After the incident with my cousin Hina, Harty had apparently charged at the people Hina named and investigated the details thoroughly.
"How pathetic! So pathetic!"
I ended up receiving the report from a weeping Harty.
First, my maternal grandparents.
They only knew the rumors that reached the palace from within. All they heard were bad things about me—that I had harmed my younger brother Terry, who held higher succession rights—and they had trembled with fear at my supposed audacity. They had apparently taught Hina that she mustn't become a bad child like that.
"I told them the rumors were groundless, but they said the problem was that I was seen that way, even though they wouldn't lift a finger to dispel the rumors!"
"It's fine, Harty. It can't be helped. After all, I've never even met them. They say a stranger nearby is better than a relative far away, so it's only natural they'd be wary of me."
Harty had apparently confronted her own parents head-on because of this. Perhaps because they were blood relatives, she felt guilty about it afterward, and for the first time, she received a letter from my grandparents.
It was their first letter, conventional and formulaic though it was, and it contained an apology for their neglect.
In my previous life, my grandparents had already passed away or lived far away and grown distant, so I honestly didn't even know their personalities. Thinking about it now, my previous life's grandparents had lost their children and grandchildren one after another within two years—they must have suffered greatly.
I don't intend to become close to them, but I'm glad my current life's grandparents are thoughtful enough to provide just enough material for me to forgive them on the surface, if only for Harty's sake.
"And that sister-in-law!"
What Harty called the most pathetic, and angriest about, was the wife of my older brother who had inherited the viscountcy, and my other cousin Teti who had been influenced by her.
Apparently, they had deliberately been feeding Hina badmouthing. Their reason was that if Harty never remarried, she would continue to occupy the viscount's house indefinitely. To get her to remarry and leave quickly, they had been trying to drive a wedge between me and Harty.
"But the real problem is Count Niftas's household, right?"
From Harty's report, I heard that the people further instigating that sister-in-law were from Count Niftas's household. Moreover, Harty's brother—my uncle—had apparently prepared a small celebration gift for my birth month and entrusted it to Count Niftas's household.
Given his position as a viscount aligned with Duke Eurasion, I understand why he couldn't give it to me directly. But the problem was Count Niftas's household, who had embezzled that gift money while feeding people bad rumors about me.
The main one acting had been the eldest son, the heir to the countcy. But Count Niftas himself had apparently condoned it. When Harty went to confront them about the gift money, they didn't even try to hide it.
"That man is far too heartless."
Harty spoke bitterly. When she had charged in to denounce the wrongdoing, they had returned the gift money calling it a trivial sum. The embezzlement wasn't even because they wanted the money—they simply wanted nothing to do with me at all.
The reason: because I was unnecessary.
They said it was enough that they had the favor of having raised the father who became Emperor. Since Terry would definitely become Emperor, associating with someone like me was nothing but a loss. The only reason they were my patron was for the status of having raised the Emperor; they had no interest in me whatsoever.
"Well, yeah. If they weren't that pragmatic, they wouldn't have raised the Emperor's hidden child as their own son."
"You mustn't accept this, Lord Asha! This is unjust treatment!"
"Harty, thank you for being angry on my behalf. But you know, there are people who understand me, like the person you chose. Not everything is bad, right?"
After the incident with Hina, Harty had brought the person she was courting as a remarriage partner. Apparently, upon meeting me, that person immediately understood that I was in unfortunate circumstances.
I wonder why?
Do I really still have such a commoner air about me despite being a prince?
At any rate, Harty's remarriage partner pitied my situation greatly. And saying that they couldn't take Harty away from someone like me, they declared with truly heartbroken resolve that they would nullify their remarriage to Harty.
"I was really panicking about what to do then."
"Heh, Lord Asha was the one who reconciled the two of them."
When Ikuto, who had been watching the series of events as a guard, smiled warmly, Werell and Helkov arrived. The two had been checking figures in another room. Werell had been a teacher, so that made sense, but I didn't have Helkov pegged as good with numbers.
When I said so, I was told that war is ultimately about numbers in the end.
"We've produced estimates. Even maintaining the current situation, the inheritance from your birth mother will likely run out within five years."
"Man, I never thought the stipend for a prince would be nonexistent. I'm impressed. Our salaries are paid by His Majesty, so that was a blind spot."
Yes, Harty was going to leave due to her remarriage. And the problem that surfaced was financial. Clothing came from my father; food and housing were provided by the palace. And since I'm a commoner at heart, I didn't know that princes had a budget called a stipend just for being princes. So I learned for the first time this time that all the miscellaneous expenses until now had been managed by Harty from my mother's inheritance entrusted by my father.
"If you are to continue alchemy in the future, the materials received from the academy will also run out."
Werell had connections to the academy and got equipment provided for free. Along with that, he had also received beginner sets and leftover stock from inventory, so mineral-type materials had been covered by that. Other things used what could be obtained from the kitchen or gardens, and occasionally I'd have Helkov or others buy alcohol to use as experimental materials.
Those payments had been covered by Harty, and the source had apparently been the inheritance.
"In other words, the money being spent is for my hobby. Then I just need to earn money through alchemy."
"Lord Asha, please consider that as long as you continue social engagements in the future, expenses will pile up."
"That's true. Even someone as unsociable as Ikuto has a fair amount of that. Besides, you can't exactly maintain appearances if you can't even give a gift to someone you fancy."
"But what do I say to avoid causing waves with His Majesty? I probably don't have a stipend because of someone's deliberate action. I don't want to weaken the party supporting His Majesty, who still can't move the country independently."
The most likely culprit is Duke Lucaios, the maternal family of the consort who hates most for me to gain power, which is why I hesitate to appeal. If it becomes friction with the maternal relatives, it would probably affect my younger brother Terry and the twins I haven't even seen yet. And with forces like Duke Eurasion's faction, who aim to overthrow the Emperor and take the throne, present now, I cannot allow seeds of division among allies.
If I can't adjust things skillfully, I have no choice but to endure with the status quo and devise strategies. To buy time for that, I needed to earn money on my own.
"Lord Asha, can you make gold?"
To Harty, "earning money through alchemy" apparently brought that to mind.
"Even if I did, who would buy it? If the source is suspected and it leads back to me, His Majesty will definitely find out. Something that doesn't connect to me, but is a consumable with daily demand that never runs out, something stable..."
Thinking about it, I looked around the room and saw wine bottles. For alchemy—or rather scientific experiments—I needed to extract ethanol, so I needed alcohol.
"Come to think of it, there was something called Aquavit."
It was a type of medicine from the alchemy books I'd read. It meant "water of life." A type of medicinal liquor where magic is woven in during the process to create a recovery potion.
"Helkov, you're knowledgeable about alcohol, right? What does this taste like?"
I handed him the pre-ethanol wine that had been distilled multiple times. Since it was the process of extracting only the alcohol content, the proof should be high.
"Well, it's effective, but it's lost all the wine's aroma and body."
"So it's not tasty. Aroma and body are part of the taste, right? Wait a moment. Sephira, please optimize the process."
I asked Sephira about methods to extract fragrance from lemon-scented medicinal herbs. This alone would probably be bitter, so as sweetness I had Harty bring honey to add. Wanting refreshment, I made carbonated water too, and when mixed, it became a makeshift cocktail.
"How about this?"
"Oh, this is... It's sweet but bitter and refreshing. The aroma is so different from the original wine that you wouldn't think it came from wine, but it's not bad. Personally, I liked the strong liquor from earlier too, but there would be people who like this."
I solicited opinions from Harty and the others who had taken interest as well.
"Well, this is medicinal liquor? It's supposed to be bitter and smell terrible and hard to drink..."
"To think you could create something of this level in such a short deliberation—I am in awe of you, Lord Asha."
"I did not know carbonated water could be made other than naturally springing from the ground."
From Werell's words, it seems carbonated water exists but only occurred naturally until now. Strong carbonation might be impossible, but if it's rare, could I sell even this lightly bubbly level?
"Then, shall I try selling scented liqueur and sweetened carbonated water separately?"
That idea was intended to be just a temporary measure, something makeshift to send Harty off without worry. Having Helkov's connections bottle it up and sell it was just a trial.
But then shops and customers jumped on it, sold it out, and by the time I knew it, it had become popular even in the palace.
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