Episode 37
I glanced at the trembling physician and added,
“The physician was only giving proper advice; please don’t blame him. If he hadn’t told me, cough! I would have thought it was just a cold and gone out again.”
Rurik let out a pained groan.
“Indeed, I told you not to move today. Now that you’ve collapsed in front of His Majesty, who knows what faults they’ll try to find…”
“I’m sorry, Brother.”
I then looked up at Rurik and gave him a bright smile.
“But since I have several suitors anyway, isn’t it alright? Even if I collapse a couple of times, cough cough, the Grand Duke wouldn’t withdraw his feelings for me.”
I could feel the physician flinch.
‘Zita only thinks Ernst is the father.’
Rurik sighed and asked,
“So, you do have feelings for the Grand Duke? If not, tell me. I’ll do something… so His Majesty cannot force you.”
“To my knowledge,”
I said to Rurik in a small but firm voice,
“the Grand Duke cannot force me to do anything I don’t wish. So please wait until I make up my mind.”
Rurik shook his head from side to side, then rubbed my forehead with his large hand.
“I hope he’s as decent a man as you say.”
Frankly, I shared the same hope, but for now, I had to speak confidently.
“If you find it hard to trust him, then please trust me, Brother.”
That same night, Emperor Charles had to endure the nagging of Empress Dorothea.
“You won’t say you didn’t see that child’s eyes, will you? Now you want to save him? Your greed is excessive, Your Majesty.”
He gritted his teeth, but that didn’t stop the Empress’s words.
“We must conquer Whitnil while the demon sword remains. If that is that child’s final use, wouldn’t that also be a worthy end?”
“Let’s stop.”
The Emperor irritably removed his cloak, but the Empress remained undaunted.
“That child’s sister, Louise, is so close with that useless Crown Prince of Flavi, isn’t she! And you, trying to marry Louise off to Babenberg, have ruthlessly trampled on the pride of my precious daughter!”
“Ha.”
The Emperor clicked his tongue.
“You say I trampled on Cyril’s pride? Born as my legitimate child, a daughter of the Damiani family—what pride is there in failing to win the Grand Duke’s heart!”
“You have time to find fault with Cyril, how peaceful.”
The Empress sneered.
“If you intend to grant the Grand Duke’s wish in time, Rurik must leave the imperial capital. Everyone in the palace knows how suspiciously fond he is of his younger sister.”
The Emperor could no longer hold back and shouted,
“Suspicious?! Can’t you watch your words?!”
Only then did Empress Dorothea lower her voice.
“That Louise thing is quite pretty, taking after her mother. An opportunity to both grant the Grand Duke’s wish and expand our territory is right before us. Would the man they call the Conqueror Emperor really sit idly by?”
—Knock, knock.
Just then, a knock sounded, followed by the voice of the head servant.
“Your Majesty, the Magic Tower Lord has entered the palace. Shall I have him wait in the office?”
The Emperor glared at the Empress once before answering.
“Do so.”
Then, he roughly threw the cloak he had just taken off back over his own shoulders and left the room with a gust of wind.
The Empress was left alone in the room, but she didn’t seem cowed in the least, holding her head even higher.
“Hmph.”
Seeing that he had summoned the Magic Tower Lord, it seemed her husband was determined to pursue his futile dream of creating a new demon sword.
In her view, it was hopeless.
‘The Second Prince has already tamed ‘Belih’.’
The relationship between a demon sword and its host is never one-sided, so the Emperor would ultimately fail.
Empress Dorotheus concluded thus and leisurely left the Emperor’s quarters.
“I greet His Majesty the Emperor.”
The Emperor stared intently at the face of the young Magic Tower Lord bowing without expression, then inwardly groaned and averted his gaze.
“Yes, I ordered you to attend the banquet, but you are quite late.”
The Magic Tower Lord didn’t even pretend to be sorry for disobeying the order.
“I assumed you had other business besides the banquet.”
The Emperor finally clicked his tongue in displeasure.
“How long will you act so stiff? You’ve attained a position everyone desires at such a young age; at least pretend to be loyal to me.”
Only then did Ren form a faint smile.
“I’ll try.”
Seemingly tired of the insincere reply, the Emperor got to the point.
“The Magic Tower’s forge hasn’t been in operation lately, has it?”
“The forge… has not.”
The Magic Tower Lord finally showed something resembling a reaction and hesitated briefly.
“It is not in operation.”
The Emperor asked as if he had expected this.
“Is it possible to operate if needed?”
“Is there a specific item you require?”
In response to the Tower Lord’s counter-question, the Emperor took out a large, old scroll and dropped it almost dismissively.
Ren unrolled it without shying away from the dust flying off.
“…Is this the blueprint for ‘belih’?”
“Yes.”
Then, donning a mask of indifference, he muttered,
“I didn’t know the blueprint still existed.”
Ignoring that comment, the Emperor said,
“As you know, the Second Prince Rurik is using ‘Velih’. But there is a kind of side effect to that sword.”
“Caused by the magical beast’s demon?”
However, the Emperor couldn’t hide a sigh at the astute Tower Lord’s question.
“…Yes. So, I wish to have the sword remade, excluding the magical beast’s demonic.”
Ren replied indifferently.
“It will become a completely different object. Anyone would see it as different from ‘Belih’.”
“Make it more splendid than ‘Belih’, a sword that anyone would covet at a glance.”
“I am not a craftsman, however.”
He twitched his handsome eyebrows reluctantly, but the Emperor didn’t yield.
“But you have craftsmen under you, do you not?”
Ren gave up further argument and rolled the scroll back up.
“I will look into it.”
“I’d like it done with some haste.”
This time, Ren sighed noticeably.
As the Emperor frowned, Ren exaggerated his plight again.
“The Tower’s best craftsman, as you know, is wandering. I am extremely busy, having suddenly taken over all of that person’s work.”
“Well, isn’t the problem that you oppressed and drove out the old mages when you took over the Tower?”
“I believe there is a great misunderstanding on that point…”
Ren shrugged and said.
“Anyway, I must start by investigating ‘Belih’, so it will take some time. To exclude the magical beast’s mana from a sword powered by it, we’d have to process and insert a magic stone, so the more we know about the sword, the better.”
The Emperor rose as if there was no help for it and went to a corner of the bookshelf.
He pointed to one of the stacked wooden chests.
“Take that one out for me.”
Ren immediately wiggled his finger.
All the chests rose into the air simultaneously, and the wooden chest the Emperor had pointed to was pulled swiftly to their feet.
Looking at the old chest landing with a thud, the Emperor was newly impressed by Len Daphte’s ability, who didn’t spend a single moment on spell calculation.
In this aspect, he truly surpassed the previous Magic Tower Lord.
“Shall I open it?”
Ren asked.
As the Emperor nodded, the lid opened, and a single yellowed booklet floated up.
“Hoo.”
A white mist of dust flew away with the Tower Lord’s small breath.
A moment later, a worn-out booklet was placed in the Emperor’s hand.
He traced the shabby book cover and said,
“There’s no need to investigate ‘Velih’ separately. This is the manual left by its creator, Studites.”
The Emperor, about to hand the book to Ren, paused and looked at him with suspicious eyes.
“Your attitude is always aloof, but the Magic Tower Lord’s oath is still valid, I presume.”
Ren took out the Magic Tower Lord’s necklace hidden inside his clothes and showed it to the Emperor.
「The Empire’s Magic Tower Lord protects the Emperor and guards his secrets as their own life.」
