Amy was in awe, watching Davey dismember the boar so skillfully. Initially horrified, she had tried to talk Davey out of it, but the latter had threatened to kick her out if she tried to stop him one more time. Amy then gave up with tears in her eyes. Still, she jumped out of her skin every time the blade got dangerously close to Davey.

‘Is she trying to protect me?’ Davey didn’t know if Amy was overly loyal or just too sweet. Whatever it was, he thought that trait of hers wasn’t too bad.

Davey had learned the ways of survival from Hercules, the self-acclaimed ‘survival expert’, by being tirelessly overworked for years. This meant that hunting a wild animal like this and taking it apart was a piece of cake for him.

Needlessly to say, it would be a headache if everyone found out about this fact. Who would believe that a prince, who only recently got up and could barely move around, had gone to the hunting grounds and caught a boar? In the first place, it wasn’t normal for the eldest prince to be in a real-life survival situation at the palace. But even if it was best not to expose himself to such risk, Davey still had to sustain himself.

Although Queen Lynesse planted a spy to watch him, Davey was certain the spy wouldn’t be able to sense anything. ‘Devil mana exists for a reason.’ Unlike other mana or holy power, he knew that devil mana progressed at a very fast pace, and the basics of devil mana was to confuse the enemy.

‘From the moment you misjudged your enemy and planted only a novice as a spy, your eyes were practically shut.’ Davey smiled coldly at Queen Lynesse’s distant palace, then sliced the meat and seasoned it with salt and herbs.

“Much of the gaminess should be gone by the evening. Amy, do me a favor.”

“Yo… Your Highnessss….” Amy had tears in her eyes. She was begging Davey to stop.

Unfortunately, that only made Davey even more stubborn than before. He also said, “Go tell the royal attendant once more that I would like a royal audience with the king.”

“B… But…”

“I know they’ll say no, but just tell them again.”

“Your wish is my command.” As she scuttled away with her head down, Amy’s footsteps seemed heavy. She seemed to be misunderstanding Davey’s intentions.

Davey had no intentions of reconciling with his father even though they were related. He had no idea why his father had abandoned him or why his father didn’t get to the bottom of the life-threatening incident. But from the moment his father did nothing when Davey’s mother passed away… ‘You are not my family anymore.’

Ideas tended to strengthen over time. Some might say that Davey was being childish, but all he could do right now was stand by that decision.

Davey wondered if he should make a secret night visit. He just wanted a proper one-on-one, and not to sneak in like an assassin, grab his father by the throat, and ask him, ‘Why did you do that!’.

Previously, the king only had eyes for Davey’s mother. In his mother’s journal, she wrote of love and affection towards his father, and Davey had believed that his father would not be able to forget her even after her death. However, that wasn’t the case. His father’s love for his mother was shallow, and Davey, his mother’s only child, could see it too. And since his father turned out to be such a man, all Davey did was watch him and make his own judgments.

In the past, Davey thought that his distant step-brothers would embrace him if he did so. Unfortunately, their betrayal of when he was ten caused him to slip into unconsciousness. It was a miracle that Davey survived after getting hit by a random arrow. No, Davey knew best that it wasn’t some random arrow shot out of the blue.

The incident took place during a hunting competition, which was held on the same hunting grounds that Davey had just caught the boar. It was also an event to promote friendship between the nobility and royalty, but that was when he was struck by Second Prince Carlus’ arrow. He was shot by none other than his step-brother, who was only a year younger than him.

Although he told Queen Lynesse that he did not see the culprit, Davey could not erase the image of a sneering Carlus who shot the arrow from his memory. That was Carlus, his immature step-brother who believed in elitism. They were step-brothers, but the younger had tried to kill the older one. Wasn’t it amusing?

Carlus received no punishment because of the lack of evidence, Queen Lynesse’s powerful position that allowed her to do as she pleased, and Davey not coming out of unconsciousness. This was why the busy Queen Lynesse, Second Prince Carlus, and Third Prince Benedict had come to see Davey as soon as he woke up.

Davey pretended like he had no idea of the culprit because he couldn’t risk his life upon just waking up, but he guessed that the vicious woman probably did not believe him. That was probably why Queen Lynesse planted a spy to watch him.

Davey also suspected that the royal attendants were denying his request for a royal audience with the king by making excuses because the queen was moving behind the scenes. She must be worried that Davey might have seen Carlus shoot the arrow.

“No… That’s probably 100% the truth.” After putting away the heavily marinated meat, Davey wiped off all the blood with the spell ‘Clean’. He also took off his work clothes and the floor covers, and burned them to leave no trace behind.

To others, Davey had to put on a facade of a young, powerless, but lucky prince who was struggling to make ends meet. He needed to be the kind of prince who received hunted meat from others every day.

* * *

“Prince Davey, I have brought you your meal.” Amy greeted Davey with a bow, then turned a bright pink when he smiled at her.

“Do you want to eat together?”

“B… But I cannot!”

“Just eat.”

‘Since this will make the rumor even better,’ Davey thought. With this, the enemy would start to think that Davey was stupid and unaware of his rank. As they thought more and more lowly of him, their actions to keep him in check would only become weaker too.

“But…”

“I think I told you to not make me say things twice.”

“Fo… Forgive me.”

“Come sit,” Davey said calmly.

Amy timidly went and sat across from Davey. She was Davey’s only ally in this palace, so this was the least she could do.

“Eat well. It’s an unusual situation for you to be managing this palace all by yourself.”

“I am just doing my job.”

“No one in this palace works as much as you.”

“That is not at all true! I am just doing what I am told, Your Highness…”

“That is still a lot.” Davey knew it was difficult for Amy to manage this place on her own. This was also why Davey daringly gave up on taking care of the palace. It would actually be even better if word regarding this got out. The more incompetent he looked, the safer Davey was.

Even if she was the Queen Lynesse, she couldn’t just get rid of Davey by accusing him of a crime he didn’t do. All she could do was probably scold him, but that wouldn’t be enough to scare Davey off; he wasn’t that much of a coward.

“It’s good. You are quite conscientious. You would be a great mother.”

“Th… Thank you.”

“I will repay you, no matter what.”

The lady-in-waiting did not do chores, which were delegated to maids. If Amy had come from a fallen noble family, chores also weren’t something that she, who was still a noble, had to do. Nevertheless, she was taking on the chores because the other people had run away without any thought for the palace.

Some of those who had run away were trying to come back, because they were afraid of the repercussions. However, Davey would make sure that this was their final chance to ever decide to come back. He wasn’t a doormat, just kind-hearted. And since each of them had some sort of powerful backing, they were probably making excuses not to come back.

“What’s the response to my request for a royal audience with His Majesty?”

“That is…”

“Probably another rejection, no doubt.”

With a lowered head, Amy replied in a low spirited voice, “I’m sorry, Your Highness…”

“You did enough. What about the thing I told you to gather information about?”

“Oh, I have done that already… But why are you…” As Davey silently stared at her, Amy lowered her head again. “I’m sorry. How dare I question…”

“It’s not a big deal.” After giving an indifferent answer, Davey swallowed his food. Since he was constantly recovering using ‘Restore’, his appetite was worked up. And, of course…

‘Keugh… My stomach again…’ The problem was that Davey’s bowel activity became really active. Until he could change his waste into nutrients, as he transformed, his stomach was going to act like this. That thought somehow made Davey feel bitter.

* * *

“What’s he thinking?” Queen Lynesse’s face hardened as she quietly sipped her cup of tea at the table. “What’s the probability that he is just acting?”

“According to the priests who examine Davey, they say that he is still in a dangerous state. He’s only limited to light movement right now. Considering the current rate of treatment, they say he would need at least a year to recuperate,” the woman dressed as a lady-in-waiting quietly answered. She seemed like an ordinary lady-in-waiting, but she was a little different than the others.

Shari was a class-A informant of Dark Moon, an assassin guild situated in the capital of the Rowane Kingdom. The presence of a class-A informant was truly amazing. Lynesse silently examined the woman in front of her while savoring her tea. Shari did not have a strand of hair out of place.

Shari seemed to be a proficient lady-in-waiting, but Lynesse could see. When Shari answered with a cold expression, Lynesse could see the arrogance and desire to kill in her eyes. Shari’s ability to hold back her murderous intent for a non-target was incredible, but Lynesse was an arriviste with a sharp eye, ever since she was young.

Truly, Shari was an informant regarded highly anywhere on the continent. If she had to kill, she was skilled enough to assassinate even a high-ranking nobility in just one day, provided she had time to prepare. Because of this, Lynesse requested the Dark Moon for Shari to stay with her long-term.

There may be superior assassins in the continent, but it was clear that Shari was one of the best in the Rowane Kingdom. With her help, Lynesse could protect herself and remove anything that bothered her. Still, there was no need to be greedy. In fact, if Lynesse had a request for someone’s life, Shari would have their throats slit in just a few days.

Lynesse saw Shari as ‘a machine made for murder.’ If Shari moved, she would rarely return with wrong information; if Shari set out, most of her targets would be found dead the next day. But Lynesse felt like something was amiss, so she asked, “What’s the probability that your informant missed something?”

Lynesse was very surprised when the First Prince, Davey O'Rowane, had woken up after six years of unconsciousness. But she quickly assessed the situation, and soon reminded herself that there was nothing Davey could do. It didn’t matter if Davey knew that he had almost died because of Carlus’ arrow, because she could threaten him to stay quiet.

The king also had no interest in his first son, so Lynesse had always been the one with a tight rein on Davey. She was just looking for an excuse to deal with him at the right time.

At Lynesse’s question, the look in Shari’s eyes turned somewhat cold.