I Became the Youngest Prince in the Novel
Chapter 10

The Dark Forest I

Within the compound of the imperial castle, there stood five palaces grander in scale than all others. They were matched only by the White Star Palace, which was located in the compound’s very center.

In one such palace, on the topmost floor of a red-painted temple, a man sat on a throne-like chair. He had long, messy hair that was the signature gray of the imperial family. He was watching the White Star Palace.

“.....”

Slowly, he reached out with his hand toward the palace. He was just about to close his fist around it when someone knocked.

“Your Highness,” came a quiet voice from outside the door.

“Come in,” the man said, giving his pursuits up for now and turning toward the door.

A magician opened the door politely and stepped inside. He bowed, and then immediately addressed the problem at hand. “We have trouble in the Sunken Star Palace.”

“Trouble? What trouble? Was it the attack we orchestrated? I thought that failed. Though, I have no idea why.”

The magician shook his head. “No. This is more recent.”

“What is it?”

“We sensed demonic energy in the Sunken Star Palace.”

“Demonic energy? What does that mean?”

“That’s all we know. Our spies in the Sunken Star Palace have all cut off contact, and no amount of questioning the attendants there has produced any information.”

“Send in some more men and look further into it.”

“Understood. Oh, and...”

The regal man looked at the magician questioningly. It seemed he had more to report.

“Recently, there have been rumors that Prince Sion has...changed.”

“Changed how?”

“He’s grown quite violent, I’m told. He has also started manifesting some kind of strange power...”

“Has he finally lost his mind? His life has been threatened often enough, that’s for certain. That weakling...”

The regal man brushed it all off with a scoff, then continued.

“Don’t worry about such rumors. He was born to be a failure. The only thing Agnes about him is his hair. No matter how much he struggles, it won’t change who he is—a bug crawling along the ground. Though, that does remind me... It’s his time to take the ascendancy ritual, isn’t it? How goes that?”

“There has been no news that he is relinquishing his claim. He will likely go through with it,” the magician replied.

“I was going to let him be if he forfeited. Yet he seems to not know his place.” The man tapped his armrest, lost in thought for a moment. “So...about the ascendancy ritual.”

“Yes?”

“Why don’t we change it up a bit? Make it more interesting?”

There was a cruel twinkle in the regal man’s eyes.

* * *

The imperial castle was located at the heart of Hubris, the capital city of the empire that was often considered to be the center of the world. The palace was not only grand; it was so massive that all those who saw it were overwhelmed.

Sion watched that very castle, half his face obscured by a hood.

I think there’s about a week left until the ascendancy ritual.

The prince was currently in a district on the outskirts of Hubris, distinctly outside the imperial castle compound.

After killing the demonic monster that had been hiding in the Sunken Star Palace and settling the matter, he’d left the castle. There was something he needed to deal with quickly, before the ritual, and that had required him to leave.

I think it was this way, Sion thought. As he walked, he tried to recall what he’d read in the novel.

A member of the imperial family was usually attended to by knights and an entourage when they left the castle, but Sion was alone.

He’d snuck out, after all.

Since the Sunken Star Palace is on the outskirts, it’s much easier to leave unnoticed than I expected.

Only Fredo knew that Sion was not in the palace. The other attendants and knights believed that Sion was refusing to leave his chambers, as usual.

Though he’d filtered out the spies completely, he still didn’t fully trust his staff. That was why he’d obscured the truth about the demonic monster, convincing them that a dark magician had attempted to murder him.

He’d strictly bound them to secrecy, of course. The news would still spread at some point, but he would be all right for the time being.

She looked doubtful, but I don’t think I’ll have a reason to meet her anytime soon.

He walked on for some time, thinking about Priscilla.

Then...

Is this the place?

He stopped in front of a building and stared at the sign, which read, “Moonlit Supper.”

As the name suggested, it was a restaurant, and one quite popular in the capital. In fact, reservations were required to eat on the second floor and above, which featured private rooms.

Sion wasn’t here to dine, however.

This restaurant was a cover for the information guild Moon’s Eye—or rather, to be precise, one of its secret headquarters.

“Can I help you?”

After Sion seated himself at a first-floor table, an employee with a mustache came over to him and spoke politely, filling his cup with water.

“Sun-instilled liquor with some fried snowflakes on the side.”

These were not on the menu, and it was quite a silly order to be saying out loud, but it was necessary—this was the code used to gain access to the guild. This method was old-fashioned but efficient, and that was probably why it was still in use.

“Understood,” the employee replied without so much as batting an eye. He moved over to the counter and spoke with someone there before coming over to Sion again. “Sir, I shall guide you to a private room. Will you come with me, please?”

He offered a respectful gesture. Sion stood up and followed the man.

The second floor was accessed by a set of stairs, but he took Sion to the entrance of a passageway that led downward instead. He no longer offered any sort of explanation, even of the simplest kind, and began walking down the passageway. There was only enough light to allow people to navigate.

Sion walked behind him for some time until the passageway suddenly opened into a round room.

At the center was a desk with a woman sitting behind it. She had her reddish-brown hair tied in a ponytail and wore round-rimmed glasses. As Sion walked up behind the employee, the woman leveled him with a searching look.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

Her voice was as calm as her appearance.

Is she the head of this branch? Sion wondered as he watched the man standing politely just behind the woman.

Sion spoke to her immediately.

“I have a job for you.”

His direct tone must have given her pause because she was silent for a moment. Then, she said, “All right. But first, can you tell us who you are?”

Sion smirked. “Since when does an information guild require identification from a client?”

“We don’t under usual circumstances but... this is unusual.” A cold light appeared in the woman’s eyes.

“Unusual?”

“Perhaps you’re aware? The Moonlit Supper has only been a branch of Moon’s Eye for a very short time. In fact, it hasn’t even officially begun operations.”

She began to tap on the desk rhythmically. “No outsider knows about this place, and few people in the guild do either. What’s more, I know every single person who has knowledge of this place. But you...” Her hand rested on the desk. “How did you know about it?”

The moment her hand stopped moving, masked men who’d been hiding in the darkness of the chamber poured out, stabbing at Sion with their swords.

Perhaps he was unable to react because it happened so quickly. Sion’s eyes stayed on the woman while the blades pierced deep into his neck and chest—

Or attempted to, at least.

“Huh?!”

Their swords all stopped just a centimeter from his vital spots and refused to go any farther. The assassins pushed hard enough for their arms to tremble, but the weapons did not budge.

It felt like trying to sink one’s blade into sandstone.

They soon realized that a strange darkness surrounded them.

“How...is this possible?”

The woman and the attackers began to look uneasy as they took in the strange sight.

“Was I too quick?” Sion muttered quietly.

What does he even mean? the woman wondered. Sion’s hand moved before she could finish the thought.

Dark Celestial Essence burst from his right hand and sent all the masked men to his right flying.

They were unable to fight back as they crashed into the wall and crumbled to the ground.

The men on the other side, realizing that they could move their swords again, stabbed at Sion once more.

Their blades were better aimed this time and headed right for Sion’s throat.

However, once again, they failed to touch their target.

Dark Flow.

Sion moved between the attacks like a ghost, lashing out without hesitation. Each blow took out precisely one person.

The men, unable to react, crashed to the floor.

The woman gasped in shock. “How...?”

These men were skilled guards from the guild, sent to protect her since she held a special rank within Moon’s Eye. And yet, they’d been incapacitated with such ease.

“How I found out doesn’t matter,” Sion said. Having defeated every last man, he pulled his rumpled hood lower over his face and approached the woman again. “What matters is that I’m giving you a job. You’re going to take it.”

He’d come here before the branch had even commenced operations, but that wasn’t important. He would get his way.

The woman’s gaze shook for a moment.

“What do you want?”

* * *

“Information about the Dark Forest and fake identification...” repeated the woman, whose name was Irene. She considered the robed stranger who’d gotten his way and then just sauntered out.

He’d wanted two things: identification papers and the location of a place called the Dark Forest.

“Lady Irene, may I ask why you accepted the job?”

Allen, the employee with the mustache, stood beside her with a quizzical look on his face. As far as he knew, Irene would never allow an unsuitable client to get their way, even at the threat of death. Though she might not have been able to defeat the man just now, she’d probably had multiple exits prepared.

And yet, she’d accepted the request without a fuss, even after she’d ordered her guards to kill him.

“Do you remember that battle just now?” Irene asked, watching the guards. They were being carried out, barely able to breathe.

“Yes. How could I forget?”

“The man’s hood slipped off for a moment.”

She’d seen his dark gray hair.

“Ashen hair...” Irene murmured. “There is only one family in the world with that hair color.”

It was the same one that ruled the world—the House of Agnes. Only purebloods of that house could have such hair.

“That means...”

“An Agnes is up to something.”

Imperial family members seldom ever left the castle, but when they did, they made waves that were impossible to miss.

“I’ll have him followed by one of our best,” Allen said.

Irene gave a small nod. “Find out who he is, why he left the imperial castle, and why he’s moving alone. Don’t forget the Dark Forest either.”

“Understood.”

Irene watched as Allen left the chamber with a grave look on his face. Her mind shifted back to the stranger visitor.

Who could it be?

He’d evinced an overwhelming charisma and had the physical prowess to back it up. No doubt he was one of the strongest contenders for the throne.

It didn’t occur to Irene for a moment that he could be Sion Agnes, the man who was a prince in nothing but name.