The Nerd Turned Out To Be The Tyrant

“…Ha.” 

After taking off his glass goggles, Rev removed his earplugs. 

Wiping the blue liquid off his fingertips, he took a long breath in and out.

He opened his mouth, popping out of a world where only the sound of his heart, his breath, and his thoughts were heard. 

“It’s done.” 

His voice, which sounded like someone else’s, was much more hoarse than usual.

He was in the attic between the first and second floors, where no light came in.

It was impossible to feel the passage of time.

Rev, who doesn’t feel the passing of time, drowsiness, or hunger when immersed in one thing, looked at the thing on the work desk, gently pressing his bloodshot eyes.

‘Pendant.’

He took the sleeping Luce out of the Baron’s castle.

Following Chelsea’s guidance, he put Luce in the bedroom and tried to leave the room when he noticed Luce clenched her fists.

He carefully opened her hand, and the pendant he had made for her was in her hand. 

It was lovely to hold it tightly as if it were very precious, and at the same time, it made his heart ache. There was a slight crack in the outer glass. 

It seems to have fallen and bumped into something. Thinking that when Luce wakes up, he’ll have to return the pendant with new glass, Rev, who was fixing it, felt something strange. 

‘Only the outer glass is damaged, so why isn’t it working?’

The inside of the pendant was intact, with only the glass surrounding the connector and circuitry damaged. Even so, it didn’t respond to the signal sent by Rev’s pendant. 

Rev sat down at his work desk, leaving his complicated thoughts behind.

He dismantled the pendant and removed all the circuits, transceivers, and connectors, but there was no damage. The problem was elsewhere.

‘The magic stone was the problem.’

The pendant is powered by the magical power of the magic stone. 

When he first tested it, it definitely had a year’s worth of magic power.

It was possible to use more than that because it minimized the use of magic power through optimization. 

Strangely, however, he couldn’t find magic in Luce’s magic stone pendant.

Rev counted the number of cases in turn.

First, the case if there is a loss of magic power due to incorrect connecting. But it wasn’t. The design was perfect. 

Second, if the magic stone’s magical power circulation is stopped due to a sudden change in temperature or environment.  

But it wasn’t this either. Even after adjusting the temperature and setting the environment when it was first made, the magic stone didn’t move. 

Rev, who was removing each case one by one, knew that there was only one left.

‘It was offset by a collision with powerful magical power….’

Magic power is like a liquid. It is unstable and highly volatile, and tends to aggregate the same magical powers.

The reason why this unstable magic can be used as a raw material in magic engineering is because the liquid-like magic hardened over a long period of time and became a substance called a magic stone. 

Magic that has become a magic stone is relatively stable and non-volatile. It is easy to store and convenient to carry. 

It can be used as a safe and reliable power source until all the latent magic power in the magic stone is used.

But there was a little problem.

When faced with powerful magic that can’t be compared to a magic stone, the magic inside the magic stone is drawn to the strong magic, and the arrangement is broken.

Once the arrangement of magical power is broken, the magic power of the magic stone is rapidly volatilized. So it can no longer function as a magic stone.

But it wasn’t common. No, it’s safe to say that it rarely happens.

The level of magic stones that remained in this world was almost the same. 

It wasn’t the same thing as something mined from somewhere that was hard and shiny like a jewel. 

It just means that the amount of magic power varies depending on the size of the magic stone piece. It’s similar to how when you melt ice, it turns into an amount of water equal to the size of the ice. 

However, this magic stone has a similar aspect to when it encounters extremely concentrated and compressed magic power.

The answer is only one.

‘It’s Radanum.’

It was as if someone had lit a fire in his already complicated mind. 

Radanum met Luce.

Why? To save Ximel’s child.

Rev thought of Ximel’s child, who was hiding her face in a fedora.

He knew who the child was.

‘Princess of the Ximel family, Alois.’ 

Rev’s eyes narrowed when he thought about Alois, who was dressing as a man.

“There is one. A person who knows the face of Prince Aurelio at the festival venue.”

The only one who knows he’s Prince Aurelio.

Not even Duke Ximel’s husband. And not the Baron and his guests too. 

And not even the assassin who tried to kill Alois.

That person was Alois. 

‘But why did the princess of Ximel almost get assassinated in Rodante?’

A sigh flowed from Rev’s mouth as he thought. 

“I hear His Highness Prince Delmar is looking for a candidate for a marriage partner. I think you should know this much because you always cared about him.” 

Because she’s a candidate for Delmar’s wife? 

The reason why Radanum approached Luce was to protect the candidate for Delmar’s wife? 

Even though it was ridiculous, there was no other hypothesis that made sense.

He clenched his fist tightly. The glass goggles exploded in his hands, but Rev didn’t care.

‘What’s good of being a princess?’

At least to Rev, there was no one who could be compared to Luce.

Whether that be a member of the Imperial Emperor’s best ally, the Duke of Ximel, another vassal, or even his half-brother Delmar.

But to force Luce, who knew nothing, into her limbs to save Delmar’s fiancé candidate. 

‘He saw Luce in my blood. He knew that the child was kind and brave, so he knew that she would also try to save others, and he used it. A hand to replace himself who can’t stand on the front line.’ 

So, in the end, it’s because of himself. 

The place where he turned around and arrived was terrible self-loathing.

He was delaying the time to take medicine little by little so that Radanum wouldn’t notice it, but he would have passed on all his stupid thoughts before he knew how to do it to Radanum.

His eyes, which had always been calm and quiet, suddenly became fierce.

Rev gritted his teeth and started a new design instead of putting the magic stone back into the pendant. In addition to the function of simply sending and receiving voices, something else must be added. 

It was the time when a practical plan was needed to protect Luce, not just a cute house play or secretly learning swordsmanship. 

A shadow fell over Rev’s gaze, who was sitting at the desk, not knowing how much time had passed. He looked up and saw an unwelcome guest looking down at him.

“I have been looking for you for a long time. Didn’t you hear the knock?”

It was Radanum. 

Rev didn’t feel angry when he saw him ask him trivial questions like “Did you take your medicine?” or “Did you have fun going out?” Instead, he felt calm. 

“Why was I banished to this place?”

He needs to know why.

“That’s a very random question, Your Highness.”

Why did the emperor banish me without killing me? It would have been much easier to kill the son of the mistress, who is an eyesore, but why he kept him alive by giving him medicine?

“It is difficult to tell.”

If he can’t talk, he can just find out.

How would they react if the Prince, who couldn’t be killed for some reason, defied the Emperor’s order, refused the medicine, and learned that he was willing to die? 

“If you can’t tell me, there’s only one answer I can give you. You are not allowed to take my blood, find out my whereabouts, or enter the place where I am staying, as of this time.” 

Radanum, who had provoked Rev a few times, was surprised when he saw that Rev was more determined than he thought. He made an excuse of respect that didn’t work but laughed at Rev’s order.

And he whispered in a very low voice.

“It is difficult to say why you were banished. I don’t know if you know that. It’s been five days since the festival.”

“….” 

“Then, I’ll see you again.”

After saying that, Radanum disappeared.

What do you mean five days? 

Originally, he knew well that time would pass if he was immersed in one thing, but Lev couldn’t believe it. 

There was no way he could have been fine without taking medicine for five days. No matter how much he delayed the time to take medicine and reduced the frequency of intake, he couldn’t have been fine if he hadn’t taken medicine for five days. 

Holding the pendant with the remnants of the magic stone in his hand, Rev thought about the variables.

‘What on earth is the reason….’

Is it because he was in the studio and didn’t see the light? No, there is no light in the northern tower where he stayed. 

Did he skip meals or sleep? Neither is that. There were countless times when he skipped eating or sleeping while reading a book, but he always needed medicine.

As he was deep in thought, he finished assembling.

Rev’s thoughts, which he had been muttering about for five days, flowed to one place like water reaching the family land.

‘Luce must have woken up.’

Was she awake, in good condition, or not in great shock?

He was curious and wanted to see her. Rev threw away the remains of his glass goggles and the remnants of smelting magic stones and opened the attic.

He hurriedly opened the attic, not realizing that the door to the attic, which had always been closed, was open.

He also didn’t realize that the door with the magic circle and medicine was open.

He gets ready and goes to see Luce. Put his repaired pendant back around his neck.

Let’s tell her to think only of herself and not to take risks to help others next time—.

He thought so as he ran down the stairs without stopping.

“…Delmar.” 

Until he saw his half-brother sleeping in his seat by the window space, and Luce curled up at her feet, sleeping uncomfortably. 

*****

“Where did His Highness the Prince go?”

“T, that. Since the jurisprudence lecture scheduled for today was canceled… none of the attendants know what happened after that.”

“What?! What about His Highness Prince’s room? What about the bathroom? What about the study? Did you check everything?”

“Yes, of course! Where on earth did he go— Ugh, I see Your Highness the Empress Consort.”

“What did you just say?”

All the busily running servants stopped.

“What do you say now? Do you not know where Delmar has gone?” 

“I apologize, Your Highness!”

A dinner with the Emperor was scheduled in an hour.

It was a place that they couldn’t miss no matter what, and it was also a place where she had to report on Delmar’s achievements so far. 

Preparing it now isn’t enough because it’s a place where every button and thread shouldn’t be messed up. 

He’s not supposed to be out of sight of the Emperor, who has a bad mood these days, but what do you mean Delmar disappears!

Putting off the punishment of the incompetent servants, Diana ran. 

It was when Diana, who had been searching through the rooms, study, gymnasium, and playground, had just come out of Aurelio’s northern tower.

“Your Highness the Empress.”

“Radanum!” 

Apparently, someone who wasn’t there when she entered the northern tower stood leaning against the entrance.

Diana, who hastily grabbed Radanum, asked.

“Didn’t you see Delmar?”

“Is there something happened?” 

“It’s time for dinner soon, and he’s gone!”

“Ah, oh my. Shall I report to His Majesty the Emperor instead?”

“What do you mean…!” 

To her surprise, he smiled.

“Yes, that would be a problem.”

“If you’re going to play with empty words, stop it. You know where Delmar is!”

“What went missing is usually found in a place you wouldn’t expect, right? The notebook I used all the time is under the drawer, and the book I was reading until yesterday is stuck between the beds or something like that.”

“What do you want to say?”

“I’m done with what I want to say. It depends on how you interpret it. Then, I will leave.” 

Radanum left a greeting and walked away.

What does he want to say?
 

An unexpected place?

Diana’s expression darkened for an instant. She looked back at Radanum, who was moving away, and the room where her back was.