How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family Chapter 270

Chapter 270

The steward entered the room and gave the Anhalt formal attire before leaving.

Naturally, like all the other servants I had t so far, he had tried to dress as well, but my request worked on the steward. I took the formal attire and said seriously.

“I will dress myself.”

“Then do so.”

The steward smiled and went out of the room.

His constant smiling felt sohow suspicious, but the very fact that he could converse with seed to be sothing he always regarded as new. And rightly so, since after Luka beca a shut-in and until I ca to this world, Luka hadn’t properly conversed with anyone.

Anyway, my modern self finally felt a bit at ease. No matter how much being attended to even with clothing was a privilege among privileges, since I hadn’t lived as a noble, having a stranger dress didn’t feel like a privilege but just embarrassing. Wouldn’t anyone from the modern world empathize?

[May I co in now?]

“You may, but why do you intend to co in?”

“I must do the final adjustnts.”

He entered with a beaming smile and straightened my clothes. As he readjusted the seams of my shirt and vest, he said.

“I am truly proud that you have grown up like this.”

“There is no need for you to feel proud.”

“From your expression to your speech, it feels like seeing His Grace in his childhood. His Grace was quite different in his youth. At exactly this age, His Grace resembled the young master now so much….”

It was sothing I already knew. The steward had graduated from the Imperial Second Academy alongside Georg Askanian. The two were childhood friends like Elias and Leo. I couldn’t understand how that ice-block of a man resembled in any way—especially in this situation—but from my position of knowing that Georg Askanian had changed into what he was now only after Luka was known to possess the Pleroma temperant, I could understand. The deep furrows between his brows and the cold, indifferent eyes toward everything were not his original state but had co from the subsequent lethargy and fatigue.

“I am curious about him from that ti.”

“You will never see that side of him again.”

A gentle smile still played on the steward’s lips, but he spoke more firmly than I expected.

I could understand his resignation. Ti corrodes people.

He patted my jacket and grinned.

“You look splendid. Now, you will soon be taller than , won’t you?”

“Haha.”

I wasn’t sure how much taller I could grow. Since both Adrian Askanian and Georg were on the tall side, perhaps I could expect a bit more.

The steward glanced at his watch and said.

“Now, young master, you will move to the ball room. It has been nearly ten years since you last entered, hasn’t it.”

“Yes.”

“Your friends will all go as well, but since there is a scheduled event ti, we have set it for entry ten minutes before that ti. Now, shall we lift your chin a bit?”

The steward brought his hand to my chin. I gently pushed his hand away and recited what I knew.

“I know. The eyes should be slightly lowered. No need for unnecessary smiles, pull the neck back slightly but without tensing the body. That’s it, right?”

“You know it well.”

Where else would I have learned it?

From Leo. That’s why I couldn’t help but call that guy my teacher.

He looked at quietly for a mont and then asked.

“Will you go see His Grace first now?”

“No.”

Did I have to go see my father just because he had arrived? He wouldn’t want that either. And I had no particular desire for it.

When noon, as promised, arrived, that was when I would et him.

“…I see. Then I will co back here later. At that ti, you must move directly to the ball room.”

I nodded and sent the steward away.

Every ti the door opened, the noisy sounds of my friends outside could be heard.

I put the shellac plate that Adrian Askanian must have bought as a gift for his little brother into the phonograph. Clear sound quality classical music flowed out, comparable even to LP. LP probably wouldn’t exist in this world. The mages had developed it by compensating for the shortcomings of shellac plates. In this way, the things I knew drifted further from .

Even I was the sa. When I was here, I beca Luka more than anyone else in the world. To everyone except , the fact that I was Luka was an utterly obvious truth, but it was gradually becoming that way for too. Perhaps it had been that way from the beginning, but I hadn’t noticed because I had been away from this place. His mories and emotions seeped into more vividly than usual.

Not long after, Leo opened the door and entered.

“Ti?”

“No.”

Though I said that, Leo locked the door with a refreshed face and sat on the sofa in my room. He looked around slowly and said.

“This building is similar to how it was ten years ago.”

“Good mory.”

What more could Georg Askanian have done here anyway. Maintaining the status quo would be fortunate. While I turned my back to him and watched over the shellac plate and needle, he quietly called .

“Lukas.”

“Don’t call my na; get to the point.”

“You must be very tired.”

I stomped my foot to cast a soundproofing spell enveloping Leo and . If he wasn’t going to get to the point right away, I should say what I had to say. As if sensing I was about to speak, Leo layered another soundproofing spell over it.

“I was going to discuss this with you anyway. Let’s talk about Nicolaus.”

“Hm. It is about ti for your brother to start moving.”

Leo imdiately understood my aning. He had noticed that I was considering integrating Nicolaus to first to prepare for my brother’s attack.

“Then you already know without saying. We have to decide whether to aim for high return high risk or low return low risk.”

“Risk? The priority is to prevent the Lukas Askanian identity from collapsing in the first place.”

Of course that was obvious. I was rely preparing assuming the worst case. It didn’t an it would happen right away, nor that I would let it be.

As I shrugged with that intent, Leo nodded as if he understood.

“I didn’t co to say things like this… but fine. Nicolaus Ernst is an identity made to neutralize your brother’s attack. So, timing-wise, revealing the identity now, when your brother isn’t moving, is right. But the problem is that even if we reveal it, we haven’t caught evidence to send your brother away, so in the end, Nicolaus and your brother will have to continue fighting. Moreover, we would be in a state with no insurance since we’ve already used the trump card called Nicolaus. From this perspective, it’s still too early to reveal your identity.”

“Exactly. So it’s ti to prepare for attack beyond defense.”

As I said that, I offered the hip flask I had refilled with whiskey from the train. Uncharacteristically, Leo took the alcohol and drank while looking out the window.

“…But it is true that now is the perfect opportunity to reveal your identity. So you’re worrying about this now, right? If we don’t integrate, your body is one, but you have to manage two identities politically. It’s inevitable to neglect one. Moreover, your brother is already sufficiently wary of the possibility that Nicolaus is you, so even if we don’t reveal now, you have to block attacks on both identities. In that sense, if the benefits of revealing are certainly great, it might be better to do it now.”

Leo shook his head as if it had beco complicated and fell deep into thought. Soon, he opened his mouth again.

“Lukas. Perhaps an opportunity to start this splendidly may never co again. Integrating Nicolaus now can imdiately solidify Lukas Askanian’s position. Of course, you would have to accept that the enemies you face in politics increase….”

I nodded.

In fact, it should be normal for such an opportunity to never co again. If it ca twice, that would an another crazy incident like this one happening again, and getting caught up in it again.

‘…There’s no guarantee it won’t co twice….’

I didn’t want to think about it.

From my position of hoping such an incident never happens again, revealing the identity now is right. There’s no law saying I must always choose the latter between high risk high return and low risk low return. Sotis the latter is excessively stability-oriented, missing out on gains, a foolish choice.

Leo closed the hip flask and placed it on the table.

“You are worried about risks like perhaps your brother is waiting for the day Nicolaus reveals his identity himself, or he brings an attack beyond our imagination to completely collapse your two identities.”

“You know well.”

“But the possibility of return is much greater. Wait until your brother’s prepared attack cos.”

“…….”

“If I say possibility rather than value of return, you’ll understand, but your brother is now in a situation where it’s hard to land an effective hit on you no matter what attack we can imagine he uses. Of course, he’s not the type to be complacent despite that, so I know well that you’re worrying now. You’re concerned if perhaps he has a plan to collapse you. So, rewind ti based on the degree of the attack. Announce your identity then.”

“That’s your conclusion.”

Wise answer. Pursuing gains stably, just like Leo. For now, it’s the best thod. I hadn’t not considered it either.

“Leo. The thing you said you’d tell before….”

“That’s not sothing to discuss while playing around? And that’s not for you to consider in your strategy.”

He cut off my words decisively, checked his watch, and stood up.

“I ca to talk about sothing else now. Don’t we have to go out in 30 minutes?”

“Yeah. You too.”

“I actually have to go out even earlier.”

As Leo said that, he took out a small box from his pocket.

“Here.”

“Hm?”

I frowned, doubting what I was seeing. In his hand was an artifact box covered in a familiar blue velvet. So, it was exactly that artifact box I had left behind.

“…You brought this? How? Your preparedness is giving chills.”

“What do you an…. You have 24-hour access to my core, so you wouldn’t notice the difference, but I can’t not know my magic power is gone. You don’t expect to live like this alone, do you?”

Leo shot back with a smiling face.

To call it access was nice; it was more accurate to say he had arranged it so I could destroy the core at my will if I wanted. He didn’t seem to want to say it that directly.

“Then you could have said it on the train earlier. Why hand it over so ominously late. You have sothing in mind.”

“I didn’t want to say it there.”

“…….”

Didn’t want to say it there?

Was it because the atmosphere was too light? Since friends could barge in at any ti.

I fell into thought.

If I were to summarize the intent of what he said on the train in one word, it was this.

If you absolutely have to use yourself as a ans to deal with the archbishop, are you prepared to deal with the archbishop even resorting to the worst thod?

It had been that from beginning to end.

The decision I made to half-destroy the archbishop’s core, and even matching the archbishop’s engagent rhythm—it had appeared to him as the possibility of mutual destruction with the archbishop using as the ans.

This was an extension of the concern he had had since the Primrose Path. I had saved 1.9 million lives, but from then on, I hadn’t been able to quell my friend’s anxiety.

‘…Bitter.’

Let’s go back and think again. If I resolve to mutual destruction, it would have to be done in secret from my friends. In other words, the remark he made from the start that had baffled was to turn the words back to or not give a subtle way to avoid. While I had primarily panicked in an Old Human way, he had tried to baffle with a rather New Human basis, and naturally, the first words he uttered were ones that would baffle a New Human twice as much as an Old Human. Among New Humans who produce people via contracts, marriage sounds like a declaration of seeking a magic power provider from the other side of the Earth with no ties and contracting. It can be done, but there’s no particular reason to, and though it happens occasionally, it’s just soone else’s story, nothing more or less. Yet he fully knew what marriage ant to Old Humans. The bafflent amplifies between absurdity and nausea.

On the other hand, he had discerned the fundantal commonality between the archbishop and , and I had panicked as a New Human at the point of realizing he might know that, just as Leo intended. Of course, thanks to that, I could once again confirm his concern regarding mutual destruction.

So, this issue was quite complex. The basis was first, because it lay between Leo’s two sincere questions and his intentional probing, and second, because in his view, I was soone who could find a compromise point—compromised between love and justice—even if my desires conflicted, using marriage to perish together with the archbishop.

Since actions rarely stem from just one basis, they inevitably beco complex, and oversimplifying leads to the intent collapsing.

An initiate striving in scholarship must ultimately step out of the simple frawork prepared for initiation.

The mont I truly face a person, instead of skimming the surface heard by the ears, I must seize the other’s complex, multifaceted psychology. This should be enough without thinking more. I had already given him my answer then.

“I have always moved presupposing your help. Shalessly, I will continue to do so. You’re handing this over now because you want to answer a bit more seriously, right?”

“Shaless? That’s what we want. From what I hear in Anhalt, it’s touching.”

As Leo said that, he shifted his gaze around and continued.

“You always make feel seen through. Yes, when I first gave you the artifact, it was to watch over your safety. Honestly, I can’t say there was no intent in what you ant this ti either. But this ti is a bit different. The reason I didn’t want to say I brought the artifact on the train isn’t the reason you think.”

As I raised an eyebrow, he gestured toward the window and said.

“Lukas. You have co justly to the land that cast you out. The broken core has regained its original state and beco stronger than anyone, and your honor, mired in malice you didn’t need to suffer, is rising against all interference.”

“…….”

“You have returned once again to that land where you had to drink your brother’s poison all your life.”

I let out a hollow laugh and twisted one corner of my mouth. Leo, who was saying this now, was smiling.

“Co on, interpret this one too. I’m curious what you’ll say.”

From the middle, I had a hunch. From the mont he said ‘that land where you had to drink your brother’s poison all your life,’ I was certain of the intent behind offering the Wittelsbach artifact.

What else could it be? The core I had shattered with my brother’s poison was now under the protection of Wittelsbach’s healing magic power. He had delayed until here to recreate the reversal of the situation in Anhalt as a symbol.

Sotis this guy made laugh hollowly. Anyone could see he had the air of a prince born and raised pampered, and sowhere between orthodoxy and strange madness, he subtly annoyed people. It was an undeniable fact to .

But one thing remained the sa. Despite that, he was a friend who gave his all in every mont to everything. I held my forehead and let out a hollow laugh as I said.

“Aren’t you too obsessed with symbolism? In my view, you’re too sentintal.”

“Is that so? But it’s you who’s strange, not .”

“…….”

He boldly said I was strange…. By this era’s standards, it might indeed be natural.

I mulled over his words again and quietly opened my mouth.

“…This… honestly, you packaged what could have been infuriating quite well.”

“Packaged? Isn’t it a thought worth having as the first person to hear your circumstances?”

As he said that, he turned his gaze back to the window.

“Lukas. Anhalt. I…”

His gaze lingered on the Anhalt emblems scattered throughout the castle building and beyond, at the confluence of the two rivers. Soon, Leo looked at and smiled brightly.

“I’m really glad that I’ve co here, more than the fact that I could invite you to Bavaria.”

Is that so. I pulled up the corner of my mouth and smiled. Leo’s pure smile, like that of boys his age, reached as sincere.

How many tis in life can one et a friend who worries and rejoices over others’ affairs as if they were his own. Whether he used as Bavaria’s human capital or not, his heart thinking of people and justice was true. I already saw in him the light that had once gone out in . Now, I couldn’t even tell if such a light had been in , but since I wasn’t completely blind, I knew that the light he showed was bright.

“Give it.”

I gestured toward the artifact in his hand.

There was no room for my usual curt words or dismissal.

I hoped this uprightness, able to truly think of others, would not be dyed with fatigue and pessimism. Whether possible or not, I wanted to hold onto for him what I had already failed once. I was rely relieved that I had failed a little earlier than him, allowing him to give his all to this shining uprightness.

Even if his bestowed aning didn’t seem that grand to already, I wanted to accept the respect and support he showed as it was, without distorting or glossing it over.

Piercing the skin with the end of the artifact instead of the needle was a bit excessive. I wiped the blood with gauze and threw it into the fireplace flas. Unlike the burning sensation in my ear, the core gradually cooled refreshingly. The magic power that should carry aggressiveness filled the minute cracks in my core and wrapped around them. I squeezed my ear with another gauze and let out a sigh-mixed words.

“It depends on how you package it. If this feels more valuable than what I’ll soon receive….”

“Package, you say. But what?”

Leo tilted his head. I ignored his question and said what I had to say.

“Just a while ago, my brother’s poison broke my core, and now Wittelsbach’s healing magic power protects it, so yes, it’s a bit new. I’ve returned to this land that made no different from a non-mage in the exact opposite situation. I never specifically imagined a day like this would co….”

“…….”

“It’s nostalgic. I said it as I felt. Did I interpret right?”

“Yes.”

Leo smiled and replied.

As the conversation seed to be wrapping up, I approached the hearth, burned the other gauze in the flas, and said.

“Without your help, I wouldn’t be here. You probably didn’t want to hear this specifically.”

“You know well. I didn’t expect to hear thanks from you already.”

“That would be so. I haven’t said everything yet.”

I turned around, looked at him, and said.

“Please take care of from now on.”

“…….”

Leo’s blue eyes burned with resolve. The corners of his mouth curved softly.

“Yes. too.”

* * *

“This is the second ti, isn’t it.”

The steward said that as he led . I didn’t reply, but he continued.

“It is truly an honor to see this sight.”

Now, I was moving to the banquet hall for Anhalt’s dal confernt ceremony. It was the first official schedule of the day.

I moved under the escort of the guard corps, listening to his one-sided words. Not long after, a familiar yet unfamiliar door ca into view.

“Lukas von Anhalt, the young lord of Anhalt, has arrived.”

The old-fashioned na rang out again. The guards standing on both sides of the door opened the thick doors of the banquet hall.

Sunlight flooded in, and I squinted slightly.

The banquet hall was a place I had seen a few tis in Luka’s childhood mories. The structure with a podium at the end of the passage was similar to Bavaria’s, but there were no frescoes or statues like in the Antiquarium. A massive chandelier, a skylight made for natural lighting, and a ceiling height much higher than other places by connecting two floors stood out. The sunlight pouring from above made the chandelier’s light almost aningless.

On the seats on both sides of the hall, collateral Askanians, Anhalt politicians, and my friends were visible. Anhalt nobles from Luka’s mories were also there.

I walked through the aisle between the seats.

—“Lukas.”

A voice speaking with divine power registered to . Looking that way, Narce standing next to Elias showed a clenched fist. It seed to an good luck.

I didn’t lack strength anyway. Rather now, I had so much leeway that a sneer ford unconsciously. I smiled at him and stood on the right side in front of the podium.

The steward seed to have brought earlier than in Bavaria. About three minutes after I stood with hands behind my back, the noon bell from the distant church rang.

Creak—

[His Grace the Duke of Anhalt has arrived.]

“…….”

A mage with a familiar face entered through the open door. Luka’s, my heart began to beat faster gradually. I realized that the sneer I had held back until earlier was mild. I tried to compose my expression while looking at him.

He paused briefly at his seat, then gazed at with that characteristic chilling gaze that looked down on everything. Then, like Leo, he walked to the podium accompanied by the guard captain and the pri minister.

Anhalt’s national anthem began to play. It was music Luka didn’t like. Therefore, influenced by him, I couldn’t like it either, but since it was music I would make mine from now on, I needed to change my taste.

As Georg Askanian stood at the podium, I turned my body toward him. A low voice, quite different from mine, flowed from that face resembling mine.

“Can Lukas von Anhalt swear to beco a mber of the Albrecht Knight Order and pledge loyalty to the Duchy of Anhalt.”

Not a single breath could be heard. It was probably because of that chilling, hollow voice that gave an inhuman impression.

Unlike Bavaria, there was no explanation whatsoever about the dal being conferred. It was his personality, but in fact, it was natural. Anhalt’s dal was only one, the Albrecht dal. This dal was one that all direct descendants of Askanian rightfully received. The reason Luka hadn’t received this dal until now was because Georg Askanian hadn’t recognized him as part of the ruling family.

If only briefly ntioned, one might not know, but listing my rits here like in foreign countries would rather be a minus.

“I swear.”

I replied without averting my gaze from those icy blue eyes. And as before, I knelt on my left knee and bowed my head.

Georg Askanian raised the sword he held. A chilling wind brushed past my cheek. The blade flashing in my left peripheral vision slowly turned to the right.

“…….”

Georg Askanian sheathed the sword and grasped the hilt with both hands, lightly pressing the tip to the floor.

It was the second knighting ceremony I experienced. The still lowly hollow voice echoed through the hall.

“From this mont, Lukas von Anhalt is a mber of the Albrecht Knight Order, and in commoration of Lukas von Anhalt’s feats and rits, the Duchy of Anhalt bestows the Grand Cross of the Albrecht Knight Order.”

Grand Cross.

A dal that only those close to founding rits or the ruling family could receive. Adrian Askanian had already received it long ago, and all my ruling family friends would have as well.

The Grand Cross ant that I was in a position to stand comparable to my brother as Askanian’s rightful heir. In this world where birth order didn’t signify succession rights, it ant that the play Adrian Askanian had built over more than ten years now reached its end, and only the fight between Adrian Askanian and remained.

Of course, the evaluation of this small duchy couldn’t instantly move to Adrian Askanian’s side. Especially since this was my family. As such, I had no choice but to accept the Grand Cross.

However, because it was my family, this was a monuntal event.

I had earned with my own hands the highest dal that one born as the family’s rightful heir could receive. The fate that Adrian Askanian had thrown off the cliff, I had personally dragged up to this position.

With this, no one in the world could deny that Askanian’s second son, who had been confined to an empty mansion in the corner of Anhalt against his will, was now undeniably a mber of the ruling family. Whether I was thinking of Luka or myself, I couldn’t tell. Since I had to live with one na, now he was and I was him.

Now, the ceremony in the Duchy of Anhalt ended with this.

I rose from my seat and looked at the impassive-faced mage standing before . He rely looked down at without saying a word.

One of the people who had driven Luka to death, and one who would drive to death in the future as well. The mories of him swirling in my head like my own were enough to confuse . He was Luka’s father. Yet since I had to live in Luka’s na, he was unreservedly my father as well. The body I was trapped in was born of his blood, if I died it would be because of this man, and if I lived I had to beco the next generation’s monarch as his son. So at this mont, distinction was aningless.

What was important was one thing.

Gazing into his blue eyes reflecting my red pupils, I said.

“It took a long ti, Father.”