Chapter 40.1: The Truth

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He almost blurted it out, but he couldn’t let his brother hear those words.

So Theodore retorted in a hurry, “What are you talking about? You’re saying I want to be a sinner? Do you think anyone would sin for such a thing?”

“Real’ is probably a misnomer. If your true intentions lie in what happens after you become the sinner, that is.”

That was a mouthful of speculation.

But Rishe sounded almost convinced.

“It took me a long time to understand. I couldn’t understand why you were aiming at me, and more, but if my speculation is correct, it would explain everything.”

“Why? I told you, it was to make Brother suffer.”

Theodore forced a smile.

“You are despised like a hostage inside the castle, instead of a bride that should be a blessing to the people. If Brother fails to protect such a bride, his reputation will be ruined. I thought so at first.”

He continued to speak, avoiding looking at his brother and trying his best not to show any signs of agitation.

“But your use has exceeded my expectations. So I’ve decided to use you in earnest. I thought that by threatening you, I could deprive my brother of his right to the throne, and so I planned to -”

“From the perspective of a third party, I only have one point of value such as being the fiancée of His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince. This position is only valuable because of His Highness Arnold’s presence and status.”

“It…”

“You mustn’t have considered that, have you? How dare you use me as a shield to remove His Highness from his position as Crown Prince?”

Those spoken words could have come off as disrespect.

But Rishe was so imposing. Perhaps that was a trivial matter to her.

Rishe actually didn’t care about her value from a third party’s perspective.

“I can tell you that there is almost nothing to be gained from kidnapping me. So why did Your Highness Theodore take the time and effort to carry out such a drama? If nothing could be gained as a result of the commotion, then wasn’t the purpose ‘to cause a commotion itself’?”

“Wrong…”

At Theodore’s denial, Rishe lowered her eyes.

“You have done very little official business as the Second Prince in the last few years, haven’t you?”

When she said that, he suddenly wanted to bite his tongue.

Rishe was right. Theodore had almost abandoned his duties as a prince for about two years now.

It was something everyone in the Imperial Castle knew. And that was exactly within his calculations.

In order to be gossiped about as the Second Prince playing all day, drinking and sleeping in the castle, Theodore behaved even more uninhibited.

However, what he was trying to say was far from what he was aiming for.

Theodore stared at Rishe with such a premonition.

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“I have looked at your records in various ways. It seems that at some point two years ago, you stopped participating in service to the favelas. Why, when you seem to have been a regular visitor since you were a child?”

“It’s because I’ve lost interest. I’d rather take a nap in the castle than do some silly service.”

“That too is a lie. I understand that you have given aid to the people of the favelas very recently. We didn’t see any evidence of public funds being used, so you must have funded it privately, right?”

“…”

He wondered how far she had deciphered the “records”.

In the castle’s library, a certain amount of documents were available to the public.

From old state administration records, that could almost be called history books, to the most recent financial situation, anyone within the castle could read them.

However, everything that was lined up was superficial information.

If you painstakingly unravel all sorts of information, you might be able to pick up some of the backstories that haven’t been made public, but that should take some time.

Really, what is she!

The girl before him continued, “You care and sympathize a lot for the poor people of the favelas and are close to them. When an orphan was suffering from an illness, it was said that you nursed him and held his hand every moment of the day, didn’t you? On one occasion, you arranged a doctor for a woman who had to give birth alone, and kept talking to her and encouraging her to give birth. I suppose that’s why you’re napping in the castle during the day. It’s because you do all these all night long, am I right?”

She spoke as if she’d witnessed everything. Theodore had an urge to laugh at the fact that his every action has been transparent.

“Hahaha! It’s not that pretty. I’m just trying to ingratiate myself with those guys and manipulate them into doing what I want.”

“Yeah, Your Highness certainly seems to have a bunch of rogues under your control.”

“Yeah, that’s right. They could do all sorts of crimes for money. I got close to them because they’re useful, nothing more!”

“That’s a different way of looking at it. You could also say that you’re taking them under your protection. There are people who are forced to commit crimes for their food the next day. Aren’t you in control by leading them?”

“…”

Rishe continued with earnest eyes.

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“You have compassion for the favelas. You want to save them, and that isn’t impossible in your position. Nevertheless, you’re willing to get your hands dirty, but why is it that you’re unwilling to engage in public activities as a member of the royal family?”

“It’s…”

His heart began to thump unpleasantly.

He was afraid of his brother’s gaze. He was scared that he would be found out. The more flustered he was, the more he couldn’t look at his brother.

“You don’t want any of your achievements as the Second Prince; on the contrary, you want to throw them away. No, you feel that you must throw them away. For that, you attempted to commit the crime of harming the Crown Princess.”

“No, of course not. I just want to beat my brother.”