Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Crown Prince Alondre - Do a Good Job and More Work Comes Your Way
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Eisen Empire Capital. Calastia.
This historic land, whose name meant "Radiant City," boasted numerous beautiful and grand landmarks worthy of its reputation.
The Golden Cloud Palace, residence of the empire's crown prince, was one such place. Though it was merely the home of the crown prince and not the emperor, its scale overshadowed the royal palaces of other nations.
The golden roof from which the palace derived its name.
Within its towering walls lay expansive gardens and ponds rivaling those of a decent forest, with the buildings divided into a main structure and several annexes. The palace housed a hundred elite guards clad in the latest enchanted armor, along with five hundred support staff including secretaries, gardeners, chefs, and maids.
It felt excessive at first glance for attending to just one person.
Yet not a single servant or minister in the Golden Cloud Palace considered it wasteful or over the top.
On the contrary, they insisted even this was insufficient.
Alondre Arcanelle Eisen.
For the crown prince, who possessed the greatest talent and character in the history of the Eisen imperial family, investing even more budget and manpower was only natural, they said.
Meanwhile, how did the crown prince himself react upon hearing this?
"That's insane. They want me to work even more here?"
He meant it.
Sincerely.
From the depths of his heart, he rejected the idea outright and felt utter disgust.
And who could blame him?
More subordinates? A larger allocated budget?
In the end, didn't that just mean more work?
Someone pursuing power and influence might enjoy managing the influx of talent and funds to expand their sway, but Alondre was the opposite.
"I should've toned it down when everyone kept praising me and egging me on...!"
Alondre was a reincarnator.
Not the type who regained memories of his past life at around ten years old due to illness or a head injury, but one who retained them fully from the very moment of birth.
Having a fully formed sense of self in a child's body was quite disconcerting, but it came with clear advantages.
After all, he could pursue his goals with clear intent from a young age, without wasting time like others.
Once he realized he'd been reborn into a fantasy world—admittedly one with unevenly advanced civilization, more medieval than anything—and as the crown prince of one of this era's superpowers, no less, he even inwardly cheered.
In his previous life, he'd harbored plenty of romantic notions about fantasy worlds, and in a society with rigid class structures, being crown prince elevated him beyond mere platinum spoon status.
With such an ideal setup, letting it go to waste would be a shame.
To avoid being labeled a pearl around a pig's neck, Alondre spared no effort.
He diligently followed lessons from his dedicated tutors and experimented with ideas drawn from his past life's memories.
In hindsight, that was the problem.
"Your Highness Alondre! To manifest aura already—what astonishing talent! Now, let us learn how to infuse your sword with will!"
"Your Highness Alondre! Such outstanding scholarly achievements—it's an honor for me as your teacher. Next, I shall lecture on ancient literature and rhetoric!"
"Your Highness Alondre! The four-field crop rotation you proposed has yielded tremendous results! To boost food production this much without magic or blessings—it's an accomplishment for the history books!"
"Your Highness Alondre! Do this, do that—do everything!!"
If the military from his past life shared one thing with his current role as crown prince, it was that the better you did your job, the more work piled up.
Just like getting buried in tasks after acing it in the army, the ministers witnessing a diligent, talented crown prince didn't say, "That's enough!" Instead, they burned with enthusiasm: "He pulled that off too?! Excellent! We'll prepare even more work!"
Realizing something had gone wrong, Alondre tried to subtly pull back, but the emperor delivered the final blow.
"The crown prince possesses abundant qualities and exemplary conduct, a great blessing to the empire. However, true knowledge cannot be fully internalized from books alone. I shall entrust him with practical duties to let his talents fully bloom. Ministers, heed this."
Some of the emperor's own workload shifted to Alondre, and the ministers hailed it as imperial "favor."
And rightly so, for in a vast organization, decision-making authority equated to power.
Handing over even a portion of his duties meant partially transferring power to the crown prince.
Already the eldest with the strongest claim among the emperor's children, Alondre's position as heir became ironclad, unshakable by ordinary challenges.
Everyone offered congratulations, but Alondre couldn't rejoice.
Who cared about being next emperor or wielding power? More work, plain and simple!
If they were going to give him real duties, at least cut back on classes! But no, he still had to attend them all!
From dawn till dusk: work, study, work.
"This... is fantasy?"
Where were the adventures and challenges?
The encounters with new comrades?
The epic quest to thwart a world-shaking conspiracy?
So what if he could pour aura from his sword? He had no time to swing it outside training.
Back when it was just heir training, he might've had a shot at escape.
He could've slacked off or skipped classes—it'd be his problem alone.
But now, with real duties delegated by the emperor? No.
Slacking or botching them would incur the emperor's wrath, but worse, as final decision-maker, tantrums from him would hurt his subordinates first.
Though adapted to this new life, Alondre lacked the mindset that "subordinates exist to serve their lord unconditionally." He couldn't bring himself to do it.
But did that mean endless drudgery forever?
A dark night.
Already carving out precious sleep time, Alondre had slipped into the main palace library seeking something to lift his spirits.
"Your Highness, at this late hour...?"
"Can't sleep. I want to read quietly, so keep any noise to a minimum."
Issuing the order in the now-familiar archaic tone to the patrolling guard, Alondre surveyed the library.
And felt disappointed.
"...No adventure tales for light reading, as expected."
There were plenty of specialist tomes and educational books that would set scholars ablaze with passion, but nothing aimed purely at entertaining the reader—no matter how hard he looked.
He'd hoped the main palace library, with its long history—not his own smaller one in the Golden Cloud Palace (objectively still sizable)—might hold something fun. But no dice.
Not surprising. Built in the founding emperor's era, only imperial family members could access it, and how many would trek here just to read?
Books require constant care, but magic arrays handled everything automatically here, making it practically abandoned. Records showed the last new addition was a century ago.
As Alondre sighed, thinking even a brief diversion was too much to ask,
"Hm?"
Something odd pinged his senses.
A magic array for controlling humidity and dust.
Its mana flow felt strangely distorted.
Alondre approached the source.
He tinkered with what appeared to be an ordinary bookshelf for a bit.
Click. Something locked into place, and the shelf slid aside with a smooth whoosh, revealing a hidden door.
Alondre fell silent.
Reason and desire clashed in his mind.
"Too suspicious. Better retreat and order an investigation. If something happens to me, the crown prince, the fallout won't be small."
"Scared?"
"What?"
Confirming desire had one-punched reason into submission, Alondre opened the hidden door.
Unlike the palace library, spacious enough for a house, this secret room was modest in size.
At its center, midway between an altar and display pedestal, sat a single red book.
An eerie aura seeped from it, but it couldn't breach the circular magic array encircling the altar.
Though the array itself wasn't pristine—parts were faded, like glass on the verge of shattering.
"A sealing magic array. High level. But neglected for so long without maintenance, it's critically weakened. That explains the odd mana flow outside."
Several keywords flashed in Alondre's mind, weaving into a deduction.
"Library built by the founding emperor. Hidden room. Sealed book. ...Meant to seal something, but over time, the keeper died or failed to pass on duties, knowledge was lost, and it was left alone?"
Dangerous.
But intriguing.
In the past, maybe not, but worn down by endless labor and lessons lately, the sealed grimoire before him looked irresistibly appealing.
Besides,
"With the seal weakened, the book's power seems diminished too. I can handle any mishaps."
Resolved, Alondre reached for the book.
His fingertips barely brushed it before it flipped open on its own, red mist billowing out.
The mist soon coalesced into a beautiful woman's form.
A body with curves so pronounced they bordered on toxic, pale skin draped in strangely lustrous garb.
Wings like a bat's with leathery membranes, red horns, and a long tail.
Gleaming black hair and eyes red as gems.
A beauty who could turn heads on any street addressed Alondre.
"─Thanks for waking me. Won't you tell me... your wish?"