“Miss Erin, I was reading the fortunes in constellations.”
“You know how to do that? So you were planning on opening a fortune telling shop once you become too old to be a clown, huh?”
“Huh?”
“I feel sorry that you’re already thinking about your retirement. Don’t worry, I can at least support your living costs.”
“What do you mean, retirement! A true clown not only knows how to read constellation fortunes, but also card, hand, and tea leaf fortunes.”
“I see. So what about the constellation fortunes?”
“Hm, well, you see.”
The clown hesitated for a long time, going back and forth on his own.
“Oh how tragic! Apparently I’ll die in the hands of the crown prince within half a year!”
Aurest, who was now twenty five, had recently been appointed as the crown prince.
To celebrate, I gifted Aurest cologne.
It was because I couldn’t stand the smell of blood whenever I went to hug him.
Just as he had on the western battlefields, Aurest killed many people in the imperial palace as well.
The dead bodies of servants being transported in the back of the palace was an obvious secret within the imperial palace.
I would be lying if I said I’d never cried into my pillow after imagining the clown among those corpses.
But I smiled and pointed at the chessboard.
Checkmate.
“You’ll die by my hands before you can die by my brother’s.”
“No! This can’t be! I played chess for a whole 20 years!”
The seventeen year old me was an amazing chess player who could compete with the clown, and an amazing actress who could fool a person with a single look.
I was quite good at sucking up to others and pleasing them.
Aurest did anything I asked if I hugged him and begged him with a smile.
“Don’t worry, you won’t die. Brother Aurest knows I’m quite fond of you.”
Even if Aurest was in a bad mood and tried to kill the clown, he may change his mind if I console him.
But the clown seemed to think differently.
“Exactly. That’s the issue. Oh my, my own words are also an issue. How can I overcome this situation?”
The clown frowned and looked down at the chessboard.
“When Laius appointed Aurest as the crown prince, most of the actual authority was given to Aurest. At this rate, the emperor of Tantal will change within 10 years.”
A mere clown dared to call the members of the royal family by their names, as if they were a neighbor’s dog or something!
If someone heard, he would definitely be punished. Shocked, I looked around.
It may be an unspoken rule in the nobles’ world to accept everything a clown says, but that was only when the clown was acting like a clown.
“It pains me to talk badly of your father in front of you, but since when did I care for such things?”
The clown waved his hands as if he was saying that everything was alright.
“I’ll be honest with you. Laius is a conqueror who expanded Tantal’s land, but he is also a tyrant who did not look after the people’s livelihood. In the future, historians will record him as a tyrant for sure.”
The clown poked on the king piece on his side.
“But if you compare Laius to Aurest, he is the best ruler there is. Because he at least allows actors and clowns to speak freely. But Aurest. Ah, where should I put this?”
He paused for a moment, and fiddled with the head of the queen piece made of ebony.
“He dislikes getting his authority questioned. No matter how trivial, he is someone that feels the need to crush whatever challenged his authority.”
The clown put down the queen piece and shrugged.
“I watched him at every banquet when he heard my jokes. He laughed for social purposes, but after getting appointed as the crown prince, he didn’t hide his disapproval.”
He even grinned and exaggerated his words.
“He was practically screaming with his eyes. Ah~ How should I kill him~? His threatening aura was seriously no joke.”
The clown’s voice was as lighthearted as ever, but the contents of his words were violent.
“You know how impatient Aurest is, don’t you, Miss Erin? He will probably kill me in the near future. Mockery of the royal family would be a pretty good reason. I’m looking forward to the day when the unspoken rule of not punishing a clown during a banquet is broken.”
I forced my lips open.
“Brother knows I’m fond of you. Would he still dispose of you like that?”
“That’s the problem. Aurest is fond of you, and you are fond of me. Nothing is more agitating than the fact that the person I like likes something I hate. I don’t think Aurest will be understanding about it when even normal people find it hard to bear it.”
The clown moved his queen and captured my pawn.
“Which is why Aurest Tantal will kill me in front of you, Miss Erin. It’s a warning. He may just beat me up or kick me out, but looking at all the maids and servants have been killed so far, don’t you think I will also end up dead?”
Honestly, Aurest was someone who would definitely do something like that.
“Leave the palace. I’ll give you lots of money. I have enough for that.”
“Becoming an imperial court clown is a great honor.”
“Then just make safe jokes.”
“It is the right of a clown to be impudent towards nobles and royalty. I’m going to enjoy the rights I have.”
“Are you saying you’ll die for your honor and rights?”
“Just like nobles value certain honors and rights more than their lives, a clown has certain honors and rights that they value more than their lives.”
The clown smiled faintly.
“And who will you hang out with if I leave the palace? The one who made a lowly imperial court clown their friend because they had no one to play with is you, princess! You made a clown your chess teacher because no one was there to teach you, too!”
He rubbed salt in my wounds with a smile on his face.
“It’s fine, I have a lot of friends now!”
“The friends the prince introduced to you? They are friends that simply want you to sit still and be pretty.”
“You sure are impudent.”
“You like because I’m impudent- ahh ouch it hurts! Please don’t pinch me!”
The clown became teary and rubbed his arm. I bit my lips as I grabbed my pawn.
“You’re right. I have no power, and my only real friend is a clown. If you died, I’d be losing my only friend.”
My pawn reached the other side of the chessboard.
“Promotion! Congratulations!”
The clown clapped loudly.
I switched my pawn with my queen.
My ivory-made queen was standing on the clown’s side of the board.
“So tell me your name.”
I raised my gaze.
The clown was smiling brightly with his white-painted face.
“Are you already thinking of what to put on my tombstone? How kind. I appreciate the thought, but a true clown is simply written as “clown” even on his tombstone.”
“Nonsense. You know what I’m talking about.”
“I’m an idiot, so I have no idea~”
“I’ll fight with Aurest.”
I wanted the clown to live for a long time with his honor and rights intact.
And I wanted to like him without feeling nervous.
“You’re going to fight with the prince just for the life of a measly clown?”
“It’s not for a measly clown, it’s for my friend, who has honor and rights.”
“Thank you for being so considerate of me. But I want you to think carefully about this. Your life could be in danger if you dived into this to save the life of a clown.”
The clown spoke bitterly.
“The only reason you’re still alive is because you aren’t a threat for Aurest. If Aurest begins to think that you may be a threat, he’ll try to get rid of you completely.”
“So you’re telling me to just sit and watch whether you die or not?”
“Yes.”
“Idiot, fool, moron.”
“I know.”
“You liar.”
“I can’t agree with that.”
“No, you’re a liar.”
I gathered the scattered chess pieces and put them inside the case.
“If you really wanted me to stay put, you wouldn’t even have brought up your interpretation about Aurest killing you.”
“Hm.”
“You would’ve just kept your mouth shut and died when the time came.”
“Ah~ That’s true.”
The clown spoke cunningly.
“Clown, don’t try to test me. You wish for me to fight against Aurest as well.”
I smiled faintly.
“And thankfully, I can fight against him if it’s for you.”
“Even if it means you’ll be in danger?”
“Yup.”
“Titles like ‘idiot, fool, and moron’ should be saved for you instead.”
The clown scolded me, but seemed to be in a good mood.
“Miss Erin will definitely be a good emperor.”
“Is there even a chance that I’ll win?”
It was suicidal for me to fight against Aurest when I had no power or friends and he was already the crown prince.
But even so, I said I would fight because I trusted the clown.
I didn’t think he’d want me to fight with Aurest without having a plan.
I assumed the clown had something up his sleeve.
And even the clown himself was an outstanding individual.
If he didn’t become a clown, he would’ve become a scholar or a government official.
Perhaps he may have become an amazing secretary serving either Laius or Aurest.
Why did he choose to be a clown, of all things?
He told me that I’d know once I’d grown up more, but I still could not understand why he had become a clown.
“Of course. But I need some time to prepare as well.”
The clown smiled.
“So in one week, when Miss Erin’s birthday banquet is over, I will give you my birthday gift for you along with my name. I hope you’ll like my gift. You must tell me what you think of it once you open it, alright?”
The clown ended up not knowing whether I liked his gift or not.
Because he died at the hands of Aurest on the day of my birthday banquet.
The reason was mockery of the royal family.