The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 200

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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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Chapter 200
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Past midnight.
Knock, knock.
Someone rapped at my door. Unable to sleep, I rose from bed and yanked it open.
“You.”
Kalid’s smooth brow furrowed into a chaotic mess as he stood in the doorway.
“What? Something go wrong?”
Did the straw mage not move as planned?
‘Hazel said she’d locked him in his room properly.’
I asked, a touch anxious, and Kalid exhaled a low sigh.
“You shouldn’t open the door without checking who it is.”
“Huh?”
“Especially not in the dead of night. It’s dangerous….”
I tilted my head in confusion.
“Of course I knew it was you, so that’s why I did.”
And I was a little happy to see you, too.
“You’re dangerous? What, you’re going to attack me?”
I poked him playfully as I asked, but an awkward silence returned.
“…Who knows.”
“Seriously?”
What’s this? He was on a winning streak as a swordsman, and now his competitive spirit is flaring up everywhere?
“Anyway…. I’m coming in.”
Kalid, his neck flushed for some reason, strode into the room. He draped a large robe he’d been holding in one hand over me.
Why does he keep wanting to give me clothes like this?
“The carrier pigeon went up as expected.”
He flipped open the fireplace with a poker and broached the main topic.
“Hazel gave him a room with a balcony on the back side of the mansion. After he’d eaten his fill, bathed, and confirmed there was no surveillance, he seemed to relax and moved right away.”
I took the letter Kalid offered me.
“Which direction did the pigeon go?”
He twisted his lips into a slight smile.
“The Imperial Palace.”
“So he’s making contact with the King of Casalia after all.”
I read the letter Kalid had intercepted.
Expose tomorrow that the Zebert Duchy’s princess is a mage. It must be done before the Babylon Emperor and the nobility.
I will make my entrance at an opportune moment, so please prepare a paternity verification potion in advance. Even if I do not appear, it would be best to cast the stone regardless.
If you follow only these instructions, the alliance between Casalia and Arcadia will remain eternally unshakeable.
A cold smile played at my lips. How could everything align so perfectly with my expectations, without the slightest deviation?
The letter contained one more line.
The important thing is to emphasize that the princess is no ordinary mage, but a Senior Mage of Arcadia and the Mage King’s ‘Seventh’.
I quietly imagined it.
The King of Casalia appearing at my coming-of-age ceremony, moving according to the instructions in this letter.
“The reason we’re now in conflict with the Mage Kingdom is all because of the Zebert Duke’s daughter!”
Something like that is probably what he’d shout.
“You took away a child who was practically the Mage King’s own offspring and have hidden her all this time! So who truly kindled the flames of war on this continent!”
The Babylon nobles would be shocked, and the Assembly Hall would fall silent. But it would only be the calm before the storm.
“Is that all? The magical beasts that are now frequently appearing across the continent! Isn’t that also because of the Duke’s daughter? How can we defend against mages who are deliberately attacking? Casalia has also suffered damage from their assault!”
And in doing so, he’d subtly justify his own betrayal.
Probably at this moment, the Mage would appear. Carrying a manipulated paternity verification potion.
“This mage is the Duke’s daughter’s true father! Let us verify whether the Duke’s daughter truly carries a mage’s blood! The Zebert Duchy cannot escape responsibility for all of this!”
‘I was.’
I crumpled the letter sharply.
‘I was Zebert’s weakness.’
A mage from an enemy nation with a hidden identity.
I could be exploited in any number of ways if someone chose to use me maliciously.
“I almost completely ruined my coming-of-age ceremony, didn’t I?”
“Rubian.”
I tried to speak casually, but the voice that came from behind was filled with anger.
It was Kalid, who had been reading the letter’s contents from behind while gripping the back of the sofa. He was smiling faintly, but his mood seemed terribly twisted.
“Should I go kill him right now?”
How does he understand my feelings so well?
“Give me permission.”
My voice pleaded while my eyes blazed with intensity.
I turned my body completely, placed my knees on the sofa, and faced Kalid. When I reached out my hand lightly, he reflexively bent his waist.
Tap. My hand edge lightly tapped the top of Kalid’s head.
“No sudden acceleration.”
It felt very good, though.
“For now, let’s try catching this potato king first.”
I pictured the King of Casalia, who was as grumpy as a potato with grievances hanging all over him.
The letter bore the seal of the Mage Kingdom, as expected.
To prove in writing that I was a mage of the Mage Kingdom, this was the only method.
‘The seal is similar to a magical artifact.’
It contained distinctive magical power, so even ordinary people without mage eyes could see the shimmering light on the seal. This made it difficult to forge or copy.
“But I have this.”
I got down from the sofa and opened a drawer.
Inside were bundles of stone monument formulas I’d collected over time. Somehow it had become like an encyclopedia of magical circles.
It had taken years to gather magical circles hidden across the entire continent. Besides, with Wizeria on my side, manipulating a seal was hardly difficult.
“Hehe. This level of manipulation is child’s play. Hehehehe.”
“You sound like a crime organization boss.”
With a fully charged auxiliary battery right beside me, I quickly used a magical circle to copy the letter’s seal. Along with the handwriting.
After a moment’s consideration, I penned another letter with my own hand and passed it to Kalid, wedging it between his index and middle fingers as arrogantly as possible.
“Go and return.”
“Yes, master.”
The lackey vanished swiftly from sight.
* * *
‘I must decide.’
The King of Casalia paced anxiously back and forth across the chamber.
‘Now I truly must decide.’
In his hand he clutched a letter bearing the seal of the Mage Kingdom.
It was a letter from the Mage. Within it were instructions to more actively assist the Mage Kingdom’s plans.
We require the medicinal compound you possess. Let us meet at the location below when the morning sun rises.
Should you follow only this instruction, the alliance between Casalia and Arcadia shall remain eternally unshakeable.
He had wondered if the letter was forged, but when compared to the Mage Kingdom’s previous correspondence, it bore the identical seal. To be certain, he had even verified it with the Casalia Outpost Mage he had brought along, and the result was the same.
Far in the distance, dawn was breaking.
When the crimson sun began to rise above the horizon, the King made his resolve as though burned by its light.
‘Yes! This is for the greater good!’
It was not betrayal.
It was the best decision to protect the Casalia Kingdom, and perhaps it was even a brilliant diplomatic strategy.
‘And if Sebelena becomes engaged to a respectable Babylon nobleman this time!’
Even should problems arise, the Babylon Imperial Court would not easily turn away from him.
His rapport with the Emperor had been favorable.
So having Sebelena marry and settle here did not seem like a poor arrangement at all.
“How fortunate that I still have a daughter.”
Though her temperament was somewhat rigid, thanks to his bloodline her beauty was exquisite—how very fortunate indeed.
‘Had I raised her from childhood, I could have molded her more to my liking.’
All the princesses of the Royal Palace were raised thus and sent to marry into foreign lands. Since there was abundant praise for their modesty and propriety, he believed himself to be quite a respectable father.
Crunch. His thick hand gripped the vial of potion.
“I must hurry, I must hurry….”
It had been wise to bring it with him before coming to Babylon. This too had been the Mage Kingdom’s instruction.
With bloodshot eyes, the King changed into disguise and left the chamber.
It was still early dawn.
Few people were about.
The Annex that the Emperor had graciously provided was immense and sprawling. Since he had brought numerous attendants from Casalia, it resembled a small Casalia Royal Palace within the Babylon Imperial Palace.
None who passed recognized the King concealed beneath the grey robe.
“Huff, huff!”
He ran with determination.
The place where the Mage had arranged to meet was before the seventh ornament in the Garden near the North Gate of the Imperial Palace.
Beyond it lay a small hidden path, and following it would lead to a gap in the Palace Wall through which one could escape.
‘The Palace Wall….’
He suddenly paused mid-thought and realized something.
‘Come to think of it.’
This was the first time I’d ever left the Annex like this, wasn’t it?
Whenever curiosity drove me to venture beyond the Annex, the Emperor would inevitably appear and make it impossible, or else an urgent gathering would suddenly be arranged in the Annex, or musicians invited by the Emperor would arrive, or a painting salon would open, or…
‘It’s… just my imagination.’
There had been no problem leaving just now, after all.
I pulled my robe low over my head and was lingering near the decorative ornaments when I heard rustling footsteps. I turned my body around, reaching into my pocket to retrieve the potion I’d stashed there.
“Mage…!”
Suddenly, something cold pressed against my throat.
My green eyes widened in shock.

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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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