Microscopes and Canvases - Chapter 57

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

Chapter 57
Spilled milk—there was no use crying over it now. And besides, he had no way to contact them at this moment. All he could do was trust them.
Swallowing a heavy breath, Edward stepped toward the museum entrance—and several high-end motorcars came into view, slowing as they approached.
Edward watched the bustling movements of the foreign-accented attendants with obvious unease.
Presently, the rear door of the largest and most ornate vehicle opened, and a tall man with platinum-blonde hair emerged.
Edward found himself studying the young visitor carefully. He was far younger than expected. Hair swept back without a single strand out of place, and ash-gray eyes that cut through objects with the chill of frost.
His features were flawlessly beautiful, yet what struck one first was not that beauty but something cold and inhuman about his expression—rather like standing before a meticulously carved ice sculpture.
Rosie, standing beside him, had gone perfectly still. She had seen much in her years at the museum, her experienced eye having encountered all manner of people. Yet even she found this young guest somehow unsettling.
An attendant hastened over and recited the visitor’s name and title at length.
The Crown Prince of the Osteriyon Empire across the sea. Ewald….
As the son of the King’s cousin, he shared a blood tie with the Brionian royal house as well.
The visit was officially framed as deepening goodwill between the two nations, but Edward felt a vague sense of foreboding. A man who had spent long years in the field knew how such instincts tended to prickle first.
“Welcome, Your Highness.”
Greeting the Crown Prince, Edward made a point of bowing deeply with formal courtesy.
“Your journey from afar must have been arduous. Though humble, our museum…”
“Humble?”
A cold voice sounded from above his head. The foreign accent was present, but the pronunciation was quite precise. Despite his youth, there was considerable menace in his tone, and Edward suppressed his unease before slowly raising his head.
Beneath the sunlight, on a summer’s day when the warmth had not yet fully faded, ice-cold eyes fixed upon him—eyes that seemed less human than lupine.
“I made a point to visit precisely because Brionia’s Natural History Museum comes so highly recommended.”
A smooth smile appeared on Ewald’s sharp, angular jaw and thin lips. As he passed Edward lightly, he added briefly,
“And there is much I intend to take from this museum.”
* * *
The train arrived at Northpen Station in the middle of the afternoon.
The moment they stepped onto the platform, the very air felt different. A cool breeze carrying moisture and peat brought refreshment unlike anything before.
Gray clouds drifted low, and beyond the station, the gentle hills bathed in afternoon sunlight stretched on endlessly in shades of purple.
“My goodness—even the air smells different.”
Beatrice, beaming with delight, spun in a full circle where she stood, luggage in hand. Her skirt unfurled gracefully in a fluid arc.
Patrick drew a deep breath beside her in silence. It was a familiar scent. The scent of years past, when he had wandered this land searching for Red Moss.
Presently, he called to Beatrice in a low voice.
“There is Collins College nearby. My alma mater.”
“Really? Can we visit?”
Beatrice asked eagerly, but Patrick shook his head with regret, gazing once more toward the hills.
“It’s quite far from here. We’d need a carriage for half a day’s journey, so I’m afraid it won’t be possible today.”
“What a shame. I so wanted to see where student Patrick studied.”
“Shall we head to our lodgings? We can get something to eat and plan tomorrow’s itinerary.”
A subtle difference in mood hung between them—something unlike the everyday feeling of stepping outdoors from the museum. Whether it was the air of an unfamiliar land, the awareness of being so very far from home, or something else entirely, neither could say.
“Let’s move on.”
Patrick hoisted his trunk and led the way. The cool northern wind stirred both their coat tails in unison.
* * *
“Mister Greenleaf.”
Across the reception table, Ewald pronounced the name in clipped tones. A thin smile still played at the corners of his mouth.
“I have read your Adventure Memoir. It is quite popular in Osteriyon as well. Thanks to it, I became interested in this nation’s natural sciences.”
“…It is an honor.”
Though those were the words that came from his lips, Edward’s face twisted despite himself. Every time he encountered this sort of reader, he was inevitably forced to confront an old guilt—the crushing regret that his words had kindled the fantasies of men like these.
And given that this reader was now the Crown Prince of the Osteriyon Empire, Edward felt his heart grow all the heavier.
“But there is one thing I found wanting. Your account of your exploration of the Primordial Forest.”
“In what respect, Your Highness?”
Ewald raised his teacup, peering at Edward over its rim.
“You were far too lenient toward those primitives.”
“…Why do you say that, Your Highness?”
Edward replied through clenched teeth, suppressing his rising revulsion.
“What I mean is—their intelligence, their capacity for emotion. It seems unlikely they developed much in those areas. You treated them rather too much like people.”
“Your Highness.”
Edward’s jaw tightened.
“Those people were human beings, exactly as we are. I can see no difference between them and us. In some respects, I learned far more from them than they could possibly have learned from me.”
“No. There must be differences. In intelligence, or in some other capacity.”
Ewald did not yield. His voice never rose. Speaking as one might explain a self-evident truth, he held his ground with complete composure.
“If you ask me, taking those differences into account, we could assign them appropriate roles. We could have them work for us.”
“What sort of role, Your Highness?”
“To labor in our service. Or else, from an evolutionary perspective, we could eradicate them for the advancement of mankind.”
Eradicate it?
A high-pitched ringing sounded in Edward’s head as if something had snapped, and he found himself staring at the Crown Prince in stunned silence.
Did this man understand what he was saying?
“Your Highness, I—”
Edward had barely managed to clench his teeth and force his lips open when the Aide standing behind the Crown Prince caught his eye—watching him with an unblinking, penetrating stare.
“⋯.”
Edward felt the threat like ice water down his spine. Those eyes held no expression whatsoever, cold and pitiless as their master’s, and something about them set off alarms in his mind. He forced himself to breathe steadily.
What in the world was happening here?
This man was the son of the King’s cousin—and that cousin was famously close to the Crown Prince. This very morning, court officials had warned him repeatedly to keep the Crown Prince satisfied, no matter how unreasonable his demands might be.
The situation in the Osteriyon Empire was delicate, they’d said. No diplomatic friction could be tolerated. They’d emphasized it again and again.
“But let us move past that, shall we. To the main matter.”
Unlike Edward, who had suffered this verbal assault, Ewald simply brushed the topic aside with practiced ease.
“We intend to build a botanical garden in Osteriyon. I’d like to have a word with Dr. Milton here.”
This visitor had come prepared—he’d already investigated even the name of the Department of Botany’s director. Edward had no choice but to catch the eye of Rosie, standing in the doorway. She, too, had gone pale, and she slipped silently from the office to summon Dr. Milton.
“And there is one more thing.”
The Crown Prince crossed his legs leisurely and smiled.
“Let me inform you in advance: I have decided to assume sponsorship of this Natural History Museum.”
“⋯Sponsorship, you say?”
“The Royal Palace has already given its approval, and we are proceeding with the agreement. It means that the research conducted at your museum will henceforth be shared with our researchers in the Osteriyon Empire.”
Edward found himself speechless once more.
In this violent display unfolding before him, there was no place for the director’s own wishes or consent.
This was an age of upheaval, and in the silent gathering storm, Osteriyon and Brionia had apparently forged a political alliance.
Within that vast machinery, Edward was nothing—a museum director with no power at all. His hands clenched into fists against his thighs, and he could only hold them there in silence.
Even as he sat there, the Crown Prince across from him watched with a smile, as though he could see straight through to the heart of Edward’s despair.
Those glittering eyes belonged to a man who took genuine pleasure in wielding his power to crush others into submission—a man who possessed not even a shred of conscience or humanity.

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