Chapter 90
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 90
Finding the throne room was not difficult.
Perhaps out of consideration for the officials, a path had been cleared directly to the heart of the White Palace.
Upon reaching the center, Lucian took a short breath and opened the doors without hesitation.
Creeeak.
The doors, which had not been opened for nearly a thousand years, glided apart as smoothly as if they had been freshly greased.
Stepping cautiously through the unexpectedly easy opening, his feet met a plush red carpet.
Lucian followed the line of the carpet with his eyes until he finally found what he was looking for.
There it is.
At the end of the crimson rug stood a throne of pure white, looking as though it were carved from white jade. Lucian marched toward it without a second thought.
The moment he climbed the dais and gripped the armrest, a strange, indescribable sensation washed over his entire body.
Wooooom.
"My Lord!"
"I am fine."
Lucian raised a hand to stop Felicia as she rushed toward him. The throne was merely resonating in response to his blood; there was no other abnormality.
He said it was beneath the throne.
Recalling his maternal grandfather’s journal, Lucian knelt on one knee and examined the base of the seat.
However, no matter how thoroughly he searched the area, he couldn't find anything resembling a keyhole.
On a whim, Lucian pulled the key from his breast pocket and held it against the underside of the throne.
Shwaaaaa!
"As I thought!"
Just as it had in the basement of his grandfather’s manor, the throne emitted a brilliant light in response to the key.
Seeing the light travel up to his wrist, it was clear that both the key and the bloodline of its owner were required.
Slid—
A moment later, as the light faded, a small, hidden staircase revealed itself. It opened so silently that one wouldn't have even known it happened without seeing it with their own eyes.
The doors, and now this secret passage... how do they open so easily?
Nothing here had been maintained for a thousand years, yet the mechanisms were smoother than the rustle of silk.
His eyes sparkled with curiosity regarding this ancient technology, but confirming the legacy came first.
As Lucian moved to enter first, Felicia stepped ahead of him with a firm expression.
"My Lord, I will go in first."
"There shouldn't be any danger at this point, so there's no need to—"
"I will go in first."
Felicia spoke with a finality that brooked no argument. Lucian found himself nodding instinctively at her determination.
Overprotective as always.
A bitter smile tugged at his lips, but it wasn't a bad feeling. It simply meant he commanded that much fervent loyalty from his retainer.
Felicia descended the stairs first, pulling oil paper and flint from her pouch.
"It is dark, so we will need a torch. Please wait a moment—!?"
Flash!
Before Felicia could finish her sentence, a bright light erupted from all directions.
Both of them instinctively reached for their waists, but they soon realized the light was merely illumination.
After confirming the source of the light, Lucian muttered blankly.
"Glowing spheres?"
Round objects were embedded everywhere, casting a soft glow throughout the interior.
As he examined the shape of the lights, Lucian narrowed his eyes.
"So this is what the House of Calix dug up. They weren't just trying to get rid of the light; they took them because the lamps themselves are precious artifacts."
"Pardon? You mean Calix dared to steal Grimaldi’s legacy...!"
"They probably thought it was fine since these weren't public assets, but items hidden in a secret basement."
Not only had they used the Grimaldi name as a pretext, but they had also been secretly siphoning off wealth.
They really did it all.
He had intended to settle for their submission if they avoided physical conflict, but seeing their conduct, it seemed he needed to utterly crush them, regardless of whether they resisted or not.
Just as Lucian and Felicia’s eyes were adjusting to the bright light...
"M-My Lord. Over there...!"
Felicia pointed toward one side with a look of shock.
Lucian’s jaw dropped as he took in the impossible sight before him.
"Herbs?"
This was a basement where the only light came from artifacts—no sunlight, no fertilizer.
And yet, the basement was filled with all kinds of herbs.
There were leaves of bizarre colors, multicolored flower buds, and various saplings.
"How is this possible in a place with no nutrients...?"
Whirr.
As they approached the herbs, the lights that had been dimmed flickered to full brightness. It seemed the system was designed to react to human presence.
As the area brightened, things other than herbs began to reveal themselves.
Various metal ingots, numerous smelting tools, all sorts of gems and gold coins, and perfectly preserved books.
Everything was a marvel, but the most striking sight was the armory.
"My god..."
Instead of the speechless Lucian, Felicia whispered as if stifling a scream.
Lined up in the basement were 1,000 sets of equipment, enough to fully arm a thousand knights.
Lucian pulled out one of the suits of armor and stroked it carefully.
The gear, which didn't have a speck of dust on it, shimmered with a subtle light at his touch.
Looking closely, he saw all sorts of runes engraved in places that weren't easily visible from the outside.
It’s definitely the same type of equipment used by the Red Wing Knights. I don't know what kind of magic is imbued in it, though.
But if they had mass-produced identical armor and weapons like this, they must have been made with war in mind.
The magic within the gear likely amplified its power several times over if activated by many people at once.
This is a jackpot.
He had thought he couldn't ask for more if he had even 200 sets of this kind of equipment.
But to think there were over 1,000.
What would happen if an entire force of a thousand men equipped this gear and activated the engraved magic?
If he could recreate the divine might the Red Wing Knights had shown—even temporarily—with several times their number...
If Lucian led those thousand men to crush the enemy head-on...
Just imagining it sent a thrill of pleasure up his spine.
Just then, Felicia approached Lucian with several books in her arms.
"My Lord, I have looked through a few of the books, but..."
"Did you find anything out?"
"I apologize. They are all written in the ancient language, so I could not decipher them."
"Really? Give them here, I'll read them."
"You have mastered the ancient language as well!?"
Felicia cried out in surprise at Lucian’s casual attitude.
While the ancient language was considered a part of a noble's education, it was so difficult that very few could actually use it.
And yet, at the age of sixteen, he could read it perfectly.
"Well, I happened to learn it properly."
"You are truly incredible!"
Lucian subtly avoided Felicia’s sparkling gaze.
He was acting like a genius, but in truth, he had barely mastered the ancient language through blood-vomiting effort in his past life.
Back in my mercenary days, whenever things went south during negotiations, they’d start babbling to each other in the ancient language.
He remembered how shocked he’d been when they’d suddenly attack after exchanging opinions amongst themselves.
Since that happened repeatedly, he’d had no choice but to learn it for his life's sake, despite being a lowly mercenary.
Fortunately, the teacher he’d hired had been skilled and decent, allowing him to receive a proper education.
To think he would use that ancient language here again.
Life really is unpredictable.
With a smirk, Lucian opened a book written in the ancient language.
As he confirmed the contents, Lucian froze on the spot.
"The method for crafting magical artifacts...!"
The book contained the technology to recreate magical artifacts in the modern era—items that had been lost to time long ago.
The contents of the books weren't limited to crafting magical artifacts.
From the production of reagents needed for magic to the smelting methods for armaments that were now extinct.
Every single piece of knowledge was enough to shake the world, but there was one serious drawback.
Magic is indispensable for crafting any of this. No, even before that, it’ll be hard to fully interpret these books unless one is a mage.
Even if he could read the ancient language, he didn't know all the specialized magical terminology.
In contrast, these books were filled with words that required a certain level of magical knowledge to interpret.
It will be difficult to properly utilize this knowledge unless I bring mages under my command.
Lucian licked his lips in regret and closed the book.
In any case, he was in a situation where he had to refrain from building up his strength while the Emperor’s eyes were fixed on him.
When the age of chaos arrived, the Emperor’s surveillance would naturally weaken and mages would emerge, so the problem would likely resolve itself if he waited.
Until then, those 1,000 sets of equipment will be more than enough.
Having finished a rough inspection, Lucian left the treasury with Felicia.
As soon as the two of them exited, the entrance closed as silently as it had opened.
Lucian had achieved his goal and was heading toward the entrance with Felicia to check the situation outside when...
"My Lord, a troublesome matter has arisen."
"Troublesome?"
Lucian tilted his head at Raymond’s troubled expression.
The important business was already finished; what could possibly be troublesome?
"Did the pilgrims and the garrison clash or something?"
"It's not that. Some brat is stubbornly insisting on an audience with you, and it's difficult to refuse him..."
"Who is he?"
"The second son of Viscount Harald."
"..."
Lucian was momentarily speechless at the appearance of an unexpected figure.
Wait, shouldn't that guy be in the middle of successor training under Harald right now? Why was he here?
"...If he's the son of a Viscount, we can't just ignore him. Let's hear what he has to say."
"You just told the pilgrims you would tour the White Palace alone. Is it alright to let that man inside now?"
"There's no need to take him all the way to the empty throne. We don't have to bring him inside; we can just talk right here. I'm also mindful of Sir Glen’s gaze."
Glen knew that Harald and Lucian had formed a tight bond in the North.
Since they had a connection, it wouldn't seem strange at all even if he spoke with the Viscount's second son.
On the contrary, whispering in secret as if they had something to hide was more likely to arouse unnecessary suspicion.
"Bring him here for now. I need to ask him why he's here instead of with his father."
"Understood."
Upon receiving the order, Raymond went toward the gate for a moment and returned with someone.
Lucian’s eyebrows twitched when he saw the person’s face.
"So the second son of Viscount Harald was you?"
"We meet again, Your Highness. I am Thorkel Osgor."
The man grinning broadly was the very same young man who had shouted for Lucian to ascend the throne earlier.
Letting out a dry laugh, Lucian sat down on the steps and looked at Thorkel.
"I have much I want to say, but I'll ask the thing I'm most curious about first. Why did you come here instead of going to your father?"
"I did go once. I just ran away again."
"What?"
"At first, I heard my older brother had done something stupid, so I went back because I felt I had no choice. But then, my father told me about you, Your Highness."
The rightful heir of Grimaldi and the master of Asagrim.
A man who held the trust of the Imperial Family yet possessed the ambition to take the throne.
A monster who, at the age of sixteen, had defeated even Harald in a head-on confrontation while the latter was using a relic.
"I simply couldn't believe it. So I ran out to see for myself. I figured Your Highness would stop by the former Duke's territory once, so I thought I could just head straight for Asagrim."
Thorkel shrugged, saying that his intuition had turned out to be correct.
Hearing the reason, Lucian looked at Thorkel with a bewildered face.
"So you ran away just to see my face a bit sooner?"
"Yes."
"Even though you would have had plenty of chances to meet me if you stayed with your father?"
At those words, Thorkel shook his head as if the situation were entirely different.
"Then it's obvious my father would have made me the acting lord and tried to serve you himself. I had to run away before that so I could be the one to assist you directly."
"..."