I'm Trapped Inside a Prince as the Most Powerful Entity-Chapter 37: Alina

Inside Eric – Adam’s Domain

Just as Adam commanded Millennia (the System) to stop Eric from taking the girl directly to the King, the System interface appeared instantly before Adam in his quiet domain.

[System/Millenia]: Master Adam, acknowledging directive. Are you instructing me to prevent Eric from escorting the unidentified female subject to the King’s presence?

Adam conveyed his thoughts clearly. "Yes, Millenia," he replied mentally. "I have a better idea. I don’t want Eric drawing unnecessary attention right now, and frankly, this palace environment is restrictive for my observations." He considered the situation.

"Convince Eric to handle this himself. Suggest he listen to the girl’s story and try to help her on his own. You could mention it might be a way to impress his father, to make the King proud instead of disappointed. Use that angle." Eric’s worries about his father’s opinion were a clear way to influence him.

The System interface vanished from Adam’s domain.

Back in the Garden

Eric had just made up his mind. He felt sorry for the girl and her desperate situation. Even if he was the ’useless Prince’, he could at least take her to someone who could help – his father.

He turned, ready to lead her back towards the main palace building.

But just as he took his first step, the blue System Window popped up right in front of him again, blocking his path.

Eric stopped short, startled for the third time that morning. "What now?" he muttered under his breath, feeling a little annoyed.

Text appeared on the screen.

[System]: Eric, perhaps it might be better to wait a moment? you should listen to her whole story first? Remember how busy and stressed your father seemed yesterday? He likely still has a lot on his plate right now.

Eric paused. He thought back to the tension in the great hall the night before, the King’s anger, the announcement about the investigation.

The System had a point. His father probably was incredibly busy dealing with the fallout from Karlos’s betrayal and organizing the kingdom-wide check-up.

Barging in with this strange girl who snuck into the gardens wasn’t the best idea right now. It might just make his father more stressed.

He sighed, feeling the familiar weight of wanting his father’s approval and avoiding his disapproval. He turned back around to face the girl, who was still sitting nervously on the grass, watching him with wide, hopeful eyes.

"Alright," Eric said, changing his plan. He walked back towards her. "Before I decide whether to take you to my father or not, you need to tell me everything. Tell me who you are, where you came from, and exactly what kind of trouble your town is in. Start from the beginning."

The girl looked up at him, her hopeful expression fading slightly, replaced by visible fear and worry. She clearly wanted to speak only to the King, but she seemed to realize she didn’t have much choice now. She took a shaky breath and nodded slowly.

"Okay, Your Highness," she began, her voice quiet and trembling slightly. "My name is Alina. I... I came from Crestport City."

Eric’s eyes widened slightly. "Crestport City?" he repeated, surprised. That was Sir Karlos’s city, the one the traitor had fled from. "That’s a long way from here! What are you doing so far from home?"

Alina looked down at her hands, twisting her fingers together nervously. "I lived there with my family," she continued, her voice soft.

"My mother, my older brother, and my father. We weren’t rich, not nobles or anything, just... normal people. But we were happy." She paused, taking another shaky breath. Eric waited patiently, listening quietly without interrupting, trying to show her it was okay to talk.

Alina lifted her head, her eyes looking distant as she remembered. "Then, about three weeks ago... my father just... disappeared." Her voice cracked slightly. "One morning, he just wasn’t there. No warning, nothing. We didn’t understand. He would never just leave us like that."

She swallowed hard before continuing. "My mother, my brother, and I... we looked everywhere for him for days. We asked neighbors, friends, people he worked with. No one had seen him. No one knew anything. It was like he just vanished into thin air." Her shoulders slumped.

"When we couldn’t find any trace of him after almost a week, we went to the Mayor’s office in Crestport to report him missing and ask for help."

Eric nodded slowly, picturing the family’s worry. It sounded like a terrible situation.

"But," Alina said, her voice tightening with frustration, "they wouldn’t even let us see the Mayor! His assistants just told us he was too busy, that maybe my father just ran off, and we should stop bothering them."

Eric frowned. That didn’t sound right. Even a busy mayor should take time for a missing person report, especially if they were a city employee. "Okay," Eric said, thinking aloud.

"If the Mayor wouldn’t help... what about the City Guard? Didn’t you report it to them? They’re supposed to investigate things like this."

Alina looked up at him, a complicated expression on her face – frustration mixed with fear. "That’s... that’s the strange part, Your Highness," she whispered. "My father... he was a member of the Crestport City Guard. A sergeant."

Eric’s eyebrows shot up. "Your father was a guard?" This made the story even stranger and more worrying.

Inside Eric – Adam’s Domain

Adam listened intently to the girl’s story through Eric’s senses. A city guard disappearing, the mayor refusing to help, the guard captain being uncooperative... it strongly suggested something illegal was happening.

This connected strangely with the information Karlos had revealed under duress – about installing his own people, members of a criminal network, into the Crestport city guard. Could this girl’s father have discovered something dangerous related to that network?

Back in the Garden

"Yes," Alina confirmed. "And because he was one of their own, we thought the Guard would definitely help us find him. But they didn’t. His own captain, the man he reported to... he kept making excuses. He said they were looking into it, but he wouldn’t tell us anything. He told us not to cause trouble, not to ask too many questions. It felt... wrong. Like he was hiding something."

Eric felt a growing sense of unease. A guard captain telling a family not to ask questions about a missing guardsman? That was highly suspicious behavior. "So the captain wouldn’t help either," Eric said slowly.

"Was there no one else you could turn to? No noble families in the area? Crestport used to be Sir Karlos’s city, but aren’t there other lesser nobles nearby who might have helped?"

Alina nodded, her expression darkening further. Fear crept back into her eyes. "Yes," she whispered. "After the Guard captain brushed us off, my mother decided we had to try something else. There’s a Baron whose lands are near Crestport. We thought maybe he could order the Guard captain to investigate properly. So, my mother, my brother, and I... we traveled to the Baron’s manor."

She hesitated, her voice dropping even lower, filled with remembered terror. "But when we got there... something terrible happened. The Baron listened to our story, but then... his own guards... they tried to capture us! They grabbed my mother and my brother!" Her voice choked up, and tears started to spill from her eyes.

"I... I barely managed to escape. I saw them take my mother and brother back into the manor as prisoners."

Eric stared at her, horrified. "What? The Baron’s guards attacked you? Just for asking for help?" This was escalating quickly into something truly awful. "A noble family arresting commoners who came to them for aid? That’s... that’s illegal!"

Alina nodded miserably, wiping furiously at her tears with the back of her hand. "Yes, Your Highness."

Eric felt a cold knot form in his stomach. He finally understood the depth of the problem.

A missing city guard father, an unhelpful mayor, a suspicious guard captain, and now a noble family actively attacking and capturing the family members who were just trying to find answers. This wasn’t just a missing person case anymore.

This sounded like a conspiracy, a cover-up involving people in positions of power, people who were supposed to uphold the law, not break it.

’This is serious,’ Eric thought, his mind racing. ’If nobles are acting like this, kidnapping people who ask inconvenient questions... then my father definitely needs to know. The King has to intervene.’ He made up his mind again, feeling a surge of righteousness.

He had to take Alina to his father, no matter how busy the King was. This was too important for him to handle alone.

Inside Eric – Adam’s Domain

Adam sensed Eric’s renewed intention to go to the King. He and Millenia understood Eric’s line of thought – it was logical for a Prince to take such a serious matter to the King.

But Adam still believed direct Royal intervention might complicate things or alert the culprits unnecessarily right now.

There was a better way to handle this, a way that also served Adam’s own interests in observing Eric’s development and seeing how he handled responsibility.

Just as Eric opened his mouth again, determined this time to tell Alina they were going straight to the King, the blue System Window flashed back into existence right in front of his face.

Eric flinched back slightly, getting used to the System’s sudden appearances but still finding them disruptive when he was trying to think.

[System]: Eric, just a thought... This problem sounds quite tangled. Taking it straight to your father right now might cause more trouble than it solves, especially with everything else going on. This is something you could look into first?

Eric stared at the words, completely bewildered. He blinked, reading them again. Me? Look into this? He immediately felt his usual wave of self-doubt wash over him.

’What are you suggesting?’ Eric thought desperately towards the System Window, feeling panicked. ’Me? Investigate corrupt nobles and suspicious guards? I’m not strong enough! I don’t have the authority! I don’t even have the confidence to properly question anyone! My brothers, Revan and Leonard, or my father – they could handle this easily. They know how to deal with nobles, how to give orders and make people listen. Not me! I’d just mess it up!’

The System Window seemed ready for his reaction. New text appeared quickly.

[System]: Eric, it might help to know something important about what happened after you left the great hall last night.

A feeling of dread mixed with curiosity washed over Eric. Something happened after he left? He remembered being led away by the guards because he felt weak and dizzy. What had he missed? ’What?’ he asked the System silently, urgently. ’What happened yesterday?’

Alina, still sitting on the grass, watched Eric staring intently at the empty air in front of him (since only he could see the System Window).

His face showed flashes of confusion, then worry, then a flicker of fear. She looked confused herself, tilting her head slightly, wondering what the Prince was thinking about so intensely, why he seemed to be having a silent conversation with nothing.

The System Window began to explain, its tone helpful.

[System]: Well, after you left, your father announced a major investigation into all the noble families. He suspects there might be many traitors like Karlos hiding among them. Because of this, your father, your brothers Revan and Leonard, Commander Charles, and most of the Royal Guard are all going to be extremely busy focusing on this huge task for weeks, even months.

Eric absorbed this information. A full investigation of all nobles? That explained why Roald was reassigned earlier. It made sense.

[System]: Since they are so busy with this important kingdom-wide task, they probably don’t have the extra time or resources to focus deeply on Alina’s specific problem right now. They might even have to put it aside to deal with the bigger threat first. Plus, sending Royal Guards specifically to investigate Alina’s case right now might alert the people involved and give them a chance to hide whatever they’re doing.

The text paused, then offered a final thought, framed almost like encouragement.

[System]: Don’t forget, Eric, you are also a Prince. That title comes with responsibilities too, doesn’t it? This is a chance for you? An opportunity to help someone who desperately needs it, to investigate this quietly yourself, and perhaps show your father, and even yourself, what you’re capable of. It’s part of your duty too, wouldn’t you say?

Eric stood silently, the System’s words swirling in his mind. His father and brothers were busy. Taking this to them might not even get the immediate attention it needed, and it could tip off the bad guys. And the System was right... he was a Prince. It really was time he started acting like one, instead of always leaning on his family.

This was his chance to do something important, something brave, on his own. The thought was definitely scary, making his stomach flutter nervously, but also... a tiny spark of something else ignited within him. A desire to try. He couldn’t hide behind his ’useless’ reputation forever. He needed to become independent, eventually.

He took a long, slow breath, feeling that small, unfamiliar flicker – not confidence, but perhaps resolve – grow a tiny bit stronger. He let the breath out slowly.

’You’re right, System,’ he thought, making a firm decision this time. ’I can’t always depend on Father and my brothers. I need to stand on my own feet. I need to at least try to help.’

He looked down at Alina, who was still watching him with a mixture of hope and confusion, probably wondering why he kept staring into space. He offered her a small smile, one that felt a little more real this time, a little less glum.

"Okay, Alina," Eric said, his voice a little steadier, a little more determined than before. "I understand your situation better now, and I believe you." He paused, then asked a practical question that had been nagging at the back of his mind.

"But there’s one thing I still don’t get. You said you snuck into the palace. How did you manage that? How did you get past all the guards, especially now? Security should be very tight after..." he hesitated, not wanting to bring up the attempt on his own life directly, "...after recent events. How did you manage to get all the way here to the gardens without anyone catching you?"

The question hung in the air. Eric looked at Alina, genuinely curious and also a little concerned. He knew the palace security should have been on high alert.

If this young girl could just climb a wall and wander into a secluded part of the garden without being stopped, it worried him.

Did it mean the palace security wasn’t as good as it should be? Or, a much worse thought, was there corruption even among the guards here inside the palace walls, letting people slip through for some reason? That possibility was deeply disturbing.