Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 235
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 235
The Second Prince wiped his now-clean cheek.
So this was the potion Jack had supposedly received.
It really was an uncanny ability.
Ordinary potions were at best taken to treat internal injuries or to boost stamina, weren’t they?
Even then, the imperial family never ingested them because you often couldn’t tell whether the contents were poison or medicine.
And yet simply applying it solved the problem?
On top of that, the entire patch of skin where the potion had been applied felt soft and smooth, as if new flesh had grown over it.
Once word got out, the empire’s nobles would certainly line up to get their hands on this potion.
Which meant Lion Asteri would end up handling a considerable sum of money, but…
Well, naturally, the man himself showed no sign of any such intention.
It would be lucky if he didn’t recoil and swear off making money altogether.
“The garden is well tended.”
“It is not quite the Empress’s Palace, but I do put a fair amount of care into it.”
Lion nodded as he looked out over the garden.
All sorts of flowers were indeed planted in neat, orderly fashion.
The moderate fragrance of blossoms and the fresh scent of green grass cleared his head.
And…
‘That’s a lot of medicinal herbs.’
Between the flowers, herbs said to be good for detoxification grew thickly.
At a glance, one could almost say they had been planted to make the flowers stand out, but…
‘Probably not.’
It was practically evidence of how constantly on edge the Second Prince lived.
“A what-if can always become reality.”
“True.”
And Lion found this arrangement more comfortable.
Lion believed that a place for resting should be an environment where you could actually rest.
However, the gardens most nobles cultivated diverged somewhat from that aesthetic.
Noble gardens tended to fixate on beauty, didn’t they?
‘It’s just too exhausting.’
Excessive splendor only poisons a place meant for repose.
“Hm?”
Lion, who had been walking past the end of the garden, backtracked at the sight of something familiar.
That was…
“Bean sprouts?”
It was a somewhat awkward plant to find in a garden.
‘Come to think of it, he made only that spot dark.’
He had somehow figured out how to grow them; the bean sprouts were developing under a dark cloth in a darkened place.
If a single tendril hadn’t poked out, even Lion would have walked right past them.
“…They tasted quite good.”
The Second Prince answered as if making an excuse.
“They are good. They’re great for hangovers too.”
He seemed to have taken quite the liking to them.
If I had time later, I’d have to pass on a recipe—maybe seasoned bean sprouts or bean-sprout rice tossed with soy-sauce dressing.
Having seen such an unexpected plant, Lion moved on to the next location.
“This is the imperial library… It differs from the Asteri library, but you will find things worth seeing.”
Given the unspoken offer to borrow or browse as he pleased, Lion did not refuse and examined various books.
On the whole, the collection on alchemy and magic fell short of Asteri’s, while there were more history books.
Another peculiarity also caught his eye.
‘There aren’t any children’s stories.’
Not a single book suitable for a child to read.
‘Does that mean they’re considered unnecessary for those destined to become Emperor?’
Even House Asteri stocked a wide range of children’s books under the rationale of “books appropriate for that age,” and yet here they had none.
‘…Isn’t that exactly why the First Prince’s character turned out the way it did?’
Entertaining a rather insolent thought, Lion borrowed a few books.
He had to spend several days here anyway, and practically speaking, Lion had almost nothing to do.
After stowing the borrowed books in his bag, Lion followed the Second Prince once more.
The Second Prince’s imperial tour was remarkably substantive.
After visiting the garden and the library, they had a simple meal in the dining hall—a composition “unlikely to contain poison”—and then, partly as a stroll, they even went up to the Imperial Spire.
‘This is pretty nice.’
It had been a long time since he had been in such an open space high above, where the entire Imperial Capital lay spread out before him.
Bydantis Castle had been taller, but this felt richer in sights to see.
Well, the Second Prince didn’t seem terribly fond of it, but…
‘He probably came here because his options for places to take me are limited.’
Even if the Second Prince was steadily seizing control of the palace, plenty of unsavory incidents were bound to occur.
Perhaps for that reason, as much as possible had been excluded when he introduced the imperial palace to Lion.
Instead of the Empress’s Garden, famous for its beauty, he had shown the garden of the Second Prince’s palace, thick with herbs he had grown himself. Instead of the exhibition hall where artworks by the Emperor’s favored artists were collected, he had gone to the library crammed with books.
As for the dining hall, well, that went without saying.
“…Next time, I shall introduce you to a better place.”
The Second Prince’s voice was a little more subdued than usual.
Listening, Lion leaned against the spire and gazed ahead.
The clear sky tinged with the faint beginnings of the sunset, the clock tower visible in the distance, and the people bustling energetically around it.
And a wind that blew somewhat fiercely, owing to the height.
It was quite satisfying.
“Actually, I prefer sightseeing like this.”
“We couldn’t even tour properly.”
“Well…”
Luxurious objects and gardens and the like—he’d seen plenty of those even at the Asteri Mansion, so they held little appeal.
Besides, however beautiful a garden they put in front of him, could it compare to the garden inside the labyrinth that Lion had cultivated himself?
Not in the fragrance of the flowers, not in the aesthetics, and certainly not in the sentiment born from the care poured into it. But that sort of comfort wouldn’t resonate with the Second Prince.
Lion straightened up from where he had been leisurely leaning and answered.
“When else would I ever get to casually visit the highest point in the empire as a stroll?”
“…Is that so.”
I hadn’t expected him to interpret it that way.
Only then did Kyle let out a soft laugh and look toward the same view as Lion.
In truth, even seeing this scenery, he still wasn’t sure.
What he ought to feel, what kind of burden he ought to carry.
He did realize one thing.
That he was still inexperienced.
Still, it felt that now and then, viewing a landscape with someone else was better than viewing it alone.
“Or next time, you could just show me something even more incredible.”
Of course, if the Second Prince didn’t summon him this blatantly, Lion had not the slightest intention of visiting the palace for fun.
That was the only reason he could say such a thing.
“Something even more incredible…”
But the Second Prince was utterly sincere, so he immediately began to ponder.
And one thing came to mind.
“Right. There is indeed a place we have yet to go.”
“Pardon?”
Lion glanced at the sky.
The sun was slowly setting, but there was still a bit of time before Rickshel was due to return.
He would probably prefer being by the Second Prince’s side to being alone in his room.
‘It’s safer, too.’
He didn’t know the Second Prince’s exact skill level, but he seemed like a competent fighter.
“Let’s go.”
And when the Second Prince said that, a different curiosity arose.
Just where in the world was he trying to take him?
Lion’s puzzlement didn’t last long.
The Second Prince produced a key that was clearly extraordinary.
A golden key stamped with the Emperor’s insignia.
Having little difficulty identifying it, Lion stared with his mouth agape and asked,
“You seriously mean to go there?”
* * *
“Haaaah…”
Having ended up stepping inside, Lion examined the interior and let out a short sound—he wasn’t sure whether it was admiration or a sigh.
This was truly a place he hadn’t imagined at all.
The scene unfolding before his eyes was beyond anything he’d pictured.
The luxurious marble floor.
Upon display cases that themselves looked precious, special objects rested on soft silk.
There was not a single spot that didn’t gleam.
Right. This place was—
“No, why are you showing me the Imperial Treasure Vault?”
The Imperial Treasure Vault.
And not just any part of it—this was the deepest, most tightly secured vault, where only the most precious artifacts, passed down through the imperial family or received as tribute, were stored.
“You seemed to wish for an incredible place.”
“…”
Right. He had said to show him an incredible place.
‘But who in their right mind opens the Imperial Treasure Vault to some mere son of a noble house?’
Was this really okay?
“Isn’t that trusting people a little too much?”
Lion muttered as he looked around.
Come to think of it, this was the most fitting place for the imperial tour the Second Prince had planned.
Hadn’t the central point of the tour been Lion’s safety?
But even so, what was he thinking, opening the Imperial Treasure Vault, which practically no one could casually enter?
And how had he obtained the key, anyway?
…No, never mind. Don’t think about it. Must not get involved.
“If you wish, I could take responsibility for letting you take one or two items.”
Take responsibility for what, exactly.
Lion was rather cautious.
If it had been a little while ago, he might have hoped—might I be able to obtain the Hero’s belongings here?
But right now, wasn’t he lying low?
‘Let’s be careful…’
If he accidentally vomited blood in the Imperial Treasure Vault, he wouldn’t have a single excuse.
Even if the Second Prince tried to cover for him, they would definitely be found out.
Lion kept his eyes as unfocused as possible as he walked among the treasures.
Gems of a size he had never seen in his life.
Golden crafts that did not look like they belonged to the empire.
Artifacts and scrolls that easily seemed centuries old. Forbidden books of magic, sword manuals from extinct knightly houses, and the like also caught his eye.
Even the sharp fang of a dragon, a species long extinct, sat proudly on display.
The fortunate thing was that nothing related to the Hero was visible anywhere.
‘Hoo.’
Lion released a surreptitious sigh of relief. Only then did he let the tension drain from his body and begin to look around more slowly.
Without any objects connected to the Hero, he could enjoy the treasure-vault tour at his leisure, as if strolling through a museum.
After roughly surveying the treasures, Lion’s gaze drifted idly to a painting affixed to the far end of the vault.
It was a vividly lifelike oil painting of a dragon—said to have gone extinct long ago—greedily guarding its own lair and gems.
The texture and quality of the scales, built up with thick paint, and the expression that seemed ready to burst from the frame and fire its breath at any moment—it could only be described as extraordinary.
Especially those dragon eyes, gleaming with a piercing light…!
[You have beheld a painting that seems alive.]
[Painting Experience has increased by 35%.]
It was at a level where merely looking at it accumulated Painting Experience!
“Is this a treasure as well?”
“Whatever resides in this place is a treasure.”
On top of that, even the very floor he stood upon had supposedly been taken intact from some ruined kingdom.
‘Wow…’
In Lion’s eyes, this painting looked more precious than any other treasure in the vault.
“Does the painting appeal to you?”
“It’s quite a magnificent painting.”
Lion swiftly added that he had no intention of taking it.
‘He refuses no matter what I offer.’
The Second Prince, who had pressed his lips together as if dissatisfied, proposed an alternative.
“In that case, why not at least take a closer look?”
Lion truly had been admiring the masterpiece from a considerably distant spot.
“Oh, shall I?”
If he refused even this, the Second Prince seemed likely to seriously sulk, so Lion obediently took a few more steps until he stood beside the Second Prince.
And, the moment he came reasonably close to the painting—
Swish.
The dragon’s eyes in the painting shifted, fixing their gaze.
Toward none other than Lion.
“…Huh?”
Thinking he must have seen wrong, Lion subtly shifted his body to the side.
Slither.
The dragon’s gaze followed Lion’s movement.
His eyes met unmistakably with those vertically slit pupils.
“Y-Your Highness. This thing…”
Does it normally follow your gaze?
“…”
Realizing something was amiss as well, the Second Prince stepped in front of Lion.
And at that moment—
Flash!
A bright light erupted inside the treasure vault, and their figures vanished without a trace.