ALL NOVEL Chapter 45
Thanks to the golden rose Acella brought, I was able to enhance the candy.
―――――――――――
– Golden Honey Candy
– Effects upon consumption:
– Recover 1.5 treatment over 6 hours from health reduced due to internal bleeding
– Alleviates stomach pain
It’s a flavor that melts your tongue!
―――――――――――
A fantastic candy that not only covers the reduction but also recovers more was completed.
As soon as I popped it in my mouth, I felt like I had narrowly escaped death in a race!
‘Now even the yellow roses are insufficient.’
Thanks to Acella bringing in quite a few golden roses, I can last for a while.
I need to find a way to cultivate golden roses, but the land available in the imperial palace is barely the backyard of the Moonlight Palace, so I should send seeds to my family home.
If I leave the greenhouse construction method to Neria, she’ll quickly fill a mountain with golden roses. Such a reliable little sister.
‘Well, thanks to Acella this time, I’ve saved my life.’
Honestly, after hundreds of repetitions, I thought weird things could happen.
I borrowed money, so I guess I should pay it back.
“Your Highness.”
“Yes.”
“I have received a great favor this time. The grace bestowed upon this mere attending physician…”
“Shh.”
Acella brought her index finger to her lips with an annoyed expression.
“I told you. I hate that kind of frustrating talk.”
“You did. Actually, I feel the same.”
In ten years, Acella would have immediately smashed the fingers of any noble who didn’t show a hint of politeness.
I guess she hasn’t tasted power much yet.
“Then how should I repay the favor for today’s work?”
“The price, huh.”
Acella stood up from her seat.
Strength filled her hand holding the wand.
“Prince, will you become the best attending physician?”
“I’m not sure about being the best, but I want to be the most famous doctor.”
“Good.”
I didn’t know what intent Acella had with that question, but it seemed she found the answer she desired.
“Then I will become the Emperor of the Empire.”
“What?”
I didn’t understand how that conclusion was reached.
Acella’s reasoning was not something a petty criminal like me could keep up with.
She pouted her lips in indifference at my reaction.
“Is that not enough?”
“No, of course not.”
If being an emperor isn’t enough, then I guess she’d go for unifying the entire continent.
That would probably give rise to a destruction route that didn’t even exist, increasing the bad endings to a thousand!
[No. 012: Collapse of the Empire 30% → 8%]
Conversely, the system notified me of a reduced chance for the collapse ending of the Empire.
This meant that Acella’s hatred for the imperial palace had decreased, at least recognizing it as a place she wanted to live.
At the end of the day, most of the knights cheered for Acella’s performance.
Though she doesn’t show it, Acella loves being praised. Perhaps that made her consider sparing the imperial family.
“I feel like I could use recall one more time soon.”
Acella focused her mind.
As her casting ended, the hatchling used during the demonstration flapped its wings and landed on her hand.
“This should be enough.”
Before long, light shone brightly, and the rickety hut was half destroyed.
An old man walked in, stepping on the fallen logs, shaking his ridiculous beard.
“Wow, I’ve searched for ages! Couldn’t you have informed me sooner?”
Seymour chuckled as he approached us.
“Master.”
“Thanks to you, my vacation is in ruins. But seeing both of my students safe is a relief. Oops, should I have arrived later? Didn’t want to interrupt the nice atmosphere.”
“Stop joking around at a time like this. I want to collapse onto the bed right now.”
“Just you?”
“Of course?”
Seymour’s strange questioning made it clear he was getting a bit senile. Acella looked rather annoyed as well.
“If you’re ready, let’s go home. High Teleport.”
Seymour waved his wand, connecting six magic circles.
Ugh, another teleport.
Although I had to take it a few hours before traveling for it to be effective, it was better than nothing, so I dug through my gown pocket looking for some nausea medication.
“Ugh.”
A lot seemed to have gone missing.
“I got wet from the rain earlier.”
Without a trace of guilt, the royal princess explained without a care in the world.
Right, please take it all!
When I returned to the imperial palace, I ended up groaning and suffering until the next day.
*
“Your attending physician collapses before their lord? How pathetic.”
Back safely at the Moonlight Palace thanks to Seymour’s teleport, Acella hurled insults at Lars.
Lars swallowed a cough behind his mask, unable to hide Acella’s wrath slipping in as well.
Seeing him struggling due to the aftereffects, Seymour chuckled happily.
“Let’s call it a day. I’ll check Acella’s magic circuit myself.”
“I couldn’t possibly trouble the sage…”
“Then go back if you want to go back.”
It was only when Acella ordered that Lars moved his body slowly.
In the study room of the Moonlight Palace, only Acella and Seymour remained. Seymour wore a broad smile, like a traditional mask.
“Looks like you pulled off some amazing magic, Acella. You defeated the dragon.”
“Yes.”
“I hear the main force of the martial arts tournament is expected to return tomorrow as planned.”
“They’re returning tomorrow?”
Even after such an incident, the Emperor still planned to enjoy the Flower Viewing Festival.
Then again, it would be far worse to have an annual event canceled just because of a mere demon.
It could also give enemy nations the impression that the Empire’s might had weakened.
I decided to overlook the fact that they didn’t bother searching for me.
“Recall will be banned. You’ll be bound by the space magic sealing agent. This includes all the wizards from the martial arts tournament. I’ll handle it.”
“Is that so.”
Acella replied calmly.
Seymour walked slowly around the room but made no attempt to sit down, as he felt no discomfort from his lack of sensation.
“I can guess the construction type. It’s obvious it’s a magic only you can use. You pierced the fifth magic circle from a higher-dimensional perspective, right?”
“That’s right. You are indeed the master.”
“You don’t have to worry about recall leaking to foreign countries, but the Emperor might think differently. He’s becoming more cowardly as he ages.”
“But someone teleported the dragon.”
“Must be Camilla.”
As that name was mentioned, silence fell.
The only two people who could both teach Acella magic and understand it fully in this world were just her and the suspect.
One of them was here, so the other must be the culprit.
“There’s probably no evidence left anywhere. The dragon’s nest was beyond the eastern mountain range in an undeveloped area, not in the midplane. It was an unexpected place, but it’s true it wasn’t far from the martial arts tournament.”
“…Why did Her Majesty do that?”
“To ask that question, Acella, you first need to consider why Camilla came to the imperial palace.”
Seymour said calmly.
“With this incident, it’s safe to say Camilla has become your enemy. Be careful for a while. You need to distinguish between allies and enemies.”
“Seymour, are you an ally?”
“Haha, you clever little one.”
Seymour grinned and lightly tapped the top of Acella’s head.
“You know well. I’m on the side of the more valuable mage.”
“Yes.”
Acella also knew Seymour well after long interactions, understanding his eccentric obsession with high-tier magic.
Even if you were his favorite apprentice, you wouldn’t get excessive affection.
“Do you want a sure ally? Then you should be looking after your attending physician.”
“Lars is…”
Acella thought of him and shook her head.
“I don’t really know. What he’s thinking.”
“Do you know what you’re thinking?”
“Unconsciousness gets corrupted the moment it’s observed.”
“If you don’t observe it, you’ll never know. Observing thoughts is what we call conversation.”
Seymour meant that Acella needed to have an honest dialogue with Lars.
Yet Acella didn’t want to do that.
He was her beloved one but also her politically tangled betrothed.
She didn’t want to lose her initiative.
She wanted to know everything about him but keep her own thoughts hidden.
‘Notebook.’
The bizarre sentences written there came to mind.
“Master, what do you think of a person who endlessly hypothesizes about the end of the world or how they might die?”
“One of two things. A patient, or a prophet.”
Taken aback by the unexpected word, Acella asked.
“A prophet?”
“Indeed. A prophet prepares countless scenarios so they can lie about having foreseen events when they occur. There are ninety-nine swindlers out of a hundred prophets.”
“Hmm…”
Acella couldn’t help but be drawn in by Seymour’s words.
“What about a real prophet?”
“A wizard skilled enough to use clairvoyance.”
“Clairvoyance.”
Acella’s eyes sparkled with curiosity at the new word.
“What kind of magic is that?”
“It’s a time-type magic. It observes all possible events that could happen in the future.”
“All possible events?”
“Haha, it’s merely about looking at countless hypotheses. You can’t say you’ve seen our coming future. It’s useless magic.”
“For example?”
“I’m rolling a die right now. Do you think the result could be any of the six numbers from 1 to 6?”
“Must be.”
“Clairvoyance shows you not only when the die hits the ground or collides with the table but also the scene when someone bursts into the room while it’s rolling. All are possible outcomes. In another timeline, they might’ve even happened already.”
“So that means you can’t know what will come up when you actually roll the die.”
“Exactly. You have to actually roll the die to find out what comes up.”
After listening to Seymour’s explanation, Acella fell into thought for a moment.
Anyhow, it’s a magic that derives possibilities based on the present.
It would allow her to consider all political scenarios for her to become Emperor, even after she becomes one.
It seemed quite useful.
“I want to learn it.”
“Is that so?”
“Besides, space magic will be prohibited anyway. You said I have a good sense of the spacetime, right?”
“If space is off the table, then time is. Hmm, got it. I’ll have to dig through my old books. For today, just rest. Your magic circuit is all dried out.”
If she learns clairvoyance, she’ll shortly see all the ridiculous ways Lars could meet his demise.
I might as well record it in a crystal ball and tease him silly.
He might grip my skirt out of fear!
Imagining Lars like that made Acella smile gleefully, causing a little guffaw to slip out unexpectedly.