"So… what happened that you went back with all those bruises?"
Right in front of me is the infamous Prince Walter Wiedenfeld, of the Stizriven kingdom, who has bruises from head to toe.
After the tiring day I immediately went back to my room and slept, I thought that he would behave after that tiring confrontation but it seems he didn't have enough trouble.
"Ahaha, I tripped"
He told me as he scratched the back of his head.
Tripped? With those bruises? Who the hell does he think he is fooling. Okay, time to punish the naughty kid. I looked over his bruised body and found a spot where it would mildly hurt him, and with my index and my thumb, I flicked it lightly.
"Ouch! Why would you do that?!"
"So… what on earth happened that you got roughed up like that?"
While I crossed my arms and looked at him with a scornful stare, the maids panicked and immediately helped him to the living room and then brought medicines and bandages. They brought some ointments and bandages.
"Excuse me, Prince Walter, I'm applying it now"
The pretty maid told him as she applied the ointment to the wound on the arm.
"Ouch!"
"Ah sorry, Prince Walter!"
"Ah! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!"
"S-S-Sorry Prince Walter!"
This Walter, is he doing this on purpose? The pretty maids are having a hard time applying medication. I held the maid on the shoulder and shook my head and whispered, while Walter was blowing his wound.
"Switch with me"
"But Lady T-T-Tiffania"
"It's fine, go back to cooking dinner with the others and please close the door, as I think Prince Walter will be screaming a lot"
"Huh? Y-Y-Yes Lady Tiffania"
The maid immediately left us and closed the door. I looked at Walter who stared blankly at the maid that disappeared towards the kitchen.
"Hey Tiffania, they were supposed to do it right? What did you tell them?"
"Ah, I will be applying it myself, since they can't do it with your terrible screaming"
"H-H-H-Huh???? No d-don't! I know how you-... Ouch!"
Walters' scream echoed in the room as I tended to his wounds without restraint. He tried to fight me off but when I pressed the painful areas, he didn't provide any resistance.
"So… what the hell happened?"
"I went to Zack"
Zack? What the hell is he saying, I put some ointment somewhere it would hurt.
"Ouch! Why are you applying it there!"
"Tell me everything, without missing any detail"
"Alright, alright so stop applying the medicine harshly!"
He told me about how he casually went to see his brother who was plotting to kill him, how he told him his intentions and their intense and passionate argument.
"Then, how did you even escape?"
"I took Zack, hostage, surprisingly he doesn't have that much physical power, but he resisted a bit, leading to these bruises and wounds"
"Whooah, I'm so ashamed of you, as someone who came from the same world as you"
"It's the best solution at the time, I can't tolerate him for using innocent people for his ideals"
"Well, I'm a bit angry that you did this without consulting me, even how dangerous it was, what you did was right, if I were reincarnated as PRINCE Walter I would have done the same"
"You really say some interesting things, if you reincarnate as a male, how would we be able to continue our romance"
This guy really says everything on his mind.
"Well, it's no use crying over spilled milk, so what do you plan to do from here PRINCE Walter? Are you gonna fight? Ally with Heinrich?"
"I'm still deciding, to be honest, I'm no fan of the monarchy, so a people's government might work better for me, but Zack being a supreme ruler on iron fists reminds me of someone in our old world with a strange mustache that caused lots of bloodsheds.
If he goes with his ambitions, I'm sure much blood will be shed, and human lives would be continually exhausted to fuel the war, based on how confident he is, I'm sure he already laid the groundwork, and have acquired some allies here and there, realistically it would be hard to deal with that kind of opponent.
If I ally with Heinrich, the crown prince, Zack will surely make an all-out assault to my domain, which has a small population, and since we are engaged, your family would have no choice but to either fight with me or cut our engagement short. If I were the duke, I would choose the former-"
As he was thinking deeply I slapped him lightly at his cheeks with two hands, enough to get him out of the zone, I have been with this guy for many years, and I know this tendency of his. When he deals with a problem he would try to solve it, and think of it so deeply that he loses sight of everything around him, which eventually would cause him to break down in the long term especially if he can't solve the problem.
Seeing him like this makes me feel rest assured, I guess he is really the Kazu I know. But I know I have to stop him here for a bit, just so he could take a breather, and be able to think properly.
"W-What Tiffania? I was in the middle of explaining"
He told me with his cheeks squeezed by each of my hands. I formed his face into different forms found it cute, his plain and dark look may be better in the old world but his looks at this world are on par! Blue eyes, blonde hair, it makes me feel a bit jealous.
I now have the hair and eye color he had in the past life, should I dye it with what I had in my old world?
"That's not how we build solutions right? If you think like that it would weigh down your mind right? Are you really the son of that person in the past life?"
"I'm not sure what you mean"
"First you have to freshen up yourself after I tend to your wounds, and come to my room after"
"Could it be that you… don't tell me!"
Those eyes and excited tone, I recognize those... what the hell is this man thinking?! All I wanted was to draft up ideas so we can have proper ideation of the things that are going around us!
"It won't happen you pervert!"
I pinched his cheeks with both my hands.
"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! I have been punched there!"
…
After taking a bath, I prepared myself to go to Tiffania's room, she indeed has a point, after taking a bath I realized that I was acting hastily, from the confrontation of the knights to my Zack confrontation that led to a hostage-taking.
I knocked on the door where Tiffania was staying, if I remember she had the room remodeled a bit, as she complained about many things in it. That minimalistic freak can't sleep if the room is not up to her taste.
"Pizza Delivery"
I shouted at the door and heard her footsteps towards the door as she opened it.
"As if pizza exists in this world... come inside"
As I expected the room was tidied up and cleaned, the monstrous designs and furniture were nowhere to be found, all that remained are the elegant looking ones. The shelves, some chairs, and a table.
She wore a plain white dress which was her sleeping clothes, while I only wore a comfortable white shirt. If not for her beautiful face she would have looked like the ghost that comes out of a well and of the TV,
"So what did you want to show me, white lady?"
She lifted one of the curtains near the shelf and dragged it to the right, there it showed a piece of a black board framed by white colored wood.
"This is?"
"Exactly what it is!"
She cheerfully exclaimed.
"Really… I don't know what it is, tell me!"
"Ahggk, really??? Open your hand"
With her thin hands, she opened my palm and placed a cylindrical white stick. Could this be? Chalk?! And that board in front of me is a chalkboard! According to Walter's memories as he was wimpy and lazy he wasn't interested in things like this, so I thought that it didn't exist yet, but to think that Tiffania has one!
"Tiffania, how did you find it in this world?"
"Well, I asked my doting dad for it, these boards are only being used by scholars and some schools, so it's a bit expensive, that he cut my allowance but well, I think it would be useful, especially for you"
"This is… for me? Why?"
"Because you are the son of an innovator right? Remember when you introduced me to your dad? At his office I saw a large whiteboard, when you were talking with my parents he told me funny stories about you in his office, when you were little, that you would always use the whiteboard every time you think, so yeah… use this, and let's think about things properly.
What we want to achieve, what we want to do, the roadmap… let's make it a design thinking process, and to make a solution for this country"
I was stunned for a while, as I was lost for words. I remember the memories of my father and me writing things on the board, as we jotted ideas together, it was fun, it was mentally draining but it isn't as bad, contrary to what I've experienced in this world.
It's something that I've missed so much.
"This is a big project Mr. Walter, oh sorry, Prince Walter, now tell me, what do you want to achieve?"
She made a big smile as she prepared to write at the chalkboard, the smile was so enchanting, that it calmed me at the depths of my soul.
It really feels good when someone cares for you dearly, each day is full of surprises, and no matter how insignificant a thing may be, it carries a big sentimental value if the person gave it to you because she was thinking of you, and for me on the receiving end, it becomes a treasure.