What if the criminal was someone in the palace who is nice to Your Highnesses?
Huh?
What if it was me?
The Pair's Promise
Master, a criminal?
Don't make me laugh, Heine.
Sheesh. Bruni, why are you taking this seriously?
It's a joke. You're supposed to laugh.
What have I done?!
Forgive me! I did not realize it was a joke.
I found out who you really are.
What are we doing today?
If we're all here... A special lesson?
Are we going to town again?
A tabloid article?
"The fallen palace. A criminal has slipped into the palace."
So claims this article.
I would like you to investigate the truth of this claim.
Sounds like a waste of time.
Yeah, I'm pretty busy. I've got a date with some cute girls.
It can't be true. We already know the answer before investigating.
It is true that tabloids are full of lies.
However, assuming everything is a lie
is just as dangerous as believing every rumor is true.
Dangerous?
Say that you have become king, and your successor is born.
If you heard rumors of a criminal inside the palace then, would you laugh it off?
They could be targeting the successor.
If you become king, a single error in judgment could lose you this entire country.
Of course, if Your Highnesses discover it to be mere gossip, that is fine.
Huh? Wait, what about you, Heine?
Are we investigating without you?
I have asked Ludwig and Maximilian to accompany you
if you need to leave the palace, naturally.
I would like Your Highnesses to verify the truth of the matter
and make a judgment yourselves, as candidates for the throne.
That is today's lesson.
Okay, but what exactly do we do?
We'll meet with the person who wrote it.
Huh?
I get it! Asking the writer would be the fastest.
But who wrote it?
There's no name on the article.
I know who wrote the correction article about me.
I'll ask the newspaper company.
Any luck?
He wasn't here.
He was off today?
This is Gregor Klein. He wrote it.
So that's our man.
Right after he wrote it, he quit.
He even moved. They don't know where he is.
Huh? What's going on here?!
I don't know.
The disappearance of someone who wrote gossip about the royal family...
Maybe he quit as penance for writing a rubbish article?
I hope that's the case.
Bruni?
Let's dig deeper. Something about this is nagging at me.
Me, too.
But what do we investigate next?
We'll find Gregor, the article's author.
Gregor's favorite store. His neighborhood.
We interviewed so many people and have nothing to show for it.
I found him!
Truly?!
Apparently he's been going to a local social hall on the outskirts of town a lot lately.
He changed his name to Karl Fischer, but he looks basically the same as in this photo.
They say he ranted about making a fortune at a paper before.
Amazing! How did you find that out?
A popular man has many sources of information.
Why did he change his name?
Kai...
That's Gregor?
So it seems.
Gregor.
You've got the wrong man. Excuse me.
You wrote... my article...
Stop! Let me go!
What do you think you're doing?
We want to talk.
You've got the wrong man. I don't know any Gregor. My name is...
Karl Fischer.
You sell yourself as a businessman who recently came to Glanzreich.
I took the liberty of looking into the bank records.
A bank account with a tidy sum was opened under that name
the day after this article was written, coincidentally.
I don't know what you're on about.
Maybe we should change the carriage's destination.
There's a cemetery deep in the forest, right?
What?
You should know erasing you would be a simple feat with our authority.
Hey, what's "authority"?
We can erase this guy?
Ow!
Ahem.
Tell us everything you know.
Excuse me! To the forest, please!
Okay! I'll talk! But I don't know much.
I was told that I could make a fortune if I wrote an article about the palace.
By whom?
A man I don't know. He approached me on the street at night.
What was he like?
He looked like a gentleman. It was too dark to make out his face.
He gave me money and said the rest would go into an account
under the name Karl Fischer after the article's publication.
Told me to leave town and do as I pleased with it.
You didn't leave?
I've got no place to go.
What about the claim that there is a criminal in the palace?
That's a hoax.
So it was false after all.
Before the current king ascended to the throne,
a criminal caused an incident at the harvest festival.
That criminal is now in the palace. That's what he told me to turn into an article.
Before the king ascended?
Yeah. I wanted the money, so I wrote the story.
But there were no records of it when I looked into it.
You might not believe me, but I do my research.
That article is nonsense!
Shh! Not so loud.
Even we aren't supposed to be in here without the king's permission.
We'll be in big trouble if we get caught.
Huh?
These are the records of all those
imprisoned during the harvest festival prior to Father's coronation.
A journalist could not access these records.
Are we going to look through all of these?
Of course.
Licht, keep quiet.
I'm starving. This is a waste of time.
When we've finished, I'll feed you as much sachertorte as you can eat.
What is it?
Bruno, what was Heine's full name again?
Heine Wittgenstein.
That can't be!
What's the matter?
One Heine Wittgenstein was jailed before Father took the throne.
You're kidding me!
What was the crime?
Bruni?
Abduction and attempted assassination of a prince.
What does this mean?
He tried to kill our father.
The year prior to Father's coronation,
someone was jailed for attempted assassination of the prince...
and it was...
It was Heine?
There's no way that's possible! This must be some kind of mix-up.
There could be two people with the same name!
Why did Master tell us to look into the possibility of a criminal being in the palace?
If it was true, it could be dangerous.
Would he really have us look into it then?
He wouldn't. He would never make us do anything that would put us in harm's way...
Master knew we would be in no danger.
Because the criminal is...
Heine.
I'll ask him about it.
Me, too!
Wait!
Bruno!
Don't let yourself in—
Heine?
At attention!
Huh?
Father. A thousand pardons for stopping you. There is something we wish to ask you.
What's this? No words of appreciation for a king who's just finished his duties?
It's about Heine!
You know something about Heine's past, don't you?
We want to know.
About the professor...
Even if I did know, I could not tell you.
Did Heine Wittgenstein attempt to assassinate you?
I have nothing to tell you.
Father!
Now, it's late. Return to your rooms.
We have to know!
Dad!
Excuse me. A message for you.
Father?
You are dismissed for the day.
Understood.
Sit, my boys.
That's enough working for today.
From this point on, I am not your king, but your father.
Let me tell you a story of the old days...
This was before I ascended to the throne.
I would sneak out of the palace from time to time.
You did?!
Don't do this yourselves.
I wanted to see the lives of the people with my own eyes. To know their thoughts.
I dressed myself as a commoner
and slipped out of the palace.
As long as I returned to my room in time for the patrol, no one would know.
I'll make it cheap today!
Sorry!
Ah! Stop!
What'd we get?
What's this?
I dunno, but I bet we could get a lot for it.
Good evening.
Fancy seeing you again.
Mind returning that?
All right!
Get him!
That's enough.
Give it back to him.
Aw, come on!
It seems really valuable!
I told you not to steal more than you need.
But...
Return it!
Fine.
Take your thing.
You're not from here, are you? Where did you come from?
Stay away from this area.
Don't follow me.
Tsk.
You don't seem like one of us. Are you a runaway?
You could say that.
You live here?
We do. It's not exactly unusual.
Where are your parents? Aren't they worried about you?
What?
Did I say something funny?
None of the kids here have parents. That's obvious.
Even if they did, they'd all be good-for-nothing scoundrels.
You're an interesting one.
Here.
Once you've eaten, go home.
This is a dangerous place for a sheltered, pampered child.
I am not a pampered...
I know I took a bite, but do you want it?
Here.
Thank you!
I was wrong about you.
I'm Heine. Heine Wittgenstein.
Viktor. Just Viktor.
That was how I met Heine.
After that, I would meet Heine every time I snuck into town.
Heine was like the children's leader.
He taught me many things, too.
How to stay fed.
How to find a warm place to sleep.
Everything necessary to get by.
That there was a gap between the rich and poor.
The orphaned children worked together to survive.
I was rocked by the reality of my kingdom.
What is it?
Don't make such a long face. It's almost the harvest festival.
A child bringing wine? That won't do.
I am not a child.
What kind of wine is it?
Dunno.
It's written on the label!
Don't tell me you can't read.
I don't particularly need to.
White wine from Niederglanzreich?
Nieder... glanz... reich.
What?
Take it.
I don't need your charity.
It's not for you. It'll be winter soon.
It's for the little kids to get through the winter.
If you sell it, you can buy blankets and warm clothes.
I don't want to see any dead bodies when I get up in the morning.
I'll trade you for that Niederglanzreich white whine.
This is my favorite.
You're too much of a kid to appreciate it.
Your jokes are terrible.
Thanks.
One day, you'll all have a warm place to sleep,
you'll never want for food, and you'll have equal access to education.
I want to make this a prosperous and peaceful nation.
When that happens, Heine, will you help me?
You say some funny things.
Are you planning on becoming king or something?
Well, if I could live in a dreamland like that, I'd do anything.
Heine was the one and only friend to whom I could open my heart.
Then, on the day of the harvest festival, I slipped out of the palace as I always did.
I didn't know
that the palace was in a panic over my disappearance.
They believed that I had been kidnapped, and leapt into action to find me.
Let's go, Heine.
Huh?
You two! Stop!
This crest...
How did you get this, boy?!
We should run.
The prince?!
That's the kidnapper? Stop!
Stop! Kidnapper!
He's not...
Vik... tor?
Hei... ne...
I-It's his fault! He used the prince as a shield!
That brat used the prince as a shield!
What?!
Vik...
Stop!
Stop...
Heine!
Stop... Heine...
Viktor!
Heine...
Viktor.
Viktor!
Capture him!
Viktor!
I came through, but I was unconscious for days.
Meanwhile,
Heine was jailed for kidnapping and attempted assassination of a prince for material gain.
That was the first time Heine learned of my station as prince.
Heine never defended his innocence. He only prayed.
Please save Viktor. I'll do anything...
I'm sorry it took me so long.
I'm here for you, Heine.
Thank God you're alive...
Your Highness...
I explained the truth to the king, and Heine was pardoned.
Later, I was crowned king.
After a little while, I built a church to shelter orphaned children.
This is an important formula.
Do you understand?
Heine became a teacher for the children there.
Heine, who could not even read or write before,
became a teacher respected by all.
He must have expended unimaginable effort.
And so, I called him to the palace to be the Royal Tutor.
This is the truth.
Why did you tell us? Isn't it a closely-guarded secret?
Of course it is. But unfounded rumors about Heine might begin to circulate.
I wanted you boys to know the truth.
Why would there be unfounded rumors?
I don't intend to make the truth public and neither does Heine.
People will likely come up with fanciful gossip, as with tabloid articles.
Huh? But why won't you and the professor explain?
Because this is a promise I made with Heine.
If his past became public, he would immediately leave the palace without a word.
What?
Heine has resigned from the post of Royal Tutor.
Professor, thank you for everything.
I will never forget your teachings, Master!
This can't be the end, right?
Just you watch, Heine. This is our answer!
Final Episode: The Last Lesson
Final episode, "The Last Lesson"!
Now, you need a lesson!