A magnificent carriage led by four horses confidently parades through the capital’s boulevard.
At the forefront of this carriage were the Crown Prince, Yustaf, and Harun.
The crowd lining the boulevard became increasingly louder with each cheer, praising them.
“Long live the Crown Prince!”
“It’s the Great Mage Yustaf!”
“Is that the Empire’s greatest Alchemist, Master Harun? I’ve heard he’s called the Alchemist of Wisdom.”
Among them, the most famous was undoubtedly the Crown Prince. His praises resonated the loudest, followed by Yustaf.
Since Yustaf was such a renowned mage, people felt as though they were seeing a legendary hero in person.
Last was Harun. In truth, his recognition was nowhere near that of the other two, but he had recently become a rising dark horse
After the release of The Iron-Blooded Alchemist, awareness and interest in alchemists had surged.
“Who knew being an alchemist could be this cool?”
“I’ve heard that the Empire’s top alchemist is Harun Coelho. Just how powerful is he?”
“Maybe he can create a dragon at the alchemy workshop?”
While the nobles generally grasped the essence of alchemy and refrained from extravagant speculation, the commoners who knew little about it were rife with such guesses.
So much so that there were even whispers about Harun being the hidden strongest in the Empire.
“Let’s settle on our titles.”
Not only Harun but also other well-known alchemists in the Empire hastily gathered.
This gathering wasn’t about discussing new potions or alchemical workshops, but rather about coming up with titles for themselves.
“I’ll be the Flame!”
“No, that sounds too similar. How about Magma? It’s common knowledge that magma is stronger than flame.”
“I want to be the Alchemist of Wine; I love wine!”
“Are you kidding? That’s just a brewer!”
After much back and forth, the alchemists each selected a title, concluding that those recognized as senior alchemists in the guild would officially adopt their titles later on.
“At this age, to be called the Alchemist of Wisdom…”
In truth, Harun didn’t want a title out of embarrassment, but the guild master insisted that he must have one, so he reluctantly accepted it, feeling quite bashful.
However, seeing the reactions of the people during today’s ceremony, Harun thought it might not be so bad after all.
With the First-Class Meritorious Subjects leading the way, the Second and Third-Class Meritorious Subject followed in a carriage pulled by two horses, marching down the boulevard.
Their atmosphere was quite different.
“Please answer!!!”
“Is the protagonist’s dad really the mastermind?!”
“Tell us the next episode’s content!!!”
Due to Rupert being selected as the Second-Class Meritorious Subject, the crowd was filled with questions about the comic book rather than cheers or applause.
It was hard to tell if this was a ceremony or a hearing.
“If the soldiers weren’t guarding the area, it might have actually turned into a riot.”
Rupert, the person at the center of it all, realized for the first time how terrifying it is to be faced with the sound of thousands demanding answers from him.
Until now, he had only heard rumors of his work’s popularity in rural areas, and other than the sporadic visitors to the mansion, he hadn’t grasped it firsthand.
Now that he realized just how popular he was, he vowed never to step foot outside the mansion again.
But seeing the crowd’s expressions, filled with excitement rather than anger or fear, made him feel a bit joyful.
From fairy tale books to comic books. Initially, the works were for Aida, and later to save his family, yet knowing they brought joy to readers was beyond happiness.
Now, with two solid assistants by his side, he could present more works without overexerting himself.
Imagining how the people of this world would perceive and accept the countless masterpieces from Earth made Rupert eager to grab his pen.
“Rupert, weren’t you saying you’d be heading back right away?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“What a pity. I’d have liked to share a drink with you and talk for a while.”
“I will come running whenever Your Highness calls.”
“Since I have become Aida’s godfather, you’re like a brother to me. If you have any troubles, don’t hesitate to come by.”
Rupert felt a little scared hearing the Crown Prince declare his endless affection, especially towards Aida.
At the court where the selection of protagonists ended and a congratulatory banquet began, Alex approached Rupert with a proposal to be Aida’s godfather.
Hearing this, Rupert panicked and begged him to reconsider, but the Crown Prince ignored him and took the suggestion straight to the Emperor.
He announced at the banquet that he had become the godfather of Aida Somerset, the youngest daughter of the Somerset family.
“Aida, you might have a hard time getting married.”
There aren’t many bold enough to dream of marrying a count’s daughter who has the Crown Prince, a future emperor, as a godfather.
Those daring types were typically great nobles in the Empire, so there was no need for them to marry the daughter of a count.
“Why is it that the Crown Prince seems to smile wide whenever Aida’s name comes up?”
Seeing the Crown Prince laughing joyously whenever Aida was mentioned, Rupert felt that the only way to surpass the barrier of the Crown Prince might be to marry a foreign prince.
*
“Aida is hungry.”
Kek!
Aida drooped like a deflated balloon against Rach.
Normally, this would be the time when her brother would secretly sneak her snacks.
However, her brother had left for important matters in the capital, so Aida hadn’t eaten any snacks for days.
“Miss! We decided to wear the beautiful Elza dress!”
Replacing the now-stained and worn-out Elza dress, her brother had specially ordered a luxurious Elza dress from the capital’s finest tailor.
But since the size was small, it seemed about to burst if Aida wore it, starting that day strict snack restrictions began.
To escape the constraints, Count Bradley and Rupert took turns secretly giving her snacks.
“You must pay a bit more attention and affection to your daughter.”
After hearing this mysterious comment from the Crown Prince before he left, Count Bradley, who felt wronged, began withholding snacks to help Aida get back to normal.
Now that Rupert, her only ally, had disappeared, Aida was feeling very, very hungry.
“I’m going for a walk with Rach!”
“That’s not allowed, Miss. Both the Count and the young master commanded that you not be allowed outside until the territory is perfectly stable.”
“I’m telling my uncle!”
Aida, who originally planned to use the excuse of going for a walk to head down to the village, flopped down and threw a tantrum, but the new knight assigned to guard the mansion, Oun, simply blocked the door firmly.
However, since Oun didn’t know who Aida was referring to as her uncle, that made it possible.
Oun thought the uncle Aida was talking about might be the butler Alain or the newly promoted knight commander, Lord Mularus.
But the uncle Aida was referring to was actually Crown Prince Alex.
During the visit from the Crown Prince last time, Aida remembered how everyone had been cautious around him, and used her most powerful card.
Unfortunately, because she referred to him as “uncle,” no one in the mansion could make the connection to the Crown Prince, rendering her pleading useless.
Thus, feeling dejected, Aida returned to her room.
Ideally, she would rush to her brother for help right now. Since her brother was also gone, and Sena had started spending less time with her due to her drawing, Aida felt lonely.
“Rach…”
In the end, the only one left was Rach, so she snuggled into his embrace from her bed and tried to sleep.
Soon after, once Rach confirmed that Aida had fallen asleep, he quietly slipped out of the bed so as not to wake her.
He opened the window of the room and gracefully jumped out, quickly scaling the mansion wall.
Rach was headed toward the direction of the territory’s forest.
*
“Aida can eat just a little!”
“Really? Miss, you didn’t eat any snacks today, are you not hungry?”
At the dining table sat the Count and Aida.
Normally, Aida would be excitedly singing while holding a fork and knife in both hands, but today she declared that she only wanted a little.
The maid preparing the meal cast a suspicious glance at Count Bradley.
“No way! I haven’t given Aida any snacks lately!!!”
Count Bradley protested, feeling wronged at the maid’s glance.
Noticing strange rumors about himself circulating lately, he was overly sensitive to any hint of suspicion.
“What on earth is going on? The lady claims she’ll have a little. But with Young Master Rupert not here, there’s no one around to give her snacks.”
The maid pondered through various scenarios but couldn’t come up with a solid suspect.
Unbeknownst to her, Aida was blissfully laughing, her little belly a-bubbling.
If the maid had been more observant, she might have noticed the fruit peels clinging to Aida’s fingertips.
In her ignorance of being suspected, Aida finished her dinner and skipped off toward Rupert’s workshop.
Rupert would usually block her from entering, but with him not present, Aida found it impossible to stop her from coming in.
Aida knew how to retrieve manuscripts that Rupert had placed out of her reach.
“Rach!”
At Aida’s call, Rach rushed in and lay down beneath the bookshelf.
Using him as a step, Aida discovered a hidden manuscript that Rupert had tucked away.
Confident in the fact that searching through her brother’s workshop would always uncover fun stories and illustrations, Aida felt sure of it.
“Wow! Look, Rach, this character has such a long nose!”
In her hand, she held several concept art pieces Rupert had drawn in his spare time.
Among them, one particular wooden doll with an elongated nose caught her attention.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.