Chapter 17: Knowing the Truth (Francis POV)

I turned sixteen this year, so I started to attend the successor class. At first, I thought the successor class would be difficult, but once it started there was nothing that was too hard. Maybe that was because I had studied hard before.

In the successor class, I had a tutor for every single subject and they were chosen from the palace's academy. I could tell that they were no different from my previous tutor; they were being told to not teach me well.

In class I started to show my true ability that I hid all the time. I only hid my swordsmanship skill until then. My tutor was shocked because he didn't expect me to be that good in class. Not only my tutor, everyone in the palace was also shocked, even Rosaline. She had never beaten me anymore.

Due to my achievement in class, the emperor started to have an interest in me. He ordered me to renovate my palace and add a new library too. Everyone in my palace didn't dare to look down on me anymore, even though I knew they were still spying on me.

At this rate, I could beat Roosevelt and be the crown prince. When that time came, I avenged my mother and nany. I would reveal the truth of how dirty Rosaline and her family were.

That was still a long time dream, but I would make sure to achieve that. I would study hard, and gain more power and support for me to raise the throne.

The fact that I became stronger was related to Olivia. She really helped me a lot. I got seventy for the last annual evaluation thanks to her. And even this year, even though she couldn't attend my successor class, she still came to the palace and helped me to learn. That was also the reason why I could survive the successor class and impress my tutor.

Sometimes, I felt a little uneasy toward her. Some bad rumors spread because she was still my study partner when I started to be a real threat to Roosevelt. Not only that, she had engaged to Rowan. But, she didn't mind the rumors and stayed.

Maybe that was the reason why I started to try to trust her. She had seen me poisoned, she also knew how I trained my swordsmanship. She was also the only one who knew my swordsmanship skills beside Noah. She even knew my secret garden where I used to practice with Noah. Maybe I would know her reason to be friends with me. If she had a good intention that it was a good thing to have an aly from the enemy's family.

That day, I was practicing with Noah at my secret garden. We were sparing with a real sword in our hands. "Are you ready?" I asked.

Noah nodded then, 'Clank' I swung my sword toward Noah, but he blocked it smoothly. 'Clink clank, we swung our swords toward each other and at the same time, blocked each other's sword.

We fought for quite a long time, without any sign that this spar would stop. Until at one moment, I didn't notice Noah's sword would come from my left direction. 'Clank… hwik…' MY sword fell and Noah put his sword beside my neck.

"Hosh… hosh.. I win… your highness." He said as he caught his breath.

"Yeah… you won." I sat on the ground. "Take a seat, Noah." I tap the spot beside me.

"Noah, you know, everything feels like a dream to me." I started a conversation with him. "I never thought that everything would be relatively smooth after what I passed through."

"Your… your highness." Noah was stunned. He looked at me with sad eyes. "How can you say it was smooth when you have gone through several things?"

I was silent for a moment. "I'm not sure. I am not even sure why I started to trust Olivia. Maybe I've started to get used to this kind of life?"

Another thing that I just realized around that time was Charlize, maybe poisoning me for a good reason. I noticed it because by time, my body started to become immune to poison. But I would prefer it if she told me that directly. Or, was there a reason why she hid it?

It was an hour and half before dinner time, so I and Noah decided to go back to the palace. Olivia's hard work would be in vain if someone noticed that I was practicing secretly. Rosaline's people were still watching me, after all, waiting for me to make a mistake so they could eliminate me.

When Noah and I had gone far away from the garden area, a girl approached us. "Greetings, your highness. I am Lydia Whitley, the eldest daughter of the Whitley family." She bowed.

Whitley family? So she is Olivia's older sister. "Greetings, Lady Whitley. What brings you here?" I asked. Tobe honest, I was really confused. There was no reason for her to come here to begin with.

"I have something to tell you, your highness." She took out a fabric; to be precise, that was a big robe with a hood and another fabric. "Do you recognize these things?" She asked me.

I took the robe and fabric from her hand and had a look. No way, that robe and fabric was definitely Charlize's. How could those things be in Lydia's hand? Did Charlize get caught?

"No, I don't know. Why do you ask me?" I pretended, trying to know what she wanted by doing this.

"Your highness, if you want to hide something, don't you have to hide your expression too?" I froze on the spot. "Well, I suppose that you actually know who is the owner of these." She stopped, and took a step closer to me. "I just want to ask you that, do you know that my sister, Olivia Whitley is the person who you used to meet secretly?"

Shocked, I took one step back away. "What do you mean?" I had a suspicion that Olivia and Charlize were the same person, but I never expected that it was the reality.

"Isn't my words before clear enough, your highness? What I want to tell you is, there is a possibility that the person who you used to meet secretly is my sister." She took a step back and bowed to me. "That's all what I have to say, your highness. I will take my leave."

I still couldn't believe what I just heard. "Noah, can you believe that? AmI hearing it right?"

Noah was as shocked as me. All of his body and face were stiffened and his grip on his sword tightened. "No, your highness. I heard the same thing as you." That was his answer.

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Hi, everyone, here is the new chapter. I hope you like it.

Thank you so much for all of your suport. Please vote and add this book to your library. Thank you and see you!!!

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