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n399 Chapter 132 – Meeting with Surou (part 3)

n“My prince, calm down. It was actually one of her medical procedures, interestingly enough a successful one, that caused an unfortunate chain of less than ideal events.”

nZoemi raised his hands and moved them in a calming manner towards the furious Surou.

n“Less than ideal?! Sir Au… Sir Benemor, this is not some trivial case – this is clearly a part of a plan to remove both me and my brother from the throne inheritance line!”

n|Oh. Clever boy.|

nThe blue-haired prince scoffed in anger, waving his hand in annoyance, but that only made Zoemi raise his brow and thought to himself impressed.

nThe thing that Surou pointed out was exactly what Zoemi and Burushi figured out too, but in the case of the latter two, they were reincarnations that already have the prior knowledge regarding the subject.

n“What brought you to that conclusion?”

nZoemi asked with interest.

n“Arisu was the person who used the hex on me. The rest can be figured out with enough time to think – of which I had plenty.”

nSurou scoffed, shrugging his shoulders and motioning at the rest of the chamber in a meaningful way.

n“…then, was Arisu also the mysterious supporter that Burushi was talking about…?”

nThe black-haired boy leaned forward and asked cautiously.

n“…yes – but the thing goes even further back…”

nThe blue-haired prince nodded and rolled his eyes angered at the mere thought.

n“You see, it all started when I was just a kid, one day I was called out by him and that snake had dared to use the control-type magic on me! He even dared to try and make it so that I would hate Horeo, but thankfully I had at least a little bit of resistance against the hex and it changed into a dislike and strong rivalry. From that point on that bastard kept renewing the hex on me whenever he was visiting the royal castle – irregularly might I add, so sometimes I was close to breaking free…”

n|I remember that back when we were young, there were times when Horeo said that Surou would almost seem to revert to how he was during the so-called good old days…|

nWhile Surou explained, Zoemi thought to himself nodding at the blue-haired boy’s words.

n“Still, I was mostly aware of what was happening for the most part – but that changed right before going to the Aspakeony Academy, that bastard began showing up almost every day and it felt like my brain was turning to mush. Honestly – I don’t remember a thing that happened for two weeks before the beginning of the academic year – my first memory after that is meeting miss Burushiitto on my way to the Academy.”

n“…?”

nThe second prince continued while Zoemi furrowed his brows.

nThere was something about that part that didn’t sit well with the black-haired boy, but he couldn’t really put his hand on it…

n“While in the Academy, Arisu was showing up to cast the hex on me at least two times a day – sometimes even more – but whenever I was with miss Burushiitto, even without her using any of her spells on me, I was at least aware of what was going on – not that it mattered in the long run since when we parted ways Arisu would show up to mess up with my head again, but still. She has my gratitude. The least I can do for her is make sure that she is safe.”

n“Hold on! Arisu was showing up so much? Burushi said that he was showing up from time to time to advise you!”

nSurou explained but his words made Zoemi call out the difference in his own information.

n“She knows only about the times she was present for – and mind you, if Arisu would show up when she was with me, I would still completely blank out – but still I wasn’t staying with her all the time, as that would be excessively inappropriate – even in my dumbed-down state I knew that much.”

nThe blue-haired prince shook his head and cleared out the doubt with a dismissive wave.

n“More inappropriate than proposing to her…?”

n“…I beg your pardon…?”

nZoemi tilted his head and questioned the last part which caused Surou to freeze and slowly look up at him.

n“You proposed.”

n“Proposed what?”

nThe black-haired boy tried to clear things up but it seemed like the situation was so outrageous for the blue-haired boy that even with his quick wit he wasn’t able to understand what it was about.

nOr rather he didn’t want to understand – but judging by the actual fear in his eyes, he already knew but was hoping for Zoemi to say it’s indeed just a misunderstanding and wrong use of words…

n“My prince… you… proposed to Burushi… You even gave her an engagement ring that you made yourself.”

n“…”

nThe black-haired boy gulped down his saliva and explained as his stomach started hurting because of an extremely bad feeling…

n*thump*

n“My prince?!”

nBut shockingly enough what happened next was Surou getting pale as a ghost and slumping down to the floor, making Zoemi gasp in panic.

n“Please tell me that’s a joke… Expelled or not, I am a member of the royal family, and as useful as healing attribute is, miss Burushiitto is a commoner…! The outrage that something like that would cause could harm the honor of the Bellcephora family line and in the worst-case scenario could lead to the other noble families taking back their support. Something so outrageous could even become a lynchpin for dethroning the current royal family and trigger a war for taking its place!”

nSurou hid his face in his hands and growled in desperation, leaving Zoemi wide-eyed and speechless.

n“Sir Banemor, please, tell me that what you said was just your way of taking revenge on me and not the reality…”

n“…!”

nSurou added, looking up at the increasingly uncomfortable Zoemi.

n“…many noble families have sent marriage proposals to me – riding with miss Burushiitto in the same carriage was already like spitting in their faces, but actually proposing to a commoner? Not to mention that it would be impossible since the royal family would NEVER approve of something so ridiculous, those families could start an uprising in defense of their honor!”

nThe second prince’s face turned green as he spoke – and interestingly enough, all of what he said matched pretty well with what Horeo had said to Zoemi about the situation way back when they witnessed all of that…

n|…|

n“(Master…?)”

n“(Master, are you feeling alright…? Don’t worry! Please…?)”

nZoemi was biting his lips staring in disbelief at the horrified Surou – the black-haired boy felt just as bad as the blue-haired one looked, to the point of his sentinels contacting him because they got worried about him.

n“…I came here to get some answers and get Surou out of here, but instead I got my brain blown away…”

n“…huh…?”

nThe black-haired boy mumbled feeling lightheaded – it was meant to be a response to his sentinels, but he ended up saying it out loud getting Surou’s attention.

n“…your relationship with Burushi wasn’t your own decision… but since Arisu was the one hexing you… doesn’t it mean that he planned for it? Why? What’s the point? Or is Burushi on to it too?”

nZoemi shook his head and breathed out before messaging his forehead.

n“You are asking me? Do you have any idea how I feel?! I was convinced that I got here because Arisu made me bring the ancient bracelets from the treasury without going through the proper procedure!”

nSurou scoffed, shocked by Zoemi’s reaction.

n“What? So you don’t even remember that they got destroyed?”

n“THEY WHAT?!”

nThe black-haired shook his head and asked in disbelief – but the second prince’s shout was clear enough of an answer.

n“(Master, monks are coming.)”

n“!!!”

nAs if there wasn’t enough bad and shocking news already, one of Zoemi’s sentinels alarmed him about the people approaching the room, causing the boy to flinch.

n“Tsk…! There is something extremely messed up going on, but one thing is certain. I am not leaving you here, my prince.”

n“Wh-what…?!”

nZoemi clicked his tongue and gritted his teeth before grabbing Surou’s shoulder, causing his eyes to widen.

n“We’re proceeding with the plan. Please open the gate.”

n“What are you talking abo…”

n“(Okay~!)”

nThe black-haired boy called out, making the second prince gasp in disbelief, but before the blue-haired boy managed to finish his sentence, one of Zoemi’s sentinels jumped out of his master shadow and turned itself into a murky-black gate on the floor…

n*WHOOOOOM*

n…and both Zoemi and Surou sunk into it before making another sound.

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