Please Don’t Remember Me - Chapter 6. Crown Prince Ernesto

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Three months had passed since Clara married into the neighbouring kingdom.

The royal palace of Corafran was in a state of panic, and the civil servants were running around.

“Your Highness, the Knight Commander is here to report.” Said the guard and there was a tall figure behind him.

“Welcome back. I am glad to see you are safe.”

“Thank you, Your Highness. The barbarians have been stopped.”

“Good job.”

“Thanks to Asti, my troops are almost completely unharmed.”

“Oh, was he helpful?

“Helpful, or rather …… unhelpful, I should say.”

Ernesto frowned uncomfortably for a moment, and reached for the tea.

“The knights were standing by to defend the fort, but as soon as the barbarians appeared, Asti was at the forefront, and in no time at all he was beating them to the punch…… The barbarians lost their will to fight, and immediately raised the white flag. By the time the rear soldiers had put on their armour, it was already over.”

“Haha……”

“He was a man of great strength and vigour, and was able to scatter not only the barbarians but also his own men.

“Well, I see….”

The Knight Commander asked, deepening the wrinkles between his eyebrows.

“Is there something wrong with Asti?”

Ernesto kept up his royal poker face. But the Knight Commander, who had known him for a long time, knew. Perhaps Ernesto wasn’t aware of that, but even the slightest agitation was noticed by him.

“”Well…it was out of my control ……I’ve been giving him a bit of a hard time…..I’ve been trying to get him to join us for a change, but he’s been more stressed out than I thought he would be.”

“A painful experience?”

“Is Julio back already?”

“Yes, I gave him a week’s vacation, but he went straight back to the training ground and wielded his sword.”

“Ah..”

Ernesto put his hand on his forehead and looked up at the sky.

“Let him rest. I’m sure he’s not going to say anything, but I’d like you to take care of him.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The Knight Commander quickly bowed and left the room. It was the Knight Commander who trained Julio himself.He seemed to be aware of Julio’s unusual behavior. After making sure that the door was closed, Ernesto rested his cheek on the desk.

Julio Asti was Ernesto’s personal bodyguard. He used to be a simple knight in the Order. However, he trained hard every day and became very strong, and he won the Knight competition. The fact that he was a close associate of the Crown Prince, the next king of the kingdom, meant that his future was as good as guaranteed.

And yet, Julio only served with the same impassive expression as when he was in the Order. But that didn’t mean he was  unmotivated, he was usually unobtrusive, but when the time came, he was always ready to do his job. Ernesto, who was fed up with all the people who were trying to take advantage of him, liked Julio and trusted him. He also gave Julio a knighthood so that he would continue to be a valued member of his entourage.

Ernesto thought that after two years of being at each other’s side, they would be able to know each other reasonably well.

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“Look, are you sure? Are you sure you want to do this?”

One night, about six months ago, his brother Auguste came to his room for the first time in a long time. Unlike Ernesto, who was a fearless prince with black hair and blue eyes, full of integrity, Auguste was a sexy prince with a mesmerizing smile. Despite being opposites in character and appearance, they had been close ever since childhood, talking in their rooms at night about things they didn’t want anyone to hear.

“What are you talking about? Clara’s marriage has been decided. I don’t think you can change it now.”

“Is that so?”

“It’s unfortunate, isn’t it?”

“What are you talking about?”

“What, you don’t know? I’m talking about Julio.”

Auguste looked at Ernesto with a surprise face. There were many questions on his mind.

“What’s happened between Clara and Julio?”

“No, it’s just Julio’s one-sided feeling. Maybe Clara doesn’t even remember his name.”

It was as if Ernesto had been hit on the head. Julio was a knight in shining armor and a member of the Crown Prince’s entourage. In addition, he was a good-looking man with dark hair and honey-colored eyes. Ernesto had never heard a rumour about him. Some knights, who risked their lives every day, didn’t want to have families. He thought Julio was one of those people.

“I used to take him with me when I went to visit Clara, but he never showed any unusual signs.

“No? He seemed so happy to me.”

“I didn’t notice at all.”

“Seriously. Well, his expression never changes.”

Maybe Auguste was the only one who noticed it. He could see through the slightest gestures of someone’s feelings. It was  not that he was sensitive…….

“It’s not like you’re a knight in shining armor, you shouldn’t interfere with someone’s love life.”

“I’ve been waiting for Julio to take some action, like crawling into the night with Clara, but it looks like he hasn’t done anything yet.”

“Night…? Julio is not that kind of man.”

“No, well, yes, but I wish they had at least tried. It was the kind of thing that Clara could have refused if she didn’t want it.”

It was true that Julio had been unusually absent-minded at times recently.

“I thought you were a bit of a douchebag to our own side of the family, since you were so happy about the marriage.”

“What do you mean by douchebag?”

“You don’t need to know. Well, I can’t help it now, it’s Julio’s fault for not doing anything in the first place. I’m going home.”

It was impossible to overturn a marriage proposal that the king had approved for Bajona. It was true that it was a matter for Julio himself to deal with, but Ernesto was indeed depressed with the disappointment of the person who should have been closest to him.

Days went by without him being able to do anything, and Clara was married off. Julio trained harder than ever, and everyone was impressed, but Ernesto, who knew his feelings, could only see him wielding his sword as if he were hurting himself.

In the meantime, a barbarian tribe appeared near the border fort and the knights headed for it. If it was just a tribe, it wouldn’t be a difficult task. It was also a good idea to get away from the castle for a change, to get away from the memories of Clara. And with the hope that there might be new encounters in the towns they stopped at along the way, Ernesto sent Julio to join the knights.

However, Ernesto felt sorry for the barbarians when he heard reports that not only their enemies but even their allies were cowed by the way the knights slaughtered the barbarians one after another like demons.

Nevertheless, they knew Julio needed time. Someday, he would calm down… maybe…

Ernesto had learned how to govern his country properly, but he was not a fan of love affairs. He stopped thinking about it for the moment, saying that if he couldn’t help it, he would have to ask Augustus for help.

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