Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: The Brainwashing Ability
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Ryan couldn't understand Emperor Kies's words.
Magic crystals had existed long before he was born. They weren't commercialized, but using them was a natural thing.
Kies surely knew this fact as well, yet he declared with certainty that the magic crystals would disappear. Ryan couldn't comprehend where this conviction welling up from his heart came from.
"If we squeeze the captured mages dry this time, we might get something even better than what that guy made..."
But Kies had no intention of resolving his doubts.
After pondering for a moment, Ryan decided to focus on the current situation first.
Letting Kies roam free like this was suspicious enough. There was no telling who might be watching him. He needed to wrap up the business as quickly and swiftly as possible.
"Then I'll contact the Epekle Marquis House."
Since they'd been in touch originally because of Resuan, this wouldn't seem strange.
The Marquis Epekle needed magic crystals too, and if he knew they could be depleted, asking him would suffice.
Seeing Ryan respond so obediently, Kies smiled in satisfaction. He fell silent for a moment before adding,
"There's one more thing for you to do."
"What is it?"
He'd thought handling the treasure and pulling in the Epekle Marquis House would be enough, but there was more.
Ryan suppressed the irritation rising within him and managed his expression.
"Make Marso Etwar fall even harder for you."
"...Pardon?"
Ryan doubted his own ears. He frowned, wondering if Kies had lost his mind, but the emperor's eyes still gleamed calmly.
Seeing those eyes sparkling with madness, he felt bewildered. What could he possibly gain from this?
"Ah."
With a short sigh, Ryan furrowed his brow.
He racked his memory and recalled the rumor he'd heard not long ago.
The play where the hidden prince, who had kept to himself, finally revealed himself. And who had been by his side.
Regardless of Marso's somewhat cautious demeanor, Darsi had been blatantly open about his feelings.
Even as a prince, Darsi—who showed no interest in most things—had eyes only for Marso.
Whether it was rational emotion or not, their relationship was practically taken as fact and making the rounds.
"Is this because of that guy?"
"Your head still turns quite well. Fitting for a crown prince candidate."
"...Do I really have to?"
He knew Marso Etwar liked him. Even if she was hurt, that fact wouldn't change easily.
But that's precisely why it felt even less welcome. Ryan disliked Marso, who ceaselessly slandered the Resuan he loved and only craved his affection.
Her blind gaze demanding his love felt burdensome.
Above all, the face she'd made when she found out he'd planted someone on her was vividly etched in his mind and wouldn't fade easily.
'...I know it's not an emotion that changes overnight.'
But it was true that dealing with Marso had become awkward. That face of hers, looking at him with contempt, had felt like she was seeing a completely different person.
At his lukewarm reaction, Kies narrowed his eyes.
"Got any other way?"
He sneered mockingly, as if accusing Ryan of knowing Darsi's weakness.
Of course, Ryan had nothing to say. He clamped his mouth shut.
"That guy's never been one to show his feelings easily in the first place. For him to let someone into his life like that for the first time... first times are special, aren't they?"
Experience from a long life wasn't wasted. Kies had grasped the situation instantly from hearing about Darsi.
Kies had restricted everything from Darsi. As a result, Darsi had lived starved of everything.
The person himself still hadn't fully realized his own feelings, but from the sidelines, it was clear.
What meaning Darsi's feelings toward Marso held.
He definitely wouldn't snap out of it. The guy had been prickly and isolated to the point of barely conversing with people. And it was his first love, too.
'I still can't quite figure out how the two of them even met...'
Anyway, the fact that the object of his affection was Marso was advantageous for them.
It was perfect for their situation, where they needed a way to control Darsi somehow before finding the treasure.
Because everyone took it as naturally as breathing that Marso was pining for Ryan.
"You use what you can. Use Marso Etwar, and you can control that guy too."
To persuade the unyielding Ryan, Kies played his final card.
"It's also the path for the woman you love."
Ryan, who had remained silent, flinched.
Right, there was Resuan. The one who would become crown princess and rise to the highest position in the kingdom.
A person so lovely and beautiful that offering her the whole world wouldn't be enough.
'Lately, she seemed to be in poor health too.'
He'd learned from Leti that she'd met with Marso. Resuan, who had suffered a severe shock from the encounter, had been refusing to see anyone lately, claiming illness.
There was no way people wouldn't badmouth Resuan for not showing her face in high society, for a different reason than Marso.
Since she hadn't been part of their world from the start, people put all their effort into finding faults in her.
They'd take her side one moment, then turn their backs in an instant.
Because their support for Resuan wasn't genuine—it was just an investment calculated for their own gain.
In that regard, Ryan's position as crown prince candidate was ideal for protecting her. Few dared to defy someone with status and honor.
But if even that became uncertain?
Resuan could get hurt. This wasn't a hypothesis—it was fact.
And Marso would strut around again.
Just because a person shows changed behavior for a year or two doesn't alter their essence. Her hurt appearance, her unfamiliar actions—even if the situation changed, it was obvious she'd revert.
'It's all for Resuan and me.'
Finishing his hypocritical self-justification, Ryan let out a heavy breath. His mind, which had felt clouded like overcast skies moments ago, cleared like a flowing stream.
"...Understood."
Ryan bowed his head in assent.
He decided to view the situation positively.
"Good."
This was a chance to alleviate the guilt he'd felt from her betrayed expression.
He thought that if he treated her kindly, Marso would like it.
The possibility that she might hate it wasn't in his calculations.
Marso liked him. This was close to an immutable law.
"My mother fell for the emperor at first sight, or so I've heard."
That was the first thing Darsi said after staring deeply into my eyes for a while.
It was hard to imagine looking at the emperor now, but I'd heard he was quite popular in his youth.
Ryan and Darsi's faces didn't come from nowhere.
"But Kies hated mages. Despised them. Even my mother was no exception."
The imperial family, aware of how immense the power mages wielded, had always been wary of them. Kies was no different.
The tragedy of love began with crossed wires. Burning with her first fever of love, she didn't know what to do and eventually decided to use her powers.
Darsi paused to catch his breath while recounting his mother's story.
He stared at me intently, then rose from his seat and ran a hand through his hair.
He turned his head away as if avoiding me for a moment, then faced me again. His face, propped on his chin as he looked down at me, seemed unreal, like a sculpture embodying a god.
His gaze was as calm as the sea at dawn.
No, even if it looked that way on the surface, I knew well that a storm raged within. Seeing his tongue wet his lips, I realized he was nervous.
"I'm still not sure if telling you about my ability is a good choice."
He smiled with an eye crinkle, as if trying to hide his unease.
"But I hate the thought of you hearing it from someone else even more."
"I'd feel the same."
After thinking it over, I nodded in agreement. I didn't want to hear about Darsi from anyone else. It would be filled with negative prejudices first and foremost.
I knew that each mage possessed unique abilities. Combined with their magic power, this was seen as their greatest threat.
At my agreement, Darsi lifted one corner of his mouth and glanced sideways at me.
"Watching you, it feels like you're the one using magic, not me. You only say the things I want to hear."
"Guess you and I are that similar."
"Can't deny that."
It was strange. Despite our completely different lives and environments, we kept finding common ground in each other. Multiple times, even.
"Marso."
He called my name. After a brief silence, his voice resounded.
"I can brainwash people."
"...Brainwash?"
...The ability to control people's thoughts—it hadn't even crossed my mind that something like that could exist in reality.
I'd only met one mage, Darsi, so I'd forgotten this was a completely different fantasy world from where I'd lived. It felt like someone had dumped cold water on me.
His face, devoid of any playfulness, spoke the truth.
I knew it instinctively.
The reason even the somewhat incompetent Kies could firmly control the mages, and why Ryan could commercialize magic tools freely without worrying about them.
It was all because Darsi, who never appeared in the book's main story, was an enormous munchkin.