Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: The Magic Towers' Arrival
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Empress Josephine's face flushed red.
"How dare you kneel to that incompetent crown prince? And you call yourself a knight in service to the 3rd Prince?"
"I-I'm sorry, Your Majesty."
Golden Knight Captain Alberto bowed his head.
His pinky finger, healed with holy power, still tingled.
But his face wore an expression that said he'd seen this coming.
'I wondered when she'd bring it up.'
She must have woken up stewing over yesterday's events.
But if she'd planned to reprimand him for kneeling, she would've summoned him last night to chew him out.
'It's because of Lady Isabella.'
Lady Isabella of the House of Versailles Countess.
Right now, instead of returning to her family, she was blatantly staying behind, enjoying tea time with Crown Prince Reinhardt in the palace garden.
Upon hearing the news, Empress Josephine had no choice but to fly into a rage.
Unwarranted venting of her anger.
And he had become the target.
"Isn't it because of you that the lady of the House of Versailles Countess is showing interest in that incompetent crown prince?"
In high society, Isabella was unique and infamous.
An unbreakable flower, a haughty rose.
Just as her appearance suggested, she'd received advances from countless high-ranking noble houses, but she was famous for coldly rejecting every single one.
And in that process, it became known that she despised empty formalities and pretenses.
The plan to use Isabella's personality to humiliate the crown prince had gone up in smoke.
Empress Josephine bit her finger.
'Has the mania been cured? No, that can't be. She's definitely still taking the medicine...'
A drug that further induced mania.
As long as she kept taking it steadily, the mania wouldn't be easy to cure.
But if he was going out and enjoying tea time without issue, it wasn't the same as before, where he'd completely lost his mind.
'I can't let His Majesty take interest in him again.'
As the mania worsened, the emperor's attention had drifted away from the crown prince.
Even when the crown prince had secluded himself in the palace for half a year, he hadn't visited once.
The marriage talks with the House of Versailles Countess had only been approved reluctantly under pressure from the nobles. The empress had thrown her weight behind it as well.
Yet the situation had turned out completely different from what the empress had hoped.
It had only been one day.
How on earth had that stubborn Isabella, unmoved by authority, taken a liking to something about the crown prince to stick around?
Or was she just pretending to be obedient because he was still the 'crown prince' after all?
'So the rumors were wrong. Isabella's a vixen too. All that haughty pretense was just an act. What a loathsome wench.'
Rumors really couldn't be trusted after all.
Just like the daughters of every noble house, she was clearly just looking for the man who would value her the most.
"Y-Your Majesty."
"Silence. You don't even have the right to speak."
"......"
Alberto shut his mouth.
He'd tried to speak about the crown prince's skills and the mania, but he'd been shut down preemptively.
That it wasn't an act.
That the crown prince might be hiding his true abilities.
"Hmph. Today is the day the Tower of Light sends their people. The day my son, Carmen, displays his shining talent."
Regardless, the empress shrugged her shoulders.
Today was the day the Tower of Light would send their representatives.
A glorious day when many nobles gathered to witness and celebrate 3rd Prince Carmen's growth.
'His Majesty will be there too. I need to make a definite impression.'
And the emperor would be in attendance as well.
***
"Your Highness, are you sure it's all right for me to be here like this?"
Isabella stared piercingly at her teacup before looking at Crown Prince Reinhardt with difficulty.
She was supposed to leave today, but she still hadn't departed the imperial palace.
And she couldn't understand why she had to be here right now.
—Let's call off this engagement. Consider it never happened.
At lunch, the crown prince had stated his true intentions.
She'd thought it was a relief deep down.
She'd already been planning a polite refusal, so if the crown prince didn't want her, it was the best possible outcome.
It'stung her pride a little, but she'd let it go.
The problem came next.
—In exchange, I hope you'll play along with me for just 'three days.'
He wanted her to stay in the palace for three days and have tea with him.
If the engagement was off, she should naturally leave.
But the crown prince wanted her to stay.
—Of course, you get something out of it too, so I'll become your 'friend.'
Even more absurd was how he acted like becoming her friend was some tremendous honor.
It was exasperating, but she couldn't ignore the crown prince's words.
'Fine. Just endure three days, Isabella.'
No matter how distasteful, this was the imperial palace, and he was the crown prince.
After three days, she'd leave without looking back.
"Of course it is. What, worried about prying eyes?"
The second-floor garden of the crown prince's palace.
It was a spot visible enough from the other palaces.
And she felt chilling stares prickling her skin from time to time.
"Yes. I don't know why, but they're hostile gazes..."
"Ignore them. They're just jealous of me."
He slurped his tea leisurely and looked up at the sky.
The weather was nice today too.
And for now, that was enough.
Just enjoying tea time with Isabella would make many people think.
Has the crown prince's mania been cured?
Has he really changed?
...And so on.
To let them know he was still going strong, showing them was best.
No one would believe mere words like 'I'm fine.'
Humans were curious creatures, not unlike cats.
The rumors would spread quickly.
Afterward, people would interpret it however they wanted, based on their own beliefs and needs.
Those convinced he was mad would dismiss it as a whim, but those harboring even a shred of hope would surely come to verify.
His ultimate goal was Sword King Croft.
Getting the rumors to reach his ears.
The bait was cast. Now, would the desired fish bite?
'How can a person change so much in just one day?'
And Isabella watched him with eyes full of doubt.
He seemed like a completely different person.
He even looked a bit taller, and he'd gained some weight that wasn't there yesterday.
His demeanor had changed too. Unlike yesterday, he exuded leisure.
Could a person really change this much in a day?
At that moment, the crown prince's gaze met hers. She quickly lowered her hand.
"No need to hide your hands. Those calluses aren't something to conceal—they're badges of honor, aren't they?"
"...!"
She was genuinely shocked.
The calluses on her palms.
They were from secretly practicing swordsmanship.
She'd hidden them on purpose, so no one knew.
Especially not a man she'd meet in a setting like this.
Crown Prince Reinhardt was the first to notice her calluses.
"'Friends' shouldn't have secrets. Don't you think?"
"......Isn't it strange for a noblewoman to learn the sword?"
That made her even more guarded.
In this era of peace, the sword had become purely a man's domain.
A woman wielding one was seen as shameful.
It was a secret even her family elders didn't know.
"I think it's cool. Whether man or woman, letting talent rot over something as trivial as gender is a complete waste."
...He'd casually dug up her secret.
Cool?
She'd never heard those words in her life.
She'd heard 'pretty' or 'beautiful' plenty of times.
But never 'cool.'
And to think they came from the 'mad crown prince.'
'He's different...'
Now she got it.
The crown prince's way of thinking was on a different wavelength from ordinary nobles.
'Is that why he gets called mad?'
In this current era, if the crown prince saw a noblewoman swinging a sword and called it 'cool,' even she would think he was crazy.
And if those strange rumors really stemmed from such an unconventional mindset?
'We're in the same boat.'
She was in the same position.
A unique worldview. In a world that clearly divided what must be done from what must not, being even slightly different got labeled a 'flaw.'
She'd been suppressing it alone, but now it felt like she'd met a kindred spirit.
"You're staring a hole through me."
"Pardon? Oh..."
She must have been staring too obviously.
That was when it happened.
Whoooosh—!
Boom!
A burst of light exploded from the sky.
A cluster of dazzlingly brilliant light.
"People from the Tower of Light."
"The Tower of Light? One of the top three towers among all the magic towers?"
Reinhardt nodded.
Countless magic towers existed.
Being among the top three meant immense influence on a continental scale.
They must have come to confirm 3rd Prince Carmen's growth and to pay respects to the empress.
As well as to hype up Carmen.
But that wasn't the end of it.
Fwoosh!
Flames erupted in the sky.
A typhoon followed, and ice flowers bloomed everywhere.
"It doesn't look like just the Tower of Light came..."
"They all did."
The four princes, excluding himself.
Each a genius with talents in fire, wind, light, and ice attributes.
And all the related magic towers had arrived simultaneously.
Too coincidental to call it chance.
The empresses and princes had likely pulled strings for this competition.
'I remember now.'
Originally, he should have been confined to the crown prince's palace on this day.
His mania had flared up, trying to assault Isabella, so the emperor's orders had forbidden him from even stepping outside.
'It has nothing to do with me.'
He had no magical talent, so no tower sponsored him.
It was an event completely unrelated to him.
'Zero hasn't mentioned it properly either.'
I'd approved the idea of dominating and utilizing the unauthorized nanomachine.
After absorbing all the surrounding mana, Zero had only repeated similar phrases.
[Interpreting...]
[Interpreting unauthorized nanomachine.]
[Self-replicating virus detected. Removing virus with admin authority.]
[Removal complete.]
[Transplanting 'induced pluripotent stem cell' factors.]
[Access complete. Successfully dominating unauthorized nanomachine.]
[16% remaining until domination of all unauthorized nanomachines.]
Almost done.
He was curious what would happen once it finished.
That was the moment.
Step. Step.
Knight entered his garden.
Something impossible, yet these were the ones who could make it possible.
"What business does the Imperial Guard have with me?"
The emperor's direct guards, no less.
The guard captain looked at him gravely and spoke.
"Your Highness, His Majesty summons you."
"Me?"
"Yes. He hopes you will attend the 'event' with him."
Event.
Was he calling the gathering of those magic towers an event?
This hadn't happened in the past.
Even if his mania hadn't flared yesterday, it was too sudden.
His father, the emperor, held no expectations of him.
There was no way he'd suddenly change his mind after one day and summon him.
'Empress Josephine.'
She must have applied pressure.
To make up for yesterday's blunder, she'd called him to compare him to the 3rd Prince and draw the emperor's attention.
Incompetent crown prince versus capable princes.
The intent to reduce him to a mere spectator was obvious.
'Peaceful.'
A chuckle escaped him.
Such pranks were only possible because peace was assured.
Fools who didn't know what true madness or hell was.
The old him wouldn't have even read the intent and would've played the fool.
Now that he'd regressed, he had no intention of being dragged off like a criminal.
"Tell him I'll finish my tea first."
"He said to bring you immediately..."
"Did he really say that? To bring me right now?"
"......"
"Do you have the authority to interpret and fabricate His Imperial Majesty's words as you please?"
"N-No, sir."
"Then leave. I'll come when I'm ready."
The guard captain fell silent.
He'd only been told to bring him, not exactly when.
It had worked perfectly. The guard captain's eyes filled with confusion.
As if he'd never expected such a response.
"Delicious."
He sipped his tea, thinking.
It'seemed he couldn't afford to play along with the empress's little game.
[Magic Tower] End