Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 287

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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 Unknown, So I’ll Just Heal ~ Chapter 287

‘Partly to confirm the Saintess’s end, perhaps.’

What the Archbishop truly wanted was likely vengeance.
Whether the target was genuinely the Hero hardly mattered to him.

‘Even so.’

Even if it was the Hero who had driven the Saintess to her death, that person must never return.
If the Hero had returned, it meant the Chaos Era was beginning anew.
Or perhaps the return itself was the Chaos Era.

“Something seems to be troubling you.”
“Well, I heard that someone is targeting me, so it’s rather hard not to think about it.”
“Does it frighten you?”

Lion chuckled softly at the Second Imperial Prince’s question.

“It’s hard to be frightened when there are quite a few people protecting me. And you’ll be one of them too, Your Highness.”

It couldn’t be otherwise, could it.
It hadn’t come up directly in the conversation, but the real target of the assassination attempt was Kyle, not Lion.

‘If I protect myself, that’s the same as protecting myself, isn’t it.’

In any case, they seemed to be preparing for the incident, so Lion could simply slip away naturally.

…….

Kyle stared at Lion intently.

‘He doesn’t know.’

So he knew that something would happen at the Hunting Tournament, but didn’t know the ‘plan.’

‘If he knew, there’s no telling what kind of trouble he’d cause. Better to keep it secret.’

Kyle quickly grasped the situation and opened the door leading to the Banquet Hall.

“His Majesty’s address will begin shortly, so I should take my leave.”
“Yes. I’ll be along shortly.”

Shortly meant he wouldn’t come for a while.
He was clearly trying to piece together and understand some question he hadn’t been told about.

‘A thoughtful approach, certainly.’

Still, there was no need to dwell on it now.
Especially not on a Balcony where the rain had barely stopped and cold wind was beginning to blow—not in a warm interior.

‘If I catch cold, it will set back the plan.’

This was something everyone needed to approach in peak condition.
So Kyle added one more thing.

“After the address ends, there will be time set aside for partners to dance. If you want to watch, you’ll need to secure a good spot first.”
“I’ll go at once.”

And without a moment’s deviation from his prediction, Lion promptly followed Kyle back into the Banquet Hall.

‘He really is simple when you see him like this.’

Kyle shook his head inwardly and drifted back to his original seat with practiced ease.
After a brief interval, the Emperor finished his short speech as planned.

“The speech ended rather quickly today, didn’t it?”
“Indeed. Usually half the nobility would be dozing by the time it ended.”
“Well… I suppose that’s understandable enough.”

The nobles murmured lightly among themselves, their eyes drifting toward where the Imperial Princes sat.

“Ahem, with the Empress absent, the situation is not so different, wouldn’t you say.”
“Indeed. Quite so.”

Those perceptive enough to read the wind had already made their choice, offering their respects naturally to the Second Imperial Prince Kyle rather than the First.
They might not know the precise details of how events would unfold, but they had discerned that the Second Prince held the advantage.
Among them, a nobleman with sharp, keen eyes unfolded his fan to veil his mouth and whispered softly.

“But how did he manage to gather such influence when he couldn’t exercise power until last year?”

It was, in fact, one of the foremost questions occupying the minds of many nobles present.
Just last year, until the Emperor’s Birthday Celebration.
No, even until early this year, the Second Imperial Prince’s presence had been faint.
And was that all?

“He was even frail.”

They had certainly suspected he possessed hidden cards up his sleeve, given that an illegitimate son had managed to seize the position of Imperial Prince.
Yet who would follow a man who was genuinely sickly, hidden trump or no?
Which was precisely why so many had sided with the First Imperial Prince instead.

“There’s no way of knowing.”
“Perhaps he was merely feigning illness from the start.”
“Hmm. I have heard it differently.”

At that moment, a burly man bedecked in gaudy ornaments naturally inserted himself into the conversation.

“And who might you be?”
“Ha ha. I am Jade, a humble operator of a modest trading company.”
“Jade, you say…!”

One of the Second Imperial Prince’s hidden cards.
Rumor had it he commanded a vast mercantile enterprise backed by Underworld capital.
In other words, he was a man not to be trifled with, even by those of common birth.
And furthermore….

‘If word of what we’ve been saying reaches the Second Prince….’

They might find themselves abandoned before they’d even had the chance to curry favor or establish connections…!

“Ha ha. Set your minds at ease, gentlemen. A merchant’s virtue is discretion, after all. Now then, might I share a tale that has come to my ears?”

Jade seized the thread of conversation before the nobles could protest, launching into his account with unabashed confidence.
Though the nobles had shown some discomfort at first, the more they heard, the deeper their astonishment grew.

“S-so you’re saying… the Second Imperial Prince was afflicted with a Curse?”
“And that this Curse somehow vanished completely one day….”

The timing coincided remarkably with when the murder in the Empress’s Palace Garden came to light?

“Well, it’s merely rumor, you understand. Now then, it’s time for dancing, so I shall take my leave. I’m without a partner, you see. Ha-ha.”

Jade scattered this bombshell among the nobility and vanished.

“Mm…”

No one believed the Second Imperial Prince’s inner circle when they called it mere rumor.
Least of all the Empress.

‘She didn’t attend.’

The Empress was obliged to participate in the Emperor’s Birthday Celebration, yet she had absented herself, using the recent incident as pretext.
Among the nobility, those with sharp instincts grasped something from this exchange.
Clearly, something would unfold at tonight’s celebration.
Those who craved power would need to fortify their guards and remain until the end, aligning themselves with the victor.
Those who valued their lives would do well to enjoy themselves through today and depart swiftly.
As such calculations swirled through minds,

* * *

“Pfft!”

The Emperor’s speech, the rumors—all of it faded from Lion’s mind.
He had been waiting nothing but for the moment his brother would take the dance floor, and now he could only spew his drink back into the glass.
Thank goodness he hadn’t sprayed it everywhere.

-Lion, you saw too, didn’t you?
-Oh, my belly! Ha-ha-ha!

Tieramatrak returned to his side as promised, clutching his sides in the air as he shook with laughter.

-Of everything I’ve seen today, your brother is the funniest!

He wanted to protest, but he couldn’t.
Because that was…

‘Using magic like that…’

Beneath Ricshel and Clarentia’s feet lay the faintest veil of Illusion Magic.
And beneath that magic, Ricshel’s feet were—
pressing down ever so gently on the Marquis Bydentis’s shoe.

‘No, wait…’

Ah, so that was it.
My brother couldn’t dance.
Then again, he was the sort who would ruthlessly abandon anything deemed useless for his training as a successor.

‘I should have known back when he didn’t understand what embarrassment was…’

In any case, the Marquis Bydentis appeared to be compensating for Ricshel’s lack of steps.
The way he controlled even the sweep of his dress skirts spoke to the bearing of a true Swordmaster.

“My, Ricshel certainly dances well.”
“I thought the Marquis Bydentis was frightening, but how elegant he is!”

Thanks to their efforts, to the eyes of onlookers, they appeared as a flawless pair.

‘Thank goodness……!’

The Arcanum Accessory would have drawn far more attention otherwise!

“Y-you’re amazing…… my brother’s so cool!”

Lion clapped awkwardly, putting all his effort into the applause.
If he didn’t encourage him like this, Ricshel’s ears would burst right off.

‘Hang in there…….’

Lion had already been rooting for both of them, but thanks to the First Imperial Prince, he now grasped the broader picture.
The dancing was certainly meant to give their grandfather freedom of movement.
They had to prepare for when something went wrong.

‘A mage tanking…….’

So be it. Someone had to step up.
And so Lion watched Ricshel’s agonizing dance routine all the way through, and as the younger man’s ears burned bright crimson, the first day of the party drew to a close.

* * *

“Please stop laughing at me, brother.”
“Laughing at you? When did I ever—heh, when did I do that?”

Lion was chuckling as he replayed yesterday’s events in his mind.
At the time, witnessing it firsthand, he’d felt only sympathy. But a day later, looking back, he found it impossibly endearing.

‘Maybe I should commission a Video Recording Artifact?’

What else could memories be? This was a memory worth treasuring.
Lion felt the absence of his smartphone acutely for the first time in ages.

“Sigh…….”

Ricshel tilted his head back and exhaled deeply to cool his flushed face, then deliberately steered the conversation elsewhere.

“Today the party will proceed as scheduled. However, the venue has expanded from indoors to outdoors.”
“Ah, the Lepicent Family mentioned opening the Empress’s Palace Garden.”

Whether the Empress was truly the culprit remained uncertain, but feeling responsibility for the incident that had occurred in the Empress’s Palace Garden, the imperial court reached a long agreement: they would open the garden—a place no outsider had ever been permitted to enter during any of these parties—for this event.

Put charitably, it meant they were squeaky clean.
To those who knew the full truth.

“The evidence has been destroyed.”
“Indeed. And paradoxically, it is also the safest place.”

A location where a calamity had already struck was a place where no schemes could be woven.

‘Besides, they’re thinking of turning the tables at the Hunting Tournament anyway.’

From their perspective, it actually worked better to keep vigilant watch on Lion’s side and thin out the guards elsewhere.

‘The most suspicious place becomes the safest.’

Normally, Lion would simply stay holed up in the Guest Room and bid them well—no one would suspect a thing.
He’d already shown his face on the first day, and Lion’s reputation as an eccentric invalid meant no one would question his absence on the second day due to a drinking ailment.
But.

‘I need to look around a bit myself.’

The Lepicent Family would have cleaned the Garden thoroughly, but someone else might have set up something. The Archbishop, that is.
The Archbishop.
He’d definitely said the Archbishop had taken care of finishing the murder case.

“Then I should stay outside. Inside feels too stuffy.”
“If you’re tired, you can rest in your room.”

Patrick, who had been quiet until now, spoke up abruptly.
His tone was dry, but he was clearly worried about Lion’s stamina.

“Ah, this much is fine. I haven’t even done anything strenuous.”

Normally Lion would have left it at that, but knowing their concerns well, he added a bit more.

“Still, if I get tired, I’ll come back right away and rest.”
“All right.”
“Yes. Please don’t overdo it. There’s the Hunting Tournament tomorrow, after all.”
“Yeah, yeah.”

Lion got to his feet, having put their worries to rest.
His clothing was lighter than yesterday’s, but he still covered his body carefully.

“Then I’ll be going!”

Lion winked and excused himself to give the two some time alone together.

“…It seems like he noticed something.”
“I think he’s off the mark.”
“I just hope he doesn’t strain himself today.”

Patrick watched Lion disappear into the distance, then let out a small chuckle.

“Hmm… he should be fine.”

Patrick had made thorough preparations for this schedule.
Not only Elvia and the Second Imperial Prince, but he’d also sought help from the Underworld through the reckless Successor.
And more than that…

“Today’s watcher is the Spirit King.”

The chick—or rather, the Spirit King, Nature—had been instructed to stop Lion immediately if he pushed himself too hard.

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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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