Chapter 4

"Huff..."

Taking a short breath, I tried to move my body, and it felt much lighter than before.

If a prince who had been in a coma for over six years suddenly started moving, wouldn't everyone be shocked?

Of course, it was natural. His bones were damaged, and his muscles had almost disappeared, so even with the meager healing magic from the priests, he wouldn't recover easily.

Moreover, most of the priests who came to treat him were under the control of Queen Liness, so they wouldn't give him proper treatment.

Yes, if I were to evaluate this palace objectively, it was a truly despicable place.

A place where the queen wanted the prince dead, and there was no such thing as family affection.

In the past, I thought, "They are family, companions I have to live with for life." I approached them and trusted them.

But it didn't take long to realize how foolish that thought was.

My first life on Earth and my second life here were different.

In this country, where people sell their children for political marriages as a matter of course, family affection?

It would be like throwing it to the dogs.

Of course, not all nobles are like that.

In fact, Queen Liness doted on her own son terribly.

But what if they weren't blood-related?

What if they were a child who stood in the way of her blood-related son?

Queen Liness was not my biological mother.

A complete stranger, with no blood ties.

My mother, who was originally the queen, was murdered by poisoning about five years after I was born here.

The culprit was never caught, and my mother's death ended as an unsolved murder.

After that, Queen Liness took my mother's place.

Ambitious, she wanted to push her own son to be the next king, pushing me, the son of the former queen, aside.

Of course, she had a powerful backer.

Currently, the Round Kingdom is dominated by the nobility, with the Varretta Dukedom at the center.

Queen Liness's family is none other than the Varretta Dukedom.

It's a fact that anyone but a fool would know they are in cahoots.

My life has been quite monotonous so far.

I've been using mana, holy power, and necromantic mana to enhance my recovery and doing exercises to regain my strength.

I've been eating all the meals that the maid Amy brings to speed up my recovery.

Even with just the holy power-based healing magic, the recovery rate is impressive, but with the knowledge of a necromancer who has extensively studied the human body and the medical skills I learned from the hypocritical god Hipocria, this level of recovery is not a difficult task.

During this process, my appetite has improved significantly, and I've been happily eating through the budget allocated to the prince's palace, but since it's my money, who can say anything?

"Still, more than half of the incoming funds are probably being embezzled."

Just looking at the state of the prince's palace is enough to see that.

Who would think this place is the palace of the first prince?

The cracked marble floor and the weeds growing between the cracks.

Honestly, compared to the rest of the palace, it's almost a ruin.

The appearance of the palace reflects the prince's dignity. If left as it is, it would be very detrimental to my image and position, but it's a distant dream unless I completely overhaul the people who are already embezzling.

That's why recovery is important.

I need to be healthy to do anything.

Revenge on the second and third princes, who put me in a coma, and on Queen Liness, who I suspect killed my mother, can wait until later.

The leeway I have now is because I have become strong.

"Huff..."

Sweat poured down my body from the exertion, and I silently raised my hand and cast a spell.

"Clean."

With a short murmur, water droplets appeared in the air, covering my body, and the heat was washed away, leaving me feeling refreshed.

Magic is a very convenient power.

They say laziness is the key to scientific development.

Frankly, Odin, who taught me magic, was like that, and I also strongly believe in that saying.

"Your Highness, it's Amy."

"Come in."

After tidying up my disheveled clothes and lying down on the bed, the stiff-faced girl Amy entered, bowing her head.

In this palace, my position is more like a cast-off child than the first prince.

Nobles and servants often ignore me behind my back, but Amy is quite diligent in that sense.

"I've brought your meal."

Her calm words made me smile.

"Thank you."

I don't refuse kindness. At least Amy, who has only been in this palace for a short time, hasn't been involved in the dirty politics.

For now.

I heard she was demoted here after falling out of favor with the queen while working in the harem.

"The palace of the first prince as a place of demotion... What a mess."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing. You've worked hard. Go and rest today."

"But, Your Highness, today's rehabilitation training..."

"I can handle it. Go and rest."

Cutting her off sharply, she looked at me with a troubled expression.

Hey, don't look at me like that.

If you look at me with those puppy dog eyes, I feel guilty.

Swallowing the words I couldn't say out loud, I patted her head, and her face turned red as she bowed deeply.

"Sorry... Sorry!"

"It's fine. Go on."

"Yes, yes!"

A good-looking face can be helpful at times.

"Hmm~"

Feeling better, I hummed a tune and looked at the meal Amy had prepared.

"Treating me like a toothless old man just because I'm a patient."

Considering my mental age, I'm almost a living fossil by human standards, but unfortunately, I'm not that mature.

Even heroes who lived for thousands, maybe tens of thousands of years, were mostly like teenagers, giggling and fooling around.

What do you mean?

It means that people come full circle.

For those who have already died once and thus have no end to their existence, this is a natural change.

Some maintain their seriousness, but others revert to their childhood personalities.

The worst were the Saint Daphne and the self-proclaimed Survival King Heracles.

Both had terrible tempers.

While mindlessly shoving the food on the table into my mouth, I didn't forget to use mana and holy power simultaneously.

The necromantic mana will recover on its own, so I just need to use the rest enthusiastically.

Currently, the limits of what I can do with holy power are basic spells like Heal, Restore, and Cure.

With magic, I can only use simple spells like Light and Magic Missile, and some daily life spells that don't require a circle, but that's only because my recovery is incomplete.

Even though my stomach is full and I can't eat any more, using the Restore spell has increased my appetite, and I keep eating.

Roughly three times more than an average person.

Too much? It all goes in if you shove it in.

Seeing my absurdly increased food intake, Amy looked shocked, but I'm stubborn.

After stuffing my cheeks to the point of bursting, I felt a renewed vitality in my body, which was weak just a moment ago.

Of course.

"Ah... Damn bathroom."

The downside is that I have to use the bathroom frequently because of my excellent digestion.

If the lazy swordsman Hares saw me, he would have called me a poopster and teased me.

A swordsman who doesn't act his age...

4. Not Enough Food!

Recovery is going well.

But problems are starting to arise elsewhere.

The problem finally revealed itself and threatened me about a month after I woke up.

"Ugh..."

Swallowing the involuntary groan, my expression contorted from the stomachache, and a shadow fell over Amy's face.

"Sorry... Sorry!"

"It's fine. What did you do wrong?"

While comforting her, I read the document she handed me and couldn't help but chuckle.

It seems the royal budget allocated to the prince's palace was too small, and the ingredients for the meals have run out.

"Really... I never thought I'd be worrying about food in the middle of the palace, especially for the first prince."

The cause of this situation was easy to see.

"Amy."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"How many maids, servants, and maidservants are currently working in this palace?"

Her face showed confusion at my question.

Judging from her expression, which seemed to say she didn't know what to say, the answer was already clear.

"Only you?"

"Please, kill me!"

Sighing at her prostrate form, I realized the situation was dire.

It's not a large palace, but it's still a prince's palace.

Not the inner palace where the crown princes live, but it's still a palace in the inner palace, so it's quite spacious.

"So, you're managing this large palace by yourself."

"That... That's..."

When I came out of my coma, the situation was already bad. It was a place where people lived, and it wasn't severely lacking, but it had changed so much in six years.

It's not a short time.

From what Amy told me, I got a rough idea of what happened.

The first prince, David All Round, was a burden to the royal family, having fallen out of favor with the queen.

A pauper who couldn't even enter the inner palace where the crown princes lived.

Is it my fault?

It is my fault.

I trusted and embraced them as family, even though they were half-siblings.

"No wonder the palace is in such a mess."

"Please, kill me!"

"It's fine. I'm not heartless enough to kill someone who hasn't done anything wrong."

Compared to when I first woke up, I can move much more easily now.

This must be the body of a weak prince.

Slowly getting out of bed and sitting in the chair, I put on my reading glasses, and my blurry vision gradually cleared.

To clarify, my original body had very poor eyesight.

It was due to my weak constitution from birth, and the other reason is...

A memory I don't want to recall.

"Let's see. What is the original budget allocated to the prince's palace?"

"That... That is 5,000 gold per year."

"But the current assets in the prince's palace are only 10 gold."

"..."

"And that's without even managing the palace."

The lack of ingredients was the first error.

"What about this month's incoming funds? At least with that money, we could save on meals."

"That... That is..."

"It's okay, tell me."

"On paper, 500 gold should come in, but the actual amount is less than 100 gold..."

Sighing at her words, I realized the gravity of the situation.