Exiting his father's office, Ezra, First Prince of the Ferzian Empire, contained mixed feelings.
His parents, the Emperor and Empress, married due to obligation. In many ways, they were a disastrous pair – one a known playboy, and the other a covertly promiscuous woman.
Surprisingly, they got along well; there were no feelings between them as husband and wife, but both did their jobs properly and raised their children well.
When his Father accidentally impregnated Lady Celine, forcing him to take her in as a concubine, his mother had been indifferent.
Now, things were different. Late as it may be, this couple's spring had just started.
And just a while later, this anonymous brother of his was discovered. Silently, he cursed the timing of this, but knew that this was nobody but his Father's fault.
Like it or not, they were family.
***
After this morning's fiasco, Mother went out to work with Lucy in tow, while I stayed confined at home. The sky was getting dark and I began cooking dinner.
Just then, somebody knocked on the front door.
"Coming!"
Since I couldn't open the door, I looked out the window on the door to find a cloaked figure.
A cheerful voice rang out from the cloaked figure, who looked up, revealing his eyes and talked cheerfully.
"Hi! I'm here to pick you up!"
Purple eyes.
I gulped down silently. They're already here!?
As much as I'd like to ignore him, I'd take him in rather than him dragging me out forcibly.
Reluctantly, I opened the lock on the door and let him in.
The cloaked figure stepped in and closed the door himself. Taking off his cloak, his silver hair and purple eyes were revealed; compared to my masculine features, his appeared more feminine. He was only a bit shorter than me.
He flashed a wide smile, chuckling.
"Hello, my name is Ezra and I'm your brother. Although I think you already know that, right?"
"...Yes. Please wait, I will prepare refreshments."
I guided him to a sofa in the living room, where he sat.
Prince Ezra fits his description in the novel perfectly. Tall and handsome. Bubbly and cheerful on the surface, but he can be scheming when needed. In the novel, he tried to warm up to Edwin, but eventually disliked him because of his twisted personality and his attempts to snatch Jane, the female lead, away from him.
"Mmm, something smells good! Did you cook? You know how to cook?"
"Yes, I am making dinner for my family."
I finished making the refreshments (only tea), placing it down on a table and sitting down on a chair opposite of him.
I could feel his gaze and sly smirk on me.
"It's uncanny. Out of us three, you are the one who looks like Father the most. Even your demeanor seems to be similar."
By 'us three', he means himself, his twin sister Princess Judith, and Prince Melchior, the Emperor's other accidental child from Celine, the First Consort.
"...Please cut to the chase, Your Highness."
"Aww, don't be so stiff with me, we're brothers you know! As expected of a Schwerin, though. Always upright, cautious and direct."
"What are you going to do with me?"
"Well, take you to the Imperial Palace, obviously. You should know that nobody of Schwerin bloodline, especially of direct descent, is supposed to live outside like this. Father intends to take you in as an official Prince."
He continued, in a darker tone, maintaining his smirk. "And by the way, don't try to resist. Nothing good will come out of it."
The air between us was tense. Only the sound of footsteps from outside could be heard.
I broke the silence. "Won't it be bothersome for you and the Emperor to take me in?"
Suddenly, Ezra roared in laughter.
"Hah! Bothersome? Brother, you staying out here is far more bothersome!"
He continued. "You are more interesting than I thought. Looking closer, it seems that you have studied mana control and magic quite intensively."
Of course, I have. Direct male descendants of the House of Schwerin have a special mana called 'silver mana', which is much more powerful than other forms of mana. The novel's Edwin didn't know how to control mana, so he frequently experienced fatigue. Thankfully, I scraped whatever money I had as a child to buy books relating to mana control – while they couldn't compare to formal training from the imperial family and professionals, it at least enabled me to control the silver mana and utilize it. To evade detection, I used as little as possible, enough to cover it as mana emitted from tools.
In this world, mana used to be widespread, but is now only limited to the imperial family, higher aristocrats and rare individuals. Mana was often used in the battlefield during wars in the form of mana-infused weapons, and in peacetime in the form of mana-infused appliances. Wealthy commoner families like mine could afford mana-infused appliances – for example, our stove and heater. In a way, it runs similar to electricity on Earth.
Speaking of mana, I remembered something from the novel – mana burst, which is what happens when mana is improperly controlled or left dormant in the body. That was probably how they discovered me, and why the potion stopped working.
"Your mana burst. Normally, this would cause fatigue, but you seem fine, surprisingly."
I replied curtly. "I studied mana control from books, since I didn't want that to happen."
"I commend you for that. I don't think that you're disqualified from being a Prince now," he chimed in an amused tone. "But,"
Suddenly, Ezra's tone turned dark. "You knew your identity from the start, yet didn't say anything. Do you know what will happen if your silver mana was controlled using improper methods from those books? It could cause a disaster. Improperly controlled silver mana can engulf its host and turn them crazy, you see?"
...I didn't know that. So I could've harmed my family? Guilt welled up in my heart.
From the perspective of an experienced mana user and mana researcher like Ezra, and as a member of the imperial family, my actions were understandably outrageous.
"When will I go to the palace?"
Ezra calmed down. "Don't worry, I won't drag you out now. Tomorrow, an official imperial carriage will bring you to the palace. Also, wear proper attire. Do you have a suit?"
"Yes, I do."
For my 18th birthday, Mother made me a gentleman's suit, because she thought I looked handsome in it. At least now there's some use for it.
He flashed a wide grin again, as if the tension and anger from before never existed at all.
"Well then, Elder Brother! I'm looking forward to seeing you at the palace. Since I'm also busy, I won't bother you and your family any longer."
***
A few minutes after he left, Mother and Lucy returned home.
"Ed! Ed! Today I made a dress!"
Lucy emerged from the door, running towards me while holding a messily-knitted piece of cloth.
Not wanting to hurt her feelings, I simply smiled and patted her head.
"You did great, I'm proud of you. Now wait on the table, okay? Dinner is almost finished."
Lucy nodded energetically. "Okay!"
At dinner, I told Mother of tomorrow's plans, not discerning that a prince came here in order to not unnerve her.
Her reaction was more severe than I imagined. She nearly dropped the spoon, and choked on her food – although I suppose, anyone would react like that at an invitation to the imperial palace. For the meantime, I just told her to lay low.
After finishing dinner, Lucy fell asleep and Mother returned to her room. I also returned to my room on the second floor, which was much bigger than Mother's and Lucy's, at Mother's insistence.
That night, I couldn't sleep well pondering over everything that has happened today.