There were two people Christian warned the substitute boy to be cautious of.
One was his sister, Ariel.
The other was the nanny who had taken care of both the prince and the princess since they were babies.
"Nanny, Nanny!"
Ariel forcibly dragged the substitute boy to the nanny's room.
"Oh, my prince and princess. Welcome."
The nanny was the great witch known as "Coco the Severer."
Besides her duties as a nanny, she also served as a guardian for the royal children. The king had appointed her, the most powerful magician among his retainers, as the nanny and guardian for his two children.
Coco, who was also their magic teacher, smiled kindly.
"It has been a while since you both visited together. It makes this old woman very happy. What brings you here?""Nanny, look closely!"
Ariel shook the substitute boy by his collar.
"This isn't my brother, he's a fake!"
"Yes?"
Coco furrowed her brows and scrutinized the boy closely. The boy swallowed nervously and averted his gaze.
After a moment, Coco tilted her head and stepped back.
"...He is the prince."
"No, he's different! Completely different! Look closely!"
Finally, Coco used magic to examine the substitute boy and let out a surprised groan.
"This is astonishing. The princess is right. A high-level perception-dampening spell is cast on him... and there's also a transformation spell. His voice has been altered too."
Now understanding that the prince before her was an imposter, Coco raised her hands in amazement.
"Truly incredible. If not for the princess's keen eye, I too would have been deceived."
"Can you undo the spells cast on him?"
"I'll give it a try."
Soon after, the substitute boy was stripped of his perception-dampening necklace, and his hair and eye colors reverted to their original dull gray.
‘I’m doomed...’
He would surely be punished for impersonating the prince. And the real prince would be furious at his failure...
With his mind going blank, the boy sat there in a daze while Ariel and Coco marveled and were shocked at his transformation.
"No other magic is cast on him? It's amazing. How can he resemble my brother so closely?"
"They say there are three people in the world who look alike. But princess, what's important now isn't the resemblance..."
"Oh, right."
Shing!
Drawing her sword again, Ariel demanded answers from the boy.
"Tell us the truth! Who are you? Where is my brother right now?"
"Uh... um..."
Tears welled up in the boy's eyes as he faced the sword pointed at his throat. He had no choice but to confess.
He revealed that the real Prince Christian had gone to the Eastern Continent in search of the magic of immortality. The Mage Research Lab Director, Dirandahi, had accompanied him, and it was under his orders that the boy was acting as a substitute.
"They estimated it would take about a month since there is no teleportation base there, but they can return immediately using magic... So, I was supposed to avoid detection for that month..."
Caught as soon as it started.
With a desolate expression, the boy mumbled. Ariel, exasperated, furrowed her delicate brows.
"Immortality magic? There's no way such a thing exists! What is my brother thinking...!"
Nanny Coco chimed in.
"Indeed. Even if such magic exists... it would be more like a curse than a blessing."
Coco shook her head.
"And to seek out such a thing, the prince must have been desperate."
"My brother is really... a fool. What my father needs is not immortality magic."
Stopping his wandering and standing firmly by his father's side.
That alone would make the king happy, but the prince, plagued by his inferiority complex, couldn't see that at all.
"Sigh..."
Ariel sighed deeply and placed her hands on her hips, standing before the substitute boy.
"Alright. Since things have come to this, you must perfectly impersonate my brother for the next month!"
The fact that the prince left for a month without informing the king, and that too to the already ruined Eastern Continent, would not be well received. Especially given Christian's reputation as a troublemaker, which was already straining his father's patience.
While Ariel wasn't sure if she should commend her brother for preparing a substitute, she decided to monitor this imposter thoroughly to ensure no harm came to the real Christian's reputation.
"I will always be by your side to ensure you don't cause any trouble while pretending to be my brother."
"Pardon? You, princess?"
"Yes, I will. So if you had any plans to do something foolish while pretending to be the prince, forget it."
Though he felt it was unfair, the substitute boy, given the situation, could only sniffle quietly.
Ariel gestured to him.
"So, you. What's your name?"
"Pardon?"
"I can't call you brother. What's your real name?"
The boy hesitated before answering.
"I... I don't have one..."
"What? How can you not have a name?"
"I am a non-citizen, the lowest of slaves. Non-citizens usually don't have names..."
Ariel, shocked, hesitated before asking again.
"But surely people called you something."
"Well, my masters usually called me... a slave or the slave."
"Wow, really? That's horrible..."
Unable to bring herself to call him that, Ariel shook her head.
"Then let's give you a temporary name for now. Hmm, let's see..."
Naming a person wasn't like naming a pet, so Ariel pondered carefully.
From Ariel's thoughtful lips, the article used by his previous owners slipped out.
"Hmm. Ai... der..." (TL Note: Someone who serves, like a Slave)
"...Pardon?"
The boy muttered in confusion.
"Aider...?"
"What? No, no! I was just mumbling. A name consisting only of articles doesn't make sense."
Ariel frantically waved her hands, but the boy blankly repeated the strange name.
For some reason, when that name slipped from Ariel's lips, he felt a sense of destiny.
It felt like his name.
"Since I'm just a substitute, temporary, a fake..."
The boy lowered his head.
"That name is enough."
"..."
"Please call me Aider from now on, princess."
The boy smiled sheepishly.
"Thank you for giving me a name. I'll cherish it."
"..."
It was strange to see someone with her brother's face smiling so weakly and innocently.
Feeling a mix of nostalgia and strangeness, Ariel couldn't help but chuckle.
"It seems you're not a bad person, which is a relief."
Ariel extended her hand to the boy who had been kneeling before her, now known as Aider.
"Alright, for the next month... let's get along, Aider."
Ariel smiled brightly.
"I will make sure you don't get caught while pretending to be my brother!"
"..."
Aider hesitated to take the princess's offered hand, only staring at it.
If he hadn't been caught, he would have grasped that hand as the prince's double.
But now, with his true identity—a lowly slave—revealed, it felt like a distant, untouchable thing.
So, instead of taking her hand, he bowed deeply.
***
Ironically, during the time Aider acted as Christian's double, the prince's reputation improved significantly.
He no longer lost his temper without reason, nor did he skip royal events without notice.
Though expressionless and quiet, he consistently appeared with Ariel at various places, inspected the kingdom in place of the ailing king, and handled royal affairs alongside her.
Rumors spread that the prince had finally reformed.
"Stories of a troublemaker turning over a new leaf are always popular."
Hearing the steadily improving evaluations of Christian, Ariel sighed.
"It would be nice if my real brother changed his ways too. Sigh."
Behind Ariel, Aider, feeling awkward, blinked.
As they were busy handling various state affairs, Ariel's hair had come undone. The red ribbon she always wore was slipping loose.
Hesitating, Aider spoke up cautiously.
"Um... princess."
"Hmm?"
Turning around at Aider's call, Ariel muttered shyly.
"It's strange to be called princess by someone with my brother's face..."
"Haha..."
"So, what is it?"
"If it's not too forward... may I fix your hair?"
Realizing her hair was messy, Ariel exclaimed and adjusted it herself. Aider quickly waved his hands in apology.
"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."
"It's alright, I was just surprised."
Ariel laughed and turned her back to him.
"Since my brother would never do this for me, please go ahead."
"Yes, then..."
Aider carefully untied the red ribbon from Ariel's hair.
Ariel's dazzling silver hair cascaded down like a waterfall. Shaking her shoulders lightly, Ariel explained.
"My late mother used to tie my hair with a red ribbon when I was young. She said it suited my silver hair."
"..."
"So I've kept this style all my life. Even though I'm about to come of age, and it feels a bit childish, it still suits me, right?"
Indeed, it did.
Gently and meticulously brushing and tying Ariel's hair with the ribbon, Aider agreed.
It was the first time he had seen such soft and beautiful hair. Ariel's shining hair was like strands of pure silver.
And through the long hair, glimpses of the princess's white nape...
Though he had been swept along, without any will of his own, to play this role, at this moment, Aider felt glad to have come to the royal castle.
He was happy to be able to comb and tie the princess's hair.
Finally, Ariel's hair was neatly done. Glancing in the mirror, Ariel smiled brightly and turned around.
"Wow, you're good at this! What did you do before coming here?"
"Pardon?"
"Before you came here as a substitute. Your touch is delicate and skilled."
Momentarily dazed, Aider stammered his reply.
"I did whatever work was needed. As slaves, we couldn't choose our tasks..."
Ariel was unaware of the life of non-citizens. Especially the lowest slaves.
So she listened carefully to Aider's rambling explanation.
"The slaves where I lived stayed in shared quarters. Every morning, citizens would come to take us for various tasks needed outside the outer wall."
"Hmm."
"We were assigned all kinds of dirty and rough jobs daily. This might sound strange, but... citizens didn't like us being dirty. We had to be clean before heading to work."
Citizens saw non-citizens as parasites on the Lake Kingdom. Useless beings who couldn't use magic, living off the magical kingdom.
If these parasites were also dirty, they were despised even more. So, to cater to the citizens, non-citizens had to maintain a clean appearance.
"So, we had to tidy up before leaving for work, and I ended up fixing everyone's hair in the quarters."
Living in quarters with hundreds of other slaves.
Every morning, Aider became a hairdressing expert, braiding and combing everyone's hair.
"...Just a trivial story."
Finishing his story awkwardly, Aider realized Ariel was staring intently at him.
With clear, turquoise eyes, Ariel called his name in a refreshing voice.
"Aider."
Momentarily lost in thought, Aider snapped back to attention and answered hurriedly.
"Y-Yes?"
"Visit often. Tell me about your life in this country as a slave."
Ariel smiled warmly.
"I think it will help in making this country better in the future."
"..."
Turning her gaze from the dazed Aider, Ariel looked at the papers on her desk. They contained her upcoming schedule.
"By the way, there's an urgent event next week... hmm."
On the papers Ariel set down, the words "Royal Ball" were visible.
Aider, who could read, paled.
Noticing his reaction, Ariel asked with a wry smile.
"Aider, do you know how to dance?"
--TL Notes--
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