CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE – DIFFERENT FROM THE ONES HE KNEW
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"Greetings to the Truman Empire Crown Prince, His Highness the First Prince Eugene. Apologies that I couldn't greet you properly as I am still incapable of lifting a finger as I just woke up. Apologies for the impertinence"
Eugene Knoxx Ottoman Von Truman. The First Prince and the current Crown Prince of Truman Empire are now right in front of him.
'I didn't expect to meet someone from the Truman Royal family so suddenly, but I am just thankful that isn't that bastard King.'
He tried not to show uneasiness and could only imitate the original Laurence as much as possible, based on the memories that he looked through to avoid suspicion.
However, he notices that something is a bit off from the Crown Prince in front of him and the Crown Prince from the original Laurence's memories.
Based on the memories that he looked through; Crown Prince Eugene is a decent and wise prince that is befitted to become the next King of the Empire, unlike the current King.
'Yeah, the current King is nothing but an a**hole who only thinks about himself! I don't want to meet him, and it would be better to stay that way!'
However, he might be the Crown Prince, but he only had a few supporters under his faction, unlike some of the other royal princes, who had much more influence than him.
Since his mother is a foreign princess from the other empire and only politically married because of the alliance, the Crown Prince doesn't hold much influence.
The reason he successfully ascended to the throne after the previous King died from a sudden illness is because of the Crown Prince's trusted aide, Chester Adrian Bonaparte.
From what Laurence gathered from the original's memories about Chester Adrian Bonaparte is that the Marquis Bonaparte household is a distant relative of the Truman Royal family, so Chester is their distant cousin.
Chester assist the Crown Prince to the throne, and they appointed him as the new Prime Minister. His status as the semi-patriarch of the Marquis Bonaparte family helps him a lot as he holds half of the authority within the household.
However, that is the start of the tragedy when someone framed the Marquis Bonaparte household with a crime that they didn't commit, and submitted a lot of fabricated evidence in the court.
What the former assassin didn't expect is that Chester just admitted those false accusations that were pinned under his head and just by looking through those memories, he fully understood the situation.
'I don't know if this person is admirable or just plain stupid because of his actions.'
It sounds harsh if others heard what Laurence said and would think that he has no empathy, but what would you expect of a heartless assassin like him?
For others, what Chester did was an act of loyalty towards its King who he trusted and willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of its Liege.
However, in the eyes of the former assassin, this is nothing but an act of stupidity and selflessness.
Laurence didn't dwell too much about Chester Bonaparte as he tried to remember about the Crown Prince that, as of the moment, is right in front of him.
'Something about the current Crown Prince that makes me on guard around him.'
"Jules, no one is here except me, so you can speak casually, just like before."
He didn't want the Crown Prince to be suspicious about him, so he snapped from those thoughts as he focus on what's in front of him.
"Y-yes, b-brother Gene…"
He mumbled under his breath as he looked up at the Crown Prince and smiled a little.
The original Laurence is a timid child and when he grew up as an adult, he became much gloomier that leads him to be known within the Empire as a shut-in prince.
'A magical wastrel and a shut-in. What a fantastic combination.'
The former assassin couldn't help but to comment sarcastically in his thoughts but didn't dwell too much since that's already in the past.
"W-what happen? W-where am I?"
Of course, he needs to pretend to be confused within his surroundings since he remembered he fainted and after that, meeting a mysterious person in that weird dream that he still didn't understand a thing or two.
For now, let's focus on this one.
"Chad brought you back here to the palace secretly when a servant from the Duke Albert household immediately called for help. I made sure that the servant won't speak about this matter to the others, and he won't disobey my commands unless he doesn't want his life anymore."
'Chad? Who?... Oh… I see.' Laurence thought.
«…. ["Well, even if I wanted to kill that servant for him not to speak about the events that transpired about this matter but it won't do that to my reputation as I don't want to be labelled as a tyrant, just like our dear King father"] …. »
Laurence could hear the inner thoughts of the Crown Prince and he almost choked on his own saliva when he heard those words.
'This Crown Prince is definitely different from the memories that I looked through! Just what in the world happens?!'
Laurence wanted to look through the memories again, but he doesn't want to be under suspicious in front of this Crown Prince so needs to be cautious.
"Are you alright, Jules? Any discomforts that you feel?"
«…. ["I shouldn't have left him at the banquet hall alone! My little brother almost assassinated in broad daylight and then none of those rotten bastards' care about it!"] ….. »
The former assassin couldn't help but to think that this Crown Prince is way too much overprotective of his little brother.
"N-no. I'm fine, b-brother."
From the memories of the original Laurence, the Crown Prince's attitude is approachable and warm that he only shown towards his Queen mother, the late Lady Hanezza and the original Laurence.
However, as the former assassin observes the Crown Prince further quietly, he might be still close to the ones from the original Laurence's memories, but as a person who is used to bloodshed and schemes, the former assassin had doubt.
'It looks like there are things in the original's memories had change. I still need to rely on the Crown Prince's authority if I wanted to be safe, but I won't fully trust him… for now.'
"B-brother… a-are you alright? W-what… h-how will you resolve this situation? I-I know that b-brother would demand an explanation to D-duke Albert, but…"
But the Crown Prince cut his sentence off; "No need to worry about that, Jules. I already handle it. Just take some rest for now, okay?"
«….. ["I can't let Jules know what I was about to do. He is too young for this, but there will be a day that he needs to learn and navigate the political schemes within the Imperial and Noble circle in order for him to survive. Chad was right."] …. »
'He really dotes on his little brother, but sadly, he is no longer here as he forced me to take over this body with his consent.'