CH. 83 — GUARDIAN OF THE 3RD PRINCE

Crown Prince Ascensio’s swordsmanship was excellent. In addition to demonstrating swordsmanship, a mock battle was added for fairness, and he endured more than a dozen hits in one battle with the 1st Order’s Deputy Commander Zeke. Even if his opponent did not use mana, it was surprising that the crown prince, who had just turned thirteen after the New Year, could compete with the deputy commander of the 1st Order, the highest rank in the empire.

Everyone praised Ascensio for becoming a great knight like his uncle.

Isabelle took the teacup in front of her and covered the corners of her lips. Everyone knew that Blemir and His Majesty have a bad relationship, wasn’t it stupid to give such compliments?

Moreover, the position of the emperor was one to order the knights, not to compete with the knights. What was so great about that sword skill?

As Isabelle put down her teacup, she saw the podium that had just been cleaned up. New instruments were placed on top.

A beautiful boy resembling Isabelle sat down in front of a huge white piano. Unlike other instruments, the piano was placed on one side of the podium from the beginning. White fingertips tapped the keys. As he breathed the notes on the keyboard, music fell in the garden.

When the performance ended, everyone applauded. He didn’t get a single note wrong, and Stoneham smiled broadly as if he was in a good mood.

However, in the violin that followed, a note that bounced off the wrong bow once or twice tore the movement, and as he grimaced in frustration, the following instruments were even more messed up.

However, when it was all over, everyone praised him for his hard work.

His mother stared at him like she was reprimanding him, but he thought it was fine because His Majesty said he would give him a prize today.

He said that he had prepared the most expensive and precious gift among these people, so no one could stand out more than him.

Stoneham straightened his back and saluted, then stepped down from the podium.

The third child was standing crumpled next to the podium alone without his mother.

For some reason, Stoneham’s mood became much better as he passed by. His shoulders that had been shrunk were straightening out.

“Don’t go up and pee in fear.”

“Hik!”

Stoneham might have just said it, but it was hurtful to Leon. His terrifying memories were forcibly brought out.

“It’s the 3rd Prince’s turn.”

Leon went up to the podium at the address. Leon tried not to bow his head in front of the numerous nobles who were looking at him. When Leon did nothing, interest and irritation mixed in the faces of those who had been waiting.

“Oh my, what is he doing? He must be scared because there are a lot of people. Still, it’s not a place where one can just pretend to be pitiful. Maybe it’s because there’s no one teaching him, so he doesn’t understand.”

The atmosphere became even more chaotic because of Isabelle, who mumbled as if she was talking to herself, but with a voice loud enough to be heard by everyone. Isabelle knew it was going to be like this, but she was more overjoyed after seeing it herself.

Leon gulped and looked toward Georg and Jillian. No matter how much he had thought about it with the people of the 2nd Consort’s Palace, he couldn’t have learned anything that could be claimed as a talent in just a few days.

So he picked this one.

“May the beautiful Empire, with fresh green leaves in the morning, that follows the spirit of the Pavezzo Mountains and shares the abundance of the Tanya River, shine forever. The land where children grow up, where my mother gave birth to me and my father raised me. The Empire…”

A childish, thin voice resonated on the podium. It wasn’t loud, but it wasn’t difficult to hear thanks to the quiet crowd.

When the song ended, Leon looked at the people. He was glad that he felt a better atmosphere than before.

If he tried to do something he normally wouldn’t do, especially in such a difficult position, he would be more likely to fail. So Marie, who had said that he should think about it in an easier way, suggested singing.

For some reason, Marie’s complexion had suddenly turned pale a second after she suggested that, but as Leon tried singing a song, her eyes grew bigger and bigger, and her complexion quickly turned for the better.

Eventually, Marie agreed, and everyone thought about what song to sing next.

[T/N: I was a bit confused at first, why Marie paled? Then I realized she must have remembered that one time when Elisha sang a lullaby for Leon, and she noticed that Elisha is tone-deaf. Perhaps Marie thought tone-deaf is heritable PFFT]

Others had suggested making Leon stand out more than that, perhaps singing something that made everyone want to embrace Leon by thinking of the 2nd Consort, so Dorian mentioned the hymn of the Empire…

Jillian strongly supported Dorian’s proposal.

The third prince of the Empire sang the hymn of the Empire in the competition, and as a noble and imperial citizen of the empire, no one would be able to criticize his choice or find fault with his singing skills.

Come to think of it, it was very likely to happen, so for the rest of the time, everyone in the 2nd Consort’s Palace took turns practicing with Leon and watching Leon sing, enough to wake them up from their sleep the moment they heard the hymn of the Empire.

And it was as expected.

“I-it’s okay…”

“The 3rd Prince is very good at singing.”

However, despite not being a bad method, it was not a method to win, so if Leon was greedy, he shouldn’t have used it.

But of course it didn’t matter at all to him, because this was exactly what Leon had hoped for. He hoped his older brother would win anyway.

“But it’s a little disappointing.”

Then Marchioness Bahrain, who was sitting next to the 1st Consort, said.

“What do you mean?”

“Ah, it’s just my opinion. I was impressed enough by the good selection of songs and the beautiful voice, but compared to the previous two princes who put a lot of effort to stand in front of you all… Isn’t it a little different?”

“Surely it is. But what can be done? Given the situation of the 2nd Consort, he must have been very concerned about that.”

“Yes. I know that.”

As if she wasn’t trying to find fault, Marchioness Bahrain retreated neatly. It was just that more and more people agreed with what she said.

“Even if I go down like this, I won’t lose.”

Leon muttered.

But it was weird. Why wouldn’t he step down?

There was nothing more he could do. Nothing I can do.

“What’s wrong, Your Highness?”

The nobleman of a barony, who acted as the host, was about to approach, but someone stood up from where the tables were placed and shouted.

“There’s more!”

Because it was Jillian’s voice, Leon thought his ears were getting weird. She usually pretended to be a strong older sister in front of him, but he knew that she was a shy person.

But I guess she wasn’t like that. The little girl ran across between the tables and approached the podium.

The knights had to stop the girl, but while waiting for the master’s order, the emperor asked Leon.

“Is that your talent too?”

Leon answered, looking straight at Jillian who was approaching him, not the emperor.

“Yes.”

If he said no here, Jillian might be punished for acting rashly in front of His Majesty and for shaming the 2nd Consort’s Palace in front of so many nobles.

Besides, even if it wasn’t necessarily for that reason, everything that Jillian said was for Leon.

“What kind of talent is that? Is it breaking the mood, or is it bringing all the strangest kids around?”

Stoneham snorted sarcastically.

The reaction around him was not so different, some complained that the sacred competition had become a place for children to play.

But Leon tried to focus on Jillian more than that. Leon stood at the end of the podium about one meter high.

Jillian also went right in front of him and stopped.

With the height of the podium added, Jillian looked up and reached out her palm to Leon.

Leon stared intently at the empty palm…

“I, the mage, Jillian Hegalt, swear. To make an unbreakable oath as long as mana exists, you shall be my lord.”

Shwaaaa!

Mana fluctuated.

Leon instinctively knew this was a big deal. Even though Leon didn’t answer, Jillian just stared at his blue eyes without urging.

When Jillian’s lips turned purple. Leon answered quickly.

“Leon de Rappelcia.”

“Leon de Rappelcia, the heart of my mana belongs to you.”

Paah!

A swarm of lights spewed out in all directions and then disappeared. At the same time, a small star was imprinted on the back of Leon’s hand.

Leon placed his hand on Jillian’s, which was still outstretched. Jillian looked at the star and wept.

The purple lips returned to their original pink color when the contract was over, but she looked exhausted due to overwork. However, Jillian only spoke of other things.

“Am I going to be scolded by the 2nd Consort? There’s a scribble on the back of the 3rd Prince’s hand.”

“That’s not true. I think you’ll get in trouble for something else.”

“What else?”

“You made a mistake.”

Leon spoke and glanced over Jillian’s shoulder.

The expressions on the faces of the people sitting at the table lined up behind Jillian were astonishing.

The mages were extremely reluctant to swear allegiance to the emperor, so very few did. They had to work hard on their research, and the conflict within the mages was so severe that they couldn’t focus their attention on anything else.

Many wondered if they would ever see any one of them make an oath to dedicate their heart of mana for the rest of their life.

Those here had witnessed the process right before their eyes.

It was surprising, amazing, and embarrassing.

“Hey, what kind of talent is this!?”

Stormham, who felt the last emotion the most, exclaimed.

“Can we just bring any mage and ask them to do that? What does that mean?”

Jillian looked towards Stoneham and opened her mouth.

“It’s not worth it to anyone.”

“Then what about you?”

“Because I’m not anyone. I happen to…”

How to explain it?

Jillian was about to continue again, but someone had already snatched her words.

“A mage’s oath itself is something that can be made from the lowest 5th-circle mages. To mages, the oath is sacred and as noble as the truth of mana, so what you just said, Stoneham, is nothing but tarnishing the honor or mages.”

At Ascensio’s words, Stoneham turned to his mother. As if asking how to do it? But how could Isabelle know?

Even though they knew that a mage’s oath was great, there were probably many people who didn’t even know the details, so the nobles widened their eyes and pondered what they had heard.

“A 5th-circle mage is the beginning stage of a high-ranking mage. It’s hard to even have one person like them in one province, but that little girl is a 5th-circle?”

They couldn’t believe it because the two had successfully signed an oath that only a 5th-circle could make before them.

“Yes, mage, is this why you are my younger brother’s talent?”

“Yes, Your Highness the Crown Prince. The 3rd Prince’s talent is not that he is good at wielding swords and playing musical instruments. The 3rd Prince’s talent is that he can handle people well. Although he is still young, everyone in the 2nd Consort’s Palace cares for him. So am I, the youngest 5th-circle mage in the empire. I dedicate all the glory of my mana, from which the ring is formed, to the 3rd Prince and the 2nd Consort.”

Who wouldn’t listen to the youngest 5th-circle mage of the empire?

Could it be said that the talent of the 3rd Prince is inferior to those of the other two princes? On the contrary, it was so shiny and wonderful that nobody dared to say anything.

Jillian was confident. her younger brother’s talent was the best.