The Crown Prince, who could be said to be the main character among the four romanceable characters, was, so to speak, a typical prince who had a bad personality. Generally, he was a guy who very faithfully followed the cliché of the ‘his words and actions aren’t very nice, but he’s actually warm-hearted inside’ style.
Because of his position, he clearly showed a very overbearing side, but even after Allen became his lover, he just watched with his hands tied as Allen scattered his charms to other guys, which was kind of foolish… no, it seemed careless.
He wasn’t even supposed to appear yet, so what wind blew him to think of attending my birthday banquet? And in that outfit, too.
Still, whether he had taken some measures or not, his impression was generally blurred, even though his handsome appearance remained the same. To the point where you wouldn’t notice anything unless you recognized his identity from the start.
His common brown hair and brown eyes looked particularly familiar. That was exactly how he looked when he first met Allen and fell in love. Allen happened to meet him disguised as a servant and treated him very, very kindly, unlike the other nobles, and the Crown Prince suddenly developed a cliché-like affection for Allen’s kind appearance, thinking, ‘You’re the first noble I’ve ever met like this.’
Perhaps the fact that he saw Allen as an overlap of his own mother, who was often ignored in the palace because she was a recessive Omega, also contributed to the growth of his conventional affection? Well, it was just a speculative hypothesis, but I thought this hypothesis was quite credible.
Anyway, as I always think, the story structure had too few conflicts. Mr. Kim, the CEO, was still vividly shining with enthusiasm, saying that this work would increase the company’s size several times over. I wonder if that guy, with his rotten business sense, has completely ruined the company yet.
“Hmm…”
By the way, the Crown Prince seemed to have forgotten that he was pretending to be a servant, and didn’t even greet me first when he saw me. He was just looking at me blankly. He was the one who had taken a seat first, but as if there was something wrong with that.
What kind of brazen servant would act like that when seeing the young master of the house? My neck was stiff, but I calmly opened my mouth in the kindest tone possible.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.”
First of all, the Crown Prince in front of me was the main dish that I had to capture somehow. I couldn’t just let him go like this. I had to find out his intentions, even if it was just a person who would send a ceremonial congratulatory message, why he suddenly made a direct visit this time.
However. The Crown Prince’s reaction was beyond my imagination.
“Ah, yes.”
I’m going crazy. If he was going to be so perfunctory, why did he even bother to put on the servant’s uniform?
“Haha, I see… Everyone seems to be busy today. Did you perhaps get lost?”
That was meant to mean, ‘What are you doing here?’ but the Crown Prince, whose dazzling appearance couldn’t be hidden even with ordinary brown hair and brown eyes, just shook his head without answering this time. Your Highness, do you perhaps have a flower garden in your head?
No, is he perhaps doing this on purpose? Because of his ill feelings towards me? But there hasn’t been anything to get involved with in this round yet, has there? It’s not like I manifested as a Dominant Omega for the first time.
I had confidently resolved to capture the Crown Prince, but of course, there had never been a single precedent where the relationship between him and me had been very positive. Because even if he didn’t bother to harass Allen, the Crown Prince had repeatedly branded me as Allen’s nemesis.
He tried to condemn me as if I were the stepmother and stepsisters who abused Cinderella. Of course, because of his extremely high status, he never personally grabbed my collar or humiliated me… He secretly moved the social circles to actively create a mocking atmosphere towards me, or he would find long-obsolete etiquette and issue orders of confinement. The contemptuous gaze he cast whenever we bumped into each other was a bonus.
But, Allen hasn’t even appeared yet. Does he still dislike me? Because it’s set up that way in the setting?
I secretly brought up the favorability window.
Favorability: 0%
“…!”
Wow. Amazing! It was an amazing result! It was, a whopping 0 percent!
“…What’s wrong?”
He asked in a low voice, looking at me, who couldn’t hide my surprise. Even that was in a tone as if he was asking reluctantly, but who cares. If I could, I felt like I could grab that sullen human and dance three waltzes in a row.
A Crown Prince who doesn’t show negative favorability towards me! This was hopeful enough. For the two years or so left until Allen’s appearance, it was worth struggling somehow.
“No, it’s nothing. I’m just a little tired.”
Shaking my head, I sat down on the remaining seat on the window seat. The handsome servant, who should have jumped up and asked if there was anything he could do when I appeared, only slightly frowned and moved a little further away.
I glanced at the Crown Prince and racked my brains. At least until Allen appeared. The Crown Prince had no ill feelings towards me. Just knowing that was a great achievement.
If I had been recognized as the heir to the Count’s family early on like my first brother, or if I had become a member of the Imperial Palace’s royal guard like Frederick, it would have been easy to meet the Crown Prince, but I was just the youngest son who had inherited enough wealth to live a prosperous life. It meant that I wasn’t in a position to dare to enter the Imperial Palace just because I wanted to meet the Crown Prince. Of course, it would be different if the world was trying to help me like Allen, and I met the romanceable characters one after another even in the market as soon as I left the mansion, but at least that wasn’t the case for me.
So, looking at all the past rounds, the first time I met the Crown Prince was when I was well over nineteen. It was when Allen, who had half-seduced the Crown Prince, brought the Crown Prince, who had changed his eye and hair color like now, to the mansion, saying that he was a friend he had made during his commoner days. Every time I checked the favorability at that time, it was always negative.
There were differences in degree, but the one with the slightly better circumstances was around minus 20%…
I had thought that perhaps, apart from Allen, the Crown Prince had hated me from the beginning, as ‘Noah Hamilton,’ a Dominant Omega from a decent noble family who had become a candidate for his fiancée.
Born to a recessive Omega from the palace who couldn’t even become a concubine, he originally wouldn’t have been recognized as a proper prince, let alone the Crown Prince. But for some reason, the Empress, who was a Dominant Omega, not only rarely had children, but there was no particularly welcome news from other Omegas who had a relationship with the Emperor.
Thus, Adrian, who automatically became the heir as the Emperor’s only child, was subjected to unspeakable persecution from the Empress, who was from a noble family and a Dominant Omega, throughout his growing years.
So I speculated. Perhaps the reason he fell helplessly for Allen was because Allen was a recessive Omega who wasn’t like a noble, and the reason he didn’t like me so much was because I was a Dominant Omega from a noble family.
It was around the time when a lonely night breeze permeated through the half-open window. A person who appeared with slow footsteps called my name eerily.
“Noah Hamilton.”
“…Brother?”
It was my first brother.
He confirmed that there were no listening ears around except for the Crown Prince, who was wearing a Hamilton Count’s servant uniform, and then immediately sharpened his voice as if there was no need to be careful.
“I just heard. Father gave you Bartolo’s vineyard.”
Hmm. It was the first time I had received the vineyard as it was given to me, so this was also the first humiliation I had ever received. Usually, when Andrew got so angry and raised his voice at me like this, I would also tell him to complain directly to Father if he was dissatisfied and have a fight…
“…”
In the Crown Prince’s eyes, which had been full of indifference, an unknown brilliance was caught in my sight. In an instant, a good idea came to mind.
Allen Hamilton, who was born a recessive Omega but would only receive love from everyone, and Noah Hamilton, who was a Dominant Omega but was just a good-for-nothing and was treated as a substitute and received harsh persecution from those who loved Allen. From whom would the Crown Prince find a darker shadow of his mother?
“Yes, yes. But why, is there any problem with that?”
I deliberately trembled my voice as if I was afraid and asked back. Then, my first brother distorted his expression hideously and strode towards the window. Andrew’s expression was clearly revealed in the moonlight shining through the window. Soon, my collar was grabbed by a rough hand.
“Ugh, Bro, Brother, why are you doing this? At least tell me the reason…!”
“Reason? Do you really not know why you’re asking? You’ve been acting like the young master of the main family for a few years, even though you’re just a collateral line. Do you really think you’re my brother?”