Reincarnated as an Emperor ~ Will the Emperor at Birth Survive? - Chapter 21: Magic is a Hobby

Chapter 21: Magic is a Hobby

Several months have passed since the Theanabe Union declared their independence. No fighting has occurred at the border yet. 

Meanwhile, there was a visitor at the palace. 

“Oh, it’s been a long time.”

“Long time no see, Your Majesty.”

It was my fiancée, Rosalia. She looked gentle, perhaps because the Chancellor and the Chief of the Ministry of Ceremonies wasn’t here. 

I wasn’t aware of it before, but becoming the emperor meant that I was going to marry this girl… I hadn’t even gotten married in my previous life. It was somewhat strange… that my marriage had been decided at this age. 

Rosalia hadn’t come here to play; she came here to work. 

The Chancellor and Regent factions sent many supplies to the Belbe Kingdom when it was decided that Rosalia and I would be engaged. After that, the Belbe Kingdom and Tomis Ashinaqui quickly came to a truce, so they had a surplus of supplies. Now that the possibility of an invasion has arisen, they were asking if they should return those supplies. They didn’t have any food, but they had a surplus of military supplies. 

This brought up the question about whether the aid supplies were ‘lent’ or ‘given’. Support this time was also forthcoming and steadily increased without any agreements in place.

This matter should be dealt with by the Chancellor and the Chief of the Ministry of Ceremonies, but they weren’t in the capital. 

“What would you prefer to do?”

“It will save us a lot of trouble if we do not have to return it.”

Well, that’s true. 

“Then, you don’t need to return it.”

It was the Chancellor and the Chief of the Ministry of Ceremonies’ fault for not being here to deal with this, so I dealt with it. 

Am I allowed to get involved in diplomacy with other nations? Well, I’d be assassinated right away if I were to interfere with diplomacy in an attempt to gain political power, but this time, I was doing this because I wanted to show my fiancée my good points… Well, the truth was actually different. If the Belbe Kingdom can maintain its military might then they can keep Tomis Ashinaqui in check. 

“Thank you very much, Your Majesty!”

Rosalia said as she smiled like a blossoming flower. 

… I take back my previous statement. I might have had an ulterior motive.

◊♦◊♦◊♦◊

Although, Rosalia couldn’t leave right away either. She waited for the Chancellor and the Chief of the Ministry of Ceremonies until the very end, and then acted as if she ‘had no choice’ but to obey the Emperor’s words.

During that time, I showed Rosalia around the palace while being supervised by the Chancellor and Regent factions. It was normal for me to give her a tour of the palace since she is my fiancée…

I wanted to look proud while showing her around the palace. I must look like a brat who wants attention from the girl he likes to the guards. 

There was actually something that I wanted Rosalia to help me with and in preparation for that. 

The problem was Rosalia’s reaction. 

“You know a lot, Your Majesty.”

She was flattering me like crazy, and she was supporting what I was trying to do. 

I was aware that my reputation was quite bad, but what was with this reaction? I don’t feel hostility or animosity from her, but rather affection…?

Eh, why?

Does she have an ulterior motive…? Or maybe I’m misunderstanding, and she isn’t acting affectionate towards me…? Well, it’s possible. 

It was easy for me to recognise malice, hostility and disdain, but I wasn’t good… at recognising any other emotions. I’ll be a failure if I can’t discern people’s emotions towards me. I’ll be careful in the future. 

… Don’t tell me that she knows what I want? No, she’s just a 9-year-old brat. 

“And this is the Great Library.”

“The Great Library, one of the largest on the continent! There is actually a book I want to read but cannot seem to find, would you mind if I just look around a bit…?”

“… Oh, sure.”

No, no way.

“Oh my, I found it. This is what I wanted to read. What do you read, Your Majesty?”

“E-erm. Well, maybe… I’ll read that.”

… No way, right…?

“Oh? This is a book about magic. You read such difficult books, Your Majesty?”

“Hmm, I guess.”

“You are amazing, Your Majesty. I am glad that you are an intelligent man, Your Majesty. I am sure we will get along just fine.”

… Ah, shyt. She knows exactly what she’s doing. 

“Ah, yes. Then, shall we borrow some books? You may borrow as many books as you like.”

Yes, my goal this time was to borrow books related to magic, since this was something that even Count Palatine Vedett couldn’t teach me. But I’m going to act the role of a ‘foolish Emperor who can’t use magic’ for a while. It would look suspicious if I borrowed these books. 

That was why I was going to play the role of ‘the brat who borrows difficult books that he can’t read just to act cool in front of the girl he likes’. So, I was worried about how to lead Rosalia to borrow them… but it surprisingly went smoothly. 

I’m certain that Rosalia saw through my intentions and was trying to act alongside me. What is with this girl? Is she really 9-years-old? 

“I really appreciate this, Your Majesty!”

Hmm. Her smile is cute, but it’s starting to scare me. 

This was horrible. Did she find out that I was acting as a foolish Emperor…? If so, what was her purpose? Did she have a political message that she wanted to get out? 

It was also possible that she was connected to one of the factions. I better keep my distance. 

Rosalia returned home a month later. She seemed depressed when she was leaving… Did she want a promise from me or something? 

Maybe I should have listened to what she had to say. 

◊♦◊♦◊♦◊

“So, Your Majesty, what have you learnt?”

One night. Count Palatine Vedett came down to my room. 

Timon was sleeping in another room since I didn’t have swordsmanship practice today. 

… He’s still the night-watch. But he seemed to be sleeping very little since he was following me day in and out, so I forced him to rest on days when I didn’t have to train. 

Having said that, he was supposed to be the night-watch tonight, so he will be in my room 30 minutes before the maids come to wake me up… from the ceiling. 

Isn’t it used more often than the door? 

“Yeah, especially this ‘bestowal magic’ is wonderful. It opens up a whole new world of possibilities.”

I’ve been learning magic on my own, but it seems that I’ve reached my limits. 

All the books filled with the wisdom of the ancestors were worth reading, but this concept of ‘bestowal magic’ was definitely noteworthy. It was a revolutionary concept that allowed one to ‘bestow’ the magic A to B. 

For instance, the quickest magic that I can use was the ‘ray beam that compresses and fires heat energy’. The biggest problem with this magic was that it ‘wasn’t powerful enough’. It could pierce through a target, but it was only radiating heat. I needed to keep applying it to the same spot. Well, it would probably melt the skin’s surface if I applied it to the skin, but it wasn’t strong enough in combat. 

However, this problem can be solved if I use ‘bestowal magic’ to add the ‘fire attribute’. The area this magic is applied to will melt in an instant and even metals will melt straight away. It was super strong. It was more powerful than I had imagined, and the maids almost caught me using it. I seriously panicked. 

And it still maintained the advantages of a light ray, such as having the speed of light and radiation durability. You could say it was the best magic. It also didn’t take long to bestow magic once I knew the concept. The consumed mana amount was also within a margin of error. 

It was also important to note that the bestowed magic wasn’t ‘fire’ but ‘fire attribute’. When ‘fire’ was bestowed, it kept the shape of the flame and its ‘cooling’ properties, but the ‘cooling’ property isn’t attached when bestowing ‘fire attribute’, because that was a property of the ‘water attribute’. 

This was the so-called ‘elements’ concept, which conceptualised the symbolic nature of the phenomenon known as ‘attributes. I thought it was an ‘old-fashioned idea’ at first since I was a former modern person who had been immersed in science… but ‘elements’ had their own merits. I have to remedy these preconceptions. 

I’ve learnt a lot of other magic including curse magic, holy magic and barrier magic with more ‘conditions’ attached to it. 

… I got a bit carried away when it came to magic. It was almost like a hobby now. 

Back to the topic at hand. 

“So? What do you want, Count Palatine?”

“First, about the matter you asked me to investigate earlier. Rosalia-sama does not appear to be connected to either faction.”

“I see. That’s great.”

Then, she might have some kind of political request. I was fortunate enough to come across a wonderful magic book thanks to her, so I’ll do what I can to accommodate her the next time we meet. 

“So, why are you really here?”

“Well, I caught something interesting.”

Count Palatine said as he pulled down a man, who was tied with a rope, from the attic. 

“I thought I would leave it to your discretion, Your Majesty.”

“… Explain.”

Aren’t you too amused by my reaction, Count Palatine?