How the Sidekick Prince Lives Again - Chapter 64

“N, not at all!”

Startled by Renato’s question, Arche hurriedly shook her head. Cold sweats ran down her forehead because of the words that hit the nail on the head.

“I know what you were expecting. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I will never rise to the throne.”

Towards Arche’s denial, Renato clearly said, knowing her inner feelings. His tone did not show even the slightest greed.

“But I promise you one thing. In the not too distant future, Betas’ social status will be better than it is now.”

“You mean……?”

Arche, who just had a disappointed expression, widened her eyes because of Renato’s next words. Renato calmly expressed his thoughts in response.

“I have no intention of becoming the Emperor, but I also have the same thought as yours that discrimination against Betas, whether intentional or not, should disappear. I don’t mean to just let it slide.”

Renato knew that stopping Marquis Medus wouldn’t solve everything. As long as the fundamental problem did not go away, there would always be victims like him.

Because of that, he planned to weaken the thoughts of ​​Alpha-Omega chauvinism prevailing in the Fleurette Empire in the long run. To do so, the perception of Betas had to change, and their power had to be strengthened first.

A certain balance of power had to be achieved between Alphas, Omegas, and Betas so that they could go to equal positions instead of superiors and inferiors like before.

That way, the tragedy in his previous life would not be repeated. The Beta imperial family members born in the future would not suffer the same despair as him, either.

A dark shadow cast over the pale purple eyes that recalled his miserable past. Just him going through such pain was enough.

“The idea that Alphas and Omegas are superior to Betas prevails in any country on the continent, but nowhere is as severe as our Empire. That’s probably because of the law that Beta imperial family members can’t be the monarchs.”

There was an old saying that upstream water has to be clear for downstream water to be clear. The imperial family and high-ranking nobles openly discriminated against Betas, so the lower-ranking nobles and commoners below them also secretly looked down on Betas.

However, it was a relief because the lower in ranking it was, the higher the Beta ratio. If it wasn’t for that, the social atmosphere would have been even more of a mess than it was now.

The reason why Arche failed to become Countess Luminus and was kicked out was because of those who abused the Empire’s law that Beta imperial family members couldn’t become Emperors. To prevent that from happening, they had to first change the thoughts and prejudices rooted in the heads of numerous nobles.

“Laws that have been passed down for hundreds of years and ideas derived from them cannot be changed overnight. Even if I’m lucky enough to ascend to the throne, there will be protests here and there, right? Then the Empire will fall into great chaos.”

“Ah.”

“What if I lose that fight? In the worst-case scenario, Betas’ situation could be worse than it is now. Even if I win, peace is only temporary. As long as we don’t root out people’s prejudices, there will always be riots.”

“Uhm.”

“For the world to change, people’s perceptions must change and not systems. I plan to change it little by little, very slowly, and not overdo it.”

“You mean to plan for the far future.”

“That’s right. Moderate and long-term changes are better than radical and rapid change to minimize backlash and reduce vigilance. That’s also why I need you, who has an extraordinary talent for handling information.”

At Renato’s words, Arche’s eyes twinkled. Although it wasn’t the way she wanted, she was motivated to know that Renato had the same mindset as hers.

“I think what you are saying is correct, Your Imperial Highness. Come to think of it, the Frédéric Empire across the sea had a law that was similar to ours in the past. I remember they didn’t recognize Omegas’ right as heirs to the throne.”

“I know. I also had this thought after seeing that case. Still, it went pretty smoothly there. It wasn’t without noise, but there were a lot of people in favor of repealing the law because it discriminated against Omegas who were loved by everyone. The tragic life of the Prince who had to live while hiding that he was a precious dominant Omega also became a topic of discussion……”

Renato trailed off the end of his words as he recalled the scandal of the Crown Prince of the Frédéric Empire, which became a big topic in social circles more than a decade ago. But a Beta like him probably wouldn’t be allowed to have that kind of luck. He didn’t even want to become Emperor in the first place.

(Eve’s note: Frédéric Empire is the main setting of ‘Hiding That The Damn Prince Is An Omega’ – 망나니 황자가 오메가인 걸 숨김, a novel from the same author and also set in the same universe, just different continent. The Omega Prince mentioned here is the MC of that novel, Étienne de Frédéric. It’s a reference :} Fyi, that novel also had brief mentions of the Fleurette Empire with its law of banning Betas from succeeding the throne and the Khan Kingdom with its rare herbs too. Interesting how the author connected the two works together, right?)

If Renato succeeded in eliminating Marquis Medus’ faction, he planned to leave for Esteban territory when Trudy safely became the Crown Prince. He felt sorry for Tristan and Trudy, but he didn’t want to be in the Imperial Palace even for a moment.

For Renato, the Imperial Palace was a place with only memories of terrible pain. He always dreamed of being freed from the Imperial Palace which was just like a prison without bars, from Blanche and Marquis Medus’ clutches, and from Maximo’s violence. The request he made to Khalid, who offered to help him in his previous life, was to let him leave the Imperial Palace.

‘What can I do to help you?’

‘I, I want to, hic, leave this place……’

‘Do you mean you want to leave the Imperial Palace?’

‘Yes, I want to leave. I’m tired of everything…… I don’t want to be here anymore. I want to go to a place where no one knows me…… Hic.’

‘All right. If that’s what you want, Your Imperial Highness, I’ll do everything I can to get you out of the Imperial Palace.’

‘R, really? Can I really go outside?’

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‘If you want to, I can make a knight’s oath to you. So…… Please don’t cry.’

Khalid slightly frowned, perhaps not knowing what to do when Renato cried and said he wanted to leave the Imperial Palace. Then, with his rough hand, the man gently patted his trembling shoulder.

‘I will give you this watch as a token of my promise. It’s my mother’s keepsake.’

Khalid stayed with Renato until he stopped crying, then gave him his mother’s pocket watch as a token of his promise. And after telling Renato how to get in touch again, he left so that people wouldn’t notice their conversation.

“……Highness, Your Imperial Highness?”

“Hmm? Ah, oh dear, I’m sorry. I was thinking about something else for a while……”

Having snapped out of his past memories when Arche called out to him, Renato put down the hands that supported his chin with an awkward expression.

“Anyway, you will also be doing work to instill a positive perception of Betas in the future. You know this part better than I do, so you should think about how to do it.”

“Please leave it to me.”

Arche answered in an energetic voice. Then she moved her lips with a slightly embarrassed expression. There was something that had bothered her from a while ago.

“Excuse me…… Your Imperial Highness.”

“Hmm?”

“When I think about it again, it seems that I said something very rude and insensitive to you a while ago, even though I know you are about to be engaged to his highness, the grand prince of the Khan Kingdom. I apologize.”

“Insensitive?”

Renato tilted his head when Arche suddenly apologized to him. He couldn’t quite understand what she was talking about now. It was true that Arche was rude, but he couldn’t figure out why she suddenly talked about Khalid.

“Ahem, I mean, if you ascend to the throne, there will be a succession problem, Your Imperial Highness. After all, you cannot have an heir with his highness the grand prince.”

Seeing the bewildered expression on Renato’s face, Arche let out a small cough and briefly explained the reason for her apology.

Successor production was one of the most important duties for the Emperor. If Renato was to ascend to the throne, he had to have children to continue the imperial family.

But there could never be a baby between an Alpha and a Beta. The problems regarding Khalid’s position would inevitably arise.

“Then you will have to either have an Imperial Consort or divorce his highness…… I’m sorry for not paying attention to that and was just being greedy.”

Arche was ashamed of herself for asking a question that was not considerate to Renato who was about to be engaged to Khalid, unable to suppress her momentary impulse.

“You said that it was a political marriage, but you two will become attached to each other when living together as well, right? Perhaps it would be different if you get a divorce by mutual agreement, but if there comes a situation where you have to forcibly break up because of the heir problem, it will be uncomfortable in many ways.”

“……”

“If we don’t do it right, we may have problems with the Khan Kingdom too. Therefore, I would like to apologize to you, Your Imperial Highness. As your aide, I shouldn’t have said something like that so lightly. I’m really sorry.”

After finishing her words, Arche bowed deeply toward Renato. Renato didn’t say anything in response. To be exact, he couldn’t.

Divorce.

The moment he heard that word, his heart pounded. They weren’t even engaged yet, let alone married, but he was surprised by that single word. Renato secretly clenched his fists to suppress his agitation.

After all, it was a three-year contract with Khalid under the facade of marriage. Although he said he would continue to fulfill his companion’s duties after three years if Khalid didn’t want it to end, Renato thought that the possibility of the two remaining married after that was slim. Having that thought made his left chest become cold again.

“Your Imperial Highness?”

When Renato didn’t say anything, Arche called out to him, wondering if she had made a mistake again.

“That’s……right. What you said is right. There is definitely a high chance that that problem will arise……”

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Having finally come to his senses, Renato awkwardly nodded his head. Arche did not know that his and Khalid’s marriage was made by a contract. He had no intention of telling her that. So he shouldn’t show any weird reactions here. He opened his mouth, trying not to show his discomposure.

“I’m not mad at you, but I’ll accept your apology. Anyway, my intentions regarding the next Emperor are firm, so I hope you don’t think about it that way in the future.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

“Okay, then you should go out now. Louis will guide you to your office.”

At Renato’s hand signal, Louis, who was at the door, came up to Arche. After the two left, Renato, who was left alone, leaned back in the chair with a tired face. Then, he lightly pressed his hand on the area near his stomach. He was feeling strangely nauseous.