Why Won’t You Let Me Dote on You?! – The Arrogant Supporting Prince Falls for the Reincarnated Villainess and Loses His Mind - Chapter 1.6

“You know, Prince Clovis… Interrupting lessons is not acceptable, young man.”

Right now, Eliza and I were standing in the corridor, getting scolded.
The man in front of us was a young scholar with a scruffy beard—none other than our last hope, Professor Hawkeye.

“Come on, it’s just a quick game! What’s the big deal?”

“Sigh… You’re a handful, as always. Every time I see you, it’s the same nonsense.”

“Tch. Fine, I’ll let you off easy this time.”

As I said that, another teacher who had been standing behind Professor Hawkeye gave a wry smile.
Apparently, the lesson had just ended, and the teacher was now leaving the library, arms full of books.
Hawkeye and I watched the figure disappear down the corridor.

“Alright, now’s our chance!”
“Eliza, come on!”
“Eh?!”

The moment the teacher turned the corner, Professor Hawkeye swiftly opened the library door.
I slipped inside through the gap, making sure no one saw, and Eliza was practically scooped up and pushed in behind me.
As the door quietly closed, silence returned to the hallway.

“Thanks, Professor Hawkeye!”
“Phew. Next time, try to plan things out a little better. Your whims are hard to keep up with, you know?”

Despite his grumbling, he casually locked the door behind us.
Now no one could interrupt us—not even the other adults.

“I-I was so startled… I thought you were really angry with us!”
“Told you, didn’t I? You can count on Professor Hawkeye.”
“Oh my, you certainly did. Thank you for your help, Professor.”

“Well, well… getting a thank you from Lady Elisabeth herself? Is it going to rain frogs today or spears?”

Professor Hawkeye seemed surprised by Eliza’s change in personality, but mostly amused.
He laughed lazily and gave a half-hearted reply.
Normally, a scholar wouldn’t dare speak to a duke’s daughter this way—
The old Eliza might’ve ordered some immediate punishment on the spot.

“Still, Prince Clovis… That’s a nostalgic board game you’ve brought. These days, you’d have to turn over every antique shop to find one of those.”

“What do you mean, Professor?”

“That game was designed to train military commanders. But because it aimed for realism, the rules got so complicated, only die-hard fans still play it.”

In other words, Professor Hawkeye is one of those die-hard fans.
He’s a historian by trade, but he knows a lot about all sorts of things.
Still, that’s not what caught my attention.

“So… you’re saying my brother might not know the rules to this game?”

“Oh—good point!”

Eliza suddenly raised her voice, realizing the issue.
If the game’s that niche, there’s a real chance my brother doesn’t know how to play.
When I played with Eliza, we had plenty of time, so I could explain the rules as we went.
But with my brother, time would be limited—we wouldn’t have that luxury.

“We can’t exactly run back to get a different game now… Professor, what should we do?”

“Hm… I’m sure it’ll work out. Probably.”

Ignoring my rising anxiety, Professor Hawkeye stroked his beard and wandered deeper into the room.
Eliza and I exchanged glances, unsure of what to do, but we had no choice except to follow.

“Well, I’ll go kill time over there. Call me when you’re done.”

At the far end of the library was a small lounge.
Unlike the rest of the cramped room filled to the ceiling with books, the lounge had no shelves so that sunlight could stream in freely.
Professor Hawkeye led us there, then turned back toward the archives.

Seated in the lounge was a boy about my age.

My brother.

“……”
“Clow-sama?”

I froze at the sight of my brother.
Eliza, noticing my silence, looked at me curiously.
Even though we lived in the same castle, it had been a long time since we’d actually met like this.
Despite no teacher being present, my brother sat at the table, completely focused as he copied from a large stack of books.

His golden hair—so unlike mine—gleamed like sunlight itself.

“Oh—Clow… Clow, is that you?!”

As we stood there motionless, my brother finally looked up and noticed us.
No wonder he was surprised.
He probably never imagined Eliza and I would crash a lesson with Professor Hawkeye.
He stood, mouth slightly open, and hurried over.

“W-What are you doing here?”
“…What, I’m not allowed to be here?”
“Are you… are you going to join today’s lesson too?”
“Of course not! I’d never subject myself to that!”
“…R-Right. Sorry, Clow.”

Our first conversation in ages was awkward at best.
I could hear two distinct sighs behind me—Eliza’s and, no doubt, Professor Hawkeye’s.
Seriously, was even he eavesdropping now? What a weirdo.

“Ahem. Good day, Leon-sama. I do apologize for interrupting your studies, but would you be so kind as to spare us a moment of your time?”

“Hmm? You’re awfully polite today, Eliza. Are you feeling alright?”

“Oh, not at all. I’ve simply reflected on my past rudeness and resolved to behave better. O-ho-ho-ho.”

“Huh… I kind of miss the old you, though.”

When Eliza spoke, my brother finally seemed to notice the change in her demeanor.
He looked at her with a hint of disappointment.
Come to think of it, while I used to get dragged around by the old Eliza’s whims, my brother actually seemed to enjoy them.
Talk about a stark contrast.

“We came to play a board game with you, Leon-sama. Would you join us for one round?”

“A board game? Of course, I’d be happy to.”

He glanced at the game board in my hands—the same one Eliza and I had played with before.
It was a head-to-head strategy game modeled after territorial warfare.

“Professor Hawkeye said it’s a rare game. Do you know the rules, brother?”

“No problem. As luck would have it, I’m familiar with this one.”

“R-Really? That’s a relief!”

Eliza and I both let out a sigh of relief.
Professor Hawkeye had confidently claimed everything would be fine, without much basis, and we didn’t expect my brother to actually know the game.

“Alright, let’s start! Eliza wasn’t much of a challenge—this’ll be way better!”

“How rude! I tried my best!”

I swept the books off the table and set up the board.
At first, I didn’t know how to interact with my brother, but thanks to this shared interest, the tension quickly disappeared.
For that, I should probably thank Eliza for suggesting it.

“You two really are close, huh…”

Lost in the excitement of setting up the game, I didn’t notice the quiet, wistful words my brother had muttered.