Episode 62
Despite his gentle appearance, Crown Prince Ernst of Flavi was calculating to the bone and skilled in navigating social situations.
Having been involved in diplomacy since childhood in the Empire’s primary vassal state, it came naturally to him.
The fate of the small kingdom of Flavi changed depending on which way he moved, and it became more livable the harder he struggled.
So, to reassure and comfort the anxious Imperial Princess, he should have smiled, but Ernst couldn’t.
“…Tell me in detail.”
She was the one and only person he wouldn’t dare give up, even if weighed against Flavi itself.
It seemed Louise finally found the courage to speak because he was listening so seriously.
As if speaking loudly would make it real, her continuing voice was very small.
“Just… I saw myself dead. Lying there with my eyes closed, my face was pale. You might think I was asleep, but I was clearly dead. I can’t forget that image.”
Ernst gently rubbed the arm he had around Louise to comfort her.
“It’s just a dream. You can’t forget it because you’ve been thinking about it all day, scared. Don’t go straight to the dormitory today; come out into the city with me.”
“But I have homework to do…”
Ernst sighed.
“You barely took any notes today. How are you going to do your homework?”
And to persuade the hesitant Louise, he added.
“If we go into the city and you share a piece of delicious pie with me, I’ll let you see my notes.”
“What kind of deal is that? That doesn’t help you at all…”
Ernst acted as if he didn’t hear Louise’s tactless remark, as he was used to.
“It helps me. I’ve wanted to eat pie from Dupayel’s bakery all day.”
“A flimsy excuse…”
Even as she said that, Louise walked in the direction Ernst led.
He fed her sweets to lighten her mood, helped her with her backlog of notes and homework, and so that day passed safely.
No, he thought it had passed.
Since Prince Rurik left for the battlefield not long after, he assumed her occasional blankness or gloominess was due to worry about her brother.
It was only after the seasons had changed several times that Louise confessed the truth.
“Erni, I’ve actually been having that dream continuously.”
Louise’s face, as she said this, was as pale as the one she described in her dream.
As he coaxed and comforted her while she cried like a child, Ernst’s worry also began in earnest.
‘What if this gets out and the other Princesses find a weakness?’
At first, he was only worried about Louise’s situation, but as the dream repeated and evolved, his thoughts changed.
‘Could Louise be suffering from neurasthenia?’
Later, Louise described her dreams in such detail that he even caught her worry.
‘What if that dream is true?’
By then, he had no choice but to ask Ren for help, and thus began their collaboration, unintended by either party.
“I’m going too.”
Even though he had so ruthlessly separated Ernst just the day before, Callisteon brazenly inserted himself.
“…Do you even know anything about art?”
Ernst glanced at him with a look of disgust, but Callisteon didn’t flinch.
“What if I don’t? If necessary, I’ll buy everything, and you can buy them back from me.”
I had seen mentions of art auctions several times in the letters with Ernst.
I quickly intervened to mediate between the two.
“Cal, it’s not good to interfere with someone else’s hobby.”
“Interfere?”
Callisteon retorted nonchalantly.
“If I accompany Louise, I won’t attract anyone’s attention. I don’t usually frequent places like art auction houses.”
“They say curiosity killed the cat.”
Ernst said sharply, but Callisteon stood his ground.
“If I were to announce my attendance and then visit, it would actually be convenient for you, Erni. All eyes would be on me.”
Only then did Ernst put on a thoughtful act and ask.
“You want to come that badly?”
“Unlike you two, I’m not in a position to come and go from the Imperial Palace as I please, am I?” Callisteon replied in a blunt voice. “I’ve only just gotten to be with her; I have no intention of being separated from Lu.”
Ernst, not acting with his usual ease, set a condition.
“Lu will be with me. Your Grace the Grand Duke can watch from the opposite box or not, as you please. If you accept this condition, I’ll get you an invitation.”
Phoebe, standing nearby, burst out laughing.
“While others will be looking at the auction items with telescopes, Your Grace will be watching our Highness.”
“…Am I allowed to use a telescope?”
Hearing Callisteon ask so seriously, I ended up laughing along with Phoebe.
That same day, the Imperial Palace.
“Blood, moans, and sacrifice…”
Ren performed a sequence of useless healing magic, restoration magic, and recovery magic beside the Crown Prince, who was spouting nonsense.
Except for the two days he had spent in Edessa delivering Louise, this was what he had repeated daily for the past ten days.
“To the sword, victory…”
The only difference was the subtle change in the Empress’s attitude, who had been anxiously staying by the Crown Prince’s side, watching over him.
The Empress stopped her daily efforts of crying and urging him to regain his senses and instead personally fed and cared for him as if he were a child.
“…I apologize for the lack of results. However, since His Highness the Crown Prince does not recognize His Majesty, the servants could care for him…”
When Ren tried to intervene, the Empress shot him a sharp look.
“I will not entrust the Crown Prince to anyone. Moreover, since everyone in the Imperial Palace fears the Magic Tower Lord, it is only natural that I guard this room myself.”
Her tone implied she was watching him due to distrust.
Ren, tired of trying to explain, gave up on his own.
When the Crown Prince finished his meal, the Empress had the physician administer all sorts of medicines and had a maid bring water for washing.
Then, she made a wet cloth herself and wiped the Crown Prince’s face clean.
‘His eye color still hasn’t returned.’
Ren had successfully used this incident as a pretext to get his teacher to carry a communication orb.
Compared to chasing his teacher’s trail for seven years with no contact, it was a relief, but it seemed even his teacher had no way to fix the Crown Prince’s condition.
‘I informed him, so he must have visited.’
If there had been a way, his teacher would have healed the Crown Prince regardless of the shameless acts of the Emperor and Empress.
He himself might have hesitated, but his teacher wasn’t the type to do so.
“Then, I will visit again tomorrow.”
Ren decided to try contacting his teacher again when he had time and bid farewell to the Empress.
Right after leaving the Crown Prince’s palace, he encountered the Second Prince’s aide.
“His Highness Prince Rurik has commanded your presence at the separate palace.”
He was still called ‘Your Highness the Prince,’ but given the Crown Prince’s condition, it wouldn’t be long before the owner of that position changed.
‘He must be curious for news of Louise.’
Knowing the Second Prince’s affection for Louise was genuine, he felt particularly sorry towards him lately.
But if he simply reported that she was doing well, it would only give Prince Rurik a pretext to order Louise’s return to the Imperial Palace.
‘He might even insist on visiting her under the guise of checking on her.’
So, the words he could say were limited nonetheless.
His steps towards the separate palace were heavy.
—Ding.
When Ernst rang the bell, the auctioneer spoke.
“720 crowns. I have 720 crowns.”
I hadn’t fully grasped the cost of living in this world yet, but 720 crowns was an enormous amount of money.
‘Even if I’m not sure, it’s probably equivalent to a lower noble’s annual income.’
Perhaps because of that, no more bells rang, and only the auctioneer’s commentary continued.
“The bed of the Duchess who requested her family name not be disclosed. As you can see, it features grapevines carved in relief on four gilded posts, and the canopy is made of the finest satin.”
I could only blink my eyes in the auction house I was visiting for the first time in my life.
Callisteon was sitting diagonally across in his box with Phoebe, as promised. Surprisingly, he seemed to have taken Ernst’s warning not to interfere well and was behaving.
In the silence, the auctioneer said.
“720 crowns. Sold for 720 crowns.”
Just then, Ernst rang the bell again.
—Ding Ding.
Under the auctioneer’s direction, an employee knocked on the door of our box.
—Knock knock.
Ernst made an offer.
“I will purchase the entire set of furniture from the relevant Duchess’s room. The bed, table, chairs, sofa, all of it, plus two wooden chests, for 1000 crowns.”
