The Secret Collaboration

“Yes.”

“Why are you only telling me this now?”

“I’m sorry. Honestly, even if we call them holy relics, only one of them properly appears in the original novel… I didn’t know if the others even existed, and I didn’t want to disappoint you for no reason.”

“Even so…”

I turned my head away, unable to suppress the surge of resentment. I could understand his logic—giving someone hope only to tell them it’s impossible is cruel. Erkel, being in the same boat as me, would know that better than anyone. Rationally, Erkel’s choice was the right one. Yet, a voice inside me kept shouting, ‘No, but still!’ as my emotions flared.

“I assume you found the rest, then.”

“Fortunately. I haven’t pinpointed their exact locations, but I was able to confirm their existence.”

At my blunt tone, Erkel scanned my face with a sheepish grin. Seeing his brows droop in genuine apology, I found it impossible to stay mad.

“I know why you didn’t say anything. Still, from now on, I hope you won’t hide things from me like this.”

“I won’t, I won’t.”

“We’re supposed to trust each other completely. You’re the only person in this world I can truly rely on… I hate the idea of unnecessary misunderstandings cropping up.”

At my grumbling, Erkel nodded vigorously, repeating, “I know, I know.” He even held out his pinky finger, promising to keep his word.

After calming me down, Erkel flipped through the book. Once he found the page he wanted, he simply tore it out. I let out a gasp of shock at the sudden action, but Erkel nonchalantly waved the torn page in the air.

What followed was an even more startling sight. As Erkel shook the paper, the letters on it began to undulate and melt, sinking toward the bottom. Once the area that had been packed with text became blank, a smudge like ink dropping into water began to spread, forming new handwriting. I immediately recognized the script.

“It’s still in the experimental stage, so I couldn’t send it to the capital, but once the security is verified, we’ll use this for letters from now on.”

It was welcome news, yet hard to believe. I had even given up on Gredor’s letters in hopes that Cedric Klein would invent a mobile communication device. This meant such a thing still didn’t exist.

“What about Cedric Klein?”

“Well… I guess he’s not there yet.” Erkel shrugged. “Even if it does come out, it’ll be difficult to use for a while. Since there are so few users, it’s easy for outsiders to monitor.”

Erkel immediately launched into an explanation as if to prevent any further questions.

“Two of them are uncertain, but I’ve confirmed one for sure. And another… the one that actually appeared in the original work is likely in the capital. I found a record of an antique called ‘The Soul-Containing Bottle’ appearing occasionally at auctions. I’m not certain if it’s the holy relic we’re looking for, but since it’s labeled a relic, it’s worth investigating.”

“Can you tell just by looking at it?”

“Well, probably.”

Probably? There was no guarantee that the bottle would even show up at an auction again. If it could be settled with money, that would be one thing, but if the current owner refused to part with it, things would get complicated. It was a risky gamble to go through all that effort when there was a chance it wasn’t even the right item.

“In the original, it doesn’t appear until the latter half when the war breaks out. It’s obtained by chance, so I don’t know if we can get it the same way this time. I’ve tried to sketch out the description, so I think I’ll get a feeling if I see it.”

“And the others? You said you haven’t tracked them down yet?”

“I revised the setting for the holy relics so many times while writing… even their appearances aren’t certain. The only one I set in stone from the start was the sword.” Erkel looked into the distance as if recalling an ancient memory. “I’ve scanned every sword that’s even slightly famous, but I haven’t found it yet. I’m still investigating.”

“And one of them… must be in the Academy.”

That was likely the reason Erkel had called me here. He needed help to retrieve the holy relic hidden within these walls.

“Exactly. I tried to get it myself, but it was impossible.”

“Where is it?”

If Erkel, who usually handles things on his own, was calling for backup, it meant the location was anything but normal. I ran through the most heavily guarded places in the Academy. If even an Imperial Prince found it impossible to retrieve, it had to be somewhere off-limits to students—a dangerous forbidden zone, or perhaps a professor’s laboratory during exams.

“A room inside the Principal’s office.”

“…Where?”

“There is another entrance, but I don’t think we’d make it through alive. The safest way is through the secret passage in the Principal’s office.”

‘Make it through alive’? My jaw dropped in horror. Putting aside why such a dangerous passage existed in an Academy, the Principal here was… none other than the Tower Master, Pisha Tecon.

I couldn’t fathom the audacity required to plan a break-in right under the nose of the “Sage.” It wasn’t just a matter of being brave. Even if Pisha Tecon were away, the magical traps installed inside wouldn’t be something Erkel and I could easily dismantle.

“Are you insane? How do you plan to get it out? As the Principal, he probably doesn’t have a regular class schedule, so there won’t be a set time when he’s away. A man of the Tower Master’s caliber wouldn’t leave his room without security.”

Erkel let out a hearty laugh.

“As for that part, we have more people to help us.”

On tiptoe, Erkel crept toward the door and pressed his ear against it before suddenly yanking the handle. From the hallway that should have been empty, figures came tumbling onto the floor. Aiden was crouched in a bracing position, and Lewis, who had been leaning on him, rolled across the floor. Elliot, who had presumably been standing with them, straightened his knees with a sheepish expression and turned his head away.

“What… what are you guys doing there?”

“Could it be that those two…”

Lewis, who had been strolling leisurely despite his excuse about a professor’s summons, stroked his chin as if he’d realized something. He phrased it as a question, but his face was a picture of certainty.

Aiden, led along by Lewis’s hand, blinked his large, dark eyes like a cow, waiting for the rest of the sentence. Elliot Dylan, who had followed them out with a similarly flimsy excuse, let out a snort. Unlike the innocent-looking Aiden, his was a cynical laugh that seemed to reject the entire world.

“Did you just finish a romance novel? Everything must look romantic to you.”

“But!” Lewis lowered his voice, realizing they were still in the hallway. He whispered just loud enough to be heard. “Seeing Prince Erkel welcome her so warmly, even shedding tears… they can’t be just ‘friends.’ And what about Llewelyn? Have you ever seen her date anyone? Or even like someone? For that matter, neither has Prince Erkel.”

“Llewelyn hasn’t even been back in the capital for two months. She’s been out of the castle for less than one. Unless it was love at first sight, a relationship is a stretch. As for Prince Erkel, well, maybe he just didn’t tell you.”

“Do you have any idea how many eyes are on people at the Academy? If two students so much as smile shyly at each other from opposite ends of the dining hall, everyone notices. Rumors spread faster than a wildfire. But an Imperial Prince dating someone? Without anyone knowing? It’s impossible to keep that a secret unless the partner is invisible.”

While Elliot offered logical counterarguments to Lewis, he was actually entertaining the same possibility. It was true that those two had spent a lot of time alone together in the past. Considering how often they sought each other out, the hypothesis wasn’t entirely baseless.

He knew Llewelyn was keeping many secrets from him. Prince Erkel, despite his innocent face, was also quite good at hiding things. While Llewelyn occasionally failed to manage her expressions, she wasn’t exactly talentless at it. If the two of them had decided to keep a secret, even he might not have noticed.

Nevertheless, Elliot placed his bet on the side that Llewelyn and the Fourth Prince were not dating.

The reason was simple: in his eyes, Erkel wasn’t that romantic of a person. If they had really fallen for each other, it would have been before the Prince entered the Academy—which was six years ago. Llewelyn hadn’t entered the palace until she became a playmate, so even if they shared “love” or something like it, it would have only been for a year or so.

To maintain a romantic yearning from a childhood fling through such a long period without even a single letter? Such people might exist in the world, but it certainly didn’t fit Erkel.

He could maybe see it from Llewelyn’s side, as she was surprisingly soft-hearted. Elliot smirked as he compared their faces in his mind: Erkel’s drooping, gentle eyes versus Llewelyn’s upturned, fierce-looking gaze. You really can’t judge a person by their cover.

“W-What… what do you mean? Prince Erkel and Llewelyn are d-d-dating…?”