your Gramps?

Yeah. We need him.

I understand what Duke was saying, but the question was whether Gramps would leave that impoverished village. Im sure hed claim everything was fine the way it was.

He couldnt say it, but there was no one better suited to be king than him.

There are some qualities of a king that cant be achieved through hard work.

So youre saying that the current king is no good?

Thats what Id say.

Even as a prince, saying that was already a bit overboard.

My uncle and I havent had much contact. However, after speaking with him once, I have a good idea of what hes actually like.

Gramps was great, but Duke was equally amazing. I guess hes always been a good judge of character.

He was on Alicias side from the beginning.I believe he was so devoted to Alicia that he was able to maintain that notion. I couldnt say the same for the others.

I want to do some research on Lizs abilities.

Thats what Ive been wondering, too.

Duke used to be good friends with Albert, didnt he?

We used to be.

He is more into the saint than his own sister now, though.

Albert wasnt that kind of guy before.

Duke gave him a complicated look.

Originally, Liz was the reason why the two of us, who were good friends, became estranged. To me, it seems like she could be brainwashing them in some way.

At first I thought Albert, Alan and the others were just idiots, but Im getting more and more suspicious of Liz.

He acts as if he doesnt believe hes her older brother at times.

They were too much into Liz. To the point of being weird.

The worst ones are Eric, Gayle, Albert, and Alan, I guess. Curtis, Henri, Finn, and Duke, including myself, are suspicious of or dislike Liz. I wonder what the difference is.

Im not certain whether Finn is thinking of Alicia or Liz.

Maybe its a pattern that he has the most beautiful face but the darkest heart.

Hes always been black-hearted.

Duke said as if it was obvious.

He had always been black-hearted. Actually, he didnt have such a reputation before, did he?

I have never talked to him much in the first place. I have no idea what kind of person he was.

You know how petty I am.

Youre talking about the times when youve used your good looks to win people over?

Thats part of it, but Finn likes to look at disputes as a third party.

Ive never heard of that.

Well, not many people know about it.

I wasnt going to tell anyone, but was it safe to share such information with me so easily?

When youre with other people, I guess you learn a lot of things you didnt know before. Well, I suppose its partly due to the fact that Im with Duke.

I was with Alicia all this time, so its kind of refreshing.

Im curious about one thing.

What?

When are you going to stop pretending that you have amnesia?

He was frozen for a moment at my question, but then he quickly laughed.

Well, I hadnt really thought about that.

I hadnt expected such words from Duke.

Thats what I did to get Alicia deported, you know

Was Duke really like this?

Like what?

No, its nothing. Its just that I think your Princes impression is slowly falling apart.

Im not much of a Prince Character to begin with.

To me, he was a Prince Character, he always came to Alicias rescue whenever she was in danger, he was handsome, he was good at magic, academics, swordplay, everything, he was impeccable.

Wait, who else knows that your amnesia is an act?

I asked quickly as I suddenly remembered this.