Resurrection of Duke Werstein ~ I Didn’t Hear Anything About Being A Middle-aged Man ~ 25

Ludwig Sheva Lunamilia is the first prince.

Born and raised as a member of the royal family of the Kingdom of Lunamilia, he finally turned twelve this year.

His silver thread-like hair sparkles when it catches the sunlight, and his amber eyes look like gold in the right light.

The color of his eyes is a sign that he is able to manifest the "Perfectus Oculus," a divine eye given to the first king by Lunamilia, the goddess of the moon, and is rare even among the royal bloodline.

Therefore, although he is renowned for his intelligence, he is still very young and is expected to become the next king with golden eyes who will eventually ascend to the throne.

Being a member of the royal family with golden eyes had a special meaning to him.

However, due to his young age, he was arrogant.

But there was a reason for that.

The Kingdom of Lunamilia has one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world.

The king who currently rules the kingdom is called "the unfortunate king" by his people.

After inheriting the throne and marrying the queen, he was not blessed with any children, got caught up in a war, and lost a friend to illness during that time.

She was the daughter of a lowly nobleman, and her position as a member of the royal family was weak.

Furthermore, she had not been blessed with a child for a long time, and it was rumored throughout the country that she might not be able to bear a child, which further weakened her position.

As a result, the queen's position became even weaker.

The first of these was Duke Auguste Verstein.

He was a man who was oppressive in his domain, unprincipled in his behavior, and ugly and fat like a domestic animal.

The king, perhaps having a weakness for the duke, is unable to punish him and lets him run wild.

In fact, it seems that His Majesty is desperately trying to clean up the Duke's mess.

That's why the country is still in existence, even though the country could fall at any moment.

In general, that was the perception of the entire country.

The king was a man of great ability, but he lacked human resources and had a series of misfortunes.

That is why the whole country rejoiced when the golden-eyed prince was finally born as his son, even though it was wartime.

However, the prince, who had received such high expectations, had a lonely childhood, not being able to see his parents much due to the busy schedule of the king, who was not blessed with many talents, and his post-war management, and the queen, who was desperate to consolidate her position to recover her declining influence.

The one person who came forward to help him and act as his guardian was the Marquis of Ragsdew Reinbach, the only conscience in the Kingdom of Lunamilia.

He worked hard to find an excellent educator for the prince with the golden eyes, and he himself was with the prince as his tutor.

This is the current situation of the royal family as generally perceived by the people.

However, the result of all these efforts was the current prince.

As the next king, the prince, who had been crammed with knowledge but not with common sense and character development, would become a very convenient king as a puppet.

Everything will go according to his convenience, no one will deny him, and his days will be like a dream.

That is the world of a prince.

The queen had always said that the education department should be changed, and that the marquis should not be allowed to tutor the prince, but no one would listen to the words of the queen, who had no influence.

The queen's words did not reach the prince, but were conveyed in a distorted form by the Marquis.

──...... The queen told me that I am not suitable to be your tutor.

Even though I usually stay with His Highness the Second Prince.....──

──...... What the hell is mother thinking! She wants to take the Marquis away from me! ......──

The prince could not possibly be aware of the queen's deep intentions, and he firmly refused.

With the birth of the weak second prince, the queen's influence was less than it had been when the first prince was born, so unless the prince himself agreed to it, it would never happen.

The queen was the biggest victim.

Her beloved child was finally born, and although she tried to raise it herself, due to her weak influence, it was taken away from her by someone else and raised by someone else's hands.

She can't even see him because she is too busy.

As mother and son, no one knows how much they long to see each other.

And that the Marquis Reinbach is the one who is preventing them from doing so.

The queen was only allowed to raise the second prince, who could die at any moment due to his weakness.

The prince, who had no way of knowing this, believed that he was unloved by his parents.

So he grew up to be stupid, smart, and arrogant, not realizing that he was being spoiled and raised as a convenient puppet.

In this respect, the prince might be considered a victim.

Ludwig Sheva Lunamilia is the first prince.

Therefore, there was no one who could stand against him.

That is, until he met Countess Christia Laurist.

She talked back to the prince from their first meeting and left without apology.

The prince, who was too unexpected to even react, assumed that the Countess would eventually realize his position and desperately come to him to apologize.

However, the unexpected continued.

There was no word from her at all.

In the normal course of history, the prince would have grown up without any change.

But that was as far as it went.

The next time he met the young lady was at a party to celebrate the founding of the country, which was not the original course of history.

When the prince spotted the girl, he shouted out.

"You're finally here! Christia Laurist!"

The girl's shoulders jumped at such a call.

The prince inwardly sneered at the girl who turned around somewhat hurriedly.

The next moment, however, it all fell apart.

"Well, Your Highness... It's been a very long time since I've seen you.

I'm honored that you remember my name."

For some reason, the response was cold and casual in front of the prince of the country.

Still, the prince did not notice that the girl was behaving in a proper and polite manner.

This only made the prince even more frustrated.

"Enough of this nonsense! Don't you have something to say to me!?"

The prince, who had been put off common sense and character building, had no way of knowing that shouting at a woman in a situation like this was not recommended.

The girl did not yell back at the prince, but answered him in a ladylike manner.

"...... First of all, I would like to express my sincere congratulations on the successful celebration of the National Day today.

As your vassal, I wish for the continued prosperity of this country…"

“Wrong! Well it’s not wrong, but that’s not it.

About the other day!”

The prince was somewhat desperate as he pointed at the girl for emphasis and yelled at her to cover up.

The girl still gives the prince the same cold stare.

"... The other day? If it's about that time, I won't apologize, in fact, I'd like you to apologize to me.”

“Wh…!?"

The prince couldn't think of a good way to respond to the girl's crisp statement.

To the prince, who had no words to refute her, the girl spoke in a dignified manner.

"But if there is one thing I need to apologize for, it's this."

The prince did not understand.

The prince, however, realized that he was being apologized to, and raised his mouth in a somewhat arrogant manner.

"… What is it, say it."

The prince, unaware of the fact that he was showing off his confident, smug face to the people around him, urged the girl to go ahead from the top.

It's also the prince's quality to be completely oblivious to the fact that the girl was plainly annoyed by him.

But still, the girl bowed her head to the prince.

"Apologies to His Highness for speaking more ill of him than necessary that day.

That was just me taking it out on you. I'm very sorry.”

The prince, pleased with the girl's apology, sneered at her.

It’s natural you have to bow down to the prince of this country for being so foolish as to disobey him.

He snickered at the thought.

Then, the prince said arrogantly.

"Well, I accept your apology.

But why are you talking nonsense about wanting me to apologize?

However much he apologizes for that day, he did not apologize for what he said today.

The prince's ears, or rather his narrow-mindedness, would not allow him to make a single apology and lose all of his pride.

Suddenly, the girl opens her mouth gracefully and demurely.

"...... Your Highness, I know I'm being rude."

"What? I'm generous, I'll listen to you."

This arrogant, supercilious, and incredibly pompous attitude could only be described as princely quality.

The girl was once again annoyed by the prince, but she hid it with the resolute manner of a noblewoman and began to explain.

"For example, if there was someone you respected, wouldn't you be upset and angry if someone humiliates him?"

"What are you talking about? Of course I would be angry."

"That's what I mean.

I was angry with His Highness at the time."

The prince couldn't understand the girl's crisply stated words.

Nevertheless, the prince ruminated on the conversation of that day in his mind, guessing and thinking about his own words and actions that the girl resented at that time from the conversation before and after.

Respect?

That pig of a man?

This girl?

The prince, who couldn't understand what she was saying and doing, gave the girl a half-smile mixed with mockery.

"...... Wait, you don't mean to tell me you respected that duke?"

"Respected is the wrong word! And please don't disgrace ojisama based on your own assumptions when you don't even know him well enough!”

Staring at himself, the girl who opens her fan to cover her mouth raises her voice.

Oh, right, this girl is stupid.

That's why she was fooled by that kind of man.

The prince, who didn't even realize that he was the stupid one, just mocked the girl.

"What do you want me to know about such a man?

A ugly, lowly, pig-like nobleman, what else is there to know?"

The next moment, all emotion disappeared from the girl's face.

"If you say anything else, I will twist your noble mouth."

“A!?"

The girl looks at the prince with an expression and eyes like a doll.

An instinctive fear struck the prince, as if he were being shown a sharpened blade.

Unexpected and incomprehensible.

Still, the prince, being the prince that he was, could only be dismayed for a moment.

However, he was unable to make eye contact with the girl and looked away.

The prince could feel the girl's lightless eyes staring at him.

"Please apologize."

The prince was simply horrified by the girl's nonchalant but emphatic statement.

What’s with this girl, she's completely different from before.

I'm scared, no one has ever behaved like this to me before!

Without understanding the reason, the prince still managed to push down his fear and desperately opened his mouth for the sake of his pride as royalty.

“Do you understand what you’re saying?"

"Of course I do."

The prince felt like crying when the girl said that crisply.

I'm really scared of this woman, someone please help me.

Just when I was feeling weak, a new person appeared on the scene.

The sound of clacking shoes echoed around the area, and before I knew it, the wall of people had broken apart to reveal a mature man.

"What on earth is going on? A lady should not raise her voice, Christia."

“Ojisama!?"

The girl looked back in panic at the words.

But the prince had no recollection of the man's existence.

But even though he didn't recognize him at all, he felt as if he had seen him somewhere before.

"...... Who is that?"

He muttered to himself.

In response to the prince's murmur, the man gave a wonderful knight's salute with not a single letdown.

“Why, prince, it’s been since the birthday party last time, it’s been a while, I’m Augusto, the head of the Werstein duchy.”

"Who the hell are you!!"

The prince, who could not match the name given to him with any of the appearances in his memory, asked the question out loud.

There was nothing but confusion in the prince's mind.

The older man returned to his original position, put his hand on his chin, and after a moment of consideration, spoke back as if it were nothing.

"Well, I lost a lot of weight while I was ill for a month, so it's not surprising."

"You've lost weight!? It’s nothing so light!! You're clearly a different person!"

It's impossible for him to have changed so much just because he lost weight.

There is no way that that pig of a man could become as beautiful as his father.

Where did that huge amount of fat disappear to, just like the pigs that the farmers raised only for meat?

All that's left of him is his bluish silver hair, ice blue eyes, and a look of bad character!

The prince, who lacks common sense, rudely points at the man and asserts, based on such thoughts.

To such a prince, the man opened his mouth proudly.

“A different person, that's a funny thing to say.

Before your highness was born, I had this kind of physique, you know?"　

“Na, how would I possibly know about something before I was born?

How cowardly of him to bring up a story that I have no idea if it is true or not.

Even if you try to fool me by saying something I don't understand, I'm not stupid like that woman, I won't be fooled by such words...!

The man tilted his head loosely, with his hand on his chin, as the prince made up his mind.

"Hmm, that's strange. Although how could Your Highness not know about this?"

“What did you say!?"

The calm man's words struck a nerve in the prince.

It's like saying I'm an idiot!

The prince glared at the man and asked wildly, while the man looked down at the prince due to their height difference and said smoothly.

"In the corridor leading to the audience hall, there is a portrait of His Majesty the King and his wife in their youth, together with me and my late wife."

"...... Huh?"

The reply was so unexpected.

The prince looked at the man in a daze and could only make a silly noise.

Leaving the prince to his own devices, the man continued to speak as if it was none of his business.

"Don't you know? Then you can ask His Majesty about it later.

I'm sure he'll be able to tell you some stories from our school days that Your Highness never knew about."

“Eh?"

The prince's voice trailed off.

I had never thought that I could meet my father if I went to see him myself.

He had never realized that he might be able to slip out of his room and go straight to see his father and mother, even though he was too busy to consult with the chamberlain or the marquis, and had always been admonished not to disturb them too much.

At this moment, the distorted common sense of the prince, which had been instilled in him by the Marquis of Rheinbach, that he should not go to see them without permission, was overturned.

In front of the stunned prince, the man suddenly bowed.

"Well, Your Highness, I'll be leaving now."　

"Well, Christia, let's go."

“Eh, ah, eh?"

After the bow, the girl looked puzzled at the man who tried to escort her with a casual gesture.

The prince was in a complete panic, probably due to the fact that too many things had happened at once, confusion and embarrassment at having his common sense overturned, and irritation at having it done by this man who made fun of him.

Even so, his pride as a member of the royal family did not allow his to do so, and he forced herself to speak up.

“Wa, wait!"

At the prince's call, the man stopped in his tracks, turned around and looked at the prince in a quiet and dignified manner.

"Is there anything else?"

The prince asked the man with a polite and elegant manner, and the prince said what he thought without thinking, though he did not understand.

"What are you planning to do… !?"

In the prince's brain, he recalled a voice-only conversation that his trusted marquis had with a man he didn't even know.

─ ...... No, it's just that I'm a little worried.

I wondered if all of that was done just to establish position…...──

──…...Or perhaps, that indeed was not the Duke himself, after all!?…...──

──...... I'm sure the form and figure was the duke, but whether it was real or not... I can't judge.

But that light, that much I think even a sorcerer around here can do…...──

──...... So you're saying that the duke is a false wise man…!? ......──

──…… No, I can't say for sure.

But the possibility of this has made me uneasy ...... ──

The prince, who was confident in his memory, recalled every word of the conversation, and as a result, his panicked mind became calm at once.

Yes, this man is not the Duke himself, although he had no idea what he did or how he did it.

He is a stranger, an impostor, a lousy liar who is deceiving everyone.

Actually, the prince's idea is the closest to the truth, but what kind of irony is that?

However, it is difficult to say that she is a completely different person, since she is in his own body and has his own memories.

In front of the prince, the man asked him with the same attitude.

"...... What do you mean? Your Highness.”

"You can't tell me you're not up to something, taking your niece for yourself. And it seems you even call yourself a wise man!"

If you didn't have any bad intentions, you wouldn't have let the girl who is your niece feel anything close to trust, let alone infatuation.

He was probably thinking of some shallow and foolish thing, like putting his niece, whom he had raised as a puppet, in charge of him as the prince so that he could easily interfere when he became king.

The prince regained his confidence, not knowing that his thoughts were almost completely boomeranged towards the Marquis, whom he trusted.

The man looking at the prince takes a small breath and then speaks clearly.

"It's fine if you doubt me, but I would appreciate it if you didn't say anything that would embarrass Christia."

“Eh?"

The man's expression was as expressionless as a doll's, and the prince blinked several times and then tilted his head, unable to comprehend what was being said.

But the man ignored the prince and continued without hesitation.

“I that the way Your Highness is saying this is the same as calling my niece, Christia, something like a fool.

She is not stupid enough to become a puppet."

The man's words, which the prince found rude, made him lose his temper and he became enraged, as if he had abandoned his thoughts.

"How could I trust a thing you say!"

"If that's the case, I'll advise you to remove her as a potential fiancée."

"What the hell…!?"

The man's immediate reply was again nothing but unexpected to the prince, and his eyes widened in astonishment, unable to continue.

"She's my little niece. It's a pity if she were to be neglected by someone she might spend the rest of her life with."

When the prince finally understood the man's words, he could only feel irritation.

"You dare to say that…!"

You're an imposter, a liar, a coward, and you think you can get away with anything you want?

What a guy, what an asshole!!

In front of the prince, the man let out a breath as if he was somewhat taken aback.

"...... As I said before, it's fine if you doubt me, because my credibility is at an all-time low."

"What do you mean…!"

The prince tells the man, giving him a look that seems to want to shoot him down, as if to encourage him to make his point.

"...... Your Highness."

Suddenly, a low, chilling voice called out to him, and his eyes met the man's.

Then, for the first time in his life, the prince heard the sound of his own blood dropping.

“U!?"

It was an indescribable sound, like a ripple.

My heart was beating noisily, but I was so cold he couldn't help it.

He tried to say something, but it wouldn't come out.

He thought about looking away, but he knew that if he did, he would be killed.

Instinctively, the prince took a step back.

"I hope you won't underestimate me too much."

The blue eyes that seemed to freeze everything in place and take away life at the first sign of an opening were frightening and terrifying.

Scary, scary! I'm scared!!

Why, why am I in this mess!

I was so terrified that I couldn't even cry, my voice, my breath, everything was stopped by those blue eyes.

But that feeling suddenly disappeared.

“Ojisama!"

The girl then pulled the hem of the man's clothes.

The man looked at the girl with a calm expression, as if nothing had happened.

"What's the matter, Christia?"

"Please don't interfere in children's quarrels."

The prince's heart chilled in a different way when the girl spoke crisply and admonishingly to the man.

It felt like someone he knew was going to be killed in front of him.

The onlookers around him did the same, and there was a secret gasp from the whole area.

However, it did not turn out as everyone expected.

"...... I understand what you're saying, Christia, but this is a public place, and it's not a good idea to make a scene."

The man admonished the girl calmly and gently.

The prince was the first one to make a scene, but the wise girl apologized.

"That's... I am very, very sorry…"

I was saved by the girl.

Although he could understand that, but he didn't want to admit it.

The prince didn't have the slightest idea that his apology would solve everything, so that was the result, but he had no reason to know that.

The prince was ignored, and the man spoke kindly to the girl.

"I don't blame you, you're still a child and it's natural for you to make mistakes.

But do you understand that this is not the place for a fight?"

"Yes, it was unladylike behavior…"

"So you know what you have to do?"

It was a scene that made one smile, like a father gently warning a small child.

The onlookers around them felt relieved at the scene.

The girl, who understood the man's words properly, looked happy and somewhat proud.

"Of course!

I apologize for the disturbance, everyone. I'll take my leave now, and I hope you all enjoy the party."

The girl who twirled her skirt around and turned to face the onlookers, calling out to them gracefully and cutely, looked lovely and more beautiful than anyone else in the hall.

She was as beautiful as a small white lily.

It may have been the suspension bridge effect.

But the prince had no knowledge of such things, so he had no way of knowing, and he couldn't help but feel disappointed that it was that man who had made her smile.

"Your Highness?"

"... U!

The prince's consciousness was brought back to reality by the man's call, and he thought that he had to say something in this kind of situation, so he desperately tried to think of something to say.

But he couldn't put his words together, and a feeling of frustration came over him.

I unconsciously made a grating sound, but few people would notice.

And then he looked around again with the resolute attitude of a prince.

"I'm sorry to have disturbed you all."

That was the only answer the prince could give, and as a member of the royal family, he couldn't help but feel frustrated.

The prince couldn't take his eyes off the girl, even as he watched the onlookers disperse at the prince's words.

The man, accompanied by the girl, bowed and called out to the prince again.

"Your Highness, if you'll excuse us."

"Good day, Your Highness."

In the meantime, the prince, while looking at the girl who was going to leave in a pretty way, followed by the man, and then looking at the two of them with a bitter feeling, replied.

"...... Ah, you should enjoy the party."

The prince's words felt as if they were fading into the void.

He had to get the girl out of that devilish man's hands somehow.

Then, a hypothesis formed in the prince's mind.

He had the skills to take over as a Duke, and he also had a tremendous sense of fear.

That man must be a demon.

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A/n: At any rate, if I may say so, this prince is quite the fool.

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