Novel The Max Level Hero has Returned! - Chapter 04

Chapter 4

“Hup…” Moving around while taking short breaths, Davey felt that his physical body was much lighter.

Everyone would naturally be shocked that the prince, who was unconscious for six years, was now moving freely like this. Davey had damaged bones and a lack of muscle mass, so he shouldn’t have recovered so easily even if a priest was to treat him with some meaningless recovery magic. Also, since most of the priests were on Queen Lynesse’s side, there was no way that they would have properly treated him.

To speak crudely, this palace was honestly a shithole. Familial affection was nonexistent, and the queen here wished to kill the prince.

In the past, Davey trusted and even opened up to them since he thought they were still family. And as a family, they would have to see one another for the rest of their lives regardless of whether they liked it or not. However, it didn’t take long for Davey to realize how foolish he had been. Davey’s second life here was clearly different from his first life on Earth.

How would one find familial affection in a place where people sold off their own children in arranged marriages for success? To hell with that. Of course, not everyone of nobility was like this. In fact, Queen Lynesse treasured her two sons terribly. But, what about her non-biological child? And what if this child were to interfere with the plans she had for her own two sons?

Queen Lynesse was most definitely not Davey’s birth mother. They were strangers, not related by even a single drop of blood. Davey’s mother, the former queen, was poisoned to death five years after he was born. The culprit was never caught, and resentfully, the murder case was left unsolved.

After that, Queen Lynesse ascended to the position of queen. She was an ambitious woman, so she wanted to take Davey, the son of the former queen, out of the picture. She wanted her own son to be next in line for the throne.

She also had support from powerful people. The current power in the Rowane Kingdom was mostly in the hands of the consort kin, and the cornerstone of power was Duke Bariatta’s family. And Queen Lynesse’s came from the lineage of Duke Bariatta. Even an idiot would know that they were in cahoots with each other…

As of now, Davey’s life was quite monotonous. He used his mana, holy power, and devil mana to increase recovery speed. He also exercised regularly to rejuvenate his body. He ate everything that Amy, his maid servant, brought him, and aimed for a fast recovery… Even the recovery magic alone, which used holy power, was showing significant improvements to Davey’s recovery speed. To Davey, who learned the necromancer’s extensive knowledge about the human body that was accumulated from years of intense research, and the art of medicine from Hypocria, the God of Medicine, it shouldn’t be too difficult for him to recover.

Davey was quickly running through the budget for the prince’s palace as his appetite grew during his recovery. But that didn’t matter, since it was his money he used anyway. And from looking at the condition of the prince’s palace, it was clear.

“They’re probably still taking half the money for themselves.”

Nobody would believe that this was the First Prince Davey’s palace. The marble tiles were all broken, with weeds growing out of the cracks. To be honest, it seemed like a pile of ruins compared to other places in the palace.

The appearance of one’s palace was representative of their honor. Thus, if the palace was left in such a state, it would be very disadvatageous to Davey’s image and position in the palace. However, it would be a long time before he could do anything about it. He had to first get rid of each and every one of the guys ripping him off.

This was why recovery was so important. Davey had to be healthy in preparation for whatever they tried to do. Then, revenge against the second and third prince who put him in a coma, and Queen Lynesse whom he believed to have killed his mother, came after that.

Davey could be at ease now that he had power… He sighed, sweating buckets from moving too much. He raised his hand and casted a spell, “Clean.” Water droplets appeared from thin air and covered his entire body, which soon became cool and clean.

Magic was quite a convenient power. People said that the key to scientific discoveries was laziness. Odin, who taught Davey magic, said this as well, and he also truly believed it.

“Your Highness, this is Amy.”

“Come in.”

As Davey laid down in bed after adjusting his disheveled clothes, Amy entered the room with her head down and a tensed expression.

In this palace, Davey was regarded more as the abandoned child than the first prince. Not only nobility, but even servants often bad-mouthed him behind his back. However, Amy seemed to be pretty reliable.

“I have brought you your meal.”

Amy’s calm words put a smile on Davey’s face. “Thanks.”

Davey did not refuse all kindness. Amy was also a new person, uninvolved in the dirty game of politics. At least, not at the moment. There was also a rumor that she got demoted from getting on the queen’s bad side after working at her palace.

“For the first prince’s palace to be a place of demotion… It’s really messed up.”

“What was that, Your Highness?”

“It was nothing. You did well. Go and rest for the day.”

“But, Your Highness, today is your rehab session–”

“I can do that much myself, so go rest.”

When Davey coldly interrupted her, as if not wanting to hear any objections, Amy looked up at Davey with a reluctant expression.

‘Hey, c’mon… Don’t look at me like that… I’ll feel guilty if you stare at me with that hangdog look.’

Davey swallowed his words and patted Amy on the head.

Amy lowered her head with a brightly flushed face. “For… Forgive me!”

“Alright. Now go.”

“Y, Yes!”

‘Being handsome sometimes has its benefits.’

“Hum hum~” Davey looked at the meal Amy prepared for him while in a good mood. “It’s like they see me as an old man with no teeth just because I’m a patient.”

Davey would be considered a living fossil rather than an old man from a human perspective, in terms of mental age, but he unfortunately wasn’t mature enough to be that prim. Most of the so-called ‘heroes’ at the Hall had probably lived for thousands of years, but still acted like idiots in their teens.

It would seem that, eventually, everyone came full circle. And since they no longer had an end after experiencing death, it was a natural change. Some stuck to solemnity, while others became more like their younger selves. The worst ones among them were Saintess Daphne and the self-acclaimed ‘survival expert’ Hercules.

‘Tut, what awful personalities they had.’

Even while indifferently shoving food into his mouth, Davey did not forget to constantly use his holy power and mana. Since his devil mana would restore on its own, he just had to work on his other powers in the meantime.

For now, the only things Davey could do with his holy power were some basic spells, like ‘Heal’, ‘Restore’, and ‘Cure’. And with magic, he could do simple everyday spells, like ‘Light’, or ‘Magic’, that did not require any magic circles, but this was only because he was not fully recovered yet.

Davey felt stuffed to the gills, but he could still eat since using ‘Restore’ improved his appetite. He probably ate roughly three times more than the average person, and nothing was too much if he stuffed the food down. Amy was quite shocked by how much Davey’s appetite had grown, but he still did it regardless.

After stuffing his face, Davey felt his sickly and weak body become revitalized. However…

“Damn… The bathroom, again?”

The downside to having great digestion was that Davey had to go to the fricking bathroom repeatedly. If that lazybones Ares saw this, he would probably mock Davey by calling him ‘poopyhead’.

‘God, act your age…’

4. There’s No More Food!

Davey’s recovery was going well, but…there was a different problem that revealed itself a month after his awakening. This was a big, threatening problem too.

“Groan…”

Davey frowned, trying to hold back his groaning from a stomach ache.

“I… I’m sorry!” Amy looked down in the dumps.

“There’s no need. You’ve done nothing wrong.” Davey adequately comforted Amy and chuckled as he read the documents she handed over. It seemed that, because of the small budget assigned to the first prince’s palace, there was a shortage of food. “My goodness… I never thought that the first prince would have to worry about his next meal in any place, muchless in the palace.”

Davey could easily see the cause behind this matter. He said, “Amy.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“How many maids and servants are working in this palace?” Davey asked. Then, looking at Amy’s bewildered expression and her momentary loss for words, Davey came to a conclusion on his own. “It’s just you, isn’t it?”

“Pl… Please forgive me, Your Highness!”

Davey couldn’t help but sigh at the sight of Amy kneeling on the ground. The palace wasn’t that big, and it wasn’t the palace that the crown prince normally used, but it was still made for a prince of the royal family.

“So, you are taking care of this large palace all by yourself.”

“Uh… Well.”

What a disaster Davey had come back to. People still lived here before he fell into a coma, so he never felt that the problem was this severe despite the lack of resources. But this was definitely a huge change that has happened in six years, even though it wasn’t that short a period of time.

After listening to Amy, Davey got the gist of it. He was Davey O’Rowane, the forever-ridiculed First Prince who was in the queen’s bad books. He was also the halfwit who couldn’t even enter the Farrondas Palace, the residence of crown princes. And it was his fault for embracing and trusting the queen and her sons, thinking they were still family despite not being truly related.

“No wonder the palace was a mess.”

“You… You should have my head, Your Highness!”

“It’s fine. I’m not going to kill an innocent person; I’m not that cold-hearted.”

Compared to before, it was now much easier for Davey to move around. He roughly had the strength of a young, weak prince. He rose from his bed and sat at the table, then put on his glasses to gain clearer vision.

Davey had bad eyesight, even before the coma. There were two reasons why: one, he was born weak, and two… It wasn’t something Davey wanted to remember.

“Let’s see. What was the original budget for the first prince’s palace?” Davey asked.

“Um… Well, it’s 6,000 gold per year, Your Highness.”

“But there is only 10 gold left as of now,” Davey commented. He then continued when Amy remained silent, “And it’s not like the first prince’s palace has been well taken care of, either.”

‘The palace shouldn’t have ran out of food in the first place.’

“How much did you receive for this month? If you used that money carefully, there shouldn’t have been a problem, at least with meals?”

“Uh… Well…”

“It’s okay. Just tell me.”

“I should have received 500 gold as per the document, but I received less than 100…”

Davey couldn’t help but sigh in response.