The Crown Prince Who Raises Alt Characters

#Chapter 266 Evil Boss Nigel (15) - The Queen and the Beauty Set Originally, no matter how lacking a child may be, to their parents they are simply their precious and cherished offspring. Moreover, if it's not that they have major personality problems, but just lack some ability and get pushed around by their surroundings, that's even more true. This was why Queen Ratna of Shurabasti couldn't help but cherish and treasure the third prince Omard even more. "Darling. Don't you have anything to say to me?" As an added note, this was also the reason she was now glaring daggers at King Bahram. "Ahem, if you say that so suddenly, I have no idea what you mean, my lady." Bahram spoke solemnly as if trying to maintain his dignity, but he couldn't hide the faint tremor in his voice. Titles like great king or legendary hero are all useless at times like this. Shrinking before a wife's scolding is like a husband's instinct. "It's about Omard. Surely you won't say you don't know." "If it's about that, it's fine. The child is now at an age where he should gradually experience the world, so I permitted it. I know you treasure Omard, but it wouldn't be good to just keep him protected in your arms forever." It was a fluent counterargument, as if he had prepared it in advance. "Yes. I also agree that worldly experience is necessary." "That's right. I had my reasons for doing this." "But just the experience would have been sufficient, yet there was no need to specifically request that merchant to 'roll him hard enough to snap him to his senses.'" "……." The king's mouth shut tight as if zipped closed. He instinctively knew that if he said anything more here, he'd get hit even harder. While this was a wise choice, the problem was that staying quiet would only hurt less, not prevent the pain entirely. "He's a child who has never properly done any rough work. Just working normally like ordinary people would be hard enough, yet you specifically singled him out saying 'torment this one a bit more' - I can't understand what kind of mindset that is." "N-no. Rather than telling them to torment him, I just thought that since he's experiencing it anyway, he should taste the bitter and dirty sides of society to make it a meaningful experience..." "Should I show you the bitter and dirty tastes directly myself?" In the Markanda region, heavily influenced by nomadic culture, a queen is closer to being a co-ruler who governs the state together rather than just the king's spouse. When the queen gets properly angry and starts making a fuss, it becomes very troublesome for the king as well. No, even before that, just getting beaten with words was already too painful. After the nagging that lasted dozens of minutes in reality but felt like dozens of hours, a thoroughly haggard Bahram hid his identity and went to find Nigel, accompanied only by a few guards. "So, the Truman Show - I mean, is Prince Omard's field training now over?" "No, I'm thinking of having him continue working. There are reports that his attitude toward servants has become gentler than before. However, there's no need to excessively torment him as I requested before." "That's not a difficult matter at all." Nigel himself had been getting confused about whether the employees playing villain roles were putting on premium acting performances or just venting their accumulated resentment against high-ranking people when given the chance, so if anything, this was good timing. In any case, the stress from dealing with customers and the burden from the pure work itself would remain, so the effectiveness in terms of social experience wouldn't decrease much. "And speaking of which..." Even though it wasn't particularly a situation where he needed to be careful of listening ears, Bahram lowered his voice and asked. Perhaps intimacy had built up through their continued dealings, as it was quite a friendly attitude for a nation's king to show toward a mere merchant. "I want to improve the queen's mood - do you have any suitable items?" "What happened with the tea and refreshments I gave you last time?" "She liked them well enough, but since she originally has a light appetite, she didn't eat very much." "Then something other than food would be better." Nigel pondered for a moment, then soon went into the warehouse and came out with something. Various containers that were quite colorful and had flower pictures drawn on their surfaces. The surface texture was similar to sports drink PET bottles, but much more luxurious. "What is this?" "It's like medicine that improves the skin. If you use it after washing your face with clear water, your skin becomes white and soft." "Is it like cosmetics? There were merchants who tried to offer mercury, claiming it was an elixir good for both the body and skin. Though it was such a small amount it was meaningless." "Your Majesty, some scoundrel stabbed a person repeatedly with a knife, and bugs that were clinging to the person's body got caught up and died. Does that make this knife medicine?" "...Are you saying mercury is like that?" "It kills diseases as a side effect of killing people, but not the other way around." In that respect, these products are truly safe, Nigel said as he began earnestly wagging his tongue. Of course, like most middle-aged men with no interest in grooming, the king also showed disgust at talk about what lotion does, what face packs do, what order to apply them in, and so on. "No, forget it. What use would it be for me to hear all that? Just send one of your slaves." "Hmm, is that so?" Just as Nigel was about to agree with "In that case..." Noa, who had been waiting behind, suddenly raised her hand. "I think that's not enough!" "Huh?" Bewilderment appeared on the king's face. Even though he was a relatively informal monarch, having a slave arbitrarily interrupt during a conversation was certainly something that could be judged as rude. Indeed, the eyes of the guards who had come along were turning harsh in an instant. However, since he was indeed curious about what she would say, the king restrained his guards and then spoke. "Not enough, you say. Are you saying these items won't calm the queen's anger? These are items your master recommended." "I think it would be sufficient as a simple gift! But if the purpose is to improve the Queen's mood, having someone else interfere would ruin the charm!" As if to show a direct example, Noa even performed a situational drama by herself, changing her voice and expressions. 《Receive this, Queen. I have prepared this gift for you.》 《Thank you, Your Majesty. But how does one use this item?》 《This slave here will explain it to you.》 《Yes, Your Majesty. First use this while washing your body, and after wiping everything clean, apply this...》 《Oh my, oh my.》 The king's eyebrows twitched. He too had guessed what would happen if he left the explanation to someone else like this. 'I would only shine briefly when handing over the items, and after that, all the queen's attention would shift to the slave explaining the usage and effects and those items. Meanwhile, I'd have to stand there with my hands behind my back just watching.' Of course, the fact that he gave a gift wouldn't disappear, so there would be some effect from that alone, but compared to when the king himself led from beginning to end, it would inevitably be lacking in various ways. "There's no choice," the king steeled his resolve. "...Nigel. Explain it again from the beginning. I'll listen properly this time." *** Queen Ratna blinked her eyes. If she hadn't cared about her dignity as queen, she might have pinched her own cheek to confirm whether this was perhaps a dream. "This here is something called sunscreen, and it protects the skin without having to cover it with thick clothing or apply thick oils. I've obtained plenty, so please make sure to apply it when going out from now on. And this is..." And, and, and. As if he would spill out everything he had heard, King Bahram earnestly continued his explanations. For the queen who remembered her husband usually not even wanting to use common perfume, this was truly a miraculous thing. In the end, she had no choice but to ask. "What on earth is going on? Normally you would just toss items over and leave the rest to the maids..." "Ahem, what do you mean what's going on. It would be a bit awkward if I didn't properly know the usage and effects of a gift I gave." The king spoke as if this was his own scheme, but the queen soon realized it was a lie. Her husband was quite informal and had strong family affection compared to other rulers of Markanda, but he also had an indifferent side when it came to domestic matters. How could she not know this after all the years they'd lived together? Probably that merchant named Nigel or someone else had told him. But it didn't feel bad or unpleasant. Even if it was a scheme someone else told him, wasn't it ultimately her husband who accepted and executed it? Perhaps noticing that her mood had greatly improved, the king spoke carefully. "Don't worry about that boy Omard. That merchant isn't foolish either, so he'll handle things well. Bringing him back right now would have a bad influence on the boy, so I'm thinking of giving it some time, but..." "You don't need to say any more." The queen answered with a gentle smile. "I'm sorry for being too sensitive. You must have done it with Omard in mind in your own way." "No, no. I was also wrong for deciding without consulting you at all." "Then we were both wrong." The king and queen's eyes met each other. Reading the atmosphere, the servants quietly erased their presence and disappeared, while the guards maintained an ironclad security posture to prevent anyone from approaching the couple's bedroom. Several months later. At the news that a fifth child had been born to the royal family, all of Shurabasti buzzed with excitement.