Secrets with Crown Prince 17

Every week, I went with Ja-do to serve breakfast to the poor living at the edge of the slums.

Reporters from the Alpine newspaper eagerly photographed us with a camera. There were only 3 cameras developed for portable use in the entire Alpine Empire – one for the Imperial family, one for the Alpine newspaper, and… Eh, I think the other one belonged to Duke Stefan's family.

I was impressed by the Alpine newspaper’s efforts in mobilizing such an expensive camera. It meant that Ja-do and I were attracting plenty of attention from the empire’s people. It’s only natural for a newspaper to invest in articles that sell.

“Do you plan on coming out like this every time?” Ja-do asked as he handed out bread to the people standing in line.

I nodded as I poured soup into the person’s bowl before  me.

“I only planned to do this until the public’s opinion on me has calmed down. Isn’t this a good thing? I think it's best to do this as much as you can. Since I'm here, I'm also going to donate some money to the orphanage.”

"Ah……  I never thought you’d be following in my uncle's footsteps.”

As soon as I heard Ja-do’s whispers, I burst into laughter.

“Who knew PD-nim would be born in a different world and engage in politics? Memories from our past life must have helped a lot, right? The public’s opinion on us has gotten a lot better.”

He shook his head, looking fed-up with my words.

PD Ja Do-hyeok's family was quite famous. He was the youngest son of a company’s chaebol chairman, while his uncle was a politician. It was the kind of backstory that people always gossiped about.

One thing about politicians was that they only showed interest in volunteering if they were campaigning.

“Well, PD-nim, why didn't you think about changing your reputation like this before? I think you should have tried at least this much, PD-nim, so why didn’t you?"

He responded to my sincere question with a kind expression.

“Because I was busy taking care of my people.” 

After responding, he became silent for a moment before speaking again.

“Until now, I was solely focused on walking straight ahead, without taking the time to look around.”

He suddenly turned towards me, and I looked at him, confused.

“So, you have no idea how much you mean to me.”

I related with him a bit, but unless I was in his shoes I wouldn’t understand him completely.

"I don't think you're doing volunteer work just for the sake of public opinion."

Ja-do gave me a look that seemed to say he didn’t believe what I said earlier.

Right, I knew all along that he’d noticed why I was doing this.

“We’re doing volunteer work in an open place that’s easy for anyone to access, which makes it perfect to contact anyone without raising suspicion. However, I'm more serious than anyone else right now, because there are no bad intentions when it comes to volunteer work."

We needed evidence that Reporter Eleanor was instigated by Lady Serine and Prince Verdi.

This volunteer work was actually a ploy to meet reporter Eleanor.

I shrugged after finishing my piece.

“However, there seems to be a hole in your plan."

Ja-do seemed to have the same thoughts I did, so I nodded without any hesitation.

“Which is why, after our discussion, I thought of something. Did you do as I asked?”

At Ja-do’s words, I took out a note and showed it to him, then put it back in my pocket.

It had the home address of Martha Melissa, the owner of a magical goods store.

Ja-do gave me the instructions in a hurry this morning so I couldn't ask him for his motives.

I even had to go to Wizard Melissa’s early in the morning to ask her to smuggle an illegal immigrant into Nathan's kingdom.

“But why did you-?” 

Before I could finish talking, a man came and stood before us.

Ja-do and I continued to distribute food silently until a man sneaked at Do-hyuk and gestured for bread. He had a scruffy face and scarlet hair.

At that moment, I bent my head, trying to hide my face with my long, messy, tangled hair so that he couldn't see my face properly. However, I could tell who he was with just one look. 

Thanks to his colleague at the newspaper, who had previously asked for my help, I recognized Eleanor from the portrait he gave me.

It was Eleanor, the very reporter that accused the Do-hyuk of pressuring Director Harold into firing him.

Why was he here…?

It was true that I started this volunteer work to contact Eleanor quickly.

Even so, why did reporter Eleanor take the bait right away?

“I brought the information that you asked for.”

Eleanor murmured. Ja-do stared at him before smiling and handed him the bread, to which he accepted sluggishly.

A white paper slipped from his hand and into Ja-do’s hand.

And that’s when it hit me.

It seemed Ja-do had been planning for this from the moment I asked him to volunteer. Now I finally knew why he needed Melissa's help – it was to provide a plan for Eleanor to escape.

I immediately knew what to do next because I knew what Ja-do was thinking even without him telling me. Eleanor soon approached me.

I began to pour the stew into the cup he was holding, but I intentionally poured so much that it overflowed.

"Oh my goodness! Are you okay?"

I took a handkerchief from Maria, the maid standing behind me, and wiped the stew off his hands and clothes.

"I’m alright."

As he spoke, I took his hands into mine and slipped him a note that I was hiding.

“If you go to this address, they will help you to get to Nathan Kingdom without an identity check.” I quickly whispered to him and moved away.

I knew Melissa would occasionally let illegal immigrants cross the border for extra money. Still, I didn't expect her help in this.

Eleanor was startled by the note I gave him, but he managed to finish his stew before leaving.

“What was written on that?”

I asked while looking at the note in Ja-do’s hand.

Written on the paper was the handwriting of Count Zenith and Lady Serine, both nobles of Prince Verdi's faction, ordering the manipulation of the articles.

Ja-do folded the letter and put it in his jacket, then shrugged and kept his hands in his pockets.

“He needs money and a place to hide. He suffered a lot from Fabian after all."

Fabian obviously referred to Prince Verdi.

Come to think of it, most of Alpine Newspaper’s special articles on Prince Reynolds were written by Eleanor.

I didn’t know if Prince Verdi and Lady Serine were still engaged, but they sure had a lot in common.

“Both of you worked hard. The stench was strong, but you put up with it well. You two are doing a job that nobles usually shy away from. I’m proud of you.”

At Joseph's words, Ja-do and I looked at each other, then back at him.

“I’m not a patient person, but I know well of their difficult circumstances.”

At my answer, Joseph tilted his head in disbelief and looked at Ja-do, who was smiling like me.

“There is nothing to be proud of because I just did what I had to do. Status is there for us to assume responsibility, not to discriminate.”

Joseph stared blankly at Ja-do as he muttered.    

“Both of you think outside of the box.”

His words made me look at Ja-do.

Likewise, he made eye contact with me, and we burst into laughter. It was only natural for our thoughts to be similar, but after hearing what Joseph said, it made more sense.

So that's why Ja-do was so obsessed with me.

"It's probably because we share the same secret."

At my words, Ja-do stared at me with a momentary loss for words. I saw a complex range of emotions pass through his face.

Right, it was clear that I wouldn’t be able to find someone with a similar mindset to mine other than Ja-do in this world.

                                                    *********

I found out later that although Eleanor was under Prince Verdi, he also worked under Ja-do, meaning he was actually a double agent.

I was told that he was gathering information about Prince Verdi through Eleanor. The sole reason that reporter Eleanor was forced out of his job was to warn Prince Verdi and his backers.

He also mentioned that he was trying hard not to intervene, but he couldn't hold back his rage the moment Prince Verdi extended his demonic claws toward me.

Of course, since this was what Joseph Fissiel said, I had to listen to Ja-do’s point of view.

I even dissolved the story of reporter Eleanor into the novel; of course, with a bit of tweaking.

Although nobody's real names were mentioned, as a fait accompli ¹, people began criticizing Prince Verdi and Lady Serine.

The Serine family announced its official position and asked the Alpine newspaper to stop serializing the novel.

The novel was so popular that the sales skyrocketed, so when the Alpine Newspaper rejected their request, the Serine family started pressuring them.

When this rumor spread, the extremely passionate and hardcore <The Man of Friederica> fans rose up and protested against the Serine family.

It was said that Marquis Serine shut his mouth after public opinion worsened, but no one knew what the Marquis would do next.

“Actually, I had a prejudice against the young lady.”

Sitting on the terrace of the coffee house and reading today's newspaper published by Alpine Newspaper, I looked up.

Argan was sitting across from me. He sat there upon his arrival.

He was normally polite, but lately he seemed to behave more informally around me.

I folded the newspaper I was reading.

"I understand. I have a face that invites prejudice.”

It felt a bit unfair when I said it myself.

In Korea, my appearance was known to be as good as a celebrity’s, but here, it was just a face that aroused prejudice.

It was a disastrous assessment.

"… When I read Lady Serine's interview with the newspaper, I didn't think Lady Serine's claim was particularly wrong.”

So Argan was also looking at me from the same point of view as Lady Serine.

This was a bit shocking, but I wondered if the successor to the Duke of Roadwald’s family, regarded as the nobility of nobles, would have such a mindset.

While I was lost in my thoughts, Argan suddenly got up from his seat, put his fist on his chest, and bowed down like a knight to apologize.

"I'm sorry. Even though I knew that the prejudice lacked proof, I was still too narrow-minded."

"I don't think it's Lord Roadwald’s fault."

It wasn't just Argan that thought that way; however, my response seemed to hurt him a bit.

He nodded his head with a sullen look before quietly sitting down again.

“I will try harder in the future.”

I know that means you only want me to have a good impression of you.

I thought I heard Argan’s words before. 

Ja-do said the same thing. Why was everyone so eager to appear good for me?

I wasn’t interested in Argan, so I wasn’t keen on making myself look good in his eyes. 

Anyway, I couldn't directly tell him to 'wipe off that expression because it's annoying,’ so I just maintained my silence.