### Chapter 56: Crown Prince Alondre (4) – Appropriate Effort is Necessary for a Good Hobby
#### 1. Definition of ‘Yamjeonhada’
1. Adjective. A calm and composed demeanor or attitude.
2. Adjective. Neat and dignified appearance.
3. Adjective. A meticulous and dedicated way of working.
4. Note: Completely unrelated to Crown Prince. This will be on the test.
—
Inside Lucidra’s mind,
A demonic dictionary, endowed with infernal power, extended grotesque fingers from its cover to emphasize a specific page with disturbing persistence.
‘Is this some kind of hallucination spell?’
While Lucidra was lost in this kind of escapist thought, Crown Prince Alondre started blurting out in a very serious tone.
“The life of adventurer Bern was admirable. The journey of eradicating monstrous seeds of great calamity and shattering the evil plots of Lord Richi were precisely the embodiment of the adventurer’s ideal I have always dreamed of.”
“The life of servant Cedric was not bad either. Always being served by others, but getting a chance to serve someone turned out to be quite a different experience. Brewing tea in my preferred style, cleaning in the way I envisioned it, and serving a somewhat lacking and inexperienced master was enjoyable.”
“However, I tend to be constrained by the rules of any organization I belong to, which might be a sad disposition of mine. In that sense, the above two examples were too ‘yamjeon’ (staid) and too normal.”
Lucidra opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish.
There were countless things she wanted to say and had to say, but none of them could be articulated in words.
It felt like some great master’s Silence spell.
But she, who had once been a Great Demon, refused to back down.
After resisting the Crown Prince’s powerful magic, Lucidra finally managed to open her mouth.
“So, are you planning to destroy the world next?”
“Hmm? My, as you’re a demon, your thoughts are indeed evil. How could I do such a thing for a mere hobby?”
“What kind of human being are you to exist as pure evil!?”
“If that’s your perception, then surely it is. I acknowledge freedom of thought, so I won’t stop you there.”
“#(^)^&^#@^@#!?!!”
As the Great Demon writhed in frustration, tearing her hair out, Crown Prince Alondre calmly raised his cup and savored the aroma of his tea.
The black tea, tailored to Claudia’s taste with a focus on sweetness and a lower temperature, was not bad. But Alondre preferred his tea hot enough to scald his mouth.
“Anyway, moving forward, my next alter-ego shall be a lone wolf concept not bound to any specific organization. Still adhering to the ‘good’ principle, but choosing the methods as they come to mind at the moment, an enjoyable rogue, if you will! Occasionally letting go of restraint and self-control seems like a good stress reliever.”
Alondre seemed very satisfied with this thought and nodded his head in agreement.
Looking at the Crown Prince with one eye, Lucidra sighed and let go of her shoulders,
“…Well, it doesn’t matter to me anyway, as I’m not the one suffering. Besides, if this already insane guy completely loses what little strings are left holding him back, then there will be some entertainment in watching others suffer.”
“Entertainment, you say? But I think there will be no leisure time for you to enjoy that.”
“What?”
Facing a puzzled Lucidra, Crown Prince Alondre spoke as if the matter were the most obvious thing in the world.
“You lost the bet.”
“…”
Lucidra’s eyes darted around restlessly.
Her eyes narrowed sharply, and soon her face morphed into a charmingly mischievous smile.
The kind of smile that could charm many a male.
“Hmmm, I see, I understand even without you saying anything. Let me offer you supreme pleasure. First, take off those stifling clothes—”
“Starting from now, your task is to lay the groundwork for my new identity.”
As if taking care of a Great Demon, Crown Prince Alondre lightly explained his matter.
Her plan to consume this awkward atmosphere and distract him failed, causing Lucidra’s lips to quiver.
“Wh, groundwork for a new identity, what’s that about?”
“Of course, adventurers do not pay much attention to background profiles, so I could jump into the field with nothing but the skin on my back. Similarly, as a servant of a noble family, the special circumstances made entry possible without much background. But, we can’t always rely on such luck, can we?”
Though the world offers a wide variety of occupations, there is a limit to how many jobs can be done purely based on ‘ability.’
Where one was born to which parents, in what land they grew up, and how they matured—without these profiles, stepping into some fields is virtually impossible.
“Therefore, you will have to help me create such a foundation.”
“Now, hold on a minute! You’re the Crown Prince! If you just need a plausible identity, why don’t you just ask your underlings to fabricate one? Why involve me?”
He ruled with one of the strongest empires on the continent.
If he really wanted, creating a proper identity in another country wouldn’t be so difficult.
With a convenient and simple route at hand, why did he insist on using her?
At this protest, Crown Prince Alondre responded with utmost simplicity.
“Using the Crown Prince’s power in this manner would reveal my hobby to others.”
“You already revealed it to others, so why are you suddenly being so uptight about it!?”
“I only told Blankah it was about a ‘clone spell with a separate main body,’ and Claudia discovered it on her own. They’re clearly different, aren’t they?”
Moreover, Blankah did not even believe it was a clone, and Claudia was unaware it was indeed a clone. The details weren’t relevant.
“Besides, pursuing a hobby while being watched by family and friends sounds like a nightmare. In the worst case, I was even prepared to use a few clones just for ‘foundation-making,’ but luckily, you offered the bet.”
Demons exist to tempt humans, promising ‘wishes’ and leading them to corruption.
In other words, it’s not easy to find workers in this world as versatile as demons.
And a ‘Great Demon’ at that—such a worker was among the best.
“I’m still recovering my strength!”
“Is mana required? I’ll supply it directly. After all, sustaining clones doesn’t take that much.”
“I still have much to learn about the modern world and adjusting to new circumstances will take time.”
“Even I’m not so heartless as to ask for immediate preparation tomorrow. My next alter ego, up until ‘D’ is planned to be possible without much groundwork. I can also wait until ‘E’ if your work is slower than expected. But after that, if there’s no result, I’ll consider it a breach of contract.”
“You, do you plan to just let loose demons into the world? What if I start corrupting and wreaking havoc?”
“Hmm.”
At Lucidra’s final objection, Crown Prince Alondre briefly covered his mouth with his hand before casually saying,
“Relax. As a close friend with whom I once shared hobbies, I shall ensure that your journey is smoothly concluded.”
It was an assertion made without a shred of doubt in his capability to do so.
Furthermore, the sad fact was that Lucidra, upon careful reflection, thought that this human could actually pull it off.
“…Will it work, will it!! You monster of a Crown Prince, devoid of bl**d and tears!!”
Tears welled up in Lucidra’s eyes.
A demon who lately became much more prone to crying.
*
After leaving the palace, Lucidra, wiping tears from her eyes, Crown Prince Alondre found himself deep in thought.
“Though this clone’s state was not optimal, having been seen through by Viscount Claudia’s bl**d sorcerer can only be attributed to my own insufficiency.”
He planned to create many more clones. Some of them might become weakened due to reckless usage.
If he revealed his identity like this every time, nothing could ruin the fun more.
“There’s no other way. Though I avoided using it because of the severe side effects…”
After a small sigh, Crown Prince Alondre called out.
“Summon the scribe.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The servant elegantly and respectfully bowed before retreating. In a moment, a well-dressed middle-aged man appeared, visibly tense.
“You called, Your Highness?”
“Hmm, sorry to summon you so suddenly without prior notice.”
“Not at all. Whenever the Crown Prince calls, it is our duty to answer immediately. However, has there been a problem with any recent documents?”
“Not precisely, but there is a task I need you to do.”
“Task? Please command it.”
“Then, I shall command you. Bring me all the documents you currently handle.”
“…Pardon?”
It was only natural to question, but Crown Prince Alondre did not personally handle minute details of document work. Most documents presented to him were in need of only a final approval, documents awaiting the signing of a seal.
Though the vast centralized power structure combined with the extensive territory meant that the process of “reading and signing the document” was already a substantial workload, compared to the documents handled by those at lower levels, the volume was far less.
Therefore, the clerk could not help but ask, aware that it might seem impolite.
“Perhaps, if there’s a specific document you’re interested in, you could let us know its contents. We’ll prioritize it and bring it to you first.”
“Just bring them all… no, never mind, I think it’ll be faster if I go myself.”
“Wh-what!?”
Leaving behind the clerk’s shock, Crown Prince Alondre advanced confidently, then barged into the office room where officials were earnestly working.
The clerks, sipping on magical black beverages imported from neighboring countries, were battling mountains of paperwork. Upon unexpectedly seeing the Crown Prince, they froze on the spot.
To such a sight, Crown Prince Alondre spoke up.
“To avoid any misunderstanding, let me clarify before I proceed. What I’m about to do here is for personal training to carve out some personal time; it’s not a critique on your handling of documents. Consider this an episode akin to a random occurrence in life. Please take it lightly. Understood? If understood, bring me the documents.”
Though they still didn’t understand what the Crown Prince was up to or why he appeared in their midst, the clerks dared not ignore his command to hand over the documents.
They hesitantly presented the papers, trembling at the possibility of any misstep.
And with that, they stared, their jaws dropping.
‘The mountain of paperwork… it’s melting!’
‘Huh, this can’t be right… The calculations have to be exact, not a single number can be wrong. He’s doing it all mentally… and all correct?’
‘A week’s worth of work vanishing from the hands of the highest supervisor… Ah, this has to be a dream! I need to wake up now!’
A mix of astonishment, disbelief, and an urge to escape reality filled the room as Crown Prince Alondre completed every task of all the officials in the room.
Having done so, he proceeded to complete all final approvals and handed the papers over to the scribe, saying,
“Remember, in a bureaucratic system, if no work is present, they tend to conjure tasks from thin air only to pass them around. Under no circumstances should you send all these documents to the royal court at once. Understand? We’ve been dealing with our assigned tasks slowly over the week. Right?”
Under Crown Prince Alondre’s gaze, the officials in Gold Palace hurriedly nodded.
“Yes!!!”
“We have so much work, it must be spread over slowly!!!”
“I’ll inform my family I’m going to work overtime!!!”
In response to this fervent answer, Crown Prince Alondre smiled with satisfaction and left.
The clerks, left behind with the sudden disappearance of a week’s worth of workload, were left blinking.
Of course, since paperwork, as always, inevitably brings new tasks, the original volume of work would return in some form, but that would be trifling compared to the initial load.
Even the first two days were spent dealing with irrational anxiety, but upon verifying that Crown Prince Alondre was indeed using this time for personal training, they soon broke into warm smiles.
Some, with deep-set dark circles under their eyes, were even close to tears.
“Ahhh…”
Whether dealing with a Great Demon or subordinate officials, tears in their eyes, Crown Prince Alondre’s grace was truly like the sun.
