Chapter 50

"Thank you always."

"Is it correct that you were in the act of kidnapping His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, Cain Elgrandor?"

Deputy Captain Fabian Velfabia, standing behind Cain and Arundilarano, asked with a stern face. Irvaleeno, held under his arm, was struggling to break free, but Fabian didn't flinch at all. He was, after all, the deputy captain of the Royal Guard.

"Deputy Captain... Why are you here?"

They had come through a secret passage, and no one should have seen them enter it. Even if the maids noticed that the two were missing from the courtyard, it would take much longer for the information to reach the head maid, superiors, guards, and the Royal Guard. After all, the castle was so large that the queen complained about needing a carriage to move around.

"You seemed restless during training. I can tell when someone is up to no good, you know."

"That doesn't explain how you knew where to find us..."

Cain stood between Fabian and Arundilarano. Fabian probably didn't seriously think Cain was trying to kidnap Arundilarano, but he was definitely going to be scolded for trying to escape. Cain didn't want Arundilarano's plan to impress his mother and gain her approval to end in just a scolding for mischief.

Cain's mind raced, trying to figure out a way to let Arundilarano escape and have only himself blamed for wandering the castle without permission, but he couldn't come up with a good idea in his panic. He took a few steps back, trying to create an opening for Arundilarano to escape.

"I thought you were up to something, so I was patrolling. I saw a familiar boy and tried to talk to him, but he ran away. I caught him and waited here."

"Cain-sama... I'm sorry..."

Irvaleeno, still in Fabian's arms, looked pitiful as he apologized. Cain nodded at Irvaleeno and then turned to face Fabian again.

"Please let Irvaleeno go. He only came to meet me. Walking in front of the castle's service entrance is not a crime."

"If you weren't trying to kidnap him, what were you trying to do? Explain, and I'll let him go. He's a hostage."

"A hostage?"

It was as if Fabian was the villain. Cain sighed, looking down. It seemed the secret passage hadn't been discovered, so there might still be a chance to salvage the situation. He needed to come up with a plausible explanation to get out of this. Even if he had to give up on going to the orphanage today, he needed to ensure Arundilarano wouldn't be scolded by his parents. Cain was willing to take the blame himself. As long as he wasn't separated from Dian, everything else was trivial.

"I wanted to create an opportunity for His Royal Highness, Prince Arundilarano, to play with children his own age. I ruined the setting the queen prepared, so I wanted to make it up to him."

"Outside the castle?"

"It's hard to know when we can create such an opportunity again, and it's beyond my capabilities. I wanted to introduce him to my friends."

"Cain's friends... huh?"

"Ms. Dedini is... well, she's much older than His Highness. I thought it would be more enjoyable for him to experience the closeness in sensibilities and interests with someone his own age."

"Ah, I see."

Fabian, who had been frowning the whole time, suddenly looked convinced when Cain mentioned Ms. Dedini. He put Irvaleeno down and approached Cain, pushing him aside to kneel before Arundilarano.

"Your Highness, I investigated further. Mrs. Dedini is married and has three children. Please give up on her."

Fabian spoke earnestly, looking directly into Arundilarano's eyes. Arundilarano's face turned red, and Cain said "Ah" with a sympathetic look.

"That's not it! It's not like that! Why did you investigate that!"

"Because she has children, she was the one who called out to you when you fell..."

"Stupid! Stupid! Both Cain and Deputy Captain are so stupid!"

Arundilarano's face was red with anger as he shouted. Cain, stroking Arundilarano's head, thought about how someone who looked in their mid-twenties could have three children. Irvaleeno, who had been freed, ran to Cain's side, bracing his feet and giving Fabian a determined look. Fabian sighed, looking exasperated, and then looked at each of them in turn, finally focusing on Cain.

"If you wanted to take the prince out to play, you should have asked for permission instead of taking him without it. I don't think it would have been impossible to get permission if the guards and carriage arrangements could be made. Why didn't you do that?"

There were various reasons why Cain hadn't done that. Some he could honestly state, and some he couldn't.

"Last time, when we invited the Elgrandor family, it took two weeks for them to actually come. There was a reason why two weeks later would be too late."

"You wanted to take the prince somewhere urgently?"

"Yes."

Before the queen's visit to the orphanage, Cain wanted Arundilarano to understand what the orphanage was like and to play with the children there to eliminate any prejudices. This way, Arundilarano could approach the orphanage visit without fear or bias, impressing the queen with his excellent princely demeanor. In other words, he wanted to prepare in secret before the official visit. Even if permission to go out was granted after the visit, it would be meaningless.

"Then let's go get the permission. Follow me."

"Huh?"

"I can go get the permission myself, but if I leave you here, you'll run away. Follow me."

With that, Fabian caught Irvaleeno again and carried him under his arm, then started walking. Irvaleeno struggled, shouting "Why? Let me go!" but Fabian ignored him with a laugh.

In reality, when Fabian approached the head maid of the queen's attendants, permission was granted after checking Arundilarano's schedule. It seemed that as long as the security arrangements, destination, companions, and return time were provided, it was possible to go out. The condition was that at least two Royal Guards would accompany them, and permission was granted with Fabian and another Royal Guard joining the group.

"Such a simple process..."

Cain felt like pulling his hair out. What was the point of the elaborate plan with the secret passage? Of course, Cain had no connections or authority to borrow people from the Royal Guard, and he had no acquaintance with the head maid, so getting permission was difficult.

"I'll arrange a carriage, so we'll be going by that. We can't have the Crown Prince riding on a horse, after all."

They set off in an unmarked carriage to avoid being recognized as royal passengers. Cain, Irvaleeno, Arundilarano, and Fabian were inside, while another Royal Guard was on the driver's seat.

"By the way, Cain, it was wrong to take the Crown Prince out without permission."

Cain, who received a knuckle tap from Fabian, was lectured all the way to the orphanage.

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