I Became the Youngest Prince in the Novel
Chapter 8

Purging the Weeds III

“How was your time with Prince Sion, Your Highness?”

Ivelin Agnes had returned to her palace, and she was greeted by a bowing middle-aged knight with a prominent scar that ran diagonally across his face.

She stayed silent for a moment, then nodded. “It was good.”

“Why have you brought the knights back with you?” asked the knight.

“He refused them.”

“I beg your pardon? Prince Sion refused the knights?”

“Yes.”

The man looked confused. It made little sense—the imperial castle had been breached and the Sunken Star Palace attacked. The prince had nearly been killed. It wouldn’t have been surprising if he’d wanted asylum in this palace, but instead, he’d refused any and all aid.

In addition, Ivelin had looked quite different from usual as she’d given her answer.

Normally, she has a bitter expression on her face when she talks about him...

That emotion was still visible on her face today, but now, other emotions coexisted beside it. The knight saw worry, sympathy, and...surprised confusion.

What had happened during today’s meeting?

“He’s changed,” Ivelin muttered, almost to herself instead of to her knight. “So much, in fact, that I’m not sure he’s even the same person.”

She mulled over the conversation she’d just had with her brother. His behavior had been a departure from his usual ways, to be sure. However, his claim that he would take part in the ascendancy ritual had not only shocked her but made her angry. In Ivelin’s opinion, Sion was sure to die if he tried it.

Sion was the only person she really loved as a younger brother—she couldn’t leave him to die. Knowing this, she’d turned her oppressive power on him in order to dissuade him.

But he withstood it.

It wouldn’t have been strange for him to have passed out the moment she activated it. But Sion had endured it easily, and not only that, he’d let the energy glide off of him like oil.

When had he achieved so much growth? Or perhaps he’d been hiding his power all along...

Ivelin felt proud and surprised, but at the same time, she sensed danger. As Sion had gazed into her eyes, she’d seen a single spinning star in his—this was the hallmark of the Celestial Tide.

But...that wasn’t the Celestial Tide.

It had been a strange sort of star she’d never seen before. The sight of it excited a fear that nested somewhere deep inside her. She considered it as she spoke to the knight.

“Bolster the security around the Sunken Star Palace without Sion noticing. Don’t ever let this happen again.”

“Understood.”

“And...have Prince Sion watched.”

The knight bowed quietly at Ivelin’s command.

* * *

“Ha ha! Princess Ivelin must care about you considerably,” Fredo said from beside Sion, smiling with gratification. Meanwhile, Sion gazed down at an item on his desk.

It was a round object that gave off a bright blue light—the amalgamation of massive amounts of mana.

It was the heart of a millennium-old ogre.

Ogres were symbols of strength and stamina,

and when such creatures lived a thousand years,

power gathered in their hearts.

It was said that when a human consumed an ogre’s heart, they would gain great improvement to their physical strength and endurance.

“To think she’d offer you something so precious so willingly...”

Ivelin had sent Sion healthy foods on multiple occasions to help him with his frail constitution,

but this was the first time she’d given him something more efficacious than most elixirs.

This will do as a temporary expedient, Sion thought as he felt the mana coming from the object.

An ordinary person would not be able to absorb more than a fourth of the mana in the heart, even if they cooked and ate it. The most they could gain from it would be denser bone and stronger muscle. But Sion was different.

He was sure he could drain every bit of power from the heart and gain the most anyone could. That also meant he would have much fewer restrictions when using Dark Celestial Essence, at least, for the time being.

It wouldn’t be a fundamental solution, however, unless he somehow managed to rebuild this body from the ground up.

Ivelin Agnes.

She certainly was worthy of being one of the protagonists of the novel. Even though the novel’s plot was only just starting, she was already complete as a ruler and as a warrior. The stars in her eyes attested to the fact that she’d already achieved the highest possible tier of mastery in the Celestial Tide.

According to the book, this was a power granted only to the direct descendants of the Agnes line. It was known to be a power stronger than any other, and understandably, those who had acquired it were usually far more powerful than those who hadn’t.

Just like with the Dark Celestial Essence, the number of stars changed to reflect the level of mastery.

But something isn’t right.

He hadn’t known when he’d read the dusty old tome, but meeting her in person had informed him of something. He’d felt Ivelin’s Celestial Tide briefly, and there seemed to be a similarity to his Dark Celestial Essence, though it was slight.

Dark Celestial Essence was a power granted to him alone. So how was it that this Celestial Tide felt similar?

But then again, it makes no sense that I found myself transported into a book in the first place.

He shook his head, realizing that there was more to be learned. Then he considered his meeting with Ivelin again.

Six stars—that’s almost peak mastery.

Ivelin Agnes had revealed her power to intimidate him, and Sion had shown her his Dark Celestial Essence in response.

If he hadn’t done so, Ivelin would have never given up on forcing him to abdicate any thought of participating in the ascendancy ritual.

“Fine...all right. If you want it so badly, so be it.”

Ivelin had seemed momentarily taken aback by his reaction, but she’d rescinded her argument in the end.

“I won’t ask you about the power you have. At least, not right now. But I would appreciate an explanation at some point when you think the time is right,” she’d said.

She’d then discussed things to watch out for during the ascendancy ritual and had asked Sion how he’d been doing so far in his training for it.

Ivelin’s concern let Sion know that she carried quite a bit of affection for him. That was probably why she’d offered him something as valuable as the ogre’s heart.

Indeed, the real reason Ivelin had come to the Sunken Star Palace was out of worry for his safety and to give him the heart.

Maybe I could use this goodwill of hers at some point.

“Your Highness, Lady Priscilla Barmelle is here to see you.”

Suddenly, an attendant announced the visitor from outside the door—it was almost as if they knew that he’d just wrapped up his thoughts regarding Ivelin.

“Send her in.”

A woman with red-brown hair and striking dark-red eyes walked inside.

“Why did you ask to see me suddenly? You all but ignored me for quite some time,” she snipped, still sounding gruff. There was, however, an odd gleam of expectation in her eyes.

“You’ve been staying at the palace. I’d like you to earn your keep.”

“What?” Priscilla balked, furrowing her brow at the sudden statement. “I’m not sure I follow.”

“How long does it take to complete this?” Sion thrust out his hand, which held a slip of paper.

“This is all too sudden—”

She stopped short when she saw writing on the paper. Her eyes filled with surprise.

“How... Where did you get this?” Priscilla asked. She held it so close to her face that it nearly touched her nose.

A magic array was drawn on the paper.

“I drew it,” Sion answered.

“What? I’m sorry? You drew this?”

She looked beyond shocked. It was surprising that he knew how to draw magic arrays at all, but that wasn’t the problem.

“This format, structure...and the way it’s powered... I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Priscilla was an excellent magician in her own right, and thanks to the influence of her family, she had access to the most recent theories put forth by the various magic towers. This had not been featured in any of them, which had to mean that Sion had invented it.

No matter how easy a concept was, creating something from scratch required extreme mastery of a field.

I had no idea Prince Sion was so well-versed in magic...

“I asked you how long it would take.”

Sion figured he knew what Priscilla was thinking, but he didn’t bother to clear up the misunderstanding.

This was a magic array known by the simple name “Foe Locator Sigil.” It had been featured in Chronicles of Plocimaar the’s Warrior. However, it had been developed right before the war between humanity and the Demonic Lands two years from now, so in this current timeline, it did not yet exist.

It had only one function, but it was a very useful one.

The book had featured a detailed diagram of the magic array, almost as if to teach the readers how to draw it—that was how Sion had remembered it.

“I can finish it by tomorrow for certain,” she said, her eyes still on the magic array. She’d never seen it before, but its structure and underlying principles weren’t all that complex. It would be easy to create.

The problem was its purpose.

This looks like detection magic, but it’s slightly different. It’s almost like its purpose is to forcibly retrieve information...

Perhaps the question was too prominent on her mind. Moving her eyes away from the paper for the first time, she asked him, “Do you mind if I ask what you intend to use this for?”

“To prepare for a hunt,” he replied with a faint smile.

* * *

It was late afternoon. The sun cast a red light across the world as it set over the White Star Palace.

One of the maids of the Sunken Star Palace, Hannah, was hurrying along, gazing at the sunset.

“I wonder what this is about?” she mused, her eyes full of bewilderment. Other attendants and knights in the castle were equally querulous as they walked along the corridor.

Prince Sion had suddenly issued a command: everyone must assemble in the training field outside the palace. Hannah and all the others who worked in the palace were now moving to complete that order.

“Hannah,” came a gentle voice from behind.

She turned around and noticed an old man—his gray hair was neatly pushed back over his head.

“Oh! Baren!” she exclaimed happily.

This was Baren, the deputy chamberlain. He’d worked at the Sunken Star Palace for over twenty years, and he was popular among the attendants thanks to how kind and gentle he was. Hannah loved him like her own grandfather.

She walked up beside him. “Do you know why His Highness asked us to gather?”

“Not really,” Baren replied. “Ever since he changed, I can’t seem to predict what he’s thinking at all. He was never the sort to explain his actions, though.”

“You’re right...” Hannah agreed with a nod. “And the new him scares me a little.”

The prince had changed since the attack, and it was much rarer to see him in the palace now. He never asked the attendants to do anything anymore. It made their work easier, but Hannah was afraid of him. When she spotted him at times in the distance, she felt a chill, like she’d been thrown into cold water.

The odd sense of strangeness that radiated from him was more than enough to make her afraid.

The two walked for some time.

“It looks like more than just today’s night shift that was called,” Hannah remarked to Baren as she looked at those who were already waiting in the training field.

She soon noticed Sion, standing in the center of the field.

The way he looked quietly down at everyone,

without saying a word,

gave her an ominous feeling for some reason.

She found herself cringing despite herself at the chill coursing through her body.

“Begin,” came Prince Sion’s cold voice. He seemed to think everyone was here.

At the same time, Priscilla, who was standing beside him, nodded and began a chant. A red light began to glow from the magic array that had been drawn onto the floor of the training field.

It grew brighter as she continued her chant, not only filling the entire field but spilling over to the palace itself.

The attendants and knights backed away with frowns on their faces, perhaps feeling an instinctive repulsion.

“What is that light—huh? Baren?”

As Hannah shuddered at the odd red light, she turned questioningly to the chamberlain. Unlike her and the others who seemed repelled by the light, Baren was staring at the magic array as if mesmerized. It almost looked as though he wanted to approach it.

Hannah was about to grab his clothing when a drop of blood redder than the magic array itself fell into its center.

“Oh... Oh god...”

Hannah saw a hideous transformation overcome Baren, the man who’d treated her like his own granddaughter.

An earsplitting scream ripped through the air.

Huge tentacles burst from every orifice of his body.