Chapter 732: Pushing forward too rashly (2)
# Pushing forward too rashly (2)
‘How could there be a punk like this?’
Alberu Crossman was looking at Cale with such a gaze.
‘Hmm.’
However, he just seemed young to Cale.
‘His situation is completely different from the Alberu Crossman that I know.’
The crown prince's clothes were made of luxurious material and the design was elegant. However, it looked quite old. It was also not ironed properly.
‘I guess it can’t be helped.’
There were only a minimum number of royal servants and royal maids to maintain the palace in the first prince’s palace right now. There were no attendants.
Cale's gaze headed toward the tray in his hands. He had heard that the kitchen in the first prince's palace had stopped functioning a few weeks ago.
Cale had heard from a royal servant prior to walking into this room that was being used as a study.
‘His highness has kicked out most of the attendants.’
‘The chef was kicked out as well. Actually, that-’
The royal servant looked around before quietly informing Cale.
‘I think it was because of poison. Since he doesn't know when he might die......’
Fifteen years old Alberu seemed much fiercer than the adult who smiled elegantly.
It was probably because he was short and skinny for his age.
Of course, he was not extremely skinny. However, he was definitely below average. He probably seemed even more like that because his clothes were lacking compared to the other princes.
“Why are you dawdling around like that?”
He heard the sharp voice again.
Cale pushed the tray forward.
“I will at least leave this here even if I have to go out, your highness.”
He put the tray on one side of Alberu’s desk.
Pen, books, etc... Everything was of the highest quality but had clearly been used for a while. Cale even peeked at the bottle of ink before taking about two steps back and bowing toward Alberu who was observing him.
“Your highness, I have been assigned to this First Prince Palace starting today. I will do my best to serve you as best as possible.”
“Pffft.”
Alberu openly scoffed. He sounded as if he didn’t believe Cale at all. He had a sneer on his face as he looked at Cale.
“I-”
“Whatever. I don’t wish to know your name.”
He didn't even ask for Cale’s name. He didn’t wish to hear. He said the following instead.
“I'm curious to know when you will leave.”
He heard an immediate response.
“I will leave soon, your highness.”
“...What?”
Smile. Cale smiled at him.
Fifteen years old Alberu slightly frowned. This clueless looking attendant... He was certain that this guy was new and the fact that he had no colors on the upper part of his uniform symbolized that he was the newest of the newest attendants. He clearly seemed to know nothing about this palace.
However, that clueless look had disappeared and his overall appearance suddenly seemed different the moment he smiled.
“...Ha!”
Alberu scoffed in disbelief before looking away from Cale.
“I hope you leave as quickly as possible.”
Cale simply bowed instead of responding.
“May I please go see the Chief of Staff for a moment?”
Alberu smiled as if he had expected this and responded.
“Take care of things like that on your own without asking.”
“I will make sure to be back quickly, your highness.”
Cale quietly walked out of the study like a proper attendant.
Alberu did not touch the cold soup until that moment.
Click.
The study door closed and Cale exited the palace.
‘It’s definitely lacking.’
The garden surrounding the First Prince Palace was quite lacking compared to the other palaces. This garden was of course much fancier than the gardens of the nobles, but it was basic compared to the other gardens which were attended to on a daily basis.
“Attendant-nim.”
Cale heard someone stop him as he left the First Prince Palace to go see the Chief of Staff.
It was the royal servant who had informed Cale about the attendants and chef earlier.
The royal servant peeked toward the First Prince Palace and stealthily asked.
“He’s kind of on the edge, isn’t he?”
The servant did not specify who, but it was obvious that he was talking about Alberu.
Cale smiled and responded. For reference, that smile seemed extremely clueless.
“Not at all. I'm sure he was a bit sensitive because his food was delivered so late.”
“You truly have a big heart, attendant-nim.”
The royal servant sounded full of admiration before he looked around. He then gulped and took another step closer to Cale.
“Umm, attendant-nim.”
“Yes?”
“...Please be careful.”
The royal servant tightly clenched on his dirt-covered gloves as he continued to speak.
“I have nowhere to go but it should be different for you, attendant-nim. This First Prince Palace is dangerous.”
Cale's face turned serious.Follow current novels on novelb((in).(com)
He observed the royal servant's face with a stiff look on his face before nodding his head.
“I will take your advice to heart.”
The royal servant seemed satisfied with that response as he nodded his head and smiled.
“I hope I didn’t hold you here for too long. Please be on your way.”
“Yes, see you later.”
Cale smiled back at the royal servant and quickly walked away.
However, once he got a bit away from the First Prince Palace...
He slowed down.
Cale stopped walking and looked up at the sky. The emotions on his face disappeared.
Fifteen years old Alberu, a lacking meal, the silent palace, old items, a royal servant telling him to go elsewhere, and the other royal servants and royal maids avoiding him...
Cale's mouth slowly opened.
“Pfft.”
He started to laugh.
One corner of Cale’s lips twisted up as he slowly lowered his head.
“He’s no joke. Our hyung-nim is no joke.”
Sharpness appeared in Cale’s gaze.
The royal servant who had stopped Cale just now...
Cale knew his face.
That royal servant had currently changed his skin and hair color.
That guy was a Dark Elf mage who was by Alberu’s side with Tasha.
“...To use the ink bottle, even I was almost fooled.”
The black liquid inside the ink bottle...
That was not ink.
It was dead mana.
It was for the first prince.
But Cale did not tell the chef which prince he was talking about.
He simply used the Chief of Staff's name to his advantage.
The sous chef imagined what he wanted to imagine.
“I will come back on time if you let me know when it will be completed.”
“Hmm. I understand.”
Cale’s footsteps were light as he exited the kitchen and headed toward the royal palace’s material goods department. He pulled out a list he had written.
“...You need all of this by tomorrow morning?”
The low-ranking official working opened his eyes wide.
The list mentioned a desk and all sorts of other things made with the most luxurious materials.
Cale sternly nodded his head.
“Yes. These are things that were determined to be necessary for the Prince Palace and the Chief of Staff-nim left it to me to handle.”
‘Yes, yes he did. The Chief of Staff told me to take charge of the First Prince Palace so I need to work hard to get the basic things done.
I’ll completely change the First Prince Palace around.’
Taking care of the necessities of the person you serve. Wasn’t that the basics for an attendant even if he wasn’t in charge?
“Hmm.”
The low-ranking official looked at the list and frowned.
There was nothing on there that he could not procure right away, but he would need to work very hard to get everything ready by tomorrow morning.
‘It’s probably needed for the Third Prince Palace or the Second Prince Palace if the Chief of Staff told him to get it.’
The low-ranking official decided he could get into the good graces of the Chief of Staff by doing this and then peeked toward the new attendant in front of him.
‘He looks dim-witted and seems to have no experience.’
There was no way such a punk would know these highest quality goods and create a list.
Of course, he was wrong.
Cale Henituse, as a member of the House of Henituse that was the wealthiest of the wealthy nobles, knew very much what was expensive. It was just that he wasn’t picky and used anything that was there.
“I understand. Which palace should I send it to when it is ready?”
“Ah, I will get here early tomorrow to guide you sir!”
The low-ranking official chuckled at this clueless noob who obviously wanted to be involved and nodded his head.
“Do whatever you want. It’s always nice to have an extra set of hands to move things.”
“Yes sir. I will be back tomorrow.”
The clueless attendant Cale walked out of the material goods department.
‘I took care of his food and shelter, should I head over to take care of his clothes now?’
Cale’s third stop was at the royal tailor to order a ton of clothes.
Of course, he did not mention which prince it was for and used the Chief of Staff's name again.
The outfit designer had no choice but to trust Cale’s words.
Trendy design and most luxurious materials... There was no way that a new attendant would know the special materials used for the royal garments.
Of course, Cale Henituse knew about them.
The designer watched Cale walk away and mumbled to herself.
“It must be for the second prince.”
The physique seemed to match the second prince’s physique.
“Is the Chief of Staff extending his reaches to the second prince as well?”
‘Should I use this opportunity to ride the coattails as well?’
One corner of the designer’s lips curled up as she got to work on the outfit.
Cale headed toward the Royal Palace Library after stopping by all three places.
He asked for books from the library and all around the royal palace while he was there.
“You’ll be here for them tomorrow?”
“Yes sir. His highness asked us to get them.”
“...And the Chief of Staff trusted you to take care of it?”
“Yes sir! Please trust me! I am trying my best to work hard!”
“Sounds good. I will get them as quickly as possible.”
The librarian had a thought as Cale walked away.
‘I guess the third prince is going to properly learn the Disciplines of Kingship.’
That must be why the Chief of Staff was stepping up to take care of things.
The librarian had no thoughts at all that it would be for the first prince.
They had not had any request for books from the First Prince Palace since he was ten years old.
“Mm. Where shall I go next?”
Cale went all around the royal palace like that.
‘One or two places might check with the Chief of Staff.’
The people who were thorough or could not trust Cale would do that. However, other places might proceed with things trusting what Cale said without getting verification.
He would normally never do something this rash.
‘It’s not reality.’
He would need to think about a lot of things if it was reality, but Cale did not want to sit back and watch his people suffer even in an illusion.
‘And I need to make it big if I'm going to flip things over.’
That would make people think that this attendant was a crazy bastard and not mess with him.
There was a simple reason Cale could be so confident.
He did not do anything wrong and simply did his best to take care of his basic duties as instructed.
It was just that the basics that the Chief of Staff was thinking about were different from Cale's thoughts about the basics.
"Then should I do one more thing?”
Cale moved to where the attendants mainly roamed.
It was where the rumors for the Royal Palace were created.
Cale started walking over and thinking about the rumor he would spread.
The message was simple.
‘The Chief of Staff is supporting the first prince!’
Nobody would believe it now but who knew what would happen after tomorrow?
Cale really did not like the Chief of Staff. Putting the political relationships aside...
“He should at least feed the young boy properly.”
And based on the things he had learned while walking around...
It was true that Alberu’s food had been poisoned.
However, that incident was quieted out.
‘Would the king know about it? Or maybe it didn’t reach the king’s level?’
Either way, the Chief of Staff was responsible. The Chief of Staff was the one responsible for the administration of the palace after all.
“Poison in his food? You can't do that to a kid’s food.”
The corners of Cale’s lips twisted up.
* * *
“What... is this?”
Alberu Crossman raised his head after seeing his dining table that had not been used in a while, full of food.
“I prepared a light lunch for you, your highness.”
Cale smiled brightly. Behind him were the attendants and royal servants from the King's Palace Kitchen, standing confused with trays in their hands. Their pupils were shaking and their minds seemed to be quite chaotic right now.
It was the same for Alberu Crossman.
Please eat before it gets cold. Your highness.”
Only Cale was smiling brightly with the clueless look on his face.
Anybody could tell that this was an accident caused by a clueless bastard who had no idea about the political relationships within the palace.
In the quiet palace where many things were taking place under the surface...
One attendant was slowly lifting the veil on what was going on under the surface.
He was doing it while smiling brightly as if he had no idea about anything.