Chapter 77
Chapter 77
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: Whispers of Succession
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"Lower your voice."
The lizardman Deanin glanced around between the bookshelves in the library.
The Second Library contained only Deanin and the human Huimun.
The elderly woman with her white hair neatly tied up, Huimun, spoke.
"Isn't it because you're saying such absurd things? For the past hundred years, the first prince becoming the crown prince has been a long-standing rule."
"There are exceptions."
"You're saying dangerous things again. There were reasons for those."
"Why not this time?"
Huimun sighed and pondered Deanin's words.
Everyone in the palace was keeping quiet about it, but the first prince, Basen, was problematic.
He was old enough, yet he neglected his studies and preferred to play.
Rumors had it that lately, he was learning to hunt, riding cockatoos out with the riffraff of Orazun's streets into the mountains.
"But Deanin, not many ministers will think that way."
"Of course."
A young lizardman born in a nameless village in the peninsula's mountain valley, with white scales and red eyes.
Deanin snorted and said,
"How delighted would the ministers be with a king who's indifferent to state affairs and loves going out to play?"
"Ahem."
Huimun cleared his throat awkwardly.
But Deanin's words weren't entirely false.
A hundred years had passed since Rakrak's death.
Rakrak's descendants had continued the Heukrin royal line, and there had been exceptional kings, but none were rated as highly as Rakrak.
And among them were kings who hadn't received good evaluations.
Huimun thought,
'It's presumptuous, but objectively, even the current King Anpyeong is one of those. After becoming king, he has no achievements in nearly a decade, earning only the moniker of keeping the country peaceful.'
Huimun greatly agreed with this white-scaled lizardman's words.
But Huimun was the head of the Left Hand Officials.
The Left Hand Officials was a position created after Rakrak's death.
Between Rakrak and Jaol, there were only three children, but those three had many offspring.
As the royal family grew, there was a need for people to assist the king and royals with miscellaneous tasks, but the problem was that lizardmen living in the palace would be the same as the royals.
If the same lizardmen resided in the palace, children might be born between them and the royals, and if that became frequent, it would lead to political issues.
So the Heukrin royal family found a simple solution.
'The royal family needs hands, but if they're lizardmen like the royals, it would be hard to prevent chaos in the bloodline. Thus, to hold this position, one must not be a lizardman first.'
Of course, there was the method of castrating lizardmen, but it was banned because who would risk sending their children to the palace.
Afterward, this position was named Left Hand Official, as it managed the left side of the throne, the inner palace.
As the one in charge of the Left Hand Officials, Huimun bore the duty to prevent chaos in the palace and maintain peace.
Huimun said,
"You know King Anpyeong is suffering from internal ailments, right? He's particularly sensitive, so if you say such harsh things, his recovering illness might flare up again, or even turn his insides upside down."
Deanin nodded.
"Sigh, I hadn't considered that. Then, as expected, Huimun-nim, the senior Left Hand Official, should hint at my opinion beforehand."
"What?"
"If I submit a petition tomorrow to depose the first prince and appoint the third as crown prince, won't there be an uproar? For His Majesty's health, you'll have to step in, Huimun-nim. Well then."
"W-Wait. Deanin?"
Huimun had no choice but to grab the turning Deanin's arm.
This young lizardman's stubbornness was formidable, so Huimun could only promise to subtly hint to King Anpyeong soon.
Deanin seemed dissatisfied with that but firmly promised not to submit the petition tomorrow.
Huimun sighed, watching Deanin's retreating back.
'How many lives does he think he has?'
The current royal ministers, that is, most of the Right Hand Officials, were descendants of warriors from Rakrak's era.
Those warriors, precisely the warrior captains, had earned noble status for their merits.
However, they had issues too.
Just as not all descendants of Rakrak's blood were excellent, not all warrior descendants were warrior-like.
'Some joke that it's natural for warrior descendants to struggle with state affairs... but the warriors of that era were wise ones who didn't fight relying only on their strength.'
Nevertheless, they were passing down positions in practice using their noble status.
For a lizardman like Deanin, with no lineage and even prejudices about white skin being cursed by ancients, becoming a Right Hand Official was extremely difficult.
'Of course, the position of Hunting Minister is merely the lowest among ministers. He was quite lucky too.'
Still, Huimun viewed Deanin favorably for earning his position through effort.
If such a Deanin spoke of putting the third prince on the throne as crown prince?
In the best case, he'd survive the political offensive and return home; in the worst, he'd be buried without a trace.
Huimun recalled Deanin's words, which had thrown a stone—no, perhaps a massive boulder—into his calm heart, stirring waves.
'The third prince...'
──┼
At that moment, the third prince Kyle Rak Orazun was with his teacher, Rabun Quez.
It was a break after studies, enjoying some tea and snacks.
It looked simple, but it was a delicacy: rice cakes made by pounding rice from Heukrin's southern great plains in water mills, steamed, and dipped in honey from bees raised in Orazun's western valleys.
To drink was green tea brewed from tea leaves picked by elves on the northern coast.
Rabun said,
"Good, Your Highness. This time, allow me to ask some questions."
"Please do."
Kyle was quietly gazing into his teacup.
To Rabun, Kyle was brilliant and quick-witted—a true genius—but his somewhat dazed and dull demeanor prevented proper recognition.
Rabun said,
"Your Highness has already read all the books in the First Library, so I must ask for future study directions. What is your favorite book?"
Kyle frowned slightly and looked up at Rabun.
"There are too many favorites to choose from. Must it be just one?"
"No. Say as you wish. Just briefly explain why you like it."
Kyle nodded lightly, as if it were no trouble.
"First, Lord Owen's 'Travel Journal' is incredibly fun. It tells of lands I've never seen and numerous races."
Rabun gave a wry smile.
It's a book no child could dislike.
The so-called 'Storyteller Owen' lived in Rakrak's era and left many anecdotes related to him. Tales of Owen's virtues remain throughout Heukrin, some even carved by him with chisel and hammer on monuments.
The most famous among them is the 'Travel Journal'.
From Owen's perspective, it was just a diary, but its detailed content, his travels across many countries and places, and his writing skill that read like speech made it popular even outside Heukrin.
A famous anecdote about Owen's Travel Journal is that it's unfinished.
Owen wrote nine volumes and in his later years set out west for his final trip, after which no records remain.
He probably died, but many believe he was writing the final tenth volume. Thus, the search for the fantasy tenth Travel Journal continues, yet to be found.
'He has some childlike aspects after all.'
But Kyle's next words shattered Rabun's expectations.
"And Lady Jaol's 'Theory of Algebra' and 'Orazun Architectural Design'."
"Hm."
"Why is that?"
"Nothing. Please continue."
"Lady Jaol's books have the joy of logic fitting perfectly, and a warmth in consideration for others."
"Consideration, you say?"
"Yes. ...Am I wrong?"
"No."
Jaol is well-known as Rakrak's consort, the queen, but to scholars, she leaves a strong impression as a mathematician and architect.
As a mathematician, her 'Theory of Algebra' systematized the era's math.
What intrigued Rabun more was her 'Orazun Architectural Design' as an architect.
Having previously supervised four water mills in Jodongseong, she boldly succeeded in building Heukrin's capital.
And that design incorporated not just river dimensions and the palace, but conveniences for Orazun's commoners.
'But 'Orazun Architectural Design' contains only numbers and blueprints. Finding the designer's heart from just those figures and lines is extremely difficult.'
Kyle continued,
"Ah, and Quezl-nim's 'Ethics', ancestor of Teacher Rabun Quez."
"An honor. Why?"
"Hm, that's hard."
"You can explain slowly."
Quezl's 'Ethics' isn't strictly Quezl's own thoughts.
It's observations of Rakrak's actions and conversations with him, compiled into a book.
Kyle nodded and gazed at the inner courtyard as he began.
"If you take someone's thing, you get punished, right?"
"Yes."
"So there are laws. But there are bad things not punished by law, aren't there?"
"For example?"
"Saying mean words?"
Rabun nodded.
Kyle continued,
"No one punishes saying mean words as breaking the law. But people don't say them easily. Even if venting emotions refreshingly might feel good. They don't."
"Why?"
"Because hearing mean words feels bad. People who don't say mean words know that. The book 'Ethics' says not to say mean words henceforth. It mostly ends with 'Lord Rakrak did this too'... Anyway, I like that point. Without this book, I might have thought it's fine to spew mean words freely someday."
"Haha, no way."
Rabun found it amusing that young Kyle understood ethics.
Ethics is overlooked in kings' education, but perhaps the most important.
Leading a country by a king's whims without ethical standards is the path to ruin.
'Of course, the Rakrak that ancestor Quezl saw followed the guidance of the wondrous Night Heaven, so naturally the incarnation of ethics.'
In fact, Rakrak is known as Night Heaven's apostle.
Perhaps Night Heaven simply sent his apostle to earth in lizardman form.
Afterward, Kyle listed more: Yur's military book 'Battles on the Plains', the theological 'Night Heaven' by Sayran Muel, and one of Rakrak's rare works, the astronomy book 'Reading the Sky', explaining why he liked them.
Rabun was pleased yet saddened by Kyle's reading history.
It's good that Prince Kyle loves studying.
But he was the third, not the first.
'What a pity. Of course, this knowledge will be used well somehow later...'
Rabun shook his head to dispel stray thoughts.
He pondered how to teach Kyle new knowledge.
'At this rate, I can't even be a teacher. In some fields, His Highness knows more already.'
The royal family's worries were someone else's business anyway.
To be Kyle's teacher, Rabun needed to teach him something.
Chattering Kyle had suddenly gone quiet.
Rabun looked at him, thinking it couldn't be over so soon.
Kyle said,
"Teacher Rabun."
"Yes, speak."
"I've answered a lot today, so may I ask something I'm curious about?"
"Of course. No—in studies, I said ask without hesitation, didn't I?"
Kyle smiled shyly.
"It's not exactly study-related. Maybe it is, but my knowledge is shallow, so I'm unsure."
"Amusing that Your Highness admits ignorance. Speak."
Kyle met Rabun's eyes and said,
"Can I become king?"
Rabun spat out his tea.
Fortunately, not on Kyle's face, but toward the inner courtyard.