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Book 14: Chapter 4: The Young Prince

However, the orphanage Isaac was brought to was much cleaner than he had imagined, and he was given a proper education within the facility.

"You have all been given a great fortune."

These were the words the head of the orphanage would always say before prayers at breakfast.

Fortunate was an apt word to use. The children gathered at this orphanage were mostly aesthetically pleasing and graceful. Isaac too, although he had a scar on his right eye, had a well-presented face. If he covered his right eye with his bangs, he was somewhat presentable. Above all, his rich golden hair was a trait favored by nobles.

Ultimately, these children were being raised with the premise of being brought up by nobles. Therefore, the adults at the orphanage desperately made the children study. As they received a considerable amount of money for "shipping out" a suitable child to nobles.

The studying at the orphanage was brutal. Children who performed poorly often had their meals withheld or were whipped on their hands.

The children did not become united through these harsh conditions. On the contrary, the children who believed they were "chosen" were highly competitive, and it was not uncommon for them to slander their rivals to get rid of them.

Isaac, who was particularly outstanding in his studies, was targeted by older children.

They would openly persecute him, saying a broken fool like him would never be chosen by a noble.

Isaac, who had no interest in being adopted by a noble, ignored the rumors around him and continued to study diligently.

He did not particularly want to enter a good school or be adopted by a noble.

However, since the day he lost his family, he could not think of anything else to do.

So, he simply crammed his empty mind with knowledge. If he had not done so, his mind would have been destroyed.

One day, Isaac was called to the headmaster\'s office. However, the headmaster was not in his office, and there was only one elderly man there, who looked like a nobleman and was sitting on a sofa.

The man glanced at Isaac and spoke.

"Come in."

He had the voice of a person accustomed to giving orders, Isaac thought. Nobles often spoke this way, but this man seemed to be in a different class altogether.

"Show me your face."

Isaac felt it was troublesome to resist, so he raised his bangs, which had been covering his right eye.

This guest seemed to be interested in him. Perhaps he would say he wanted to adopt the child with the best grades at the orphanage.

Anyhow, he must hesitate upon seeing this wound.

However, contrary to Isaac\'s expectations, the man did not even frown when he saw the ugly scar.

"A wound of this level can easily be changed at the time of your transformation."

"???"

"If your hair color and bone structure are similar, it is enough. Your grades are also satisfactory."

What in the world was this man saying? However, he felt a strange sense of foreboding.

The children at this orphanage believed that they would be happy if they were adopted by a noble. However, Isaac was aware that only a few would truly find happiness that way.

Frankly speaking, only a few genuinely wanted a child. Others either made a toy out of them to vent their frustrations or used them for nighttime entertainment. He had once heard a story about a wife who had lost her child and dressed the child like a doll to replace them.

However, Isaac felt the man in front of him was different. If he had to say, the latter option was the closest.

This man seemed to have a clear purpose for wanting a child.

When the man rang the bell, the headmaster rushed in.

"I shall take this child."

The headmaster beamed and bowed his head to the man as he placed a bag filled with gold coins on the table.

"Thank you very much, Your Excellency. Now, you must express your gratitude. Isaac."

" Excellency?"

Isaac gave the man, who had not yet given his name, a suspicious look. The man answered calmly.

"Darius Nightray, the Duke of Crockford."

Isaac was flabbergasted at the name of a great noble known by every child in this country.

Isaac, who had been decided to be taken in by the Duke of Crockford, was dressed in a fine outfit and made to ride in the duke\'s carriage. As if he did not want other children to know Isaac was taken in by the Duke of Crockford.

He had no one to say goodbye to in the first place, but he was angry at the adults who took matters into their own hands and proceeded without Isaac\'s will.

The carriage carried only the duke and Isaac. For a nobleman of his stature, there were few escorts, indicating that he wanted to keep Isaac\'s presence a secret.

He wondered what he would be made to do and why he was being taken in. While thinking deeply and observing the duke cautiously, the duke spoke abruptly.

"You seem to comprehend that you have been given some kind of role."

He seemed to be rather impressed that Isaac was not readily overjoyed at being adopted.

" What do you want me to do?"

"To be the stand-in for my grandson."

" Grandson?"

When it came to the Duke of Crockford\'s grandson, the first person to come to mind was Felix Ark Ridill, the second prince born to the duke\'s daughter, Princess Irene.

The second prince was five years old this year, relatively close to Isaac\'s age, who had just turned seven. Moreover, he had heard that the second prince was sickly and currently recuperating at the Duke of Crockford\'s mansion, his grandfather.

" Do you want me to be the body double for His Highness Felix with this face?"

Isaac lifted his hair, which was hiding his right eye. It was said that the vertical scar that ran across his right eye would never disappear. The wound was discolored and raised. It was not something that could be easily concealed with makeup.

However, the Duke of Crockford\'s demeanor seemed to suggest that there would be no problem.

"There is a way to reconstruct your face."

" Reconstruct my face?"

Isaac was a doctor\'s son. That was why he knew that the scar would not disappear easily. He also knew how difficult it was to manipulate a human face. It was impossible to make someone look exactly like someone else with current technology.

However, the Duke of Crockford\'s voice was filled with an eerie sense of confidence.

"Eventually, you will have to give up both your face and your name. Until then, you should become accustomed to taking over as that *thing*, as Felix\'s attendant."

As if it were a matter of course, this man was telling Isaac to discard his face and name.

However, more than that, Isaac felt the disgust when the man referred to his grandson as "that *thing*."

When Isaac arrived at the duke\'s mansion, the first person the duke introduced him to was, as expected, the second prince, Felix.

The young prince, who had just turned five years old, was as adorable as a doll, but he looked up at the Duke of Crockford with a timid and frightened expression on his face.

"W, welcome back, Grandfather "

His grandson, who was fidgeting and intertwining his fingers as he spoke, was met with a cold gaze from the Duke of Crockford.

That was a gaze given to someone who had been assessed and deemed not worthy of expectation. Isaac had seen that gaze countless times during the year he had spent at the orphanage.

He felt a chill when he realized that for the Duke of Crockford, even his grandson, the second prince of the country, was not a person of value.

"From today on, this is Isaac, who will be your attendant."

As he spoke, the duke practically brushed past Felix as if he had outlived his use.

"A, ah, Grandfather, um "

Felix tried to follow his grandfather in a panic. But the duke turned his cold gaze on Felix.

"It is your duty as the master to teach your new attendant the rules of the mansion. Can\'t you even understand that much?"

"I, I\'m sorry um, I mean, excuse my m, manners."

For the first time, the duke\'s expression broke at the young prince\'s clumsy and lisped apology.

However, he did not smile at his grandson but frowned unpleasantly.

"How deplorable. Is that the child of Irene?"

Felix stood still, his shoulders trembling as if he had been hit.

Meanwhile, the Duke of Crockford walked away at a brisk pace.

Felix, who was still only five years old, had tears welling up in his beautiful aqua eyes, but he desperately tried to hold back his sobs.

Isaac\'s mind overlapped the image of the young boy with his younger brother, Colin, who had died young. Colin had been even younger, but this prince was not much different in terms of helplessness.

Isaac took out a handkerchief from his pocket and rolled it into the shape of a rabbit, which he moved in front of Felix.

" Ah, a rabbit."

Isaac raised the corner of his mouth slightly and gave Felix a kiss on his cheek with the handkerchief rabbit. As if wiping away the tears that had welled up.

"Have your tears stopped?"

"A ah "

Felix seemed ashamed that he was about to cry, and he blushed and fidgeted.

Isaac wiped away the tears from his other eye with the handkerchief rabbit.

"Is there anything else you would like me to make? I can quickly make a cat or a flower."

" Can I make it, too?"

Would Colin have been like this if he had been alive?

Ah, that\'s right. I want to teach Colin about all sorts of things.

For the first time since his family had been killed, Isaac found something he wanted to do.

I want to make this young prince laugh.

Isaac gave Felix a genuine smile, unlike the fake ones he had given so far. His aqua eyes sparkled and looked up at him.