I Became an Outcast in the Academy

4. Healing (1)

It was no coincidence that Ricardo was in the imperial palace today.

“Just in case you don’t know, go to the imperial palace today.”

“… What?”

This morning, Lobelia made such a request to Ricardo endlessly.

“Why the Imperial Palace? Why should I go there when I have nothing to do in the first place?”

“I heard the news somewhere, but I heard somewhere that the Cartesian woman is going to go to the imperial palace.”

Lobelia shrugged her own shoulders with a look that she couldn’t understand at all.

“Do you know that the princess has been following my brother like a dog lately? Leticia says that if Cartesa goes to the imperial palace, there might be a risk that my brother will go there too.”

“… Xi’an, that lowly thing in the imperial palace? What are you going to do?”

As soon as Lobelia’s undesirable name came out of her mouth, Ricardo’s harsh words also came out of her mouth.

And at that moment, Lobelia hardened her own face and stared at Ricardo.

“Ricardo, anyway, Cyan is my brother. And I’m Xian’s sister. Do you really not know that if you curse at Xian like that, I’ll catch you and curse at you too?”

“You are not like Xian, Lobelia. It’s not like I had blood mixed with him in the first place.”

Ricardo was aloof, but he said that with sincerity in his own way.

Cyan and Lobelia, on the outside, were so similar that they couldn’t even be called siblings.

From the way she looked to the air that emanated from her body, none of the lowly things in Xi’an were any better than her own stepsister.

‘And, crucially, unlike that worm in Xian, Lobelia has a strong affinity with spirits.’

In the far distant past, the first emperor who created an empire took a non-human ‘someone’ as his partner, and that lineage has been inherited by all members of the royal family to this day.

That’s why each of those who can be said to be the direct lineage of the imperial family had a special ability, although the type or size of power was different. In Ricardo’s case, he was born with the ability to summon spirits right away.

Unfortunately, however, Ricardo’s ability to summon spirits was never something powerful enough to show off confidently in front of others.

Ricardo himself also quickly gave up on developing his own abilities, and changed his mind to forging his sword.

That must have been the case. It is said that he thought of making Lobelia his lover, who has her strong affinity with spirits, and furthermore, making her her crown princess.

Ricardo thought of his future and the child that Lobelia would later give birth to, he regarded her as equal to him, and for that very reason he hated her drafts in contrast with her all the more.

Now, even if Leticia or Lobelia didn’t bother to encourage Ricardo by her side, she herself came to hate her cyan on her own.

“Okay, as you said, going to the imperial palace wouldn’t be bad either. It’s been quite a while since I’ve had an audience with His Majesty recently.”

I don’t know what else Xian and Cartesia have to do in the imperial palace, but if the information is clear, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to disturb them.

With such a light heart, right after entering the imperial palace, Ricardo happened to meet Cartesia and Xian face to face.

And.

“Shut up.”

“… What?”

“Shut up your mouth now, Ricardo.”

For a moment, Ricardo thought he might have heard hallucinations.

Because from the time he was born until now, no one in the world has ever said anything like that to Ricardo.

But that was short-lived, and when Ricardo realized what Cian had just said, he was genuinely enraged.

“Ha! Crazy bastard, you are truly insane! Even if you dare to say such a thing to me, the crown prince of the empire, from inside the imperial palace where His Majesty is staying, I think you will be able to leave this place safely-“

By the way, it was then.

“… Ah.”

In an instant, Ricardo realized that he was not breathing properly.

The reason was simple. For the air now surrounding him began to grow heavy, as if it had weight.

“…..”

The sky rises endlessly. The horizon knows no end and expands infinitely. All the background surrounding him loses its meaning in an instant.

In Ricardo’s world, which has turned into an achromatic world, there is only one person who maintains his proper appearance, Xian.

And the moment he met Xian’s eyes looking at him, Ricardo felt fear.

Because in Xian’s eyes, there was something latent that stimulated people’s fear.

A terrible feeling, as if a huge monster was opening its mouth in front of Ricardo’s eyes.

It was a murderous spirit that Cyan directed toward Ricardo.

“Ugh, ah… “

Ricardo’s unspoken mutterings were scattered into the air.

Cold sweat dripped down his back. No matter how hard I try, I can’t breathe properly.

I’m afraid. And it’s scary. I want to run away somewhere to avoid that gaze right now

Just when Ricardo, unable to hold on any longer, was about to scream for help as he slumped on the floor-

Quaaang!

Suddenly, a huge explosion sounds from behind them.

Among them, Cartesia was the first to notice where the explosion came from and what caused it.

“Arrieta!”

Cartesia let out a scream close to screaming and soon turned his head towards the only hope remaining in this place.

“Let’s go, Xian. I don’t have time to argue with my brother anymore. Arietta, Arithea is in danger. Something must have happened to him!”

Xian also looked at Ricardo, who was sitting on the ground and on the verge of peeing, with a contemptuous expression, and then quietly nodded his head.

“… Okay. It certainly doesn’t seem like there’s any time to hang out here. Let’s hurry up.”

At Cian’s contemptuous words towards Ricardo, Ricardo felt his senses clear and awake for a moment.

‘Couldn’t I have been afraid of him?’

He, the only crown prince of the empire, and himself, the future owner of the empire, were so frightened by such a lowly thing that he collapsed on the floor?

To the very Xian whom he usually ignored and cursed at as inferior?

Couldn’t it be that he was beaten so badly by him in a duel that he even harbored feelings of fear?

“Stop there!”

In an instant, Ricardo had to wring all his strength to avoid sinking to the floor again as he looked at Cian’s eyes, who turned his head toward him.

“Where the hell are you going? A place called the imperial palace wouldn’t be such an easy place for outsiders to come in and out!”

“It’s none of your business. This is our business, so I think it’s better for you to focus on your business.”

Ricardo’s face crumpled at Cartesia’s cold reply.

Certainly, it was. In the first place, Ricardo forcibly summoned them because he couldn’t overcome his feelings, so there was no justification for holding them.

But that fact didn’t matter anyway.

Ricardo just wanted to interrupt Xian, who had brought him such terrible fear and shame just now.

“Anyway, listening to you guys, Arietta, it looks like it’s going to head for the palace where it’s staying. Even if you, Cartesia, its blood relative, would absolutely not allow Xi’an to go there. How dare a lowly, not even aristocrat, set foot in a place where the imperial family lives. For what purpose and with whose permission do you intend to go there?”

“… That, that… “

At Ricardo’s questioning, Cartesia bit her own lower lip tightly.

If nothing else, she was unlikely to be able to reveal to Ricardo the reason why she and her plan were heading to Arietta’s palace.

Leaving aside everything else, if Ricardo found out about Cyan’s ‘ability’, the worst could have happened.

“Ha! This is ridiculous. Even so, there’s no way he sneaked into the imperial palace like a rat, so someone stupid allowed him to enter the palace… He’s a very crazy guy. To say that such a lowly thing was casually brought into the imperial palace. I promise to find out who he is and drive him out of the imperial palace… “

“Is that so? That’s a scary word, Ricardo.”

Dubuck.

I hear the sound of footsteps walking this way.

And everyone in this room turned their heads toward the sound of footsteps as if they had made an appointment.

Everyone froze as it was.

“Did you say Xian? The name of the child next to Cartesia.”

He was a middle-aged man with the impression of a lion.

He is a man who overwhelms everyone just by walking, and who catches the attention of the audience just by being present, and who seems to be very natural about ruling over others.

“Because the identity of the madman who gave that child permission to enter the imperial palace is Jim.”

Nothing else, he was the emperor of the empire.

“So… what did you just say So Ricardo, you yourself… Are you going to kick me out of the imperial palace?”