~Chapter 25~
The Crown Prince deliberately gathered his people in the lecture hall. He pretended to discuss Relshiz’s proposal in more detail, but his real aim was to find flaws and attack it.
‘Just a magician locked away in a lab anyway.’
He was sure there would be weaknesses, since Relshiz was far removed from the real field. At least, that’s what Reyester thought.
But the additional briefing didn’t go as he expected.
“A hybrid airship! Why didn’t we think of this sooner?”
The people Reyester had brought to criticize Relshiz were instead too busy praising the magician’s ideas.
Something was clearly off. Realizing that the people he had prepared were replaced, Reyester made a small gesture to call his aide.
“What happened?”
“Well, Your Highness… the King…”
Sabin looked troubled and trailed off.
“Everything that happened in the palace reached the King’s ears. It seemed Relshiz Baltine’s research on hybrid airships had caught the King’s interest.”
Reyester’s eyebrows slowly twisted in frustration.
“His Majesty just loves running around protecting Lady Relshiz again.”
And it wasn’t just about Relshiz Baltine.
Under the King’s favor, the influence of old nobles was shrinking, while new nobles and commoners were quickly filling the gaps.
It was obvious who the King truly wanted to support.
Dallen.
“Miss, could this mechanism be applied to a magic-powered train as well?”
“Of course it could!”
Relshiz was clearly excited to finally have people who listened to her. She even glanced over at Reyester and smirked mockingly.
‘Did she just smile?’
Sabin tried to subtly signal Relshiz to stop with a few coughs, but it didn’t work. In the end, Reyester had only provided a stage for Relshiz to shine.
“Lady Relshiz, about the balance control system mentioned in your proposal…”
After the presentation ended, the experts from various fields flocked to Relshiz.
In the end, even that woman will be drawn to Dallen’s side.
His father, the King, would slowly push him out. From the palace that should have been his.
His mood sank like a snake crawling on the ground.
He left the lecture hall without even properly closing the session. Sabin quickly chased after him.
“Your Highness? Where are you going? Wait, please—Your Highness…!”
Unable to control his temper, Reyester roughly ran his hand through his long blond hair. A couple of maids passing by saw this and blushed uncontrollably.
Catching up at last, Sabin nervously glanced at the Crown Prince.
“I sincerely apologize. I only just realized the participants had changed…”
Reyester said nothing. The man who usually smiled at the slightest breeze looked terrifying when expressionless.
In the suffocating silence, Reyester finally spoke.
“Any unusual reports about Relshiz Baltine recently?”
“Uh, just a moment.”
Sabin quickly pulled out a small notebook from her coat.
“Let’s see… she’s been ordering more desserts, and her food deliveries have increased a lot compared to last month. Almost every meal is delivered. And… she’s been buying lots of children’s items, like dolls and kids’ clothes, but we haven’t figured out exactly what for yet.”
Nothing useful. Reyester frowned.
“Anything else?”
“She’s been meeting with the Tower Master of Dawn more often. They were recently seen resolving a crack together. The report to the Association came from Lady Relshiz.”
“Aska Willovis.”
“Yes, Lord Willovis.”
That cold, emotionless noble magician.
Reyester recalled the silver-haired man who always seemed bored with the world.
He had striking looks that rivaled even Reyester’s, yet carried such a colorless presence that it made him even more eye-catching.
As the youngest Tower Master of Dawn in history, he was someone everyone wanted on their side. Even Reyester had once tried to recruit the genius magician.
But he gave up after realizing how hard the man was to handle.
“Everyone knows they’re unusually close. Even if they’re spending more time together, does it change anything?”
“Not really.”
“I’m not asking for this useless chatter. Is there anything that could be used against her? Anything at all?”
At the sharp tone, Sabin quickly flipped to another page.
“Ah, there is one strange rumor.”
“What is it?”
“There’s talk that Lady Relshiz has a child.”
Reyester, who had been walking fast, suddenly stopped.
“…A child?”
What nonsense was this?
“Yes, according to the report, the child is estimated to be about five or six years old.”
He scoffed.
“She wasn’t seeing anyone. Where would a kid come from?”
“I’m wondering the same thing. I’ve asked the intelligence department to investigate further. The recent purchases of children’s items seemed suspicious.”
“She probably donated them to an orphanage or something.”
“That would make sense, but the amount is small for a donation. I checked her donation records—she’s never sent goods anywhere. Maybe cash, but not items.”
“…”
That was true. Even Reyester began to feel a hint of doubt. If not for donation, then why the kids’ clothes and toys?
“Where did the rumor start?”
“That village where the crack occurred. A man there claimed to have seen a child who looked like Lady Relshiz.”
“Aska Willovis was with her there too.”
“Yes. So I was thinking, maybe the child is…”
Reyester could guess what Sabin was about to say.
“The child of the Tower Master of Dawn and Lady Relshiz?”
“It’s just an assumption.”
“Hah. No way. Those two?”
“Relationships between men and women are unpredictable. They can fight like cats and dogs and then suddenly fall for each other one day.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
Even setting aside their long-standing rivalry, the difference in their social status was huge. Reyester, born and raised as royalty, couldn’t begin to understand it.
“Maybe someone asked them to look after the kid temporarily?”
“Not exactly… but I doubt anyone would ask Lady Relshiz for that. From what I’ve seen of her lifestyle, she’s not the kind of person you’d trust to take care of a child. She doesn’t really have friends who’d ask her for a favor like that either.”
Reyester looked up toward the distant sky.
“…A long time ago, Relshiz Baltain did leave for the southern continent, didn’t she?”
“Yes.”
“Would that have been enough time to have and raise a child?”
“Plenty of time.”
“…”
“Coincidentally, during the time Lady Relshiz was gone, the Master of the Dawn Tower caused quite a few problems. You know he’s on bad terms with the current president of the Mage Association for destroying an entire lab, right?”
Could it have been madness from a breakup?
That unspoken suggestion hung in the air.
As Reyester thought more deeply, the silence between them stretched longer.
“Hmm.”
He couldn’t imagine what the full story might be—but if, by some chance, it was true, it would be quite a useful card.
As someone often caught in the center of royal scandals, he knew well how to manipulate public opinion.
“Hah, is the intelligence department incompetent, or is that woman just that meticulous…?”
“I take full responsibility for not figuring it out sooner.”
“Look into it thoroughly and report back.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Now that Reyester’s anger had calmed, Sabin let out a quiet breath of relief.
Reyester kept walking, eventually exiting the inner palace. His steps, cutting through the height of spring, led him toward the central garden of the outer palace.
Sabin, quietly trailing behind, wore a puzzled expression.
“Are we heading to the outer palace garden?”
There was no scheduled meeting with any lady today, was there? Sabin kept that thought to herself and glanced at Reyester.
Amusingly, it was only then that Reyester seemed to realize where he was headed.
The outer palace. Not a place he often visited.
“Who knows. Maybe there’s someone I subconsciously wanted to run into.”
The Crown Prince’s Puzzling reply only added to her aide’s confusion. Adjusting her thin glasses, Sabin whispered,
“Surely you’re not secretly seeing someone without telling me? That’d be a problem if it suddenly came to light later.”
“Still half asleep, are you, Sabin?”
“Just tell me honestly. Who is it this time? Lady Odilia? Or the prima donna from the royal theater troupe? Gasp—don’t tell me you’re seeing the lead violinist from the Royal Symphony again? That one gave me the chills.”
“Instead of worrying about my love life, maybe it’s time you got into one yourself.”
To that, Sabin replied with a cheerful smile.
“Haha, I plan to stay single for my whole life.”
“Why?”
“Haha, I guess I’ve seen too closely how fickle a man’s heart can be.”
Reyester, hit unexpectedly by the remark, looked awkwardly into the air.
“Come to think of it, maybe staying single isn’t such a bad idea after all.”
