Chapter 58

In a well-maintained room of a grand mansion located in a quiet residential area of the Royal Capital, Robin sat with a displeased smirk while eating a “Viola Berry Pie,” the latest trendy sweet.

Before him, a subordinate knelt on the floor.

“…And? You’re saying Nazelbert is doing well in the frontier…?”

“Yes, Lord Robin. He has been solving the food and magical beast problems one after another, and it seems the citizens are starting to adore him.”

Robin crushed the sweet in his hand with a wet splat.

“This is exactly why I hate ‘capable’ guys. It’s so obnoxious! Well, I suppose his married life is pathetic, at least. Since his partner is that ‘Potato Lady’ after all.”

“Regarding that matter… there are actually rumors circulating that the Potato Lady is a beauty. The story is spreading among the nobles.”

“Ahaha, no way! That’s total nonsense, right? She’s a potato! Everyone is just spreading rumors for a laugh. You, you can go home now.”

Robin dismissed the gossip about the Potato Lady and kicked his subordinate out of the room.

“This isn’t funny—Nazelbert actually fitting in at the frontier? And his reputation as a Lord is good? After I went to all that trouble, all that trouble to get him exiled! Why won’t he just break already!”

Nazelbert was a man who had everything.

Status, looks, talent, and the seat of the next Queen’s Prince Consort. He was the complete opposite of Robin, who had started with nothing. That was why Robin hated and loathed him.

Robin had been born into poverty.

His mother was a prostitute, and his father was one of her clients. Robin grew up in the red-light district, using his looks as a weapon to survive in a world of women—all while believing he wasn’t someone meant to end up in a place like that.

When his mother passed away, it was discovered that his father was a Baron. The deciding factors were hearing that the Baron had been a regular client of his mother’s and the fact that the man’s face was a mirror image of his own.

He barged into the Baron’s house, blackmailed him using secrets from the red-light district, and sold himself as a “useful asset” to become the man’s adopted son. In truth, he had the confidence to be useful.

Robin’s magic was rare—and he possessed two types.

Normally, a person only has one type of magic. However, very rarely, individuals like Robin appear who possess two different types. Because of his birth, Robin had never been appraised and had been overlooked, but such individuals were always given special treatment by the state.

After navigating his way through various noble daughters, he finally reached the Princess of this kingdom. Among all the potential candidates for a “social climb,” she held the highest status.

However, she already had a fiancé.

The perfect nobleman in every sense, Nazelbert Florescrus.

From the very beginning, Robin couldn’t stand him. Nazelbert could do anything; he lacked humanity, was overly pristine, and pathologically merciful. Robin knew they were fundamentally different breeds—he, who only had his looks to offer, and that man.

Nazelbert wouldn’t tolerate corruption, reprimanded those with poor conduct, and coolly performed the duties assigned to him by the state, working like a cog in a machine. He was a genius at making others feel inferior and at drawing the ire of nobles desperate to protect their interests through dirty means. That was perhaps his only flaw.

The world is not made only of “clean” people.

That’s why it was so easy for Robin to move.

He made his move on Princess Mia, who was tormented by an inferiority complex and questioned her own worth in the face of her perfect fiancé. The Princess, possessed of an abnormally high pride, disliked Nazelbert for always being one step ahead of her, while Nazelbert himself avoided dealing with the troublesome Princess. From the start, they were a poor match.

Robin approached the Princess with ease, comforting her with sweet words. Having grown up in the red-light district, he was an expert at handling women. When combined with his magic, over eighty percent of women would fall head over heels for him.

Seducing a sheltered Princess was child’s play. No matter how problematic her personality, she was still someone who had lived only in a “beautiful” world.

Robin got the Princess pregnant, fabricated a crime to frame Nazelbert, and used the chaos of the engagement party to start an uproar. To suppress the scandal, the Royal Family made Robin the Princess’s husband—bestowing him with a respectable title—and banished Nazelbert to the frontier.

“They really are such vain, stupid people. Phew!”

Thanks to them, everything was going exactly as Robin planned. Even his father, the Baron, was in high spirits.

“Now, it’s a real problem if rumors spread that Nazelbert is competent. People will definitely compare him to ‘little old me.’ And I’d hate to be fired from being the Princess’s husband.”

Robin, who hated work and study, preferred kicking others down rather than putting in effort himself. That was his standard procedure.

He headed from the Baron’s estate to the Royal Palace library to find his target.

“Ah, there she is! Hey, Lilianne!”

Ignoring the librarian’s warning to stay quiet, Robin called out to Lilianne while she was reading. Upon seeing the man she desired, Lilianne’s cheeks flushed visibly.

Simple and cute.

There were many young ladies in the Royal Palace who would grant Robin’s wishes, and she was one of them. It was a stroke of luck that her fiancé was a blockhead; she had fallen into Robin’s hands effortlessly. He only had to listen to her troubles with feigned empathy for her to open her heart immediately.

It seemed that noble daughters had a habit of bottling up secrets they couldn’t tell anyone. That was exactly what created an opening.

“Lilianne, I love you! Do you have anything on your mind lately?”

After chasing away the nagging librarian, Robin took the hand of the young lady, who wore a somewhat melancholy expression.