Became The Son Of The Final Boss [EN]: Chapter 31

31.

I didn’t just fall asleep; I focused on honing my Breath of the Wind technique and ended the day’s training.

Quest completed. Bonus stats awarded.

Thanks to that, all F-rank quests were completed. By finishing the F-rank quests related to being recognized by Gale, I had accumulated 740 bonus stats.

“I need to use these sometime.”

I was lost in thought, wondering whether to unlock a new quest or a skill.

A knock was heard.

“Your Highness, it’s breakfast.”

It was the voice of the newly appointed Vice-Chamberlain.

After properly showing my presence to my father and the ministers in the Great Hall for the first time, I started my day in the office.

I also had my meals in the office instead of the bedroom.

The Vice-Chamberlain, servants, and maids prepared breakfast, and the scent of Polisia flowers still wafted strongly from the food.

‘How much longer will this last? A month or two?’

The effects of the Polisia flower [a rare flower with potent magical properties] are significant, but it takes quite some time to fully experience them. The flower isn’t going anywhere, and all that’s needed to see the effects is consumption, so I enjoyed it again today.

“Is the workload manageable?”

At my words, the Vice-Chamberlain smiled gently and replied.

“Of course, Your Highness.”

I ordered Soris to select new personnel for the Crown Prince’s Palace, and over the course of a week, servants and maids were brought in.

Soris made sure to exclude anyone affiliated with the Aetran family’s academy.

If Ken is a strategist who draws the big picture, Soris is someone who reliably handles the minor details without me having to worry about them.

I felt quite good about having gained a good subordinate.

‘I need power more than ever.’

To influential nobles or other princes and princesses, it may seem like I’ve only brought in a street guild as my henchmen, but they represent a significant strength to me.

‘Ken and Soris are strategists. Gale is a general.’

For now, I’ve gained the head and strength, which are the most crucial pillars of power.

I gave a brief request to the Vice-Chamberlain.

“Please take good care of me in the future.”

“I will do my best in my assigned duties.”

Soon, the meal was taken away, and left alone again, I moved to the desk in the office.

I began to finish the work I had been doing before breakfast.

Bonus stats.

“Where should I allocate these 740 points?”

Through the last attack, what I painfully realized wasn’t that I had become stronger or that Ken and Soris were good subordinates.

‘I could die.’

I felt death was near, a visceral premonition. The position of Crown Prince gave me not just wealth and glory, but also made me a target.

The status window is a cheat-like means of increasing my own power, which is precisely what I need here.

If I use this properly, I can maintain the position of Crown Prince and, above all, protect my life.

So, it was wise to be careful when using bonus stats.

I first looked at the remaining quests.

-A Liberation from Invisible Hands: Survive assassination attempts until the Spring Evaluation Competition.

└Bonus stats 300, B-grade or higher skill, random talent unlock.

My eyes felt a tingling sensation.

“Wait.”

I unknowingly spoke the word and stared intently at the quest.

“This… isn’t completed yet?”

The meaning of the quest not being finished was simple.

“There’s a high possibility that there will be more assassination attempts in the future.”

Perhaps the quest might be completed when the Spring Evaluation begins.

I soon shook my head.

“No. It’s best to consider all possibilities.”

Knock knock-!

A knock was heard.

It was Ken, who now felt like an extension of myself.

“Your Highness!”

“Ah, come in.”

Ken came inside.

He was no longer wearing a servant’s uniform but casual clothes, which suited him quite well.

“The clothes look good.”

“What’s so special about ordinary clothes?”

I said with a smile.

“What are the backgrounds of the newly hired staff?”

“They are all commoners. It’s hard to find people in the capital, even among commoners and slaves, who are not from the Aetran Academy.”

What Ken’s words implied was simple.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that Ted, no, the Beregon family head’s influence is second only to Father.”

“If you delve into the details, it might be even greater. Servants and maids may seem like lowly positions, but the palace cannot function without them. Moreover… they are always by someone’s side.”

“Are the servants and maids by Father’s side also from the Aetran family?”

Ken replied briefly.

“I’m trying to find out about that as well.”

“Would you like a cup of tea?”

To bring up the main point, I offered Ken tea. It wasn’t a difficult thing to say, but it seemed like the conversation would be lengthy.

Ken accepted the tea I poured without refusing.

Blowing on the hot steam, I broached the subject.

“Do you think this is the end of the assassination attempts?”

Ken is the head of my forces, the one I rely on for strategic thinking. I was planning to proceed with everything through consultation with him.

That way, Ken’s position in my future growing forces would be secured.

At my words, Ken narrowed his eyes.

“No, it is not.”

I was quite surprised by Ken’s answer, but I didn’t show it and asked.

“It’s not the end? Father gave me the right to investigate directly in the Great Hall… Do you think those guys will try again?”

At my question, Ken answered firmly.

“Yes. They will do more than that.”

* * *

Ken decided to report occasionally while proceeding with the investigation.

Afternoon training was being conducted with Soris and the Shadow Walk guild members who had newly become my subordinates for the time being.

The positions of the Shadow Walk guild members are still ambiguous, but after Gale returns, most of them will be employed as knights under his command.

I had also left the task of creating an organizational chart to Ken, so I began to use bonus stats in earnest.

“The problem is that it’s random.”

How nice would it be if I could choose the skill I wanted while unlocking skills.

In the novel, I made the status window almost omnipotent.

Karen chose the most suitable skill every time she unlocked a skill, and that was thanks to me, the author, loving the protagonist.

Right now, I had no choice but to rely on luck, which I didn’t like, but there were many reasons why I couldn’t unlock quests without unlocking skills.

The quest wasn’t over yet, and Gale was still far from returning.

More than ever, I needed my own power. The fastest way to get stronger was to acquire new skills.

‘I’ve been lucky so far. All my talents are S-rank, and my skills are either S or A.’

Even if I exclude the Breath of the Wind, which is my mother’s legacy, all the unlocked skills were A-rank.

The more bonus stats I used to unlock skills, the higher the chance of getting a high-rank skill, but I was nervous.

“Hoo.”

I took a light breath and selected to use bonus stats. At the same time, a window appeared asking me to choose between quest and skill selection. Without hesitation, I clicked on skill selection.

“It’s like a game.”

The window changed rapidly like a gambling game and slowly began to stop.

-A: Curtain of Fire

Only one skill was unlocked, but I barely managed to stop myself from jumping up and shouting.

It was another A-rank.

At this point, one might misunderstand that there are no skills other than A-rank, but I knew better than anyone that this wasn’t the case.

In the beginning, I excessively gave out A-ranks just to make the protagonist stand out.

Thanks to that, I got a lot of criticism from the readers. They asked why I even bothered to show the rank if only A-ranks came out.

I thought it couldn’t be helped if I wanted to make the protagonist stand out, so I ignored it until the comments disappeared, and then I changed my mind.

Thus, unlike other novels where low-rank skills appear occasionally among high-rank skills, Hero Karen had a lot of A-ranks at first, and then lower ranks started to appear occasionally.

Moreover, since the lower ranks were based on the initial A-rank skills, F-rank was definitely trash. What if I got such an F-rank? It would be my own setting backfiring on me.

Fortunately, I got an A-rank, so I felt relieved for now.

‘Curtain of Fire, huh? I’ll have to make a contract with the Fire Spirit.’

The skill was unlocked, but a contract with the Fire Spirit had to be made first to use it.

“Does this mean I’ll have contracts with all four major spirits?”

I lit a candle and immediately recited the oath for the contract.

A small lizard climbed onto my palm and up to my wrist.

The master of the oath… you’re still far from enough.

The spirit’s voice echoed in my ear.

Before I knew it, a chuckle escaped my lips.

I had learned through several battles that each spirit’s attribute had a different personality.

Even the two sylphs [air spirits] were different in personality.

The salamander was reminiscent of Ifrit [a powerful fire spirit in Islamic folklore].

“Okay. I’ll work hard.”

I sent the salamander back.

‘I need to become an intermediate spirit master before the evaluation competition…’

The size of my mana hole is still far from intermediate.

According to my mother’s book of spiritism, an intermediate spirit master’s mana hole should be at least ten times larger than the initial size.

In terms of size, it would be about the size of two soccer balls combined.

My mana hole is still slightly larger than one soccer ball. I decided to practice the Breath of the Wind more diligently.

‘I should try using the Curtain of Fire in the afternoon sparring session.’

I was naturally going to use the skill since I had acquired it. The moment I unlocked the skill, I knew exactly what kind of skill it was and what effects it had, but actually using it would be a different feeling.

I had gained another weapon.

I used a whopping 740 bonus stats at once, but I didn’t regret it at all. It was worth even more than that.

Just as I was about to get up to train, I heard another knock.

“Your Highness, I have come from the Great Hall with His Majesty’s orders.”

At the servant’s voice, I opened the door myself.

A knight saw me and bowed deeply.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

“You came with my father’s orders?”

The knight replied briefly to my question.

“The order is to visit the Great Hall.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“From Father?”

The knight did not answer. He probably didn’t know the reason either.

“Let’s go then.”

I immediately left the Crown Prince’s Palace with the knight.

Ken and Soris tried to follow, but the knight stopped them.

“He said he would like to speak with you alone.”

I smiled and left a meaningful remark to the knight.

“I’m sorry to hear that. It’s not safe even inside the palace.”

The knight was also a member of the Imperial Knights, and the assassination attempt in the Crown Prince’s Palace was a shameful incident for the Knights and the Guards.

“I apologize.”

“No, I didn’t mean to receive an apology. If Father told me to come alone, I have to go alone.”

Ken and Soris stepped back, and I followed the knight to the Great Hall.

There were many nobles in the Imperial Palace today, and I could feel their changed gazes.

It was a time when my every move was bound to be noticed.

I was officially investigating the culprit of my assassination attempt.

Some avoided my gaze, and others watched me closely.

And Ted was also there.

Unlike the others, Ted approached me directly and greeted me.

“Brother.”

“Yes. Have you had breakfast?”

I asked gently.

“Yes. Your Highness…”

When I corrected his title, Ted smiled brightly.

It was as if he was trying to hide something in his smile.

“Yes. Your Highness. Have you had your meal, Your Highness? I think you can come to the dining hall and eat with us now. Your brothers and His Majesty are sad that you always eat alone.”

I replied appropriately.

“I’m planning to participate in breakfast soon too. Father called me urgently, so I’ll go ahead.”

“Then please be careful.”

Ted bowed deeply.

I turned around as I was.

‘Anyone would think he’s a very affectionate brother.’

Normally, I would have thought about various things about Ted, but now it was more urgent to go to the Great Hall.

I soon arrived at the Great Hall, and the knight stepped back as he opened the door.

Unlike that day when it was crowded with people, there was only my father in the Great Hall today.

Nevertheless, the Great Hall was filled with my father’s presence.

“Did you call for me?”

As I went inside, the door closed behind me, and my father’s voice echoed softly.