Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 99

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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? No Thanks. Let Me Just Relax — Chapter 99

At that moment, in the Imperial Capital.
The Emperor’s Chamber.
Emperor Taillius, whom the empire called the Sun of the Realm, sat upon his sofa and stared fixedly ahead.

“Report.”

At the Emperor’s command, the Chief Attendant, who had been waiting silently beside him, delivered his briefing on various matters.
And then.

“Finally, regarding the House Asteri…”

He concluded his report with the fact that Lion Asteri, the eldest son of House Asteri, had suffered some manner of attack.

“Tch.”

The Emperor exhaled a deep breath.
Who was behind it was painfully obvious.
Probably that child who resembled him too closely.
The First Imperial Prince, Terus Sol Aionis.
That reckless fool’s doing, surely.

‘This incompetent wretch.’

The First Imperial Prince certainly did resemble him in every way.
Fearful yet covetous beyond measure.
Moreover, his thinking was often shallow, and despite his imperial blood, he carried himself with unseemly frivolity.
But even so, there had been no problem.
He was, after all, the Emperor’s son.
Besides, the Empress came from the most powerful house among the central nobility.
No one dared censure him, no matter how recklessly he conducted himself.
Except.

‘Except when he dared touch House Asteri.’

The Emperor’s fist clenched hard.
The greatest difference between the Emperor and the First Imperial Prince lay in how well each understood the might of House Asteri.
More precisely—the might of Patrick Asteri.

A dry swallow.

The Emperor swallowed hard.
The war with the Demons had ended before Taillius was born into this world.
Yet even then, Patrick Asteri’s edge remained honed to a razor’s point.
Wherever remnants of the Demon clans lingered, he appeared and swept all away indiscriminately—and he spared no noble house either.

“Never make an enemy of House Asteri.”

Had not the previous Emperor always spoken thus?
Such was the power of one called the Arch-Mage.
One whom the realm could not resist—one who, should he decide one day to overturn the Imperial Household and seize the throne for himself, could do so unopposed.
Of course, in his own youth and foolishness, Taillius had once provoked House Asteri needlessly.
He had believed then that beneath the heavens, the Imperial House must reign supreme.
But naturally, that conviction had not endured long.
One night, when the moonlight fell especially pale and weak.
Taillius awoke to a sensation as though all breath had been stolen from his lungs.
The curtains hung open and fluttered, and a pair of eyes—violet, inhuman—flashed with terrible brilliance.
Cold sweat poured down his skin, and though he wished to scream, no sound would come from his throat.
His lips barely moved, and those violet eyes regarded me with quiet disdain, as if even that small motion irritated him.
That’s right.
Patrick of House Asteri had breached the stringent security and come directly to the Imperial Prince’s chamber himself.

“H-hiii!”
“Your Highness.”
…….
“While I protect you, remain docile and accept that protection. Don’t do anything foolish.”

Patrick of House Asteri said nothing more than that.
He maintained his deference toward the Imperial Household throughout.
Yet that alone was enough to suffocate Taillius with terror; he soiled himself and lost consciousness.
After that day, Taillius never dared to touch House Asteri again, and he lived as quietly as he could manage.
He had faced a threat to his very life.
Deep in his bones, the fear of Patrick lingered.
But then.
His own son had lost his senses and done something reckless.
It must have been because of Kale, the Second Imperial Prince.

‘Tsk.’

The Emperor clicked his tongue inwardly.
He had certainly disposed of all those he’d spent a single night with.
Or they had sworn to eternal silence.
Yet somehow, one had survived.
What’s more, that cursed life had proven remarkably tenacious, crawling up from nothing to seize the position of Imperial Prince himself.
And those eyes looking at him…….
Not the red eyes of the sun, but within those blood-dark eyes burned hatred—pure hatred for the Emperor himself.

‘Still, nothing but tainted blood running through his veins.’

The Emperor swept his arm across his body, suppressing an involuntary shudder.
In any case, if this creature was a thorn in his side, how much more so for the First Imperial Prince.

‘And yet I told him to wait.’

The Second Imperial Prince Kale was fated not to live long anyway.
The day Kale took the Crown Prince’s seat—had the priest not come and told him so?
That he seemed to be cursed.
A curse is, after all, the dark sorcery of Demons.
Surely he would not endure long, but would sicken and die.
Yet the First Imperial Prince could not wait, and in a fit of rash ambition to make an example of House Asteri—who stood behind Kale—he bungled the entire affair.

“So. Did they all die?”

It seemed only talented people were being wasted.

“No, sire. Rather, they are all reported to be alive.”
“What?”
“It appears, according to rumor…….”

Only then did the Emperor realize they were all bound to Ronggen Territory.
If the Count of Ronggen or the Marquis Patrick of House Asteri applied even the slightest pressure, the name behind it all would spill forth without question.
That could not be allowed.

‘Already the talk goes that he falls short compared to the Second Imperial Prince.’

The Second Imperial Prince’s aptitude for governance was superior—uncomfortably so for one who had climbed this high seemingly out of nowhere.
That was precisely why he could not afford to give anyone leverage over him.
If, by some chance, it were Kale and not the First Imperial Prince who seized the Crown Prince’s position…….

‘Surely my life will end there.’

The Emperor did not want to die.
Who would?

‘At least there’s one mercy—the Asteri child hasn’t been hurt in the slightest.’

And that she isn’t the heir to the family line.

‘The girl has no magical talent whatsoever, I’m told.’

In that case, Patrick would not take the matter quite so seriously.
When the Emperor fell silent and sank into thought without uttering a word, the Chief Attendant watched his mood carefully before speaking with measured caution.

“How shall we handle this, my lord?”

There was only one way.
To take direct action before anyone from House Asteri arrived.

“Tell the First Prince to keep to his quarters until my birthday.”
“Understood, your majesty.”
“And I myself shall travel directly to Ronggen Territory.”

The Emperor rose from the darkened chamber.
He was not going for his son’s sake.
He went only to avoid stirring Patrick Asteri’s displeasure and to prevent the Second Prince from profiting by the incident.
The Emperor did not cherish his children.
They were merely instruments to secure his own comfortable years.

* * *

Lion carried the Two-row Barley toward the well outside the kitchen.
The well of House Asteri.
A place made for servants to wash dishes and launder clothes.
Naturally, the nobility never came here.
They had no need to draw water or do laundry themselves.

“Oh!”
“Isn’t that… the young master?”
“It is the young master!”

And those servants of higher rank typically did not work outdoors like this either.
So the people here were mostly apprentice servants or those of low station.
Even children were present.
Naturally, lacking any chance to meet or speak with those above them, some did not recognize Lion’s face at all.

‘Is it the First Young Master or the Second?’
‘I don’t know. But he’s wearing fine clothes, so he must be a young master of our house.’
‘If he’s coming to a place like this, isn’t he probably the First Young Master? They say he’s odd.’

In any case, Lion had appeared in such a place.

“…What should we do?”
“Shouldn’t we do something to help?”

Naturally they grew awkward and confused.
Several even started in surprise, hastily hiding their laundry.
Nobles had always disliked seeing such things.
Of course.

‘I need to sprout the barley first.’

Lion wasn’t particularly concerned about their reaction.
He’d simply come because this place suited his purposes.
Lion paid no mind to their response and crouched down by the well, then drew water with practiced ease.
He sat back down and poured the barley from the sack into a large basin, scrubbing it clean with his hands.

‘Let’s see…….’

Most of the grain kernels had been stripped of their husks, though he spotted a few that still retained their original coverings.

[Two-row Barley]
-High starch content.
-The kernels are fuller than six-row barley.
[Usage – Cooking]
[☞Click to view recipes.]

Most of the barley people encountered was six-row barley.
So while Malt Syrup—the base for traditional rice punch—was typically made from six-row barley…….

‘It doesn’t matter.’

He could always adjust the sediment that settled at the bottom of the Malt Syrup water later.

‘But first, the barley needs to sprout properly.’

Lion cleaned the barley as he worked, removing the beards and any foreign material.
Making Malt Syrup required far more effort than he’d anticipated.
First, the barley had to sprout prolifically.
Malt where the sprouts have grown as long as the kernel itself is used in brewing beer, while malt twice that length becomes the Malt Syrup we know.

‘When I was young, I actually thought Malt Syrup was real oil.’

Even though Lion had been making various things since childhood, his household never went so far as to prepare rice punch from scratch.
Buying it had better quality.
He’d learned that the name Malt Syrup came from the barley sprouts being long from the owner of the grain shop he used to visit regularly.

“That should do.”

Lion filled the first-wash barley with fresh water again and strained out the grain floating on the surface.
The floating pieces were unusable.

“Peep.”

Just as Lion was about to discard the barley, Nature popped out from his pocket and pecked at the kernels in his hand.
Even that tiny beak did its work, cracking the husks and exposing the kernels inside.

“How’s the taste?”
“Peep.”

Nature continued eating with a solemn expression, as if it would be punished for leaving any food behind.

‘Well, well.’

Its emotions had grown richer than expected.
Lion left Nature to its meal and rinsed the barley several more times before filling the basin so the grain was completely submerged.
Then…….

“Where’s the shadiest spot around here?”

I addressed the apprentice attendants, who had been watching me out of the corner of their eyes while pretending to go about their work.

“Yes?”
“Oh, y-you’re speaking to us?”
“Quick, answer him!”
“You. Go ahead.”

The apprentice attendants huddled together for a moment before pushing forward the youngest among them.
It seemed they thought that even if he misspoke, they’d be forgiven since he was just a child.

“Um, th-that way. The path to the Knight Order has the most shade!”

Fortunately, the young attendant answered with crisp clarity.

“Thank you.”
“Sir, the distance is quite far—shall I carry that for you……?”
“I appreciate the thought, but finish what you were doing.”

With those words, Lion pulled a S’mores Sandwich from his bag and handed it over, then hefted the basin brimming with water with a grunt.

‘The Knight Order, then.’

Lion had rarely ventured in the direction of the Knight Order.
It was simply that during his years of frail health, whenever he so much as headed that way, Silvia or another attendant would redirect him elsewhere—the Knight Order harbored far too many dangers.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter now.’

Lion set off with long, measured strides.
The young attendant watching him go crunched into the S’mores Sandwich and murmured to himself.

“But they’re probably in the middle of training right now…….”

During Knight Order training, even apprentices—let alone ordinary attendants—were barred from entering.
The drills were almost entirely practical in nature, which made them far too rough.

“Should be fine, though, right? No matter what, he’s the young master.”
“Yeah.”

The apprentice attendants murmured among themselves for a moment before returning to their tasks.

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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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