Not all of them disappeared (1)
A maid handed me a golden envelope.
“Dear Adrian Leonberger, First Prince.
Last spring, I had to doubt my ears because of the news about Your Highness’ unfortunate accident. To Your Highness, who was so brave and strong… (sycophantic words)”
I turned the pages over quickly.
“There were days spent in mystery until I hear of the news that Your Highness’ body has been restored to a point where he can go out of the palace once more; I sent a letter with an excited heart…”
I ignored the useless phrases.
“We prepared a small gathering to celebrate the health of Your Highness, with the members of the Social Club for Special Noblemen. Please come and grace the meeting with your presence…”
If you summarize the content of the invitation, which was pounded with useless sentences, it was simply:
“Let’s meet in celebration of your recovery.”
An unexpected invitation. I asked the maid about the Social Club for Special Noblemen.
The maid struggled. “It is a social gathering where Your Highness was a member.”
I furrowed my brow. “Is it a strange group?”
The maid answered my question with a grim face.
“For the girls, the customs of the Noblemen’s Club are incomprehensible…”
I could tell it was more than just having something to eat or drink.
I was busy practicing and didn’t intend to attend such a futile meeting. I won’t come, I decided.
However, I glanced at the letter’s sender’s name-
“The wise, valiant, thoughtful Prince Adrian’s eternal friend, Bernardo of the Eli Family.”
“Eli?”
“Lord Bernardo Eli is the chairman of the Social Club,” the maid said.
Eli.
It was a name etched in my memory.
[A hundred years ago, the man who had been insisting on mana hearts, Count Eli, died. Since then, mana hearts became a low-end tool for mercenaries.]
On the day we talked about mana hearts, Count Eli was among the names Uncle mentioned.
“What will you do, Your Highness? If you would like to attend, I will make preparations; if you do not want to attend, I will send them communication,” the maid asked with a pensive expression.
“I will attend…”
“I understand,” the maid’s face became noticeably darker. “I will make preparations.”
She looked very disappointed that I will attend the meeting.
It sounds like a very unhealthy gathering. The maid’s face says it all.
It’s not good enough for me.
But it wasn’t for the ‘incomprehensible’ customs that I would attend.
It was because there was a strong interest in the family name of the one who held on to mana hearts until the end…
Count Eli.
* * *
It is not the royal banquet, but a small club meeting. I thought it would be enough to just go without getting ready.
But it was an illusion.
“I’m just going to a meeting, why do I need to do this?”
“Your Majesty’s body shape has changed so much that he needs to get his clothes adjusted…”
“Are we not done yet?”
The tailor had tormented me all day long, taking measurements, showing me his drawings.
“There is a saying that clothes are wings. It takes a little patience to wear those wings,” he said.
“Are you kidding me? Does it look like this body is made to fly?” I was annoyed.
The tailor had an apologetic yet determined look.
“Your Highness, I’m not good enough, but I will do my best with all my energy!”
Damn.
My body now has poorly defined muscles coexisting with lumps of fat. It was that of a typical muscular pig.
“All right, finish as fast as you can.”
After saying that, I allowed the tailor to continue his measurements peacefully.
Wait-
“Have you made my clothes before?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
My clothes were uselessly colorful, unsuited to a pig-like body.
“What color are you going to make?”
“Of course, according to the taste of the Majesty, in gold, silver, or white…”
“Okay. Make it black.”
I immediately cut off the tailor’s words. If left as it was, I will continue to wear colors like a clown.
The tailor looked surprised.
“Black?”
“Yes. I want minimal decoration and simple design.”
The tailor suddenly had a dark face.
I realized it wasn’t the prince’s choice, but his taste.
I reminded him a few more times to make sure: Don’t make it extravagant.
“I will do as Your Highness wants,” he replied with a low voice.
It seemed that he wanted to do it differently, but he can’t do anything.
The person who will wear the clothes is the First Prince.
So soon after the measurements, the tailor returned with the finished clothes.
“I followed your order, Your Highness.”
The tailor’s face was full of pride as he laid the clothes down.
“Well…”
It is exactly as I wanted.
Color is black; decoration is minimal; the design is simple. However, the cloth was luxurious.
As I lifted the clothes and considered it while frowning, the tailor said confidently.
“It will fit you perfectly.”
With the help of the tailor and the maid, I put on the new clothes.
“Hooh!” I exclaimed.
I was very satisfied. I wore brown shoes with it, and it fitted nicely with the color scheme.
My body, although it couldn’t fly, looks pretty good.
“You have skills,” I acknowledged the tailor.
“With Your Highness’ words, it feels like 40 years of hardness in my life melted away.”
He looked proud and confident in his abilities.
“I need you to make my clothes for the banquet at the Royal Palace in about two months from now.”
“I’ll start working right away, Your Highness.”
“No. Wait. My sizes will be a little different at that time.
“No. Wait a minute. The dimensions will be a little different.”
Two months is a lot of time to burn all the fat I had left.
“Then, please send for me anytime. I’ll leave now, Your Highness.” He bowed, obviously pleased by my compliment, and left.
I looked at myself again in front of the mirror.
“I’m losing it…”
I lost so much weight that my face has started to change to someone I didn’t know.
It was a face that some would call handsome.
* * *
It was the day of the meeting.
With me are four other people. Since it was the first time I’ll leave the royal palace from quite some time, court knights and Carls stood close to me.
They were very nervous about the possibility of something unfortunate.
“Relax,” I told them. “We haven’t even left the palace yet.”
A carriage appeared from a distance, bearing the emblems of a golden lion and a roaring dragon on a white background.
A maid and I climbed inside. Carls and the other court knights will be riding horses in a formation around the carriage.
“Go.”
At my words, the carriage began to move.
However, Carls, who was obviously nervous about leaving the palace with me, approached to close the shutter on the carriage’s window.
The shutter was made of thick iron plates, to prevent snipers. It also prevented me from seeing the outside world.
“Can you keep it open, just a little? I wanted to see outside a little…”
Carls closed the shutter.
I left the prison that was the Royal Palace just to be in another prison, this time a carriage.
It was boring. I could not even hear outside the carriage.
“Well?”
I twisted my body and looked at the maid at the corner of the carriage.
She had an unsightly scar on her fine skin.
“The wound…” I muttered.
The maid lifted her collar, but it was not enough to cover up the huge scar on her neck.
“I upset Your Highness, and deserved to be punished,” she mumbled.
Damn. So, it was also the pig’s fault.
I was so sorry and embarrassed that I tried to look away, but in the cramped carriage, where else would I look?
I spoke to her again. “What is your name?”
From the moment I opened my eyes until I closed them, I was surrounded by maids, but I didn’t even know their names.
The maid looked at me with a shy, jumpy, doe-like manner. I feel guiltier.
Good eyes, fine skin, and scars. I was not the one who did it, but why do I feel guilty?
“I’m Adelia Bavaria, Your Highness.”
She said the name as if she was sad.
“What?!” I stiffened when I heard her name. “Bavaria?”
“The family is barely on the noble list. We are no family that Your Highness might be interested in…”
“You are a descendant of the Bavarian family?”
“Yes, Your Highness?”
Oh, my God.
I pressed my hand to my forehead, overcome with dizziness.
I never thought I’d hear this name once more.
My memories are in a warehouse filled with dust. A name popped out of the dusty piles.
Bavaria…
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