How the Prince Makes Friends - Chapter 104



Only Noblemtl

Episode 104

Sedes touched his forehead. He was already having a headache because of the recent incidents. Furthermore, the Shaton Street plan hasn’t even been implemented yet, so how could he possibly find the cause of its failure?

‘What kind of kids’ homework is this…?’

Sedes secretly sighed as he looked at the thick plan for a child’s homework and ordered that some snacks be brought out for the prince to eat.

“Your Majesty, I know you are busy. There is no need to spend so much time on me. If I am disturbing you in your work, I will take it back with me.”

“……Prince, looking at the plan for Shaton Street, does it seem like it will fail?”

Sedes tapped on the plan with a complicated mind. It was a project that had been researched and planned by administrators after a long time, but if it had so many problems in the eyes of the little prince, it was truly a big deal. Furthermore, didn’t the plan actually fail before it was even put into action?

Rianus quickly made an excuse, shaking his head violently as he watched Sedes’ increasingly hardened expression.

“No, Your Majesty. The plan was too perfect. But my friend said that the failure of a business does not come from a faulty plan. So I thought. Doesn’t the standard of failure vary depending on who is thinking?”

“Hmm, keep talking.”

“First of all, let me say that my plan is focused on relief work, not redevelopment. Relief work is usually about distributing food and daily necessities and increasing quality of life. However, Your Majesty, you should think about whether the relief work is actually effective.”

At those words, one of Sedes’ eyebrows rose.

“…Are you saying that the relief effort is ineffective?”

“Don’t slums usually have regular relief work?”

“yes.”

“That’s wrong.”

“…Explain it.”

Sedes narrowed his eyes and looked down at his son, who had a rather serious expression on his face.

“Just because we regularly do relief work doesn’t mean they aren’t already being saved.”

“hmm?”

“Of course we can’t eliminate slums, but I think we should at least reduce their number.”

“Stop. I understand your will, Prince. Just wait a moment.”

Sedes interrupted Lianus and began to read the plan seriously.

For a long time, the only sound that could be heard in the living room was the fluttering of paper. Abel, who had been looking at the prince with affection, soon wiped his smile and picked up the plan.

Sedes, who had read the entire plan, raised his head slightly. When their eyes met, Rianus, who had been munching on cookies out of boredom, flinched, quickly put down the cookies, and wiped his hands with a handkerchief.

“Your Majesty, it would be a very good idea to make the use of enchanted identity cards mandatory, and to train the issuing officers to help those who cannot read and write. It would also be great to distribute dried groceries instead of food, saving on labor costs and making storage and transportation easier.”

“Are you sure?”

Lianus smiled brightly at the generous compliment. Sedes also raised the corners of his mouth slightly at that sight, but quickly hardened his expression and spoke seriously again.

“But they focused exclusively on establishing free educational institutions.”

“…yes.”

“Is it any use teaching the ignorant?”

Rianus flinched at the question. His friend’s voice echoed in his head.

‘… But would it really be beneficial to teach those kids?’

Lianus clenched his hands that were neatly placed on his lap. Neil knew that he would be asked this question.

‘Relief work is strictly business. The money that goes into it is enormous. If there is no return, it is useless.’

You’re right, Neil.

Lianus took a short, deep breath and opened his mouth slowly.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I understand that relief work is strictly business. It is not a simple volunteer activity for self-satisfaction. If there is no return, then there is no point in doing business, right?”

Sedes opened his eyes slightly and straightened his posture as he looked at the prince who was talking about business seriously and coolly. I thought he would be shocked by the cold answer, but I didn’t know he would answer so confidently.

Abel, who was watching from the side anxiously, wondering if the young prince would get hurt, was also surprised.

Sedes opened his mouth carefully again.

“And yet you want to push for the establishment of free educational institutions?”

“I know what Your Majesty is worried about. But Your Majesty, isn’t it too premature to think that there will be no benefit?”

“Are you saying there will be a profit?”

Lianus continued calmly, recalling the conversation he had had with his friend.

“Yes, Your Majesty. This is a kind of politics and investment. Isn’t simple material support something that anyone with money can do? The royal family should be different.”

“Hmm, so what do you get from it?”

Lianus began to explain enthusiastically, but carefully not overexcitedly.

“Although they are weak, they are also members of society, and their proportion is by no means negligible. If we can gain their support, it will certainly help strengthen the royal authority.”

“Would you win their hearts and minds with free education? They might prefer to just hand out food.”

“It is due to ignorance. But how can they develop if we just feed them? The royal family should not spoon-feed them, but help them become independent.”

“But it’s not like there aren’t any educational institutions. Even in the Royal Academy, aren’t there many commoners?”

“Your Majesty, they do not consider themselves commoners. In our country, there is no class system lower than commoners. How can they possibly think of entering the Academy just because they have money when they do not even think they are worthy of making a class badge?”

“…….”

“It’s not about providing them with professional education. It’s enough to just be able to read, do simple calculations, and tell the date. The royal family provides them with the bare minimum of support so that they can think for themselves.”

As he said this, Lianus placed two more bundles of papers he had left with Evan on the table.

“This is a collection of responses and changes that followed the establishment of the Royal Academy, which was open to commoners. Although there was a lot of opposition at first, the establishment of the Academy is now praised as Lord Julius’ greatest achievement. And this is information on trends among Academy graduates. Please check it out.”

Sedes stuck out his tongue as he flipped through the documents. He had not only brought homework, but he had also found supporting materials to convince him, which was an extraordinary sincerity. Judging by his passion, he seemed ready to set up his own educational institution if he was not given permission.

“You may not be able to achieve great things with basic education. So, how about selecting children with good grades and clear goals and promoting special admission to academies and supporting them with scholarships? Free education institutions would be a kind of basic education institution, and academies would be higher education institutions. By preemptively selecting talented wards, the royal family would be able to easily acquire their talents.”

“Hmm…….”

Sedes looked over the plan with a serious expression and nodded slightly. Then, upon seeing the crooked handwriting on the last page, he snickered and continued speaking softly.

“Prince, I understand fully. The plan is excellent and its meaning is good. I will review it positively.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Isn’t it better than the administrators? It must have been difficult because the amount was so large that you had to use the second best plan as well, but you finished it very well.”

Lianus felt slightly embarrassed by the overwhelming compliment, then smiled brightly.

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

“however…….”

Sedes finally decided to point out something that had been a bit questionable since he first saw the budget.

“The population and its composition are strangely specific. The details are also very… detailed.”

And there was one more thing that was bothering him. It was none other than the bear-like man and two children that were constantly mentioned in the reports of the Royal Knights Commander.

Sedes turned his gaze to the prince’s knights who were standing guard from afar. Evan, whose eyes met his, quietly lowered his eyes.

‘… Bear… , is it the same?’

Sedes nodded slightly, thinking that Evan might look like a bear due to his unusually large height and size, then turned his gaze back to his son and asked lightly.

“Second Prince.”

“yes?”

“Did you go there yourself?”

“……! Hiccup.”

At my question, the prince’s big eyes grew even wider and he suddenly started hiccuping. It was really cute how he covered his mouth with his hand in embarrassment, perhaps because he was surprised himself.

“Sorry, hiccup, sorry, hiccup, I’m sorry……”

Sedes continued, looking at his son, who kept rolling his eyes, unable to meet his gaze.

“What happened?”

“Huh? Oh, hiccup, no, hiccup.”

Sedes had thought about it before, but the second prince really couldn’t lie. Just like his mother.

Of course, that was what I loved about it… … .

“Prince, how was your outing?”

“Yes, yes? Hiccup, what are you talking about, hiccup, I don’t know.”

“It must have been dangerous… Your friend took good care of you.”

“Yes! I’ll give you food and medicine, and oh, my best friend even goes hunting…, huh!”

Lianus, who had just opened his mouth to brag about his friend, realized it too late and covered his mouth. But it was already too late.

“…Have you ever caught a pigeon with your bare hands?”

Evan quietly washed his face.

“……hiccup.”

***

‘You’re late.’

Nihil stretched lazily as he looked at the grandfather clock in the living room. I thought that since his father was very busy, he would finish quickly and send him off, but he seemed to be listening to Lianus’s plan presentation more seriously than I expected.

Because of this, Nihil, who had been unintentionally left alone with the etiquette teacher, eventually couldn’t stand the boredom and got up from his seat.

“Where are you going!”

The etiquette teacher called, but Nihil ignored him and left the drawing room to head to his study. After all, the lesson was for Lianus. Moreover, the strong smell of medicine on the countess’s clothes was particularly unpleasant today.

‘When I first saw it, it definitely didn’t smell this strong.’

Nihil frowned as he recalled the smell of narcotic painkillers used only on terminally ill patients. But he soon shook his head, saying it was none of his business, and began to make a list of herbs he needed to obtain.

Soon, the sound of a carriage could be heard outside the window. I looked up and saw Lianus’ carriage in the distance. The luxurious dark green carriage was decorated with gold and had the royal emblem, which only the royal family could use, painted in large letters.

It was a carriage that Lianus, who hated being noticed, did not normally use, but Nihil had told him to use the best carriage.

‘The Queen will call you soon.’