CH 17

Julius the King stifled a yawn.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf - הילד �...

It was midday, with a gentle sunshine shining down. It was certainly a time when sleepiness was easy to come by, but it was rare for him to yawn.

“What’s wrong?”

Jordan, the Prime Minister, who had just come to deliver some documents, noticed the king’s condition and spoke up.

“If you’re tired, it’s no problem to sign it later.”

“No, I’ll finish it now.”

Rubbing his temple, the king slid his quill over the documents. With beautiful handwriting, Julius signed without much thought.

“It’s not that I’m feeling unwell. I’m just a little sleep-deprived and have some muscle pain.”

“Muscle pain? That’s unusual. Your Majesty has been training regularly, haven’t you?”

“I thought so too, but it seems my training was too light.”

Putting down his quill, he stretched lightly. Then, he accidentally let slip,

“It’s all Margaery’s fault…”

At that moment, the Prime Minister froze, but Julius didn’t notice. Despite the Prime Minister’s ominous atmosphere, he recalled recent events and let out a small laugh.

—It had been half a month since the early morning training began. As promised, Margaery’s special training was carried out every day without fail.

At first, the running was tough, but he had gotten used to that pace. She must have noticed that Julius had become more relaxed. Recently, simple muscle training has been added after running.

After that, they had a reading session of the hypothetical conversation collection. This was the most difficult part, and Margaery was pushing Julius hard.

(Actually, half of this hypothetical conversation collection was probably unnecessary…)

Remembering the contents, Julius chuckled.

There were 300 conversations arranged according to different situations. Margaery proudly boasted that they were arranged for situations that were likely to happen, such as “when they visit from the other side” or “when they attend a ceremony together.”

However, there were also some that made Julius wonder, “Do these really happen?” such as “when you accidentally meet in the bathroom” or “when you accidentally interrupt Serge-sama and Flora-sama’s date.”

The pinnacle was “when you take a bath together.” They were supposed to wash each other’s backs since they were siblings. The conversation collection had a note about it, but Julius couldn’t help but wonder about this culture that didn’t exist in Legrand.

Well, if you read it carefully, there were plenty of things to nitpick about in the conversation collection. However, it was still precious and dear to him.

[Well, it was quite a challenge, but if we consider all these situations, there shouldn’t be any omissions. Good job, Yuri-sama. I’m on your side.]

Margaery proudly puffed out her chest and smiled.

Although he felt that her efforts were slightly misguided, the fact that she made this for Julius was an undeniable truth.

He was now completely accustomed to the neat and orderly characters that lined up before him.

While writing this, how many times had she thought of herself? How much time had she spent thinking only of Julius?

(…She probably wrote that with all seriousness)

Julius couldn’t help but smile.

As Margaery had said, Julius lacked confidence.

Above all, he hated himself. So much so that he had come to hate the power of the Wolf King.

As the son of a maid who had been touched by the king, he still had the possibility of living in peace. In fact, at first, his mother was given a small house by the royal family, and there she quietly gave birth to Julius.

However, the situation changed drastically when it was discovered that Julius had black hair. The baby was separated from his mother and hidden by the king to prevent the queen, the now queen dowager, and those around her, from realizing the existence of a black-haired baby.

And when Julius turned five, his existence was made public. At that time, Serge, who was just conceived in the queen’s womb, was born.

[My child is also a boy. Why! Why!! Why!!!!]

After Serge was born, Julius heard the queen’s half-crazed screams of despair many times. The first king’s power or the customs of the kingdom, his father, seemed to have answered only one-sidedly.

With eyes full of lament, weakness, and hatred, the queen glared at Julius.

If only that child didn’t exist. If only that child had never been born.

Julius, who was still young, bit his lips until they bled.

If he had not been born, his birth mother would not have weakened and died. If he had not been born, the queen would not have suffered from hatred.

…If only he didn’t have the power of the first king. If he had been an ordinary, unremarkable boy.

He might have been able to live a decent life as an abandoned child without catching the attention of the royal family. Then his mother wouldn’t have had to suffer from postpartum complications or have her child taken away by the king.

A world that could have existed, a gentle and peaceful world.

If only he had such strength.

Was it because he kept cursing himself like that? Margaery de Noel was a girl who shone brightly in Julius’s eyes.

Despite being a bit scatterbrained, she never gave up. Whenever she was knocked down, she stood up with her head held high. She was so positive from the bottom of her heart that it made him envious.

She was like the North Star, guiding him on his way at night. That’s what he thought.

And this girl was thinking of him, worrying about him, and offering him her help. Just that was enough to fill his heart.

He still hated himself, as usual. But maybe he could take a step forward without being ashamed of himself, at least to the extent that he wouldn’t embarrass her. It was the first time he had thought that way.

(Maybe you really are my guiding star.)

He smiled naturally at that moment.

“Your Majesty.”

Suddenly, his shoulder was grabbed. The Prime Minister, who had completely focused his gaze, was looking at Julius with an intense spirit.

“What do you mean by lack of sleep? What do you mean by muscle pain? And how is it all Margaery’s fault? What does that mean?”

(…Huh?)

When Julius realized that he might have caused a misunderstanding, the Prime Minister approached him with bloodshot eyes.

“I will make it clear today. Your Majesty, what have you done to my dear Margaery?!”

“It’s a misunderstanding, Prime Minister. Rather, it’s more like I’m at her mercy.”

“My daughter approached you?!”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

By the way, the Prime Minister’s misunderstanding was not resolved until he left the office in tears and was scolded by his daughter Margaery.