Fourth Prince's Debauchery - Chapter 263

Chapter 263: 263
After Louise fell asleep, I stepped across space and carried her to her room .

Louise's room was rather girlish, a bit unexpected from a strong girl like her, but rather cute too . I smiled softly while carrying her to the bed .

After a kiss on her forehead and seeing the smile on her face, I left her room . I would have liked to stay a while longer, but the people in the mansion will probably suspect something if both Louise and I are gone for longer than this .

After I left the room, I wandered the mansion aimlessly . At the same time, I checked on some documents I had seen in the Earl's office and copied with magic .

But as expected, I was unable to find anything useful in them . Well, the earl looks like the careful kind . He surely will not let something that can be used against him in his office .

While I was walking around the mansion, I meet Mia again .

"Prince Claus? I was searching for you . Where is Louise?"

"Oh, mother-in-law . Louise said that she was tired, so she went to rest . "

"Tired? How weird . Louise normally doesn't sleep so early . "

Almost instantly, Mia froze .

Then, an expression of realization appeared on her face .

One second later, she looked at me with a strange expression .

"I wonder what kind of extraneous physical activity she went through to fall asleep so early . "

I let out a cough to hide my awkwardness and changed the topic .

"Anyway, why were you searching for me?"

"Oh, that is right . Come, I'll show you to your room . "

I nodded and followed behind Mia .

During the way, Mia was silent . Only when we reached the room, she opened her mouth .

"Claus, I'm sorry for my husband's behavior today . Don't worry, even although he is like that, Louise is his daughter . He will not make things too difficult for the two of you . "

I fell silent for a moment and looked at Mia carefully .

Thinking about it, this a good opportunity to bring Mia to my side .

From what I have seen of her personality, Mia is not someone evil or scheming . Quite the opposite, she is a nice person . To say it nicely, she is something with outstanding morality and values between the nobles . To say it bluntly, she is a bit naïve for a noble of her position .

Thus, if I play my cards right, I can probably make her take the initiative to come to my side, and my bed, in the nearby future .

After organizing my thoughts, I opened my mouth .

"Mother-in-law . No, Mia, do you know what the origin of the conflict between your husband and me is?"

Mia opened her mouth to say something, but in the end, she said nothing .

"It looks like you know . "

Mia smiled bitterly . "It's your throne, right?"

I shook my head . "No, it's my mother . "

Mia was startled, but I continued without minding it . "There are two main culprits behind my mother's death . The first one is the emperor . His distrust, unfounded jealously, and possessive tendencies drove mother to her death . The second person is the empress . She used her words to fan the suspicions of the emperor and used her power in the palace to pressure my mother as much as she could . Such actions made my mother's life very miserable, draining her will to live and finally killing her .


"But although the two of them are the main culprits, they are not the only people behind it . Mia, Earl Carson is also related to this, right?"

Mia entered in panic . "No! Although my husband is a bit ambitious, he did not have any reason to make your mother to di–"

"But he did have a reason . " I interrupted Mia with an indifferent voice . "Earl Carson is an ambitious man whose goal is to bring the Riea family to greater heights . Thus, when the emperor married Lilia, the current empress, he found his opportunity .

"Making use of Lilia, and later of Alan as crown prince, Earl Carson planned to make the Riea family the strongest family of the empire . Once Alan was crowned as the emperor, Earl Carson will be one of the closest people to the emperor and the empress dowager .

"Unfortunately, an obstacle appeared on his plans . It was my mother .

"It's not a secret that the emperor loved my mother more than the empress . He was obsessed with her . Thus, the earl feared that once mother gave birth to a male child, the emperor would disregard everything to make him the crown prince, am I right? Thus, the earl supported the empress behind scenes when she started her plan to get rid of my mother . "

"… These are just your conjectures . You don't have proof your words are right . " Mia denied it immediately .

I just smiled calmly . "You are right . They are just conjectures . But, why the earl wants to kill me?"



Mia froze before that question .

"W-What are you saying?"

I looked straight to her eyes with a calm look . "I'm asking you, why does the earl want to kill me ?"

"Let's be honest . " I continued . "There is no reason for the Earl to be opposed to Louise marrying me . In the end, I'm also a prince . My status is more than enough to match her .

"But you saw his reaction today . It's obvious he loathes that possibility . It's because the Earl sees me as an obstacle . An impediment between him and the success of his family . In fact, I'm one hundred percent sure that the reason Louise approached me the first time was under the orders of the earl . Did he want to use Louise to get information about me? Maybe about my master?"

Mia paled .

I smiled . "Your reaction tells me I'm right . "

"P-Prince, L-Louise loves you . S-She is n–"

"I know Louise loves me . " I interrupted Mia again . "Don't worry, I'm clear about it . I will not fault Louise for that either . Back then, our positions were different . What she did was something normal . But–"

I smiled with a mischievous look .

"How do you think the earl feels now that her plan backfired in such a way . Hehe, he probably feels like he was played as a fool . The chess piece he sent to infiltrate the enemy ended really turning into his enemy . I'm sure he hates my guts due to that . "

I looked at the room in front of me with a casual expression . "But coming back to the topic, the fact that the earl sent Louise back then proves that he was already plotting against me since long ago . In fact, the plan to kill me is already going on . That plan even includes taking care of Louise . "

"That is not true!" Mia refuted me fiercely . "Even if he is like that, he will never do something that harms his daughter!"

"Do you truly believe that?" I asked with a mocking expression . "Mia, do you truly think your husband will not sacrifice his daughter if he considers it necessary?"

"T-That…"

"Then, do you want to make a bet with me?"

Mia looked at me perplexed .

"Let's bet in the fact that the earl doesn't dare to harm his daughter . Tomorrow starts the institute's expedition . That is when the plan to kill me will start . So let's bet in the fact that he will not dare to put Louise's life in danger . "

Mia turned pale . Just the possibility of my words being true filled her with fear .



"Don't worry . " I continued in a relaxed tone . "I know about his plan, so I will make sure that Louise is not hurt regardless of whatever he tries . Then, will you bet with me?"

" . . . Why do you know all of this?"

"Well, I have my sources . " I said with an innocent smile .

"… What are we going to bet?" After a few seconds of silence, Mia spoke .

I curved my lips up . "What do you think of a favor? If I win, you will owe me a favor . If you win, I'll owe you a favor . "

"A favor?" Mia was confused .

"Yes . Don't underestimate it, it can be very useful . For example, if one day your husband loses the battle for power, you can use that favor to save his life . "

"B-Battle? What do you mean?"

I sighed exasperatedly . "Think about it, Mia . I even managed to get information about the earl's plan to kill me . How do you think I did it?"

"You… You have a faction behind you!"

I shook my head . "More accurately, I have a faction under me . These are my preparations for when I have to fight the emperor and the empress . "

Mia turned completely pale .

These words I just said, they were basically treason!

"You… W-Why are you telling me something like this? D-Don't you fear I will tell my husband about it?"

I curved my lips up slightly . "I know you won't . " I said with conviction . "You are not that kind of person . " Besides, I put a suggestion in your mind to prevent that, just that you did not notice .

Mia was stunned . One second later, she laughed bitterly .

"Prince Claus, you are very frightening . "

"Thank you . " I bowed with a comic expression . "Unfortunately, some ignorant people can't see it . Then, are you going to bet with me?"

Mia bit her lips . For some reason, she had the feeling she was slowly falling into a very sticky net .



But unfortunately, she could not refuse .

After hearing my words, she started to think about the possibility of her husband losing .

Before this, she never even imagined it . But now, she could not avoid but think, 'what if?'

More when she faced this side of me she had never seen .

Besides, she trusted that her husband was not going to hurt Louise .

"Very well, I agree . "

I smiled like a devil who successfully fooled a mortal . "Great, Mia . Don't worry, I'm a man of my word . "

Mia looked at me for a few seconds and sighed . "Please, take care of my daughter . It's late, I'll be going . "

"Good night . " I said .

"… Good night . "

Once I was sure Mia was gone, I entered my room .

Mia, Mia . Even if your husband was not planning to hurt Louise, he will definitively choose to hurt her .

I know people like him well . When he had to make his choice, he will choose his ambitions over his family .

Lying on my bed, I entered deep into thought about the future .

But this night was destined to be a busy one .

One hour after the lights of the mansion were turned off, someone opened the door of my room .

"… Brother-in-law? Are you awake?"

. . .

Very long chapter . . .

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