Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 162
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 162
“It seems you recognize it. Yes. I cannot break the remaining one.”
His voice, excessively low and gloomy, held many emotions.
Lion could vaguely guess what those emotions were.
But he neither probed any further nor responded.
That was the bare minimum of consideration.
Curses.
Fifty years had passed since the War Against the Demons ended, yet there were still humans who exploited demonic beings.
The prime example was the curse.
A dark art that, in exchange for an “appropriate price,” inflicted permanent pain on someone and ultimately took their life.
Fitting its vicious effect, even the materials used for a curse were utterly wicked—so much so that even the lowest-grade curse required copious amounts of blood and flesh.
‘The one the First Prince cast was probably of this sort.’
Wasn’t the Second Prince already suffering pain intense enough to make him cough blood from that alone?
But the mark on the Second Prince’s forearm—
which likely extended across his body—belonged to a high-grade curse.
-The material required for a high-grade curse is a human soul.
That was something Lion had read before in the library.
There was also a book in the temple with a similar passage.
And to make matters worse, the Second Prince was under two curses at the same time.
Ordinarily, that was impossible.
Because normally, once a person was cursed, they could not be cursed again unless that first curse was dispelled.
The curse itself had already become a rope tightening around their soul.
‘But this…’
There was exactly one exceptional case.
-They were cursed by someone at birth.
That was to be born under a curse.
And the person who had cast the curse was most likely…
‘the Second Prince’s mother.’
Though he didn’t know the reason.
‘An ordinary person would have gone mad from the pain or taken their own life.’
Yet the Second Prince had survived somehow amid that pain and his harsh life.
Normally it would have been impossible.
What story could possibly allow him to endure even a curse?
Or perhaps…
‘…No, this isn’t the time for speculation.’
Lion stopped that line of thought and let out a light sigh.
“What do you mean, you cannot break it?”
“Exactly what I said. The caster of the curse is no longer in this world.”
Lion nodded.
There were two ways to break a curse.
The first was to forcibly dispel it.
And the second: the cursed target could kill the caster directly.
‘I thought that might be the case…’
It seemed the caster had passed away.
The Second Prince was calm as he said that.
Even if he had never harbored feelings for his birth mother to begin with, how long must it have taken him to speak of it so calmly?
“I see.”
Lion kept his composure as best he could and racked his brain.
The curse-caster was already dead.
In that case, literally the only remaining method was to forcibly dispel the curse.
In an ordinary situation, one could simply run to the temple.
Because no matter how severe a high-grade curse involving the soul might be, the temple would treat it free of charge.
‘Since they consider demonic beings to be existences that rebel against God’s will.’
If it was a high-grade curse, an archbishop might even have stepped in personally.
But…
‘That won’t work for that guy.’
The Second Prince could not go to the temple.
He couldn’t afford to raise even the slightest suspicion.
If the First Prince’s faction were to learn of his innate curse…
‘I can’t even imagine how viciously they’d tear him apart.’
Those bastards were probably more demonic than the demons themselves.
In any case, that was why he must have been so happy to have found me.
‘And he seems to think I’m some wandering priest.’
Lion looked at the Second Prince’s face after he had removed his mask.
A pale, haggard face. Dry lips. The rough texture, like the bark of an old tree, was closer to that of a graveyard keeper than someone from the resplendent imperial palace.
The atmosphere was as if he were holding an endless funeral all alone.
Yet his eyes alone were utterly fierce.
His red pupils were chillingly blood-colored, but at the same time like a blazing sun or a furnace.
The eyes of someone who craves life and desires revenge.
The fact that he showed that to me…
‘…A kind of declaration.’
A declaration that he would use any means to get a hold of me and carve out his path forward.
‘Hmm, what should I do about this?’
Lion fell into thought.
No matter how pitiful the Second Prince’s situation was, it wasn’t enough to make him help at the cost of revealing his own identity.
‘Though it would come to light eventually…’
At least not now.
But he couldn’t just flatly refuse and play dumb either.
Why?
‘…Because it seems like I might be able to break it.’
He needed to look into it further, but if he had the Second Prince’s cooperation and Lion’s own alchemical knowledge, there was a possibility.
‘It’ll be a fair bit of trouble, though.’
It was a high-grade curse, not an ordinary one.
Just obtaining the materials might be a significant challenge.
But why would he help, you ask?
Part of it was pity, as he had thought earlier…
But he also knew instinctively.
‘If I break the Second Prince’s curse…’
If I set him completely free, something would give me an answer.
The old bottle.
More precisely, information about what was inside it.
‘I need to gather even the smallest clues.’
When those fragments gathered, a larger picture would surely emerge.
However…
‘The problem is how to handle that Second Prince.’
Say I lifted the curse.
What then?
He would definitely demand something else.
Or he might use this as leverage to keep me close as an aide.
No, nine times out of ten. I’m sure of it.
‘Then I’d be worked to the bone.’
And on top of that, I’d end up diving headfirst into politics.
No thanks.
‘I have no intention of getting involved in any more troublesome matters.’
Lion shuddered inwardly.
And he made a decision.
Right. The Second Prince’s curse had to be broken regardless.
That was the only way I could get even the tiniest clue… However!
I had no intention of being pushed around by him.
The one silver lining was that I was the one calling the shots in this situation.
‘Hmm, can’t be helped.’
Lion sighed inwardly and resolved himself.
Alright.
‘Let’s pull a benevolent con.’
Let me appear like a kindly figure who has a quiet but firm line.
And once I’ve dealt with the curse, I’ll just vanish!
‘If need be, I could even go rest for a few months in the elf kingdom.’
Since he didn’t expect me to be Lion Asteri, it ought to be possible.
‘It’s a bit unsettling, though…’
Still, those who want to live have to live, don’t they?
Steeling his resolve, Lion channeled the spirit of a salesman and spoke as calmly as possible.
“Before that, I have something I’d like to ask.”
“As many as you like.”
“What do you intend to do after you become Emperor?”
The Second Prince’s red eyes stared at him through his hair.
He seemed to be gauging his intentions.
Lion didn’t react to the gaze and waited for the prince’s answer.
“I’m sure you’re aware that discussing the Emperor’s throne while His Majesty is still alive constitutes treason.”
“Yes.”
“And you still insist on asking?”
“I do.”
“Didn’t you say you had no interest in politics and power?”
“That’s right.”
“…What is your goal?”
In the end, Kyle had no choice but to repeat the same question.
“You wouldn’t believe it, so I can’t tell you.”
“Then you are saying you won’t break my curse? You ought to know very well what that means.”
A murderous aura flickered around the Second Prince.
It was intense enough to prickle the skin, but Lion didn’t flinch.
After all, even if the man acted so menacingly, he was certain this man couldn’t kill him right now.
“…”
Kyle fell into thought.
He couldn’t make out what his counterpart was thinking at all.
Did he genuinely have not a shred of interest in power?
Then what did he want that made him approach?
Simply because he found the curse interesting?
‘There is no such thing as a pure, kind heart.’
Kyle had tasted both the very bottom and the very top.
At the bottom churned the desires of the low, while at the apex of the triangle lurked the greed to look down from a height higher than anyone else’s.
And hadn’t this man said with his own mouth?
That he had a goal.
First, Kyle decided to answer his question.
“Have you ever been to the slums? People there survive by begging and pickpocketing, and even then, most starve to death.”
“…”
“At the very least, I don’t want to watch people starve to death. That’s the first thing I’ll do once I become Emperor… However.”
The Second Prince exhaled lightly and rubbed his face with his hands.
“That’s not the answer you’re looking for.”
To think I’d have to say even this.
I thought I’d thrown away all my pride, but fighting elegantly on a noble stage seems to have given rise to pride I never had.
“I want to live.”
“…”
“What answer could be more accurate than that?”
“…I see.”
Lion stared into the empty air.
[Updating ‘Curse Brand’ information.]
[Brand of a Benevolent Curse]
- A curse engraved with a heart so full of care and love, as if carving out one’s own flesh, sacrificing one’s life for a precious child.
- But isn’t it truly time to part now?
- There might be a clue closer than you think.
Just as he had expected.
The text was phrased in a way that suggested a side quest could be progressed.
But…
‘Hmm…’
While his guess that there was a hidden secret had been right, the content wasn’t what he’d anticipated.
‘Truly time to part?’
Lion’s mind raced.
Benevolent curse, time to part.
‘…Wait.’
A hypothesis surfaced in Lion’s mind.
‘The price for a high-grade curse was one’s own soul, wasn’t it.’
Judging by the description, Kyle’s mother had placed the curse for his sake.
It was probably to hide Kyle from ‘something’ more vicious than any curse.
At that time, it surely had been benevolent.
She must have loved her child enough to give up her life.
But…
‘Is the soul used as the material for the curse truly dead?’
Just maybe.
Could the initial emotion have been twisted by the curse, and now she was tormenting her child?
‘There’s a possibility.’
And presumably, the caster of the Second Prince’s curse—
that is, Kyle’s mother—
might have foreseen this situation.
Even so, she had to use the curse as a last resort.
‘In that case, the clue that’s close at hand’
It’s a really direct clue. Or an object.
“…So tell me what you want. I will give anything if it means resolving this curse.”
Unaware of this, Kyle let out a sigh and urged Lion on.
“Do you mean you will grant any condition of mine?”
“That’s right.”
“Then…”
At last, Lion spoke what he’d been aiming for and raised his index finger.
“First. Do not try to find out my identity.”
Then he raised another finger.
“Second. It is up to me when and how I break the curse.”
“How high-handed.”
So far, this was insurance to prevent his identity from being exposed.
“And third. Tell me the number of the room you’re staying in.”