Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Andalusia's Essence
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The sky dyed red and the rye fields stretching beneath it.
The interior of the carriage passing over them was utterly silent.
Only the faint rumble of the wheels could be heard.
The pair of man and woman riding inside exchanged not a single word.
Both had too much on their minds.
"......"
Princess Camillia, in particular, was thoroughly flustered.
For someone who had been among the empire's top elites, no task had ever been too difficult.
She always analyzed everything coolly and inevitably found the answer.
But this boy before her was different.
Daring to be two years younger than her, he had surprised her multiple times.
And now, of all things, he had even shattered her passive stoic expression.
The princess pressed her hand to her forehead as if nursing a headache to hide her emotions.
'This has to be it, right...?'
A proposal.
Men, enchanted by her beauty and power, had made them to her often in the past.
But she had firmly rejected them all.
Their approaches had been so tacky and needlessly flashy.
They'd beg their fathers for a banquet hall, buy a ring with their mothers' money to propose.
Or guys obsessed only with their looks, desperately chasing upward marriages, asking her to dance.
So in her mind, all "men" were registered as hollow shells.
Proposals were dismissed as one of those creepy rituals.
'Hah, it really seems like it.'
The man before her felt utterly different from all those hollow shells she'd seen.
The ring, too, he'd obtained himself through his own abilities.
And without any pretense in his appearance, he'd boldly gone straight for it.
Silver hair glowing with life under the sunset hues.
Even his green eyes, usually weary, now burned with flame.
But most crucially, the dark circles were gone.
The princess hadn't imagined he'd look like this without that gloominess.
"Your Highness, are you alright? You look pale."
Camillia parted her fingers slightly where they cradled her forehead.
She stole a glance at his face through the gap.
A somewhat tense expression and sharp eyes.
Sweat beaded on his forehead for the first time—even when clashing with her, he'd been composed.
"I'm fine. I was just caught off guard for a moment."
Fresh and invigorating, like reading one of her favorite romance novels.
Following that feeling, even her own pale ears flushed red.
The eyes of the one presenting the ring grew dreamy.
The warden's green eyes, always shadowed, began to shimmer.
'What? Because I'm hesitating, he's about to cry...?!'
She hurriedly dropped her hand from her face.
And soothed him like one would a younger man.
"Don't make such a sad face...!! I haven't refused yet."
Camillia tugged at her clinging dress shirt collar, as if the carriage felt too hot.
Only after steadying her breath did she approach the warden holding out the ring.
The sight of him kneeling before her.
A few weeks ago, when he'd licked the wound on her thigh, it had been exactly this angle.
The emotions from then surged up, and she covered her lips with the back of her hand.
Unlike the men who always tried to use her, his sacrificial demeanor pierced the heart of the princess, parched from human warmth.
"......For now, I'll accept it."
The intense sunset glow of the capital stung my eyes.
With my eyes watering, I kept holding out the ring.
I thought she kept making serious faces because she didn't like the gift.
Fortunately, a few seconds later, she accepted it readily.
Though disappointingly, she didn't examine it closely.
She tucked it straight into her jacket's inner pocket and crossed her arms again.
"You do know it's still not enough, right?"
Of course.
How expensive is imperial elixir?
Even in my previous life, I never tasted such a treasure of the nobility.
Having given me something so precious, I had to prove myself a worthy retainer through diligent effort.
"To become someone befitting me, you'll have to work much harder from now on."
"Of course. I'll do my utmost to become a man worthy of Your Highness."
The princess let out a deep breath, satisfied with my response.
Her face was turned toward me, but her eyes gazed elsewhere.
"But don't overdo it. You're still quite young, after all."
Given her personality, that was probably sarcasm.
True—from our first meeting, I'd given her sparring advice and even dared to touch her thigh, of all places on her sacred body...
Next time, I needed a gift that would open her heart a bit more.
As I pondered alone what other gift to prepare.
The princess kept fidgeting with her uniform jacket, as if uncomfortable.
About an hour later, the carriage finally came to a stop.
"Take us to my private quarters."
"What does that matter? I'm the one bringing him."
There was no reply from the coachman for a moment.
"Is there a problem?"
The carriage rolled vigorously again and halted before a tidy garden.
The princess stepped out first and beckoned me to follow.
The coachman who opened the door stared blankly at me trailing after Camillia.
As if seeing a man enter this place for the first time.
I was just as flustered.
I'd thought she'd hand over the elixir separately later.
Not that I'd follow her all the way to her private sanctuary...
"What are you doing? Come in."
That's a window, though.
As I blinked in confusion, Camillia hopped right over the windowsill.
"Is it alright to enter like this?"
"If I go through the main gate, it'll cause a fuss."
Someone of her stature bringing me in like this.
Expecting an office beyond the window, I climbed in.
But the space on the other side was completely different from what I'd imagined.
Far more private than an office.
The bedroom of the empire's noblest woman.
I'd felt this life was unusually special, but never dreamed I'd end up in Princess Camillia's bedchamber.
"It was around here. It's been so long since I opened it, it's fuzzy."
She passed the spacious bed, groping along the wall.
Pressing one spot firmly, the wall parted on its own, revealing a hidden chamber.
The space inside was filled with endless rows of bookshelves.
The densely packed books were mostly imperial tomes on magic and tactics.
Even rare volumes I hadn't seen during my time as Prime Minister filled the shelves.
'No way she read all these since her teens?'
Her balanced prowess in magic and martial arts came from talent, sure—but this obsessive effort must have played a huge role.
"Impressive. You're the first to take interest in the books."
The princess looked approvingly at me as I eyed the tomes first, ignoring jewels and artifacts.
"Naturally. You need knowledge to appreciate gems or elixirs too."
Like my first-loop days as Knight Commander, starved for power, I eagerly scanned the books.
Then I paused at a shelf with traces of books repeatedly pulled out and replaced.
'These don't look like tomes...'
"Classic masterpieces. The Northern Duchess and the Slave Knight, How to Tame the Arrogant Prince, My Personal Pet Young Master......"
As I murmured the novel titles in a daze.
A chilling hand laced with mana clamped over the shelf.
"The tomes are nice, but we came for the elixir, Derek Minster."
"Ah, yes......"
What books had I just seen?
The princess kindly gripped my shoulders and pushed me toward the treasure vault.
And sure enough.
I forgot those novel titles instantly upon facing its radiant form.
Andalusia's Essence
Rank:LegendaryEffect:Unknown Absolute elixir granted only to imperial royals who have undergone their coming-of-age ceremony. The consumer awakens potential even they themselves were unaware of.
"Your Highness, this seems like a restricted elixir not to be leaked outside."
I'd heard of it during my Prime Minister days.
Imperial elixirs have ranks—some can be released externally, others cannot.
This one before me was forbidden to anyone outside the imperial family.
"Consuming this as a non-royal would mean punishment."
As I firmly drew the line, Camillia casually flicked the glass vial.
"It's fine."
The blonde woman's face reflected on the vial.
Her eyes sharp as a strategist plotting grand designs.
"The future is unpredictable, after all."
She murmured softly like a whisper, then turned back with Andalusia's Essence in hand.
She placed it lightly in my palm.
"I've already awakened all my potential anyway, so I don't need it. Can't give it to my rival prince, though."
"True, but......"
"You wouldn't want it lost and falling into the prince's hands, would you?"
"Of course not."
The princess spoke now in the mature tone of an elder sister.
"So have your retainer drink it and make it disappear."
I swallowed deeply.
Was it really okay for me to drink this?
Sure, better to hand it to an ally than fret daily over it being stolen.
But I worried it might earn the emperor's ire again, like before.
"......"
Still, better than world destruction.
Better to fully bloom all my past-loop abilities and solidly defend the prison.
It would deepen trust with Camillia too.
"Understood. I'll humbly accept, despite the impropriety."
Uncorking it released a refreshing scent like the princess's hair.
Following that pleasant aroma, I slowly sipped Andalusia's Essence.
Ecstatic power seeped down my throat.
Camillia watched contentedly as I absorbed the essence.
Unbelievable.
Is this why everyone hoards them?
All the passives I'd gained at my peak in each loop were now unlocked.
Though all at low levels for now, training from here would make me definitively stronger.
In a daze, I looked down at my body, then approached Camillia.
I clasped both her hands, testing the unlocked ability.
"Your Highness, thank you truly. Thanks to you, I feel even more passionate than before."
"......Of course. Do you know what that is?"
I held her gaze steadily.
Camillia awkwardly turned her eyes away slowly.
"Now that you've drunk it, you should go. I have the next schedule too."
'Ah. As expected of Lv. 1—Golden Hand didn't trigger?'
Well, against a Swordmaster-level opponent, it'd be weird if it worked easily.
With an embarrassed look, I slowly released her hands.
"Understood. I'll return and hone this power you've bestowed."
"Just get back in the carriage. It'll take you to the annex."
The princess reverted to her stoic expression and waved me off.
I bowed politely, shifting back to formal relations.
"Tomorrow, I'll head straight back to the prison. See you in the north."
Even without training yet, my body felt incredibly light.
Like my Dark Lord days, I nimbly leaped out the window.
"......"
The carriage wheels faded into the distance.
Once they were completely gone.
Camillia pulled out the ring she'd never even opened since receiving it.
Clearly far inferior to the treasures she wore.
Her skills had improved since then, and she had better artifacts now.
So she stared at the ring with a lukewarm expression.
Very lukewarm, staring intently...
"A ring like this."
Camillia set the ring coldly on the desk.
Then took out paper and a quill to start writing a letter.
Addressed to the Magic Tower Master, famed for precious metals and alchemy.
"Well, I might need a pair later."
She packaged the ring with eyes haughtier than when looking at the warden.
Like the queens from her favorite novels.
She opened the cage and tied the letter to the messenger bird's leg.
It soared vigorously toward the nearby Magic Tower, close to the palace.
"......"
Under the deepening night sky.
Numerous carriages bustled around the imperial palace.
And the one that had dropped off the warden...
Didn't return to Camillia.
It headed somewhere else.
As if to report today's events to someone.
Its destination: the emperor's office.