Chapter 8: Teach me!

It was all well and good to claim that the dungeon was a clinic, but only for the short term. For, the young fifth prince came with a small party. Demanding his teeth be checked.

The prince had the reputation of liking to play around. Leading people on, but never settling with anyone. When he saw Chavu, he could think only about one thing.

I want that Naga.

It was something he had never thought about anyone else. Elven princes and princesses came and went through the palace, and prince Alaric paid them no mind.

Human nobles would bat their eyelashes at him, and the prince would return their looks with a teasing smile, and nothing more. He even flirted with an ogre chieftain, once.

Just for the kicks.

But this Naga was different. A con artist after his own heart. For, how could a dungeon core pass off a dungeon, which looked and felt like a dungeon and even had a moat, for a clinic, if the dungeon core was not a con artist?

In Alaric's mind, with someone like this, he could do the impossible! Get out of the line of succession before his father decided to make good on his threat and make all of his children fight for the crown.

 In an honor duel, battle royale style.

The Naga was a man, Alaric's father would have kittens at the thought that his son was with another man. More than that, he would disown him.

Alaric didn't want the throne. His father was a record holder of the title and position of a king in their family. For the entire five years, king Stephan had been wearing his crown.

The previous holder was old uncle Arnold, who had held it for three years and died after the civil war had ended. The truth was, that no one wanted to really rule over the country.

 The people didn't give Alaric's family much of a choice.

There was no other royal line that put up with things like worker unions, mob unions, and what-have-you, that gave stability and insurances to the common folk.

Still, that was never enough. Every couple of years, there would be a civil war. The current ruler would die, so would his heirs. King Stephan wanted to step down while he still had his head firmly planted on his shoulders.

Yet, the crowd demanded blood of him. He was going to give them blood, yes, had said so himself.

 His children's…

Alaric thought his father a scumbag for practically selling them out but couldn't argue with the logic that a battle royale between princes and princesses would tickle the pride of the common people and the nobles. Enough so that the king could step down without a war.

The Naga could be Alaric's way out. His ticked to many calm years of enjoying the benefits of being a prince, without having a headsman's axe hanging over his head.

With sure steps, Alaric approached the Naga, and promptly pulled out a box with a ring from his pocket. The Naga blinked his hazel eyes at him and looked from Alaric to the box.

"Are you here for a checkup?" Chavu asked. The box looked like a ring's. Chavu looked between the prince and the box again.

The prince knelt in the grass and opened the box. People gasped at that. This was the farthest Alaric had ever led anyone on until now!

"Naga, will you marry me?" Alaric asked with a disarming smile. He had been told that his smile was like a shining star. That his dimples were adorable, and his cheeks nice and rosy. He had found all that annoying, at the time the noble had told it to him.

But the man had been drunk, therefore, honest.

"No. Now, I ask again, are you here for a checkup?" Chavu deadpanned.

He, too, knew that the prince played around with people's feelings. He might have lived in a dungeon, but the adventurers liked to leave their junk behind. That included their gossip rags.

"What do you mean, no?" The prince stammered. He had never been told no, before.

"You are good-looking, but you are too prideful by far. Now, tell me the real reason for this visit, or I will go speak with these adventurers over there," Chavu pointed at the adventurers who were watching the two with interest. "And have you thrown out into the forest."

The adventurers waved, and Alaric's respect for the Naga grew.

"You talked your natural enemy into protecting you?" Alaric whispered.

"They are reasonable, I pay them in garnets," Chavu informed the prince.

Alaric stood. He pocketed the box with the ring and bowed low to the Naga.

"Teach me how to become a con artist!" Alaric pleaded. Chavu huffed. He had been called many things, but never that.

"I am not a con artist," Chavu defended himself. Alaric's eyebrows rose.

"You conned the adventurers into protecting you," the prince argued.

"I talked them into protecting the clinic. Your father's letter, with the certificate I paid for, should be coming in any day now. Don't cause me grief," Chavu turned to leave, but Alaric grabbed his arm.

"I need help, or I will die," Alaric told the Naga. "I apologize for trying to bribe you into helping with a marriage proposal. Everything else that I own doesn't really belong to me."

Chavu's eyes softened.

"Is the battle royale close?" The Naga had read about the rumors. He knew what they meant.

"It might happen in about a month. All of my siblings want the crown. Only I can see we won't last on the throne for more than a month. The people want blood. I just know it," at these words, Chavu nodded.

"The way I see it, you have to become powerful enough, so your father doesn't summon you to the battle royale. Come inside the dungeon. We can talk in the core room," Chavu entered the dungeon, the prince following him inside.

The frogs stared at him ominously, yet the inside of the dungeon was bare of traps. It had herbs lining the walls, instead.

A better con artist, Alaric couldn't have hoped to find.