Chapter 118
Rumors began to circulate that the Idarand family would soon join the Imperial family. The whispers spread like wildfire, reaching Ivailo’s ears in an instant.
Grinding his teeth, Ivailo went in search of the Empress. He found her at the Emperor’s Palace. As if guarding him with sentries wasn’t enough, the Empress’s recent conduct was even more preposterous.
The Emperor’s bedroom was devoid of even a single sliver of light. Seeing the Empress sitting by his side, relying on a single candelabra, Ivailo felt something inside him snap.
“What do you think you are doing, Your Imperial Majesty?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
The Empress gestured toward the maid standing behind her. Receiving a brass basin of steaming water and a towel embroidered with gold thread, she began to wash the Emperor’s arm with meticulous care.
“I am tending to His Majesty’s well-being, am I not?”
Ivailo scanned the unconscious Emperor from head to toe with a fierce gaze.
Parched, withered skin. Cheeks so sunken the bone was visible. Dark circles under the eyes. He looked so much like a corpse that a hollow laugh escaped Ivailo’s throat.
“To think the woman who was trying to kill the Emperor is now tending to him so devotedly to save him… it’s enough to bring one to tears.”
Ivailo gnashed his teeth and glared at the Empress.
“Is it true that you intend to proceed with my marriage to Nazlee Idarand?”
“And if it were? Would it be a lie?”
Ivailo strained his neck to keep his voice from trembling, raising his volume.
“…I believe I told you before. The one I consider a candidate for Crown Princess is Lilithia Baimery.”
“Such a petty noble is of no use to Ivailo’s throne.”
“…Did I not tell you that with Lilithia Baimery, I could control all of humanity?”
“Again, again! If you’re going to talk about that nonsensical constitution of hers, stop at once.”
“Mother!”
“Lower your voice. You’ll wake His Majesty.”
At a slight twitch of the Emperor’s arm, the Empress glared at Ivailo, narrowing her brow.
“If the Idarand family becomes part of the Imperial line, Ivailo, you can sit upon the throne.”
“…I wish to sit upon the throne by my own power.”
“Ivailo. Using your family for gain is using power. The power of your status as Crown Prince.”
“How can you be so certain of that?”
“Because I have made a promise with Duke Idarand.”
“I didn’t know you were someone who believed words so innocently.”
Despite his sarcastic tone, the Empress remained unbothered, continuing to wipe the Emperor’s body as she spoke.
“I have no intention of withdrawing my will. If you wish to break the engagement, go speak to Duke Idarand yourself.”
The Empress’s resolve remained unbroken; the situation would not be resolved easily.
Ivailo’s expression turned cold as frost. He turned on his heel and headed toward the Idarand Estate.
***
Ivailo confronted Duke Idarand, demanding he cancel the wedding. However, the Duke maintained a stiff, wooden expression and merely repeated incomprehensible words.
“For Nazlee to be happy, she must become a member of the Imperial family.”
Unable to achieve anything, Ivailo returned to the palace and sat at his parlor desk, trying to suppress the rage boiling within him.
He loathed the Empress for holding Duke Idarand in her palm and wielding him like a weapon against him. And he detested himself for swaying like a thin twig under her influence.
They were treating him like a slave being sold to a merchant.
He couldn’t even be certain that sitting on the throne this way would free him from the manipulation of the Empress and the Duke.
“Damn it!”
His fingernails dug into the soft skin of his palms, leaving deep gashes. Unable to contain his fury, he slammed his trembling fist onto the desk. A red bloodstain smeared across the wood.
Just then, the curtains began to flutter in a breeze from the window. It was the moment the magic lamps illuminating Ivailo’s room began to flicker.
A warm energy enveloped Ivailo’s hand, and his wounds began to heal.
“The one who will become the Emperor of the Empire must not be injured.”
“You are…”
As the man removed his black cloak, teal hair reaching his shoulders and pitch-black eyes without highlights were revealed. It was difficult to read emotions from his sharp eyes; only the subtle shifts in his lips betrayed his feelings.
“I am Viajinte Agladi, Master of the Northern Magic Tower. My greetings.”
“…So you finally show yourself.”
“There were unavoidable circumstances.”
Ivailo had severed ties with the Northern Magic Tower. From procurement of top-grade mana stones to the failure to kill Freyer during the Hunting Festival and the failed assassination of Lilithia Baimery—they were an organization that had outlived its usefulness.
The more he thought about the repeated failures, the more his anger flared.
Even if the missing Tower Master had returned to beg for forgiveness, Ivailo’s patience had already reached its limit due to the Empress.
“Your Highness, what do you believe is necessary to rule an Empire?”
“You’d best get out of my sight right now, Tower Master.”
Despite the unbearably fierce and violent aura, the Tower Master remained unmoved, a crooked smile on his face.
“Massive wealth? Knights of great prowess? Mages who can cast countless spells? Priests who can heal?”
“…Did you not hear me tell you to get out?”
“I intend to help you rule the Empire.”
Ivailo’s eyes turned cold and sharp, but the Tower Master did not hide his sordid greed, smiling thinly.
“Since you don’t seem to know, allow me to tell you.”
A blue-glowing mana stone rose above the Tower Master’s outstretched hand and began to rotate.
“The ultimate tool for ruling the Empire is the mana stone.”
“…Mana stones?”
“Mana stones are a finite resource. They will eventually be depleted. Are you aware that the production of top-grade mana stones mined in the Empire is slowing down?”
The continent began hundreds of millions of years ago, and civilization thousands of years ago. Minerals buried in the earth are finite, and that includes mana stones.
“Currently, lowest and low-grade stones are widespread. But have you seen a high-grade or top-grade stone lately? Or anything beyond that?”
He hadn’t. He had heard news of a high-grade stone being mined as rarely as a sprout in a drought, but he had never even heard of, let alone seen, anything superior.
“I can produce Ultra-grade—no, even God-grade mana stones for you.”
It was an enticing proposal, but the word ‘produce’ stuck in Ivailo’s mind.
“Explain exactly what you mean by producing mana stones.”
Pulling out an empty mana stone, the Tower Master began to pour mana into it as he spoke.
“If you pour mana into an empty stone, one would simply think the stone is being charged.”
As the Tower Master continued to pour mana, the condensed energy floating in the air made even Ivailo’s fingertips tingle.
Suddenly, with a hissing sound, the mana leaked out of the stone in a hazy mist.
“Injecting ordinary mana is not suitable for charging an empty stone.”
Ivailo recalled the abnormal mana stones Gortu’s merchants had put up for auction.
“There was an ancient legend. About a human punished with the inability to discharge mana.”
Ivailo watched the Tower Master with an interested gaze.
“I searched for that human and researched effective ways to extract mana. However, mana stone production hasn’t been stable because the extraction method wasn’t perfected.”
With a greasy, slanted smile, the Tower Master produced an old book.
“However, this ancient text contains the stable extraction method I have been searching for.”
The Tower Master’s hollow eyes flashed.
“In exchange for giving the Empress a hypnosis potion, I finally obtained this magic book. Stable production is now possible. I will turn this Empire into a mass-producer of mana stones.”
“What do you want from me?”
“I want all mining rights for the other magic towers to be banned, and for us to be granted the sole right of supply. Our Northern Magic Tower will provide high-quality stones to the Empire—no, to the Crown Prince.”
Realizing the situation, Ivailo stared at the Tower Master with eyes flashing with greed.
“There’s one thing. I wonder how many people with that constitution exist on the continent, and how long production can be maintained.”
“There are about five such people on the continent, and I recently found one of them. Someone Your Highness knows well.”
“…Lilithia Baimery?”
“Correct. Isn’t it fascinating? That one of the only five people on the continent is a noble of this Empire, Lilithia Baimery.”
“Wasn’t Lilithia Baimery’s constitution one that absorbs mana?”
“You could see it as absorption, but in a continent coexisting with mana, everyone absorbs and emits it. Lilithia Baimery is different. She cannot discharge it, so it condenses within her body.”
The Tower Master began to explain more simply, drawing in the air with his finger.
“Normally, mana accumulated in the body leaves. But for those with her constitution, it stays. To remove it, one needs a mage’s mana hole or an empty mana stone.”
Mana that is not discharged and accumulates becomes “stagnant mana.”
If this is discharged through a medium, the stagnant mana clogs the path, rendering the medium useless.
“So that’s why the mage who used magic on Lilithia Baimery back then said he couldn’t use magic anymore.”
“Exactly.”
“But since I approached her as a healer and helped her take medicine to purify her mana, her current internal mana should be in the perfect state to create mana stones.”
Hearing the Tower Master’s explanation, Ivailo realized he had been misunderstanding Lilithia Baimery’s constitution all along. He tilted his chin high and let out a cackling laugh.
“You had a grand plan.”
“Of course. I will give you the power to hold the Empire—no, the continent—in your hand, so give me the monopoly on mana stones. What do you say?”
“…I like it even more.”
The fact that he could control the Tower Master, who harbored ambitions to control all the mana stones on the continent.
‘Mana stones.’
If he could use Lilithia Baimery to mass-produce top-grade mana stones and take over the continent, nothing could be better.
‘Mother. If you wanted to put me on the throne, running away with the Emperor would have been a better choice.’
Licking his parted lips, Ivailo muttered with gleaming eyes.
“From now on, I won’t just be the one who holds the Empire. I’ll be the one who holds the continent.”
Comments for chapter "Chapter 118"
MANGA DISCUSSION
Leave a Reply
1 Comment
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
aryaanisha15
damn the doctor was a villain