"As the crown prince of this empire, I'm commanding you, Luke Wade, to help break my engagent to the young lady of House Bolden!"
The prince was sporting a serious and intimidating face. Even when the two knights behind him called out his na quite urgently to remind him who he was speaking with, the young boy remained as sa as before, looking straight into Jiang Li's eyes, full of conviction and determination.
The taller but skinnier of the two dressed in a lighter set of blue clothing bowed his head and covered his mouth to hide the upturned corners of his lips. The knights and the prince thought it was him being shocked and rendered speechless.
As if the prince, Romualdo 'Ro' Natividad, was afraid the other young man did not understand what he ant, he added, "Mr. Wade, I want you to announce to the world as the prophet that Rumina Bolden is declared by the Goddess as not fit to be my Empress!"
"Your Highness!!!" One of the two knights cried in alarm, apparently couldn't believe what he just heard. The knight saluted and said, "Please reconsider, Your Highness! If you dislike Duke Bolden's daughter, there are other ways to annul the engagent to her! If, if we do that..."
'Because it's declared by the prophet, nobody will dare marry the heiress of Duke Bolden anymore. For such a kid who has a bright future and has no fault whatsoever, it's... unfair.'
Unfortunately, the last part could not leave the guard's mouth because he received a sharp glare from Ro and a shake of a head from his companion who even tapped his shoulder to make him stop speaking.
'Heh. Such a funny and selfish kid.' Jiang Li thought to himself after watching the scene.
A while later, he raised his head with a smile on his face, asking, "Your Highness. I am just curious, what made you think I have the power to help you annul an engagent approved by His Majesty?"
The young male lead stared intensely and nacingly at him, as if through that way, he could show his authority. "I already said the reason. Stop asking. Know your place as a subject of this empire!"
'What did I just hear?' The mont those words fell on his ears, Jiang Li started narrowing his eyes and exerting pressure onto the young boy's body in front of him. He was very much offended.
"Know... my place?" A smile unbefitting of a Goddess' servant or ssenger ford on his lips. Since he was taller and he was looking down at the other guy, his face appeared quite scary.
The prince and his knights then rembered that the person before them was sobody talented in sword and had gone missing for a few months before to train in a beast packed forest in the eastern part of the empire. The life-threatening days he had there must have trained the young heir to exert this much pressure.
However, as if triggered, the crown prince pinched his thigh hard and then raised his head, "Luke Wade. What do you think are you doing!? Are you casting magic on us without permission!?"
'This damn brat... needs to be killed at once!'
Instead of withdrawing the pressure, Jiang Li did the opposite. With the sa grin hanging on his face, he glanced each at the prince's bodyguards, then to the people from afar still having a nice ti at the party.
"I would like to have a heart to heart talk with the prince. In a more private place." After saying that line, without care for the protest of the person involved, he dragged the prince towards a break room inside the princess' palace.
"Hey!"
"Sir Wade, what's the aning of this!" The two knights naturally blocked his way. Jiang Li gave them a glance again before snapping his finger once and saying, "I would just want a good talk with the crown prince about the doctrine of the Goddess. If you may excuse us. It will take a while. I permit you two to stand guard outside and not let anyone in without my consent!"
"We" Suddenly, the two tall knights in their early thirties lost their ability to say no or utter words of protest, their body automatically moved for them, saluting and then standing straight in front of the door, facing the other direction.
Pushing the door open, the older of the two teenage boys threw the protesting other on the floor.
"How dare you!" The crown prince shivered and tried to get up. However, before he could completely part from the marbled flooring, a shiny and bone-chilling ice blade appeared before his eyes, resting only half a centiter away from his neck.
Fear instantly flickered across the younger boy's face. "Hiiieeee! Y-you!"
How did he manage to cast a spell, and such a high-level one at that, in just a second? Also, was he planning to kill him? He wouldn't right? After all, he was a servant of the church!
It didn't take even a couple of seconds for Ro to realize how wrong he was. Reflected now on the prophet's emotionless hazel brown pupils was the prince's image. From the neck part, sothing was trickling down.
"Y-you can't kill !!!" Cried by the crown prince in alarm.
Jiang Li kicked the other at the back to make him continue lying down on the floor, then answered in a matter-of-fact tone. "Of course, I can't... Under my na."
The golden-haired boy shivered and grunted in fear. 'He ans it is still okay to kill ?!!! And that he'll just have soone take the bla for him!!!?'
"N-No! I'm the crown prince! T-there's a magic that can glimpse to the past! If, if my father investigated, he'll know it's you who kill !!!"
The reply he got was a sneer and a remark uttered in a disdainful tone, "Heh... Idiot! The magic can only be used through the Holy church's artifact."
The boy froze and then went back to shivering. When he tried to turn his head to the other person in the cozy room, all he saw was disdain and lack of respect.
For a while he was scared of those eyes, but then his pride rose up again.
'I know magic too! I'll fight back! And then request for this damn boy's head to be chopped off!'
The male lead did try to cast so magic, trying to counter Jiang Li with so fire tricks. The latter indifferently pressed the blade against the target's neck and then the casting stopped.
"Why?" When the crown prince couldn't take it anymore, he tearily asked. "Are you, are you doing this to because I told you to help annul that engagent?! Are you also on that girl's side!?"
The response he got was another kick, this ti, which sent him flying across the room. "Uggggh!" The poor male lead curled into a ball on the ground, groaning.
Jiang Li looked at the ice sword in his hand and then willed it to disappear. The feeling of using magic for quite a long ti was fascinating. It had been a while since the last ti, two years ago to be exact.
"Damn," he cursed out. In just a minute he already felt drained physically and gasping for air. If this was before, he wouldn't even break a sweat. His body had truly weakened and it was not to his liking.
After taking a seat, the young man irritatedly crossed his arms and legs and then t the crown prince's furious gaze. "Crown Prince. I've long heard of your inferiority complex towards other people superior in magic, sword skills, and academics, but I never thought you'd fail to realize it's because you're an idiot."
"W-what did you say?!!!" Exasperated and angered, Ro who forgot what he just went through from the hands of the other stood up. He would have charged towards Jiang Li if only he didn't suddenly beco paralyzed. It was Jiang Li's black magic at work.
"You're stupid, aren't you?" Eyes completely rciless and full of mockery, Jiang Li repeated. "If not, then what else should you call soone who can't appreciate talents and use them to his advantage? Who can't tell that he is grood by the Emperor but hasn't shown great results so was never complinted? And who can't understand that the prophet is sobody protected not only by the Holy Church but also by his own father?"
Silence took over the place for so ti as one person sat comfortably on the sofabed while the other stood unmoving a couple of ters from the first one, face ashen.
The younger boy was only paralyzed, but he was not muted. Why was he not saying anything? Couldn't refute?
'I'd host a party if this damnably idiot prince realized what he should realize from what I said.' Jiang Li thought, confident that the male lead would act the opposite.
And as expected, Ro only started denying his words and cursing him. "Once I go out from here, I'll make sure you're punished! I, I will make you pay the price!!! Even if you're from the Holy Church, don't forget you're still from a weak duchy under my royal family's rule!"
It was amazing how childish and foolish a teenager grood to be elegant and wise since young could be. Earlier, he perford quite a great job greeting the people around. But was that actually all this person amount to? Easily influenced by feelings? Had an amazingly unreasonable inferiority complex? Only okay when not talking?
Jiang Li listened to the immature and conceited remarks of the other until he finished. Afterward, he grinned and said, "Now I know why the other older nobles are discussing you among themselves, saying you're lesser than a ten-year-old girl."
The male lead flinched, his hands were on his bleeding neck and aching upper arm which received the blunt impact when he made contact with the wall. He always hated being compared.
Jiang Li knew it. However, knowing was different from understanding. No matter what angle he used to look at it, the male lead's behavior was not making sense.
In the future, this sense of jealousy would poison his mind and heart and make him ruin the life of sobody doing her best to lighten up his load in managing the empire. How was that justifiable?
Jiang Li shook his head. "To be honest, they are very lenient."
Hearing those, Ro's eyes turned round. "...What?"
"If my opinion if asked, they are not really saying the truth. If you beco the emperor, because you a very big idiot... this empire is simply dood for destruction."
Looking at the dumbfounded male lead who probably couldn't digest what he said, the prophet clicked his tongue and added, "Should I just make a statent to have your other siblings be the heir? After all, my position and title will make things pretty convenient for this cause? Don't you think so, stupid crown prince Ro Natividad?"
...
When Jiang Li stepped out of that room, he and the prince had already been there for less than five minutes. The guards tried to probe for information on what they talked about inside but got nothing as the other party simply refused to talk to them. Not long after, the two exchanged glances and attempted to enter the room. But they found out they still couldn't move.
'Is he really sobody acknowledged by the Goddess? Not the devil?'
With a smirk, Jiang Li told them, "Don't speak to anyone about what you saw and witnessed here."
While walking away, he thought, if the male lead had only stayed amusing and did not make him annoyed by ordering him and saying that he should know his place, he would have entertained the other and not resorted to violence.
Anyway, he was glad his second plot-changing chance was not used.
Regrettably... it also ant the male lead wouldn't change despite all those beating...
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