Adelbert's face went pale.
I released my grip on his collar.
"Forgive my rudeness. I acted out of necessity to save you."
"..."
Even though I let go, he didn't bother adjusting his clothes, still frozen in shock.
"What just…?"
The surrounding nobles were staring at us with dazed expressions, likely startled by how narrowly the incident had been averted.
The noble who had stumbled into Adelbert floundered as he spoke.
"Y-Your Highness, are you alright? I drank too much, and… I have committed a grave discourtesy. My deepest apologies."
"…It's fine."
Adelbert answered without taking his eyes off me.
The noble turned to me and bowed deeply.
"Sir Ernst, you have my utmost gratitude. You saved me."
"It's nothing. Since nothing happened, why don't you retire for the night? Your Highness, would it be alright to let him go? It seems to have been an accident."
"…Yes, that would be fine."
"Please, return to your quarters. His Highness has been startled enough, and it won't help if the situation becomes more chaotic."
"Y-Yes, of course. I'll be on my way."
The nobles glanced back nervously as they cautiously left the scene.
I turned to Elias, who still seemed bewildered, and then to Adelbert, who remained in a state of panic.
"Shall we have a conversation?"
The only sound in the room was the crackling of the fire in the hearth.
I had cast a soundproofing spell and sat down on a chair.
"Do you have anything to say?"
"..."
Adelbert sat with his head hung low, utterly silent.
Elias, who hadn't been able to fully grasp the situation earlier, seemed to have pieced things together by now. For once, he was seated quietly, his expression calm.
"Your Highness, you were nearly pushed down the stairs by Lord Orly. Below you was Duke Elias."
"..."
"Lord Orly seems to believe he lost his footing due to overdrinking."
Adelbert's shoulders flinched.
Elias watched him with an unyielding gaze.
"But… from what I saw, Lord Orly appeared to have been pulled by magic. Isn't that right?"
Adelbert's face drained of all color again.
At this point, I'd expected him to start offering excuses, but all he could do was sit there trembling.
The first to break the silence wasn't him—it was Elias.
"Where's your proof?"
"There is none."
Elias raised a brow at my blunt reply.
"Magic leaves no lasting trace, and whatever residual energy there was in the air has already dissipated. Besides…"
"Besides?"
"The force that pushed Lord Orly came from Your Highness's innate ability. That type of magic wouldn't leave a trail, would it?"
"..."
Adelbert's innate ability—the power to control wind—was something he could wield effortlessly without training. It was also the reason he had been promoted ahead of his peers. Few people possessed such a rare talent for manipulating natural elements.
Elias let out a long sigh, resting his forehead on one hand.
"What's the point of all this?"
"Would breaking Duke Elias's leg again be reason enough?"
"..."
"Well… didn't Your Highness also fall down the stairs?"
"A fall like that wouldn't be enough to crush someone's leg. It needed weight behind it. Your Highness likely calculated that falling with him would cause less damage to yourself while still keeping you above suspicion. If it were me, I'd do the same."
Though I wanted to call him out for having succeeded in re-injuring Elias's leg, I held back.
Fortunately, Elias seemed to accept my reasoning without objection. He pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing deeply.
"…Your Highness, answer us."
"..."
The silence stretched on. No matter how much time passed, Adelbert didn't open his mouth.
For the past thirty minutes, he hadn't said a word.
"If you're trying to come up with an excuse, you'll also need to explain how Lord Orly's hair was yanked backward before he even stumbled. Perhaps you saw it wrong?"
My sarcastic tone earned a dry chuckle from Elias.
After that, the room fell silent again. None of us spoke, each lost in our thoughts.
'What should I do?'
Honestly, I was keeping my tone polite only because he was royalty. If it were up to me, I wouldn't even want to see his face.
Adelbert was destined to oppose Elias at every turn before ending up in a dungeon in his mid-twenties. Should I nip this in the bud now?
It's true that teenagers can be ruled by their emotions, but not everyone lives like this.
Even if you despise someone, who actually shoves them down a staircase?
'…But something doesn't sit right.'
The Adelbert I knew wasn't the type to resort to underhanded tactics.
He had always opposed Elias relentlessly in the novel, but he never stooped to dishonorable methods.
Even now, he had the authority to summon the guards and have us thrown out but chose instead to sit there trembling.
'…I need to get him to talk.'
If Narce were here, this might be easier. But bringing him into this would look suspicious, and it wouldn't be wise to let anyone on the Emperor's side know about our connection with Narce.
Still, there was one lead.
'First, make him speak.'
Once I've opened his mouth, I can decide what to do next.
I leaned toward Adelbert, who was still hunched over, and spoke in a low voice.
"How about a spar?"
***
The suggestion must have seemed absurd, but thankfully, Adelbert nodded silently before I had to resort to other methods.
It was the first reaction he'd shown.
'He must think this will give him a chance to stall.'
Or maybe he thought he'd be able to buy himself more time.
We arrived at Elias's private training grounds, a space far larger and cleaner than the ones at the academy.
"Who would've thought Nicolaus would one day be teaching someone? Feels nostalgic."
Elias chuckled dryly, his tone laced with sarcasm.
It amazed me how he could still crack jokes in the presence of a cousin who had just tried to maim him for life.
'That's so… Elias.'
"This isn't a lesson," I replied.
"Then what is it?"
"To wear him out."
Adelbert was tense. Breaking that tension would be my first goal.
Physical endurance is closely tied to mental resilience. And right now, he was drained—mentally cornered, with no energy to spare. If his body gave out, his mental defenses would collapse soon after.
That's when the stick would give way to the carrot.
Even when pushed to their limits, people struggle to shatter their own beliefs.
Since I couldn't torture a prince, the next best thing was to push him to his extreme using his preferred method.
'Driving someone into a corner? Easy.'
I've been driven to the edge countless times myself, mostly thanks to Leo.
Without another word, I walked to the opposite side of the training grounds.
"Let's begin."
Though his face was pale, Adelbert managed to stand upright.
I skipped introductions and opened with a drill formation.
"Well, well. Seeing a Bavarian military stance in the Imperial Palace. How fascinating."
Elias's mocking voice echoed faintly in the cold air.
I didn't respond, focusing on the fight.
Adelbert drew his wand and attacked, a massive gust of wind crashing against me like a tidal wave.
'As expected.'
The raw power was overwhelming—enough to scatter shards of magical energy against my protective barrier.
'He relies purely on brute strength.'
This kind of attack would have overwhelmed most opponents, forcing them into a defensive stance and robbing them of any chance to counterattack.
Adelbert extended his wand, slamming it into the ground. A wave of force surged toward me. Amidst the chaos, I saw a white streak flying toward me.
I shifted my wand into a defensive form.
Clang!
The sound of clashing blades filled the air.
His speed wasn't bad. For him to close the distance so quickly meant he had mastered channeling magic into his body for movement.
But why had he hastily transformed his wand into a sword?
'You're too impatient.'
I loosened my grip on my weapon and dropped my stance. My wand reverted to its original form just as he lunged forward.
"…!"
Caught off balance, he stumbled forward.
It was only a brief moment, but it was all I needed.
Boom!
The magic surging from my wand hurled Adelbert across the training ground.
Thud—
"Ugh!"
"Do you even have any fundamentals?"
It became clear why his skill score was only 2.
I approached the prince, who had crumpled against the opposite wall.
"If you intended to use a sword instead of a wand, you should have kept the magic focused on your legs during the leap instead of shifting it to your upper body."
"..."
"Your stance suggests someone told you not to channel all your magic into your wrist during a standoff. Yet, no one seems to have taught you that weak legs render all your efforts meaningless when using a sword."
Behind me, Elias whistled, clearly amused.
I didn't need to hear his words to know what he was thinking. To someone like him, it probably looked like I was just showing off. No point in paying attention.
"Again."
Adelbert slowly propped himself up on trembling arms, his wand morphing back into a sword.
Whoosh—
I turned my body, deflecting his next attack.
But he kept coming, relentless.
Reluctantly, I reshaped my wand into a sword to block his strikes.
'He's not here to win. He's here to get hit.'
His insistence on repeating the same mistakes proved it. This stubbornness was his defining trait, even in the novel.
I wasn't frustrated because he kept drawing his sword—I couldn't care less about that.
It was clear now that he couldn't break his own stubbornness and hoped someone else would do it for him.
Whoosh—
A wave of magic followed the path of his blade.
I countered with my own magic-infused sword, shoving him back before transforming it into a wand and pressing forward.
***
"See? This is why it matters who teaches you. Did he only learn how to kill people during training? He's exactly like that guy."
"...Huff, huff…."
Adelbert knelt, bracing himself on his knees, too exhausted to even wipe the sweat dripping from his chin.
I ignored Elias's snide remarks, focusing on the task at hand. Not that it required much effort—Adelbert was already on the brink of collapse.
Thud—
The prince staggered and fell to the ground.
Truthfully, I was barely holding myself together. If not for the divine power reinforcing my stamina, I might have collapsed, too.
Elias walked up and looked down at him.
"You won't be walking tomorrow."
"I… I can…"
"No, you can't. I've been through this. I know for a fact you'll have muscle aches for three days straight. Maybe then you'll be fine."
"..."
Adelbert didn't respond, gasping for breath as his eyes fluttered closed. He looked ready to pass out.
I steadied my breathing and sat next to him.
"Talk."
"..."
"You pushed yourself this far because you thought it'd make you talk, didn't you? Surely this wasn't just about tiring yourself out for no reason."
"..."
"If you have nothing to say, then I can't do anything more."
I waited for a response.
Finally, after about ten minutes, his dry lips parted.
"…You're… right."
"What?"
"Everything you suspected is right."
Elias silently stared down at him.
"You pushed me?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"..."
"You knew from my father's letters that my leg was healing. Did you want me to lose the ability to walk?"
Adelbert, his gaze unfocused, pressed a trembling hand to his forehead.
"…I don't know."
"You don't know?"
Elias let out a dry laugh before his expression hardened.
"How far do you and your family plan to drag me down? Do you hate me that much? What have I ever done to you?"
It was a fair question.
Elias's carefree demeanor and seemingly thoughtless actions weren't just a product of his personality—they were part of a calculated effort to avoid drawing the Emperor's attention.
But the Emperor's children didn't know that. All they saw was a rival to hate.
It was a vicious cycle.
"I hate you. Do I need a reason? But…."
"Speak."
"…I didn't mean for it to go that far."
Elias's fists clenched tightly.
"You son of a bitch… you didn't mean for it to go that far? After doing all that?"
"S-Sorry, Elias. But I really don't know what I was thinking."
"..."
Adelbert's voice trembled, as though he might cry. Elias exhaled sharply.
"You drank too much. Alcohol makes you act on thoughts you usually suppress. Did you know that? Is that why you kept drinking?"
"..."
"Drinking like this shows your true nature. This is who you are at your core. Doesn't that disgust you?"
After a long pause, Adelbert gave a small nod.
That seemed to infuriate Elias further. His face twisted in anger as he grabbed Adelbert by the collar.
"You little shit… you better never think about becoming Emperor. If you do, I swear I'll—"
"Alright, stop."
I pulled Elias back before he could throw a punch.
"Your Highness," I said, turning to Adelbert.
"…Yes."
"The wine the Crown Prince gave you—was it good?"
"Ah."
His voice shrank, as though he thought I was mocking him.
"…I'm sorry, Sir Ernst. I won't drink anymore."
"..."
I feel like a school principal.
"Still, you drank it."
"Yes… after you left."
I turned to Elias.
"When did you tell your family about your leg?"
"…About five days ago. Why?"
I didn't answer. Instead, I looked back at Adelbert.
"And what did the Crown Prince say about the news?"
"He said he was glad it healed, even if it made things awkward for him."
"And what did you say to him?"
"..."
"There's no point lying now. You didn't like it, did you?"
"…I said it might be quieter if it stayed broken."
"You son of a—" Elias rolled up his sleeves, but I pushed him back again.
"When did you receive the wine?"
"Yesterday. Since there was a banquet coming up, and my birthday is soon… he said I should save it for when I was in the mood."
"I see. And the Crown Prince specifically said it was for you alone."
Elias's expression darkened as the pieces began to click.
He understood.
"I'm curious. Would you mind if I had a taste of that wine?"