The Third Prince Of Darkness

After closing the book and placing it on the shelf, I stood up, stretched, and looked out the window. The sun had just set, and there was still time before the engagement ceremony. When I noticed something next to the window, I lowered my gaze and saw a pink-furred cat looking at me. Its dark blue eyes were gazing at me with curiosity. Unlike other cats, it didn't flee in fear.

I picked up the pink-furred cat and petted its head. It seemed to enjoy my strokes, purring contentedly. However, when I started to pet its belly, it somehow slipped from my hand and fell to the floor, hissing at me with an angry look.

"Don't you like having your belly rubbed?" I asked as I petted its head.

At that moment, for some reason, the cat's eyes seemed familiar. My mind jumped from one thought to another, and in a short span, hundreds of ideas flashed through my head, though it all happened in just a few seconds. Could this cat be Princess Evangeline? Aside from the pink fur and blue eyes, I had no evidence, but I suspected that Evangeline likely possessed an abnormal element. She was on the red list of the Servants' Guild and must have had an extraordinary element to achieve that at such a young age. But how does turning into a cat fit into this?

Perhaps turning into a cat is just one of the abilities provided by her abnormal element, or maybe she has a power that allows her to transform into any animal she wants, and this is just one of her skills. However, this is just a possibility. Perhaps Princess Evangeline used her friendship with the leader of the Servants' Guild to get herself onto the red list. But why would she do that? There could be a logical reason. After all, anyone with money can see this list, including Tamerid princes and princesses. Maybe she wanted to gain a deterrent power against her rivals by knowingly placing herself on the list.

I don’t know... These are just speculations, but there’s enough information for it to be a reasonable deduction. Ultimately, if I uncover the reason behind a few illogical things, I might discover the secret behind Princess Evangeline. There’s still a chance that this pink cat might not be her, but if this cat I’m petting now, purring and licking my hand, really is Princess Evangeline, then the only thing I need to do is avoid drawing suspicion.

I need to treat this cat the same way I would treat a gift. Wait a minute... Assuming this cat is indeed Evangeline, why would she come here? She had said she wanted to be an ally, and perhaps she’s here to understand my character. Or maybe she’s trying to spy on me, but then why didn’t she run away when I reached out my hand? Right now, if this cat is Evangeline, she might be trying to learn what kind of person I am.

"You can learn how a person will treat other people by observing how they treat a cat."

This is an old proverb in this world. So it would be a plausible scenario for Evangeline to come to me in her cat form to figure out my character. I started petting the pink cat more gently. I also noticed that it didn’t like me rubbing its belly earlier, which strengthens my hypothesis that it’s a human.

"Are you hungry, sweet kitty?" I asked in the sweetest voice possible. Of course, my deep voice probably made it sound amusing, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that Princess Evangeline thought I was a good-natured person.

The pink cat looked at me with the surprised expression I had expected. I decided to push things a bit further.

"You don’t like me touching your little, sweet belly, but if you want, I can feed that little, sweet belly," I said again in the sweetest tone. Yes, it was still looking at me in shock, which almost confirmed that it was indeed a human.

    ?

"O_O"

Normally, I appear cold and emotionless to outsiders, and Princess Evangeline probably saw me that way as well. It’s natural for her to be surprised when I show a completely different side of my character. There’s still a chance this thought might be wrong, but it’s highly likely that this cat is Princess Evangeline. Now that I think about it, I deduced this truth through logic alone, and I guess I underestimated my own intelligence.

I stood up and asked a nearby servant to bring my meal and some meat for the cat. When I returned to the room, I found that the pink cat, or rather Princess Evangeline, had already left. A smile spread across my lips, but I still stayed in character. She was probably hiding just below the window, as I could see the tip of her little pink tail swaying.

"Kitty? I just ordered food for you! Hey kitty," I called out sweetly while walking around the room.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the pink cat had left, and with a grin on my face, I sat on the bed. Well, I guess I successfully manipulated Princess Evangeline. I stood up but decided to sit back down on the bed, thinking it would be better to wait for my meal.

••••

When darkness fell over the world, I was already prepared and headed toward my carriage to go to the open area by the lake where the engagement ceremony would take place. The palace grounds were so large that it even included this lake. In fact, the palace grounds were as vast as the entire capital. This city was not originally a city. After the third king of the Asina Kingdom decided to build a palace here, a new city gradually rose around the palace, and it became the new capital. At that time, the third king of the Asina Kingdom designated the palace grounds, and the outer walls were constructed.

Anyway, now we were going to the lake on the palace grounds, which had a magnificent view. Unfortunately, the lake would be sullied by Fiona’s daughter’s engagement, but there was nothing to be done about it. I slowly walked to my carriage and saw Althea standing beside it. She had emerald eyes, short red hair, and wore green ceremonial armor, looking very beautiful even from a distance.

Next to Althea were the items and preparations she had arranged earlier; she had gone through a detailed preparation process to ensure everything was perfect.

"Head knight, you look very nice," I said, smiling at Althea. "Is everything ready for the engagement ceremony?"

Althea blushed and bowed her head. "Y-yes, Your Excellency, everything is ready. The engagement ceremony will start soon," she said.

"Great," I said. "Then let’s go together."

After getting into my carriage, I noticed Althea’s very serious expression during the journey. It was clear that she took her job seriously, which was a good thing for me. When our carriage arrived at the event area, guests had already settled into their assigned places, and everyone was waiting. We disembarked slowly and headed toward the ceremony area. The guests were struck with their sumptuous attire and elegant postures. All eyes were on me, but I walked calmly to my place, as I had become accustomed to this.

When the ceremony began, music and conversations echoed throughout the area. Along with the swans swimming in the lake, the stars of the night sky illuminated the event space. Everything looked perfect, and preparations were complete to enjoy this special day.

As the ceremony started, the guests had taken their seats, and the ceremonial preparations were complete. Althea, faithfully performing her duty, stood right behind me, her beautiful face drawing attention from some, especially from certain men.

Finally, the stars of the day, the couple, arrived at the area. Right behind them were my father, King Richard, and Queen Fiona. And next to them were the Emperor and Empress of the Tamerid Empire.

As the couple walked toward the elevated area assigned to them, accompanied by their parents, a priest placed his holy book on the table, awaiting them. While the leaders of the two states sat near each other, the Tamerid Empire's heirs, including Princess Evangeline, walked toward the large table where I was seated. Unfortunately, Fiona's two sons were also approaching with them.