The Plan to Create an Idol Prince
I recalled the original Elena van Laque. The young leader of the Silver Feather Merchant Guild. A woman who, despite not being a noble, held the financial reins of the imperial capital and moved between the palace and the aristocracy with a smile. Outwardly kind and gentle to everyone, yet inwardly calculating gains and losses faster than anyone. Even she had a hobby.
In the original story, Elena secretly collected magical photographs of Cayenne. Side profiles taken during official appearances. The image of him standing with a sword at the hunting competition. The moment he reached out to a child during an imperial charity event. Photos requested from reporters or snapped in secret. She processed them into collectible photocards and hoarded them.
“Oh my.”
Elena narrowed her eyes. “What exactly do you mean?”
Her voice stayed soft. But her eyes weren’t smiling. Hmm, scary. Too much for a frail, weak person like me. Better get to the main point quickly.
“Doesn’t it feel like a waste to keep those all to yourself?”
“Those?”
“Don’t play innocent. I’m talking about the magical photographs of the Second Prince.”
Elena’s smile stiffened by a fraction. “I have no idea what you’re referring to.”
“I know everything. Who the good adults are and who the bad ones are.”
My joke didn’t seem to land. Elena’s face remained rigid.
“The side profile taken from the north balcony of the banquet hall. The full-body shot from the spring hunting festival. Even the one with his shirt off.”
Silence. Elena said nothing. Instead, her finger tapped lightly on the tabletop.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
“Information broker.”
“Yes.”
“Snooping through a lady’s room is a terrible habit.”
“Information work has never been dignified.”
“You say that with such pride.”
“The dirtier the job, the higher the price.”
“Casually exposing a young girl’s secret like it’s nothing.”
The tips of her ears had turned red. So she gets embarrassed too. After confirming her reaction, I continued.
“Prince Cayenne has serious commercial appeal.”
“Commercial appeal…”
“You know exactly what I mean. The person who collects them in secret shouldn’t pretend otherwise.”
I looked her straight in the eye. “Things like that should be sold. Let’s turn our brother Cayenne into the empire’s greatest idol.”
“Are you hoping to be arrested for treason?”
“I plan to flee before they can catch me.”
“You’re joking, right?”
“About half of it.”
Elena pressed a hand to her forehead. “You’re far more dangerous than I imagined.”
“Am I?”
“What about me?”
“None of my business.”
She gave me a completely dumbfounded look. Teasing her was surprisingly entertaining.
“Just kidding. This business will definitely succeed.”
I tapped the table with a shadow finger. Thin black lines spread across the surface, and a small diagram rose into the air.
Second Prince
↓
Silver Feather Merchant Guild — Newspapers — Charity Projects — Academy — Commoner Support Base — Imperial Family
“Right now, Prince Cayenne is missing three things: money, influence, and justification.”
“Even he lacks that much?”
“He carries the title of prince, but he isn’t part of the mainstream in the succession race. Most of the old nobility have already aligned with the First Prince. The Empress’s influence plays a part in that too.”
“So you want to attach emerging powers to him?”
“Exactly. We need merchants like the Silver Feather.”
Elena folded her arms. “But I’m a commoner.”
“That’s what makes it even better.”
“The nobles won’t see it that way.”
“They’ll hate it, sure. But hatred doesn’t override reality. Money is far more practical than aristocratic pride.”
I kept going. “The empire’s outdated nobles still believe the world runs on titles and bloodlines alone. But you, as a merchant leader, already understand.”
“Understand what?”
“The age where only status matters is never coming back.”
Elena’s expression grew slightly more serious. I continued.
“The change has already begun. It will arrive whether they like it or not. Commoners are starting to lift their heads. More voices are speaking out. More people are learning to read, reading newspapers, studying calculations and accounting in merchant guilds.”
“It’s still weak.”
“Yes. But even the smallest spark becomes an inferno once it meets oil.”
“And the Silver Feather is supposed to be that oil?”
“If that’s what you want.”
Elena gave a quiet laugh. “That’s a dangerous proposal.”
“I’ll share the danger with you. Cayenne, Adeline—they’ll all be part of this game too.”
I pointed at the charity project section of the floating diagram and continued.
“The most important part is shaping Prince Cayenne’s image.”
Elena watched me with her arms still folded. “Image.”
“Right now, Cayenne already has excellent material. The justification of being direct imperial blood. A gentle personality. A position familiar enough to the nobles yet distanced from the First Prince’s faction. And on top of that, a relatable human image.”
“A human image?”
“The prince who cares for his idiot brother.”
Elena looked at me for a moment. Her expression was complicated.
“Until now, the imperial family has been a distant existence. Locked away in high palaces where commoners could hardly even see their faces.”
“You’re saying that will change?”
“From now on, image will become power.”
“So we package Cayenne in a favorable light?”
“Not packaging—steering. We’re not creating something that doesn’t exist. Cayenne genuinely isn’t a bad person.”
“That’s true.”
Elena answered quickly. I studied her for a second. She must have noticed, because she subtly turned her head away.
“First, we’ll expand the charity work. The imperial family is obligated to do it, but everyone avoids the worst tasks. Cayenne will take them on.”
“You plan to mobilize the reporters?” Elena asked, staring at the newspaper company node in the diagram.
“It’ll be easy to get them moving. They’ve built up quite a lot of resentment.”
They must have been looked down on constantly. Forced to read the room before every article.
“A sense of justice that exposes the true face of corrupt vested interests.”
I smiled as I added, “We’ll use that as fuel.”
“Then quietly sponsor them from the shadows so the flames burn even hotter.”
“The copy line could be something like this: a lone star shining nobly between the outdated imperial family and the corrupt nobility.”
“I like it. A person who is high yet not distant. Noble, yet listens to the voices of commoners. Someone of imperial blood, yet different from the stale powers that be.”
I moved the shadow line and circled the words Commoner Support Base.
“Commoner support can’t directly change the line of succession yet. But it can shape the atmosphere. It can create justification that even the nobles can’t openly ignore. And it can become the focal point for emerging powers.”
“I’m skeptical. Do commoners really hold that much power?”
“That’s why we need the Academy.”
At the center, the Academy. Around it, noble children, commoner scholarship students, foreign exchange students, scholars, merchant sponsors, and imperial sponsors all connected.
“Everyone will be equal there. We’ll also implement a system that grants titles to outstanding graduates.”
Elena’s eyes changed. “A chance for commoners to become nobles.”
“Yes.”
“The nobles will revolt.”
“The Academy will symbolize change. It will be a place that accepts and teaches cutting-edge technology. We need to create that image—the symbol of a new era, a new change.”
“The perception that those who don’t learn will be left behind?”
“Scholars are the key to this plan.”
Moving them wouldn’t be difficult.
“Scholars are often more realistic than nobles. Research funds, stable sponsorship, experimental facilities, libraries, free labor. Offer those things and they’ll move.”
With Elena’s money, moving them would be more than possible.
“Magic storage stones, communication artifacts, mobile carriages, printing techniques, preservation magic. All the technologies that will change the era will come from the scholars.”
“And we bind those technologies inside the Academy.”
“We’ll also accept foreign students. Educate them in the empire, give them chances to succeed within the imperial system, and slowly let them permeate the empire.”
“Couldn’t spies slip in as well?”
“There are certainly many risks. The finer details will have to be refined by you and Cayenne.”
I was only presenting a plausible framework.
“A position that receives steady money and requires no actual work—just a title in name only. Please seat me there so I can use it as a fake identity.”
“I wonder. It sounds like a dream.”
“Turning my dream into reality will be your role.”
Would it be all right to have expectations?
I watched Elena’s back as she quietly slipped out of the tent. While I was cleaning up the table, I heard footsteps approaching again. It seemed another guest was on the way.