Chapter 890 - 890: Finally, A lead

The Duke gestured respectfully for the King to enter first.

The Crown Prince exhaled and let the tension in his shoulders ease by a fraction, as if choosing not to press the matter further in public.

"You are either very fortunate," he said, "or very good at making dangerous things sound ordinary."

Julian's reply was mild.

"When you fall to the lowest of the low, the path to the top seems pretty clear. It may be that you were always at the top, so the mountains above you were never in your sight."

That silenced the Crown Prince.

For a moment he said nothing at all. The easy half-smile he had been wearing faded, and something unguarded moved through his expression.

Julian watched it carefully.

Emotion flickered across the prince's face in small shifts, one after another, like a child turning a switch on and off without deciding which position to leave it in.

The whole conversation had been unexpected, but Julian found it strangely interesting.

The Crown Prince was sharp, proud, and dangerous in the way privileged men often were. Yet he did not feel as overwhelming as Julian had first assumed from the black flame's reaction alone.

There was power around him, yes.

There was also insecurity beneath - especially when the talk turned to talent and rank.

That did not make him harmless. It only meant he was human enough to be read.

"Your Highness," Julian called out.

The Crown Prince glanced at him.

"How did you manage to control me?" Julian asked. "I am an Arch Mage. You yourself said you have not reached that realm yet. But when you looked at me earlier, I felt an overwhelming heat and a strange presence inside my body."

The Crown Prince raised a brow.

"So you mean you have not figured it out?"

Julian shook his head. "No. I have never felt that way before. But the moment I looked into your eyes, I felt a strange heat, as if my soul itself were crying."

"Hmmm."

The Crown Prince hummed under his breath, but he did not answer at once.

Julian was hoping to draw something useful from him, but the man was clever enough to not rush.

He walked a few steps in silence, his eyes lowered slightly, as if weighing how much could be said without cost.

At last the Crown Prince spoke.

"It is a technique called Soul Manipulation," he said. "One of my mentors at the royal palace taught it to me."

Julian's eyes glinted.

Soul Manipulation.

The name alone was heavy. If what he felt in the corridor was only a portion of it, then the technique was not simple pressure or raw mana dominance.

It touched something fundamental.

That explained why an incomplete Arch Mage was able to force a reaction from him so cleanly.

"That sounds strong," Julian said. He paused, then continued with a curiosity in his face. "Now that makes me wonder how powerful that mentor must be. A Grand Mage, surely. Or even beyond that."

The Crown Prince's mouth curved again, though more carefully than before.

"You are asking a dangerous question in a very polite way."

"I am only thinking aloud," Julian replied. "A technique that can disturb an Arch Mage through the soul is not something one learns from an ordinary instructor. Whoever taught you that would have to stand far above common rank."

The Crown Prince glanced at him sideways. "And if I said yes?"

"Then I would be impressed," Julian said. "And more cautious."

That earned another chuckle.

"At least you are honest about the second part." The Crown Prince clasped his hands behind his back as he walked. "The royal palace does not lack talented teachers. Some are known. Some are left unnamed on purpose. Soul Manipulation is not a technique handed to every prince who wants a sharper blade for court politics. I was trusted with it because I could endure the training."

"And the cost?" Julian asked.

The Crown Prince's eyes narrowed slightly. "What makes you think there was a cost?"

"There is always a cost," Julian said. "Especially for techniques that touch the soul."

For a moment it seemed the Crown Prince might stop answering altogether. Then he gave a small shrug.

"The cost was time," he said. "Pain. And the understanding that once you learn to touch another soul, you also become harder to deceive about your own." His smile returned, thinner now. "You felt heat. Others before you felt fear. A few felt nothing at all, which usually meant they were either far stronger than expected… or already empty in ways that made them useless."

Julian noted each of his words.

So the technique could create heat, fear, or no response depending on the target. That meant the black flame's reaction was not necessarily a proof that the Crown Prince understood what lived inside Kraven's body.

"Your mentor must be extraordinary," Julian said. "To plant such a method in a prince who has not yet crossed into Arch Mage, and still make it effective."

The Crown Prince looked ahead again. "He is."

Julian did not push further. The fact that the prince had admitted the technique's name at all was already more than he had expected. Greed for additional detail would only sharpen suspicion.

Instead he nodded once, as if satisfied.

"Then I will take tonight as a valuable lesson. If Your Highness can do that much without having broken through yet, the day you become an Arch Mage will be difficult for your enemies."

The Crown Prince's expression eased into something closer to pride. "Remember that, Lord Kraven. It may save you unnecessary confidence later."

"I intend to," Julian replied.

They continued walking toward the guest wing, side by side once more. To anyone farther ahead, they would have looked like two young men finishing a private conversation under formal light.

Between them, however, the balance had shifted slightly.

The Crown Prince still believed he held the clearer view of the board. Julian now knew one of the tools in his hand, and more importantly, he knew that tool had a teacher behind it. A mentor strong enough to hand out methods that touched the soul itself.

That was no ordinary palace instructor.

And if such a figure stood close to the Crown Prince, then the trail toward the Servant of Death had just grown clearer.