Chapter 3 - The Emperor and Empress

The Emperor of Blackwater Henry Blacwater is great rulers and magic warrior, who mastered both magic and combined it with his warrior skills, he is strict meritocratic ruler, who is both feared and revered by his people, because of Henry's strong aherence to meritocracy but also being just ruler who helped the weak and impoverished, giving them a push to move foreward, he has four wives, Olivia, Sophia, Caroline, Elizabeth, Olivia is emperor's main wife and the empress, she is a powerful witch, who mastered all types of magic, she was a commoner but she proved her worth, as the result, Henry's parent made her the fiance of their son, she is mother of first prince Cedric and ninth prince Leo, Sophia, she is daughter of duke Lanchestor from northwest of blackwater, who controls the trade routes of the ocean connecting to the ocean, from where merchants from sea comes, Lanchesters are very rich and ambitious, though they are unquestionably loyal to crown, a political marraige between Sophia and Henry took place connecting both family, Sophia is mother of second prince Marcus, third princess Iris, and eigth princess, Lisa, Caroline, is daughter of count Blackberry, Blackberry family have mastery in magic, and many top mages in Blackwater are Blackberry family members, Caroline herself is a great magician and has fierce rivalry with Empress Olivia, a commoner born witch, who is currently the strongest magician in the nation, the rivalry they had during school days and they still had, she is mother of fourth prince Leon, and seventh prince Dennis, Elizabeth, is daughter of viscount Connor, the Connor family are greatest alchemists and own many company thatspecialises in creating alchemical items and the driving force of Blackwater's progress, Elizabeth is mother of twins, the fifth prince David and sixth princess Alice.

When Leo was busy in his work, Leo's parents, Henry and Olivia were watching him, through crystal balls of Leo's mother, Leo forgotten that his mother has crystal ball, a rare artifact that amplify one's divination ability, everything he did, from making concoction with unknown glass tools (chemistry kits) instead of metal cauldron and him selling the potions (healing solution) to a shopkeeper which was then purchased by a loyal subordinate of the emperor in exchange for gold, making the couple realise that capibility of their supposedly lazy son, Leo has no idea that his father and mother already knows his secret.

"He thinks he is so clever"

Olivia whispered, a rare, proud smile tugging at her lips.

"He used a hidden compartment for that... strange black costume. And those tools, Henry. I have never seen glass shaped with such precision. No mana was used, yet he created a liquid that pulsates with the logic of the stars"

Henry crossed his arms, his cape rustling.

"I checked the reports from Duke Robert. The 'Shadow Scholar's' potion has no magical signature, yet it cured a necrotic wound in minutes. It is pure merit, stripped of the arcane. It is... revolutionary"

"He is playing the fool to survive"

Olivia remarked, her eyes narrowing as she recalled the fierce rivalry between her and Caroline.

"If the Blackberry or Connor families knew Leo possessed a mind that could rival their entire guilds, they would move to eliminate him before the next Succession Trial"

Henry nodded, his expression stern.

"The meritocracy demands that the strongest lead. If Leo can turn the laws of nature into a weapon or a tool, he may be the strongest of them all. But he must grow in the dark for now. If we acknowledge him, we put a target on his back"

"What shall we do?"

"We will watch and we will ensure that Duke Robert's gold reaches that shopkeeper without 'interference' from the internal guards. I want to see how far our 'Lazy Prince' can go before he realizes his parents have been his first audience"

Unaware that he was being watched by the two most powerful mages in the world, Leo—now back in his "Shadow Scholar" persona—returned to Fredrick's shop three days later.

The shop was no longer quiet. Two armored knights stood at the door, and Fredrick looked like he hadn't slept in a week. When Leo entered through the back alley, Fredrick nearly fell over in relief.

"My Lord! You're back! The Duke... he paid in gold! Real Imperial Gold! And he wants a thousand more vials!"

Leo didn't expected the customer to be a duke, but he is glad that his plan worked. Leo looked at the gold. To a Prince, it was a modest sum, but to a "Scholar" starting from zero, it was the capital for an Industrial Revolution.

"A thousand vials is impossible with my current tools, Fredrick. We need to scale. I need you to buy that abandoned distillery on the edge of the Slums. And I need you to hire fifty laborers—people who can't read or write, people the world has forgotten"

Fredrick was dumbfounded with shadow scholar's words.

"Laborers? But My Lord, shouldn't we hire alchemists?"

"No. Alchemists ask 'why' and look for mana. I want people who will simply follow a recipe. We aren't making magic, Fredrick. We are making Science"

Leo reached into his cloak and pulled out a new blueprint. It wasn't for a potion. It was a design for a Centrifuge and a Steam-Jacketed Boiler.

"With these, we won't just make healing solutions. We will make the first Synthetic Fertilizer. If we control the food supply of the Blackwater Empire, we won't need a throne to rule it"

After thinking, Leo turned towards Fredrick and showed him the blueprint, and said his intentions. Normally one would consider a kid's words on this things to be wild imaginations, but Fredrick who knew about capabilty of the kid before him believed it all.

"Fine, I will do what you say"

"Let's work together to make it happen"

"Yes, my lord"

Both shaked their hands after this.