The Prince's Scheme

Leonard Soleiverner was the firstborn son of King Regnault Soleiverner and Queen Majorey Soleiverner. He was born before King Regnault ascended the throne. He should have been the crown prince when he came of age. But King Regnault kept delaying to grant him the title of crown prince.

King Regnault fell in love with a daughter of a count when he was young. But he could not make her his first wife because of her low status. He could only make her a concubine when he could control the court after becoming the King. Among his children, he only loved the second prince, the son of that concubine. In the royal palace, there were rumours that he wanted to grant the title of crown prince to that prince.

Those rumours put the first prince on his edge. He realized his very life could be in danger. He resented his father, the King. But instead of living as a non-existent prince to avoid danger, he decided to build up his own power and go against his royal father's intention.

Although he wanted to have power, it was hard for him to do anything in the palace. Then one day, the King offhandedly made him the chief commander of the army for the war against the neighbouring country. In the eyes of the commoners, it might seem like the King gave him a test. But the ministers knew that the King had abandoned the first prince.

The original candidate of chief commander, Duke Mustero, was put into the position of second-in-command, and the first prince was put in the spotlight. If the war was won, Duke of Mustero would get the praises for guiding the inexperienced prince. If the war lost, people would blame the prince for his incompetent leadership.

Since there was nothing he could do to reverse the situation, the first prince could only persuade Duke Mustero to support him. But the duke did not give him a clear answer and that made him anxious. When they won the war and returned, he decided to visit Musteronis, the duke's home, to achieve his goal.

During his stay in the Mustero courtyard, the prince heard interesting news from a young noble he met in the frontline. That young noble was from Musteronis. He swore his loyalty to the prince before he was injured and returned home earlier than the main troops.

"Your Highness, please look at this healing potion." The nobleman said as he passed a tube to the prince respectfully. "A merchant woman gifted some of these tubes to me when I returned from the frontlines. I thought they were just some inferior potions made in a rush but their effect amazed me when I tried them. Even though this potion is just low-tier, its effect is nearly as good as mid-tier healing potion!"

"It's a good if what you said is true." The prince said after sniffing the potion. "I heard there was a shortage of healing potion. Where did these potion tubes come from?"

"As you said, Your Highness, there was a shortage of healing potion in this city as well. That merchant said that they were stored by a nobleman for a long time until he decided to sell them recently. I did not believe her so I sent this potion to a potion maker my father has an acquaintance with and asked him to appraise it. He said the potion was made not long ago and was still fresh. But the potion tubes don't have the mark of the maker so he did not know who made them."

"Hmm that means…"

"Yes, Your Highness, there must be an unknown potion maker in this city or in the vicinity! If you can get him to your side…"

"Indeed! It'd be great to have a potion maker. Have you investigated his whereabout?"

"My apologies, Your Highness. I've been urging the merchant woman to reveal her source but she stubbornly rejected to tell me every time. But please do not worry. I'll make sure to make her reveal her secrets soon."

"Hmm, I don't plan to stay here long. I'll meet her myself to make things faster. I don't have any interesting matter to do anyway."

-----

Forrestt was annoyed when a noble that kept asking her about the potion she sold, invited her to a dinner. But she gasped deeply as soon as she saw the person near the noble that invited her. She knew him since she saw him a few days ago.

"Forrestt Orville greets Your Highness!" She said after kneeling down on a knee. "It is a great honour to meet you!"

"You may raise. Forrestt Orville, I heard you are a very capable merchant."

"I'm not worthy of your praise, Your Highness. I wonder why do you want to see this lowly merchant?"

"Emm, I'll get to the point. I want to know where did you get these potions from."

The prince sat down on a chair and brought out a tube of healing potion. Forrestt was startled when she saw the tube. She looked at the young noble beside the prince and cussed both that noble and Laurent inwardly for bringing big troubles to her.

"I was only told that these potions were from the treasury of a noble family." Forrestt said carefully. "And I don't know which family it was."

"I see." The prince said as he rubbed his chin. "Then, someone must have brought the tubes of potion for that family. Tell me who was it."

"Pardon my rudeness, Your Highness." Cold sweat ran down Forrestt's back although she replied the prince in a compose manner. "We, merchants, are people that have to work with trust. I promised the seller to not disclose his identity. Even if it is Your Highness asking, I cannot break my promise and reveal his name!"

"How dare you!!" The young noble that was silently standing beside the prince the whole time roared.

"Calm down." The prince reminded him and looked at Forrestt again, calmly. "What you said is true. It must be hard for you to break your promise. How about this? I'll grant a small request of yours if you tell me just the name of that seller you mentioned!"