Chapter 5

“What about your salary?” Davey asked.

“I beg your pardon, Your Highness?”

“Don’t make me say things twice.”

“Forgive me, Your Highness.”

“So, your salary?”

“It is only about one-third of the amount I am supposed to be receiving…” Amy lowered her head with tears in her eyes, as if she was sorry for even taking that much. She was foolishly kind and naive. That’s probably why she stuck by Davey all by herself, even when everyone abandoned him and did not care whether he lived or died.

Davey was somewhat grateful, so he couldn’t help but smile. “Take the amount that is supposed to be your salary.”

“Pardon?”

“What did I say about making me say things twice?”

“For… Forgive me, Your Highness! However…!”

“There’s no food, even for tomorrow?”

“...Yes, Your Highness.”

“Stop calling me that. It’s so formal.”

“But…”

“Being called ‘Your Highness’ feels oddly distant.”

Every rank came with its responsibilities, and a title was not meant for boasting about the greatness of one’s bloodline or oppressing their subjects. Rather, it was to be a medal for the fulfillment of one’s important duties.

However, Davey did not find the title of a prince all too pleasant, especially if the country was being governed in such a way. This was a country where the consort kin and the noble families controlled the government however they wanted; a father with no interest in his own son; a queen whose only interest was for her son to be the next king; the corrupt nobility who exploited the commoners. Davey thought that if he had the same level of power he did at the Hall, he might have erased the name of Rowane from this continent.

“I am honored, Prince Davey, but I beg you to rescind your command. I am the one who made this palace into this wreck…”

“Well, with what power could you have stopped them?”

“Well…”

“You work, so it’s only right that you get paid. If I don’t even give you your salary and continue having my meals, how am I to just sit back and enjoy my food?” As Davey scoffed and clicked his tongue, he gazed straight at her. “Take your back pay from the remaining budget.”

“Yo… Your wish is my command.”

“And I will take care of the ingredients myself, so let’s go see the palace’s Treasurer.”

If Davey’s ancestors saw the prince himself going to the treasury department to examine the palace’s budget, they would be dumbfounded. But there was nothing else that Davey could do, because he couldn’t even afford to buy ingredients for tomorrow right now.

Fuel was also needed for when the weather became cooler, and repairs had to be done for spots that were severely damaged. In terms of finances, the first prince’s palace was going through the worst drought possible. If Davey had woken up a couple years later, the situation might have actually worsened to a point of no return.

“Meanwhile, my father hasn’t come to see me even once…” Davey mumbled with a bitter smile.

Amy’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. What Davey just said could have caused quite a commotion, and if it reached the ears of the queen, who was biding her time for an opportunity, it wouldn’t be strange if the royal guards had come for Davey right then and there.

Still, Davey said what he said. As someone with a simplistic personality, Davey treated kindness with kindness, and did as he pleased when showing mercy to a hostile person. Basically, he did whatever the hell he wanted.

“Lead the way.”

“Y…Yes!”

Davey was still familiar with the palace, but some things could have changed in the last six years. It would also be weird for him to roam about without any assistance, since he had just gotten out of a coma. He didn’t have a choice.

* * *

“My apologies, Your Highness. Using more than the available budget is…” The nobleman bowed and tried to reject Davey’s request, but there wasn’t a hint of sincerity or regret in his voice. Instead, he actually seemed irritated that Davey bothered him with this matter. Davey’s image as the powerless prince still remained, it would seem.

Davey silently stared at the nobleman, who held his head up high and stared right back at him. Thinking the nobleman didn’t even look sorry, Davey thought, ‘Your rat-like whiskers make you look quite nasty, you ass.’

Chuckling, Davey grabbed and flopped down onto a chair. He sat right beside the nobleman to face him. The nobleman seemed a little surprised by Davey’s graceless actions at first, but his contempt soon started to show.

‘I guess he still thinks of me as the young, clueless prince with a soft spot for sentiment.’

“Are you kidding me?”

“I beg your pardon?” The nobleman was stunned by Davey’s words.

“This month’s budget for the palace was 500 gold. Is that correct?”

“That is…”

“But the actual amount received was less than 100 gold…”

“Your Highness! That is the amount left after the repair and maintenance of the palace! The other Royal Highnesses in other palaces were also commanded by His Majesty to live frugally!”

“Sigh… You irritate me.” Davey couldn’t help but frown and talk harshly. “So, the renovated palace is supposed to have weeds growing from the floor and broken tiles?”

“Well…”

“The garden is full of weeds. The fence is about to collapse. Even an idiot would see that no one spent a penny on this wreck.” The nobleman could not say anything as Davey rattled on. “It’s quite amusing, right? How the prestigious prince has to come all the way here to argue about the allotted budget for the palace?”

The nobleman didn’t affirm what Davey said, but he said nothing more. It was probably because he thought so, too.

Amy, offering moral support from behind Davey, was already as pale as a ghost.

“Yo… Your Highness, things pertaining to renovations are done at the maintenance department, not the treasury department. All we do is decide on the budget…”

The nobleman was so helpful.

“Wow! I didn’t know that.” Davey, who reacted with exaggeration, grabbed the cane beside him.

The nobleman, who was watching Davey, suddenly turned pale. No matter what happened, Davey was still a prince who could beat this damn rat whiskers to death. Of course, he would receive some punishment, but it wouldn’t be as severe as other people’s. However, Davey didn’t. It was easy beating this one guy to death, but that would only make it more difficult to get to the bottom of this.

“Tsk, people trying to pass the buck. It’s the same here as it was on Earth.” Davey stood up, muttering shortly. “Whatever. Take your secret stash of money and go fondle yourself at the red light district.”

Was he surprised by Davey’s harsh and unimaginable choice of words that were unbecoming for a prince? Or was it because of how straightforward Davey’s remarks were, so different from his young and kind past self? The nobleman hesitantly looked up at Davey.

“We’ll see,” Davey commented coolly and turned away from the nobleman. These guys, who wanted to pass the buck, always planned a way out. Even if he went to the maintenance department, they would undoubtedly shirk the responsibility as well. It would only be a waste of time to go down that rabbit hole.

All the hired hands working at the first prince’s palace had run away and were unfairly taking their wages. It seemed that these guys, who didn’t even show up, were taking additional salaries. Meanwhile Amy, who was actually working, cut back her own salary to take care of the palace as she knew the state of affairs.

Davey left without hesitation and glanced at Amy, who was cautiously following him with fright. He called out, “Amy.”

“Yes… Oh, yes?”

“Can you go get me a sword from the storage?”

Amy paled at the word ‘sword.’ She was probably worried that Davey was going to swing it.

“Don’t worry, I have no intentions of slashing people.” Davey, without him even realizing it, comforted Amy after seeing her cute behavior. He really had no intentions of slashing humans. He only wanted to cut the ones who were less than human, but even he didn’t know how long this standard would last for.

* * *

What would happen if Davey, who didn’t have a solid position in the palace, started slashing the workers and the nobility working in the palace without any reason? The answer was simple.

‘The prince has gone mad.’

‘We must lock him up in a tower outside the palace.’

Since Davey had no one’s support, he was nothing but an easy target in such a situation. This was especially true since the majority of power was in the hands of the nobility.

The sword was old, but not unusable.

“I… I’m sorry, Your Highness… This was the only sword left…”

‘Makes sense. Even the armor guards protecting the palace were a mess.’

Amy lowered her head in embarrassment as Davey chuckled, thinking that she had made it a habit to apologize every time she said something.

“Only a bad workman blames his tools.” Davey pulled the sword halfway out of the sheath. This was the sword that the knights, who protected the inside of the palace, used.

The knights of the palace were one of the faces of the palace. For something of that importance to be maintained in this way, and with a shortage no less… It was unacceptable. The dull sword was covered in dust from its years of disuse.

“What poor management…”

“I’m sorryyy…”

It was one disgusting sword. If craftsmen with great pride saw this, they would foam at the mouth.

‘But, someone once said, “Only a bad workman blames his tools.”’

“Amy, how many animals are in the hunting grounds in the palace?”

“Sorry? Well…”

“Well, whatever. There should be enough for it to be sustainable, right?” With this thought, Davey slid his sword back in its sheath.

* * *

The next day, Amy was petrified at the boar corpse in front of Davey.

“Good, you’re here.”

“Your Highness? That is…”

“Someone left it at my palace, so I brought it here. Some virtuous person probably left it there. I was thinking about what to do with it.” Davey was lying. He caught it himself, but he lied to Amy without batting an eyelid.

“What…?” Amy couldn’t understand what Davey was talking about. She shivered, staring wide-eyed at the boar’s carcass.

Meanwhile, Davey was completely unaffected by the dead animal. “Go to the storage, and bring me the waterproof reagent. There’s some left, right?”

“Pr… Prince Davey! Please just kill me!”

“Now what?”

“Your hands cannot be tainted by an animal’s blood, Your Highness! And to dismember an animal hunted within the palace! You could really hurt yourself!”

Although Amy shouted desperately, Davey just laughed it off. “Since no one is watching, it’s okay.”

The request for a royal audience with the king was refused because he was too busy with government affairs. Also, Davey couldn’t possibly meet with the king who never bothered to visit his sick kid even once. And there was no way other departments could handle this situation.

Queen Lynesse must have set up something to dry Davey out, but he had years of survival training from Hercules. He was somewhat of a specialist.

“This is a boar. But he’s gonna be lunch.” [1] Murmuring pointless things, Davey used some hot water and his sword to deskin the boar and skilfully remove its innards. It seemed like it took a lot of strength, but the leather and flesh just slid right off like magic. Since the blade was fueled with mana, it would be weird if it didn’t.

A prince had secretly hunted a boar from the palace’s hunting grounds, and was now trying to take it apart and cook it himself? Davey wasn’t kidding about it.

1. Reference to a line from Bear Grylls