How to Live as the Enemy Prince

It was when the banquet was well underway that a servant rushed to Siegfried Hall and whispered something to the Grand Chamberlain who struggled to contain his expression as he rushed towards the King and passed on the message. 

“Your Majesty,” 

Rumein leaned his head back slightly. As there were many listeners around, the chamberlain concealed his mouth with his hand and spoke as quietly as he could.

“His Highness Prince Calian has left Palace Grounds a few moments ago,” 

Rumein’s head tilted a little further toward the chamberlain, but he did not say anything else. The chamberlain’s words continued.

“However it seems his outing was guaranteed by the Duke of Siegfried.” 

“…I see,” Rumein murmured in return.

He couldn’t think what the connection between Siegfried and Calian was. King Rumein turned his head around again as indication that he was to be left alone now, and the chamberlain bowed low and stepped away.

Siegfried.

Rumein narrowed his eyes. 

—

At the same time, in the garden, Duke Slayman’s mouth twisted in an attempt to remain straight-faced but eventually the laughter burst out of him. 

“Bahahaha! Ahahah! Pueueohahaha!”

Even as he tried to stop himself, the laughter kept bubbling out of him in bursts, it was only after a long while that he calmed down enough to wipe the tears from the corners of his eyes. 

Siegfried men, once they had started laughing or crying, never knew how to stop. 

“Pu…ha, ku-ku-kub!”

“This isn’t funny!” Eventually the young man standing in front of him raised both hands to block Slayman’s mouth shut. It was Yan who spoke in a half-whisper, looking both worried that someone might hear them and frustrated at Slayman’s candour.

“My son believed in me with his work, why wouldn’t I feel great?” Slayman said to Yan after taking another moment to calm himself down. He looked at Yan with his soft blonde hair loose around his face and an expression that made it seem like he was about to explode from frustration. 

The carefree expression on Duke Slayman’s face seemed to be saying ‘what on earth are you so worried about?’. 

If Calian had witnessed this scene, he would have immediately noticed that these two were related without any need for explanation – both of them had the tendency to show exactly what they were thinking on their face. 

“Your little kid ran away and asked you to stop the guards from chasing him – so you sold out the Siegfried name and the soldiers didn’t chase after him – so didn’t everything work out fine?”

His son had done something that might cause an issue but rather than being upset, Slayman looked like he enjoyed the situation, he said, 

“I don’t know if you know this, but you did very well. It was a good solution,” he said in an attempt to get Yan to stop worrying. 

“The solution is something we have to work out now, what do we do when his Majesty asks about this incident?” 

Slayman’s mouth couldn’t help but twist up into a smile, not a laughing smile, but the fond smile of a father looking at his son who had not quite grown up yet. 

“Were you in such a rush that you didn’t think one or two steps ahead when you did this? Don’t worry, he won’t ask.” Slayman replied, 

“He won’t?” Yan asked, 

“Rumein has to consider too many factors to be able to ask about this incident – so he won’t ask. Let alone disciplining Calian, he will act as though absolutely nothing has happened and move on from this incident, do you understand?” He asked Yan who frowned falling into thought, before asking, 

“Because it’s Siegfried?” 

Slayman ruffled Yan’s hair when he got the right answer, 

“I’m glad that not even one of your hairs resembles me. You’re much smarter than me when I was your age,”

“Hmm, I guess there isn’t a resemblance,” Yan agreed,

Slayman had no idea that his son was still under the impression that Calian had learned horse-riding from reading books and nodded slightly at Yan’s words.

Then, as though he had suddenly thought of it, he muttered happily, 

“Well no, you play the violin very well and that definitely resembles me,” he smiled. 

The Siegfried who didn’t know how to use a sword but could play the violin, that had been Yan. That was why when Slayman had arrived at the palace and had been laughing loudly while bragging about his son – Yan had glared at him with his disgusted expression. 

(T/N – Yan is a mother hen around Calian but turns into an embarrassed rebellious teen around his dad – so cute and Slayman is such a good doting father <3)

“You might have sold my name easily but even so, the price might be a little heavy,”

Yan made an expression like a kid who had been caught stealing cookies before dinner. He had been the one to put down the weight of that name when he came to the palace, so there was no way he didn’t know how heavy it truly was.

“If Rumein asks your little kid what he has to do with me, you will need to answer but there is nothing Rumein can do after hearing that answer.” Slayman said confidently, and he was right. 

It didn’t matter what the answer was – whether they said they were wary of the Siegfried's good intentions and had received help coincidentally or if they said that they received help because there is a connection and a good relationship.

If Rumein heard the answer and punished the prince for leaving royal grounds without permission, then he would be ignoring the power and influence of the Siegfrieds who had guaranteed the outing. 

If Rumein heard the answer and did nothing, he would be acknowledging the connection between Calian and the Siegfrieds and at that stage the Marquis of Brissen would not be easy to deal with. 

It was a problem with no options.

“Rumein probably decided to do nothing about this from the moment he heard that I had vouched for the outing. So the little kid can proudly go out and do whatever he wants as though this was all pre planned. That’s why I said you did well,” Slayman concluded with a proud face. 

“So you can sell my name often in the future – I can handle that much easily. Isn’t that what a dad does?” 

Yan looked up at him with an expression that seemed to say he was touched and Slayman grinned proudly.

“I’m not as bad as you thought now, am I?” Slayman said, straightening his back at the slightly impressed look in Yan’s eyes with an obnoxious grin. 

There it was. 

‘I’m an idiot for thinking he was cool for a second.'