Reborn as the Enemy Prince - Chapter 16

“The performance has finished.”

Planche sure is a good actor. Giving Itachi a run for his money, huh?

Conjecture:

Planche favors MC’s mother, who passed away, and hates his own manipulative and political mother. Probably partly blames his father and his aristocratic station for MC’s mother’s death. And so, the “dirty blood” is referring to the father’s bloodline rather.

Then perhaps Planche is trying to shield/hide MC away from the attention of both his mother and his other brother. If we look back, Planche never really targets MC aside from disparaging him into being more low-profile and less of a threat to others vying for royal influence. Other than that, the details and timing of his various actions and reactions all seem suspiciously beneficial to the MC. Horse, insult, and so on.

The times that shake Planche from remaining in character are when MC’s growth get noticed by others, especially his mother. Kind of feels like he likes that MC is growing but also worries over him becoming more noticeable. However, if he can put MC in a greatly advantageous position, that could work, too.

And so, with this final display of uncouthness, he can secretly insult his father and push MC into a favorable standing the same breath. The timing and precision feels too perfect to not be deliberate. And at calmness… So with this, “the performance has finished” indeed.

Most-likely, the poison is from the first prince, and the assassin was from Planche’s mother after finding out MC’s potential. She probably panicked and acted in haste, unaware that MC was already being poisoned anyway. Quite possibly MC’s homeland might not be innocent either.

Planche’s mother favors knights, but it was a mage corps (Vulcan) that was under adult Planche in the previous run. Plus the rep of a mad ruler… Maybe, failing to protect MC, he later took out his own elder brother and mother and usurped the throne as revenge. Then, upon hearing of the prospect of rewinding time, he went all out to get it to try and reverse his brother’s (MC) death.

If so, then perhaps Planche won that war, seized the artifact, and was himself the one who used it to reverse time to when his brother was still alive.

I’m really going out on a limb here, but the pieces all fit and the oddities make sense.

Just a theory…