MBHE | Chapter 2.5

While it would be troublesome if they became enemies, only Iellon and Carpe remained as princes. The Duke likely didn’t intend to truly antagonize the future emperor.

There was no need to appease actions that were merely probing. Iellon didn’t bother hiding his displeasure, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, it’s not bad. But the dessert choice seems off. Sweet tea and sweet cookies seem like a combination that clashes. Any reason for this choice?”

“…I assumed you would enjoy sweets at your age, Your Highness. Both Aiden and Edward enjoy sweet flavors. I apologize if it didn’t suit your taste.”

“It’s fine. It’s natural for your thinking to narrow with age.”

It was a direct jab, suggesting it was foolish to try provoking him. The Duke, unfazed by the insult, smiled amiably and apologized again.

“I!”

“Hmm?”

“I, I have a tart I enjoy… If you tell the chef, they can make it less sweet, so, um…”

Unable to finish his sentence, Aiden’s face turned as red as an apple. Watching Aiden fidget with his fingers, Iellon couldn’t help but smile warmly.

“Thank you for your consideration. But it’s fine. I’ve already had a wonderful meal and am full.”

Aiden’s face lit up with a smile at the thanks, overlapping with Carpe’s smile. He wanted to hug the warm little body that would come running to him.

Thanks to Aiden, the meal ended on a relatively harmonious note, and as Iellon was about to head to his room, Edward stopped him. His confident face bore a smirk that likely worked well with young ladies.

The gist of his overly formal and boastful words was this: the Mendez mansion’s library had many rare books, and he offered to show them.

Of course, it was expected to have many rare books. They wouldn’t have just taken money when selling raw stones and iron ore to other countries. The Duke of Mendez approached his son, who was essentially shooting himself in the foot.

“I’ll guide you.”

“No, since Edward was the one who mentioned it, I’ll take his help.”

Though tired and annoyed by the unnecessary interference, the more Edward acted out, the more the Duke frowned.

Even now, the Duke seemed slightly displeased at Iellon’s refusal. It might have appeared as a father’s concern for his son’s rudeness, but the astute prince knew there was more to it.

“A wise choice, Your Highness.”

Edward grinned with a smug expression. Iellon decided to indulge the arrogant and foolish young master.

♣ ♣ ♣

As they walked through the mansion, which had a more flamboyant atmosphere than the noble elegance of the Imperial Palace, Edward opened a large door with a swaggering motion.

Naturally, it was smaller than the library in the Imperial Palace, but the bookshelves were densely packed with books. A cozy-looking sofa was placed in front of a crackling fireplace, and the floor was covered with a plush rug with exotic patterns.

Iellon, who was used to suppressing the impulse to throw everything aside and roll around on the floor until he fell asleep, looked around with admiration, his mouth slightly agape.

“Feel free to look at anything you like.”

He swallowed the sarcastic remark about whether he was planning to say that there were things the royalty shouldn’t touch, and slowly moved his steps. It seemed that Duke Mendez had a thirst for knowledge. Or perhaps a desire to collect. As Iellon walked, skimming through various types of books, he pulled out a book from the bottom shelf of the third bookshelf.

The book, covered in a thick layer of dust, was very old and shabby. The cover was torn, and only the spine had a faint, simple title: Understanding Mana.

Iellon prided himself on having at least skimmed through most of the books in the Imperial Palace library. To manipulate the future in detail and make it flow as desired, knowledge was essential.

In this world, mages are not rare. Those who use the external mana present in nature and the internal mana that each living being possesses to wield mysterious powers are mages, and there are several in the Imperial Palace.

Though talent is prioritized in this field, even creating a small flame is considered magic, so one could be called a mage.

In the original work, Iellon couldn’t use magic. Whether he didn’t or couldn’t, at least there were no scenes of him using magic. Since he could freely command the excellent mages in the Imperial Palace, he might not have needed to learn it himself.

However, Iellon, who needed to become as strong as possible, wanted to learn magic. If he told Helen, he could immediately get an excellent magic teacher, but he didn’t want the entire Imperial Palace to know he could use magic.

A so-called secret weapon. The more you hide your cards from the enemy, the better.

While secretly self-studying, Iellon had read about this book, Understanding Mana, in the books in the Imperial Palace.

Using the mana present in nature is determined solely by talent. No matter how hard one tries, if there is not even a speck of talent, they can never move the mana in the air.

However, the internal mana within the body is ultimately created by oneself. The book stated that even without talent, it could be somewhat covered by effort.

And the book that detailed this method was Understanding Mana. It was said that after reading the book, the emperor at the time, fearing that too many people would gain the powerful force of magic, designated it as a forbidden book and destroyed it, making it now legendary and unobtainable.

In fact, the title was so common and the author wasn’t a particularly famous mage, so it wasn’t a popular book even after publication.

The emperor, who was scared in advance, ordered it to be destroyed, but only a few copies were actually burned.

People who were curious about why the book was designated as forbidden soon lost interest. They had to buy and read new books published by well-known mages.

That very Understanding Mana was in the Mendez mansion. Iellon was convinced that the duke had a desire to collect rather than a thirst for knowledge. It seemed like he had just stuffed it in while buying other expensive books.

Edward probably didn’t know how valuable it was, but just in case, Iellon picked a few more books for camouflage and approached the sofa. Since Edward was already on the cozy-looking single sofa, Iellon had no choice but to sit on the two-seater. Hiding his slightly excited heart, Iellon picked up a camouflage book.

“Did you find a book you like?”

“Yeah. The duke seems to have deep knowledge in various fields.”

It was a hint that he noticed the duke had randomly collected things just because they were rare, but Edward, not understanding, shrugged his shoulders proudly.

The book Iellon opened was a collection of legends from the Tarta region. It wasn’t particularly useful for life, but it wasn’t bad for a pastime.

“Actually, it’s my first time seeing the silver hair that only royalty has.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes. I was vaguely curious about how it differed from white hair, but seeing it in person… it has a beauty on a different level from an old man’s white hair.”

If Helen had heard, she would have coldly asked if he was comparing the royal silver hair to an old man’s withered hair, but Iellon didn’t think much of it.

If Carpe had heard such words from others, Iellon would have reacted just like Helen, but he just nodded roughly.

On the page he was looking at, there was a story about a dragon that eats jewels. If such a dragon existed, it would have to be hunted down no matter what. Or tamed and sent to another country.

“Can I take a closer look?”

“Do as you please.”

Edward, who kept talking, was annoying when Iellon was itching to read Understanding Mana, but he couldn’t ignore him.

If he carelessly chased this fool away and Duke Mendez came in, he would be forever separated from Understanding Mana. Iellon read the letters with an indifferent expression.

‘A snake that drinks lava.’

He wondered why the monsters in this region liked eating and drinking so much.

The moment Iellon’s fingers turned the page, Edward’s hand touched Iellon’s hair. He thought it was an accidental brush, but it didn’t fall away and blatantly fiddled with it. Considering what silver hair meant in this country, it was quite a bold action.

Anyway, without knowing his intentions, he couldn’t act rashly. When he turned his head, Edward, who had somehow sat next to him, squinted his eyes and smiled, leaning in closer.

The hand that had been playing with his hair slowly moved down and brushed against Iellon’s cheek. It was a touch without hesitation, like caressing a younger sibling. It was a very rude act to do to a prince.

Iellon couldn’t even blink as he looked up at Edward, wondering if it was strange to feel puzzled by what he was doing.

Edward, perhaps reading it as embarrassment or fear, smiled with his lips pursed.

“By the way, is the second prince doing well?”

Ah, so that’s what it was. Iellon’s eyes dulled with boredom. That one question made the whole situation clear.

This guy thought that just because there were two princes living in the Imperial Palace, where the struggle for the throne was severe, they were enemies.

He must have thought that Helen, who couldn’t properly use her family’s power despite being the empress, and her son Iellon, were living with Carpe because they didn’t have the power to eliminate him. This statement was a threat that if he didn’t behave, the Mendez family would back Carpe.

How utterly foolish. He was so absorbed in wielding power and playing that he didn’t even properly listen to his father about the situation in the Imperial Palace, and now he was presumptuously insulting and threatening a prince.

I wondered what he would do if Iellon became emperor. Looking at his foolish face, unlike his father, Iellon pondered for a moment.

Whether to crush him here and now, or to drag down the cunning Duke Mendez along with him.

Of course, the latter was a much more delicious choice. Having coldly finished his thoughts, Iellon fluttered his eyelashes pitifully and shrugged his shoulders.