Chapter 18: Drunken Prince (2)

As the queen's shrill voice filled her receiving room, Caellum quickly disentangled himself from the servant whom he had intentionally flattened, slipping a filched knife into his pants as he moved away.

And as the servant scrambled to pick up the spilled food and clean up the mess, he scanned the room, noting the strict-looking woman standing beside the queen, and a few other servants who had their eyes glued to the ground and appeared as if they would rather be anywhere than here.

It seemed like the queen ran a strict program.

Glancing at the still screaming Toenail, who was clutching his arm, which had shards of glass embedded in it, Caellum met his eyes and quirked his lips, causing Toenail to look away with a guiltily afraid expression.

Oh?

Were you trying to sell me out to the queen?

Tsk tsk.

It seems that I'll send you swimming once again if you dare come to my room.

"You!" As the queen's harpy-like voice broke him out of his reverie, Caellum regained his drunken stance and hiccuped before answering in a sad and sloppy manner.

"You called, youur~ hic highness? Apologies, my hic queen~ my tummy hurts~ and I hic I fell."

"You stupid, inconsiderate, drunken fool of a bastard! Kneel down! Now!" the queen shrieked, rising up out of her throne-like chair to point at him.

Tsk tsk.

What a harpy. His eardrums felt like they were going to explode.

Instead of kneeling, Caellum blinked slowly as if he didn't understand what was going on, before speaking earnestly.

"Mother~ hic. Why do you hate me?"

"What did you say?" the queen asked, dumbfounded at the sudden change of subject.

Forcing himself to stand up straight, Caellum bit his lips as if he were conflicted before speaking in a slightly heartbroken tone.

"I said why do you hate me, Mother? I have never done anything to you. I have nothing to my name that can threaten you. I lived my life as you wanted, I've stayed out of your way, and I depend on you for everything. Yet you still hate me. Why? What have I done to deserve such hate? What can I do to make it stop? How can I make you love and cherish me like the 12th prince, my elder brother?"

Even though the purple eyes still appeared hazy and unfocused, everyone, including the queen, could tell that the 13th prince's words were coming from the heart.

He looked like a lost, forlorn child who had been abandoned and was trying to get some answers as to why his life was the way it was and why the person whom he called mother would treat him that way.

Other people would be touched or at least feel bad, but Queen Esmeralda, seeing that face and those purple eyes that reminded her of someone, was simply disgusted.

What kind of nonsense was this?

How could she ever love a child born between another woman and the man she loved after he violated his oath to her?

How could she ever love a child who was a threat to her only son's claim to the throne by way of his existence?

Was this prince really that stupid?

Looking at Caellum's dull eyes, Queen Esmerelda told him her mind.

"Don't ever call me mother. I am not your mother. I will never be your mother. And do you really not know why I hate you?"

"Huh?"

As Caellum blinked drunkenly, Queen Esmerelda smiled and relaxed into her seat.

"I hate you because you should never have been born. Your presence is a thorn in my side and in my son's, and no matter how useless you are, it's not useless enough because you still breathe. I hate you even more after you messed around in front of the king and caused me to be confined. I hate the thought of you walking around my palace, stinking up the place with your presence and breath. I might not be able to get rid of you directly, but I can make your life miserable and use you however I please. And if you want my hatred to stop, you should just disappear. permanently"

"Your highness!"

At the queen's cold words, Camilla, the head lady in waiting, gasped and tried to caution the queen, but Esmerelda shook her off.

"No, he needs to understand his place because the last month has shown me that all the lessons I tried to teach him haven't taken hold yet. There's nothing you can do to make me like you, so just live like a rat, out of sight, out of mind. And when I need you to do something, you do it. Otherwise, I'll make an example out of you. Speaking of which, your confinement will star-"

"I'm going to give up my title and leave the palace forever," Caellum interrupted resolutely, clenching his fist as if he had made up his mind.

Those hazy purple eyes cleared up and looked focused as he looked at the queen.

Gasp!

"Huh?"

"What kind of nonsense are you saying?"

Several servants broke their silence while Queen Esmeralda's eyes twitched at the interruption, but Caellum continued speaking resolutely as if he didn't notice it.

"It's not nonsense. If my presence is that displeasing to you, if you really can't tolerate me even though I'm not a threat to anyone, if you want me to live under your thumb like a rat, then I'll leave. I've decided that it's better to be free and poor than to stay here and suffer. I've spoken with the 9th prince about it, and I've decided, within 6 months, I'll renounce my position as a prince and leave the palace."

Seeing those purple eyes stare at her resolutely despite the owner staggering as if he were going to fall over and throw up again, Queen Esmerelda chewed on his words before tackling the most important part.

"You-, you spoke to Emrys about it?"

She thought that there was no relationship between the 9th and 13th princes.

This one was too stupid to lie; so were her sources compromised, or had Belladonna fed them the wrong information?

"Of course. The 9th prince is someone with a generous heart who cares about his younger siblings. When I told him my plan to relinquish my title as a prince, he disagreed, citing the many benefits and stating that the world was hard, but seeing that I insisted, he told me to gain more worldly knowledge in the library while looking for traces of items that could help the king, and figure out a plan for my future without his help. I have been doing so and will continue to do so, so please don't worry." Caellum replied while cleanly selling out Emrys once again.

After all, he might have sworn not to reveal Emrys' secret, but he never swore not to use his name as a get-out-of-trouble card.

Caellum would continue selling his name until he left the palace.

"Really?"

The queen asked absentmindedly as she tried to think through the deluge of information Caellum had just dropped onto her.

If Caellum were truly going to leave willingly and give up his title, then she would be free to do with him as she pleased, with no repercussions.

"Yes. I will use the next several months to understand the capital, the way the world works, to find a job, and travel the world. Once I do so, I humbly ask that when I ask to relinquish my title, you please help me convince the king to approve of my request."

At the determined and idealistic words, the queen couldn't help but laugh at the stupidity of the prince before her.

He really didn't understand that it was because of that prince title that he was still alive.

"You truly plan to renounce your title?"

"Yes! I don't need it! The people of the capital are kind. Even today, many people treated me kindly and bought me lots of drinks and snacks. I'm confident that I can make it. My dream is to travel the world, visit different places, and live freely!" Caellum announced as he looked off into the distance as if envisioning his future.

Seeing the happy expression, the queen thought that he was truly a stupid idiot who would probably find himself sold as a labourer or dead within a weak once he left renounced his title and left the royal palace.

She couldn't wait.

"Oh? If you're so confident, why not renounce it now?"

"I'm broke. Unless you would like to give me money, mother hic? I haven't received my allowance in years, and I haven't found a job yet." Caellum asked with a pleading expression.

"So? As the 9th prince said, the world is hard, and people won't just hand you money just for being a prince. Or rather, soon-to-be ex-prince. You have to work for it."

Caellum: "….."

But isn't that what you do?

Sit around and collect money?

Plus, isn't it my money in the first place?

You're just letting it get stolen and eating the rest on the back end!