"Now you understand that appearances can be deceiving, right? Not only can I cook, I'm pretty good at it. I'm busy right now, but once the country settles down, I'll make you all a meal."
The Third Prince promptly replied, "Great. Your mother and I will be waiting for your cooking."
With that, the Third Prince prepared to leave the office hall and take a look around the rear courtyard.
This was how he usually spent his days: chatting with Torikaze, and when he got tired of talking, going to chat with the servants at work.
If that still did not suffice, he would go bother his wife—Ran's mother.
Though every time, he would be beaten black and blue and chased away.
More than a year passed like this. With Torikaze around, he had no say at all in the affairs of the country.
Torikaze handled almost everything, though Torikaze was not like him.
Every time Torikaze finished dealing with matters, he would go over everything with the Third Prince, telling him the country's basic situation and whether it was improving or worsening.
So every day, the Third Prince listened to news about the Land of Whirlpools, yet he could not help with anything.
Eventually, he simply stopped listening altogether. There was no good news anyway; all he ever heard was that the Land of Whirlpools was declining, without the slightest bit of progress.
This made the Third Prince deeply sorrowful, and he grew to hate himself more and more.
He often lay awake in the dead of night, reflecting on the mistakes he had made over the years.
But he did not know where exactly he had gone wrong.
In truth, he simply lacked the ability. He was not as capable as his father, who could both fight to