"Your Highness."
He ignored the call.
"Your Highness, stop!"
He ignored it again.
"Your Highness, please stop!"
Plop!
His face met the ground.
"Your Highness?!"
He was lifted immediately from the ground. A handkerchief made contact with his dirty face.
"Your Highness, let's get you cleaned up."
"I don't want to."
"But—"
He continued running again. No, he needs to lose some weight if he wants to not feel like walking up the mountain every time he walks around. This kid had been living in luxury. He just got to know that the servants would always pick him up every time he wanted to go somewhere. Is this kid that lazy? He even needs to be carried when he wants to use the bathroom.
'You are already eight; you should have walked into the bathroom by yourself if you wanted to pee!'
Now, he wanted to change his way of living. No more sweets and desserts, kid. He will make this body into his ideal body, like in his past life. However, he needs to complete his daily routine first. Running around this water fountain for ten rounds.
He failed, obviously. He just managed to do three without stopping, but his new personal maid kept telling him to stop. Three rounds is actually an achievement for him because the first day he did it, he could only manage half a round. Maybe he should choose a smaller water fountain.
"Your Highness, no!"
"No, let me go, Riri!"
"I can't, Your Highness. I had not intervened in your running these past days, but I can't let that happen when you push yourself too much."
"But Riri—"
"Nu-uh! Let's wash up and eat some dessert. Her Majesty, the empress, had sent your favourite chocolate again!"
"I'm on a diet!"
"No excuses, Your Highness."
This woman is persistent. Too persistent. Riri was a maid previously assigned to his mother. Riri had been assigned to him after the incident. His mother had chosen the best maid by her side to aid him. Starting that day, he was not left alone. If he sent Riri away, a knight would be with him. However, even after many attempts to run away from Riri's eyes, she managed to stand by his side.
He can't even do anything stealthily or form a plan. Even when he is in a library to gather some information about this world, Riri is there and asks him questions regarding what he read and why. When he suddenly talked using his past language, Riri would look at him weirdly. That's why he stopped going to the library for a moment to avoid getting himself exposed.
What if the people of this world would curse him or experiment on him if they found out their first prince had been replaced? He can die that way, but he would rather avoid too much pain when dying.
He needs to get rid of Riri first. He also doesn't like to be watched 24 hours a day.
He knew that this was for his own safety. The suspect in getting this kid drowned that day is the nanny, who is still missing to this day. It's always like this: the closest person to you will have the highest probability of backstabbing you. This kid is just unlucky to be targeted at such a young age, but he understands why the nanny did this based on this kid's title as a crown prince.
Being a crown prince is not easy. He may be the one who experienced the assassination attempt after this if he continues living in ignorance. He can die, but not now. Not after he saw this kid's family's happy face while looking at him. He does not feel guilty about living in this body now, but he will feel guilty if he does not protect it.
This kid said to protect everyone. He had no idea who he needed to protect and from what. He did not know what this kid knew that forced him to decide by choosing him to be the one possessing this body.
What he knows is that he can't die at the hands of a few kinds of people. People who tried to harm this kid because of his title as a crown prince, or people who think they can gain power by getting rid of this kid. He won't die at the hands of those people. It is an insult on his part.
If he wanted to die, he would do it himself or at the hands of someone who had the right reason to do so.
"Please eat, Your Highness.
"I said I was on a diet, Riri."
"You can do it tomorrow."
"You said the same thing every day!"
"Eat, Your Highness, before I give it to the second princess."
His eyebrows twitched. She is insufferable. He can't stand people like her. He never was, actually.
"Then, give it to her. Nasharis loves this chocolate, too. Why not call her here? We could play together."
"No, Your Highness. The second princess can't play or run with you; she has poor health, remember?"
He grumbled under his breath. Always managed to counterattack him. Always giving excuses for his excuses.
"Riri—"
"Your Highness, Crown Prince Michaelis."
He shut his mouth and took one chocolate from the plate before he put it in his mouth. Chocolate is nice and delicious, but he himself preferred dark chocolate rather than white chocolate. He likes the taste of bitterness; sweet things are not to his liking, actually. He can only tolerate desserts based on dark chocolate.
"I want dark chocolate."
He said it under his breath.
"Hm? What did you say, your highness?"
"Ah, nothing!"
He shook his head and began stuffing his mouth with those white and milk chocolates. He can't act too suspicious. Temporary amnesia doesn't mean your taste or preferences will change. It would be weird if he didn't eat 'his' usual favourite food.
"Let's walk to the garden after this, Your Highness."
He looked up at Riri, who was standing while munching the chocolate.
"Where?"
"Garden of the Moon! It belongs to his majesty's mother's empress dowager."
He tilted his head. Is his grandmother still alive?
"Maybe you won't remember him, but you two were close when you were still a baby, your highness."
"Why don't I see her anywhere?"
Riri's face turned sour.
"Unfortunately, Her Majesty, the empress dowager passed away when you were only two years old.
He blinked. Oh, so why did Riri mention her to him? Is she trying to trigger some memories of the past?
"That's sad. I want to meet her."
He looked below, avoiding Riri's gaze.
'She is observing me.'
"My apologies, Your Highness. I shouldn't mention her."
He did not reply and continued munching on the chocolate, but more slowly.
Riri's eyes watched his movements. By the time Michaelis looked elsewhere, her face lacked any emotion.
×××××
"You fail?"
Buk!
"You dare to say that you fail?"
"I, ugh—!"
Buk!
Buk!
"....apo, ize—! Argh!"
Buk!
"Hah!"
He let go of the bloody metal stick. Pulled out the black gloves from his hands and tossed them into the dustbin. He let out a sigh after smelling the blood in the air.
"Burn her."
Two men went inside and dragged the unconscious woman, obeying the order.
"Damn it!"
He ruffled his brown hair with annoyance and frustration. His plan had failed. He had failed to execute the plan. Now, he can't move to a second pace because of it.
"How the hell can someone still be alive after drowning and not breathing for an hour?! That's humanly impossible!"
He heard that the imperial doctor had also confirmed the death but was surprised after the doctor had done the last check on the body.
He let out a scream. All the people in the villa just ignored it like usual.
"You failed."
"Who the—?!"
"Shh shh."
The man stood still after he saw who the owner of the voice was. His hands are shaking.
"Don't cause a ruckus. You know I don't like it."
He gulped and nodded.
"Say, what if there is interference from a higher being? Would you stop?"
The robed person walked closer to him. He gulped down his saliva again every time that person took a step closer.
"I am loyal to you."
Fuck no! He would kill himself if higher beings interfered with their plan. However, he can't admit his cowardice in front of this person. He would get killed mercilessly.
"Hm, good words even though you lie, Leret."
He is sweating bullets. His body continued to shake out of fear.
"I'll give you a second chance, Leret."
"I'll do my best." He said shakingly.
The person chuckled.
"Good dog. But I'll tell you the plan at the right time. So just be prepared."
He nodded vigorously. In the blink of an eye, the person vanished from his sight. He plopped down on the floor, still shaking.
"Damn it!"
'I'll ruin the imperial family myself!'