Curse the Mainframe! 239 As Expected!

The first prince's office was surprisingly clean, compared to his usually decadent and sloppy self – or so he portrayed himself to be.

Obviously, the office reflected the first prince's true personality.

It seemed that even though he made sure to keep his appearance outside meticulous, his workplace was obviously spared from that.

There had been a number of security-based seals on the door to prevent anyone besides the prince from entering, but it wasn't a problem for him.

Rather, there had been a loophole where there wasn't a seal applied to the doorknob, which meant that Alec had ample space to work and make his way in without resorting to breaking the seals down.

Alec smirked.

He just knew that the first prince wasn't as simple as it seemed, as was evident from this door itself.

Now the only question was left was what his intentions were for leaking information in the first place?

Were they enemies? Or were they reluctant allies?

Alec didn't have enough data yet, which was why he had taken the risk so soon to enter the first prince's office to gather more information.

The System looked around with appraising eyes.

The place looked just like a normal office, but he supposed that there wouldn't be something so obviously out of place if the real personality of the first prince was as he inferred.

Unfortunately, he had yet to meet Prince Alistair in person, so he had to make do with second-hand information and guesses, which was not how he liked it.

Quickly moving before someone realized he was missing, Alec combed through the place while making sure that not a single thing was out of place.

The less he found, the more Alec felt grudgingly impressed.

Still, there were things that he managed to gleam from the paperwork that was neatly filed away in the place.

There were no personal items in the office, and everything was meticulous and neat.

Why was someone like this faking his personality and his image in front of the other nobles?

Slipping back out of the office after making sure that it was as it was before he entered, Alec returned to his room via the balcony.

It was just in time too.

A few minutes after he removed the seal on the door, Ophelia stormed into the room in a huff. Obviously, the talk with her brother had not gone well.

Ophelia started complaining to Alec, who patiently bore it as he dissected the second prince's personality from her words.

The more she talked, the more he was information he was able to extract.

From what he gathered, while the second prince seemed more put together on the surface, especially when the nobles compared him to his brother.

The second prince was currently looking to be first in line for the throne, as there were many more nobles backing him compared to the first prince who only partied away and indulged to his heart's content.

The emperor had yet to choose a crown prince despite everyone's urging, which was why the empress was still wary of the first prince.

If you looked at the structure of the Rhys Royal Family now, Alec could roughly guess what was going on, if it followed one of the more common tropes.

The first prince, Alistair Louis Rhys, was born from the previous empress, while second prince Frazer and first princess Ophelia were both born from the current empress.

Then, the second princess, Freesia, who was largely unfavoured because she was born from a concubine, was pretty much unseen both inside and outside the palace.

Sometimes, people even forgot that there was a second princess in the first place, let alone remembering her name or how she looked like. That was how unknown she was as a whole.

It felt like every royal family story ever, where the second empress ascended to the throne after a period of being a concubine after poisoning the first empress and getting rid of her.

Alec almost clicked his tongue.

Sure enough, it was another common plot point, which lent credence to his thought that the first prince wasn't normal by any stretch.

If it went down this train of thought, then Alec could infer that the first prince was hiding his abilities because of the second empress until he was able to overthrow the throne, while the unfavoured second princess who was born from a concubine was either a Main Character or complete cannon fodder.

Though, he didn't think it was likely that the second princess Freesia was a Main Character.

The palace wasn't big enough that the [Main Character Radar] was unable to pick up signs of a Main Character being nearby.

Ye Sha agreed with his line of thinking. He'd be able to find out if there was a Main Character so long as they were in the vicinity.

This was one of the common plot points that they saw whenever the royal family appeared.

There was no such thing as a harmonious royal family, and there was always one person acting like they were the scum of the planet, only to be the most capable one there.

Then, going with this train of thought, it was likely that the upcoming war with the Neil Clan was true.

It would be bad for the first prince if the royal family got any more powerful before he was able to make his move, which was why he'd leaked information to Thea.

In cases like this, the first prince probably achieved a high level of mastery over his magic, which was why he was able to spot Thea when she first appeared, without giving anything away.

Suddenly, things started clicking together.

Was it about time for the owner of the continent to change hands?

Alec's eyes glinted, and Ophelia continued rambling as she vented her anger and annoyance with her second brother.

"-know he's just doing it 'for my sake' but it gets so annoying sometimes!" she huffed.

Alec smiled at her indulgently, his eyes soft, even as his hand itched to smack her.

"Anyway, tomorrow I'm going to ask my father for a marriage decree for us!"

Alarm started going through him at her words.

"Lady Ophelia," he said seriously after she finished speaking, disappointment colouring his tone.

Ophelia flinched hearing the unexpectedly serious tone from the man who was always so gentle.

The disappointment he pressed into his words flowed through her like a shock of cold water splashing over her.

What did she do wrong, she wondered?

"W-what is it?" she asked nervously.

She wasn't even this nervous in front of her father emperor, but her Alexander was able to do this to her with only two words.

The thought that she'd disappointed him when he had started loosening up to her these days terrified her greatly.

She didn't want to go back to the days where they didn't exchange words at all.

"Are you really going to have your father decree a marriage that forces us to be together?" he said with just the barest hints of sadness.

Ophelia bit her lip. But… if she didn't do this, then wouldn't he run away?

Alec seemed to understand what she was thinking.

"Haven't I been staying by your side already?"

Ophelia's eyes shook.

That… that was true. He hadn't even made a single escape attempt in the time that he was here, and he already knew that that woman was not in her hands, as was promised to him earlier.

What did this mean?

Did it mean that he had feelings for her? Or did it not?

She was so hopeful, yet at the same time, she was completely terrified.

Sure, having her father decree a marriage would keep him tied to her side, but at the same time, she would always have it at the back of her mind that it was a forced marriage, which would leave a bitter taste in her mouth.

"Okay," she said decisively. "I won't ask. But… don't leave me waiting for too long, alright?" she pouted.

Alec gently stroked the princess' hair, and she leaned in. She didn't even like it when her brothers did this when she was younger, but now she felt like she didn't mind it at all.

Well… he had her pacified for a while.

Alec wanted to make contact with the first prince before he made his exit. Tomorrow would be a good time to do it.

Chapter end

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