Chapter 697

Uh-oh—...!
Wait, wait, wait!
That person—! That’s not just anyone!
Even with that disguise, there’s no mistaking it—that’s Crown Prince Raymond, isn’t it⁉︎

“Eh? Wait—isn’t that… him? That person!?”

Mariel-chan had noticed too, flusteredly glancing between me and His Highness.

“Right? Even with the disguise, it’s totally obvious to anyone who’s actually met him before.”

Sure, his hair color was changed and his outfit was of slightly plainer quality—but the way he carried himself, the poise, the mannerisms—those screamed noble-born.

I mean, you could argue that he’s just some rich merchant’s son trying to act grown-up in fancy clothes, but to anyone with a bit of sense, it was glaringly obvious.

Then again, we weren’t exactly perfectly disguised ourselves—our “merchant daughters” dresses were the only thing separating us from who we really were.
Still, we had the best guards anyone could ask for, so I wasn’t worried about safety.
And with my past life’s experience as a commoner, I was sure I could blend in just fine… probably.

“Wh-what do we do!? Should we stop him before he gets ripped off!?”

Oh—right. That’s the issue here.

“… No need to interfere, I think.”

Came Kurogane’s flat reply, as he munched on a skewer he’d apparently bought while I wasn’t looking.

“Eh?”

“Even if he gets cheated out of five silver coins, that’s his own fault. A matter of self-responsibility. Besides, his purse won’t exactly ache from that.”

“Ehhh…?”

I wasn’t so sure about that—who knew how much pocket money a prince even carried?

“Ah—he’s being turned down.”

Mariel-chan suddenly said.

“What?”

I looked over and saw that the stallkeeper had just refused His Highness. Apparently, he’d tried to pay with a gold coin, and the vendor had said, “Sorry, no change.”
Uh-oh~

“Muh… that’s not good, right?”

Kurogane muttered, frowning.
Following his gaze, I noticed several rough-looking men lurking nearby, starting to trail after the prince as he left the stall, shoulders slumped.

Oh no, of course—showing off a gold coin in this part of the city? That’s practically an invitation.

“Kurogane, please.”

“My duty is to protect you, My Lord.”

“Please.”

“… Fine. Mashiro, keep our lord safe.”

“Wasn’t planning to do otherwise.”

Kurogane shot Mashiro a sharp glare, clearly annoyed that he’d get to stay by my side, then slipped away after the prince and the thugs.

“Th-think they’ll be okay?”

Mariel-chan asked nervously.

“Kurogane’s there. And His Highness must have guards somewhere nearby too… Wait—where’s Oniisama? He went to meet the prince, didn’t he? Did they miss each other?”

Oh no… Oniisama’s probably furious right now, running all over the capital looking for His Highness.

Well, there’s no helping it. We’d better make sure the prince is safe, then either hand him off to his guards or get him back to my brother as soon as possible.

Before long, Kurogane returned—bringing Crown Prince Raymond along with him.

“Good afternoon. I’m glad you’re safe, Your Highness.”

“Miss Cristea, Miss Mariel… ah—hah, you saw something embarrassing, didn’t you…”

He scratched his head awkwardly, looking terribly sheepish.

“You almost got scammed and mugged in one go.”

I said with a light laugh.

“Eh? Scammed? Mugged?”

… Oh no. He doesn’t know what those mean!?

Well, of course he doesn’t—nobody at the palace would teach that vocabulary.
Wait—does that mean my brother doesn’t know them either!?
Oh, thank goodness he’s not here right now!

If he were, I’d absolutely get the “Tea, where did you learn such coarse language?” talk—
And it’d last hours! Whew, dodged a bullet there.

But now I had to figure out how to explain it to the prince…

“U-uh, well… in commoner terms, ‘getting scammed’ means being charged unfairly and cheated out of money, and ‘mugged’ means having your money or belongings taken by threat or force…”

Mariel-chan raised her hand timidly and finished my explanation for me.

“Ahh, I see. Wait—unfair price? That bacon was!?”

“Um, yes. It’s priced five silver higher than the usual rate. That’s why it’s not selling. Maybe when other stalls sell out, someone desperate might buy it, but at this time of day? No one would.”

“I… I see…”

“And also, in this kind of marketplace, nobody has enough small coins to make change for a gold piece. You should carry silver, copper, or iron coins instead. Showing gold here is basically shouting, ‘Please rob me!’”

“I… I understand. My apologies…”

Apparently, Oniisama usually handled all his payments.
As expected of Oniisama—ever competent!

The prince drooped even more at Mariel-chan’s lecture, looking like a scolded puppy.

“The ones tailing him have been handed over to his bodyguards. They recognized me as your guardian and asked me to watch over him for a bit. My apologies, My Lord.”

“Thank you again…”

His Highness murmured, looking utterly deflated under Kurogane’s steady stare. Poor thing…

“May I ask, why were you trying to buy bacon in the first place? If you’d just said so, we could have sent some to the palace.”

“Ah, well…”

He hesitated, clearly embarrassed.

“I just wanted to see the city on my own for once. Usually, Norman or the others tag along, so I thought it’d be fine to go solo. I told my guards to keep their distance and just wandered a bit.”

Ahh, at least he hadn’t completely forgotten to bring protection.
Of course, his guards had still followed from a distance—Kurogane said there’d been quite a few watching from the shadows.

Still… this whole situation felt so familiar somehow…

“… Like that show, My First Errand…”

Mariel-chan muttered.
That’s it!!

“Then I just happened to see that stall selling bacon, and I thought I’d try it. I figured I could secretly grill it in my dorm room or the salon.”

“Wait—Your Highness, if I may… do you even have cooking experience?”

“Eh? Ah, well, no. But I thought I could just sear it a little with fire magic.”

Inhale. “...Thank goodness it didn’t get that far! Do you realize you could’ve set the entire dormitory on fire!?”

“I-I’m sorry…!”

Oh my god, this pampered princeling—!
Even if he’s good with fire magic, controlling just enough heat to gently render bacon fat? That’s not easy!
He’d either char it to ash or set the curtains ablaze!

Seriously, I was so relieved this was only an attempted incident…

While I was firmly—ahem—explaining the dangers of careless cooking, Oniisama finally appeared, clearly having been searching for him.

“Tea! I heard what happened. Sorry you got dragged into this. Your Highness, could you really not wait for me to escort you?”

“W-well, I just thought a little solo inspection might be nice…”

“I’ll hear your excuses later, in full. Tea, I’ll leave things here to you. Oh, and—here, I made a reservation at this place. Relax and enjoy yourself.”

He handed me a card for a café, then led the prince off toward the academy.

“Oh, this café’s one of the most popular places in the capital right now! You can hardly ever get a reservation!”

“Really!? Then let’s go!”

And so, Mariel-chan and I headed to the trendy café, where we were shown to a VIP room and, nerves aside, thoroughly enjoyed the delicious sweets and tea.

As expected of Oniisama—always impeccable!

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