Ritual (1)
Ritual (1)
I came back to myself as I stared at the Mana Thread connected to the spire.
'Ah, I can't just leave it like this.'
There were other royals in the capital who could see this Mana Thread.
There was nothing to gain from drawing their attention.
I immediately channeled my mana to shut it off.
As if flipping a switch, the Mana Thread stretching across the sky vanished.
"No. It's not something you can just do because you want to."
When I suggested that our next destination for the group project should be the capital temple, the Grand Archduchess immediately objected, leaving me no chance to bring it up again.
It was a shame, but I couldn't force her after she'd said no.
And it wasn't as if I could explain the situation to her, either.
Since it didn't seem urgent, I figured I should take my time and find a way forward, step by step.
The Second Prince sat on a bench in the palace garden, staring up at the sky.
A strange line had appeared there a moment earlier, and it had been getting on his nerves.
Although it had vanished quickly, he couldn't shake off his unease.
"Did I imagine it?"
The Second Prince narrowed his eyes and looked up, but the line that had stretched across the sky was nowhere to be seen.
"Is something the matter, Your Highness?"
"No, I must have been mistaken."
The Second Prince waved his hand at the people he was speaking with.
He couldn't afford to speak carelessly in front of the people gathered here.
He had kept nothing from Viscount Daniel, who had died the year before, but since his death, it hadn't been easy to find someone he could truly open up to.
Formulating plans and managing connections on his own was incredibly exhausting.
Because of that, he'd made many mistakes at first.
His actions toward the Grand Archduchess had been riddled with blunders, too.
By the time he realized his mistakes and tried to approach her carefully again, his relationship with the Grand Archduchess had already deteriorated significantly.
Since he hadn't given up on the Grand Archduchess, the Second Prince decided to take his time.
The Second Prince scanned the people gathered around him.
A general of the Kingdom's Central Army, the Chief of Capital Security, and the leader of the young noble faction known as the Reformist Faction.
The Central Army, the security forces, and the young nobles—these were the Second Prince's faction, the strength he could rely on to oppose the First Prince.
It was no small power, but unfortunately, it was bound to be weaker than the First Prince's.
The advantages of being the eldest and the authority of the Crown Prince were not easily matched.
Countless nobles followed him even when he did nothing, while the old-fashioned fools who swore absolute loyalty to the royal family blindly followed the First Prince, babbling about tradition.
Though he had diligently expanded his influence over a long period, overturning the balance of power still seemed like a distant dream.
"Even so, it was difficult to spread disrespectful rumors that would tarnish the royal family," one of them remarked.
A merely lazy lifestyle wouldn't leave so much as a scratch on the First Prince.
On the other hand, fabricating a massive false rumor risked splashing mud across the entire royal family.
If that happened, there was a high chance the blowback would reach him, a royal himself.
Thus, a silent agreement had been maintained between the two princes.
But now, it was time to break that agreement.
The Second Prince continued, looking at the people gathered around the table.
"While it is regrettable that the royal family might suffer damage, we cannot simply stand by and watch while such an incredible story spreads on its own."
If it were just a ridiculous, groundless rumor, it would have died down on its own.
Yet, despite the First Prince's fury, it showed no signs of fading.
It was clear that the rumor wasn't entirely baseless.
"If this had happened earlier, Father might have flown into a rage over rumors involving the late Queen, but..."
There was no way anyone would report such rumors to the bedridden King, and even if he heard them, he wasn't in any state to do anything about it.
A weakness in the First Prince, who had been so far ahead, had suddenly surfaced out of nowhere.
If they didn't dig into this now, there was no telling when such an opportunity would arise again.
"The rumor itself is shocking enough, so there's no need to add anything to it. Just spread it to as many people as possible."
At the Second Prince's words, the people gathered around the table nodded.
It was a rumor that the Queen had met another man behind the King's back and even given birth to a child.
It was such a severe scandal that it was hard to embellish it any further.
"Also, please send people to investigate the facts further. If we can secure evidence that even a fraction of this is true, we'll be able to completely shatter the balance of power."
This was the very reason he had gathered the members of his faction.
A rumor was just a rumor if people chose not to believe it.
But if even a shred of evidence came to light, it would cease to be just a rumor.
If evidence emerged that the Queen had committed adultery, it could shake the belief that the First Prince was the King's biological son.
Though the First Prince certainly possessed 'Mana Resonance', which proved he was the King's son, it didn't matter. Because of his laziness, it was an ability he had never properly trained.
The Second Prince was confident he could make people believe the First Prince didn't possess the ability at all.
The Royal Knight Commander had returned as well, and the scandal was spreading.
The Crown Prince's foundation was shaking.
He only needed to take one more step.
Once that happened, he would be fully capable of putting up a proper fight without having to beg for help elsewhere.
Having finished speaking, the Second Prince looked toward the spire where he had seen the optical illusion.
It was a highly displeasing tower.
"Are they really going through with that ritual or whatever it is?"
"Yes, as it has been handed down as a custom for a long time..."
"Tsk, he's just dying because it's his time to die. They're making a fuss over nothing."
If a miracle happened and the King leaped out of his sickbed, it would spell disaster for both the First Prince and himself.
Since his preparations were still incomplete, all he needed was for the King to hold on a little longer.
I put my sword in my artifact pouch and returned to my daily routine.
Classes and training—only now did I finally feel like a second-year student.
I had looked into the temple's relics on my own, but it was just as the Grand Archduchess had said.
Once a relic entered the temple, neither ordinary citizens nor believers could lay eyes on it.
Sneaking in to take a look was out of the question, too.
It might have been possible if it were a temple in another city, but the temple in the capital was the central temple of the order that managed the entire kingdom.
As the second-largest temple after the one in the Empire, it had its own guards, along with numerous high priests and priests capable of combat.
In the end, I had no choice but to postpone investigating the relics in the temple.
While I was attending classes, Ivana came to see me.
"I am taking a leave of absence and heading back down to the territory. Since we have a promise, I thought I should let you know."
When I spread the rumor, I had expected something like this might happen.
With the rumors spreading, there was no way the Crown Prince would leave his weakness in the capital.
"Is it because of what happened back then?"
"It's not entirely unrelated."
Ivana's expression darkened as she spoke.
"I wanted to stay a bit longer... but since it's an order from a high-ranking person, I have no choice but to obey."
A flash of discontent crossed Ivana's eyes.
Was that resentment toward the Crown Prince?
I replied casually.
"That's a shame."
If she returned to her territory, it would be difficult for her to keep her promise.
To lose one of my emergency measures like this...
It was incredibly wasteful.
"Still, I will remember our promise. And how you saved me. Whenever you come to visit, I will implant my ability into you."
Unlike the Crown Prince, she was a girl who made an effort to keep her promises.
"I hope you stay well back in your territory. I'll pay you a visit when I have some free time."
Even though I was the one who had spread the rumors, I wished her well on her way.
And my reason for visiting would be solely to receive her ability, anyway.
Unaware of my true thoughts, Ivana's face brightened at my words.
"Yes, I will be waiting for you to come."
Judging by her expression, she seemed to have developed a fondness for her savior.
That kind of fondness would fade over time anyway.
There was no need to feel guilty.
Just as one person left, another barged into my daily life.
"Hey, why is a guy who's supposed to be busy as hell here!"
"I'm here because I've gotten so busy that I don't have enough time to train. This is the only place where I can get effective training in a short amount of time, isn't it?"
The training ground was in the basement of the Academy's private training hall.
I had come here to train with the Duke of Ceuta, and found a Giant bickering with him.
As expected, he was massive.
If the basement training ground hadn't had such a high ceiling, it looked as though he would have struggled even to swing his sword.
The Royal Knight Commander was there, too.
"You need a sparring partner, right? The best opponent is right here."
As soon as I walked in, the Commander pointed at himself and said.
"I'm right here. What sparring are you talking about?"
"Come on, how long can you even fight with that rat's tail of mana stored in your bracelet?"
At the Commander's words, I stealthily slipped my hand into my pocket and gripped the bracelet.
Then I began drawing mana from the bracelet.
During our last training session, I'd only charged it with a set amount of mana when I was introduced to the Commander, but this time I'd brought it fully loaded with mana.
But since the Commander was here, it seemed such a large amount of mana wouldn't be necessary.
I felt sorry for the Duke of Ceuta, but it was time to respect my elders.
"Just give us some good advice from the sidelines."
"This brat!"
As usual, the two men bickered, and I gripped the greatsword I had brought along.
Thanks to breaking another longsword at the Grand Archduchess's residence, I'd ended up completely blacklisted by the staff member in charge of weapon maintenance.
I thought it would be fine since they had readily replaced them even after I'd broken them multiple times, but apparently, there was a limit.
After being told I wouldn't be given any more this semester, I had no choice but to carry a greatsword on my back.
Although it drew even more attention from everyone, the greatsword seemed as though it would come in handy today.
As I took my stance with the greatsword, the old man clicked his tongue and sat down to one side.
"All right! Let's have a go!"
A massive sword swept through a wide arc.
As expected, facing it head-on, the sheer pressure was immense.
I surged my mana to the brim and angled my greatsword to parry.
Clang!
The sound of the collision echoed throughout the training ground.
"Ha, yes, this is the feeling! I can't get any proper training because there's no one who can block my sword."
Even as he watched my arms tremble, the Commander grinned, baring his teeth.
Then he swung his sword with sheer excitement.
Clang, clang, clang.
As the clash of swords rang through the training ground, the old man watching spoke up.
"Did the First Prince's faction say anything?"
Rather than offering advice about the spar, the old man brought up the Knights Order.
"What could they possibly say? Everything's just back where it belongs. Hup!"
While I was struggling even to speak, the Commander answered the old man's question effortlessly.
"No, didn't they mess with you before, which is why you fled to that forest?"
"I was just avoiding them a little. I didn't flee."
I couldn't see how that was any different from fleeing.
I wanted to chime in, too, but I was too busy dodging the sword crashing down from above.
Boom!
The solid floor was deeply gouged.
I wondered if we would have to pay compensation for that.
"Anyway, maybe because of the huge fuss I kicked up, they haven't said much."
The Commander continued speaking even as he swung his sword.
"It's not like I carried out a massive purge of the Knights Order; I just demoted a few to regular knights."
That alone must have been a huge deal, though.
Even after that, the old man and the Commander continued their conversation.
Stories about the Knights Order and the royal palace, tales of factions and nobles—they kept talking until the spar finally ended.
'Was this the advice?'
The advice the Commander had mentioned wasn't about swordsmanship.
It was the kind of advice that taught me about the world, the nobility, and the Knights Order.
And so, on the last weekday, after receiving training and instruction from the two men, the group project members gathered once again.
And there, I heard about an event that might allow us to enter the capital temple.