Chapter 46
Chapter 46
“…Excalibur?”
Before leaving the Academy, I went to see Alice, who was still lying in her sickbed.
It seemed Elysia had already suggested that she go to Britain, so the conversation was easy.
“There is a holy sword in Britain called Excalibur. You’ve at least heard the name, right?”
“Well, I’ve heard the name at least…….”
“It’s an absolutely indispensable element for the battles to come. We have to obtain it no matter what.”
“And you?”
“I’m going back to the palace for a bit. That damn father called for me.”
“…You’re telling me to go to Britain alone?”
At the sound of me returning to the palace, Alice looked at me with wide-open eyes.
Was it really that surprising?
“I’ll go to the palace and then join you directly in Britain. We’ll be using teleportation anyway, so at most it’ll take about three days.”
“Still…….”
But Alice wore a sulky expression, as if something didn’t sit right with her.
“You’re going with familiar faces anyway. It’s not like you’re some one- or two-year-old kid.”
“…Don’t say things like that.”
Mid-sentence, Alice shut her mouth.
Then she looked at me with narrowed, sullen eyes.
“Whatever.”
She finally understood now, I guess.
Once before, I had told her that she held the most important place in my future.
Alice had blushed and told me to stop saying pointless things, but no matter what, the fact that she was the most important person in this world to me hadn’t changed.
“If you don’t come quickly, I’ll go look for you at the Imperial Palace.”
“Please refrain from that.”
At Alice’s words, I let out a bitter smile.
It was still a little early for her to come to the Imperial Palace.
If something went wrong, she could draw unnecessary attention.
With the times being peaceful as they were now, it was better to wait.
After wrapping up the conversation roughly, I left the Academy right away.
Elysia said that since Alice hadn’t fully recovered yet, they planned to move to Britain in time with her discharge.
Unless something unexpected happened, matching the schedule didn’t seem difficult.
Before arriving at the Magic Tower, I first returned my hair color to its original state.
I had taken off the Academy uniform long ago.
When I entered the Magic Tower dressed neatly enough, the magician at the counter greeted me.
“Welcome to the White Night Magic Tower.”
“I’d like to use teleportation.”
When I took out and showed a pure white token with no decorations from my pocket, the magician sucked in a breath and hurriedly bowed deeply.
Then, in a trembling voice, he spoke.
“We thank you for visiting our Magic Tower, noble one of exalted bloodline. We will prepare the teleportation immediately. Until then, please rest comfortably in the royal room supported by our Magic Tower.”
Watching him spew words like a rapid-fire gun while bent at the waist, a strange sense of superiority filled one corner of my chest.
‘Power really is nice.’
With just the Ribera bloodline, there was nowhere in this empire where one would be treated with contempt.
Ah, except for the Imperial Palace.
That place was crawling with beasts.
After waiting about five minutes in the royal room the magician guided me to, I was told that the teleportation preparations were complete, and I stood up from my seat.
The Imperial Palace and Bayern Academy were both located in the capital, but they occupied different districts.
Going by carriage would take at least three hours, so using teleportation was more efficient.
Since it didn’t cost money anyway, there was no reason to refuse.
“Then, we will transmit you.”
Aside from the Emperor, using teleportation inside the Imperial Palace was forbidden.
That applied to princes as well, so others usually used the teleportation zone directly adjacent to the palace.
As I closed my eyes to the magician’s voice chanting the teleportation spell, a slight floating sensation came over me along with a change in the smell of the air.
When I slowly opened my eyes, the familiar scenery of the Imperial Palace came into view, and someone who had been waiting nearby greeted me in a respectful voice.
“We sincerely welcome Your Highness’s return.”
A magician whose name I didn’t know bowed politely.
When I lightly waved my hand, he withdrew, and I stepped forward with a dignified stride.
Despite it being a long-awaited procession, everyone I encountered bowed their heads and lowered themselves.
Some nobles I occasionally met rubbed their eyes, wearing expressions of disbelief that it was really Leios.
Whenever I glared at such fellows just a little, they flinched and hurriedly bowed again, which was endlessly amusing.
My meeting with the Emperor would be tomorrow.
Today, I planned to rest properly in my palace for the first time in a while.
A strange sense of déjà vu, like returning home after several months, welcomed me.
As I approached the entrance of my palace, I could see a long line of people standing there.
“Your Highness!”
At the very front, Parsi greeted me with a bright smile.
Behind her, the knights guarding my palace and the servants lined up to celebrate my return.
It was clearly a formal event that didn’t feel particularly sincere, but since they were faces I hadn’t seen in a long time, I felt a sense of familiarity.
“Let’s go in. The rest of you, return to your duties.”
At my words, everyone except Parsi dispersed like the ebbing tide.
The head chef was going to have a hard time today.
The food at Bayern Academy hadn’t been bad, but it couldn’t compare to the Imperial Palace.
I planned to overeat today.
“Have you been well?”
Seeing Parsi’s face trotting along beside me filled me with joy.
She looked at me, broke into a shy smile, and said she had missed me because I hadn’t been around.
“For someone who missed me, your skin looks pretty radiant.”
When I teased her, asking if she’d spent her days eating and playing, she smiled bashfully, as if she felt a bit called out.
Thinking about how she must have guarded my palace in loneliness all that time made me feel a little sorry.
Even when I’d been suddenly dragged off by the Sword Saint, I could only convey things through letters, and after that, with the Academy and everything else, I hadn’t been able to visit.
‘It’s all going to turn into pandemonium before long anyway, so once I secure my footing, I should pull her out quickly.’
“It feels like Your Highness has changed a bit.”
On the way back to my room, she looked at me and tilted her head.
When she said my expressions and actions seemed more relaxed than before, a smile naturally formed on my face.
“I can’t keep living my life causing trouble for everyone around me forever.”
“I’d welcome Your Highness anytime, though.”
Even if it was flattery, it was pleasant to hear.
When I arrived at my room, the exact same scenery as before greeted me.
When I opened the safe under the desk, the original story I had written before and Tyrfing’s dormant true body were safely in place.
“Your Highness, I heard there was some major incident. Are you all right?”
“A major incident? Ah.”
It seemed rumors about August had subtly spread even within the palace.
Well, it was no small matter for an imperial prince to have colluded with demons.
If the story had reached even the Holy Kingdom, they would have caused an uproar, saying they’d come immediately to carry out a heresy trial with maces in hand.
Fanatics didn’t know how to bend, even before an empire.
‘Oh?’
A good idea suddenly came to mind.
The empire would soon go to war with several neighboring countries.
But since the difference in overall power was so large, it would take quite some time before it led to fragmentation.
In that case, if I were to leak information about August to the Holy Kingdom, wouldn’t it accelerate that fragmentation?
Thinking it wasn’t a bad idea, I briefly recorded it at the edge of the parchment, then stored everything from the safe into my subspace pouch.
Unless something extraordinary happened, I probably wouldn’t return to the Imperial Palace after this.
Preparations to solidify the foundation of my own power were nearly complete, and once I stood out, Carius or Darius would tighten the noose around my neck.
There was no need to stick my face into the jaws of a tiger.
After finishing the lavish lunch Parsi had prepared, I threw myself onto the bed.
I wanted to sleep soundly for a long time, but after the recent dungeon incident, spending time lazily felt a bit unsettling.
I considered training, but that was something I could do anywhere.
When I thought about what I could only do here, something suitable came to mind.
“I’ll be back in a bit.”
Leaving Parsi behind as she cleaned up after the meal, I hurried out of the room.
The Ribera Empire didn’t operate its own Magic Tower.
Instead, it formed partnerships with Magic Towers located throughout the empire to strengthen those relationships, and the White Night Magic Tower was one of the representative ones.
True to the saying that you trained with money, the Imperial Palace Magic Tower was extravagant even from the outside.
When I slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside, the magicians in the lobby stared at me blankly.
“What are you staring at?”
When I spoke to them with a grin, they finally seemed to realize who I was and began moving about in a fluster.
Some ran deeper inside, while others approached me, bowing with silly smiles.
“We sincerely thank you for your visit, Your Highness. But may we ask what brings you here……?”
There was none of the old disdain or neglect.
I wasn’t wearing the Curse of the Veil now, and I wasn’t hiding my presence, letting it pour out unfiltered.
Because of that, magicians sensitive to mana would be able to perceive my power more clearly than anyone.
“Where is the court mage?”
“By ‘court mage,’ whom exactly do you mean……?”
“You know, the old man who treated me when I almost got poisoned to death.”
“Ah…….”
When I brought up the poisoning incident, his face turned slightly pale.
Assassinating a member of the imperial family was a crime that wiped out three generations.
Fearing the trouble might spread to him, he hurriedly bowed and spoke.
“You are referring to Court Mage Arasen. I will bring you to him immediately. You there, go ahead and inform him first.”
So his name was Arasen.
He was a character I hadn’t seen in the original story.
His room was on the third floor.
Riding the lift and reaching it with the magician, an even more splendid scene than the lower floors greeted me.
Platinum had been plastered everywhere, glittering to the point it made my eyes hurt.
“This is the place.”
We arrived in front of an antique door with gilded edges.
He soon opened it, and I slowly stepped inside.
“Ho.”
Unlike the gaudy scenery of the Magic Tower outside, the room was simple to the point of being plain.
All four walls were filled with bookshelves, and the desk was piled high with unorganized parchment.
And at the center, an old man with a familiar face looked at me and bowed his head.
“Your Highness, how did you come to such a shabby place. If you had notified us in advance…….”
He looked quite flustered, as if he had never imagined I would come personally.
I waved my hand to the magician who had guided me, telling him that was enough, and plopped down onto an empty sofa.
“Formalities are unnecessary. It’s my fault for coming so suddenly.”
“Heh heh…….”
Arasen stroked his beard with a rather unsettled expression.
After seeing the Magic Tower’s garish splendor just moments ago, coming into this room made my favor toward him skyrocket.
If I had to compare, Chris’s room had been like this too.
A mage who pursued magic itself rather than being soaked in gold.
Indeed, my choice to come here had not been in vain.
“First, though it’s quite late, I wanted to say thank you.”
“Y-Your Highness…….”
I lightly bowed my head to him.
Considering the weight carried by the name of the imperial family, it was something that should never happen, but who cared.
Thanks to him, I had escaped death’s door, so this was nothing.
“Heh heh…….”
He let out another hollow laugh.
The contrast between my public image and how I was now seemed to leave him rather bewildered.
“Let’s get to the point without beating around the bush. One reason I came here was to express my gratitude to you, but there was also something I wanted to ask.”
“…I’m sorry, but I cannot speak about the poisoning incident. His Majesty the Emperor has placed a silence order on it.”
“I’m not interested in that kind of thing. What I want to know is about this.”
I took something out of my subspace pouch and placed it on the desk.
A thin, fluttering inner garment so transparent you could see through it.
Arasen’s eyes widened dramatically as he looked at the Blessing of Invisibility.