Chapter 269
Chapter 269
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 269
Chapter Title: The Therase Bloodline (2)
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Permission was granted surprisingly easily, but Shirone had anticipated this situation from the start.
The powerful are always free to do as they please. It was the same when the Ogent family risked their lives to relocate the Great Library.
The butlers meticulously categorized the books according to the rules, but in reality, the nobles couldn't have cared less whether a book went missing or not.
Eliza hugged Shirone and kept repeating something, but lost in thought, none of her words registered in his mind.
Suddenly, Eliza remembered something and shot to her feet.
"This won't do. I can't have my first meal with my son dressed like this. Darling, I'm going to change my clothes."
"Go ahead."
Eliza left Shirone and walked to the dressing room. A line of female attendants followed her.
Shirone didn't think clothes were that important for a meal. But just as noble parties had dress codes, it seemed that for royalty, choosing an outfit was as important as finding a son after eighteen years.
After Eliza left, only Orkamp and Shirone remained. An awkward silence, devoid of conversation, followed. Whether he had planned it from the start or simply couldn't bear the awkwardness, Orkamp was the first to speak.
"Shirone... was it?"
"Yes. It's the name my parents gave me."
Shirone emphasized that his parents had given him the name. Orkamp might have had a name for him, but Shirone had no desire to abandon the name Shirone.
"I see. It's a good name."
Contrary to his expectations, Orkamp said nothing more.
The thought occurred to him that perhaps there had never been a name for him in the first place. If so, it meant they had decided to abandon their child while he was still in his mother's womb.
"Do you resent me?"
"I did when I was younger. But now..."
Shirone swallowed the words that were about to follow. To say he was glad to have been born as Vincent's son would have been too rude.
Orkamp, with his characteristic insight, read Shirone's emotions and gave a bitter smile.
"You mean not anymore."
"That's..."
"I know. Royalty may seem glamorous, but it's not a pleasant position. There are many responsibilities, and many things one must give up."
"Like how you gave me up, you mean."
Startled for a moment by Shirone's pointed question, Orkamp quickly regained his composed expression.
"I am sorry. That I couldn't find you..."
Shirone shook his head, cutting Orkamp off.
He didn't want to hear it.
No, in truth, he did. But he was certain the words that would come from the king's mouth would not be the answer he hoped for.
"It's alright. You found me now, after all."
Orkamp could feel Shirone's extraordinariness. Despite living as a commoner for eighteen years, he showed no signs of nervousness within the royal castle of a foreign land. Moreover, he possessed a will strong enough to assert his demands even when facing the king and queen.
*'Indeed... Does blood truly not thin?'*
Having reached that conclusion, Orkamp turned to head to his study to proceed with the next step. Then, realizing Shirone would be left alone, he turned back and asked.
"Dinner will be in thirty minutes. Will you wait here?"
Shirone shook his head. He felt like he would suffocate if he stayed in this room for even another minute.
"No. I'll go out for a bit. May I look around the castle?"
This request was born of pure curiosity, with no ulterior motive. For a mere commoner, or even a noble, to be invited to the royal castle was a great honor. Setting aside the prestige, it was a good opportunity to tour the castle he had been curious about since childhood.
Orkamp readily agreed.
"Of course. You may look around anywhere you wish. This will be your home from now on, after all."
Shirone intended to return to the magic academy. However, it was too soon to bring that up, so he simply expressed his gratitude for Orkamp's kindness and left the room.
Shirone walked down the corridor, his heart fluttering with excitement. Where should he go first? The armory, the bakery, the chapel—anywhere would be fine, but what tempted him most was the gallery, where various works of art were displayed.
Seeing an elderly official standing near a corner of the hallway, Shirone approached him to ask for directions. But before he could say a word, the official bowed his head.
"Lord Shirone, there is someone who wishes to see you."
Shirone's mood soured the moment he heard the official's words.
Normally, he would have complied without complaint, but he was growing tired of the royal family's dogmatic and self-centered way of thinking, and this situation displeased him.
"Later. I want to be alone right now. His Majesty said I could go anywhere I wanted until dinner."
Shirone didn't know the official's rank, but he openly showed his displeasure. Having spoken his mind even to the king, he saw no need to be deferential to a mere official.
But the mysterious official gave a vile smile, as if certain Shirone would have no choice but to obey, and said.
"Of course, that is also an option, but wouldn't it be better to meet them?"
Sensing an unsettling aura from the official's smile, Shirone pushed aside his irritation and regained his composure. It was a clear threat. That made him curious. Dinner was not far off. Was there a reason someone needed to see him so urgently?
"Who is it?"
A sharp glint passed through the official's eyes.
"It is Lord Therase Zion. The first prince of Kazra. For now, of course."
The official emphasized the words "for now." It implied the position of first prince would soon change hands, but for some reason, the nuance seemed to suggest the opposite.
At the name Zion, Shirone became cautious. The faction to be most wary of in the castle was undoubtedly that of Therase. And now, a key figure from that faction had requested a meeting.
Shirone also thought it best to meet him as soon as possible and ascertain what kind of person he was. Knowing his disposition would allow him to roughly predict their movements. Zion had likely sent the official with the same thought in mind.
"Alright, I'll meet him."
"An excellent decision. This way, please."
The official led Shirone toward the eastern wing of the inner palace.
It was where the royal family resided in their apartments, smaller in scale than Orkamp's quarters but just as lavish.
In the hall that divided the wings stood a lion statue reaching to the ceiling, from which four paths extended to the east, west, north, and south.
Twenty meters down the eastern path, a door decorated with gold awaited Shirone. When the official opened it from the outside, an artificial garden with a white marble floor was revealed.
Before entering, Shirone surveyed the interior.
The garden was beautiful, but it was also the perfect setting for a plot. Though it was winter, palm trees that evoked a sense of the south were planted there.
At a table in the center, a pair of siblings younger than Shirone were drinking tea, while on the floor, a sleek black cat and a fluffy white cat were playfully wrestling.
"Lord Zion, I have brought Lord Shirone."
Zion, who had been watching the cats play, heard the official's words and slightly raised his head without turning his gaze.
"Let him in."
At the command, the official gave a smirk and gestured for Shirone to enter.
Shirone lifted his chin and walked in with his back straight.
If he was looked down on from the start, all his strategies would be for naught. The sound of the mysterious official closing the door behind him was strangely eerie.
Walking to the table, Shirone ignored all etiquette and studied the siblings' faces with an intense gaze.
*'So, these are...'*
Therase Zion and Therase Uorin.
The current first prince and princess of Kazra.
They were, of course, Orkamp's children. But they had taken their mother's surname, Therase. The reason was simple: Orkamp had lost the power struggle in their political marriage. The world called it Orkamp's humiliation.
Zion finally turned his head to look up at Shirone. Then, as if finding Shirone's serious expression amusing, he spoke playfully.
"Haha! Don't be so tense. I'm not going to eat you."
Shirone didn't know what Empress Therase of Kashan looked like. But if he removed Orkamp's features from Zion's face, he felt he could vaguely picture the empress's appearance.
He was a beautiful boy with cool-toned silver hair, deep-set double eyelids, and a sharp, cat-like jawline. From that alone, it was easy to guess that Therase's beauty was beyond imagination.
Uorin smiled and welcomed Shirone.
"Hello, I'm Uorin. You're a mage, right? I saw you in a magazine."
The white-furred cat leaped onto Uorin's lap. Shirone couldn't take his eyes off the fourteen-year-old girl as she hugged the cat and stroked its fur.
If Zion's appearance allowed him to infer what Therase looked like, Uorin's presence seemed to starkly reveal what kind of person she was.
She resembled Therase far more than Zion did. No, to be precise, it was as if Orkamp's blood had hardly mixed in her at all.
She was a beautiful girl, with looks that possessed a spiritual mystique that transcended mere beauty.
Shirone had experienced a similar feeling before. He never thought he would feel again, from a human, what he had felt when he first saw Ikael in Heaven.
Uorin lowered her head slightly, then looked up at Shirone with an anxious gaze.
"Why... why are you looking at me like that? We'll be family in a few days. Stares like that are a bit much."
Shirone's face flushed hot.
"No, I wasn't looking at you like that..."
As if that had never happened, Uorin clutched her stomach and laughed.
"Hahaha! I'm just kidding! I heard you were eighteen, but you're quite innocent. Don't just stand there, come over here."
Shirone collected himself and sat in the seat Uorin offered. He had almost lost the initiative, but this was just the beginning.
A servant brought tea, and the real conversation began.
Contrary to his expectation of a fierce psychological battle, Zion was optimistic about the current situation.
It was an attitude only possible for someone who looked down on Shirone.
"If you're not an idiot, you must understand the situation in this castle. And the weight the name Therase carries. I called you here to get this over with cleanly. I don't know what Father was thinking, finding you, but you can't become king anyway. So it'd be best if you didn't walk around with your head held so high."
To so blatantly pressure a candidate for the throne to give up was tantamount to an official declaration of his own ambition for the crown.
Having devoured history books, Shirone was well-versed in how the bloody struggles of royal families unfolded.
This time, however, he was actually grateful for Zion's approach. He had never been interested in the throne to begin with.
"Don't worry. I only came because I was invited. I'll be leaving once this is all over. I have no intention of living here. And no intention of becoming king."
"Hahaha! You talk a good game. That's what cunning bastards usually say before they stab you in the back, right? Just like a despicable mage. Oh, wait! You're not even a mage, are you? A mage-in-training."
Uorin chided Zion.
"Brother, don't be so mean. Shirone had an unfortunate childhood. It's amazing for a commoner to get into a magic academy. Besides, he's considered a very promising talent right now."
Unlike Zion, Uorin was friendly toward Shirone.
But from Shirone's perspective, she felt like a more dangerous element than Zion's blatant hostility.
Uorin was also Therase's daughter. There was no reason for her to be nice to him.
Uorin gave a pretty smile and said.
"Shirone still seems wary of us. It's all my brother's fault. Oh, is it okay if I call you 'brother'?"
Shirone couldn't get used to the atmosphere here.
The Therase siblings were polar opposites, like heaven and hell. Trying to pay attention to both of them at once was tangling his thoughts.
"Well, nothing's been decided for certain yet. Is that alright?"
"Oh, what does it matter? I'll just call you brother. You're older than me, after all. By the way, brother, can you use magic and stuff?"
"Magic? Uh, the basic stuff, sure."
Uorin clapped her hands in delight.
"Wow! How exciting! You have to show me later! Magic is so fascinating every time I see it. How can fire shoot out from your hands?"
Shirone was increasingly overcome by a strange feeling.
He couldn't detect any strategic intent in Uorin's attitude. He even started to think she might just be a kind and innocent girl.
But while that might be true for a girl from the countryside, as the daughter of an empress, her intellect would be superior to others, not inferior.
Suddenly, Shirone noticed something Zion and Uorin had in common.
They feared nothing.
Zion's blatant hostility, and Uorin's inappropriately friendly attitude—both were possible only because they had the immense power of Therase behind them.