Chapter 160 : Chapter 160
Chapter 160. The Third Empress’s Villa Party (2)
There was no way the Third Empress hadn’t noticed the commotion.
“Let him in.”
Celiana gestured gracefully.
Seeing her signal, the guards allowed the Second Prince to enter.
Having finally made it inside the villa, the Second Prince,Arteo Kudente Cretian,greeted Celiana with a confident posture.
“It has been some time, Your Majesty. Thank you for allowing me in despite my lack of invitation, but I believe I must take my younger sister and leave now.”
“Oh my, whatever do you mean?”
Celiana smiled as she covered her mouth with her fan.
“Since you’ve come all this way to my party, I’d like you to enjoy it a little. It’s been a while since we last met, so it would be a shame if the Second Prince were to leave so soon.”
In effect, she was telling him to stay a while longer.
With Celiana, the host of the party, saying as much, Arteo had no choice but to comply.
He had already displayed more than enough rudeness and couldn’t afford to be any more discourteous.
‘But I had no choice!’
The Second Prince, Arteo, bit his lip as he endured the gazes fixed upon him.
This place was, so to speak, enemy territory.
His younger sister, Shartea, had recklessly stepped right into the heart of the enemy alone.
When he heard that Shartea was staying in the Eighth Prince’s domain, he’d been utterly shocked.
The Seventh Princess and the Eighth Prince were both enemies.
What on earth was his sister trusting to come here?
Suppressing the frustration boiling inside him, Arteo searched for his sister. Just then, he spotted Shartea talking with someone off to the side.
“Tea!”
The moment Arteo found her, he hurried over.
And then he froze in surprise. The person Shartea was chatting with so familiarly was none other than the Eighth Prince.
“Tea, you,what are you doing here?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m in the middle of a conversation.”
As Arteo went over and pressed Shartea, the Eighth Prince offered him a polite greeting.
“It’s been a while, Arteo-nim.”
But in Arteo’s eyes, even Radel’s greeting looked contemptible.
A filthy lucky bastard who’d survived no matter how many assassins were sent to kill him.
“Did you invite Tea to this backwater domain?”
“Ah, that is,”
As Radel tried to respond, Arteo abruptly turned his head away.
His attitude clearly said he didn’t even want to hear the answer. And Shartea wasn’t the type to let that slide.
“Tea, this is enough. Why are you associating with people like them? Let’s leave this tacky domain at once.”
“…Tacky?”
Shartea’s voice dropped.
“Yes. If this place isn’t tacky, then what is? Do you know how worried I was the entire way here? Whether you were sleeping well in this barren place, eating properly,I thought of nothing but you.”
“Worried? Is this really behavior born of concern for me?”
Shartea’s expression was growing colder by the second.
But Arteo failed to notice the change and kept going.
“Of course it is. Honestly, I wouldn’t have the confidence to stay even a single day in a place like this. It’s utterly unbefitting of noble royalty. Stop making things difficult for me and let’s go.”
“You’re the one making things difficult for me!”
Shartea finally exploded.
“Do you have any idea how difficult you’re making things for me right now? Is this what you call noble royalty? You barge into a party you weren’t invited to, insult the domain, look down on it,how far do you plan to go!”
At Shartea’s sharp retort, the Second Prince tried to calm her, flustered.
“I’m only worried about you,!”
“Worried? If you truly cared about me, you wouldn’t act like this! No dignity, no manners… I’m truly disappointed in you, Brother!”
At her words, the Second Prince’s face crumpled as if his world had collapsed, his hands trembling.
Watching from the side, Inette whispered to Radel.
“What is wrong with him, seriously? If it were me, I’d hate a brother who acts like Mom that much too.”
It was the first time she’d seen a fight between the Second Prince and the Third Princess, but she could roughly grasp the situation.
And then, as if he’d heard her, the Second Prince shot a glare in their direction.
Inette quickly averted her eyes and pretended nothing was happening.
***
After the sibling quarrel at the party, the Second Prince disappeared somewhere.
Shartea, on the other hand, seemed completely unfazed by his absence.
The party atmosphere dipped briefly, but watching a fight was entertaining in its own way.
After that, the party only grew livelier.
The Third Empress, in particular, seemed to be enjoying herself the most.
“Families fight sometimes. That’s just how it is.”
The musicians invited by the Third Empress played gentle music, and the villa’s main hall,now transformed into a party venue,was neatly arranged with mouthwatering dishes.
Radel spotted Isan Rau filling a plate and walked over.
“You came to the party, Senior.”
“The Empress sent me an invitation as well. It seems all of the lord’s guests were invited.”
Though he didn’t seem like the type to enjoy parties, Isan Rau appeared to be having a decent time.
He said it was a change of pace after leaving the laboratory for the first time in a while.
“Thanks to the pills you gave me before, I was able to purify the great spirit that appeared in the lake. The saddle was also a huge help.”
“I heard about it. That sort of thing depends on how it’s used, so there’s no need to thank me.”
After asking about the amount of contaminated water and the time it took to purify it, Isan Rau pulled out a notebook and jotted things down.
He truly was the model of a researcher.
“I’ve done as much research as I wanted, and it won’t be long before I return to the Academy. I’m the one who should be grateful. Would it be all right if I came back occasionally to research?”
“Of course, Senior. I’ll keep the lab open for you.”
At Radel’s reply, Isan Rau grinned.
“We’ll probably meet again at the Academy soon. Are your preparations for the new term going well?”
“Preparations? Is there anything special I need to prepare?”
There hadn’t been any vacation homework.
Wondering if he’d missed something, Radel asked.
“You’ll need to choose your major soon.”
“Ah, I did hear that we choose our major in the second semester of the first year.”
Choosing a major.
For Isan Rau, a research-year student, that had been more than five years ago.
Even after choosing a major, it wasn’t impossible to change it in the second or third year.
But usually, people stuck with their first choice until graduation.
“Now that I think about it, there’s something I’d like to ask you, Senior.”
“What is it?”
“As far as I know, there’s no magic tool crafting major among the first-year options. But you,”
“You’re wondering how I was able to major in magic tool crafting, right?”
Radel nodded.
Isan Rau answered readily.
“You could say it’s an advanced specialization in alchemy. You need alchemy as a foundation, along with magic circles, herbology, and materials science.”
“Then you chose alchemy at first?”
“That’s one way to put it.”
Whether he chose it or was chosen by it was debatable.
Recalling his advisor, Professor Kaelin, Isan Rau continued.
“Have you decided on a major yet?”
“No, not yet.”
In that case, you’re in for quite a bit of trouble.
Watching the junior who still knew nothing, Isan Rau sensed that something entertaining was bound to happen.
Professors wouldn’t just leave such a mouthwatering talent alone.
But that, too, was part of the charm of Academy life.
“In any case, there are many advanced specializations besides magic tool crafting, so be sure to look into them carefully.”
Listening to Isan Rau’s advice, Radel began to feel that his return to the Academy was approaching.
Running the domain wasn’t easy.
Yet strangely, thinking about the Academy felt even more daunting.
Maybe it was because the vacation was ending.
It was a feeling hard to put into words.
***
Radel stepped out onto the balcony with a drink, partly to get some fresh air.
And there, to his surprise, was someone unexpected.
The Second Prince stood alone on the balcony, sipping his drink despondently.
It looked like the shock of being rejected by Shartea hadn’t faded yet.
Radel considered leaving him alone, but instead approached him.
“What is it? Did you come to warn me?”
Noticing Radel’s approach, the Second Prince asked sharply.
“Or did you come to mock me?”
“Why would I mock you? My relationship with my own siblings isn’t great either.”
Radel replied casually and stood beside the Second Prince, looking out at the view.
Before them stretched the scenery of Ravidel Lake.
Seeing Radel’s relaxed demeanor, the Second Prince felt a surge of anger.
Even among full siblings, how could a brother who genuinely wanted to kill you be the same as a beloved younger sister you treasured beyond measure?
“My relationship with Tea is nothing like yours. Don’t dare compare them…!”
But he soon let out a sigh.
“Enough. We did fight, after all. I ended up showing an ugly family quarrel.”
“We’re from the same family too, you know.”
This bastard?
The Second Prince found Radel increasingly irritating for constantly trying to form some sense of kinship with him.
He truly was a contemptible fellow.
Perhaps it was a whim.
The Second Prince, Arteo, suddenly felt like speaking his mind.
“I find you contemptible. You know that, don’t you?”
But Radel genuinely hadn’t known.
He knew the Second Prince wanted to kill him, but he’d never thought it stemmed from personal feelings.
“No? I had no idea. You find me contemptible?”
“…That right there is what’s contemptible.”
Arteo ground his teeth at Radel’s reaction.
“Don’t misunderstand. Royals can never truly get along. There’s only one person who can become Emperor. Yet you act as if you’ve forgotten that, shamelessly cozying up to my sister and trying to win her over.”
Radel was inwardly taken aback by those words.
Acting shamelessly and trying to win her over…
It seemed the Second Prince was mistaking Radel for some imaginary person.
“Shartea may be starting to trust you, but I am not. To me, you are a target that must be eliminated,nothing more, nothing less.”
“You’re quite honest.”
The Second Prince twisted his lips upward slightly.
A faint sneer appeared on his face.
“You still don’t understand why I’m telling you this. It means I have no need to put on an act in front of you.”
In other words, Radel was so insignificant that there was no need to be cautious around him.
That much, Radel understood.
Still, it was better to seem insignificant than threatening.
That way, others might lower their guard,and compared to other royals, Radel’s power base really was weak.
“Even so, it feels like we’ve grown a bit closer.”
“…You really are a contemptible bastard.”
The Second Prince shook his head in disgust.
He had seen many royals, but never one quite like this.