Chapter 195: Eric
No matter who you are, if you smile all day, your cheeks will get stiff.
Even Prince Eric, the second prince who had long mastered the art of fake smiling, would feel exhausted after a whole day of socializing.
To be honest, he didn’t like smiling at all.
He only did it because of the words of his late mother. He remembered what she told him and kept that kind of smile on his face all the time.
His mother had hoped he would become a kind and approachable king, even if it was just for show. After all, in the royal family, everyone wore a mask.
So, he did as she said.
He put that mask firmly on his face. And because of that, the real him was pushed deep down inside.
Just like everyone from the "House of Nightingales," Eric was both an offender and a victim.
Since he was a child, his mother had told him, ‘You must control everything, even if it means using dirty tricks.’
If there were still any servants in the palace who had taken care of young Eric, they would say that he had always been a well-behaved boy.
And they wouldn’t be wrong, he really was obedient.
He always listened to his mother. He would show that sickening smile, and he would put on a friendly face in front of the nobles he needed to win over.
Disgusting.
Just thinking about it made him roll his eyes in annoyance.
Sometimes, he even joked with himself, If only he had been born a girl instead of a boy, a powerless princess, maybe he wouldn’t have to do all this work to win people over.
But then he'd laugh a little.
If he were a princess, he thought, life would be so much easier.
No need to worry about his older brother seeing him as a threat. No need to rack his brain trying to become king. His mother wouldn’t pressure him like that. Once he came of age, he could just marry into another kingdom through a political marriage. Maybe once he was in a foreign land, his royal brother would even protect him, using his title as king.
“...Hah.”
Thinking like that made it feel like that life would be a hundred times better than the one he had now.
He smiled again. This time, it didn’t look as forced as before.
When Eric and his older brother Solor were little, they actually got along pretty well.
Back then, they were still young and didn’t understand all the complicated things about politics and court life. They were just two carefree children.
Even though they were royal children and were supposed to act properly, whenever their mothers weren’t around, they would run wild all over the palace gardens.
They both had strict mothers. Although their mothers were sisters, born of the same father, they never got along because of their ranks.
The First Queen looked down on the Second Queen, because she was the child of a concubine and had "stolen" the King’s attention while the First Queen was pregnant. She always hated the fact that the Second Queen had given birth to what she saw as a shameful child.
The Second Queen, on the other hand, resented the First Queen for being so cruel and proud. She wanted to prove that she could live a better life than her sister, and would one day return all the insults with interest.
But the two young boys didn’t understand any of that.
Prince Solor didn’t get why their mothers, who were supposed to be sisters, acted like enemies, or why he had to watch out for his little brother. They were both sons of the emperor, so why did people keep calling Eric a "bastard child"? And even if he was, so what?
Prince Eric also didn’t understand why his mother didn’t want him to get close to his brother. They had such a good relationship back then. He had even believed that it was perfectly normal for the first prince to inherit the throne. He thought, even if he doesn’t get the throne, he could still make his mother’s life better.
The two of them used to secretly climb over the wall and meet at a "secret base" they created in a garden corner they picked themselves.
Of course, that place no longer exists.
It had already disappeared long ago.
No one knew exactly when it happened, but the little hole they used to climb through was gone, and the bug-catching base they used to play in had also vanished.
Even though the garden was still full of flowers, it somehow looked empty.
Maybe that was because the other person was no longer there.
Solor had chosen his teacher and started learning politics, social skills, music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
Eric, on the other hand, followed his mother’s words and did everything she planned for him.
“You are my child.”
Even now, Eric could still hear his mother’s voice.
“You carry my hopes, so you must become king.”
He still followed her will.
“I’ve been through all of this before. You need to listen to me. I would never hurt you.”
He had always obeyed.
“Because I’m your mother.”
He had always lived under his mother’s commands.
“That crown prince... damn him. Stay away from him, he’s definitely thinking of ways to hurt you.”
“Mother will take care of him, and that wretched mother of his... my sister... that awful pair of mother and son...”
“Don’t worry, my child. I’ve already prepared everything you need. You just need to follow my plan.”
“Be good, Eric.”
“……”
Eric sat on the couch silently, not looking like a prince at all. He pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned back to rest, but his brows were tightly furrowed. His mother had been dead for many years.
Even though now he had the power she once kept from him, he could still hear her voice in his mind.
She loved him.
Like all mothers love their children, she loved him, maybe even more than she loved herself.
She prepared everything for him, fought for the best for him, pushed him toward the highest position. He was her pride.
But that love… was suffocating.
Because she had arranged everything for him, he had no choices left for himself.
He couldn’t walk his own path, he could only follow in her footsteps. In the end, just like his mother, he also became a cruel person.
When she died, he felt less sadness and more confusion.
When he first heard about her death, his first thought was, ‘What do I do now that Mother is gone?’
She had handled everything for him. Now that she was gone, what could he even do?
Although his mother hadn’t predicted the sudden accident that killed her, she had left behind a backup plan for him, just in case.
But—
When Eric stood in front of her grave, facing Solor who looked expressionless on the other side, he suddenly realized.
Yes, she’s dead.
She’s really dead. Not even a complete body remained, just a pile of broken flesh shoved into a coffin like garbage.
So why... why couldn’t he be himself now?
And yet even then, his face still held that same disgusting fake smile.
Just like it does now.
He had gained power.
He had inherited the path his mother laid out for him.
He had taken control of the "House of Nightingales."
It was like someone who had been trapped for years finally breathing fresh air, Eric became a little intense.
He made several changes to the House of Nightingales. For example, he pushed the entire organization deeper underground. The people they “took in” changed from all sorts of classes and ages to mainly homeless orphans, easier to control. He also changed the training style, from raising “warriors” to raising “assassins.”
These were all things he wanted.
Even though he could have asked himself, ‘Why, after gaining freedom, do I still use my mother’s dirty methods?’
The truth was... this is exactly what he wanted.
He wanted to break free from his mother, but in the end, he still followed the path she had left for him.
He never tried to excuse himself, because he knew. He wanted to do these things. He was a villain who used dirty tricks. Just like every royal child, his hands were already covered in filth.
If one day some god told him that he would go to hell and suffer for what he did, he wouldn’t try to defend himself. He’d just flip that god the middle finger.
But if you become the winner, no one cares what you’ve done. They only care about what you will do.
Eric wasn’t uneducated. He had studied politics too. Just not in the same way as his older brother, Solor.
One believed in strict rule. The other in being close to the people. Maybe the two of them could’ve complemented each other.
But that kind of future was impossible.
“……”
After letting out a long sigh, Eric opened his eyes.
He heard his guard dog growl softly at the door.
When he glanced over, he saw a girl in formal uniform standing there.
“...Grey Dove.”
Just seeing her made Eric frown again.
Even though she looked young, the crazed feeling she gave off made Eric not want to talk to her more than he had to.
“Your Highness~”
The girl called "Grey Dove" smiled brightly, showing the kind of face Eric found hardest to deal with.
She wasn’t faking it either, that was just how she really was.
After Eric took over, most of the children in the House of Nightingales were emotionally unstable. Because of the cruel environment and his strict training methods, anyone who survived and became strong was bound to be... not quite normal.
“...I told you,” Eric said with a sigh, “You just finished a mission. I gave you a few days off. Don’t come here and disturb my peace.”
In a way, the benefits at the House of Nightingales were actually pretty decent.
“Aww, Your Highness, I only came to ask about the ‘Red Crow’~”
“What, I need to report to you now?”
Looking at this crazy girl, Eric felt annoyed, but also a bit helpless. After all, she was one of his top assets. Her true strength was probably on the same level as the “Red Crow,” but her personality was troublesome. That’s why Eric usually liked sending her far away.
“Sigh, Your Highness, just treat this as a reward for me finishing my mission. Tell me, where has my idol, my Red Crow, flown off to now?”
“……”
Eric didn’t reply.
He just stood up, walked into his bedroom from the living room, and quietly locked the door.
“Aww...”
Even though she was a little crazy, Grey Dove still understood the rules between superiors and subordinates. If Eric didn’t want to answer, she knew she couldn’t force him.
Under the eyes of the guards by the door, she shrugged and left.
“Tch... I guess I’ll just have to look for him myself... Fufu~ But that’s okay. My god will shine wherever he goes! I’ll definitely find him, my dear Red Crow!”