How the Sidekick Prince Lives Again - Chapter 63

“I hope so. I want you to prove that my eyes weren’t wrong. By the way, is your twin sister preparing well for the examination?”

Renato asked about Iris’ well-being in a gentle tone. Unlike her older sister Arche, Iris did not immediately join them. In the past, she, who was a promising aspiring knight, was kicked out without being knighted because of her cousin who had taken over the Count’s household.

Renato made a direct request to the Emperor so that Iris could take the special examination for the Imperial Knights Order. In addition, his guard knight, Luna, agreed to help her prepare for the examination. If Iris successfully passed the examination, she would be officially appointed as Renato’s second guard knight.

“It’s only been two days, but Dame Luna seems to be teaching her well. Thank you very much for your concern.”

Arche expressed her sincere gratitude. She knew how much Iris wanted to be a knight. So she was grateful to Renato for allowing her sister to dream of becoming a knight again.

“She is someone who will work for me in the future, so I have to treat her like that. If your younger sister fails the examination, the one in trouble will be me.”

“I will make sure that she can pass no matter what.”

“Okay, then shall we move on to work?”

Hearing Renato’s words, Arche gulped with a nervous face. After agreeing to dedicate her allegiance to him, she learned many new things about Renato.

What surprised her the most was that Renato was not on the Empress’ side but the Emperor’s. Arche immediately discarded all the information about Renato that she knew. It was to serve him without being caught up in prejudice and preconceived notions.

“As I said before, I need the information and the power to control it that you have. From now on, you will have to work as my aide and work behind the scenes as an informant at the same time. The same goes for your guild members.”

“Please command me anything. All the guild members are people who will give their heads if I order them, so you don’t have to worry.”

Arche responded with a confident attitude. Renato looked at her and softly smiled. He rested his elbows on the desk and leaned his body a little closer to Arche.

“That sounds trustworthy. So let’s get straight to the point. Do you know of any rumors about me lately?”

“Rumors related to you…… Are you talking about the rumor of your relationship with grand prince Khalid, Your Imperial Highness?

“That’s right. It’s not just a rumor but the truth. The grand prince and I are getting engaged soon. His Majesty the Emperor has already approved of it.”

“Pardon?”

Arche’s eyes widened because of the completely unexpected news. She was also aware of the rumors that had been circulating since last week. Apart from that, she also saw Khalid and Renato being together.

Because of that, Arche had guessed to some extent that the two were quite close. But they were getting engaged? She never dreamed they had already progressed to that extent. It was a completely shocking story.

“I guess the Empire will be noisy for a while.”

Arche’s expression turned quite serious. Although Renato was a Beta Prince without any power, people could not ignore his symbolic significance. Especially when the person he was marrying was the Khan Kingdom’s grand prince who was famous on the continent.

“Our marriage is based on mutual interests. It’s a kind of political marriage.”

Renato didn’t tell Arche that his and Khalid’s marriage was a contract. He still couldn’t fully trust her. Because the information could leak somewhere else, the fewer people knew that his marriage was a three-year contract, the better.

“Once we get married, the grand prince will belong to our Empire. What I want is that our marriage won’t seem like a political union to other people. If it seems political, there will definitely be people opposing it.”

“I understand what you mean. You want it to be seen as a love marriage, not a political marriage.”

“That’s right. In people’s eyes, we have to look like fateful lovers. Can you sway the public opinion like that?”

“Of course.”

Arche answered without any hesitation. Her face was full of confidence. Manipulating information and creating public opinion was Arche’s specialty.

“There are some journalists and Beta nobles that I know. I’ll give them information to write some articles, and make them attend banquets and tea parties to spread you two’s story in detail. I will turn it into a beautiful and romantic love story.”

“Uhm.”

A beautiful and romantic love story. Renato felt his face heat up a bit because of Arche’s added words. He pressed his lips tight so that his expression would not be affected.

“However, to do that, you and his highness need to show some performances as well, Your Imperial Highness. Like attending banquets together or exchanging gifts.”

“I will be attending Marquis Kyle’s birthday banquet with his highness in a few days anyway.”

Marquis Kyle was a representative noble of the imperial faction, and he had already completed the arrangement with him. Starting with attending the Marquis’ birthday banquet, Renato was scheduled to appear at several events with Khalid.

“About gifts…… I visited the workshop run by the dwarf craftsman to give a gift to the grand prince, but then I got caught up in a commotion. I got a message saying that it will be completed soon, so I think we can use that. And I think we can dramatize and spread that story as well, what do you think?”

“It’s a very good idea. I know that his highness was criticized by some nobles because of that…… It will be more effective if we use this story. When will the engagement be?”

“When Her Majesty the Queen of the Khan Kingdom grants her permission, his highness will send me a marriage proposal letter. After that, we will go straight to the kingdom and have an engagement ceremony. It is expected by the end of next month.”

“It’s a lot quicker than I thought. It seems like I will have to be busy creating a favorable opinion for the two of you. Uhm, I think it would be nice to hire a street art troupe to make a play about your love story.”

“That’s good too. I’ll support you with as many funds as you need, so just make sure you do your job well.”

After speaking, Renato pulled out a pouch filled with imperial gold coins from his desk drawer. Arche respectfully accepted the gold coin pouch that seemed heavy just by looking at it.

“It would be convenient to use notes, but they can leave a trace if we make a mistake, so just use gold coins. If it’s not enough, tell me.”

“Thank you very much. I will never let you down.”

“Apart from spreading the rumor, there is one more thing you need to do.”

“What is it?”

“I need a list of nobles that are favorable towards Betas compared to Alphas and Omegas. Those who do not have the idea of trait chauvinism.”

“Yes.”

“Look for Beta nobles who are loyal to the imperial family. It’s okay to find people wanting to improve Beta’s rights like you as well. What do you think, can you find the ones that meet the criteria?”

“Both are not difficult. I will organize and give it to you in two days.”

“Ah, the people in the noble faction who are dissatisfied with Marquis Medus and lord Florence as well. And lastly, find the ones that aren’t hostile to me and have some loyalty to the imperial family. It’s a little tricky, but I hope you can look into that.”

“Uhm, I think the last one is going to take some time. But I will find out as soon as possible.”

“This is not urgent, so you can take your time. It is more important to do it without mistakes than to do it quickly. There is a saying that the faster you go, the more you have to go back. What I want is people who have the same ideas as me and can work with me until the end. You know what I’m talking about, right?”

Renato looked at Arche with a stern expression. He was finding people who rebelled against and opposed Marquis Medus. To do that, he needed people who would not easily betray him. If they changed their mind in the middle and joined the Marquis’ side, things would go awry.

“Of course. I’ll organize a list, but I will be picking a few candidates and taking the time to monitor them closely.”

“You may do so. I’m thinking of taking action in earnest after the engagement ceremony…… Until then, I think we need to figure out what kind of person they were and whether they were trustworthy. After that, let’s arrange an occasion so that we can meet naturally.”

“Yes, Your Imperial Highness.”

Arche inwardly admired Renato’s continuing instructions. She could tell that he had been thinking and planning for a very long time from the way he talked.

Because of that, she unwittingly got excited. Her heart was filled with anticipation. Normally, she would never lose composure in this way, but the joy of coming out in the sun again thrilled Arche.

“May I ask you one thing?”

“Uhm?”

“Do you perhaps…… aim for the next throne, Your Imperial Highness?”

Hearing the somewhat dangerous question, Louis, who was standing quietly by the door, froze. Renato’s gaze also became stiff. When the atmosphere instantly became cold, Arche realized she had made a mistake and hastily apologized.

“My, my apologies, I will stop.”

“No, it’s definitely something you can be curious about. You surely will feel that way when the Prince who has been living as if he didn’t exist suddenly takes a political move.”

Renato was not angry with Arche. Rather, he showed an attitude of understanding her curiosity. However, his following answer was different from Arche’s expectations.

“To answer your question, I have no intention of becoming Emperor at all.”

“Ah.”

“The next Emperor will be Trudy. I support that child. That was why I decided to split up with His Majesty the Empress.”

“I see……”

Arche answered in a slightly dispirited voice. Her anticipation instantly turned into disappointment. Renato looked at Arche, who couldn’t hide her disappointment, and tilted his head, finding it amusing. He then asked while supporting his chin with both hands.

“What’s wrong? Are you disappointed that I don’t want to become Emperor?”