Chapter 83

Come quickly, Alan.

1. Princess Victoria waited anxiously for Alan to arrive.

‘Things are getting complicated. I originally intended to bring good news.’

She had recently met with the Emperor.

Oddly enough, this meeting too was because of Alan. Specifically, to request the awarding of honors to Alan Medoff.

Awarding a Military Medal would be standard, but Victoria had persuaded her father to instead award the Golden Cross Medal.

The award honors those who’ve served the Imperial Court. Usually only given to those who helped the Emperor ascend the throne, but she wanted it for Alan, to show that all his actions in the Great Forest were truly for the Imperial Family.

And the Title.

Victoria had petitioned to award Alan an old title that had once belonged to a branch of the royal family but now had no heir.

She had considered creating a new Baron title in the Great Forest territory but decided against it, thinking it would be wiser to keep Alan within the royal sphere of influence. Not to control but to show they embraced him.

‘This much I should do.’

Still, her father’s reaction was a bit strange.

It was like he felt uneasy. The Emperor openly expressed confusion, asking, “Why do you too hold Alan Medoff in such high regard?” She couldn’t understand why he was so reluctant to honor a meritorious subject.

‘Father still doubts Alan.’

How could she clear up this misunderstanding about Alan? She had explained repeatedly that his loyalty was genuine and that he would never plot against the empire, but the Emperor’s expression hadn’t softened. If anything, he seemed uncomfortable even talking about Alan.

While pondering this, another incident erupted.

This time in the Academy rather than the Great Forest.

“Your Highness, Leon Rothe Dale has attained the rank of Master.”

“This isn’t the time for such things. Before Princess Siena acts, we must begin operations to recruit him… First, gather information about his family and construct a network. If necessary, we can offer special favors…”

“Ephedrine was what he took to reach Master rank. Isn’t that the drug Your Highness commissioned from Medoff Pharmaceuticals? If handled properly, this could be an opportunity to showcase Your Highness’s foresight. You should consult with Sir Alan immediately!”

Her aides were already in an uproar.

She understood their concerns but just let it flow past her.

When her maternal uncle had earlier suggested piggybacking on Alan’s achievements, she had only laughed. How quickly they changed their tune from wanting to distance themselves to now wanting to take credit – it was utterly shameless.

She naturally had no intention of agreeing.

Things were far from stable enough to start talking about recruitment.

‘A plan must be devised. If we aren’t careful, the Academy could become corrupt.’

Even that word was too polite.

A cesspool, chaos, or worse.

Leon’s wild grin while shouting “Bulongyi Monglongyi” and showing his teeth was still vivid in her mind. The thought of more students behaving similarly was horrifying.

Alan must be thinking the same thing.

Victoria planned to discuss a strategy with him as soon as he arrived.

“Of course, I should also give him some good news after that.”

She intended to carefully explain her efforts to free Alan from the unpleasant misunderstandings and how she would assist him in the future.

It wasn’t because she wanted Alan’s approval. She simply wanted to confirm her support as a main contender for the throne.

Just then, she heard footsteps.

…

“Your Highness. Did you summon me?”

Finally, Alan arrived.

Perhaps due to the gravity of the situation, Alan too looked rather weary.

This was the knight who usually remained calm despite any difficulty, which only highlighted how serious the matter must be. Alternatively, maybe he was simply exhausted from all he’d faced recently.

‘Yes, most people would have given up by now.’

Without realizing it, Victoria raised her hand.

She felt like she should touch his shoulder.

But eventually, she let her arm fall without acting. Not out of shyness, but because Alan had looked up after taking a short breath. His troubled expression had already faded.

“I apologize for showing such an unkempt appearance, Your Highness.”

“Sir Alan.”

“I assume you summoned me regarding the disturbance at the Academy… Yes, that’s right. Since this situation arose from my inadequacies, I shall handle it alone. You should step back, Your Highness.”

“How could this be your responsibility? That’s absurd.”

“It’s not just about responsibility. Frankly, I want to look away too. However… producing Morphine and Ephedrine ultimately stems from my actions. Since it’s a field I know best, it would be most efficient for me to resolve it.”

Really.

Victoria could only stare at Alan, lost for words.

She wasn’t free from responsibility either since Ephedrine existed because of her commission.

Yet Alan was prepared to shoulder all of it alone, perhaps worried about burdening the royal family. He even invoked efficiency as a reason.

Another moment of realizing just what kind of person Alan was.

But Victoria had no intention of passing the burden to him.

“Sir Alan, I’m afraid I can’t allow that.”

“Your Highness…?”

“There’s no law saying one must bear infinite responsibility just for creating a dangerous substance. By that logic, we’d have to punish all the engineers working in the armory too.”

“But I did more than just create…”

“Enough. I’ll take responsibility.”

Only then did Alan Medoff nod, looking somewhat dazed. Though no “thank you” was spoken, she felt satisfied.

A sense of repaying her mental debt to Alan, even if just slightly. Simply being able to help such a capable and responsible subordinate was gratifying for Victoria.

“Alright, we have a lot to discuss.”

Given the serious situation, she decided against showing any pleasure.

Still, her lips kept trembling, betraying her internal happiness.

*

Judging from Victoria’s reaction, it didn’t seem like she would ask him to produce a stimulant. His pretense of melancholy to test her was unnecessary.

In fact, she responded with a bright and sensible suggestion.

“…Alan, as far as I know, Leon Rothe Dale was a genius aspiring to become a Master even before the health syrup was invented. Perhaps the syrup hindered his growth instead.”

“…”

“And even if it is helpful… I don’t want superhumans driven crazy by drugs. The Elder of the Elves was a master magician comparable to a Master, but he ended up drooling and muttering nonsense before being struck down by a blade, right? Am I correct?”

“That’s true.”

Why did such a reasonable response seem strange?

Perhaps it was due to witnessing too many bizarre scenes or having committed too many crazy actions himself.

It seemed Victoria still hadn’t fully recovered from being out of touch with reality.

“Anyway, won’t the stimulants only exist if you make them? There’ll be quite a commotion for a while, but no one will dare pressure you.”

She said so. And he responded respectfully.

“Your Highness. They’ll try to eat Ephedrine’s raw ingredient, Ma Huang, if they can find it. Or they might just try to secure Morphine and take it. Morphine is widely used in the military, so there are ways to obtain it if they’re determined.”

“…Right.”

“They’ll probably resort to Opium if they can’t get Morphine. By the time they realize it’s ineffective, it will be too late.”

“That means we’ll have hundreds of Leons…”

“More accurately, hundreds of Leons who don’t even have his skills.”

At this, Victoria finally lost her smile and grew serious.

Not just her expression, but she straightened her posture from leaning toward him and put down the hand that had been supporting her chin.

She was suited to appearing dignified and solemn, after all. She wasn’t the type to joke about serious matters like this.

“Then, how should we resolve this?”

“Your Highness, I regret to say it’s impossible to completely resolve this.”

“Then…?”

“No matter what we do, those who want to try drugs will. I heard some students already rented a closed hotel to set up an opium den. Now they even have the excuse that it helps with practice, so they’ll enjoy it without hesitation.”

“…”

That didn’t mean they should do nothing.

“However, we can minimize the damage.”

“Meaning reduce the number of contaminated people?”

“Yes.”

Normally, she might have shown some signs of relief at this point.

But Victoria’s expression only grew graver.

Perhaps she realized how grave the situation was, or maybe she felt responsible since she initiated it. As much as she wanted to console her now, unfortunately, he lacked the time.

Instead, he posed a difficult condition.

“However, Your Highness, there’s something you must give up to clean this up.”

“What?”

“You must give up on Leon Rothe Dale, the student who achieved Master rank during school. In fact, you’ll have to send him away yourself. Of course, I don’t mean killing him. The subject might even be satisfied…”

At this, Victoria fell silent, just staring at him.

His face was reflected in her clear blue irises.

It wouldn’t be an easy decision. Even if the student was addicted, a Master was still a Master. It was normal to consider how one could make use of him.

“With you here, there’s no reason to cling to just one Master.”

But Victoria muttered without hesitation.

Though he should probably pretend to be humble and let it pass, her expression was too serious. After a moment of awkward silence, they finally began discussing specific measures to reduce the impact of the situation.

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