How to Live Comfortably as an Abandoned Prince Chapter 262 : Chapter 262

Chapter 262. The Key of Seal (1)

The emperor’s office after Radel had departed.

Holium, the Emperor of the Cretian Empire, recalled the prince who had stood before him just monts ago.

Radel Silvert Cretian.

The frail prince who had shut himself away in the palace of the 8th Prince and rarely erged.

The one who had failed to awaken an Ability even by the age of seventeen and had been all but abandoned.

On the rare occasions when he appeared at imperial events, he would hesitate awkwardly and then flee to avoid the 9th Prince.

Yet now, he seed like an entirely different person.

‘He has changed completely. Is it because he awakened an Ability?’

For once, the emperor found himself deep in thought.

Interest, sothing he had long forgotten, was beginning to stir.

Radel had never once drawn Holium’s attention before.

Even when they t in this office prior to Radel’s academy enrollnt, the boy had left no particular impression.

Like his other children, Radel had been nothing more or less than a candidate to inherit the throne.

The emperor’s life was colorless.

A monotonous routine that repeated itself every day.

He wished for a successor to be decided as soon as possible.

Or else, for the empire to collapse.

That was how unbearably dull his life had beco.

‘I need more information on the 8th Prince.’

Holium brought to mind the report on the 8th Prince that the Ability Managent Bureau had submitted earlier.

The report detailed the Ability Radel had awakened.

Troll’s Heart.

And Ivan, the Director of the Ability Managent Bureau, had even suggested the possibility that Radel possessed another Ability.

Naly, the possibility that he held Magic Nullification.

Only one royal in history had ever manifested Magic Nullification, and even then, almost no official records remained.

If the identity of that royal were ever revealed, the empire’s magicians would desperately scour the imperial archives for any surviving docuntation.

That was because the only Great Sage in the world had been the very royal who possessed Magic Nullification.

“So that is why Ivan wrote a letter of recomndation….”

Holium murmured expressionlessly.

In his mind, countless possibilities appeared and vanished, all premised on the assumption that the 8th Prince truly possessed Magic Nullification.

From those, he selected the scenarios that would most affect the empire, rearranging them again and again.

“Official support from the Supre Deity Order, top rank in the academy’s first sester, cooperation with the lizardn, developnt of the territory of Raviedel….”

It had taken the 8th Prince less than a year to accomplish all of this.

To have achieved such results despite lacking any backing and without even mastering basic magic was nothing short of dazzling.

Now even the imperial family had begun to take notice of him.

A quicker-moving royal might already have dispatched assassins.

Yet the 8th Prince had made it here alive.

Survival itself was a form of ability.

Holium recalled the conversation he had shared with Radel earlier.

‘What reward do you desire?’

‘I wish to access the Imperial Archive.’

‘…The Imperial Archive.’

‘Only for a few days.’

The Imperial Archive.

A hidden space that only the Emperor of the Cretian Empire was permitted to enter.

In truth, it was not a place of extraordinary value.

It rely contained records of past royals, and more people were unaware of its existence than not.

In a way, it was an utterly eccentric request.

To Holium’s knowledge, no royal had ever asked for such a reward.

Except for one.

His younger brother William, the only ally Holium had ever had.

The mont he realized this, a flicker of color finally entered the emperor’s empty eyes.

***

“Shartea was summoned by His Majesty the Emperor?”

The 4th Princess, Estina, glared at the attendant with a terrifying expression.

“Why?”

“Well, um… it is said that she resolved the conflict with the lizardn in the Carmine Desert.”

“So that is supposed to be more impressive than exterminating magical beasts?”

Bulging veins rose along Estina’s hand as she failed to contain her fury.

The attendant bowed his head, desperately averting his gaze from the grotesque sight.

“Ah, well, since it was a diplomatic matter….”

“I went through hell killing those filthy magical beasts! For half a year!”

“Of course, Your Highness is also remarkable, but this is a matter His Majesty personally comnded, AAGH!”

BANG!

The attendant was struck by Estina’s massive hand and slamd into the floor.

BANG!

“What is wrong with you? Why do you not keep talking?”

“P-P-Princess, please calm your anger, GHK!”

BANG!

This ti, a leg covered in scales smashed into the attendant’s side.

Blood spilled from his mouth.

“Cough! I was wrong. I dared to… disturb Your Highness’s mood… please forgive, URGH!”

“So you still do not understand? Then what you are saying is that Shartea is superior to .”

Estina smiled as she raised her fist once more.

Her face was as beautiful as an angel’s, yet her fist glead with the bluish sheen of reptilian scales.

Just as she was about to punish the insolent attendant again,

“Estina. What do you think you are doing?”

A sharp voice cut her off.

Startled, Estina turned toward the source of the voice.

Standing there was her mother, Erica cure Cretian, the 4th Imperial Consort.

“Oh my… when did you arrive, Mother?”

Estina quickly hid her hand behind her back and smiled at Erica.

It was a perfectly crafted smile, but Erica looked upon her daughter with open contempt.

“Show your hand.”

Frowning, Erica produced a thin switch.

Estina’s face stiffened slightly.

Tension filled the space between mother and daughter.

“Your hand!”

At Erica’s shout, Estina brought her hidden hand forward.

The scales that had covered it monts ago were gone without a trace.

“You see? There is nothing there.”

But Erica’s gaze remained cold.

“Is that so? Then what is this?”

With the tip of the switch, Erica pointed to a scale that still lingered on Estina’s wrist.

Estina’s face turned pale.

The switch ca down imdiately.

SLAP!

“I told you! Hide it completely!”

“Yes, Mother.”

Even as she trembled under countless strikes of the switch, Estina forced the corners of her lips upward.

“People hate magical beasts! They are repulsive! Do you understand? No one wants a royal like that! How many tis do I have to tell you?”

“Yes, I was wrong.”

“That is why you keep losing to Shartea. And do you even know who earned the greatest rit in the desert this ti? That dim-witted 8th Prince! This is what happens when you fail to finish things properly!”

At Erica’s words, Estina’s eyes wavered.

Being outshone not only by Shartea but also by the 8th Prince was enough to shatter her pride.

After berating Estina for so ti, Erica left without sparing even a glance for the attendant collapsed on the floor.

“…The 8th Prince earned rit?”

Once her mother was gone, Estina’s smiling face hardened.

She ground her teeth.

She was too furious to endure it.

The one closest to the emperor’s throne should have been her.

No matter how she thought about it, that was the truth.

Compared to other royals who rely possessed flashy Abilities, she, who had honed herself through bone-grinding effort, was far more suited to be emperor.

But for that, she needed more power.

Power great enough to crush the other royals and even suppress her own monstrous Ability!

At that mont, the purple key hanging from her neck seed to whisper to her.

Use my power.

***

“I can finally make Hayden-style interdiate potions.”

Radel entered the Secret School with his backpack slung over his shoulders.

He could now brew Hayden-style beginner potions with his eyes closed, but he had not yet dared to attempt interdiate ones.

The most important ingredient, manticore fangs, had been too difficult to obtain.

However, that problem had been resolved when he discovered manticore fangs in the ruins Hayden had left behind in the Carmine Desert.

From here on, it was a battle of perseverance.

“First, finely grind the manticore fang and place it into the flask….”

Reading from the book detailing Hayden-style potion brewing, Radel refined the ingredients, stirred them, and boiled them.

He even inscribed magic circles that did not exist at the beginner potion stage and infused them with Magic Power.

The process was several tis more difficult than brewing beginner potions, but Radel, for whom Heal did not work, desperately needed interdiate potions.

Now that he had drawn the imperial family’s attention, he had no idea what might happen next.

What if, out of nowhere, nobles began gossiping about him as a rising candidate for the throne?

There was nothing good about drawing unnecessary attention.

‘His Majesty the Emperor… looked exhausted.’

Just looking into the emperor’s eyes had conveyed overwhelming fatigue.

How weary must life be for the light to vanish from one’s gaze?

The stacks of docunts piled on the office desk, the papers awaiting imperial approval…

As he filled a cylinder with distilled water, Radel shook his head.

“People really should live comfortably.”

Yet those born into royalty in this world were inevitably forced to compete for the throne.

Radel wanted to distance himself from that struggle.

Coincidentally, there had once been a royal who lived exactly as he pleased throughout his life without ever becoming emperor.

His ancestor, Hayden.

If he could live like Hayden, that would be as close to a comfortable life as possible.

However, aside from the diary Hayden had left in a hidden space, there was no information about him.

As far as Radel knew, there was only one way to learn more.

He had to enter the Imperial Archive, where the records of all past royals were stored.

Only the emperor could enter, but fortunately, Radel had earned the opportunity as a reward for resolving the desert conflict.

If there was anywhere clues about Hayden remained, it would be there.

BANG!

While Radel was lost in thought, smoke billowed up from the cauldron.

“It worked!”

At the sa ti, a notification sound rang in his ears.

DING.

[Conditions have been t.]

[Condition: First successful creation of a Hayden-style interdiate potion.]

[A hidden space has been opened.]

[You may enter the sealed room.]

CREEAK.

From afar ca the sound of a locked door opening.

“I knew it.”

Radel smiled.

The Secret School left behind by his ancestor contained many locked doors.

They clearly required specific conditions to open, though those conditions were uncertain.

Bringing all those ingredients on a hunch that brewing an interdiate potion might be the key had been worth it.

‘He really did have his own order of progression.’

The sa went for rooms that required a Key of Seal to open.

It was a glimpse into Hayden’s personality.

As Radel carefully moved to step through the newly opened doorway, sothing suddenly occurred to him.

“Oh, right. Spirit summoning!”

BANG!

As Radel recited the summoning spell, the Spirit of the Library appeared.

“What is going on?”

The Spirit of the Library fluttered its pages and swiftly scanned the surroundings.

Lately, every ti Radel summoned it, unusual situations, like desert ruins, had awaited, so it could not afford to lower its guard.

Yet what it saw was an ordinary classroom.

“What? It is just the academy, huh?”

While grumbling, the spirit sensed an aura perating the area and jumped in shock.

“Th-This is… that bastard’s presence!”

It was unmistakably the Magic Power of the one who had bound it with a fraudulent contract.