Crown Prince

"Because I love her. That's why."

These words echoed inside Hannah's head. However, her gaze didn't waver. She stared at Alex for a full minute before turning her back. Abbie watched Hannah leave the garden with a frown on her face. For some reason, she felt that this episode with the spoiled girl was not yet over.

Alex carefully observed his Master's face. He knew that Abbie was no longer in the mood for a sightseeing trip, so he decided to escort her back to the hotel. The only saving grace was that, this time around, Abbie took the initiative to hold his hand.

-----

"Look like things are heating up over there," a blonde beauty chuckled as she put down the binoculars in her hand. "Everything is proceeding according to plan."

"Are you sure this is going to work, Alice?" Aiden asked his Master, who was clearly enjoying the show. "It might bring the two of them unexpected trouble."

"What kind of trouble?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe hiring someone to investigate Alex's background."

"Well, they can try," Alice snorted. "Exodia has already handled Alex's background story."

The elf sighed as he looked at his Master's smug face. "That is the problem. Why did you make Alex part of a royal family that currently exists in this world? Won't that bring unnecessary trouble?"

"There will be no problem. After all, that "royal family" is not the real royal family."

"Eh, they're not?"

"Of course not," Alice answered matter-of-factly. "After all, we are the members of the true royal family."

"Pffft!" Aiden spat out the tea he was drinking. "You're of royal blood?"

The elf carefully observed his Master. He already knew that Alice's background was not ordinary since her father was one of the heads of Exodia. Trying to wrap his mind around the fact that his carefree (and lazy) Master was of royal blood, the elf could feel his mind refusing to accept it.

"If your family are really the true royals then how come other people are sitting on your family's throne?" Aiden asked. He was very curious why her family decided to step down and have others take their place.

Alice lazily laid on the couch and stretched her beautiful long legs. "My great, great, great, great, great, great, grandfather thought that it was a hassle to rule a kingdom. So he decided to put some puppet rulers on the throne and hid in the shadows."

"That was a lot of work. We even changed the surname of the royal family. It took at least two hundred years before the people forgot who their former monarchs were." Alice casually lifted the glass of fruit juice from the table and took a sip before she continued her explanation.

"Basically, we are the true royal lineage and the current rulers were just our figureheads. They do all the work, while we just sit back, relax, and live our lives to the fullest. Ah, all the taxpayers' money goes into our bank account as well, so you don't have to feel sorry for us. Hohohoho!"

Aiden covered his face with both of his hands. To think that the father and daughter pair (Arthur and Alice) were just leeching off the taxpayers' money of a certain country made him feel pity for the hardworking figurehead.

"Are you perhaps feeling sorry for the puppet royalty?" Alice asked. "Don't worry. They are more than happy to handle all the troublesome stuff for us. After all, their forefather was just a beggar on the streets."

The elf massaged his face with his hands to regain his composure.

"Ok, let me get this straight. You made Alex a part of the current royal lineage."

"Yes."

"So, what is his position right now?"

Alice gave Aiden a sidelong glance and smiled. "The Crown Prince."

"I see the crown prin-what?!" Aiden almost jumped out of his seat because of Alice's casual comment.

"Which country are we talking about?"

"X-Country."

The blonde beauty was confident when she devised her plan. She had already informed her father and the current king of the country about the specifics.

Her father, Arthur, laughed at his daughter's boldness. The current king however, felt his teeth ache when he heard her order. He had no choice but to make some "edits" into the family register and add a certain "Alex Von Ainsworth" as the Crown Prince.

Aiden took out his cellphone and immediately used "Doodle" to search for the family tree of X-Country. Alice had gifted him one because he was very curious about the technology of this world. It didn't take long for the elf to familiarize himself with the phone's functions.

He even decided to create his own account on one of the many social media platforms available. Right now, the handsome elf had over twenty million followers and the numbers were still climbing at a very fast rate.

Aiden browsed Country-X's family tree and almost dropped his phone when he saw the adult Alex's picture on the family tree. What caught his attention were the bold text letters under Alex's name that read "Crown Prince of X-Country."

Right beside his picture was the "former" crown prince and only the word Prince was written under the poor guy's name. Aiden gave the pitiful guy a silent prayer in his heart. He was pushed aside because of his Master's selfish whims.

Aiden was about to brush off the topic when he suddenly remembered one important thing.

"Alice, you made a mistake," Aiden said in a serious voice. "Alex's surname is Ainsworth. The current ruler's surname is different. Also, they don't look alike. Your scheme was flawed from the beginning. No one is going to buy it."

"Hehehe, you think so?" Alice chuckled. She casually tapped her I-foam and sent a link to Aiden's phone.

It was an official announcement from the current ruling family. The announcement said that the current King had decided to introduce the "son" he had hidden away from the public as the Crown Prince of the country.

He explained that there had been asassination attempts on Alex's life when he was younger, so he decided to change his surname to Ainsworth. Out of respect for the name given to him, Alex decided to keep his surname. Alex's picture was presented on the announcement and Aiden's lips were twitching when he saw it.

'Isn't this the selfie pic that Alice made him take after he drank the growth potion?' Aiden felt a dull pain in his head as he tried to read the rest of the announcement.

The announcement was only a few hours old, but there were already over a million comments. Aiden was very curious about what the netizens thought about their new Crown Prince that popped out of nowhere.

"Kyaaah! What a hunk! Crown Prince please marry me!"

"That is the new Crown Prince? Oh, my God! He really looks like a prince!"

"He's so dreamy!"

"I want to bed him!"

"+1 to the commenter above."

"+2 to the commenter above."

"Hah-Hah, that smile of his made me pregnant."

Aiden wanted to roll his eyes at the thirsty girl comments under the announcement. He continued to scroll through the comment section until he found a comment that stood out from the rest.

"Did you notice? The crown prince doesn't look like his father."

"Um? You're right. He didn't look like his father."

"Now that you mention it…"

"Don't tell me…"

"Damn! The king must be an adopted son! How dare he usurp the throne of MY ALEX!"

"Bring down the usurper!"

"Drag him down!"

"Kill! Kill!

"Anyone who stands in the way of my Alex from being the legitimate King will die by my hands!"

"Viva Revolution!"

"VIVA!"

"Everyone let's all go to the palace and drag that adopted fake King from his throne! Only our Alex is worthy to become our King!"

"Yes! That's right!"

"Your Highness, give me your baby!"

Aiden forcefully averted his gaze from the comments that were getting out of hand. Although the current King was fake, to call him an adopted son, was still too much. He couldn't believe an announcement, that was only a few hours old, could spiral into a national emergency.