Chapter 154 - Grumbling

As expected, Yuri became very excited when he heard my plan.

However, he was not thrilled about helping Danyl put on the glasses.

It wasn’t because Danyl was one of those unfortunate kids (like King Danyl Theodore). It was not because Danyl was actually his stepbrother and not his biological brother.

“He’s such a cowardly crybaby, not worthy of our respect!”

That’s what he said.

Danyl was someone who easily got excited and blabbered about how he ate much more than us, making up lies to impress the adults.

The problem was, not only him but also his little brother was a crybaby.

So, they intensely disliked each other.

Anyway, the reason why the brothers both turned into crybabies was that their dad was really intimidating.

They say he used to be a torturer or something. I didn’t know what a torturer was, but it seemed like a very frightening profession.

Honestly, even I might spill everything if their dad looked at me with that face and smiled threateningly.

But in the first place, it was Danyl who provided the information about the secret base. Shouldn’t we protect him from being picked on?

And picking on others was said to be a bad thing to do.

“Alright, everyone needs to concentrate.”

While the history teacher repeatedly gave a boring explanation, the three of us diligently passed notes and devised a plan.

The secret passage map most likely resided in the main palace’s confidential storage.

“Just by saying that we have the prince’s permission, would they let us in?”

“How about trying to act cute and beg them to show it to us?”

“Ew, what’s that?”

“Let’s divide the team and draw their attention. One person will go in and find the map.”

“But what if they catch us?”

Although the teacher cleared his throat and frowned several times, we paid him no attention.

Since no convincing alternatives came up until the end of the class, we eventually decided to give it a shot.

“In the next class, there will be a note test, especially for the prince, so be careful…!”

“Let’s go! See you next time, teacher!”

At the end, the teacher seemed to shout something, but we didn’t catch it well.

The three adventurers marched toward their destination, feeling excited and thrilled. However, as they approached the vicinity of the storage, their hearts began to pound with nervousness.

The confidential place occupied a narrow marble corridor.

Two tall guardsmen stood on either side of the large black door, which already made us a bit scared, but we held our ground.

We had to be confident. After all, we were royalty.

“Prince?”

As we approached, the guardsmen, who were laughing and talking among themselves, glanced our way with surprise.

I stared straight into the eyes of the one with a strawberry nose and confidently made my request.

“Let us have a look inside.”

The guardsman with the strawberry nose exchanged a look with his mustached companion.

Then, he scratched the back of his head and replied, “I’m sorry, but it’s not allowed, Your Highness.”

“Why?”

“It might be dangerous…”

“I’m not a little kid!”

Despite trying to remain calm, I couldn’t help but tear up.

Yuri held onto my trembling shoulder and took a step forward. Then, in a strangely different voice, he started speaking.

“Can’t you just show us around for a moment? The prince is very curious.”

“I’m sorry, but…”

“Please. Yes? Yes?”

Did Yuri catch a cold or something? Why was he suddenly speaking in this nasal voice?

I felt uncomfortable inside.

Even the guardsmen seemed to be feeling uneasy.

Danyl just looked scared and kept glancing around without being of any help.

Maybe Danyl lying about being our elder sibling was just a bluff.

This plan was not going to work.

At that moment, when I decided to retreat and move on to the next plan, Danyl grabbed my sleeve in panic.

I froze in place.

Yuri, who was also making that strange voice, froze as well.

Oh no, why did the Terrifying Bear Commander have to show up at this moment!

“Your Highness? And you two students. Isn’t it time for your swordsmanship class? What are you doing here?”

We didn’t say anything.

Then, the Terrifying Bear Commander looked at Strawberry Nose and Mustache.

As if waiting for him, Strawberry Nose explained our actions while Danyl started shivering.

The Terrifying Bear Commander listened quietly and then glared at us sternly.

His yellow eyes gleamed, and my mouth went dry.

Yuri and I unconsciously held each other’s hands tightly.

No matter how I looked at it, the idea of the Terrifying Bear Commander and my swordsmanship teacher being brothers seemed like a lie.

“This is not a place you can casually enter. And…”

“….”

“If you dare skip your class, there will be consequences.”

“Don’t mock us!”

Danyl suddenly let out a loud shriek next to me, and that was the moment when everything took an unexpected turn. I was so surprised that I almost exclaimed in awe.

Danyl stayed sprawled on the floor with his legs spread out, sobbing and wailing, claiming that his father was the only person in the world who could scold him.

The guardsmen tried to intervene, but it seemed like their words didn’t reach his ears. He kept crying and wailing so much that I became worried if he was even able to breathe properly.

He was such a crybaby that I almost started crying myself.

To my surprise, Yuri also tried to stop him using harsh words while wiping away his tears.

“Stop crying, you crybaby! You’ll die if you keep this up!”

“Yeah! No one can touch us! Because I am a prince!”

That’s right. I am a prince. But I can’t even enter the palace’s secret storage.

And I am in such a miserable state after being duped by my deceitful and cunning Father.

Is there any other prince in the world who is in such a pitiful situation as me?

I tried to console Danyl by shouting bravely, but I ended up feeling even more miserable.

“Oh, no, Your Highness, why… Please, stop crying! If His Majesty finds out, we’ll be…”

I couldn’t hear what Strawberry Nose and Mustache were saying very well.

We all looked the same, crying and screaming in anger.

The bear just stared at us with its mouth wide open like a fool.

I thought the bear was preparing to roar louder than us, but instead, it let out a sigh and a puff of air.

“We’re just going to take a quick look around.”

A little while later, we hiccuped in unison and followed Strawberry Nose into the secret bookshelf entrance.

Mustache was still guarding the outside, but the Terrifying Bear Commander had disappeared somewhere.

I didn’t fully understand what had happened, but in any case, we succeeded.

My heart raced with joy and excitement once again.

It was only for a very brief moment, though.

“So, this is the palace’s secret storage? It just looks like an old study room.”

Yuri’s grumbling remarks hurt my pride.

Even Danyl seemed to grumble.

“I mean, I thought there would be heaps of jewels or something.”

“Jewels should be in the jewel storage, not in a dim and dusty study! You idiots!”

Feeling annoyed, I shouted, and strangely enough, my voice boomed and echoed loudly.

We all widened our eyes in surprise, then immediately started whistling together.