I Became the Second-in-Command in a Romance Fantasy Novel

At first, when I met the 5th prince, I had only one thought.
“Oh, it’s Ellen.”

Thank goodness.
As specialists in handling royalty, we have to serve one royalty as our master for the rest of our lives unless we get cut off.
Since this is a kingdom known as the land of knights, it is said that royalty learn chivalry from a young age, but there was no guarantee that there wouldn’t be someone like Princess Hestia.
However, the 5th prince in charge of me seemed timid even at first glance.
Even though he was royalty, he had difficulty making eye contact with me.
Of course, being too timid as royalty is also a problem.
But it’s better than having a dirty personality.
After all, that timidity can be resolved by filling my confidence with my fantastic defeat.

That’s the reason for my existence, and the reason the kingdom nurtures experts like me.
To that end, the most important thing is that I have to be a little stronger than the 5th prince, or at least as strong as them.
I can’t just lose. Who would win until the very last moment?
I had to create a picture where they barely won after a really fierce battle.

Before the 5th princes fell asleep on their beds, they would think back to the battle that day and make their hearts race.
I had to act as a pacemaker to make them not be complacent and keep trying!
“Emergency! Super emergency!”

That’s why I dragged the captain to a meeting the moment Princess Hestia lost.
“Wow, it must have been a coincidence.”
The captain’s eyes shook wildly.
It was none other than Princess Hestia.
A swordsman whose name was becoming known not only in her own country but also in other countries, and a person whose obsession with swords was more famous than her skills.
A person who possessed both talent and effort, two things that are difficult to have at the same time, was Princess Hestia.

That princess lost.
Although ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) it was only once, she became a bit more aggressive after the duel with me!
Still, a defeat was a defeat!
Even.
“There was nothing wrong with the process of winning!”
“Ugh…”
Our 5th prince’s skills were real.
If he were to fight Princess Hestia 10 times, he would lose 9 times.

He had gotten to the point where he could win once if he did well.
This was a huge deal.
Even though it was only once, 0 and 1 are completely different realms.
From never being able to win, now it’s become that if he does well, he can win once.

All we had to do was change that from once to twice. From twice to three times.
My goal was to make that possible, and that’s why this victory could be seen as a good thing.
“In fact, it’s clear that you’ve been secretly learning swordsmanship for a long time.”
“……”
“Please tell me that!”
The captain averted his gaze at my earnest cry.

At that, I despaired.
“No, the prince has only been learning swordsmanship for a year?!”
It’s been a year since I learned the sword.

Our goal was the victory in three years, not today.
“Is the prince a genius?”
The captain answers, avoiding eye contact.

A genius.
Well, our royal family has been full of sword geniuses for generations, so that’s understandable.
“Isn’t Princess Hestia a genius?”
The problem is that her opponent, Princess Hestia, is also a genius recognized by everyone.

“She’s a genius that surpasses genius.”
“Aha!”
A genius that surpasses genius.
That’s why I was able to defeat Princess Hestia, a genius, in just one year!

“I resign.”
I quickly grasped the situation and handed over my resignation letter that I had kept hidden deep in my heart.
I regretted being the prince’s educator, but the fifth prince seemed too big for me to deal with.

Well, I’m eleven years old. Since he is still at an age where his future is bright, he will live well even if he is not an instructor.
“No way!”
As soon as he received my resignation letter, the captain tore it to pieces.
It was truly absurd, but it was also expected.
If everyone had resigned just because they submitted their resignation letters, Senior Lucia, who was in charge of Princess Hestia, would have escaped long ago and been enjoying her happy daily life.

“Chief.”
“Why?”
I learn by watching the back of my senior.
That is the proper attitude of a junior.
“There is more.”

Who am I? A prepared man, Adam Smith.
He was a man who saw Senior Lucia’s back as she stamped her resignation letter once a week, and carried three copies of her resignation letter with him.
“This punk?”
The resignation letter he had snatched away was torn apart again.
Should I make it out of steel instead of paper next time? Anyway, if it falls into the hands of the Sword Master, there won’t be much difference between paper and steel, but it will be an expression of intent.

“There’s more.”
“……”
The captain looked at the resignation letter that had been revived again with a dumbfounded expression, but I also had a lot to say.
“I don’t think I’m qualified to handle the prince’s abilities.”

As an instructor who had trained for quite some time, I would barely win two out of ten times if I fought Princess Hestia.
This is also because I hadn’t used my sword skills since the first duel.
Still, my blood, sweat, and tears had filled my path to get here.

But I was caught up.
I wasn’t overtaken, and I was still far behind.
In just one year, the Fifth Prince had caught up to where I could see his back.
“There are people who are quick at the beginning.”
“That’s true.”
In the long marathon called life, there are often people who are quick at the beginning.

Among them, there are quite a few who fall behind because they lack stamina.
But you can tell when you see them.
No, you can’t help but know.

“But he’s not the prince, right?”
I know as someone who has directly faced swords.
This kid is on a different level.
On the first day, he was awkward even at holding a sword, but the next day, he was swinging it comfortably.

After a month, he showed the force that made it seem like he had been learning swords for a year.
After half a year, he started to get nervous.
“Our prince is fast in the beginning, fast in the middle, and fast in the end.”
Compared to him, I’m really fast in the beginning.
If you ask me if I have no talent for swordsmanship, that’s definitely not the case, but it’s more that I didn’t waste my childhood as a child thanks to my mental age.
I ran hard when others were standing still, let alone crawling.

“Unfortunately, I think this is as far as my abilities go.”
Unfortunately, this was the limit of my talent.
I was able to confidently submit my resignation without any regrets.

Watching the polite resignation proposal, the leader, Carix, thought.
‘That’s right.’
Carix had achieved the sword master, the dream of the inspector.

In his eyes, the fifth prince, Ellen, had talent that was beyond genius and was enough to be called a monster.
In comparison, Adam’s talent with the sword was a bit lacking to be called a genius.
However, he could only be compared to those who were called geniuses due to his personality and effort that were not appropriate for his age.

That’s why he could make a promise.
‘For Ellen, there is only Adam.’
There are many children who learn swordsmanship in the kingdom of knights.
That’s why there were many who realized their talents from a young age and were called geniuses.
However, genius is ultimately relative. If Ellen continues to grow like she is now, or if she grows at half the current speed, even the most famous geniuses in the kingdom will all become ordinary people.

‘The higher you fall, the more it hurts.’
In the future, countless geniuses in the kingdom will be frustrated by Ellen’s talent.
Of course, some of them will stand up and move forward, but it will take quite some time.
However, Adam was different.
‘He is not frustrated by his own abilities.’

It is a conclusion he reached because he was simply unable to fulfill his role rationally.
Literally, he simply judged that his talent was no match for the prince.
He saw and felt that brilliant talent right next to him, but he did not give in.
If you ask if that is a good attitude for a knight, absolutely not.
The fact that he did not give in means that he did not have pride or a sense of superiority as a swordsman in the first place.
‘But.’
In our kingdom, no, in this era, is there anyone with talent similar to Prince Ellen?

‘It’s not easy.’
Even if such a genius exists, he wouldn’t want to become the prince’s sandbag and dream of becoming famous on his own.
‘You can’t miss it!’

The important thing is a sandbag that doesn’t break, no, a mentality that doesn’t break even with that overwhelming talent!
And Adam showed that even at the moment he submitted his resignation.
That’s why.

“Double the basic salary.”
“……”
Carix put away his resignation letter and took out the contract.

“Are you trying to buy me with money?”
“Three times.”
“…It’s not like talent will suddenly appear.”
“Provide top-class elixir.”
“Ahem. No matter what, it’s still like that.”

“Support for the best faculty just for you.”
“No matter what, talent…”
“If you can match the prince’s level, you’ll receive a separate performance bonus.”
“……”

Adam’s eyes started rolling.
He seemed to be pondering whether it was worth challenging at this point.
‘Is the Smiths really that poor?’

According to the royal investigation, compared to the famous counts, they are weak.
But a count is still a count.
The first gateway to high-ranking nobles and one of only 48 families in the kingdom. Unless he commits a serious crime, he will not go broke even if he spends at least three generations living off of his money.
‘Why?’

It is questionable how he was born into such a wealthy family and yet he is so obsessed with money.
Still, the easiest person to deal with was someone who could be solved with money.
“Even if you fail the mission, I won’t take it back.”

If it didn’t work out even with this much support, it was impossible.
Carix knew that Adam was a guy who would work as much as he was paid, even if it meant lack of effort.
“Just stay by His Majesty’s side. Just keep His Majesty from becoming lazy.”

Fifth Prince Ellen may not be that kind of person, but you never know what happens when people do things.
It wasn’t like he would lose interest in swordsmanship or go down the wrong path due to his overwhelming talent.
Even if he couldn’t act as a pacemaker, it was enough to just be a good friend and have a good influence.

“Me?”
“Yes.”
Although he had a somewhat unsure expression, it was even more satisfying for him.
Among the senior instructors, there was no one who worked as hard as Adam.
As a single inspector, there were many who were passionate about learning.

There was no one who properly cared about the work of an instructor.
‘On the other hand, I thought it was a bit problematic that he was treating it like work.’
If you think about Prince Ellen’s potential, it was actually a good situation.

‘I won’t be defeated like Lucia for no reason.’
Lucia Artien, Princess Hestia’s in charge.
She was a swordsman acknowledged even by Princess Hestia, and she was a skilled person with few rivals regardless of gender among her peers.

However, compared to her sword skills, her mental strength was lacking, so didn’t she come to work every week with a letter of resignation?
However, Adam was different.
“Since the work is hard, I will suffer.”

“Since I get paid a lot, I should suffer.”
As if asking when he had submitted his resignation, Carix smiled and shook Adam's hand as he smiled and reached out.