Episode 334
Episode 334
'I absolutely must not let my guard down!'
Royal family members inherently distrusted one another.
The Imperial Social Circle was a den teeming with all manner of schemes and plots.
And among them, the royals were those who wielded the most vicious and ruthless stratagems.
Yet, this man had momentarily lowered their guard and deceived them.
This wasn't something just anyone could do. Bogajun sharply heightened his wariness toward Gainando.
'Evading suspicion by acting the fool...'
Though it was called "acting the fool," it wasn't something just anyone could pull off.
It required nerves of steel to endure the torrent of infamy and harsh criticism directed at oneself.
As he considered this, a chill ran down Bogajun's spine.
To have dodged the other royals' vigilance by playing the fool for so long while secretly gathering powerful nobles who could become his allies...
Perhaps this younger brother was the most dangerous competitor among the royals.
"After much deliberation, I've finally built a new deck... Huh?"
Gainando, who had just opened the door and entered, was startled to see Bogajun.
"Who are you?"
"......"
For a moment, Lee Han was at a loss for words.
'You lunatic, it hasn't even been that long since we last met...'
Though royals made a hobby of insulting each other whenever they met, that was only within the bounds of decorum.
One should tease with lines like, 'What a shame your latest scheme failed,' not 'Who the hell are you?'—which was leagues beyond proper etiquette.
Lee Han was grateful there were no other nobles present.
'Thank goodness there are only three of us here.'
"Keh... keh keh!"
At the sight of Gainando's true colors revealed, Bogajun burst into laughter.
He assumed his wicked and sinister younger brother had finally cast off his mask.
Of course, Gainando was baffled by that laughter.
'Is this guy insane?'
"Professor?"
"...That's His Highness the Crown Prince, Gainando. Stop joking around."
Lee Han placed a hand on Gainando's shoulder. The pain of his shoulder blade twisting activated Gainando's brain cells.
"Ah! Aaah! I remember now! The Crown Prince! His Highness the Crown Prince!!"
"Right. My apologies, Your Highness. Gainando just loves his jokes."
"There's no need to hide it any longer, Wardanaz."
Bogajun rose from his seat as he spoke.
His eyes showed not a trace of disregard for Gainando.
Instead, they burned with nothing but fervor—the blazing intensity of facing a formidable rival.
'Whatever this is, it's not good.'
Lee Han felt uneasy.
Crown Prince Bogajun seemed to be forming some strange notion about Gainando's visit, and leaving it unchecked would only lead to trouble.
After all, the more opportunities Gainando had to speak, the more his reputation plummeted.
-Gainando. Do what we did last time.
Lee Han held up three fingers.
It meant to respond only with 'Yes,' 'No,' or 'Heh heh.' Rubbing his shoulder, Gainando nodded.
"I've already discerned the grand ambitions His Highness Gainando harbors."
"No..."
Lee Han urgently shot him a look.
It was a signal to deny it immediately.
'Say no, quick!'
"Heh heh."
"......"
Gainando misinterpreted Lee Han's gaze entirely.
Bogajun nodded as if he had expected this.
"Wardanaz. As a fellow alumnus of Einrogard, it's only natural you'd support your close friend."
"I'm not supporting anyone."
"But I know this—someone with your discerning eye would undoubtedly back the royal who proves most worthy."
"I don't care about backing any—"
"Please, wait. I'll soon demonstrate that very qualification."
Bogajun declared with arrogance.
Of course, Gainando had no clue what he was talking about, and Lee Han was too dumbfounded for it to have any effect.
"Then let us meet again at the gathering, Prince Gainando."
"Yes."
"......"
Lee Han let out a deep sigh inwardly.
Even after narrowing his responses down to three options, it had backfired.
'Should I just sew my mouth shut?'
"Young Master... another guest has arrived."
At the servant's call, Lee Han briefly considered posting a "No Visitors" sign on the mansion's front gate.
"Who is it?"
"Her Highness Princess Judrantas..."
"Hmph. A step too late."
Bogajun sneered at Judrantas.
She'd probably be shocked when she arrived too.
Not that she'd ever considered Bogajun a threat...
She'd soon realize the truly dangerous competitor was among those young royals!
"!!!"
As expected, Judrantas reacted exactly like Bogajun—same shock, same behavior.
Even her words were identical.
"Someone with discerning judgment like Lord Wardanaz..."
"...would naturally support the most qualified imperial family member when they appear, correct?"
"Exactly!"
"I'm not saying I agree with that—"
"Please wait. I'll soon prove I possess those qualifications."
'Are these two secretly close friends or something?'
Watching the two royals parrot the same lines, Lee Han couldn't even muster the energy to respond anymore.
"Understood."
"Then we'll meet at the gathering..."
After all the royals had left, Gainando cheerfully pulled out his deck.
"I made a new deck, wanna pl— Ow! Why'd you hit me!"
Lee Han began whacking Gainando's back with his staff as the prince yelped and ran circles around the room.
One hour later.
Sighing, Lee Han picked up a Wizard Card.
If they granted dead men's wishes, surely they could indulge a friend who'd taken dozens of staff strikes to the back.
"Hehe. This time will be different."
"Shut up and be quiet."
"Okay..."
Gainando quietly drew his card.
The game called Wizard Card had simple victory conditions—summon minions and cast spells each turn to reduce the opposing wizard's life to zero.
Naturally, weak minions and spells dominated early game when mana was scarce, while powerful ones flooded late game when mana overflowed.
Thus, a good deck required balanced distribution of both early-game weak cards and late-game strong ones!
Of course, rules meant nothing to Gainando, who always crammed his deck full of only the strongest cards he liked.
'Hehe. But this time's different.'
Gainando placed down a card with confident flair.
Lee Han blinked at it.
'Wait. Is this...?'
The victory conditions weren't limited to reducing life to zero.
Completely depleting an opponent's deck also counted as victory.
And the Black Magic spell card Gainando just played destroyed three cards from the opponent's deck.
"Gainando. Did you make a deck destruction deck?"
"N-no?"
Gainando averted his eyes, caught red-handed.
"Still better than that weird deck last time... but don't people hate this?"
The world always had unspoken rules.
Wizard Card was no exception.
Winning through deck destruction felt like cheating in what should be a civilized, enjoyable match.
Not that Lee Han particularly cared...
"Who cares! I'm gonna win!"
"Fine, whatever."
Lee Han prepared his cards while speaking.
He planned to spam direct-damage spells the moment Gainando ended his turn to finish the game.
Oblivious to his impending doom mere seconds away, Gainando pondered with intense seriousness.
"You two were playing?"
Yoner entered with Nilia, pausing when they saw the Wizard Card game.
"Is that... a Black Magic Curse Deck?"
"But what?"
"...Wow. Gainando. This is too much. Seriously too much."
Yoner stared at Gainando with horrified eyes.
No matter what Gainando had done before, she'd always taken his side as family—but this was crossing a line.
"N-no! Winning is all that matters! Why not?!"
"Of course winning matters, but a Black Magic Curse Deck is a bit of an exception..."
When Yoner refused to back him up, Gainando turned to Nilia with a pleading look.
"Is this really that big of a deal?!"
"A Black Magic Curse Deck is kind of..."
"......"
Gainando looked deeply wronged.
"If you used this deck among hunters, you'd get an arrow in your back."
"It's not that bad!"
"It really is."
"Apparently so."
When Lee Han's turn came, he unleashed a barrage of spells and knocked Gainando flat. Gainando just lay there, mouth gaping and blinking rapidly.
"So, Yoner. What's up?"
"Ah. There's that social gathering in Granden City soon, right?"
Throwing a social gathering wasn't particularly difficult. If Lee Han just called a few friends over to eat, drink, and hang out, that would already count as one.
Given that, in a city the size of Granden, dozens of such gatherings happened daily.
But the gathering Yoner was talking about wasn't one of those small, casual meetups.
It was practically a city-wide event—one where influential families and even Imperial Bureaucrats would attend. Calling it a gathering held in Granden City's name wouldn't be an exaggeration.
And the main attendees this time? First-year students from the Magic School.
'Ah. So this was the gathering the imperial relatives mentioned earlier.'
Lee Han finally understood why they'd come to see him.
At an event like that, of course they'd want to enter alongside a promising Magic School student.
It was practically a public declaration of "We're close with this person" to everyone else...
"It'd be better not to go in with Gainando."
"Yeah. I was thinking the same thing."
Given how the other imperial relatives had acted, entering together with Gainando would just make things awkward for everyone.
"Why?! Because I brought a Black Magic Curse Deck?!"
Gainando looked utterly betrayed as he asked.
"No. It's just that going together might give people the wrong idea about factions..."
"Just assume it's because of the cards."
At Yoner's blunt words, Gainando grumbled.
"Everyone's just jealous because my deck is too strong."
"But you lost—"
"Shut up!"
"...Under these circumstances, I have no choice."
Lee Han looked at Professor Verdus with an apologetic expression.
He didn't particularly enjoy social gatherings, but if he could use it as an excuse to dodge Verdus, why not?
As expected, Professor Verdus didn't seem to understand.
"Why on earth would you attend such a pointless gathering?"
"All first-year students were invited, apparently. People seem curious about how Magic School students are doing."
"Why on earth would you attend such a pointless gathering?"
'Hmm. Shouldn't have bothered explaining.'
Professor Verdus kept grumbling regardless of Lee Han's explanation.
"I don't get why the Magic School even has classes on dancing. They should teach one more theory lesson on Enchantment Magic instead."
"I agree, but— Wait. Are there dances at this social gathering?"
"At that scale? Absolutely."
Professor Verdus answered as if it were obvious.
A small gathering might skip it, but one of that size? A ball was inevitable.
Lee Han frowned.
'I thought I'd never need to dance in my life.'
While other Blue Dragon Tower students took social dance classes, Lee Han had opted for an extra magic course instead. Now he had no choice.
Even back at the Wardanaz family, he'd never practiced dancing...
'I'll have to cram the basics with elemental magic as fast as possible.'
His goal? Just enough to avoid humiliation.
Having made up his mind, Lee Han turned to Professor Verdus.
"Professor, are you any good at dancing?"
"No?"
"I figured. Then I'll go find someone to teach me."
"...??"
Left alone, Professor Verdus tilted his head in confusion.
Somehow, he felt vaguely insulted.