The Teddy Bear Sends the Insomniac Villain to Dreamland - Chapter 54

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

Chapter 54
Ian regarded Edwin, who stood with both arms spread in welcome, for a moment before bowing his head respectfully.
The silver spectacles perched on his nose slipped slightly downward.
“It has been some time. I trust you have been well?”
“Ah, of course. Between the Demon Beasts appearing and the famine worsening due to drought, I’ve been swamped. Having you take over as Director of the Diplomatic Corps has been a tremendous relief.”
Edwin continued smiling, but Ian detected no sincerity in that smile.
That claim about breathing easier now that he’d taken over as Director of the Diplomatic Corps was a lie.
Since he hadn’t intended to provoke Edwin, Ian hastened to clarify.
He genuinely did not enjoy angering his older brother.
He had little interest in matters of Crown Prince succession or such things.
“I did not intend to assume the position, Your Highness.”
“I’m sure. His Majesty the Emperor likely wanted to test whether the newly emerged Crown Prince candidate possessed the talent to govern the realm, so you couldn’t have refused.”
“It was not something I particularly wished to do, but I do have something to discuss regarding this matter.”
“If you need assistance with negotiations between the Magic Tower and the Imperial Court regarding the price of the palace protection spell, you’d be better served consulting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs rather than me. I’ve stepped back from this affair and know little of it.”
Edwin, now seated, picked up the fountain pen resting beside him once more.
Even without intending to show irritation, merely looking at Ian’s face made his stomach churn.
While Edwin himself received praise for his beautiful and delicate appearance, Ian possessed a handsome visage that conveyed both strength and gentleness.
The fact that they shared a similar, not entirely dissimilar aesthetic displeased Edwin immensely.
Edwin was turning his gaze away, thinking he craved a cigar, when—
“That is not it.”
Ian answered calmly.
“Then what is it?”
“Have you perhaps sent someone to the Magic Tower?”
“What did you just say?”
“I heard from the mages at the Magic Tower that people from the Royal Palace are searching for a female mage with grapefruit-colored hair and lime-green eyes.”
Ian recalled the complaint of a mage he’d met at the Magic Tower before coming to the Crown Prince’s Palace.
“Lately, there have been far too many strangers lurking about the Magic Tower. When we ask their identities, they shout that it’s presumptuous, so they must be quite high-ranking individuals. But their intentions are deeply suspicious.”
“What intentions are those?”
“They’re making a fuss searching for a woman with grapefruit-colored hair and lime-green eyes! The fact that they’ve come all the way to the Magic Tower suggests this is no ordinary matter. Yet they seek help without proper channels—why must they encroach upon the mages’ sacred territory?”
The Magic Tower was a unique domain where mages gathered collectively.
A unified collective of both eccentric mages and those who interacted with ordinary people alike.
Having outsiders rummaging through it was bound to breed discontent.
“The high-ranking mages dwelling atop the Round Tower came to me directly and informed me. Thus, while searching the Magic Tower, I investigated who could maintain such an imperious attitude—it seemed only the Royal Family or a great noble would suffice—and discovered they were your subordinates.”
“….”
Edwin regarded Ian in silence, his gaze unreadable.
“It is not my place to presume to meddle in Your Highness’s affairs, but this is a critical moment for maintaining favorable relations with the Magic Tower. If you would tell me of the woman you seek, I shall search for her on my end. As Director of the Diplomatic Corps, it will prove far more expedient.”
Everything Ian said was correct.
The Advisor, standing quietly beside the door, kept his head bowed and his lips pressed firmly together.
His words were justified, and allowing resentment to accumulate with the Magic Tower would serve no purpose for the Imperial Court.
Especially not with price negotiations looming with the mages who cast the protective spell over the Royal Palace.
However, this was likely not a story that Edwin, who had been stripped of his position as head of the Diplomatic Corps, wished to hear.
‘This is troublesome. When he’s in a foul mood, the atmosphere becomes so suffocating that one can barely breathe.’
He recalled the memory of a female servant who had visited the Leblanc Mansion not long ago, failed to greet the Crown Prince upon his return, and subsequently vanished without a trace.
‘I should have the corpse disposal unit on standby.’
Demonstrating the authority of the Royal Family was a commendable thing.
However, whenever he displayed such occasional cruelty, it was his duty to quietly handle the aftermath.
As the Advisor contemplated this and attempted to gauge Edwin’s mood, he swallowed hard at the sight he had anticipated.
Edwin was smiling. His eyes were narrowed to slits as he wore a beautiful smile.
Everyone in the palace knew that when Crown Prince Edwin smiled with his eyes folded like that, it was never for a genuinely joyful reason.
Ian continued speaking calmly.
“I wanted to ask whether there are any other distinguishing features besides the grapefruit-colored hair and lime-green eyes…”
“Ian Serres Cardenas.”
When his name was called in a gentle voice, Ian responded immediately.
“Yes.”
“I often wonder what you think of me.”
“You are the Crown Prince who will lead the Empire.”
The answer came out without the slightest wavering. Edwin nodded as if pleased.
“Yes, I am the Crown Prince. A noble bloodline born differently from you. Unlike your humble mother’s origins, I was born as the most precious existence from the moment of my birth.”
“….”
“Even when His Majesty the Emperor discovered you and brought you into the Royal Palace, and even when you boasted with the Leblanc Family backing you and coveted my position, I watched over you quietly.”
The day Edwin first saw the brown-haired boy who had suddenly appeared in the Royal Palace remained vivid in his memory.
‘Hello, Your Highness the Crown Prince!’
The moment Edwin saw Ian, who appeared so innocent and pure, he felt an inexplicable sense of rejection.
Ian, untainted by the world’s corruption, was different from himself, who lived each day as if taking an examination.
The moment Ian appeared, nobles seeking to check the Empress faction, which was the Emperor’s maternal side, lifted him up to make him Crown Prince.
‘The imperial throne? Why are you asking me that! Our brother is the Crown Prince.’
He displayed an indifferent attitude, showing no interest in the imperial throne whatsoever.
‘I don’t wish to become Emperor. There must be better lives than that!’
And that single moment had reduced him, who had strived so hard to gain his strict father’s favor and impress powerful nobles in order to ascend to the Crown Prince’s position, to a complete fool.
‘Prince Ian is somewhat different.’
‘He’s resolute and steadfast. His origins are a bit ambiguous, but rather, he’s good material for creating a narrative.’
‘Has Saint Ophelia’s prophecy not yet come to pass?’
‘If Crown Prince Edwin ascends to the throne, it might become troublesome. After all, his thoughts are so inscrutable.’
Everywhere one went, it was Ian, Ian, Ian.
Moreover, with his naturally charismatic personality, he was surrounded by people.
The stigma of being a bastard prince was not a weakness for Ian.
He had built friendships with the sons of powerful nobles in the Empire and become intimate friends with them.
Lea Everett, Blake Leblanc.
He had made all those whom he could never grasp no matter how hard he tried to win over into his own, and as if that were not enough, now even the head of the Diplomatic Corps.
Edwin was not incompetent.
He was a model student who faithfully fulfilled his duties, yet he was always overwhelmed by Ian’s magnetic charm that drew people to him.
That reality had been suffocating Edwin’s breath.
“But why do you keep bothering me with such ingratitude?”
“…Brother, please tell me what I have done wrong.”
“Hahaha! Your wrong?”
Edwin laughed loudly as if to say that hardly qualified as a question, then spoke.
“Even if I told you, it’s not as though you’d die for me, so why would I waste my breath? Just remember one thing.”
He twirled the ring on his finger. It was the ring that Ophelia had given me.
This ring, which she had presented as a token of support for the Crown Prince, held significance.
Since Ophelia, who divined the future of the Empire, had not yet turned to Ian’s side.
‘If even she were to be swayed….’
Then this position might truly become precarious.
The Emperor was merciless toward his own children, yet he was a weak man easily swayed by Ophelia’s words.
I had to maintain her favor while ensuring the Empire did not fall into the palm of her hand.
It was an impossibly heavy burden, yet I had to bear it to surpass Ian.
Even in death, I would never acknowledge that Ian was superior.
Edwin’s festering inferiority complex seeped through the distorted smile that twisted his face.
“My half-brother, do not meddle in my affairs any longer.”
….
“If you truly wish to remain my brother.”

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