The Crown Prince Who Raises a Side Character-Chapter 49: Servant Cedric (15). Three Problems, Three Answers

“The Marquess wishes to see you.”

It was, without exaggeration, a summons like a bolt from the blue.

The Redvell family ruled over many lands both directly and indirectly, and countless retainers served under them. But among them, only a handful had ever spoken face-to-face with the Marquess himself.

This didn’t just apply to those from other territories—even the retainers stationed at the main estate, where the Marquess resided, were no exception.

Even retainers of noble birth, from vassal houses with long histories, rarely earned a personal audience. As for common-born servants—well, there was no need to say it.

So why, then, had the Marquess called for a mere servant, hired not even from the main house but from a remote province by his youngest daughter?

Claudia’s attendants were visibly shaken by the news—and so were those serving the other Redvell children.

“I understand. Please lead the way.”

Yet regardless of the surrounding confusion, Cedric responded with complete calm and set off at a brisk pace.

His composure—utterly devoid of fear—made even the stoic retainers of the main house blink in faint surprise.

Unlike lesser domains, the retainers of House Redvell had trained themselves to show no outward emotion—but that didn’t mean they didn’t feel anything.

They had found it odd that the Marquess had taken interest in a servant from the outskirts, but the confidence bordering on arrogance in Cedric’s bearing gave them a sense that perhaps there was a reason for it.

A moment later—

“You’re not quite what I expected.”

At the heart of the estate’s garden.

Even before Cedric could offer a proper greeting, the Marquess spoke first.

The servant who had escorted Cedric winced, sure he’d be scolded—but Cedric simply smiled and replied,

“Is that so? May I ask what you were expecting?”

“I heard you stole my daughter’s heart. I imagined a peerless beauty she couldn’t resist. But looking closer, I see you’ve got a dangerous charm of your own. That rounded, soft look—makes people drop their guard.”

“You flatter me.”

“Was that meant as a compliment?”

“Wasn’t it?”

Their banter flowed lightly, and the surrounding retainers stirred, unsettled.

Merchants with vast trade empires, even lords who ruled their own lands like kings—all of them treaded carefully around the Marquess. Yet this mere servant was exchanging jokes?

They hesitated, wondering if they should call out Cedric’s impertinence. But the Marquess simply looked intrigued, not angry.

He was not the sort of noble known for being overly familiar or egalitarian.

Which meant the fact that he wasn’t reacting with fury right now was extremely unusual.

“To take it as a compliment, huh. Sharp—and cheeky.”

“I still have much to learn. Forgive me.”

“You don’t sound the least bit sorry.”

“Surely not.”

“Hmph.”

The Marquess stroked his beard, studying Cedric intently, as if trying to pierce through him.

But Cedric stood relaxed, receiving the gaze without so much as a twitch.

“So then—what’s your goal?”

“I fear I may not understand your question, sir. Would you be so kind as to clarify it further?”

“What’s your aim in sticking so close to my daughter? Is it money? Her body? Or...”

With a sudden squelching sound, as if blood were bursting from the earth beneath his feet, an enormous beast emerged at the Marquess’s side.

—■■■■■...!!

A lion’s head up front, a goat’s head rising from its back, and a serpent for a tail.

This was one of the blood beasts that had accompanied the Marquess through countless brushes with death, back when the Redvell family was on the brink of ruin.

Its presence was incomparably more oppressive than the beasts Claudia had shown. The very air trembled with its power.

A fifth-class beast of the highest tier—this was House Redvell’s ultimate force, and it let out a low growl, ready to strike.

The retainers paled instantly.

Even though they knew they weren’t its target, their bodies reacted instinctively with fear.

“...Or is it that you want the power of this family?”

Say the wrong thing, and it would tear him to pieces.

That was what the Marquess believed—and rightly so.

It wasn’t his ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ own judgment, but the beast’s instincts that had made that call. And the instincts of such beasts were never wrong.

Unlike Bern, who hovered at base fourth-class strength and could occasionally reach fifth with risk, Cedric’s combat specs were at best third-class.

He could temporarily push into fourth if he accepted backlash—but against this blood beast, there was no chance of victory.

In terms of pure force, he couldn’t survive.

And yet, Cedric answered clearly, without a trace of fear.

“My goal is simple. I want Lady Claudia to become a great ruler.”

“A great ruler? You mean, to gain more power?”

“Power is just a means to an end.”

Cedric met the Marquess’s gaze directly as he continued.

“To speak plainly, Marquess Redvell, the rulers of this country are the worst.”

A collective gasp rippled through the retainers.

The Marquess himself frowned—but he didn’t command his beast to silence Cedric.

“Dangerous monsters roam the countryside unchecked. Meanwhile, the nobles, who should be dealing with it, spend their days in sloth and indulgence, ignoring the suffering of the people. Honestly, I question whether some of them have functioning brains.”

“You do realize I’m the one sitting at the top of that noble pyramid you’re insulting, don’t you?”

“If you’re asking whether that thought ever crossed my mind—yes, it has. But not right now.”

“And why not?”

“The Marquess is not someone who acts out of ‘goodness,’ but at the very least, he understands that protecting the people and stabilizing their lives brings long-term benefit to the ruler—and he acts on that understanding.”

Compared to the nobles adventurer Bern had seen—those who seemed so incompetent and lazy it was hard to even understand their purpose—the lords and stewards dispatched from House Redvell, for all their flaws, did not neglect the minimum duties expected of them.

Few took initiative to improve their territories or the lives of their citizens. But when it came to bandit raids, monster attacks, or any threat requiring intervention on a domain-wide scale, they did their jobs.

“This kingdom is full of nobles who can’t even meet that bare minimum. Because of them, cancers that could one day kill the nation are quietly spreading across the land. I believe Lady Claudia is someone capable of fighting that rot. That is why I support her.”

“I hear you’re from the Eizern Empire. What does it matter to you how the people of Birka live or die?”

“If I may turn the question around, Marquess—if your neighbor’s house were on fire, would you say, ‘Not my home, not my problem,’ and walk away?”

“...Hm. I can’t say I agree, but I understand.”

The Marquess seemed to ponder something, then spoke again.

“There are three problems.”

“I’m listening.”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“Purging corruption isn’t as simple as it sounds. This world is filled with fools who don’t care if the nation falls apart, as long as they’re comfortable today. The more Claudia’s influence grows, the harder those people will resist. What will you do about that?”

“That problem is already solved.”

“Hoh? And how is that?”

“Because the Lady Claudia I know would never hesitate to throw trash like that to the dogs.”

Claudia’s personality wasn’t exactly a shining example of virtue.

She was brash, violent, and impulsive.

But because of that, she possessed the kind of decisive drive that most people lacked—especially when they feared the consequences of their actions.

“She doesn’t negotiate or bargain with the ones who get in her way. She wipes them out. So it’s not a problem.”

“Haha! What a dangerous fellow you are.”

The Marquess’s eyes gleamed with interest.

“Then let’s move to the second problem. Claudia’s current public safety system depends entirely on her blood beasts. It might work in a few small or mid-sized domains, but reforming the entire kingdom that way? Impossible. What’s your answer?”

“That’s already solved as well.”

“Go on.”

“We’ve succeeded in modifying blood beasts so they can reproduce with ordinary animals.”

“...?”

For a moment, the Marquess’s face went blank.

And then he blurted,

“Have you lost your mind?”

“I assure you, I’m perfectly sane.”

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Cedric turned his gaze toward the massive blood beast standing beside the Marquess.

“The Redvell family’s blood beasts are exceptional. Loyal, ever-present, endlessly usable. As personal guards, few things are more reliable. But there’s one drawback—they’re crafted entirely from the master’s blood and magic. That makes mass production difficult.”

The Marquess wanted to say they weren’t designed to be mass-produced in the first place—but held his tongue. This servant’s nonsense was... interesting, at the very least.

“The new blood beasts aren’t fully constructed from scratch. Instead, we embed fragments of existing beasts into strays—dogs, cats, and so on. They lose traits like regeneration, miniaturization, and elite combat ability. But they retain basic loyalty and the ability to understand orders. More importantly, in that form, they can reproduce like normal animals.”

“And their offspring? Do they inherit the traits of blood beasts?”

“We’ve confirmed some degeneration over generations, but even accounting for that, the projections show it’s enough to cover an entire country.”

“It sounds completely absurd. But if it’s even remotely possible... the potential value is immeasurable. I’d want to learn it myself.”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible. It’s been customized exclusively for Lady Claudia.”

“Hah! So what you’re saying is, don’t sell it to anyone else and keep it locked in her vault, huh? Truly, a loyalist through and through.”

The Marquess snorted in feigned displeasure.

But his eyes—those eyes were burning with a feverish gleam, like a man who had just glimpsed a new path to power.

“Then the final question. Claudia’s engagement has already been set. Officially, it’s a royal arrangement—but in truth, it was a scheme by my son to curb her rise. The pieces are already on the board. Undoing it now would mean taking a serious loss—even for me. And I’m not a romantic fool who’d suffer for the words of some nameless servant. So what’s the plan? Is that problem already solved too?”

Cedric answered plainly.

“I will resolve that one soon. Ah, and if it pleases you, may I offer a word to you, Marquess?”

“We’ve come this far. Let’s hear it. What is it?”

“It may be something unpleasant to hear. Are you sure?”

The Marquess clicked his tongue.

“Stop stalling and spit it out. What’s so dire it needs a warning?”

Cedric declared:

“Are you really the kind of man who can’t tell what’s appropriate to say to a child? If you end up dying alone in your old age, consider it your karma.”

“...”

In the shadows, the archdemon Lucidra mused:

What the hell is that lunatic? That is NOT a servant.