How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 587

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magic Noble Family (587)

“How do you plan to recover your memories?”

The expression “agreed deception” was accurate. This is a play. He knows I didn’t change like this because of a traffic accident, yet he’s going along with it.

But it’s true that I have no memories. I don’t know what kind of person I was before entering this place.

“Well, I’m thinking of trying to remember from now on.”

“You’ve been speaking quite eloquently since earlier.”

Hildegart Wittelsbach said while simply pointing at my face.

“Though you don’t have the face for it.”

Rather than carefully considering and saying words that would please you, honestly saying I’ll think about it from now on is a plus. Because in his view, my face isn’t one capable of such things.

You’re testing me. The dam bursts at words that casually touch what I’m desperately trying to hide, letting me know that he’s aware of it. A bit of humiliation turns into a hollow laugh. He finally liberates something I’ve been suppressing and plunges me into a whirlpool of anguish. My eyes are still hot and I can feel cold sweat flowing down my chin. Like a zoomed-in camera, the gaze of my opponent at an appropriate distance sweeps down over my chin. When I remember that even this gaze resembles what I knew, something twisted inside me. To be honest, even after taking a drug that makes me loyal to the person before me, I saw Leonard Wittelsbach overlapping in every aspect of Hildegart Wittelsbach as he sat with arms crossed, looking down on his opponent. The influence these two strangers had on each other was significant enough for both to be proud of, and so, I wanted to immediately flee from the loyalty burning from the depths of my heart and the inexplicably deepened sense of crisis that was bewildering. A warning light quietly flashes in the darkness of consciousness.

“Are you afraid?”

Hildegart Wittelsbach asked while staring intently at my face.

I thought he was a merciless human. The kindness of continuously letting me know he’s watching what I’m trying to hide refreshes my mood. Not that I was hurt by it, because I would have said the same thing.

I suppressed the instinct to cry out with dignity something like “No, I’m not,” and answered calmly.

“Yes. That’s right.”

“I’m sorry about that.”

He says he’s sorry, but that’s wrong. I didn’t become afraid because of the drug. Though the drug did make me feel more of a sense of crisis, I’ve been feeling this kind of discord since a few hours ago. However, the drug’s effects certainly do make me dazed. Hildegart Wittelsbach watched the battle between my will and the drug’s effects, then tapped the table.

My insides are boiling but I don’t know what I should do for this person, so I just burn in place. Words saying I could give everything to you rise to my throat, but I must not let them out. That’s the condition for not breaking this play. Didn’t Hildegart Wittelsbach say he wouldn’t accept proposals from weak humans? If I can’t hide what shows in my eyes, then I too will burden him with my gaze, not just with words. I began to speak properly while not expressing anything particularly intellectual with my eyes.

“You want a more specific answer. That’s why you’re not ending this meeting. Isn’t that right? I’ll tell you. I’m thinking of leaving the country from now on. But I might not leave. That’s it. If this isn’t the answer you wanted, don’t ask more and watch me for 30 days. That’s the duty of respect that’s premised on my proposal.”

“I’ve also come to want to follow duty.”

Hildegart Wittelsbach said while resting his chin on his hand.

“You know the reason well.”

This imbalance where I reveal all my emotions while my opponent doesn’t. He keeps pointing out the imbalance. Instead of pretending not to know, Hildegart Wittelsbach simply acknowledged it.

“Well then, if you haven’t particularly devised a method to recover your memories, would it be alright if I guide you in that direction?”

“Do as you wish.”

“Well now, I can’t tell if this is fighting spirit or acceptance.”

Well, this drug makes one say “do as you wish,” so I don’t know if I succeeded in restraining the drug’s effects or not. If continuously giving humiliation suits his temperament, then his nature is truly wicked. Regardless, my nature only makes me smile silently. To me, who plays moves with a long-term battle in mind, his indifferent and merciless nature doesn’t become much of a humiliation or shame.

If I discovered a glimmer of hope, it was that there was no contempt in Hildegart Wittelsbach’s eyes. I look down at the blazing eyes reflected in the glass. I began thinking about the nature of indifference he shows.

* * *

For two more days after that, I lived in his Würzburg manor for the third day. Unfamiliar manor ceiling, unfamiliar flowers, unfamiliar clothes, unfamiliar servants… Hildegart Wittelsbach began making me his secretary. He didn’t give me work but took me everywhere he went. While going around with me, he had the Bavarian intelligence service investigate and barged into places on the list—places I had supposedly frequented—like they were his own home. Lunch alone took two hours. Without putting in any effort or interest, he said things that would grate on my nerves—it didn’t really bother me so ultimately neither of us gained anything, but since Hildegart Wittelsbach wasn’t speaking to gain something or determined to upset me, such conversations repeated.

Then he asked if I remembered anything.

Observation disguised as questions, raw discernment rather than special abilities, the eyes that probe one’s insides that he once inherited from his ancestors and now even his children have inherited. The words demanding answers weren’t the essence he sought, and observing my reactions to gain information was the real goal.

What was certain was that he had no intention of becoming friends with me. Last night, while enjoying the luxury he provided, I succeeded in determining how he was treating me. He thought of me as about the level of a parrot imported from America. The moment I recalled this, I was lying with my eyes closed under salted bath water and immediately sat up.

It wasn’t because being together had lost its appeal, but rather I genuinely felt like competing in this field. Above all…

Let me be grateful for rising from just some air not worth dealing with directly to the level of a living creature.

Champagne sloshes in the slightly extended glass. Morning sunlight streaming through the long window shines down on the white table. Outside the extra chapter, it feels like drinking champagne for the first time in a while due to blocking French supplies. Though it’s only been a few days. Hildegart Wittelsbach, who toasted while making eye contact, wasn’t drinking and asked me.

“You look to be in a good mood.”

“As you know, the drug you gave me makes it impossible for me to hide anything.”

“Originally you weren’t planning to tell me?”

“That’s right.”

I put down the bread I was holding before dipping it in cheese and said calmly.

“But since you ask, I had guessed how Count thinks of me.”

Then the young Crown Prince opened his eyes wide and smiled.

“Did you think well of it?”

“In my own way, yes.”

“How curious.”

How is that possible while fearing you—he must find that curious. After that, no one opened their mouth.

Though he said I looked to be in a good mood, that was 7 parts reflexive reaction that occurs every time I meet Hildegart Wittelsbach plus 3 parts what I deduced yesterday, so it didn’t come entirely from the latter knowledge. There was still something unresolved for me.

Why do I feel emotions that aren’t going smoothly amid everything going smoothly? Is it really related to Leonard Wittelsbach as I suddenly thought? Because it’s hard to accept the fact that Hildegart Wittelsbach, who shows me no exceptions and is aggressive, actually looks exactly like Leonard Wittelsbach? Knowing that Leonard Wittelsbach is this kind of person and still easily finding similarities between the two, is that difficult? Or is it because it’s been quite a while since he treated me this way, making it hard to adapt to this stranger’s coldness who shares countless traits with him and can be easily overlapped?

It’s extraordinarily bewildering. When I wasn’t constantly conscious of it, I instinctively looked for doors with darting eyes. Yet I didn’t want to leave the presence of someone I respect. My waist stiffens under his gaze that keeps watching me, but my consciousness is clearer than ever. The desire to live and breathe within the visible range where he watches comes together with amplified sense of crisis.

So I wanted to know why I have such a sense of crisis and instinctive rejection toward Hildegart Wittelsbach. Because I think there’s no reason for that. At least Emanuel Wittelsbach didn’t make me like this. Is it because my first extra chapter never had him as the primary objective?

No, it’s not simply a matter of artificial importance established by external flow and systems, but a more essential problem. Hildegart Wittelsbach’s younger brother doesn’t greatly resemble the two Wittelsbachs who are making me anxious for unknown reasons, and I was feeling unease only about the characteristics that only these two share. Julia Zehringen also uses similarly authoritative speech as a person from a ruling family, but she was also different from them. The one sitting before me now was giving me an existential sense of crisis. Not simply because he has the power to cut my throat. There’s still confusion within me that I can’t identify, making my inner self unpleasant.

After finishing the meal and wiping my mouth, Hildegart Wittelsbach, who had put down his fork before me, spoke.

“I’m not planning to attend lectures today.”

I don’t know how my face looks, but I looked at my opponent expressionlessly as usual. While doing so, I answered simply.

“Is that so? If you permit it, I’ll warp to school alone today.”

“No, go to Munich.”

I removed the handkerchief from my mouth and looked at Hildegart Wittelsbach silently.

An hour later, I entered the Munich Residenz. The Bavarian protocol from a period closer to essential monarchy was as splendid as the much more economically prosperous 1898. That this was possible on the third day—I was speechless at the bold and refreshing handling. It’s also the first time a place I must have entered hundreds of times feels this unfamiliar. Hildegart Wittelsbach left me with a servant and came looking for me much later dressed in formal attire.

“This isn’t your first time meeting royalty, is it?”

You mean besides yourself. I didn’t answer. I had to suppress the self that wanted to answer. Hildegart Wittelsbach didn’t mind my rudeness and plopped down in the chair in front.

“The person you’re about to meet is an Esper descendant of the House of Bourbon who was exiled to Austria. You can call him Your Highness Henri.”

“Bourbon.”

Henri? Simple French history flashed through my mind. It wouldn’t be the original Count of Chambord from France that I know. But from the mention of exile to Austria, he’s someone in a similar position walking a similar life path. When I answered while squinting, Hildegart Wittelsbach spread his hand as if recommending something.

“You would know your homeland’s history better.”

“No. I lost my memory, so.”

I answered roughly and fell into thought. 1851, the period of the Second Republic. Currently a Bonaparte family president holds power, and according to the history I knew, this person should stage a coup on the 2nd of next month to become king. This is called the Second Empire. However, according to the history I learned after Ion Forso, unlike the French history I knew, this person fails to become emperor and is killed.

But…

Let’s say the coup fails. That was established European history from 1898.

But why is a Bourbon member who led Bonaparte’s coup to failure visiting Bavaria? It’s not that there’s a reason he shouldn’t come, but there’s no reason he ‘particularly’ needs to come either.

Don’t tell me Bavaria was involved in making the coup come to nothing. Are they planning to hold a commemorative event right before the restoration of monarchy? I narrowed my eyes at the inexplicable subtlety.

“You didn’t arrange this meeting to help me find my memories. Why is a Bourbon descendant exiled to Austria visiting Bavaria now? Is it to form an alliance?”

“You know quite well for someone who lost their memory.”

Hildegart Wittelsbach answered playfully while raising an eyebrow. Then he quickly returned to normal and continued.

“I have no intention of forming an alliance. Unlike republican France, we’re still a monarchy, so he’s coming to confirm Bavaria’s will to protect the monarchical system. You and I will meet His Highness Henri first before he meets His Majesty the King, so there will be time to talk.”

Yes, let’s say that’s the case. Though I couldn’t understand at all why he particularly needs to come… I nodded.

“And since you came to Würzburg as a Bourbon scholarship student, wouldn’t it be worth meeting him?”

So there’s such a background… Hildegart Wittelsbach, who was watching my smiling face, chuckled.

“You seem to have forgotten this too.”

“Unfortunately, such things weren’t written on the enrollment certificate.”

“Hmm.”

He nodded, then patted my shoulder.

“Then have a good conversation within the bounds of not causing me harm. Go.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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