The Sweet Alpha Crown Prince Loves Me So Much Chapter 151 - Side Story

Baron Claire, the Chief Imperial Designer of Heineken, had set his mind on retiring within the next three years.

He had decided this last year, and the year before that, too.

With a heart full of repentance for not being faithful to his family because he was tied down to the Imperial Palace, he had vowed to return to them.

However, his retirement was being postponed every year.

Crash.

“Baron!”

Claire, who had been pacing the room with a troubled mind, sent a gaze mixed with anticipation and delight toward his assistant, who had returned just in time.

Please. This time, for sure.

“What happened!”

“W-Well, that is.”

The assistant had entered with high spirits but now could not hide his embarrassment, lowering his gaze. Realizing what this behavior meant, Claire clenched his teeth, stumbled, and sat back down.

“I have been informed that this time, too, they made sure to pack contraceptives with guaranteed effectiveness.”

“Argh!”

Claire, feeling an unbearable sense of devastation, covered his face with both hands and despaired.

The year after Leia Lindbergh’s coronation as the king.

Carl Lindbergh had firmly established himself not as a Prince of Lindbergh, but as the Crown Princess Consort of the Great Heineken Empire.

How beautiful the two of them were at the grand wedding held amidst everyone’s blessings.

Thanks to the two of them, who showed off their affection before the distinguished guests while changing into six different formal outfits—each stitched by Claire’s own hand to match the banquet’s format—praise for Baron Claire followed suit.

Among them, his masterpiece was a coat that captured both elegance and splendor, made by processing bird feathers and dyeing the fur of a mountain goat that grows only in a special environment with natural dyes.

The coat, revealed on the last day of the banquet, was praised by the Crown Prince and his spouse for its unique lightness, satisfying them both.

Even when inquiries flooded in offering a fortune for the design, he covered his ears, and even when imitations circulated openly, he pretended not to know. After all, a fake was just a fake. It could not be made with the same quality as the original, and more than anything, unless the person wearing it was the original owner, it could not exude the same feeling.

“It’s already been three years! Why haven’t the two of them, who are in the prime of their vigor, made a single mistake?”

Claire swallowed the rising sobs.

“According to the maid, Eirene, they never forget to take their birth control pills even when things are hectic…”

The assistant sobbed along with his master.

It was customary not to recycle Imperial formal wear made for special occasions, but because the Crown Princess Consort earnestly wanted it, an exception was made to allow it to be worn as everyday clothes, and that was also part of Claire’s scheme.

And for good reason, though he hadn’t told the Crown Prince separately: that design was a set of three.

Claire stared with gloomy eyes at the coats hanging without owners.

Crown Prince Adrian’s deep navy coat, the flame-colored coat that brightly supported Crown Princess Consort Carl Lindbergh’s appearance, and a baby-sized coat made to exquisitely blend the two colors had been hanging there lonely for three years already.

Since they were a couple who couldn’t live without each other, everyone expected to see an Imperial grandchild right after the wedding. But for some reason, despite spending countless nights together, the two were postponing having a baby day after day, and that was inducing stress in Claire.

“I wanted to, I really wanted to dress the baby in that.”

“Master!”

As Claire staggered, the assistant ran over, wailing, and supported him.

Because he hadn’t stopped making baby clothes while secretly hoping and waiting, Claire’s despair ran deeper.

Of course, thanks to the young Prince Charlene, the clothes weren’t wasted, but he was still gathering inspiration for the second generation of Adrian and Carl, who had not yet come into the world.

He was postponing his retirement, wondering if that day would come today or tomorrow.

“You cannot pass away! Master!”

When the assistant screamed at his master, whose arms were drooping limply, Claire’s eyes snapped open.

“Who said anything about dying!”

“Ah, no, you just looked like you were about to die.”

As the abashed assistant mumbled, the master pushed his arm away and shot up from his seat.

“Not even the goddess can take me until I see my masterpiece worn by its owner!”

Claire’s eyes blazed.

He had dedicated his entire life to the imperial family. No matter what, he would make everything with his own hands, from the royal baby’s very first outfit to the shoes on their feet when they started to toddle.

Within the next three years!

***

Separate from the chief designer’s tearful pleas about when they would produce an heir, the imperial palace was peaceful.

This was because the young prince, now quite capable of running, was entering a phase of asserting himself by imitating the adults’ actions, and the palace elders’ attention was entirely focused on him.

“Waaah!”

As the corridor filled with a piercing cry, Carl Lindbergh, who was idling in his room, perked up his ears.

Has it gotten that late already?

The only time the young prince was somewhere other than his own room was usually when he was following his much older brother.

Sure enough, just as Carl was debating whether to rush out, the door burst open and Adrian appeared, holding Charlene.

“Charlene!”

“Bwother-in-law!”

Adrian clicked his tongue as he watched the two reach for each other like a reunion of separated families.

A waiting lady-in-waiting took the Crown Princess Consort’s pet dog and disappeared through the crack in the door.

It was a considerate gesture to not disturb the Crown Prince’s rest after a long day of state affairs, but because of the baby prince, the Crown Prince’s mood was scheduled to be sour again today.

Carl scurried over to Adrian, quickly planted a kiss on his cheek, and then called for Charlene.

Adrian’s brow, which had been about to furrow at being pushed aside for his younger brother yet again, smoothed out at the feather-light kiss.

‘You cunning little thing.’

Unaware of whether his older brother was grumbling inwardly, the clueless prince eagerly reached out his hands as soon as he saw Carl’s face, as if searching for his mother.

“Caaarl.”

Charlene, his cheeks damp, wiped his runny nose on Adrian’s shoulder.

While Carl took Charlene from Adrian and cooed and soothed him, the servants who had followed the Crown Prince quietly closed the door. Adrian grabbed Carl Lindbergh’s wrist and kissed it.

Mwah, mwah. Carl covered Charlene’s eyes as Adrian repeatedly and audibly sucked on his lips.

Only then did Adrian grin and touch Carl’s cheek.

“You worked hard today, too.”

“Yeah. You too.”

Carl Lindbergh beamed at Adrian.

That bright smile melted Adrian’s disappointment and washed away his fatigue.

“I’ll go wash up first, so soothe him a little and send him back. Got it?”

Carl’s cheeks turned pink at Adrian’s suggestive tone as he winked.

Adrian nipped at that cheek with his teeth, then licked his own lips in lingering desire before grabbing a prepared robe.

After a tumultuous courtship and marriage, Carl had become quite the Crown Princess Consort, but he still wasn’t used to being attended to while bathing. Consequently, it had become a habit for Adrian to bathe alone as well.

It was perhaps an inevitable outcome, as there was no way Adrian would allow anyone else to see Carl Lindbergh’s naked body.

As Adrian disappeared into the bathroom attached to the bedroom, shrugging off his outer clothes, Charlene started to whimper and cry again.

“Hnnngh.”

It was because Charlene, who liked his brother but liked his brother-in-law even more, could not tolerate having Carl’s attention diverted from him for even a moment.

Carl, who couldn’t just keep holding the rather heavy Charlene, sat on the sofa and patted the child’s back.

“How did this happen? Did you fall?”

“Mhmm.”

Charlene, who sniffled and nodded, puffed out his cheeks. Half of it was fake crying, so his pouting lips eventually broke into a grin as he looked up at Carl.

No matter what, it was nice. The hand warmly stroking his back. The gentle tone of voice.

Carl Lindbergh smiled contentedly.

Where did such an overwhelmingly lovely creature come from?

“Did it hurt?”

“It huwt.”

As he said that, he pointed to his knee.

When Carl blew on his knee with a ‘hoo’ sound, he said, “It doesn’t huwt anymore.”

Since the prince started walking, the thing he was most passionate about was greeting his older brother.

It was as if the time his brother finished his official duties was imprinted on him, as he would throw a tantrum and cry to go see him every time. The servants would have no choice but to bring him out, and from then on, he would follow his brother’s back on his own two feet.

That’s why they recently laid a plush carpet all the way from the prince’s room to the Crown Prince couple’s quarters. Thanks to that, Charlene didn’t get a single scratch on his knees, but he probably cried out of sorrow because of his heartlessly distant brother.

The image of Adrian, who wanted to leave his brother behind no matter what, being unable to ignore a crying Charlene and turning back to eventually pick him up was so vivid that Carl couldn’t help but laugh.

Charlene, whose mood lifted along with his brother-in-law’s cheerful smile, giggled as Carl tickled the soles of his feet.

After laughing and playfully kissing and nibbling for a while, Carl patted Charlene’s belly.

“Did you eat a lot of food today?”

“Yeeeth.”

Not ‘yes,’ but ‘yeeeth.’ Carl Lindbergh’s nostrils flared. The short tongue and maple-leaf-like hands were adorable.

“How much did you eat?”

When Carl asked again, Charlene suddenly lifted his shirt.

His plump little belly popped out.

“Wight hewe.”

He patted his own belly and said, “A wot, a wot, I ate a wot.”

“Wow, you ate a lot. Now, after a hundred more nights of sleep, you’ll be as big as your big brother.”

Charlene’s already large eyes grew as wide as saucers.

“I wike. Big bwother.”

“I like your big brother, too.”

Carl chuckled and played with his hands.

His round belly bobbed up and down, unable to hide his delight.

Pffft.

“Kyahaha.”

Carl, who shed his formality when they were alone, couldn’t resist and blew on Charlene’s belly, sending Charlene into fits of laughter.

He had been weaned off milk long ago, but Charlene’s body still smelled of it.

It was quite addictive, so Carl repeatedly tickled his belly and took in the scent.

The sounds reached Adrian clearly, even as he sat soaking in the tub, and a wry smile crept onto his lips.

Is he really that happy?

Adrian swam lazily, relaxing his tense muscles, and closed his eyes, listening to the child’s ceaseless laughter and Carl’s equally clear laughter.

It was clear that Carl Lindbergh loved babies. And that his love for family was exceptional.

Anyone could tell by the way he treated the prophet and Marco, who had now moved to another building on the premises, as if they were children, how utterly devoted he was to the Emperor and Empress, and how he regularly kept in touch with Leia Lindbergh.

“Huu.”

Adrian let out a steam-filled breath.

Talk about when they would produce an heir was quietly starting to circulate among the nobles.

They didn’t say it outright, as both were still young. But the whispers suggesting that the affection Carl showed Charlene was proof of his desire to have a child of his own reached Adrian’s ears unfiltered.

Swoosh.

He splashed cold water on himself, dried his body, and listened for sounds outside the door. It was quiet.

Of course.

Adrian grinned, threw on his robe, and opened the bathroom door.

“He just fell asleep.”

Carl whispered, “Shhh,” and put a finger to his lips.

Charlene, nestled in his arms, was breathing softly.

A gaze filled with undisguised affection fell upon the baby’s cheek.

‘How could I want a child when he’s like this?’

He loves his brother-in-law this much, who isn’t even his own brother. If they had a child, Adrian would be pushed far, far back in Carl Lindbergh’s priorities.

Adrian carefully sat down next to Carl and gazed down at him.

“If he’s going to do this, wouldn’t it be better for him to just sleep in his own room?”

A child with a lot of energy would fall asleep in the early evening.

Adrian knew this, so even while grumbling, he couldn’t bring himself to heartlessly leave him behind and would bring him along.

The way he fought off sleep and insisted on coming, only to have to go back after playing for less than ten minutes, was just like his older brother.

That’s what Empress Theresa always said.

Carl, who didn’t know Adrian’s childhood, would see a young Adrian in Charlene because of those words, and thanks to that, his affection grew day by day.

“What can you do? It’s the fault of your handsome face, which even I don’t get tired of seeing every day.”

Finding Carl’s playful banter annoying, Adrian nipped the bridge of his nose.

Carl, careful not to wake the sleeping child, laughed under his breath and returned the gesture with a soft kiss for Adrian.