Silent Witch

Book 14: Chapter 7: The Ideal Prince

Felix Ark Ridill disliked himself.

He had a poor memory, felt sick and collapsed after even slight physical activity, and couldn't speak well in front of others. A weak and incompetent prince. No matter how hard he tried, he could never live up to others' expectations. He could never make his grandfather proud.

While Felix barely remembered his mother's face, everyone agreed that Duchess Irene was a beautiful and intelligent woman.

She must have been the pride of Duke Crockford, her father. That's why the grandfather often mentioned Irene's name.

They said Irene's health deteriorated after giving birth to Felix, eventually leading to her death.

"If that's the case, she should have given up on childbirth to preserve Lady Irene's life."

"To trade her life for such a prince"

"Another child could have been born if needed."

When Felix overheard the servants in the mansion saying such things, he wished he could disappear.

It's because of me that my mother died. I shouldn't have been born.

Thinking that made Felix feel utterly miserable and sad, so he hid under the covers and cried silently.

"Your Highness Felix?"

It was Isaac, his attendant, from the other side of the blanket.

Although Felix tried his best to stifle his voice, it seemed his crying had leaked out.

"Are you all right? Does anything hurt?"

Ah, he had made kind Isaac worry too. He was such a nuisance of a prince, always troubling others.

It was his fault that the beloved mother died and he, the incompetent one, was born instead. Just causing trouble with no redeeming value, he shouldn't have been born.

From under the covers, Felix confessed his true feelings in a cracked voice. Isaac stroked Felix's head over the blanket.

"Ark, I would never think that it'd be better if you hadn't been born."

Those words saved Felix so much.

Around his 8th birthday, Felix began frequently running fevers and being bedridden.

Until recently, his health had been decent enough to play chess with Elliot and have tea parties and dance practice with Bridget. But for the past month or two, he had been confined to his room.

That day, the weather was nice and warm, so Felix felt a bit better than usual. Still, he wasn't well enough to go outside, so he put on a shawl, sat at his desk, and opened his diary.

He hadn't written much in it lately since he was stuck in his room all day with nothing to write about.

So, playfully, Felix doodled in the corner of the notebook. He drew a prince wearing a crownhis idea of the ideal prince. Next to the drawing, Felix wrote:

[The Ideal Prince]

Intelligent (understands complex political matters)

Brave

Kind to everyone

Skilled at swordsmanship and horseback riding

Excellent hunter

Able to use many kinds of magic

Can greet people confidently (doesn't stutter)

Strong at chess (better than Elliot)

Compliments women elegantly (doesn't anger Bridget)

Skilled dancer (leads well, doesn't step on partner's feet)

Can do all sorts of things like Ike

As he finished writing, Felix put down his pen. The princely ideal he described was worlds apart from himself.

Take swordsmanship and horseback riding, for examplehis older brother Lionel excelled at those. So Felix had considered focusing on magic instead, but his own mana capacity was just average. Plus, he barely understood magic formulas, even those for beginners.

Felix's late mother Irene was said to be adept at magic, even contracting with a high-ranking elemental spirit of wateran incredible feat achieved by very few mages in the kingdom.

If I could contract a spirit like that, maybe Grandfather would praise me. Maybe everyone would say I'm amazing.

With a sigh, Felix took out an aquamarine necklace from the drawer, a keepsake from his mother. This aquamarine was her contract stone, housing the water spirit she was bound to.

But no matter how much he studied, Felix could never summon that spirit, as his innate affinity differed from his mother's.

Letting out another sigh as he returned the necklace, there was a knock before Isaac entered.

Seeing Felix sitting in the chair, Isaac slightly furrowed his brow with concern.

"Are you sure you should be up?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling better today."

"I see."

Isaac seemed a bit relieved as he set a tray with tea on the table. He then glanced at Felix and blinked.

"A diary entry?"

"A, Ah, well"

Flustered, Felix covered the open page with his arm. It's not that he minded Isaac seeing a regular diary entry, but today's was embarrassing.

After all, he had seriously contemplated the ideal, far-removed image of a prince!

"Did you see it?"

"I caught a glimpse of the drawing, it seems Is it something that would be a problem for me to see?"

"Uuuuugh~~"

Although Felix mumbled incoherently at first, he eventually relented and removed his arm from the notebook.

"Well, if it's you, Ike, I don't mind."

Since Ike was Felix's close friend, not just an attendant, Felix was willing to show him. Peering into the diary, Ike's eyes widened at the text.

"'Compliments women elegantly'?"

"Yeah, remember how Bridget scolded me the other day? Does His Highness not understand social graces at all?' she said."

The princely characters in stories always complimented women with sweet, wonderful words.

Your hair is as beautiful as silk,' or You are a single rose in bloom,' and so on.

Although Felix argued this seriously, Isaac didn't seem fully convinced.

"I don't think that really fits the criteria for a prince, though"

"Bridget would surely prefer a charming, well-spoken prince too. She must find it a nuisance to be considered my potential fiancee."

Glancing back at the ideal prince he had written, Felix grew sadder.

How incredibly far he was from the beloved, perfect prince.

Sniffling, Felix was surprised when Isaac reached out and took the feather pen. But instead of writing, Isaac simply circled the line "Kind to everyone" that Felix had written.

"I don't know a kinder prince than you," Isaac said with a smile.

To Felix, Isaac seemed more princelike than himself.

* * *

That afternoon, Felix crawled out of bed and opened his room's window.

Sticking his head out slightly, he had a good view into the inner courtyard where Isaac happened to be training with swords.

Doing this prompted Isaac to scold him for being reckless. But not this time, with Isaac, occupied with practice.

Isaac was not only intelligent but physically capable too. At the moment, he was holding his own against a larger, seasoned instructor. Felix liked secretly watching Isaac train from his window.

"So cool."

Though only two years older than Felix, Isaac was quick-witted, poised, and would subtly help Felix whenever he stumbled over greetings or etiquette.

Bridget probably wishes Isaac were the prince instead of me.

With a sigh, Felix's gaze followed Isaac.

The training session seemed to be taking a break as Isaac set his sword aside. Without hesitation, he removed his sweat-drenched shirt and doused himself with water from a bucket. His toned back bore the marks of whiplashes.

Seeing those scars always filled Felix with pain and guilt.

Averting his eyes from the lash marks, Felix noticed a distinct scar on Isaac's right side, below the ribs.

"Huh?"

Puzzled, Felix pulled up his own shirt to find a very similar laceration scar in the same areafrom when he had fallen from a tree and a branch pierced his side long ago. Isaac's side wound looked nearly identical in placement, size, and state of healing.

"But why?"

Isaac definitely didn't have a scar like that when they first met.

Moreover, Felix had never heard about Isaac suffering such a major injury.

Could it be Grandfather did this?

When the tree incident happened to Felix, maybe Isaac was punished by the grandfather for negligent supervision? Was that scar given to Isaac as penance?

No way There's no way

Although trembling, Felix eventually bit his lip resolutely and headed for his grandfather's quarters.

If Isaac's scar was inflicted unjustly then as his master, Felix could not stay silent.

Confronting his grandfather terrified him, but scolding his shaking legs, Felix made his way to see the truth.

Unaware that the truth would be far more cruel.

* * *

The door to Duke Crockford's quarters always looked enormously imposing to Felix. The pressure from his grandfather likely made it seem that way.

Felix had wanted to flee from this door more times than he could count. Still, he mustered his courage and knocked.

"It's Felix. I wish to discuss something with you, Grandfather."

After a pause, a curt "Enter" was heard.

With a trembling hand, Felix gripped the doorknob and slowly opened it.

As always, the Duke had his back turned to Felix as he worked on documents. He only ever looked at Felix with scornful eyes.

Knowing this, Felix addressed his grandfather's back directly.

"I have a question about Isaac."

No response. But silence didn't mean he couldn't proceed.

Carefully avoiding stutters, Felix continued speaking.

"Isaac has a large scar on his right side, identical to the one I have from falling out of a tree. Do you know anything about how he got that injury, Grandfather?"

The Duke's writing hand paused. So he did know something.

Turning slowly, the Duke looked at his grandson with an expressionless face.

"Perhaps it is a good time, then."

"?"

To Felix's confusion, the Duke stated bluntly:

"Isaac was taken in to be raised as your body double. Eventually, his face will be reshaped with body manipulation magic to match yours."

"Huh?"

The slow-witted Felix didn't immediately grasp the meaning of those words.

Isaac was his body double? Reshaping faces?

As Felix's bewilderment grew, the Duke regarded him with the usual look of scornful disdain.

The look of someone giving up on an obtuse grandchild.

"In time, Isaac will stand in for you at official functions. You won't need to do anything anymore."

Those words clearly meant to discard Felix.

Since the surrogate would play all the roles, the useless prince was no longer needed, his grandfather declared.

A deep despair like the ground crumbling beneath his feet swept over Felix.

Still, his tongue managed to move because he trusted Isaac.

"Does Isaac know about this?"

"He has known since he was taken in. That's why he accepted bearing the same scars as you."

With just those words, the Duke turned back to his desk. His silent back conveyed it all:

There was no need for expectations or words regarding Felix.

His grandfather had given up on him long ago. Thus, a replacement was prepared.

Isaac had known from the very start that he would take over as Felix. Even so, he became friends at the childish request to "be friends" with Felix.

Felix learned for the first time that when a person is deeply despairing, their heart freezes to the point where they can't even cry or speak.