“Anyway, the royal palace’s atmosphere is quite troubling…” Davey commented to Royal Attendant Bespard while pretending to know nothing, when he was actually the one who had caused this chaos.

“Yes, apparently a secret ledger was revealed. His Majesty the King was furious, so all the servants and nobility who were involved have been stripped of their title and were all sentenced to death by a beheading.”

“And where’s His Majesty the King?”

“He has just gone to his bedroom after finishing a heavy load of work.”

As if he was venting everything he had endured, King Krianes was merciless. Even if Marquis Peiltris, along with the small number of royalists, had received a large amount of intel, it would have been impossible to get rid of the nobility this quickly without King Krianes’ involvement.

‘That’s why I can’t discern him.’

-Davey…

Perserque called Davey as if she had more to say, but she just sighed in the end.

-You are very stubborn.

The nobility was also falling apart after passing around the buck.

“I will escort you to the First Prince’s palace,” Royal Attendant Bespard said.

“Thanks.”

It would be right for Davey to see King Krianes as soon as he arrived, but he should wait for another day since the king had already gone to bed.

When Davey was silently following Bespard, he heard a haughty voice.

“Well, look who it is.”

“Carlus,” Davey said. He turned and glanced at the dark hallway, where he saw a normal yet familiar-looking face of a boy staring at him arrogantly.

“It’s you, Big brother Davey.”

When Davey saw the boy walk toward him with a chuckle, he nodded to Royal Attendant Bespard.

“Then, I will take my leave.”

“Thanks.” After letting Bespard leave, Davey glanced at the boy. He asked, “Yes, have you been well?”

“Well, I’ve been doing well.” Carlus put on a cheesy smile and walked haughtily toward Davey. Then, he glanced around and mumbled irritably with a frown, “You lowly thing, being all proud because you had success in your business.”

“Yes, well. You’re so envious that you came all this way to see me, even though we don’t like each other?” Davey grinned.

Carlus returned a smile. “It’s a business that even someone as ignoble as you has succeeded in, so anyone can probably do it too. Don’t be arrogant; you were just lucky. Your inferior blood isn’t going anywhere.”

“You ass. You really say anything to your older brother, don’t you?”

“Ha! Older brother? Who?” Carlus scoffed. He didn’t seem to realize how big of a deal Davey’s accomplishment was.

“Tsk. That’s why you’re an idiot who will never be able to become independent from Queen Lynesse.”

“What?” Carlus’ expression immediately turned dark. He looked like he would punch Davey if he said anything more. “You’re out of your min…”

“You’re the one who is out of your mind.” Davey lightly flicked off Carlus’ hand that was grabbing his collar.

At that moment, Carlus’ frown deepened. “Wh… What?”

“It seems like you think you’re all that because everyone pampers you. You know, I don’t think there’s a dumber dumbass than you.”

“Du… Dumbass…”

“You only know how to piggy-back on someone else. If you’re stupid, you should at least be conscious of what’s going on around you.”

“You dare insult me?!” As if he didn’t care that Davey was his older brother, Carlus hit the roof and threw his fist toward Davey.

‘Yeah, he wouldn’t have shot an arrow at me at the hunting competition if he wasn’t this big of a dumbass. Ah, now that I think about it, it’s pissing me off.’

Pak! 

“Woah?!”

Thud! In just mere moments, Davey grabbed Carlus’ fist and slammed him on the ground. Upon hitting the floor, Carlus looked both confused and in pain.

“Do you know what you say so habitually is actually an insult to His Majesty?”

Even though Davey's mother was from a baron family on the outskirts of the kingdom, his father was the king of this kingdom. If Davey were of ignoble blood as Carlus had said, then he would also be insulting King Krianes.

“Does it hurt?” Davey asked.

Carlus tried to move, but he soon began choking and twisting his body. He got red and began to wheeze when Davey pressed on his veins.

“It hurts because you’re young.”[1]

-What is that fascinating nonsense? If you’re in pain, you should go to the doctor or the priest.

‘There was such a saying in my past life.’

-What an astounding way of thinking.

Thinking that it was pathetic, Perserque clicked her tongue.

Carlus, who also seemed to think that it was ridiculous, stared up at Davey with a frown of hostility and humiliation. He seemed to not understand the pain he was feeling. “Ugh…”

Davey glanced at Carlus, who was staring up at him while moaning in pain, and wondered what he could do to fuck him over really nicely. Then, after contemplating shortly, he just let Carlus go.

“Keugh… What did you…” Carlus groaned. He looked like he wanted to charge at Davey right now, but he stepped back; perhaps it was because he had suffered an injury. “Let’s wait and see! The work you are so confident of right now will be taken away from you!”

As Carlus shouted and ran away, Perserque stared at Davey.

-You. You have quite an intense anger toward him. Why did you let him go?

“I didn’t just let him go.”

In his past life, before his coma, Davey had trusted that lost cause because they were family or whatnot, but he finally had enough of that. As he chuckled, Perserque closed her mouth. He then added, “I messed with him a little.”

Seeing Davey grin widely, Perserque frowned.

-You… I don’t really want to say this, but you shouldn’t smile like that often.

“Why?”

-It’s scary, to be honest…

Perserque murmured with an indiscernible gaze.

‘Is it that bad? I guess this is also a bad habit,’ Davey thought, but soon shook the thought off. Then, he let go of whatever he held onto and walked away. “Hair loss, which can’t even be solved with magic, is a universal sin. Among them, the worst is?”

-P—Patchy hair loss! You didn’t…

“And I gave him another gift. We should be able to see it in the conference room tomorrow.”

-Hiccup!

Realizing what Davey had done to the escaping Carlus, the life drained out of Perserque’s face and she began hiccupping.

‘I can’t kill you that easily.’

Davey hated when people said that young kids could do no wrong. If they committed a wrongdoing, knowing what would happen, they should be punished. This was especially so when they were old enough to know better.

* * *

‘What’s yours won’t be yours anymore.’ That’s what Carlus had said to Davey as he ran away. Since Carlus was—at best—a dumbass, most of what he had said could be disregarded, but…

“Even if he is an idiot, he’s not dumb enough to think that a tantrum will make everything go his way…”

-You never know. Maybe that boy named Carlus is now in worse shape than you thought.

“What if…”

Davey’s worst nightmares came true.

“It’s amazing. Of course! This is a joyous event of the Rowane Kingdom!”

“That’s right. It takes about four months for moon grass to be harvested. However, the quarterly profit is more than double the kingdom’s annual expenditure.”

“With this money, the kingdom can grow and develop!”

“Defense spending could be increased right away. It could also be used to fund other territories so that they could expand their businesses!”

The nobility shouted so passionately that they were practically spitting apart. Davey didn’t understand why these people were getting ahead of themselves, when he, the owner of the business, wasn’t saying a single word.

‘Hm… Maybe I’ll dabble in the food industry after I repair the facilities in the territory.’ Davey spoke in his mind to Perserque.

-Food industry?

‘People say the best business to run to get rich is to sell water and food.’

-Do you have something in mind?

‘Um… I want to try Korean food, but I’m completely new to that cuisine.’

It was a shame that there were no chefs among the heroes.

This was the royal court. In the midst of the bullshitting members of the nobility, Davey was the only one lost in thought.

Slam!

“What I’m saying is! We should fund the moon grass business for the sake of our kingdom!”

“Haha, you are frustrating. Count Bellis! Do you think that the moon grass business will just expand if we spend money on it? From what I hear, there’s only a certain part of the land in the Heins Territory that can grow it!”

“So! We should nationalize the business. Then, after studying it and expanding it, we can put it out there…”

Davey’s head was starting to hurt. King Krianes, who was sitting on the throne, put his hand on his forehead, as if his head was also hurting.

‘What is this chaos?’ Davey’s head began throbbing at the nonsensical argument between the nobility and the royalists. Since Marquis Peiltris who continuously beheaded the members of the nobility was absent, those present were unable to resist the opportunity and revealed their greed. In the end, both sides showed a desire for power, whether they were royalists or nobility; however, there was a slight difference in the direction of their desires.

“Enough,” King Krianes said, finally fed up. “First, we should reward Prince Davey, who has brought celebration unto the kingdom.” It was unclear as to what he was thinking, but he asked Davey as if he was examining him. “Davey.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Davey, who was thinking about his next business idea, stopped and turned his head.

“You did well. You accomplished a great thing without any help,” King Krianes said.

“I am honored, Your Majesty,” Davey replied.

“The kingdom was able to escape a major crisis because of the income tax you sent from your territory. Tell me; I will grant you any reward you want.”

As King Krianes spoke, everyone’s attention was immediately drawn to Davey. The king was acting like he would grant Davey anything that he asked for. Although, there was a high probability that Davey’s request would get set aside with a bunch of excuses and then disappear as if it was never asked for.

“I just did my part, Your Majesty.”

“Davey, your contribution is greater than any other in the last decade. Do not hesitate to ask.”

King Krianes spoke to Davey like he was testing him, so Davey suddenly felt irritated. However, he didn’t show it and just put on a naïve expression. He said, “Your Majesty, I currently do not have anything in mind for such a big reward. Would you grant me some time to think about it?”

“I’ll grant it.”

Once King Krianes stopped speaking, everyone else began talking. They mostly talked about how the successful moon grass business in the Heins Territory must be expanded and supported, and also about how the business should be nationalized and managed by the kingdom. Of course, it was all bullshit that would nearly be impossible to bring to life.

The situation even worsened when Duke Bariatta came along. Everyone went silent as he spoke up. It seemed like, although his power was faltering, he still had authority.

“There’s something that we should check first… The amount His Highness paid as income tax from the successful moon grass business’ profits was about seventy thousand gold.” Duke Bariatta paused for a second, then continued after glancing around the room emotionlessly.

1. The name of a famous book in Korea. It means that growing up is painful, and that the pain one feels while growing up is the sign of youth. ☜