Chapter 768 OUT OF CONTROL
[SOMETHING has changed in Prince Nero...]
Melvin observed the Crown Prince who was currently having another meeting with Marquis Russell Spencer.
This time, the Crown Prince visited the marquis in his manor.
The last time Prince Nero talked to Marquis Spencer, the conversation ended peacefully. But the conversation taking place at the moment was pretty intense.
"I thought we already have a deal, Prince Nero?" Marquis Spencer yelled angrily. "What's with the selection now? I can't even join that stupid selection because of the age requirement! Did you just stab me in the back?"
Melvin, who was standing behind Prince Nero, frowned.
[Why is this mere marquis yelling at the Imperial Crown Prince?]
Marquis Spencer should be grateful that Sanford and Raku were guarding outside the mansion. Prince Nero didn't bring the two because he didn't want to attract attention from the servants of House Spencer.
But if Sanford and Raku were there, they would have threatened the marquis already.
[Unfortunately, I'm weak so I'm just going to glare at him until he shuts up.]
The more annoying part was the fact that Prince Nero was taking the marquis' insolence in silence.
[Come on, Prince Nero? Are you going to allow that person to disrespect you?]
"Are you backing out of our deal?" Marquis Spencer yelled, slamming his hands against the table between him and the Crown Prince. "If that's the case, then I'll never hand over the device to you!"
Ah, that device.
[Prince Nero was initially tempted by the device to make the Black Witches submit to him. But it looks like His Royal Highness already changed his mind?"
"You're mistaken, Marquis Spencer," Prince Nero said, placing the teacup down on the saucer. "I said I was going to check the device first– I never said I'm accepting the deal you offered."
Oh, right.
Melvin remembered that Prince Nero never explicitly said that he accepted the marquis' deal. After all, the Crown Prince was only shaken when the marquis mentioned the device that could control Black Witches.
[Prince Nero is indeed cunning.]
"Hah! Do you think I'm a fool, Prince Nero?" Marquis Spencer asked, smirking. "You're going to steal the device once I showed it to you, aren't you?"
Melvin clenched his hands tight.
[How dare you accuse the Imperial Crown Prince of–]
"That's right. I'm here to steal it," Prince Nero confessed casually. "There's no other reason for me to see your face on a weekend if it wasn't for the device, Marquis Spencer."
Melvin unclenched his hands.
[Well... the Imperial Crown Prince could take anything they want from the nobles... right?]
Argh.
It was getting harder and harder to defend Prince Nero these days.
[I must resign before he goes completely ballistic.]
"Please leave, Prince Nero," Marquis Spencer said, turning his back on the Crown Prince. "I will pretend I didn't hear the Crown Prince say he'd steal from me– argh..."
SLASH.
Melvin's eyes widened when he saw Prince Nero pull out his infamous Ice Sword out of nowhere, then the Crown Prince mercilessly slashed Marquis Spencer's back.
It didn't end there.
As soon as Prince Nero's Ice Sword touched the marquis' skin, the marquis quickly froze– literally.
The door suddenly burst open.
Then the knights of Marquis Spencer who definitely felt Prince Nero's bloodlust came running in.
"Marquis!"
"My lord!"
"Prince Nero, what did you– argh!"
The Crown Prince slashed the knights in a series of quick and clean movements.
Of course, Melvin was frozen in shock.
When he came to be, he realized that Prince Nero already left the tearoom. But he could hear the painful cries and screams of people getting sliced by the Crown Prince's Ice Sword.
He quickly got on his feet to follow Prince Nero.
And what greeted him was a hallway drowning in a giant pool of blood.
Of course, Prince Nero was unharmed. The blood belonged to the poor people that the Crown Prince had killed.
Melvin was flabbergasted. "Prince Nero, how could you do this..."
Prince Nero looked over his shoulder and stared at him with a blank look on his face. "What?"
Melvin trembled at the strange coldness in Prince Nero's eyes, but he still dared to open his mouth. "Marquis Spencer is still a member of the Twelve Golden Families. Even though you're the Crown Prince, the nobility still has the power to criticize you–"
"That bastard committed a grave sin."
[WHAT GRAVE SIN?]
And even if that was the case, a noble of Marquis Spencer's status still deserved a proper noble trial.
Hence, Melvin tried to reason with the Crown Prince. "But we don't have any evidence–"
"Fabricate it then," Prince Nero said, cutting him off. Then he brushed his bloody hands through his hair. "It's your job as my secretary to clean up after my mess anyway."
Melvin cried in despair, finding everything unfair. "No, it's not a part of my job description, Prince Nero! This is too much even for me!"
"Cry about it then."
"I'm already crying!"
"Then cry more," Prince Nero said, sighing while shaking his head. "We still have to find the device that the damned marquis mentioned, so stop complaining and move your feet."
So, this crazy– er, unstable Crown Prince was after the device.
[Is it because he wants to control Miss Dahlia?]
Melvin only worried for the young Black Witch for a moment before he realized that he was in a more pitiful state than Dahlia.
He wanted to cry for real, but decided to do his job first.
"Prince Nero, the marquis is still alive."
"Of course, he is," Prince Nero said, scoffing. "I purposely kept him alive since I wanted to torture him further. How dare that bastard ask for Neoma's hand in marriage? And he even dared to strike a deal with me." The Crown Prince smirked bitterly. "People who don't know their place only deserve death."
[No, they don't, but let's not argue with this crazy– er, unstable Crown Prince.]
"Prince Nero, the marquis lost it when you informed him that he couldn't join the selection for Princess Neoma's future spouse," Melvin said, his brain working overtime once again. "Then the marquis, who showed strange obsession with the Imperial Princess, tried to put his hands on you with the intention of harming you. Then your Soul Beast came out to protect you– almost killing the marquis in the process."
That was how Melvin wanted to frame the incident to save Prince Nero from getting criticized.
[Prince Nero is going to ascend the throne soon, so we must wrap this up in his favor.]
"That sounds plausible, but I slashed that bastard marquis on the back," Prince Nero said, raising an eyebrow at him. "His wound would suggest that I attacked him when he had his back on me. Don't you think I'd be criticized if people find out I literally stabbed him in the back?"
[If you know that, then why did you still do it?]
Melvin let out a sigh. "Let's just say Marquis Spencer tried to run away after he realized his mistake, but it was already too late since the Soul Beast already appeared."
"How do we prove it?"
"I recorded your heated conversation with Marquis Spencer earlier."
"You did?"
"The first thing you asked me to do when you appointed me as your secretary was to find the nobles' weaknesses that we could use against them, Prince Nero," Melvin reminded the Crown Prince. "Ever since then, it became my bad habit to record your meetings and private conversations with them."
Prince Nero laughed as if he was delighted. "Delete the part where the device related to the Black Witches was mentioned, and make it look like he was about to attack me when he slammed his hands against the table."
"That's the plan, Prince Nero."
"I'm glad you're competent, Melvin."
"I haven't given up on my dream of resigning, Your Royal Highness."
"Yeah, just keep on dreaming," Prince Nero said arrogantly, then he turned to his side. "Did you find it?"
Melvin thought the Crown Prince was talking to himself.
But, much to his surprise, Alucard and Lucien appeared out of thin air.
[Prince Nero's senses are really scary.]
"We found the device, Prince Nero," Alucard reported to the Crown Prince politely. "It was quite hidden well, and the security was tight. Hence, Lucien had to blow up the entire vault."
"I apologize, Prince Nero," Lucien said, bowing his head. "Because I made things noisy, there are witnesses. Should we kill them?"
Melvin really wanted to cry now.
[Why am I surrounded by a bunch of lunatics who enjoy killing people?]
"Ah, I remember something," Prince Nero said. "I killed that perverted bastard in my previous life because I found him guilty of selling children as sex slaves. If I remember correctly, that bastard ran a huge sex ring for perverts who are attracted to children."
Alucard and Lucien both frowned, obviously disgusted after hearing Marquis Spencer's dirty secret.
Melvin was left wondering, though.
[Prince Nero's "previous life...?"]
***
But the damned throne suddenly talked to her in her mind.
"Neoma, what's happening?" Papa Boss asked worriedly, getting up from his throne to walk towards [ARGH!]
Neoma clutched her head when she heard a loud and annoying voice in her head, forcefully summoning her to the throne room.
Well, she was already in the throne room since she was trying to convince Papa Boss to acknowledge the selection. It wouldn't be officially recognized unless the emperor approved. Hence, she was in the middle of doing aegyo (acting cute) in front of her father.
But the damned throne suddenly talked to her in her mind.
"Neoma, what's happening?" Papa Boss asked worriedly, getting up from his throne to walk towards her. "Are you in pain?"
"The throne..." Neoma said, barely opening her eyes to glare at the throne. "It's rejecting Nero, Papa Boss."
"What?"
"It's forcing me to take Nero's place."
Papa Boss was obviously shocked and confused.
That was when the door to the throne room burst open, then Geoffrey Kinsley entered in a hurry.
"Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, I received a report from Melvin just now," Geoffrey Kinsley said, gulping hard before proceeding with his report. "Apparently, Prince Nero injured Marquis Spencer and killed most of the marquis' family knights..."
Neoma and Papa Boss both pinched the bridge of their noses at the same time.
"Nero..."
***
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