”

“Greetings, Lord Lex. May I ask for your identification token?”

With a flourish, Alex produced a fake identification token crafted with the help of the Magic Tower.

It was indistinguishable from the real thing.

After verifying the token, the guards opened the gates and one of them led him inside.

‘For a rural lord’s mansion, it’s quite impressive.’

Though it was unreasonable to compare it directly to the estates in the capital, it was still a respectable size.

“What is that?”

But soon, Alex’s attention was drawn elsewhere, away from the mansion itself.

Two large single-story buildings, not quite fitting the mansion’s grounds.

It was already night, but lights were on inside, and there were loud noises coming from them.

“Those are factories where books and merchandise are produced.”

“Why are they on the mansion grounds?”

“Well, it was the young master’s decision…”

It was unusual. Typically, a noble’s estate would have a garden or a menagerie with exotic animals.

Why build something noisy and bustling like a factory on mansion grounds?

Surely it wasn’t because he wanted to save on land costs.

‘It must be for security. He’s more cautious than I thought.’

He had heard rumors about Rupert.

Contrary to the lighthearted books he made, he was said to be a cold-blooded man who turned his father, the Earl of Somerset, into a puppet.

That alone was surprising.

In the world of nobility, such rumors could later be a fatal flaw for one’s honor, yet he boldly took control of the family without fear.

“Welcome, Lord Lex Clazen. I sincerely welcome you to the Somerset family estate.”

As they reached the mansion, a butler greeted them.

“I apologize for arriving so late at night. Is it possible to greet the lord?”

“I’m sorry, but both the lord and the young master are out, so I will have to entertain you in their stead.”

Tsk.

Acting rudely toward the butler would accomplish nothing.

Even if the butler were to lose his temper, it would be easy for them to blame a poorly trained or hired servant later.

“Ah, I seem to have come at a bad time. Will they be returning tonight?”

“They should be back soon, so please feel free to wait inside.”

Following the butler’s guidance, Alex entered the mansion, where a portrait hanging in the central hall caught his eye.

“What is that?”

Alex was startled. He had seen paintings by court artists in the palace, but this portrait was of much higher quality.

“It is a portrait of the lady of the house, drawn by the second son, Young Master Rupert.”

“…It’s very well done.”

Even Alex had to admit the artistic skill.

As he admired the portrait, he wondered why the lady of the house wasn’t present.

“Now that I think about it, shouldn’t I greet the lady of the house as well?”

“…The lady passed away five years ago.”

“I’m sorry, that was inappropriate of me.”

“No, there was no way for you to know.”

Realizing his mistake, Alex offered a sincere apology to the butler.

“Then, shall I show you to the drawing room?”

“Thank you.”

With that, Alex’s mind was racing as he made his way to the drawing room.

A hypothesis had come to mind.

‘So he lost his mother too, did he?’

For some reason, he felt a connection to Rupert. He, too, had lost his mother at a young age, and seeing that portrait stirred complex emotions.

He wondered if Rupert had taken control of his family out of resentment.

Alex understood because he also harbored resentment towards his father.

He still resented his father for remarrying quickly after his mother’s death, saying they couldn’t leave the Empress’s position vacant.

He was only five years old at the time and couldn’t understand why he had to call this new woman “mother.”

He didn’t want to forget his deceased mother, so he threw tantrums, but his father was firm and wouldn’t change his decision.

Alex couldn’t oppose his father, the Emperor, and had done nothing.

But Rupert was different; he must have expressed his anger.

‘In the stories he wrote—Cinderella, Snow White—all the protagonists lost their mothers.’

Finally, he understood the background of those stories.

On the surface, they seemed peaceful and heartwarming, but they were hopeful autobiographical tales from the author’s own experiences.

Thud, thud, thud!

The sound of running footsteps interrupted the Crown Prince’s thoughts.

He saw a young girl running down the corridor as if it were a race track.

Who could this little girl be, running in the corridor like that?

She looked too young to be a maid.

And she didn’t seem like the Earl’s daughter, given her shabby dress and chubby figure, which didn’t match the image of a noble daughter.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Elsa Ada! Who are you, mister?”

“Young lady! This is a guest!”

The butler quickly spoke to the girl and glanced at Alex, but he was already in shock.

‘M-mister?’

It was a ridiculous title. She had just called him “mister” when he was only 25.

“And who is this little one?”

“Ah, my apologies. This is Lady Ada Somerset, the third daughter of Earl Somerset.”

So she’s that man’s younger sister.

Alex looked at the little girl who had dared to call him “mister.”

Her round face and bright eyes were looking right at him.

‘But why are her clothes so worn?’

Her chubby form was one thing, but the sky-blue dress she wore was in a surprisingly shabby state.

Seeing this, Alex felt a surge of anger.

‘Does the Earl of Somerset not even care for his own daughter?’

Even though his father was harsh on him and didn’t care for his second son, at least he took care of appearances.

Could it be that the Earl of Somerset was fooling around with women?

The thought that the stories he had read were based on reality began to seem plausible.

Suddenly, he felt sorry for little Ada.

‘Poor thing. She needs her mother’s love.’

Whether Ada knew what Alex was thinking or not, she smiled brightly and pointed a stick at him.

“Freeze!”

“What?”

Confused by her sudden command, Alex asked, only to see Ada’s expression turn sullen.

“My lady, I’m sorry. You can’t play that kind of prank on our guest.”

The butler, watching from the side, hastily reprimanded Ada and apologized to Alex.

Not understanding the prank, Alex listened as Alain explained that it was a game based on the currently popular manga Frozen Kingdom.

‘Is this how it goes?’

He stood still as if frozen in place, and Ada began to smile again, satisfied.

But that wasn’t enough for her, as she began poking Alex here and there with the stick.

“Hey! How dare you touch His Highness’s body!!!”

The escort, playing the role of a servant, was horrified and tried to intervene.

But Alex silently signaled for him to stay put, and the escort, visibly anxious, had no choice but to watch.

‘I can show some kindness to this poor child.’

Having gone through a similar childhood, Alex knew how difficult and unhappy it could be.

“Release! Zap!!!”

After poking him and seeing no reaction, Ada finally declared the magic was lifted.

Watching her, Alex felt an unexpected sense of peace.

Though she was shabby, her cheeks were cute and she had a certain charm.

So he reached out to pat her head, but she shook it vigorously.

“Huh?”

“No! Ada is going to marry a prince, so you can’t just touch her!”

Alex laughed at her response.

If she knew his true identity, she would be shocked.

What prince could compare to the Crown Prince of the Empire?

“Little one, wouldn’t it be better to dream of marrying a Crown Prince rather than a prince?”

“No! Ada likes princes! I don’t know about Crown Princes!”

Alex was speechless.

How could she prefer a prince over a Crown Prince? Wasn’t it obvious that 2 is greater than 1?

“Why do you like princes more?”

“Well, Cinderella, Snow White, and the Little Mermaid all marry princes!”

Damn fairy tales.

It seemed he had more to discuss with the author.

“Welcome back, young master.”

“Yes, it was just a simple meeting. Nothing special happened, right?”

“Well, a guest visited but left just now.”

A guest?

These days, many visitors came due to the fairy tales and manga, so he assumed it was one of them.

“What did they come for?”

“They were visiting the territory and came to pay their respects.”

“That’s unusual. What’s there to see in this backwater?”

“They said they’d greet you later since it was late, and they left this letter for you.”

I opened the letter Alain handed me.

“To Sir Rupert Somerset,

I originally came to speak with you, but since you weren’t here, I’ll leave this letter instead.

I intended to criticize your actions, but having seen your situation, I’ll let it slide this time.

Don’t mind the rumors and continue your work. Even if others don’t understand, I do.

Oh, and in future works, consider using a Crown Prince instead of a prince for your male protagonists.

An Anonymous Admirer.”

“What kind of lunatic is this?”

Leaving behind a letter I couldn’t understand, something felt unsettling and ominous.

‘Now that I think about it, this has happened before.’

Feeling a strange suspicion, I decided to keep the letter I was about to discard tucked safely away.

It was an oddly unsettling feeling. Crown Prince over prince?

Could the Crown Prince have visited our territory?

No, there’s no way that wouldn’t cause a stir.

The more I thought about it, the more it bothered me.

‘Maybe I should be more careful?’

Lately, I’d been feeling overly bold, perhaps a side effect of treating vitality potions like water.

It was a moment that reminded me to be more cautious.