The Empty Nest and the Gathering Storm

As they turned eleven, Erkel, Aiden, and Louis chose to attend the Academy. Aiden was visibly tense, but he seemed more resilient than before. It appeared that the sword suited his aptitude quite well.

While Erkel and Aiden might return sooner, Louis had opted for the Department of Magic. Unless he managed an early graduation like Abel, it would be difficult to see him for at least seven or eight years. I gave the future magic scholar a set of magic ink and notebooks recommended by Abel. He said it was a “must-have” item for students of magic, as the ink automatically corrected grammar as you wrote. Louis hugged me, his face filled with emotion. I simply patted his back as he vowed to return after achieving great success. Little did he know, the one destined to become the strongest mage of their generation was actually Cedric Klein.

“I… I’ll go and come back safe.”

Erkel tried to act stoic, but on the day of his departure, he finally burst into tears. You have to be okay without me! You must write! Write long letters and send them often! Promise me! I struggled to comfort him inside the carriage, terrified that someone might see a prince sobbing like that.

Originally, members of the Imperial Family did not attend the Academy. Erkel’s older brothers hadn’t, and neither had the Erkel from the original story.

There was no law forbidding it, but sending royalty to a place where nobles and commoners mingled so freely was no simple matter. The professors would be flustered, and the facilities required a complete overhaul. It was such a massive undertaking that we had to persuade both the Empress and the Emperor, and I nearly exhausted myself trying to reassure Rowena. Surprisingly, it was the Princess who took our side.

She argued that an Imperial Prince personally receiving an education alongside commoners carried significant symbolic weight. The Emperor was convinced by her reasoning that they should support Erkel for attempting something none of the other princes had dared. According to Erkel, the Crown Prince didn’t try to stop him or offer support; he simply watched with a gentle smile. I understand that man’s thoughts less and less as time goes on.

“Do you really have to go?”

I wondered if it was necessary to push through such opposition when we already had so much to prepare for, but Erkel was resolute.

“I have to. There’s something I need to bring back from there.”

“Bring back?”

“Yes. Originally, Llewellyn was supposed to get it. But since you’d meet Cedric Klein there, I can’t let you go…”

He seemed to carry a heavy burden of guilt for the fact that he had “attached” a psycho like Cedric Klein to Llewellyn in the original plot. When he burned with determination to ensure I avoided those “tentacles” at all costs, I simply thanked him. Perhaps staying away at the Academy was better for Erkel’s mental health than walking on thin ice in front of Annette for several years.

Still, just in case, we agreed that he must return by age seventeen—the year the original Erkel died.

Elliot and I remained in the capital.

I had intended to avoid the Academy from the start, but under normal circumstances, Elliot would have gone there to spend a leisurely youth. Instead, Elliot complained that his blood was boiling and increased his training hours. He claimed that to maintain his reason, he had to exhaust his body to vent his anger. For a twelve-year-old, his thoughts were excessively mature. If I were to be surprised by everything he did, there would be no end to it, so I just let it be.

I could understand his anger this time, though. Orion Dylan had finally left home, holding Alan Caylus’s hand. When threatened with having his name struck from the family register, he apparently replied, ‘Then I’ll just become Orion Caylus.’ At this point, it was almost impressive. After disappearing for a few days, a cranky Elliot emerged and finally accepted the position of family heir. His voice was cold as he declared that since the position was now his, he had no intention of giving it back even if his brother regained his senses and returned.

Unsurprisingly, Abel and Helena were more saddened by our decision to stay in the capital than we were.

Abel, seemingly unable to give up on recruiting me to magic, waved around a set of perfect lecture notes spanning from admission to graduation. Judging by the different handwriting, they weren’t his; he had likely extorted them from someone. They were tempting, but useless to me. He had also wanted to share trivial memories with me, like tips on the best spots within the Academy.

Helena cried so hard she nearly hyperventilated. This was exactly why I hadn’t wanted her to know until the very end, but news of Elliot and me skipping the Academy had leaked out because of Aiden. She threw a tantrum for nearly ten days, and when it finally sank in that she wouldn’t get her way, she turned her head away with swollen eyes on the final day. The lovely lady, who had grown up monopolizing her parents’ love and getting everything she wanted, seemed deeply sulked by the first instance of life not going her way.

Playing with my brothers at home, struggling through sword training to raise my stats bit by bit, meeting Elliot, spending time with the Third Prince, and writing letters whenever I had a spare moment—my daily life was monotonous, and time flew by. My stamina increased significantly, and I grew quite tall. Cale had recently developed a serious hobby of tailoring my clothes and seemed ready to invest in a garment business. I would have stopped the Count, but Cale had decent taste, so I figured it was fine.

The Second Prince, Thesian, was growing into a magnificent scoundrel—a waste of his handsome face and lineage. In Erkel’s absence, Elliot and I targeted the Third Prince, who turned out to be easier to win over than expected. It’s always easier to cater to someone who has clear likes and dislikes.

Sitting across from the Third Prince—who wore a formal suit in an attempt to act mature—and sipping tea that wasn’t even sweet was no difficult task for Elliot and me. We were much better suited to elegantly sipping tea and reciting difficult, obscure words than playing with children who ran around like wild colts.

The Crown Prince and Princess were too difficult and distant; the brother immediately above him was a total mess; and his remaining younger siblings were Erkel, who had just left for the Academy, and a toddler who still preferred his mother’s arms. Since most of his own playmates had also gone to the Academy, the Third Prince was quite pleased to have Elliot and me frequenting the Imperial Palace to keep him company.

If we couldn’t seize this opportunity when the situation was helping us so much, even the carriage ride to the palace would be a waste.

Elliot and I just had to satisfy his favor and curiosity at the right moments. At first, we brought books or new magical items, but the Imperial Palace is where all the world’s rarities gather. Naturally, ordinary things didn’t catch the Third Prince’s eye. He smiled politely, but his reactions weren’t as enthusiastic as we wanted.

The future head of the Dylan family seemed particularly stung in his pride. The competition to bring something “better” grew until it truly caught fire when I brought a mix of collectibles willingly offered by Abel and Cale. After watching the Third Prince marvel at an artifact Abel had brought from the Magic Tower, Elliot returned exactly one month later with swords and models from the various races living beyond the Northern Mountain Range, guarded by Dimension.

Seeing Elliot proudly munching on a cookie while the Third Prince looked on in shock, I felt a bit overwhelmed. It wasn’t surprising that a “Dylan” could procure items even a Prince couldn’t easily see, but the fact that a twelve-year-old was already wielding his family’s wealth and information network was terrifying. I had a valid suspicion that Orion Dylan’s “exile” might have been partly his younger brother’s fault. Elliot would deny it, but anyone could see he was the one fit to be the Dylan patriarch.

The key figures, the Crown Prince and Annette, were surprisingly quiet. Annette occasionally called me for tea, but it was all empty formalities, and the Crown Prince never appeared. Sometimes this peace felt like the calm before a storm. Since reality wasn’t much different, that wasn’t much of an exaggeration.

However, I didn’t have the luxury of worrying about him. There wasn’t much time left until the “Original Story” began. Even if I were to have regrets, I had to do everything I could first. Since the story starts with the Crown Prince falling for Llewellyn, I would be grateful if he just stayed uninterested in me.

08. The Sun Festival

The capital was buzzing ahead of the Empire’s greatest event.

The Empire has no official state religion, but the influence of the Sun God, Yakap, was undeniably the largest. The High Priest of Yakap held more significance than a modern-day Pope, and thus, the Sun Festival—the religion’s biggest event—was always grand. The festival followed a unique ecclesiastical calendar, and every four or five years, it coincided with the Emperor’s birthday. On those years, the Imperial Family supported the event, and this happened to be that year.

To strengthen capital security, Leo moved into the knight’s barracks entirely, and Cale, who was in the middle of a war over budget distribution, started coming home later and later. It was impressive to see him wake up at dawn and head to work like a machine, despite coming home exhausted. Clearly, being a prospective family head isn’t for everyone.

“Prince Erkel and Louis can’t come because of their schedules; only Aiden is coming. Did Louis write to you too? My ears are practically ringing from him rambling on and on about his Magic Department assignments.”

“…….”

Elliot didn’t answer, merely pouting his lips slightly. That meant he was waiting for the rest of the news. I decided to give him the update he wanted.

“Helena is arriving early.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

Elliot feigned total innocence, despite having been visibly tense waiting to hear when Helena’s name would come up.