Chapter 55 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: The King's Proposal
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A sense of relief washed over me inwardly.
Talking about school life felt far more comfortable than bringing up Nikolaus.
Before opening his mouth again, he gestured toward my teacup.
I took a sip of tea and answered the question.
"I'm doing well. I'm nothing but grateful for all the help you've given me as usual."
"Isn't it the other way around?"
"Pardon?"
"The Crown Prince isn't working you too hard?"
Tiring?
I couldn't believe my ears. This was the same man I'd read about in the novel—he wasn't the type to belittle his own son like this.
"Not at all."
"That can't be right."
I gave him a look asking why he thought that, and he continued.
"Didn't the Crown Prince tell you about your magic?"
"…Ah."
Now I understood what he was getting at.
Come to think of it, this man would naturally know all about Leo's enthusiasm for my magic.
"He did."
To be precise, the guy never said it outright, but anyway.
The king burst into relaxed laughter.
"Hahaha! It was odd from the start when he threw a tantrum about making a citizen ID for his classmate, but it makes sense if that friend is Lucas Ascanien."
"Is that so."
"He must have fulfilled a childhood wish. We gave him every teacher he wanted from a young age, so he figured he could make a friend the same way."
I already knew this from the novel's descriptions of Leo's inner thoughts, but spilling it like this couldn't be good for his son's sake.
If Leo were here, he'd want to shut the king's mouth.
'Well, right now, Leo's the only one we both know in common….'
Until the main topic came up, conversations that painted Leo in a negative light would keep flowing.
He gazed out the window at the scenery with a smile, then spoke again.
"I told you I'd already met you, Lucas Ascanien."
"Yes."
"I remember how, at such a young age, everyone was thrilled that you wielded the greatest magic in family history and would become the pillar of the house. Duke Anhalt was especially pleased."
"...."
Telling dreamy stories like this now…
I wasn't Luca, but hearing this while being perceived as him by everyone—and having to live life as him—started making me uncomfortable. No one could listen easily to tales of lost glory.
"By the way, I wonder if you know that Hohenzollern wanted to adopt you as a foster child because of your exceptional magical talent."
"…Pardon?"
The question slipped out involuntarily.
It was common for powerful mages from lesser houses to be scouted by wealthier, higher-status families. Mostly that was the case, though requests sometimes flew between houses of similar standing.
It was purely political. Magical strength meant wealth, honor, and social standing.
But even if it was common, the imperial family was the imperial family.
With direct succession already set, whichever branch wanted to take Luca must have thought him too valuable to give away—yet they passed up such a golden opportunity and raised him like this?
'…Sigh….'
I suddenly craved the cigarettes I'd quit long ago.
Those useless bastards who contributed nothing to life were always family…
"Your reaction is subdued."
"No…"
"I figured you wouldn't know since Ascanien rejected it outright. Come to think of it, though we never seriously considered it, the idea came up on our side once too."
He narrowed his eyes, sifting through memories.
"It was right after your second visit, but bad rumors about you were already circulating, so the timing wasn't right."
"...."
The second visit meant he was already six, when rumors spread that Luca had killed someone.
The Pleroma rumors spread across the empire regardless of class years later, but noble society started questioning if Luca was Pleroma right after the murder.
And they brought it up at that time?
'I know who suggested it.'
After the murder, the only one from Wittelsbach who visited our duchy and would bring up adoption was young Leo.
'Making scary threats just to befriend someone.'
No matter Leo's legitimate bloodline, in this world where magic reigned supreme, picking the wrong person could spark a succession war and end you. Trying to make one friend could create a lifelong enemy.
Still, a normal six-year-old wouldn't think that far. It was exactly the kind of idea a kid that age would have.
Reading my thoughts from my expression, the king laughed heartily as if he understood.
"Hahaha, I know exactly what you're thinking."
"Yes…. I'll pretend I didn't hear it."
"Fair enough. I'm not telling you to switch sides now anyway."
The king continued right away.
"Then, do you know why I'm telling you all this?"
"I have an idea."
"Good. You remember it happened between your first and second visits. They said Ascanien's second son killed someone? Because he inherited the Pleroma trait."
I nodded slightly.
There was nothing else to say.
"Strong mana is an object of awe when it's on our side, not when it's with evil. Isn't it obvious what someone with that much mana would do in the future? And you know what happened to Ascanien afterward… without me saying."
"I know."
The king drank his tea silently, then spoke calmly.
"Is your body still all right? Drink it before it gets cold."
"...."
Even though I'd answered fine, his words were speeding up.
Every time he brought up the past, my mood sank—probably because now I had to bear the full weight of that name. I came up with a suitable response and apologized briefly.
"My apologies, Your Highness."
"No. That's a natural reaction."
You know that and still…
I wiped the awkward expression from my face as best I could and thought.
"I still remember how the imperial family issued several warnings around then to send you over. From their perspective, they couldn't just watch the strongest heir in Ascanien history turn into Pleroma, so it was natural they'd try to intervene somehow. Right?"
"Yes."
"As a result, Ascanien could only keep you in the estate after pledging never to disturb the empire."
The moment Luca was sent to the imperial family, the truth that he wasn't Pleroma would come out, so his brother desperately protected him and made a pact with the imperials.
Hearing it from someone else's mouth was new, but up to here, it was familiar.
But he didn't call me here just to seriously recount stories Luca already knew.
Before that thought finished, the king met my eyes and continued quietly.
"And one of the supervisory nations that joined that pact was Bayern."
I stared into his piercing blue eyes, lost in thought.
'Supervisory nation.'
So it wasn't just Ascanien and the imperial family in the pact.
That was new.
"We joined first right after the imperial family raised the issue. From that day, Bayern took on the role of monitoring you, the supposed Pleroma."
"...."
"Do you feel betrayed?"
The king smiled leisurely, clasping his hands on the table.
I stared at his face and smiled.
Betrayed? Not at all.
If anything, I felt grateful.
"No."
The king burst out laughing.
"I wondered if you'd be momentarily shocked or realize it right away—and as expected, you caught on immediately."
"How could I not? My life was on the line."
"Exactly. It'd be stranger if you, the person involved, didn't grasp it. I sided with Ascanien to block the imperials who wanted you dead. That's the meaning of a supervisory nation, a monitoring house."
Considering no one knew the Pleroma rumor was false, the nations that stepped up to monitor instead of kill actually harbored no ill will toward Luca, so it could be seen positively.
If I'd been taken by the imperials as is, my brother's plan would've been ruined…
But it was hard to say now that the supervisory nations were key to his plan's success.
The imperials had no reason to refuse Ascanien's proposed pact.
Once Ascanien pledged responsibility even under oath, any future issues could be pushed onto them.
"Whether you inherited the Pleroma trait or not doesn't interest me. Whatever it is, your future depends on Ascanien's education and support, so I judged you could live normally. But…"
"...."
"To think there wasn't even that trait to begin with?"
The smile vanished completely from his face.
As I puzzled over his reaction, he cleared his throat and continued.
"Adrian Ascanien scheming against his four-year-old brother to become ruler of Anhalt Duchy… It sounds utterly absurd on the surface. After all, 14 years ago, he was only eleven."
I didn't reply, just nodded slightly.
That was understandable.
But feelings aside, it had already happened.
At eleven here, that'd be twelve in Korea.
Saying how a twelve-year-old could think that way or plan so meticulously was pointless.
Youth doesn't mean low intelligence, and my brother was the type who'd be a politician if things went well, a con artist if not.
As for how a twelve-year-old could harbor such malice… Hindsight yields no answers.
Wanting to succeed instead of his brother and killing for it showed from the root he was rotten, age aside.
If anyone deserved imperial execution, it was my brother, not me.
"But considering Wittelsbach's repeated refusals to allow a direct examination, and how after your mana manifested, Adrian Ascanien was never seen as heir to the Anhalt dukedom anywhere—it's not entirely implausible."
The king pressed on.
"Of course, that alone wouldn't let me fully trust the Crown Prince's word. If I hadn't confirmed your identity with my own eyes—if it were just up until yesterday—I wouldn't have believed it, no matter who said it."
"I understand."
"So I have no right to reproach you or the Crown Prince for not speaking the truth. No one could believe our empire had been swayed by a lie for over a decade."
Honest, isn't he.
That was the normal stance, really.
After a long pause, he spoke.
"But now that things have come to this, there's no reason to stand by idly. So I have a proposal for you."
"Please, speak."
He smiled softly and clasped his hands.
"First, hear one story. When do you plan to reveal your true identity? If I help, would you do it now?"
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