Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 30
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 30
“You wish to know more about the clothing, then?”
“Ah…! Forgive me. I was so captivated by the attire that I forgot to offer my congratulations.”
“Not at all. I fully understand. I was quite excited myself when I first received these clothes. However… are you certain you don’t mind?”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
“I had heard that the tailor who made these clothes earned the displeasure of certain nobles.”
“By displeasure, you mean…”
Lion didn’t beat around the bush and came straight out with it.
“I was told it was because he is the illegitimate son of a noble house, and because he sells his clothes to commoners as well.”
“Oh my, there are still people in this day and age who would dismiss a tailor over such things?”
A noblewoman hid her face behind her fan and made an exaggerated show of surprise. A male noble standing beside her whispered as if the words had simply slipped out.
“Well, you know. Those in the First Prince’s camp do place considerable importance on lineage and status.”
“Ahem.”
Lion glanced toward the two princes.
Now that he thought about it, he had heard that the Second Prince was also the Emperor’s illegitimate son.
‘The power struggle between the princes must have played a part in Andrie getting buried.’
But, well, that was none of Lion’s concern.
Those people could decide for themselves.
“So introducing you is not difficult, but if you are sensitive about such things…”
“Not at all!”
“Absolutely not. We have no interest in such unjust discrimination… hoho!”
“It is somewhat embarrassing to admit, but we are people who care deeply about the clothes themselves.”
Lion couldn’t be sure how much of it was genuine, but regardless, if they didn’t mind, then they were exactly the sort of people he had been hoping for.
“I see. The tailor who crafted my family’s clothes is Andrie. His atelier is in the southern part of the territory. I’m confident you’ll be satisfied if you visit.”
“Ah!”
“I suspected as much, but it truly is him.”
“They say his skill was peerless. He vanished without a trace at some point, but to think he had been under the wing of Asteri all along.”
The older nobles, apparently remembering him, exchanged glances and nodded among themselves.
Those who didn’t know him were mostly the younger sons and daughters, and they looked decidedly curious.
“He is the very tailor who was wronged by the political infighting of the nobles.”
“Indeed. That was the mood of the time.”
Lion already knew how serious it had been, having heard the story from Andrie himself.
The noble house that had caused the trouble mobilized everyone with connections to persecute everything related to Andrie.
After that, he had naturally faded into obscurity.
Looking at the nobles with regretful expressions, Lion decided to drive the point home.
“In fact, he’s become remarkably busy recently. After I commissioned these clothes, word somehow got out, and I hear he’s been flooded with appointments. I suspect he can only take on a few more at most.”
“Pardon?”
“Have the others already booked their appointments?”
“Then perhaps any remaining openings…”
“I wouldn’t know. He was grinning from ear to ear today, saying he only has about three slots left this year. What will you do?”
At those words, invisible sparks flew among the nobles.
Everyone had naturally assumed they could get an appointment, but now they knew otherwise!
‘With Andrie’s clothing, being the center of attention at a party would be effortless!’
‘That’s not clothing. That’s art! I must book an appointment immediately!’
The nobles around Lion began to eye one another surreptitiously.
They were weighing whether they should leave the banquet hall right then and rush to Andrie’s atelier.
Just then.
“Does he accept any kind of clothing request?”
A clear, cold voice rang out.
“Gasp… That person!”
The nobles who had been chattering with Lion turned pale and stepped back.
Through the open space they left, a small-framed young woman who looked to be around Lion’s age walked in.
‘This person is…’
She was definitely someone whose gaze had been on his grandfather.
In other words, wasn’t she the new head of the Sword Mastery Family?
‘I naturally assumed she’d be over by Rickshel. Why did she come here?’
Before he could puzzle it out, the young marquis of the Sword Mastery Family, Clarentia Bydantis, spoke first.
“The tailor called Andrie. I asked whether he accepts any type of clothing.”
“If I may be so bold, may I ask what kind of clothing you are seeking, Marquis Bydantis?”
At that question, everyone’s gaze converged on her.
However intimidating she might be, they all seemed to expect a dress worthy of the beautiful young marquis.
‘It’s bound to be a gorgeous dress!’
‘No. It could be a splendid formal robe, like the Asteri family’s.’
‘She is still young. She might desire something unconventional.’
But everyone had to practice maintaining their expressions upon hearing what left Clarentia’s mouth.
“Training clothes to wear during practice. And I also require comfortable everyday wear.”
“…”
A phenomenal designer, and all she wanted to commission were training clothes?
Not a beautiful dress or formal robe?
“As it is a request from you, Marquis, I will convey it personally. How many sets of everyday clothes do you require?”
“I intend to replace them all. The old ones have all become unwearable.”
“Cough, cough! A sudden cold!”
“Oh dear! Something urgent has suddenly come up… I must take my leave…”
Seemingly aware of the succession struggle that had occurred within the Sword Mastery Family, everyone pretended they hadn’t heard and retreated another step.
Because of that, Lion suddenly found himself speaking one-on-one with the Marquis of Bydantis, but he didn’t particularly mind.
She was a customer regardless, wasn’t she?
“You have a large order, so it may take some time.”
“I understand. But that doesn’t matter. Is a deposit necessary?”
“I will send word through a servant after the party ends.”
Perhaps because she asked only about whether it was possible or not without inquiring about anything else, Clarentia nodded, seemingly satisfied, and immediately returned to her seat.
It had been a brief encounter, but an intense one.
And as a bonus…
“The bookings are already full. Does anyone wish to be placed on a waiting list?”
Only then did the customers—no, the nobles—who had fled return to provide their names and family names.
It was only after adding a few more people to the waiting list that Lion managed to free himself from the party.
* * *
Thus the eventful party came to an end.
The highlight of the Asteri family’s Coming-of-Age Ceremony, which everyone had been anticipating.
The trial of the Labyrinth began.
“We will move.”
“Yes.”
Not everyone could observe this trial directly.
Citing safety, only a select few were permitted to watch.
Those who were strong themselves, or whose accompanying guards were strong.
‘Meaning only those of high status can view it.’
Those who were thus allowed to attend were the two princes and their escorts, Rickshel as a direct blood descendant of House Asteri, Petrick who presided over the ritual,
and lastly the young head of the Sword Mastery Family, Clarentia Bydantis, who had just moments ago made her commission.
“Brother. It’s all right if you go in first after the ritual concludes. I will handle the rest.”
“Hmm, shall I? Won’t that be difficult for you?”
“Of course not. Something of this caliber is not difficult at all.”
Rickshel and Lion, of course, didn’t think much of it.
That was because the matter was nothing worth worrying about.
“Haha, worthy of the eldest grandson of a prestigious mage family. You don’t seem tense in the slightest.”
The First Prince watched that and subtly tried to strike up a conversation.
“What reason would my brother have to be tense?”
Rickshel cut him off entirely.
His tone was markedly different from how he usually addressed Lion.
It was cold, and to be frank, a little… rude.
But the tone was also exactly like their grandfather’s, making it awkward for anyone to comment on it.
‘…Well, it’s fine, right?’
The First Prince’s conduct was already infamous, and as someone who was aristocratic and indulged in luxury and pleasure, it was inevitable that Rickshel would dislike him.
‘His insides were sinister, too.’
To deliberately speak of ‘the eldest grandson of a prestigious mage family’ right in front of someone who couldn’t use magic.
And to do it in front of their grandfather, no less.
‘Is he audacious, or simply thoughtless?’
If Rickshel hadn’t cut him off coldly, who knew what their honor-bound grandfather might have done to the prince.
Well done, Rickshel…!
In any case, the First Prince, finding his words choked off at the younger brother’s level, did not try to speak to them again.
Time passed, and the ritual began.
Lion walked naturally toward the Labyrinth.
Even though he was still outside the door, the musty smell of old paper wafted over him.
‘Wow, that book smell.’
Lion pressed the back of his hand against his nose and twitched his eyebrows.
The Library of House Asteri.
No guards were posted there.
Because it was an impregnable library that simply could not be pillaged.
“You know the method of entry, yes?”
“Yes.”
Lion had been in and out of this library constantly ever since he was young.
This place had been nothing short of a sanctuary for the Lion of the past, who had never managed to awaken any talent at all.
It had also been a refuge where he could avoid other people’s eyes.
“Good. Though you already know, I will explain it once more. This library labyrinth is a fortress-type dimensional dungeon created by the first head of House Asteri, Lloyd Asteri…”
Petrick began to explain the Ritual of the Labyrinth in slightly greater detail.
More precisely, he described the origins of this place and the process of the ritual.
Skipping over the parts about origins, the ritual process was roughly as follows:
1. Spill blood or magical power to open the library door and enter.
2. There is no chance of getting lost. Simply follow the given path and at its end you will find an altar.
3. Exchange the item you brought with the item on the altar, then bring it out.
4. If you greedily touch a book on the shelves seeking forbidden high knowledge, you will be returned to the library entrance.
In any case, if one conducted the ritual properly and returned, their skills accumulated up to that point would be revealed, and they would become a true adult acknowledged by House Asteri.
‘Come to think of it, I’m a little curious.’
He was thinking about the treasure Petrick Asteri was said to have enshrined following the War Against the Demons.
It was said that the treasure, whose very identity was not disclosed even to Rickshel and was called a house secret, lay at the end of the Labyrinth.
‘If it’s called a treasure by a prestigious mage family, it must have considerable value even in game terms.’
It might be comparable to an item his main character had in his past life.
Well, none of that was relevant anymore, anyway.
“And if you attempt to conquer the Labyrinth…”
Petrick had already moved on to the precautions.
Labyrinth Conquest.
In other words, ‘dungeon clearing’, was what it was about.
He said that the privilege to enter and leave the Library Labyrinth was only permitted so long as it remained undamaged.
If the library were deliberately damaged, the Labyrinth would transform into a dungeon and enforce expulsion along with a permanent ban.
Perhaps for that reason, he said that to date, no one had ever successfully completed a Labyrinth Conquest.
“…That is all. Any questions?”
“None.”
Despite the grandiose explanation, you just had to put something down, take what was in front of you, and return.
It was remarkable that doing so would reveal the subject’s capabilities.
‘But what will appear for me, I wonder.’
Since it was potions, would it produce a book related to alchemy?
All the people who had entered before had been mages, so it was impossible to know.