Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 258

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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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The Successor is a Mystery to Me; I’ll Just Heal 258

Kyle regarded the First Imperial Prince with an air of leisured detachment.
His face had gone pallid, and the blood staining his fingertips—he wasn’t even bothering to hide it—spoke volumes.
It was plain he’d made this journey on account of the rumors.

‘Truly shameless.’

And yet here he came, scurrying toward him like that.
Kyle cupped his chin, the disgust he felt evident in his silence.

“Since you’ve graced me with such an esteemed visit, perhaps you’d care to speak your piece.”
“I—!”

Terus barely managed to contain the surge of emotion rising in his chest.
Ordinarily, he would’ve struck such an insolent wretch—but now was hardly the moment for it.

“First… I apologize for coming here without heeding your words.”

And with that, he offered an apology he’d never spoken in his life—never even entertained the notion of speaking.
Of course, having never apologized once in his entire existence, his tone was arrogance incarnate.

“Do go on.”

Kyle sensed it too, though he found himself genuinely curious what this man would say next.
Or rather—he wanted to see how far he’d go.

“I know you harbor no affection for me.”
“And?”
“I understand that what happened then gives you every right to suspect me.”
“And?”
“But this time—this time, I had nothing to do with it!”

Terus watched the man before him, still unmoved, and bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.
He’d half-expected this much wouldn’t be enough.
But one thing was certain.
Must he truly endure further humiliation at this creature’s hands?
His pride—that fragile, lofty thing—threatened to strangle him.

‘…All right. Start with this, then.’

And so Terus, before he could beg, seized upon a bold claim instead.

“You know as well as I do—the true architect of this affair is not me, but our mother. So the one you should target is not me!”

Kyle let out a hollow laugh.
He’d always known the man was contemptible.
But was he now—was he truly suggesting they take his mother instead?
Kyle harbored no warm feelings for the Empress, yet the sheer absurdity of this fool’s logic left him speechless.

“Brother.”
“Yes, yes—now you understand, don’t you? I’m trying to help you this time!”

Terus, oblivious to Kyle’s true mood, pressed on with his rambling.

“In any case, it’s our mother—not me! And don’t forget that I’m the one who told you this!”

Remarkably, what he meant was: spare me just this once.

‘So the Empress is abandoning the First Prince.’

And that fool’s survival instinct must have driven him here.
In earlier times, I might have called it remarkable progress, even as empty flattery.

“Why should I do that?”
“…What?”

Kyle hadn’t shifted his posture in the slightest, his words flowing with elegant leisure.

“I’ll obtain everything anyway, even if I simply wait.”
“You are an element that could threaten me.”
“I’ve never possessed anything to begin with, so what does it matter if I gain even that?”

There was nothing to lose by indulging him.
In fact, abandoning the First Prince and negotiating instead with the Empress and Marquis Lepidance, who stood behind her, would yield far greater advantage.

‘Besides, it could serve as leverage against the Archbishop.’

He had offered his assistance this time, but the Archbishop…

‘He is no ally.’

Moreover, he likely cared nothing for petty struggles over imperial authority.
What he wanted was probably Lion Asteri.

‘This fool…!’

He was offering everything freely, and yet the man remained unmoved?
In any case, someone who crawled up from the gutter had a mind short even for such a creature!
The First Prince ground his teeth inwardly before making one final offer.
This was, in fact, the largest bargaining piece.

“That curse—I will remove it for you.”

Curse Removal.
There was, in his view, sound reasoning behind this condition.
It stemmed from his meeting with the Archbishop.

‘The fact that he sought me out first in this situation suggests that bastard holds little favor in the Temple’s eyes.’

That must be why the curse remained unlifted.
So if I remove the curse, doesn’t the Second Prince finally gain his freedom?
In a manner of speaking, we each hold the other’s lifeline… or so it should be.
Why, then, does he say nothing?
It was at that moment Terus found himself bewildered.

“…It is quite a remarkable talent, demanding mercy with such unwarranted presumption.”

Terus, unable to fathom Kyle’s words, fell rigid.

“Ha.”

Kyle laughed dryly.
It was true that he had grown more refined through his time with Lion Asteri.
Yet his disposition remained fundamentally unchanged.

“If you are so eager, perhaps you ought to at least go through the motions of crawling.”

He rose from his seat at last.

“There is a matter of disgrace I’ve endured, Your Highness.”

He stepped forward and pressed down lightly on the First Imperial Prince’s shoulder.

“Ugh——!”

The powerful force brought him naturally to his knees.
Terus looked up at him from that lowered vantage, feeling the crushing weight of the moment.
A suffocating pressure bore down on him.
In that instant when fear itself threatened to consume him—when those eyes seemed to swallow him whole—the hand pressing on his shoulder fell away.

“Still, the fact that you’ve brought important information and hurried here shows considerable progress. I’ll examine it. On one condition, however.”

Next time, bring me more precise intelligence.
Evidence would be even better.

“Then next time, I shall receive you elsewhere.”

Not on the floor, but in a chair.

* * *

After his final meal with Elvia and the farewells that followed, Lion set out on the road once more.

“We’ll be arriving soon.”
“That was fast.”

Now he understood—the road was well-maintained, and the carriage itself had been enchanted with Weight Reduction and Haste magic, he was told.
Of course, the horses themselves were galloping at speeds beyond all reason, which made for some jolting, but…….

‘Still, it’s quieter than a typical carriage.’

In any case, they arrived at their destination in considerable comfort.
Lion gazed out the window.
Everything about the atmosphere had changed from yesterday.
Unlike yesterday when the sun had beaten down fiercely, a dreary pall of clouds now hung overhead, and from outside the window came a sinister wind that sounded like a wailing cry.
Most of all…….

‘There it is.’

The Great Barrier was visible.
All manner of magical circles, and over them what appeared to be an aura of Holy Power layered on top.
That massive curtain spread out with tremendous expanse, encircling what looked like an entire landmass.

-This…….
-My first time seeing it up close. Humans put in quite a bit of effort, didn’t they?
-Though the aesthetics are absolutely dreadful!

At least in terms of sheer performance, even Tieramatrak, a dragon, had to acknowledge the scale.
Seeing it in person, its majesty was even more impressive.
Lion stared at the Great Barrier for a long while.

“Are you worried?”

Patrick asked.
His words likely held multiple meanings.
It was the most reassuring bulwark protecting the people, yet also one of the dangerous places where demons frequently appeared.

‘He’s wondering what might happen to me there.’

In truth, even Lion couldn’t give a certain answer to that.
The Northern Region was where his grandfather had last found traces of the Hero.
Near the Great Barrier, he’d said.
Still, he’d clearly thrown himself into something far larger than usual.

“It’s fine.”

Lion replied with steady composure.

‘Truth be told, I feel quite assured.’

The Archmage, the Spirit King, the Demonic Beast.
And even the soul of a dragon at his side—and when urgent, he could borrow the power of the witch.
Was that all?

‘I’ve gathered a fair number of items in my Inventory too.’

Lion let out a quiet laugh as he called to mind the items nestled carefully in his Inventory.
Honestly, he felt confident.

“But where should we stay near the Great Barrier?”

By what Lion knew, no one could live near the Great Barrier.
Without villages or territories, there would be no inns, naturally.

At Lion’s question, Patrick chuckled softly.
Whether you’d call it a strong survival instinct and practicality, or whether he should protest that surely he wouldn’t let his grandson starve—
the boy had never gone hungry a day in his life.
In any case, his grandson was quite the unusual fellow.

“We’ll manage there.”

Patrick pointed out the window with his finger.

“Huh?”

What’s out there?
Lion pressed himself against the windowpane and stared in the direction his grandfather was indicating.
The low-hanging dark clouds and the peculiar aura of the Great Barrier made it hard to see clearly.

-Oh. There is something there.

What? I don’t see anything.
It can’t be that place, surely.

-What? That’s exactly what I just spotted.

……

Then Tieramatrak took hold of Lion’s face and adjusted his line of sight for him.
Only then did Lion meet what he’d been avoiding with his eyes.
Hidden between the thick clouds and mist was……

“That place?”
“Yes. An old castle no one uses anymore.”
“……Really?”

Lion parted his lips to speak, then closed them again.

‘No way. You’re telling me he actually stayed there?’

And indeed, Lion knew that place well.
More precisely, he’d witnessed the castle’s transformation into a ruin.

‘It’s the reason the Dragnas household no longer exists.’

Even within In the World, that castle had once had a master.
Duke Dragnas.
The great duke who guarded the frozen Northern Region.
Throughout the game’s story progression, Duke Dragnas appeared as the greatest ally.
When crises arose, he would step in to shield others from danger, or help them escape.
His temperament was unusually bold for a nobleman, which made him a character beloved by all players.
……But then, a twist occurred.

‘It was a catastrophe.’

That once-mighty House of Dragnas was utterly annihilated.
Not by any enemy, but by Duke Dragnas himself.
The cause was a demon invasion and the corruption that came from his wounds.
Corrupted by Demonic Aura, Duke Dragnas seized a greatsword that dripped with corruption and turned it on his entire household and the Hero’s party.

‘I was shocked by it too, back then.’

Even Lion, who could barely recall most of the story, remembered that twist with a sharp sting of surprise.
It had emerged as an eight-player hard raid that had tormented users considerably.
……Though admittedly, that wasn’t the only reason he remembered it so vividly.
In any case, Dragnas Duke’s Castle was hardly a comfortable lodging from Lion’s perspective—it was a raid map best left to dungeons.

“Do you dislike it?”

At Patrick’s question, Lion snapped back to attention and answered with an awkward laugh.

“Ha ha ha…… I don’t dislike it. It’s just unsettling, I suppose. That place is that old ruin, after all. The castle that appears in all those ghost stories.”

The exact fate of House Dragnas was unknown, but its sudden collapse was something all of the Empire’s people knew about.
Of course, now, fifty years later, it had become a kind of ‘scary story’ for entertainment.

“Don’t be too frightened. We’ve found no magical disturbances whatsoever, and the priests are conducting requiem prayers.”

Patrick added the words without much concern.

“……Still. Every so often, people say they see the ghost of Duke Dragnas wandering about the ruin.
Since you can see dragon spirits, you might just encounter him.”
“Ha, ha ha. The dragon case must be something special.”

Lion deliberately brushed off the comment.
And less than five minutes later, he was forced to accept the truth.
……Because he saw something.

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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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