The Second Prince's Nightmare

Time flew by in the blink of an eye. Three whole weeks had passed since the Archduke's attack and Pirna's confession ambush. Nothing much had happened in the aftermath. I could have asked for nothing more than my usual peaceful routine, but one thing was different now: Pirna sent me a letter every other day, and the Archduke sent one once a week.

The Archduke's letters didn't contain anything special. At the very end, however, they always carried a chilling threat—that since his daughter relied on me so heavily, if I ever made her cry, he'd come find me again and kill me. 'Kid. He must've been really moved.' The mere fact that the Archduke was bothering to send letters with that kind of message proved how deeply the events of that day had touched him. Of course, I hadn't meant anything profound by what I'd said, but since it seemed to have genuinely affected him, I decided to look at it in a positive light.

Pirna's letters, on the other hand, were closer to casual daily conversation. She mostly wrote about how she was doing, and every single one ended with the same line: This heart of mine will not change. At this rate, it looked like I'd be helplessly marching down the aisle someday. Well, I'd cross that bridge when I came to it.

Still, for someone whose days were packed wall-to-wall with magic research, those letters breathed fresh vitality into my life. I was spending my time exactly as I wanted when a letter arrived from the Emperor. I assumed it would be the usual friendly chat, but the contents were anything but ordinary.

"Side effects that bad?"

I scratched my head after reading the letter. It looked like there was an issue with the magic scroll I'd handed the Emperor. I didn't know the exact side effects, but it shouldn't have caused any major problems. The spell didn't carry that kind of risk to begin with, and even at worst, it should only have made the body suffer for a few days—just as I'd warned him. The whole thing felt off in several ways.

'Guess I have to go see for myself.'

It went beyond a simple request from the Emperor; the fact that the magic itself had glitched raised real questions. At least by every rule of common sense I knew, this shouldn't have been possible. Without wasting another second, I headed straight for the imperial palace.

The spatial teleport dropped me right in front of the palace gates. I could have jumped straight inside, but that would have made me look like an intruder, so I first announced my arrival to the Emperor from outside. Only after the guards cleared a path did I step into the palace proper.

As I walked toward the Emperor's location, I mulled it over.

'Problems with the magic, huh...'

In truth, some degree of side effects had always been inevitable. Riel and I had poured two full days of blood, sweat, and tears into creating it. I knew there would be repercussions, but I'd judged them mild enough to engrave the spell onto a scroll and deliver it anyway.

'Did engraving it on the scroll create some unknown side effect I missed?'

Or had some other factor come into play? The only way to know for sure was to see it with my own eyes.

Fortunately, I reached the audience chamber quickly and came face to face with the Emperor. Despite his son's poor condition, His Majesty looked oddly cheerful.

"You came. I knew you would if it was you."

"Of course. When you say there's a problem because of my magic, how could I stay away? So what exactly happened?"

The Emperor stroked his chin thoughtfully at my question.

"Hmm... While the boy was under house arrest, I went and activated the scroll myself. This was three days ago. Afterward, the prince's condition worsened dramatically. It didn't feel like ordinary side effects."

"There were no issues before that?"

"His complexion had been poor for a while, but the physicians insisted nothing was wrong. Even when I examined him personally, I couldn't pinpoint the cause. Would you take a look yourself? The Prime Minister will guide you to his chambers."

"Sure, why not."

I nodded lightly and left the audience chamber. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Prime Minister was already waiting outside. He set off without a word, and I followed. We stopped in front of an ornate door. Instead of speaking, he simply nodded. Taking that as my cue, I threw the door open.

The room was predictably spacious and lavishly furnished—befitting the Second Prince's quarters. But the moment I saw him, I froze.

"What the..."

His complexion was nothing like before. He looked so gaunt it wouldn't have been strange to hear he was at death's door. Dark circles hung like bruises beneath his eyes as he stared at me. Then his pupils suddenly dilated.

"You...!"

"That's awfully informal, you bastard. Looking to get your ass kicked again?"

The short, sharp remark made him flinch. The memory of our previous encounter must have flashed through his mind.

"...Why have you come?"

The ill-mannered prince had finally received a full Korean-style etiquette injection. I nodded in satisfaction.

"Why else? His Imperial Majesty, in all his greatness, called me here to take a look at you."

"..."

"Anyway, I don't have anything fancy planned. Just sit still. I'll handle the examination myself."

I approached the prince. Deep fear swam in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his eyes.

"Don't look so terrified. Close your eyes. Anyone watching would think I was about to beat you."

In truth, if he'd still been acting stiff-necked, I would've considered smacking him a few times. But his current attitude suggested that wouldn't be necessary. The prince carefully shut his eyes, and I poured my magic power into him.

'Hmm.'

Internally, there were no problems. As expected of imperial blood, his basic mana circuits were perfectly intact. If anything, he was healthier than average. There was nothing here that should have caused issues.

'Which means the magic worked fine.'

The side effects were actually milder than I'd anticipated. The scroll had been used three days ago—shorter than the period I'd predicted for any backlash. The fact that his circuits remained this clean suggested the magic itself wasn't the culprit. Something else was at play.

"Hey, open your eyes."

The prince cautiously lifted his eyelids. Tension was written all over his face, as if he feared what I might say.

"Your internal circuits are fine. More than fine—they're perfectly healthy. So now I'm going to ask you some questions. Answer with the truth, as completely as possible. Lying won't bring you any direct harm, but then I won't be able to fix you, which means you lose. Understood?"

"...Yes."

"Good answer."

I looked him over once more before continuing.

"Tell me exactly where it hurts, what symptoms you're experiencing, and when they started. And just to be clear, I'm asking for the painful parts."

"...It started about a month ago. I was confined to my room under house arrest, but one day I began having nightmares."

I frowned.

"Nightmares?"

"...Yes."

"Why didn't you tell the Emperor? Or the physicians? From what I heard, they said there was no problem at all. You hid something this serious for an entire month?"

"...It's because... the content of the nightmares was..."

"Embarrassing to talk about?"

The prince nodded.

"What was it about?"

"..."

"If you don't want to say it, fine."

"It was a dream of spending the night with the woman I love."

"...Well. That can happen."

I accepted it instantly, then suddenly recalled the woman the prince supposedly loved. Her impression had been so strong that the memory surfaced immediately.

"That flower-garden-headed bitch from before, right? The one with the golden hair."

"...Yes."

"You've grown. Last time you threw a tantrum without reading the room. Now you at least know how to keep it hidden."

Even after I openly hurled insults at him, the prince showed no reaction whatsoever. I let out a short laugh.

"Or did those feelings disappear?"

"...Does this have something to do with the magic my father used?"

"Curious?"

"...Yes."

Seeing him nod, I decided to give him the truth.

"That magic scroll? I made it. The Emperor kept complaining that his children were giving him endless headaches, so when he offered to increase the Magic Tower's budget, I whipped it up on the spot. But the current side effects have almost nothing to do with that spell. The real problem is probably the woman you loved so desperately."

"...Are you saying Ermel is the reason I've ended up like this?"

"I don't know the exact details, but it's definitely not completely unrelated. Think about it logically. A month ago was right after you were put under house arrest, wasn't it? Yet suddenly you're having these dreams and your body is deteriorating day by day?"

Looking at the symptoms alone, the first thing that came to mind was a succubus—a dream demon. But...

'It's probably not that.'

If that flower-garden-headed woman were actually a demon, I would've noticed immediately. Other people might miss it, but there was no way a mere dream demon could fool a grand mage's senses. Even though I'd said that to the prince, I suspected it was far more likely that someone else was targeting him while taking advantage of the situation.

The real question was how they could inflict this kind of damage through dreams alone. The imperial palace was protected by magical barriers that went far beyond simple physical defenses. It couldn't have been done from the outside. Which meant it was an inside job.

'Then this won't be hard at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all.'

In cases like this, catching the culprit was actually quite simple. I lightly touched the prince's forehead. Magic power gathered at my fingertips and gently probed his mental system.

'As I thought...'

The fact that he called a dream of spending the night with the woman he loved a "nightmare" told me everything. The nightmare was draining not only his energy but his very life force. As proof, his mental system carried lingering traces of someone else's magic power—neither mine nor his own.

If it had been a dream demon, I should have found demonic energy instead of ordinary magic power. But what I sensed was clearly the mana of a human mage. Rather than erasing the traces, I left them exactly as they were. Removing them might alert the caster.

"Just endure it for one more day."

"...Can you fix this?"

"Yes."

Of course, if the culprit really was someone inside the palace, they would already know I'd arrived and examined the prince. There was a chance they might choose not to interfere. But it didn't matter.

'Either way, the rat's already trapped.'

'Is this because it's a romance-fantasy world?'

As expected of the sacred genre of power struggles, I couldn't help but laugh. I told the prince to get some rest ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and left his chambers.