“…What? Ah, yes, of course,” Adelbert stammered.

“Great. Just one cup will do. Shall we go now?”

“…Forgive me, but I’m too drained to warp. If you could wait a moment…”

“Lazy bastard!”

Impatient, Elias grabbed his wrist and warped them both instantly.

When I warped after them, Elias was already pouring wine into a glass, his movements brisk and practiced.

“I’m drinking it first.”

“Be my guest.”

“Block him from warping if anything happens,” Elias ordered, addressing me with a glare.

“…What are you even…?”

Adelbert propped himself up halfway, his confusion evident as he glanced between us.

“Shut it! If you’re going to interfere, drink too.”

“N-no, I was just asking…”

By then, Elias had already downed the glass of wine in one gulp.

I swallowed nervously, watching him closely.

Elias tilted his head, his brow furrowing slightly.

“Hmm. There’s nothing.”

“…Seems that way.”

“Huh.”

He alternated his gaze between the wine and Adelbert, a pensive look on his face.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Elias sprawled onto the floor.

“?!”

“What are you doing?!” Adelbert’s voice was filled with alarm.

Elias remained lying there, scowling.

“I don’t want to do anything.”

“What?”

What kind of nonsense was that?

“I just… I….”

Tears seemed to be welling up in Elias’s eyes. Maybe almost having his leg shattered by his cousin had dampened his spirits.

“I just want to chop off my uncle’s—mmph!”

“Quite the morbid humor, as always. Not that it’s surprising, right?”

If this continued, he might start calling me by my real name, Luca. Before that could happen, I infused magic into his neck.

Elias collapsed into instant sleep.

“…!”

Adelbert stared at me with wide eyes.

“He’s not dead,” I reassured him.

“Ah… yes, of course.”

Before I could finish speaking, Elias’s eyes flew open.

“What was that?”

“Oh, nothing. You seem your usual self, Your Highness. May I try a drink as well?”

“Sure.”

Elias, now serious, seemed to realize something was amiss. While he often acted eccentric, this was different—even for him.

No matter how unpredictable he could be, Elias wasn’t the type to casually joke about killing his uncle’s family in front of them.

That wine… It had to contain something—a substance that amplified unspoken thoughts into words or actions.

‘What nerve.’

The Crown Prince was bold enough to use Adelbert as a tool for his schemes.

In the novel, the Crown Prince was no stranger to such tactics. Adelbert might have stood in the spotlight, but the Crown Prince’s actions were far more insidious. Adelbert was ruthless, but not cunning enough to be called underhanded.

‘Which is why he only ended up in prison.’

When Elias eventually overthrew the Crown, he wasn’t lenient with those who opposed him. Unless someone could be repurposed, he eliminated them without mercy.

Still, Elias viewed Adelbert as a valuable piece, provided his loyalty could be turned.

‘Leo disagreed back then… but that’s not important now.’

The Crown Prince was absolutely capable of orchestrating this.

With this kind of evidence, handing the wine over to the Wittelsbach family for analysis would be the best course of action.

As I poured myself a glass of wine, Adelbert, still nervous, hesitated before speaking.

“…Sir Ernst.”

“Yes?”

“…Thank you for helping me.”

He couldn’t even lift his head. Though I didn’t think I deserved his gratitude, I shrugged, understanding how he felt.

“It’s nothing.”

“And, Elias…”

“If you’re going to apologize, shut up. It’s cliché.”

Adelbert flinched at Elias’s bluntness.

“…Sorry.”

“……”

“…I know it’s shameless to say this, and I still don’t like you….”

“What?”

“…But I’m glad you weren’t hurt.”

If Elias had ended up crippled for life, Adelbert would have spent years consumed by guilt, given his personality.

Elias let out a long breath, looking as if he couldn’t be bothered to argue. He nodded slightly and rolled up his sleeves.

“Yeah, I feel the same way. Good thing I didn’t get hurt.”

“Huh? Wait, why are you—”

Adelbert instinctively backed away as Elias approached.

Smack!

“Ow!”

Adelbert clutched his head where Elias had hit him. Elias grinned triumphantly, looking satisfied.

“Had I been injured, I’d be stuck in a hospital instead of giving the Crown Prince a proper smack. That felt great.”

Was that really just a light tap?

While I chuckled dryly, Elias threw a parting comment at the teary-eyed Adelbert.

“Move on.”

“What?”

“You’re at fault, but it’s not entirely your fault either. Don’t keep digging a hole for yourself—just bury it.”

Elias suddenly narrowed his eyes and leaned closer.

“But don’t bury it so deep you forget! You get what I mean, right? Find a balance, moron. Don’t make me spell it out.”

“…Yeah. I got it.”

When Elias took another step forward, Adelbert retreated instinctively.

Just as he looked ready to yell, I checked the time and got up.

“Your Grace, it’s time to leave.”

***

I returned briefly to my room, poured some wine into a container, and left a note before warping it to Leo’s office. Analysis would begin soon enough.

‘How is it already 7 a.m.?’

Having missed out on any sleep, I accompanied Elias in a carriage to a nearby inn. From there, I warped directly to the dormitory, quickly changed clothes, and headed to the academy gates.

“You’re here, Lucas,” my homeroom professor greeted warmly.

We then endured an eight-hour train ride, finally arriving at the estate by 4 p.m.

“Go on ahead. I’ll be staying in the faculty quarters. Let me know if you need anything,” the professor said, looking utterly drained.

“Thank you for your hard work, Professor.”

The professor’s gaunt face said it all. I followed the servant waiting for me into the estate.

The servant stopped in the middle of a corridor and gestured to a large door.

“This will be your room.”

“Thank you.”

After dismissing the servant, I opened the door to find a spacious sitting room with several adjoining chambers.

Narce, playing cards with other students, glanced at me and commented on my appearance.

“You look exhausted. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Yulia said the experiment would involve divine power as an ingredient, so I tagged along. Your room’s over there—go unpack.”

She pointed to a door at the end of the hallway.

Opening the door, I wasn’t surprised to see who was inside.

“Figured you’d be here.”

“About time you showed up,” Leo said, gesturing to a desk opposite his own, as if claiming his territory.

Then, as if remembering something, he turned toward me.

“Oh, by the way, I sent the wine for analysis like you asked. What kind of wine is it, anyway?”

“It’s wine the Crown Prince gave to his brother.”

“Huh? To Prince Adelbert?”

Leo tilted his head, clearly confused.

“Elias will explain it to you later. Just ask him.”

“Alright, fair enough. By the way, Lucas, have you solved all the material from the practice books the school gave us?”

I looked up at him, catching his gaze.

“If you can’t handle that, you’ll bomb the midterms and finals.”

“True.”

The Imperial Second Academy had distributed subject-specific workbooks for the competition. As an elite institution, the material wasn’t particularly difficult.

Since this academic competition was open only to those advancing to the Experimental Tournament, the problems weren’t as hard as I’d expected—certainly not Olympiad-level.

‘That explains why everyone’s just playing cards the day before the exam….’

Leo closed his book and stood.

“Well then, forget the competition. Let’s go practice making potions.”

***

‘Forget the competition? What an attitude.’

Leo wasn’t alone in his confidence. All the students from our academy carried themselves with the same assuredness.

Once the potion practice began, everyone dove in with such focus that time flew by unnoticed. Before we knew it, the nightly roll call came around.

As I was walking back to my room after some quick errands in the hallway, a familiar conversation from some students from another school caught my attention.

“…Can you believe they actually showed up? I thought, no way, but here they are.”

“They probably bought their way in.”

“Oh yeah, didn’t they get into that other place as a donation student too?”

“Donation students at the Imperial Second Academy… ridiculous.”

“Seriously, I don’t get donation admissions. If you don’t have the skills, just don’t go. But anyway…”

When I turned to glance at them, one of the students nudged their friends, and they hurriedly dispersed.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen that kind of reaction.’

Right, the world outside the academy was still like this.

I’d been so immersed in the academy’s atmosphere that I’d almost forgotten.

Still, this was nothing compared to the scorn I’d faced back when I first entered the academy.

At least they were just talking about donation admissions this time. They weren’t mocking me outright, and given the limited information they had, it was an understandable conclusion.

‘This is how it should be.’

It validated my decision to participate here.

If my image outside the academy weren’t this dismal, I wouldn’t have had any reason to be here.

The morning of the academic competition arrived.

Students from the Imperial Second Academy gathered in the hallway outside the exam rooms, wearing serious expressions.

“Good luck, everyone.”

“I’m aiming for 50th place, just to squeak by. Leo, go take first place and boost our school’s reputation.”

“Why are you telling me? Lucas is the top of our department.”

“Oh, right.”

[The exam begins in 30 minutes. Students, please proceed to your assigned rooms.]

A robotic voice echoed through the corridor, prompting groans from the students.

“Ugh, how are we supposed to wait until evening?”

“Right? This feels like taking finals twice in one week.”

‘…They’re not worried about their scores—they just don’t want to take the test. Unbelievable.’

Confidence practically radiated from everyone.

“Let’s go.”

“Good luck, everyone!”

Students from the same school were split across different exam rooms.

I waved lightly to those who greeted me and walked into my designated room.

And so…

Half a day passed.

[The exam is now over. All students, please proceed to the academy auditorium by 10 PM.]

‘Finally.’

Honestly, the student complaining earlier wasn’t wrong—it really did feel like taking finals twice.

Stretching lightly, I stood up and left the exam room.

In the hallway, I spotted Narce exiting from the room next door.

“Lucas, how’d it go?”

“Not bad.”

“Ha! I never know what to make of you.”

Narce laughed in exasperation before gathering the other Imperial Second Academy students, and we all headed to the auditorium together. After a long wait, the host’s voice filled the room.

[Good evening, everyone.]

[We will now announce the recipients of bonus points in the Royal Bavarian Academy’s Imperial Academic Competition. Before listing the top 50, we will present awards to the first through third place winners.]

I glanced around the expansive auditorium.

About 300 students sat on the first floor, while teachers and students from various schools filled the second-floor balconies to cheer them on.

[Although the difficulty was consistent across all regions, expanding to a national level for the first time added challenges. We commend all participants for their efforts and outstanding achievements.]

‘A roundabout way of saying Bavarian students are above the imperial average….’

[We will begin with the third-place award for second-year students: Frederike Zecht, Schleswig-Holstein Provincial Magic School.]

[Congratulations. Well done.]

The president of the Royal Academy shook hands with the student, handing over a plaque and certificate.

Once the ceremony concluded, the host continued.

[Now, for second place: Leonard Wittelsbach, Imperial Second Academy.]

“Wooooooaaahhh—!”

Deafening cheers erupted, much louder than before.

‘Oh, right. His Impression score is 10.’

It was a vivid reminder of Leo’s popularity and influence.

He casually shook the hands of students reaching out to him before walking up to the stage to receive his plaque and certificate.

[Finally, the first-place award.]

As the host began drawing out the moment even more, the audience leaned forward in anticipation.

At last, he announced:

[Lucas Askanian, Imperial Second Academy.]

“…Huh?!”

“What?!”

‘…….’

The reaction was starkly different from Leo’s. Students from other schools stared at me, their faces frozen in shock.

As I walked toward the stage, the applause started hesitantly but soon filled the auditorium.

Though it was mostly polite, it was better than the dead silence I’d expected.

[Congratulations. You’re the first perfect scorer in three years. Care to say a few words?]

‘Again? This is the third time, starting with midterms.’

I’ve cursed my memory more often than I’ve appreciated it, but…

Honestly, my perspective is starting to change.

Taking the magically amplified microphone, I spoke.

[Thank you for this meaningful award. I’d like to dedicate it to the professors of the Imperial Second Academy. And…]

It would be best to avoid mentioning His Majesty, as Lucas Askanian had no direct connection to him.

[I’m grateful to everyone who helped make this possible. Thank you.]

It wasn’t aimed at anyone in particular.

After all, everyone had the same impression of me.

If I hadn’t been widely regarded as the Askanian family’s underachiever, I wouldn’t even have entered this competition. In that sense, it wasn’t an untrue statement.

As I surveyed the auditorium, still engulfed in shock, I smiled in satisfaction.

This marked the first national step in reshaping my image.

The next morning, I picked up the Royal Bavarian newspaper left outside my room and spread it out on my desk.

[Imperial Academic Competition Hosted by the Royal Bavarian Academy][Second-Year Bonus Point Recipients (Top 50)]

[Lucas Askanian: 100.0 Leonard Wittelsbach: 99.7 Frederike Zecht: 97.5 ….]

‘Looks like Leo missed one question.’

If I were His Majesty, I’d have randomized the names instead of showing scores. Either way, he kept his promise to help me rebuild my image.

Even if it meant the Crown Prince ranking below an outsider.

And…

The results of this competition had already spread internationally.

Putting the Bavarian paper aside, I opened that day’s Imperial Gazette.

Adorning the front page was a photo of a blood-smeared Adrian Askanian, smirking faintly against the backdrop of a misty forest and crumbling cityscape.

[Adrian Askanian Successfully Destroys Pleroma Outpost in Ravenna, Papal State]

I skimmed the title before playing the filtered recording of the interview.

[…This mission would have been impossible without the intelligence gathered by Duke Elias Hohenzollern and Sir Nicolaus Ernst. I look forward to working with them again.]

As the interview drew to a close, Adrian suddenly added an unexpected remark.

[…Lastly, may I send a quick message to my family?]

[Of course.]

[Thank you. Then…]

Facing the camera, Adrian smiled faintly before speaking.

[Luca.]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep