Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: Secret Outing (1)
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The crown prince of the Apple Kingdom.
Oliver Apple’s days lately had been utter hell.
The reason? No need to spell it out. It was all because of Demian.
-Your Highness, it’s time for your studies.
Every morning at a set time, he’d come wake him up. That was standard.
-Your Highness, sitting around all day will stiffen your body.
He’d even force him into physical training on a regular schedule, the one thing he hated most.
-Your Highness, no alcohol. Think of every drop as poison.
He’d declared a ban on drinking for someone like him who couldn’t sleep without it.
But the worst of all was this.
-Your Highness, since you haven’t been beaten lately, your discipline must have slackened. Let’s have you take just ten light lashes today to firm it up.
Even when he’d done nothing wrong, he’d summon him periodically for a beating.
Each time he was lashed, rage boiled up inside, but he had no choice but to endure.
No one would believe him because there wasn’t a single mark left from the beatings. No evidence, no credibility.
-Fuck! I can’t take this anymore! Today, it’s you die or I die!
-Tsk, how can you act like this? Didn’t I ask you to show respect to your teacher?
-Shut up!
He’d rebelled once, only to get thrashed all day long.
-Your Highness, if you do this again, it’ll be double.
It was the most chilling warning he’d ever heard in his life.
After that, Oliver Apple completely gave up any thought of rebelling against Demian.
“Damn it, you bastard.”
That evening too, Oliver Apple sat reading a book without touching a drop of alcohol.
Demian Haksen had ordered him, as punishment for his defiance, to memorize ten more books by tomorrow.
Etiquette books, of all things—dry, boring tomes!
“Why the hell does he make me read this crap?”
Oliver Apple grumbled but didn’t stop reading.
If he focused, memorizing ten books wasn’t all that hard for him.
It was just insanely tedious, and he couldn’t imagine ever having a use for it.
The biggest reason, though, was not knowing what horrors awaited if he ditched Demian Haksen’s orders.
Just then, a tapping sound came, like something knocking.
Oliver Apple turned his gaze. Outside the window, a crow tilted its head curiously.
A small cylinder was tied to the crow’s ankle. Seeing it, Oliver Apple’s face lit up.
“It’s finally here!”
He flung open the window. Popping the cylinder’s lid revealed a tightly rolled piece of paper.
He fed the crow some grain, then unrolled and read the paper.
“Tonight at 10 p.m., got it?”
A bright smile spread across Oliver Apple’s face.
“Not the time to sit around. Gotta get ready to head out.”
Oliver Apple hurriedly changed clothes, then threw a robe over them to hide his identity.
“This should do it. Even that guy won’t recognize me. I’m off!”
* * *
“The moon’s especially bright tonight.”
Demian murmured as he gazed up at the moon from atop a building.
The sky was cloudless and clear. The moon shone brilliantly. Perfect weather for stargazing.
“And perfect for taking this.”
Demian pulled out three vials he’d received from the king.
These oddly shaped vials, carved like stone, contained royal jelly from the giant hornet called Alecto.
“They say this massively boosts regeneration.”
The most useful effect of Alecto’s royal jelly was a surge in regenerative power.
The first person to consume it reportedly regrew a severed body part like a lizard’s tail within days.
That said, they’d gorged themselves until their belly burst. With just three vials, such dramatic results were unlikely.
“Still, it’s impressive enough.”
Demian uncorked a vial and drank the royal jelly.
The viscous liquid slid down his throat. Bitter and astringent.
Not something you’d want seconds of, but Demian gritted his teeth and downed the other two.
Three vials.
About a cup’s worth settled in his stomach.
‘It’s not absorbing easily.’
All the elixirs he’d taken before absorbed instantly upon ingestion.
But Alecto’s royal jelly resisted, clumping together.
‘Then I’ll force it.’
Demian circulated his mana. He shattered the jelly lingering in his stomach, crushed it to pieces, and absorbed every fragment.
‘This is something.’
The moment he absorbed it, his muscle fibers changed. They grew tougher, denser. He could feel the immediate transformation in his body.
Demian gripped a vial and squeezed lightly. The stone-like container crumbled to powder in an instant.
“I like this.”
Pure muscle power, no mana involved, had pulverized stone.
A feat impossible without draconic strength. And he’d gained it from the royal jelly.
But that was a minor change.
Demian drew a dagger and lightly nicked his fingertip. Skin split, blood flowed.
A moment later, the bleeding stopped, and the wound sealed cleanly.
“Really like this.”
Alecto’s royal jelly lived up to the hype.
One more test remained. Demian closed his eyes and activated the Vulcan’s Extreme Light Pill.
His body temperature spiked. His senses sharpened. The wind in his ears faded. Leaves blowing in the breeze slowed.
The Vulcan’s Extreme Light Pill temporarily hyper-activated the body, maximizing physical abilities and senses.
An excellent ability that even Demian favored, but the problem was the massive strain on the body.
So he limited it to short bursts when necessary.
But now, after the royal jelly, it was different.
Even with the pill’s power active, his body held up. The enhanced physique made it possible.
‘I could push it further.’
Demian intensified the Vulcan’s Extreme Light Pill. His temperature soared higher, senses razor-sharp.
The slowing world froze completely. No more wind sounds. Leaves in the breeze halted mid-air.
“Cough.”
In that instant, Demian spat blood. The backlash from pushing the pill to its limit had wounded him internally.
“Pah, not for frequent use.”
As Demian spat out the blood lingering in his mouth, steam began rising from his whole body.
Proof that his enhanced vitality from the royal jelly was healing the internal damage.
“Satisfying.”
Demian wore a pleased expression when—
“Hm?”
He spotted someone sneaking out from the building he was perched on.
“The crown prince?”
Robed though he was, he couldn’t fool Demian’s eyes.
“Disobeying orders again? Not enough beatings?”
Demian grabbed the club he’d set aside. Then a sudden thought struck him.
“But where’s he headed at this hour?”
Curiosity piqued, Demian tailed Oliver Apple stealthily.
* * *
Oliver Apple had slipped out of the palace through bribed guards.
“Hmm, the scent of freedom.”
Walking the capital’s streets, he savored the liberation to the fullest.
“Yeah, this is life. Not getting thrashed by that lunatic.”
Oliver Apple strolled the main avenue, then veered into darker alleys.
He stopped at a tavern guarded by two burly men.
“What?”
One guard spoke gruffly. Oliver Apple clicked his tongue.
“These idiots still don’t recognize my face.”
“Eh, Your Highness?”
“That’s right, me!”
“Come in! The boss is waiting!”
The guards flung the door wide. Oliver Apple grinned ear to ear as he entered.
Narrow entrance, but the interior was vast. Vast and ornate enough to pass for a café.
“Your Highness, you’ve arrived.”
A woman in a red dress greeted him inside.
The dress clung to her like wet silk, revealing her figure in full—hard to know where to look.
“Carmen! Why call me after so long? You know how much I’ve been looking forward to this!”
“Couldn’t gather the goods quickly enough. But I picked only the prettiest ones. You won’t be disappointed.”
Carmen smiled brightly. Oliver Apple leaned in with a sly tone.
“More than the others, I’d love for you, Carmen, to sit beside me.”
“Oh, honored to be chosen.”
“Then you’ll grant my request?”
“I’ve got a lot on my plate tonight. But there are girls far prettier than me waiting.”
“You say that every time. None measure up to you.”
Chatting, they headed deeper. A VIP room appeared.
Inside, other men sat with women beside them, drinking.
“Your Highness! You’re here!”
As Oliver Apple entered, the men rose and bowed in unison.
“Hey, no need to stand. Sit. Sit already.”
He gestured them down and took the center seat.
“Your Highness! You look even more dashing since last time!”
“Tsk, look at you. His Highness is always like that. Why say it like it’s new?”
“Hahaha, you’re right. My apologies, Your Highness.”
The men vied to flatter him. A satisfied smile crept onto his lips.
“Enough useless chatter… Let’s drink. Drink up.”
Oliver Apple lifted a bottle. The men followed suit.
“What’s the rule of our ‘Real Men’ gathering?”
“Real men drink from the bottle!”
With that, Oliver Apple and the men started chugging.
“Ahh, now I feel alive.”
He hadn’t touched a drop thanks to Demian Haksen’s torment. This booze tasted like honey…
-You bastard! What the hell! Where do you think you’re… Aaargh!
-Wait, stop! Not that! Block him! Someone stop that guy!
Suddenly, commotion erupted outside. The group paused mid-drink, eyes on the door.
“What the hell? Ruining the vibe.”
Oliver Apple grumbled irritably. A man beside him bowed his head.
“Your Highness, shall I handle it?”
“Hey, what are you saying? Too good a job for Sir James.”
The ‘Real Men’ group was a noble circle Oliver Apple had founded.
Members varied: from Crown Prince Oliver Apple to sons of palace officials and knights.
Among them, James John was a mid-class knight.
Using a mid-class knight to quell tavern noise?
Like swatting a fly with a butcher’s cleaver…
Bang.
The tavern door burst open. Someone entered. Seeing the face, Oliver Apple jolted in shock.
“Your Highness, so you were here.”
Demian Haksen smiled brightly at him.
“I distinctly told you to treat alcohol like poison… Yet here you are, causing trouble.”
Demian Haksen shook his head sadly.
“No helping it. Tonight, it’s two hours.”
Oliver Apple froze on the spot. Then his whole body began to tremble.
“Come along.”
Demian Haksen approached. Oliver Apple’s shaking intensified.
Someone blocked Demian Haksen’s path.
“What’s the meaning of this?”
The sole mid-class knight of ‘Real Men’.
James John.
“With me here, how dare you lay a hand on His Highness.”
James John glared ferociously at Demian. Demian looked intrigued.
“Oh?”
Seeing the standoff, one thought flashed in Oliver Apple’s mind.
Only a monster can stop a monster.
Likewise, only a mid-class knight can stop a mid-class knight.
“Sir James!”
The crown prince shouted without hesitation.
“That man’s a fiend! Beat him down! Hand him to the guards if you want!”
At the crown prince’s words, Demian Haksen’s intrigued expression deepened.
“Ohoooo.”