In the Doghouse - Chapter 76
Anton was in a very difficult position. Seated at his desk, pretending to work, he kept sneaking glances at the state of the Crown Prince.
From a young age, Anton had always been called a prodigy. He entered the palace at the young age of fifteen and had since been serving the Crown Prince for the past ten years. In that time, he endured all sorts of hardships thanks to the future monarch’s fiery temperament and unchecked aggression.
But this level of madness was something new. While the prince had never been ‘normal’, it now seemed as if he’d completely lost his mind.
With an anxious shake of his leg, Richard crushed yet another pen in his hand with a loud snap. Anton felt a phantom pain shoot up his spine and immediately straightened his posture.
“Haah.”
Richard tossed the broken pen onto the floor in frustration. Anton quietly retrieved a new one and handed it to him. His mind might have been filled with insolence towards the imperial crown prince, but his outward demeanor was perfectly respectful. He wasn’t about to draw attention to himself and get reprimanded for no reason.
Richard snatched the pen from his loyal aide’s hand and buried his face back into the paperwork. But it didn’t last long. At this point, he felt like he could kill someone just to blow off some steam.
“Why the hell isn’t Courtney back yet?”
“It’s been less than two hours since Her Highness left…”
Richard’s eyes immediately narrowed at Anton’s tactless response. Was this what it felt like to be a loyal subject facing execution? A cold sweat trickled down the back of the aide’s neck.
There was once a time when Anton would have insisted on correcting anything he thought was wrong, regardless of who the other person was. Back when he was young and foolish, unafraid of risking his life.
But those days were long gone. He had learned, not with his life but through painful experiences, that you don’t challenge a future tyrant.
Lowering his gaze in submission, Anton stepped back.
“Her Highness will be back soon, I’m sure… haha.”
He threw in some empty flattery for good measure. That seemed to be what Richard wanted to hear because, surprisingly, no curses were hurled his way. Anton quickly retreated to his desk.
Anton’s journey to becoming the Crown Prince’s personal slave was a rather tragic one. The current emperor had dreamed of an early abdication from the time Richard was just an infant. Known for his deep love for his late empress, the emperor constantly expressed his desire to step down and spend his days tending to her grave. In preparation for this, he had appointed the young, brilliant Anton as the personal aide to the even younger Crown Prince.
From that day forward, Anton discovered that while Richard was clever enough to meet the emperor’s high expectations, he was also deeply twisted in his own way. His temper was always at a boiling point, and every time the emperor gave him responsibilities, a storm would sweep through the palace.
“Hey. Just do it yourself.”
“Excuse me?”
“Read it and stamp the seal wherever it fits.”
“That’s absolutely unacceptable!”
Richard showed no interest in state affairs or power. As a result, Anton worked overtime almost every day, begging the prince to at least look over the documents he was supposed to approve—for ten long years.
The only saving grace was that Richard’s angelic looks and his brainwashing-like education helped maintain a decent public image. Of course, there were occasional scandals, but Anton quietly wondered whether the Crown Prince might one day flee to another country.
When Richard turned eighteen, the emperor, eager to finally step down, pushed forward with the plan for abdication. At the time, the Crown Prince had responded,
“Maybe I should just burn this place to the ground.”
“Excuse me, what?”
“Don’t bother coming to the palace tomorrow unless you want to burn with it.”
If only it had stayed as a joke. The fallout from that particular crisis was a memory Anton preferred not to revisit. It wasn’t until recently that the long-standing father-son conflict had come to an end.
“I’m getting married.”
Richard was a Crown Prince who had never so much as danced with a woman at a ball, let alone engaged in romance. The news came out of nowhere. Anton knew that the emperor would likely throw the crown his way the moment the wedding was complete, so why was Richard suddenly pushing for an imperial marriage?
“To the daughter of the Devon family.”
“Who… Devon?”
“Courtney Devon, the eldest daughter of Count Devon.”
Not only did Richard choose his bride, but he actively pushed for the marriage. He even accepted all the conditions set by the emperor without complaint, including taking on some of the responsibilities of state affairs.
Even Anton, who had been by Richard’s side for so long, couldn’t figure out when or how the Crown Prince had selected his bride. Perhaps it had happened at one of the social events Richard had started attending more frequently. But given his temperament, a marriage of love was hard to believe.
What was even more surprising was that the Crown Princess turned out to be far stronger and more responsible than anyone had expected. And since the marriage, Richard had become far more diligent than anyone could have imagined, all in an effort to impress his wife. Apparently, the emperor’s tendency for being a devoted husband had been passed down.
“Ugh, shxt, this is impossible.”
Of course, the Crown Prince only seemed to mind his language in front of the Crown Princess.
Richard, frustrated beyond belief, crumpled the minutes of the previous meeting. He saw the monthly council meetings with the high-ranking nobles as nothing more than a lecture series from cranky old men.
With a despairing sigh, he slumped over his desk. Let someone else deal with the throne—he just wanted to be Courtney’s loyal dog, chained to her bedroom for the rest of his life. But alas, everything that was his also belonged to her, so he couldn’t abandon his duties.
