Adrian Belmont had been making every effort to avoid arousing suspicion since the day he enrolled.
Inside, he wanted to disregard all the nobles of the Empire completely, but he suppressed himself and focused on mingling closely with them to enhance his reputation.
A kind and cultured prince from a foreign land; that was Adrian’s current reputation, so his efforts weren’t in vain.
However, there had been no significant progress in his relationship with the Third Prince, whom he had tried the hardest to get close to.
Though he attended cultured lectures and clubs with him, opportunities to talk or become closer were scarce.
Instead,
“Sir Adrian, are you doing your best right now?”
The Third Prince showed some dissatisfaction towards him.
Currently, Adrian’s role in the comic club was scripting.
Since they were planning to screen a ten-minute animation, creating a simple story to match wasn’t too difficult.
Adrian adapted a part from the numerous tales of heroes and knights he had read and wrote it down, which earned satisfaction from all the other members.
Except for one. The Third Prince, Edric Bell.
“Is there perhaps something you disliked?”
“No, Sir Adrian’s script was marvelous. It was a flawless story.”
Adrian barely managed to hold back the urge to question why he would say such a thing.
It was ridiculous to think that the least helpful person in the club, the Third Prince, was nitpicking, leaving Adrian dumbfounded.
“I can’t draw, so I’m not as helpful as the other members.” (Edric)
“-But I’m having fun just practicing drawing; you don’t seem to be enjoying it at all.” (Edric)
Adrian felt a pang of guilt at the Third Prince’s words.
He had a different purpose for joining the comic club, and he had only written a script to just satisfy the bare minimum.
“Don’t the other members look like they’re enjoying their work? I hope you enjoy writing your script too, Sir Adrian.”
From that day on, the Third Prince’s words kept echoing in Adrian’s mind.
What kind of story would make him happy?
Even if there was such a thing, wouldn’t it be pointless to re-burden the members who had already started working? he thought.
“But… just this once.”
Adrian began to write a new story, merely for fun, or rather, under the pretense of using his spare time to write.
Music. The animation he was making was filled with important elements, both the visuals and the sound.
So Adrian thought a short story centered on a song would fit perfectly, and he began to write about it.
He couldn’t see his own expression, but Adrian’s face was clearly smiling as he poured his heart into the writing.
*
“Hello, my name is Ismael!”
“Nice to meet you, I… no, I’m Lin.”
In the main branch of the Yuren Merchant Association in the capital, Caldea.
Usually a place where limited edition comic books were sold, outsiders were not allowed entry.
But today, three outsiders were sitting in the reception room, drinking tea and engaging in conversation.
The winners of the Cosmic Super Comic Contest, who were invited today for their awards, shared nothing in common.
One was a boy who hadn’t outgrown his youth, the only woman was a black-haired lady who looked like she was raised delicately, and there was also a middle-aged man sitting silently and quietly with a dark expression, keeping his distance from the others.
No matter how you looked at it, they were an ill-matched group, and it was unbelievable that these mismatched individuals had made it through such fierce competition.
“Can I call you sister?”
“Sure, feel free to.”
Perhaps because he was friendly, the boy continued to engage the woman in various discussions.
In fact, he also tried talking to the middle-aged man a few times, but received no significant response.
Watching these interactions, Esteban, the guild leader of Yuren Merchant Association, was burning inside.
‘This is driving me crazy, please just be quiet, kid!!!’
Esteban wanted nothing more than to sew the boy’s mouth shut right then and there.
When he heard from the staff that the winners had come to visit the association, he was nearly knocked out by surprise.
The reason was the exceptionally beautiful woman among the winners, of course—not just her appearance, but also the status she held.
‘Why on earth is Her Highness participating in the contest… and why did the Young Master choose the princess’s work?’
Learning that the writer of the much-praised “Puppet Play” by Rupert was Princess Ioleen made Esteban want to flee to the farthest corner right then.
In truth, he secretly blamed Rupert for picking the princess’s work, even though he had thought upon seeing it for the first time that it was bound to win.
No one could have expected that the writer of such an extraordinary piece was the princess.
“Guild Leader, Young Master Rupert has arrived.”
“Quickly, let him in!”
Feeling like he was crossing an ice-cold lake every second, Esteban responded immediately to the staff announcing Rupert’s arrival.
‘I’m done with this; it’s all on you from now on, Young Master.’
Esteban decided to leave the aftermath to Rupert.
He had sensed for a while that Rupert had a unique knack for navigating disastrous situations and figured he would somehow survive.
*
“Congratulations to Duma, the winner of the Excellence Award for ‘Avenger.’”
“…Thank you.”
The man, who had worn a bad expression since they had been waiting in the reception room, finally showed a brief smile at the moment of receiving the award.
“Then I would like to have a brief discussion about serialization with the winners; would that be alright?”
“Yes.”
All three winners readily responded, but Rupert’s gaze was solely fixed on one spot.
‘What on earth am I supposed to do with this?’
Rupert felt a headache as he watched Ioleen, who seemed delighted with her award, meticulously examining the trophy she held.
-I have an important deal to take care of today, so I’d like you to handle the rest.
As soon as he arrived at the association, Rupert felt uneasy as he saw the guild leader practically darting away.
Sure enough, when he spotted the princess quietly seated in the reception room, he nearly screamed.
Her sweet smile when she locked gazes with him felt like the grim reaper staring him down.
However, he couldn’t just disqualify her now, so he hid his tension and somehow proceeded with the awards ceremony.
And now it was time to discuss serialization with the winners, so they moved back into the reception area.
“We will be launching a new format of comic book at Yuren Merchant Association.”
“A new format?”
“Yes, we are going to create a comic magazine format.”
Rupert briefly explained to them how the magazine serialization would work.
Initially, the winners, who were unfamiliar with the unprecedented approach of having multiple works serialized every issue, struggled to understand.
“It’s definitely something that could catch people’s interest; it targets precisely the points comic readers have been longing for.” (Duma)
Only Duma, the former merchant, grasped the benefits of Rupert’s magazine serialization instantly.
“That may be true, but it isn’t without its downsides.”
Rupert continued explaining that, including the winners’ works and those of his apprentices, six works would be serialized once every two weeks.
While the magazine serialization did have its advantages, it also had clear downsides that needed to be addressed.
‘At least it’s biweekly now, but a weekly serialization would be impossibly demanding.’
For readers, waiting a week may feel long, but for the artists, a week is far too short to complete their work.
Usually, the time to create a single episode shouldn’t exceed five days to make a weekly serialization possible.
Thus, the time to conceive a story or sketch was alarmingly insufficient, often leading to a decline in the comic’s quality.
Moreover, without any break, immediately after finishing one episode, they would need to start on the next, which could lead to deterioration in health or quality of the work becoming a regular occurrence.
Rupert knew this all too well, having previously participated in weekly webtoon serialization in Korea.
‘I need to spend at least a month building up serialized content with these guys and check how it goes.’
Especially since these individuals would be serializing their works for the first time.
If it seemed they couldn’t handle biweekly serialization, even if it would be regrettable, he was ready to consider abandoning the project.
“Ismael and Duma, you two will be staying at my workshop for a month to work on the comics.”
Since both Ismael and Duma lived far from Somerset’s workshop, Rupert was pleased when they happily agreed.
“And… Miss Lin, I expect it will be difficult for you, but could you send the amount you work on weekly to the mansion?”
Rupert cautiously asked the last remaining award winner, Ioleen.
He still couldn’t gauge whether a princess could work under a pseudonym, but it was necessary to check her willingness first.
It would be a relief if she didn’t want to; if she did agree, they would have to come up with a plan.
“That shouldn’t be difficult; however…”
“However?”
“I would like to hear the author’s opinion on my work.”
Previously, Ioleen had passionately shared her thoughts on a fairy tale Rupert had drawn.
Now, she was asking for evaluation of her own work in a complete reversal of roles.
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