Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 148
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 148
Just who the hell were these guys? They couldn’t even handle their own work, so a kid who wasn’t even an adult yet had to burn himself out cleaning up after them. It was time to see for myself.
Were they truly irredeemable pieces of work, or were they basically the Emperor’s equals in all but name?
‘If they turn out to be Emperor-tier…’
I wasn’t sure I should say this out loud, but in that case, I judged that Rickshel had no reason to work himself this hard.
If they were trash no matter what, why should he have to sacrifice his body and youth?
‘Of course, I know full well how he feels.’
Even so, someone had to work hard for the country.
If the Emperor was useless, then the rest of them had no choice but to pick up the pieces!
“Hmm…”
Lion scratched his tousled hair.
It wasn’t wrong, but actually… wouldn’t that make the Emperor’s very existence meaningless?
‘No, the more I think about it, the more it pisses me off.’
The CEO screwed the work six ways to Sunday, and now the junior staff were being ground to dust.
Wasn’t that exactly why Grandfather, at his advanced—well, no, he wasn’t exactly frail, but still—
At any rate, wasn’t that why he was constantly on the move day and night, well past retirement age, cleaning up after the Emperor?
Inherited labor, passed down from generation to generation!
Absolutely not.
‘If I’m not careful, I’ll end up…’
Even now, knowingly or not, the Imperial Family had practically dumped every last task on House Asteri.
For now, the sparks hadn’t reached his little brother the heir, but if the Second Prince turned out to be a total idiot…
Gulp.
Whoa, just imagining it was enough to wake me up completely.
Anyway. I had to see their faces for myself.
“It seems you are a bit more awake now.”
Elvia, who had been watching Lion’s expression shift moment by moment, gave a small smile as she brought over his clothes and luggage.
“Yeah. I got a little worried about Rickshel.”
“…Ah.”
With that single phrase, Elvia grasped exactly what Lion had been imagining.
After all, it was hardly the first time the kind young master had worried about the little young master.
A person who even worried about her, a witch—what more was there to say?
But—
‘He’s worrying about something so endearing.’
Contrary to Lion’s feelings, Elvia felt not the slightest concern.
The little young master might act like a gentle lamb in front of Lion, but in truth he was the spitting image of Petrick.
If anything, she suspected Rickshel wielded more influence than the Second Prince or anyone from the Criminal Underworld who backed him… but.
“The little young master does have a tendency to immerse himself too deeply in the tasks he is given.”
Elvia chose to play completely innocent.
After all… wasn’t that more entertaining?
It would be refreshing for the little pup who did nothing but tedious work, and—
it would give the pup right in front of her a chance to show the world, at least a little, just how capable he truly was.
‘Heh hehfu…’
If Lion had heard her inner thoughts, he would have vigorously protested that he had absolutely no such plan.
Unfortunately, nothing of the sort occurred.
As Lion put on his outer coat, Elvia, who had been checking the luggage beside him, held up the itinerary and stood straight before speaking.
“You are scheduled to stay a total of four nights and five days at the hotel. During that time, young master, you must evaluate the hotel’s facilities with a cool and objective eye, from the perspective of a guest.”
Since Lion was ostensibly visiting the hotel as part of business, Elvia gave him a briefing.
“Additionally, the Family Head gave special instructions for you to be careful not to get hurt.”
“Haha. Grandfather, honestly.”
Why was he imagining injuries when I was just going on a hotel getaway?
He really worried more than you’d expect.
‘Though, to be fair, my body was pretty weak back then.’
Wasn’t this just another form of pleasant concern?
“I absolutely won’t get hurt, so don’t worry.”
Lion waved his hand dismissively with a laugh and finally stowed the egg wrapped in a pouch into his bag.
“Yes. And I shall be on standby wherever you may need me.”
Elvia smiled and opened the door to Lion’s room.
And so the door was opened.
“Please take care and return safely, young master.”
The servants were arrayed in their places and offered respectful greetings.
The eldest son of House Asteri.
This was Lion Asteri’s first official engagement since he had come of age.
“I’ll be back.”
Naturally, Lion himself didn’t see it that way at all.
* * *
“Hotel Easter is situated at the northernmost point of the Asteri Marquisate.”
Rickshel’s face, riding in the carriage with him, was full of vitality; he had apparently slept soundly the night before, which was a relief.
‘I’m glad I saw him to bed.’
If I hadn’t, he might very well have worked straight through until this morning.
“As a result, the air is a touch cooler than at the mansion, but you will not feel the cold once you step inside the hotel.”
“Really?”
“Yes. A Temperature-Control Magic spell is maintained throughout the entire hotel.”
“Oh…”
Made sense. They’d use magic to keep things comfortable here.
Was that why it belonged to the Asteri Marquisate?
‘I imagine it makes hiring mages easier.’
Put that way, it seemed like a fairly mutually beneficial arrangement.
But…
‘Was that it for the explanation?’
He looked at his little brother with eyes that silently requested more information, but sadly, Rickshel only nodded his head vigorously with a deeply satisfied smile.
I meant, you could stop nodding…
‘Sssip, this isn’t how this was supposed to go.’
Lion privately felt a bit flummoxed as the conversation drifted slightly off his intended course.
Because, after all, the purpose of this trip was supposed to be “Rickshel’s Healing Trip.”
‘It’d be fine if he whined a bit and leaned on me.’
No one knew better than Lion how exhausting it was to deal with people.
The most rewarding thing about working in sales had been the people, and the thing that had made him angriest and most tempted to quit had also been the people.
Hadn’t he spent every day forcibly choking down his fury?
Even as a fully grown adult, it had taken Lion a long time to adjust to that environment.
And now young Rickshel was already going through the same thing.
‘I’d rather he just bad-mouthed them and got it off his chest.’
This was also one of the reasons Lion had come along.
So they could talk openly about work. He was applying the same excellent method you used when a new hire was struggling to adapt and silently suffering inside.
Officially sanctioned skipping out!
The method where you dragged them off to a café under the pretext of a “consultation,” bought them a drink they actually wanted rather than an Americano, and subtly gave them a legitimate “consultation” and “rest.”
Talking behind people’s backs wasn’t the healthiest coping mechanism, of course, but it could still give you the strength to endure one more time.
Except his gentle little brother—whether he knew Lion’s intentions or not—had wholly different thoughts on his mind.
“I was worried you might catch a cold, brother, but if you remain inside the hotel, you will be fine.”
“Uh, yeah?”
But looking at this, what was this?
If anything, wasn’t Rickshel the one worrying about him?
‘And something I’ve been thinking for a while…’
Sometimes, there were moments when Rickshel treated him like some kind of newborn baby.
I understood being worried, but now that I was out in the world, I was at least above-average, wasn’t I?
I could use basic magic, basic spirit arts…
And on top of that, wasn’t my alchemy at the skilled practitioner level?
“Is there anything I should watch out for…”
“There is not.”
“Still, you never know what I might end up doing…”
“You may do whatever you wish. No—wouldn’t that actually be to the hotel’s advantage?”
Why?
“Because whenever you plan something, brother, does that undertaking not invariably succeed?”
“Come on, I’m not that great.”
“As was the case with the hot spring that gave me such tremendous inspiration.”
“That was only because it would be nice if our family used it well…”
“And so it was with the matter of the Sanctuary.”
“That one was just…”
No, that had only spiraled out of control because I felt sorry for Peter and decided to do something.
He tried to make an excuse, but Rickshel’s eyes were already covered by some kind of powerful filter.
‘Hm? No, could it be?’
Lion identified the source of the incongruity.
No wonder the conversation kept taking a strange turn…
It seemed Rickshel already regarded him as someone truly extraordinary.
‘This is not how it’s supposed to go…’
Lion had absolutely no intention of handling the family business or doing anything befitting an “heir.”
He was simply happy to have a capable little brother.
“Little brother.”
“Yes, brother.”
“I’m truly grateful that you think so highly of me, but I am not that remarkable a person. If anything, you’re far more outstanding.”
“…”
Rickshel closed his eyes gently and nodded.
Yes. He had known his brother would say something like this.
‘For my sake…’
He was speaking in this way lest he become a threat to Rickshel’s position.
Wasn’t he emphasizing this for Rickshel’s benefit, out of a concern that his position might be shaken?
If that was his brother’s will, then Rickshel was fully prepared—with the deepest gratitude—to take charge of the heir’s work, and indeed the work of the Family Head should it come to that.
Besides, his brother was exceptionally gifted but physically frail, was he not?
‘If he were to exchange words with fools and become so enraged that it made him ill…’
Rickshel suspected that in that case, he would personally sweep every last one of them away.
No—before it came to that, the Family Head would likely step in first.
But!
Consider how it had ended when his brother had concealed his brilliance for Rickshel’s sake!
It had ended in an attack.
‘Brother insists he is perfectly fine, but he needs to demonstrate at least some degree of deterrent force.’
Idiots were incapable of seeing the long view.
They could not even glimpse his brother’s excellence.
Which meant making it somewhat obvious was the only way.
So that everyone would know: the reason Rickshel Asteri stood out so prominently was because he had a true supporter standing behind him.
The one they called the eccentric of House Asteri.
Lion Asteri.
“Yes. I understand your intention perfectly, brother.”
But how terribly burdened would his brother feel if Rickshel told him this in so many words!
“This time, we are truly going there to rest, so there is no need for you to worry, brother. The itinerary Elvia explained to you was only for the sake of external appearances.”
“Mm.”
“When I take official leave, it generates a great deal of distracting noise. If that caused you any discomfort, then I must apologize…”
“No, it’s nothing like that.”
Lion waved his hand.
Before he knew it, he was even feeling guilty, wondering if he’d inadvertently pressured a kid who just wanted to rest.
“Still, it is a trip for your work, so I suppose that’s how these things are. Ah, speaking of which, I heard Easter has an enormous number of facilities—could you tell me about them?”
“Ah, I failed to show you that!”
Rickshel pulled an envelope from his coat.
Inside the stationery were…
a single letter and a sheet of high-quality art paper illustrating the full panorama of “Hotel Easter,” accompanied by descriptions.
Lion skimmed the letter first.
[To our esteemed guest, this letter is respectfully offered.]
-Here at Hotel Easter, we do our utmost to provide our guests an unforgettable experience.
-For the duration of your stay, the finest bedding, cuisine, and amusements are provided to you free of charge.
-Furthermore, our hotel staff are always on hand to minimize any inconvenience to our guests, so please do not hesitate to make inquiries at any time.
…
-We hope you will enjoy the finest day of your life together with Easter.
Lion checked the facilities listed below.
Incredible restaurants, a place where you could buy bespoke clothing.
A party hall and theater facilities.
And…
‘They have hunting grounds?’
It seemed they also maintained a district stocked with monsters and beasts for the nobles who enjoyed hunting.
‘Now that I think of it…’
Lion suddenly recalled the days when he used to play <In the World>.
The phrase “hosted by Hotel Easter” had always been written into the seasonal events that took place every month or two.