Chapter 243
Translator: Pai_
Years ago, many people questioned Turan’s decision to raise his young son as his successor.
Even as a wizard in his mid to late twenties, and as a leader, he was not only young but almost childlike in age. Why, then, would he need a successor?
Especially since he himself was such a powerful wizard that he faced no risk of being assassinated, and his lifespan was virtually infinite.
However, fifteen years after the founding of the Empire, no one questioned Turan’s decision any longer.
It was because Luska had grown into a successor worthy of the Empire, the very image of the ideal son any parent would wish for, and a perfect next leader of the Empire.
Born of two stunningly beautiful parents, he possessed handsome features.
He was thoughtful and self-controlled, far beyond what his age would suggest.
He was intelligent enough to grasp the operational structure of the Empire, even if not yet to a professional degree.
And despite still being young, he had already reached the level of a second-class wizard.
Many placed their hopes on this boy who seemed as if he had been molded into perfection itself.
Even if he did not succeed his father, they believed he would support him and help the Empire flourish even more.
Unfortunately, none of them had ever asked the boy whether he wanted to become an emperor.
***
Second-class cabin of a steam locomotive.
Luska Parsha, with his hood pulled up, stared blankly out the train window at the gray land passing by.
He had seen trains many times before, but this was the first time he had ever ridden one.
Whenever he had to travel far, he had always borrowed his parents’ power for Spatial Transfer or used the Transfer Mirrors distributed across the Empire.
But now, he could not use any of those means.
Because he had run away from home in secret.
Using a transfer mirror without authorization was a crime far more serious than simply running away, so the train was the best option he could choose.
“Ha……”
A sigh escaped the boy’s lips, while countless thoughts swirled inside him.
Should I go back now?
Father and Mother will be disappointed.
No, even if I go back now, won’t they still be disappointed?
To his own astonishment, Luska was well aware that what he was doing was incredibly foolish.
Quite unlike a sixteen-year-old boy who should act only on instinct and impulse.
Even so, he had run away because he could no longer endure it.
‘I feel like I’m going to die.’
Luska had received boundless expectations and love since childhood.
A blessed life as the son of the greatest emperor and empress in the world, and the godson of the next most powerful being.
Everyone praised him as the perfect crown prince, truly fitting as the only successor of the great Emperor Turan.
The Imperial Church, which worshiped the Emperor as a god, even granted him, the son of the god, immense divinity and authority.
Luska could no longer bear the pressure that came with such adoration.
‘I’m not that special of a person.’
He was not, as people imagined, a perfect superhuman like his father.
He generally found studying boring and sometimes wanted to talk idly and waste time like everyone else.
But people longed for him to become a being like the great Turan.
The expectations of everyone, wanting him to become a wizard as powerful as a god and a great administrator who would advance the world further, followed him like a shadow at every turn.
To replace a superhuman who had ventured out into the world at around his current age and built a world empire within just a few years.
How could that possibly make any sense?
Yet, he could not share such anguish with anyone, not even his parents or anyone he knew.
His father Turan, his mother Meisa, and even his godfather Solif were always endlessly busy.
He used to see them more often, but since about eight years ago, when they had become exceptionally busy, even the crown prince himself could hardly see their faces outside of official occasions.
Naturally, Luska’s daily schedule was also tightly packed.
Days filled with study, training, and dreadfully tedious official ceremonies.
Unless he carried out all of this with precision, he could never meet the expectations others had for him.
Luska understood very well why he and everyone else had to work so desperately hard.
Because he had heard the secret, that powerful enemies from beyond this world would one day arrive, and thus, they must grow stronger.
Had he not known that, he might have at least complained.
That he was too lonely, too exhausted, and that he needed just a little time for himself.
However, even knowing that his laziness could lead to the end of the world, he couldn’t allow himself to act on it.
He didn’t want to be a pathetic son who whined to his parents, parents who were always working tirelessly to save the world, for whom even a short conversation with their son was the only brief respite.
Then, on a day when he felt like he was about to go insane, on an unusually sunny afternoon, he had impulsively packed his things and run out of the palace.
“Hm?”
“Ah.”
Snapping out of his thoughts, Luska turned his head slightly as the cabin door opened.
Entering the room was a young woman, probably around twenty years old.
Since he did not recognize her face, she probably was not one of the Imperial household's pursuers.
Well, if they were going to come after him, his father or mother would have already shown up long ago.
If they so wished, there was no one in this land who could dare hide or run from them.
If they decided to bring him back, they’d probably appear right beside him within a second.
The thought of that alone made it hard to breathe.
Even this current act of rebellion was only possible because his parents had allowed it...
“Hey, kid! Are you okay? Breathe, slowly!”
“Haa, huh...”
Only then did Luska realize he had stopped breathing, and that the woman had pulled back his hood and lightly slapped his cheeks a few times.
Perhaps thinking he was a regular person and not a wizard, her slaps had been so soft they were barely noticeable.
“Th-Thank you.”
"It was nothing. But are you okay? Don't you need to see a doctor?"
“Yes. It’s just a chronic condition.”
“I see. I almost thought you were about to faint because my face was too scary.”
Catching his breath, Luska soon buried himself again in the corner of the cabin, his face clouded with gloom.
He hated even this weakness of his.
As the son of the great Turan, he should be able to brush off minor emotions like they were nothing...
Just as he was about to slip again into self-destructive thoughts like before, the woman across from him spoke.
"Did something bad happen?"
“Pardon?”
“Sorry if you don’t want to talk. It’s just... your expression looks really sad. If I can at least listen, I’d be happy to.”
Then she added, as if realizing something.
“My name’s Mila. Mila Ades. And you are?”
Luska was about to respond that he wasn’t in the mood to talk, but then shut his mouth tightly.
Because he realized that wasn’t true.
Right now, he wanted to talk to someone. He wanted to pour out his frustrations to anyone who would listen.
“...It’s Lus.”
Fortunately, right now, he wasn’t Luska, the crown prince of the Empire.
He was just a suspicious boy named Lus, sitting in second class on a train bound for the Empire’s eastern region.
“I see. Lus. Where are you from? I was born and raised in Kalamaf.”
“Me too.”
“Wow, didn’t expect you to be from the same place! I’m from District 7. You?”
Caught off guard by the unexpected question, Luska racked his brain and answered District 13.
In Kalamaf, Districts 1 through 5 were home to the Empire’s uppermost class, while Districts 6 through 10 housed mid-level classes like wizards, merchants, and scholars.
Finally, Districts 11 through 15 were mostly inhabited by the working class with relatively lower income.
Which meant this Mila girl was probably from an old knightly family or a similar middle-class background.
“I see. Are you headed east for anything in particular?”
“Well... not really. No special reason.”
Luska had boarded the eastbound train simply because it was the fastest one he could take at that moment.
He didn’t know anyone in the west, but at least in the east, he might be able to go to his godfather Solif.
But a moment later, he realized how suspicious his own words sounded.
A boy who appeared to be from the working class, heading east with no particular reason, how did that make any sense?
Even though the train fare was relatively low as part of a welfare policy, it still wasn’t cheap enough for a laborer’s son to ride it just for fun.
It practically made him look like a fugitive on the run after committing a crime.
However, the woman didn’t point that out. She simply nodded and said, “I see.”
“I’m headed to Helio.”
“That’s really far.”
While it was true that following the rails built along the Old Empire Roads from Kalamaf would eventually lead to Helio, the distance between the two cities was anything but short.
He wasn’t exactly sure since he had always traveled by Spatial Transfer, but even if you transferred between steam locomotives day and night, it would probably take about a week.
Unless it were in the days when people traveled on foot or rode Magical Beasts, this was quite a grueling journey in this era.
“Do you have someone you know in Helio?”
“Not really. I’ve just always wanted to go. It’s where my father passed away.”
Struck by the sudden heaviness of the story, Luska didn’t know how to respond and closed his mouth.
Fortunately, the woman continued talking.
“If you studied history at school, you’ve heard of the Varaha War, right?”
“Yes. It was the retaliation war caused when the head of House Varaha, Reshion, launched a surprise attack on the head of House Lavitas. That battle led to the current Varaha lord, Solif nim, taking the seat of family head.”
Luska even knew truths others didn’t.
The true cause of the Varaha War, how Reshion and the upper echelon of House Varaha at the time had become hybrids, having fallen into corruption and merged with the souls of ancient gods and White Elves.
“You’ve studied hard. That’s right. My father was a knight who fought in the Varaha War. He died there in battle.”
“May peace be granted to the hero who gave his life to protect the nation.”
Following the etiquette he had learned from his tutor, Luska bowed his head in silent respect. Mila chuckled softly upon seeing it.
“Do they teach that kind of thing at school these days?”
“Yes, well.”
He had briefly attended school as a child, but had quit not long after.
Most people kept their distance from him because of his status, afraid to even approach, while the rest were sycophants clinging to him.
At his indifferent reply, she gave him a curious look.
“You’re really mature, you know. My little brother’s your age, and he’s still such a kid.”
After that, Mila continued sharing her story in a soft, steady tone.
How she grew up as a knight’s daughter.
How her family declined after her father’s death, and how the war hero’s pension helped them get by.
And how, as she grew older and became a wizard, she worked hard to repay the emperor’s grace.
‘This person too...’
Luska sighed inwardly at the ever-present shadow of his father.
Of course, how could you live in this world and not be connected to Emperor Turan in some way?
Every single person in the Empire moved according to his lead.
As they continued talking, Luska learned that despite her youthful appearance, Mila was already twenty-five years old and a second-class wizard.
Not as precocious as Luska, who had reached second-class by sixteen, but still a rare talent even within the entire Empire.
Perhaps it was the sense of closeness that had grown between them through conversation?
At last, Luska began to open up about his worries.
Maybe because he was wearing the Mimic Sacred Relic gifted by his father and had changed his face, it felt like a masquerade ball, he could easily share things he would never say under normal circumstances.
“Everyone wants me to become someone like my father, but I just don’t have the confidence to meet their expectations.”
“Is it really, truly impossible?”
“Absolutely.”
“Have you tried telling your parents that it’s hard?”
“I can’t.”
“Because they’ll scold you?”
“They probably wouldn’t scold me. But... they’d be disappointed. And I hate that more than being scolded.”
Maybe it was because he had been told over and over since childhood how great his father and mother were.
To Luska, his parents, especially Turan, were something absolute, something that defined his very existence.
The thought of such a father discovering his weakness and feeling disappointed was unbearable even to imagine.
To the point where he felt it would be better to end his own life than endure such a look.
As Luska honestly poured out his heart, Mila quietly watched him, then suddenly pinched both his cheeks.
“Ugh.”
Stretching his cheeks with a firm tug and then letting go with a snap, Luska stared at her blankly in shock.
Because there was no one in the Empire who would dare commit such an irreverent act toward the crown prince.
When he was much younger, his father and mother used to playfully tease him in the same way, but those were memories from too long ago for him to recall clearly.
“Don’t think about it too seriously.”
“Don’t think about it seriously?”
“Yes. You’re still just a kid. You’re at an age where it’s okay to lean on your parents a little more.”
Mila comforted Luska in a calm tone.
She told him that all the expectations he carried weren’t from his parents but from the people around them.
That if he explained things to them properly, they wouldn’t be disappointed, and even if they were, that would be the fault of his parents, not his own.
“Father and Mother... at fault...”
It was something Luska had never even dared to imagine.
For Emperor Turan of the Empire was someone who could never be wrong, who must never be wrong.
No one in the palace had ever dared to tell him that his parents could make mistakes.
Mila continued to comfort him for quite a long time, speaking gently but persistently.
She urged him not to run away, but to face his parents and talk to them properly, to try convincing them, and told him that he could do it.
That all the effort he had put in so far to meet their expectations was already more than enough.
Her warm and caring words gently soaked into the heart of a tired, adolescent boy.
Like dry soil drinking in the rain.
How long had they been talking like that?
From afar, a voice announced that the next station was approaching and that passengers should prepare to disembark.
“It’s already Bigen Station. Soon we’ll be able to see the Enril Desert.”
“I’ll get off here.”
“Going back home?”
Startled by the perceptive words, Luska turned toward her with a surprised face.
Mila smiled and replied.
“Isn’t it obvious? I don’t know which noble family’s young master you are, but don’t make your parents worry too much. One day, you might not be able to see them even if you want to. Got it?”
Fortunately, she didn’t seem to suspect that he was the crown prince.
Well, unless someone was completely delusional, who would ever imagine such a thing?
As he stood up to board the returning train, Luska glanced at Mila.
“Miss Mila.”
“Hmm?”
“Will I be able to see you again someday?”
Catching on to the shy emotion hidden in his question, Mila looked momentarily flustered, then smiled and tapped Luska’s forehead with her finger.
“Come back after you’ve grown about ten more years.”
“Yes.”
Luska nodded with an expression of utmost seriousness.
***
Early in the morning, Luska returned to the imperial palace of Kalamaf and was able to enter without difficulty.
It seemed there had already been a word from the Emperor, as the guards at the entrance let him pass without saying a thing.
Naturally, what awaited his return was a meeting with the Emperor and Empress.
At the time he had run away, the mere thought of this moment had terrified him so much he would rather have died, but now, he could face it with confidence.
The inexplicable assurance he had gained from his conversation with Mila on the train supported him from within.
“Luska.”
The imperial couple who greeted him in the reception room looked so young that their age, somewhere in their mid-thirties, was barely believable.
Anyone who didn’t know better might have thought the three of them were siblings.
But that thought quickly faded as Luska noticed the expressions on their faces, there was no disappointment or scolding, only concern.
It made him realize just how foolish his earlier thoughts had been.
“I’m sorry, Father, Mother.”
“You have no idea how worried we were when you disappeared without a word.”
Though Meisa spoke as if scolding him, she gently patted Luska’s head.
Turan, who had been sitting across from them, watched the scene quietly and then spoke.
“If you don’t want to talk about what happened, you don’t have to.”
“Turan.”
“I just want you to know that I want to help you. It’s true that we’ve been too neglectful of you because we were always so busy.”
In truth, Turan had thought that not spending much time with Luska was, in a way, a form of sacrifice on his part.
Even the time spent meeting his beloved son had to be invested in running the Empire, overseeing inspections, and building new systems, and that was a painful sacrifice.
He had spent the past few years believing that once they repelled the invasion, there would be time to make up for all of it.
But he had now come to realize that a child’s early years, once gone, never come back.
At his loving father’s words, Luska took a moment to steady his breath before speaking honestly.
That the pressure from the expectations of his father, mother, and everyone around him had been too heavy to bear.
That even when he wanted to open up about it, ever since he’d grown older and grown distant from his parents, he’d been afraid to confess anything personal.
After listening to everything, Turan remained silent for a long time before letting out a deep sigh.
“The only reason I strive for all of this is so that you and Meisa can live happily. I’m sure Meisa feels the same. If you’re not happy, then none of this means anything.”
Hearing Turan say that if it was too hard, he could stop everything and just live comfortably, Luska felt his vision blur with tears.
He discreetly redirected the tears with a bit of Fluid Manipulation Magic, then spoke in a firm voice.
“I can endure it now. Because I’ve realized that even if I get lazy or make mistakes, you and Mother won’t be disappointed in me.”
For Luska, sharing such a deep emotional bond with his parents for the first time since maturing brought a sense of satisfaction and emotional stability beyond anything he’d expected.
He felt like he could now overcome any hardship, greater even than all the study and training he’d done before.
Sensing their son's growth, Turan and Meisa exchanged warm smiles.
At that moment, Luska paused, considering a thought that had suddenly come to him. He decided to speak it aloud, thinking now was the perfect time for this kind of conversation.
“Um, there’s something I’d like to ask.”
“What is it?”
“If I said I wanted to marry someone who isn’t from one of the old Great Houses… would you be angry?”
Meisa widened her eyes briefly at the unexpected question, then burst into a soft laugh.
"If that's what you want. What great status do you think I had when your father took me from my house? I was practically a wanderer without a proper family. I can hardly tell you that you can't do the same."
“Meisa...”
Turan called her name in disbelief, then shook his head.
As if delighting in the harmonious conversation of the imperial family, the shadows cast by the fireplace danced.
*****
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