Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 160

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I Don’t Care About the Succession — I Just Want to Heal | Episode 160

Kyle moved slowly through the interior without making a sound.

“Wahhh!”
“You won three Egg Coins?”
“No way! That’s my entire fortune!”

Though not crowded, gambling with Egg Coins was happening steadily among the patrons.
Most had lost, while a rare few walked away with considerable winnings.

“Hahahaha!”

A man who seemed skilled at this burst into hearty laughter and swept the Egg Coins from the table toward himself.

“Next player!”

A relatively young voice, unafraid of standing out.
One might even call him eccentric.

‘He’s not Lion Asteri.’

But since Kyle had been here long enough, he thought this man was suitable for extracting information.
Just then, the man seemed to notice Kyle and called out in a loud voice.

“Hey, why don’t you come over and try a round?”
“Are you talking to me?”
“That’s right. You there. The one who just walked in.”

Well, this was convenient.
Kyle was just beginning to move toward him when—

“……!”

Kyle’s movement froze for an instant.
Then he turned toward a different direction, away from the man.

“What? Scared?”
“Hahahaha!”

Open mockery reached his ears, but Kyle quickened his pace and hurried toward an empty corner.

‘There.’

A door that appeared to be a rest area caught his eye.
He opened it rather roughly and peered inside—fortunately, it was empty.
Everyone was either consumed by gambling or left to return outside once they’d lost.
In this situation, it was truly a blessing.
Kyle moved to the farthest corner, covered his mouth with a handkerchief, and let out the cough he’d been holding back.

Cough.

When the violent fit subsided and he removed his hand, black blood stained the handkerchief.

Tsk.

Kyle showed no surprise at the sight of the dark blood.
Instead, he made a light clicking sound of disapproval to himself.

‘I thought I could hold out for at least a day.’

It seemed the strain from overexerting himself at the hunting grounds had finally caught up with him.
Or perhaps the First Imperial Prince’s malice had only grown more vicious.
Coughing blood now—he was crossing a dangerous line.

‘Hah.’

Kyle smiled with something akin to grim satisfaction.
The more he crossed that line, the better. He would trade his own blood and flesh for the man’s bones.
It was a race against time.
If he could endure until the Emperor’s birthday, victory would be his.
Even as he steadied himself with that thought, he sensed—

“Are you all right?”

A voice cut through the silence.

‘I didn’t sense anyone approach?’

A lapse on his part.
Kyle folded the blood-soaked handkerchief discreetly into his pocket as he answered with composure.

“It’s nothing. Something caught in my throat.”

He turned his head naturally to face the stranger.
The man reeked of strong spirits, and his gait wavered noticeably—clearly quite drunk.

‘Choosing formal speech was the right move.’

There was no need to draw attention by speaking informally to just anyone here.
His target was singular anyway.
So handling this drunk appropriately and moving on was all that mattered.

‘No need to knock him out.’

He was already intoxicated; the odds of him witnessing the blood were slim.
And even if he had seen something, he wouldn’t possess the composure this man displayed.

“Then I’m relieved.”
“Yes.”

Kyle answered deliberately short, cutting off the exchange.
Unfortunately, the other man seemed to have other ideas.

“I thought you were gravely ill. Ha-ha. But I’d advise you to steer clear of that gambling table over there.”
“…….”

A nuisance. He had no intention of entertaining a drunk.
In his true nature, he would have simply knocked the man unconscious, left him crumpled in a corner, and gone about his business.
But this was Ester, and pointless trouble would serve no one.
Kyle sighed and answered the man’s rambling.

“Why is that?”
“There’s someone there who apparently knows how to gamble. Already over ten Egg Coins gone, or so—the staff are quite bothered by it all.”
“And you?”
“Ha-ha.”

The man simply shrugged without answering.
By the look of it, he’d already been cleaned out himself.

“Truth be told, I’m not particularly interested in gambling.”

Kyle let out a soft laugh at the transparent excuse.
If he had no interest in gambling, there’d be no reason for him to be here at all.

“Sounds like you took a beating at the tables.”
“Ah, think what you like. Still, the fact that your demeanor hasn’t changed even after all that suggests you’re planning to leave.”
“……And if I am?”

Kyle felt a subtle irritation rising, then a sudden insight made his eyes narrow.
The pain that had been nagging at him because of his half-brother’s petty cruelty faded noticeably.
In that moment of bewilderment at the stranger’s words—

A sharp clink.

Kyle instinctively caught something glinting as it flew through the air.
This is……

“An Egg Coin.”

It was identical to the one he’d received at the hunting grounds.

“In a place like this, this Egg Coin is worth more than all the gold in the world.”
“I know. Betting against those gamblers directly seemed riskier than putting my faith in you.”
“What makes you trust me?”
“Intuition.”

The man then settled onto the sofa with genuine indifference, leaning back with ease.
Odd as it was, if he thought of him as the type to squander wealth on a whim while drunk, there was nothing strange about it.

“If you happen to win, let’s share a drink.”
“…….”

Kyle’s eyes flicked toward the man relaxing comfortably on the sofa.
He was now positioned in an easy posture, as if he had no interest left in the matter.
Likely he was already asleep, drunk as he was.
But.

‘This one is suspicious.’

It wasn’t a question of ally or enemy—just outright suspicious, plain and simple.
He didn’t seem like some thoughtless rake, yet Kyle couldn’t form any firm conclusions beyond that.
At first, he’d wondered if this might be Lion Asteri, but it wasn’t.

‘This composure doesn’t belong to someone barely past their Coming-of-Age Ceremony.’

Lion Asteri was just a boy who’d barely held his Coming-of-Age Ceremony not long ago.
But this man……—clearly a young man, yet the odds were high that he was someone seasoned, someone with considerable experience.

‘If he’s not aligned with the First Imperial Prince’s faction.’

There seemed to be nothing wrong with making him an ally.
Especially if he was the one who could resolve this pain……

‘No. I can’t jump to conclusions yet.’

Kyle cast aside his circling thoughts, pocketed the Egg Coin, and opened the door to leave.

“I’ll be back soon.”

He’d left behind words brimming with confidence.

Click.
After the door closed.

“……Hm.”

The man.
No—Lion Asteri let out a peculiar sound of realization.
The moment he’d slipped into the right sector to gauge how things were unfolding, something caught his eye.
An unmistakable aura radiating from the figure despite their disguise.
Suspicious enough that he’d followed—and now this.
Coughing up blood without a second thought, concealing it as though it meant nothing.
So he’d quickly examined that handkerchief.

[Blood-Stained Handkerchief]
—A handkerchief woven from fabric crafted by Master Craftsmen beyond the Continent.
—The blood of a Cursed One has stained it, severely diminishing its value.

Premium cloth from beyond the Continent.
He’d seen it before in the House Asteri fabric catalog.
Priceless material that stood shoulder to shoulder with the hair of elves and the breath of fairies.
Andrea had even sprayed saliva describing how even most wealthy men couldn’t easily obtain it without connections.

‘At minimum, then—a marquis or higher.’

But even if someone held such a rank……

‘The odds of bearing a Curse are slim.’

And even if they were cursed, the Temple wouldn’t be overlooking it.
Which meant they were likely hiding the fact of their Curse from public knowledge.
What sort of madman hides that he’s cursed?
Any sane person would be scrambling to find the root cause eating away at their very life, seeking purification by any means.
Except. There was one exception.
Someone for whom hiding the Curse right now was advantageous.
Someone who had to stake their life itself to overcome their current circumstances.
And conveniently, there was exactly one such person.

‘The Second Imperial Prince.’

A man with neither legitimacy nor birthright—merely clawing his way up from the bottom to claim the prince’s seat.
Enemies numerous, allies……currently few.
Which was why he was trying to pull the Underworld into Ester.
Which was why he and Ricshel had arranged to meet here in a few days’ time.
Why he’d shown up early in this state remained unclear.
But the evidence pointed firmly in his direction.

‘On the surface, appearing frail to minimize direct pressure.’

Objectively speaking, the plan had merit.
Most critically, he concealed his true power while quietly building his forces behind the scenes.
At the decisive moment, unleashing what he’d hidden could very well crush the First Imperial Prince’s legitimacy flat.
But that was merely theory.

‘There’s actually a madman willing to do it?’

And it’s a Curse, no less.
Like walking around with a time bomb embedded in your body.
And if his concentration wavered even slightly, the Curse’s whispers would gnaw at him all the more.

‘……This one’s dangerous.’

No matter how dire the situation, to use even his own body as a tool—there was something chilling about it.
Yet paradoxically, he couldn’t say he didn’t understand.
It meant he was that desperate, didn’t it?
If he couldn’t become Crown Prince, he was as good as dead anyway.
So in this last resort, he was spending everything—using it all up.
Even his own life.
So… suppose this one could do that.

‘But the Emperor?’

Even if he was useless, he was still this empire’s Emperor.
So at minimum, information would reach his ears, and he would surely know of the Second Imperial Prince’s Curse.
Yet he remained silent.

‘It’s obvious what he’s doing.’

He’d heard enough about the Emperor’s nature from various sources to know it well.
Most of it had been curses, but if he filtered those out and distilled it to a single line, it was this:

A shameless fool who cares for nothing but himself.

The Second Imperial Prince was born of the Emperor’s own depravity. It was obvious the Emperor had decided he was of no use and was abandoning him.
Cursed as he was, and with the Second Imperial Prince having no intention of lifting it, the Emperor was content to let him slowly wither away.

“Sigh.”

Lion tamped down the roiling emotion with a soft exhalation.
Not that his anger would change anything.
Yet the indignation rose in him nonetheless, human as he was.

‘……Ordinarily, it would be better to pretend ignorance in such situations.’

But he couldn’t simply let this pass.
To stake oneself, to grind oneself down in pursuit of a goal?
That was all well and good as a story.
And yet, this concerned Lion himself as well.
Lion recalled the Old Bottle slumbering in his inventory.
The more he learned about Curses, the more it would aid him.

‘……Well, to do that…’

He’d have to start by unraveling what was surely a tightly locked heart.
Lion watched as the door swung open once more with a click.
A figure presumed to be the Second Imperial Prince was entering.
He flicked the Egg Coin toward Lion.

“You lied to me.”
“Did I, sir?”
“You did. Those gamblers say they’ve never seen you before.”

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