How to Live Comfortably as an Abandoned Prince
Chapter 335
Chapter 335. The Unfolded Book of the Great Sage (2)
Over a sea shrouded in pitch-black darkness, a cold, salt-laden wind lashed violently against the flags of the imperial delegation.
The Empire’s 2nd Prince, Arteo Kudente Cretian, stood motionless upon the swaying deck.
His gaze was fixed on a faint point of light far in the distance.
‘Is that the place.’
That light was not a lighthouse.
It was a colossal tower that seemed to pierce the heavens—the cradle of mages, severed from the rest of the world.
The mysterious radiance emanating from the Ivory Tower.
Arteo was on his way to the Mage Tower as the representative of the imperial delegation.
His thoughts were tangled with the true purpose of this visit.
The annual exchange meeting between the Mage Tower and the imperial family.
That was the official reason, but there was another motive behind the Emperor personally sending him.
‘To grasp the internal power structure of the Mage Tower, and…’
To uncover the truth behind the 6th Prince, who had been reported dead in the Mage Tower in the past.
The 6th Prince, Harpel Elion Cretian.
The ill-fated prince who had died the moment his Ability manifested.
According to official imperial records, he had perished due to mana reflux caused by an Ability rampage.
However, the truth hidden beneath that explanation was different.
Just before his death, the 6th Prince had been secretly sent to the Mage Tower.
At the time, Helio Valerian—the Mage Tower Master—was the Empire’s foremost authority on mana rampages.
It was the imperial family’s final gambit.
Yet the result was tragedy.
According to the Mage Tower’s report, the 6th Prince’s mana rampaged again during treatment, causing a massive explosion, and he was completely annihilated—leaving behind not even a single strand of hair.
‘But something about it does not sit right.’
A deep furrow formed between Arteo’s brows.
The Mage Tower was the most closed-off and secretive magical institution in the Empire.
Even if it had been an explosion, the claim that not a single hair of an imperial prince could be recovered was difficult to accept.
Within the imperial family, whispers had begun to circulate.
That the Mage Tower might be conducting forbidden research using the 6th Prince’s remains.
It was a reasonable suspicion.
Mages—especially those of the Mage Tower—were obsessed with research.
To them, the body of a royal might not be an ethical taboo, but an irreplaceable research material unlike any other.
The problem was that the Mage Tower Master, who should have held the key to all of this truth, had collapsed from a severe illness several years ago and remained unconscious.
There was no one left to question directly.
And so, Arteo himself had come as the head of the delegation.
He needed to meet the so-called acting Mage Tower Master, probe the tower’s true intentions, and somehow uncover clues about the 6th Prince.
As Arteo sank into his thoughts, an irritated voice broke his calm contemplation from behind.
“Can’t we go any faster? Why is a ship from the Imperial Mage Corps so slow?”
The owner of the voice was none other than the 7th Princess, Inette Dastion Cretian.
With her arms crossed, she glared at the sea, her face full of dissatisfaction.
Beside her, the apprentice holy knight of the Supreme Deity Order, Gusto Zebro, nodded in agreement.
“Is it not possible to increase our speed?”
“This is within the Mage Tower’s domain. Even allowing an imperial ship to enter is permitted only once a year. If we go any faster, we may collide with the barrier.”
Arteo’s adjutant, an imperial court magician, explained politely, but Inette’s complaints did not stop.
“The Mage Tower’s ship is already way ahead! Are you saying that old sailboat is faster than our magic vessel? Does that mean the Mage Tower is superior to the Imperial Mage Corps?”
She pointed toward the ship that had departed ahead of them to guide the delegation, rapidly pulling away in the distance.
“…Ha.”
A deep sigh escaped Arteo’s lips.
‘Why in the world did they have to come along…?’
He shot Inette a sharp look.
If not for the overwhelming influence of the 3rd Imperial Consort, Celiana, she would never have been allowed aboard this ship.
Inette had somehow learned that the “Staff of the Great Fire Spirit,” bestowed upon her by the Emperor, had been crafted by a legendary mage from the Mage Tower.
Insisting that she had to visit the Mage Tower herself to uncover the staff’s secrets, she had stubbornly forced her way into the delegation.
That much could have been tolerated.
But he had never expected an apprentice holy knight to follow as well.
‘An imperial delegation must include at least one priest capable of healing, in case of emergencies.’
It was a regulation clearly stated in imperial law.
Yet, just before departure, the priest assigned to this delegation had collapsed from acute indigestion.
The Supreme Deity Order had sent Gusto as a substitute, emphasizing that although he was only an apprentice holy knight, he possessed divine power on par with a high-ranking priest.
In the end, Arteo had no choice but to permit the two of them to accompany him.
Naturally, Arteo had no idea that these two were also heading to the Mage Tower in search of someone who had gone missing.
***
Vrrrr—
Deep within the oldest and most ancient laboratory of the Mage Tower, blue mana rose from the floor etched with ancient magic circles.
At the center of that glow, a massive glass cylinder lay shrouded in mist-like cold.
Helio Valerian stood before it, silently gazing down at the boy sleeping within.
His original sin.
A miracle.
And at the same time, a forbidden existence that must never be revealed to the world.
Just then, he sensed someone’s presence behind him.
Without turning around, Helio spoke quietly.
“You arrived sooner than I expected.”
It was his first disciple, Aaron Daryu.
“Why have you come here?”
Cold sweat beaded on Aaron’s forehead, as though he had rushed here in great haste.
“You know that in your current condition, you cannot endure the mana of this place.”
This laboratory was no ordinary space.
Here, highly refined mana drawn directly from the Mage Tower’s core pulsed incessantly without restraint.
With a body that had lost all its magic, Helio could not last even a single day in such a place.
Aaron’s red eyes shifted toward the boy inside the glass cylinder.
The 6th Prince, Harpel Elion Cretian.
A being who should have been shattered to pieces by an Ability rampage.
When the unconscious 6th Prince had first been brought to the Mage Tower, Aaron had seen it—
the flicker of elation that crossed his master’s eyes.
An opportunity to research a royal…
It had been a strange fervor that could not be explained by that alone.
Helio devoted himself to his research day and night.
And yet, despite all that effort, his research was declared a failure.
That was the official record.
The mana rampage had spiraled out of control, the 6th Prince’s body had been torn apart and scattered, and the Mage Tower had been forced to deliver the tragic news to the imperial family.
Aaron himself had believed that story.
But Helio had not given up.
At the time, deeply engrossed in botany, Helio had turned his attention to the astonishing regenerative power of plants.
Even if stems were severed and leaves torn away, as long as the roots survived, they would find a way to live again.
He began a forbidden experiment—combining fragments of the 6th Prince’s scattered flesh with the tissue of beastified plants.
It was impossible with an ordinary corpse.
But Helio believed that the body of a royal who had manifested an Ability would be different.
And his intuition proved correct.
Years later, the 6th Prince’s body was perfectly restored within the glass cylinder.
Lost limbs regrew, torn flesh healed.
His face was peaceful, as though he were simply in a deep sleep.
‘But can this truly be called the 6th Prince?’
To Aaron’s eyes, the being within the cylinder was nothing more than a “lifeform” bearing the 6th Prince’s appearance.
A new artificial life created by his master.
Aaron could not forget the shock he felt upon seeing the fully restored body.
‘Master, this is—!’
‘It is the power of the Mage Tower. Not something I accomplished alone.’
Despite the apparent success of his research, Helio showed no joy.
Perhaps it was the aftereffects of such brutal experimentation.
Soon after, Helio collapsed and sealed the laboratory.
Then, for reasons Aaron could not fathom, he secretly summoned Armandy and named him his successor.
Not a single one of those decisions made sense to Aaron.
No one was closer to his master than he was.
As the Mage Tower Master’s first disciple, should he not have inherited everything?
The authority of the Mage Tower Master.
His magic.
His research.
All of it should have belonged to Aaron.
And if so, then this lifeform should also have been the Mage Tower’s property—and his.
As Aaron stared at the glass cylinder, Helio spoke.
“My decision has not changed. This must be destroyed.”
Helio’s voice was resolute.
At those words, Aaron’s gaze turned cold.
“My decision has not changed either. This will be used for the Mage Tower.”
Whatever the case, its outward appearance was undeniably that of a royal.
Even if it lacked memories or a soul, what did that matter?
The imperial family would not be able to deny the return of a prince they believed dead.
“I will announce to the incoming imperial delegation that the 6th Prince was alive.”
Aaron spoke as if declaring war on his master.
“And before everyone, I will proclaim that I—the one who uncovered this great achievement—am the rightful successor to the Mage Tower.”
“That will not happen.”
The moment Helio finished speaking, a blinding light burst forth from the ancient magic circle beneath his feet.
Though his mana was exhausted, the “will” he possessed as Mage Tower Master was moving the tower itself.
Huuuuum—!
The entire laboratory trembled as a transparent barrier rose, blocking Aaron’s path.
Aaron clenched his teeth at the sight.
“Must you truly go this far?”
“Leave at once. Before I shatter the glass cylinder.”
Helio’s voice was sharp, but Aaron knew his limits.
Maintaining that barrier with a mana-less body was impossible for long.
It would not last more than a few days.
Grinding his teeth, Aaron turned away, deciding to calm his master for now.
But he had no intention of giving up.
He was dreaming of something far grander.
Not merely possessing the 6th Prince, but seizing that artificial lifeform’s body itself.
A plan his master could never even imagine.
An opportunity to swallow the Empire beneath the Mage Tower’s influence.
To do that, he would need to obtain far greater power.
At that moment, as if responding to Aaron’s seething desire, a cold blue light leaked from within his clothes.
-Now it finally gets interesting.
The voice of the Archdemon of Greed, Mammon, whispered sweetly into his ear.
***
In the dead of night, when all slept, Radel slipped out of the laborers’ quarters and returned once more to the Abandoned Collection Area.
-Why come all the way back here at this hour?
The Spirit of the Library grumbled.
There was no obvious reason to revisit an empty vegetable garden.
The elder had vanished, and Armandy had left to search for traces of his master.
Radel smiled faintly.
In his hand was something.
The note the elder had left for him, along with the compost-making method.
[O nly this day have I waited for. I was always worried because of my two disciples.]
[O verlost though I was, I am glad you came. I must leave without even leaving proper farewells.]
[D o not expect evasions. Thank you for taking responsibility and granting my request.]
Taking only the first letters of each sentence revealed the elder’s true message.
‘A book inside the hut.’
Radel’s eyes turned toward the old hut where the elder had once stayed.
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