DSPT 04

Chapter 4

I Woke Up the Sleeping Prince of the Magic Tower?

Through several fleeting attempts, Licht reached the conclusion that his mind was definitely awake, but his body, except for his ears, was completely unusable.

All that came to him was the whisper-like sound of the curtains fluttering in the wind flowing in through the window.

‘Ha.’

A silent sigh escaped him.

From the moment he judged himself capable of protecting his own body, he had never stayed in one place for long.

He personally went out to handle the petty disputes arising within the Ruden Empire, and when border reinforcements were needed, he led the Glacies Knights directly from the front.

The Emperor had even once joked that the chefs at the Prince’s Palace were sad because they had no one to feed.

And now, that same man had to lie here, bound like this.

‘This is truly a cursed twist of fate.’

What was even more irritating was the fact that, perhaps because his body wouldn’t move, he couldn’t even fall asleep easily.

‘This is a perfect recipe for madness.’

Empress Ellicia would be delighted. She was the one who desired his death more than anyone.

‘She must think she’s finally dealt with me properly this time.’

He could have hated the Empress who had plotted against his life, but surprisingly, he didn’t feel much anger.

Perhaps it was because the path he had walked all this time felt tiring.

Growing up as the First Prince of the Ruden Empire, he felt neither great dissatisfaction nor satisfaction. He was raised to be the Crown Prince and to become the Emperor. It was just that the dream wasn’t one he had chosen for himself.

It was what the Emperor wanted, and merely a role given to him.

Even if his life were to end like this, he had no regrets. He believed that someone else would take care of the worries he had for those who believed in and followed him.

‘Lukas…’

His aide, the commander of the Glacies Knights, Lukas, was an excellent swordsman but didn’t have a cool-headed personality.

Should he say that while he was a strong knight, he also had a tender heart? He could only hope that Lukas would hold up well without him.

A self-deprecating laugh escaped him. The fact that he couldn’t even properly form that laugh made an even bigger laugh well up inside.

But still, his face remained completely still.

*Clang, scrape-.*

‘…Ah.’

Along with the sound of a heavy iron door sliding open, he sensed a presence.

*Tap, tap.* He heard the sound of light footsteps.

Perhaps because he was hearing a sound for the first time in an indeterminably long period, Licht perked up his ears and focused on every single movement of the person approaching.

“Alright, shall we begin today’s condition check?”

A clear voice resonated through the room.

‘Is this person checking on my condition?’

Judging by the young voice, it seemed to be a young girl.

He felt the girl approach his vicinity with familiar steps. She seemed to be pacing around where he lay, fiddling with something.

From the girl’s muttering as she checked the spells and barriers placed on him, Licht realized that she was the mage assigned to care for him.

“Hmm?”

The mage, who had been examining something for a while, paused and spoke.

“Huh? You look a bit more relaxed today than yesterday. Are you having a bad dream?”

‘…!’

She was clearly looking at his face right now. Could it be that some sensation was returning? Licht hurriedly tried again to move his face. A flicker of hope rose that this mage might notice his change.

“Hmm… That’s strange? It looks like your eyebrows are subtly… furrowed.”

‘Please, please!’

Had there ever been a moment in his life when he was this desperate? Licht strained to move his facial muscles.

“Umm, no?”

But as expected, the mage, who had been watching his unresponsive face, backed away again. *Tap, tap.* Light footsteps.

‘…’

Had he harbored vain hopes? Licht let out an inaudible sigh and relaxed the tension in his body.

It seemed that his senses still hadn’t returned.

While his physical senses hadn’t come back yet, through his ears he could perceive even the faintest movement of the mage. It was the result of years of knight training.

“Ahhh…!”

The mage took a deep, refreshing breath. Soon after, he heard the sound of her exhaling with satisfaction.

‘I’m envious.’

Envy. That was a thought he had never once entertained in his life. A dry laugh escaped him unbidden.

Despite feeling awkward, he honestly felt envious. How long had it been since he had stood on his own two feet in front of a window and breathed in the outside air? Even before the curse laid him down, it wasn’t something he had done.

Now that he couldn’t move, he had even come to envy even that simple act.

‘If Lukas knew I was having these thoughts, he would have been thrilled.’

His adjutant always seemed to feel sorry for Licht, who was utterly indifferent to worldly affairs.

‘Your Highness is far too dull! Look! At this sky! At this sparkling riverbank! At this fresh air! At the beautiful Ruden Empire!’

‘It seems you still have the strength to spout nonsense. Pick up your sword.’

‘Eek! Wait a moment! Just a moment!!!’

It wasn’t entirely his own fault that his personality had become more dull than easygoing. If he had to pinpoint a reason, it was perhaps because he had to suppress his emotions just to survive.

Before Licht could even feel his mother’s love, the Late Empress passed away from an illness. The Emperor, who had cherished her dearly, desperately sought her traces in Licht.

As if Licht were a replacement for her.

It would have been nice if the Emperor had possessed the firm power to protect Licht as much as he loved him. Unfortunately, the Emperor lacked a support base. That was the result of crowning the Late Empress, the queen of a fallen kingdom, as his Empress simply because he loved her.

That situation made things even harder for the young prince, Licht. There were no nobles who would support the child of a queen from a ruined kingdom, especially one who had died before even properly taking root in the empire.

Eventually, unable to withstand the pressure from the nobles, the Emperor remarried Empress Ellicia, and after she gave birth to the Second Prince, Kaiden, every day became a battle.

Licht recalled his childhood, too busy preserving his life to leisurely enjoy the clear blue sky.

If Licht hadn’t quickly grown into a Magic Swordsman who could handle Aura, if he hadn’t rapidly built his power base based on his abilities, he might have been pushed off to some remote borderland in the first place.

‘…Then I wouldn’t have had to fight the Apostles either.’

As he lay still, useless memories drifted through his mind one after another. It was such an uncharacteristically sentimental sight that laughter kept bubbling up.

‘At this rate, I can’t even mock Lukas anymore.’

Finding his current predicament truly amusing, Licht chuckled inwardly.

“Summer seems to be approaching soon, Your Highness.”

For a moment, Licht doubted his ears. That mage had clearly just said ‘Your Highness.’

‘Now…?’

Before he could properly grasp the situation, the mage continued calmly.

“In the Angresia Forest visible from the Magic Tower, there’s a cluster of flowers that emit a particularly strong fragrance in summer.”

“The name… I think it was Procia? The flowers will bloom profusely again this year, so I’m sure you’ll be able to smell the scent too, Your Highness.”

“The fragrance reaches all the way up to the top of this tall Magic Tower!”

All of this story was clearly directed at Licht. Although it was one-sided since he couldn’t respond, she was acting as if she knew he could hear her.

‘She definitely doesn’t know my consciousness is awake though.’

Licht felt a sense of bewilderment. But since he couldn’t answer anyway, he had no choice but to listen. The complicated thoughts that had been tangled in his head just moments ago were instantly cleared away, and he began to fill it with the mage’s gentle voice as she spoke.

“But the forest around the tower has many plants that have been monsterized due to the magical energy, so we always have to be careful! I learned this firsthand when I said I wanted to go for a walk around the area myself, though.”

“Ugh, eventually, Lady Melizes had to put up a barrier because of the villagers who sometimes wander in without knowing that.”

“Seriously, there are always people who do exactly what they’re told not to~.”

The mage’s story continued for quite a while. Thanks to her, Licht learned that the place where he lay was the top floor of the Magic Tower. He also learned that the name of the forest he had passed through whenever he visited the tower was the Angresia Forest.

From her mention that summer was approaching, he also realized that he had been lying here for at least a year. After all, the time he had faced Deus was around summer.

After chattering on for a while like that, the mage murmured in a low voice, as if something sad had crossed her mind.

“They say that people who seem unconscious often still have their ears open, you know.”

‘….’

“There was even a case, they say, of a patient who had been lying down for 27 years waking up and realizing they had actually been able to hear all along? Well, it was a long time ago, though.”

“So, just in case, you know. I just talk.”

Why is it? This mage clearly believes he is asleep without any consciousness.

“Your Highness. So please, hold on just a little longer.”

As if trying to soothe him, she spoke to him kindly.

Licht had no choice but to listen quietly to the mage’s gentle consolation.