On the morning I turned five, I woke in a bed so spacious even an adult would be at a loss to fill it.
A canopy hung from the ceiling, and beyond it came the sound of a window opening.
"Goodness, Lord Asha, you always wake on your own. How splendid."
"Good morning, Harty."
My wet nurse Harty appeared, her navy hair swaying against the backlight of the sun, and tied back the canopy curtains.
Though the room was bright thanks to the large windows letting in the morning light, the space—nearly ten meters square—was so vast that the corners remained dim.
"What shall we do for breakfast?"
"I'll eat. I need to grow big, after all."
"Hehe, then where would you like to have it?"
"I'll wait for Wearrel, so in the Blue Room."
In this world, two meals a day was standard, and breakfast wasn't eaten.
Instead, there were three snack times.
When Harty asked about breakfast, she meant a light snack.
A "meal" proper was something eaten formally in the dining hall as a course.
These were called lunch and dinner.
I had Harty help me change and waited first in the bedroom.
While Harty went to fetch breakfast, I killed time alone in the room that contained little more than the bed.
"Still, this is strange, isn't it? The only adults around me are my wet nurse, two tutors, and one bodyguard—just four people. Even if I weren't a prince, if I were just some young master, there should be maids and butlers, shouldn't there?"
It didn't feel like a misconception on my part, and I had some idea of who might have been excluded.
Besides, there was a difference even among servants—cleaning staff who weren't allowed to meet the master directly.
"I hear them coming and going over there. *Sigh*, they don't need to be so scared. I don't even want to become Emperor."
As I muttered to myself, I heard the sound of a door opening somewhere.
Though I was the only resident of this wing, it had more than ten rooms—far too many, so most went unused.
Incidentally, the wing was roughly divided into four sections, each with unified interior design.
The Gold Room with white walls and gold-trimmed patterns.
The Blue Room with white walls and blue-trimmed patterns.
The Red Room with intricate red wallpaper.
And the Emerald Room, reflecting the taste of its former occupant with emerald walls and red curtains.
Harty should have gone downstairs via the stairs in the Red Room, so I thought the door sound came from the Blue Room direction.
The Blue Room was where my tutors Wearrel and Helkov mainly waited.
"Could Wearrel be here already?"
As if he had heard me, the door at the back of the bedroom knocked—it connected to the Blue Room.
"Are you awake, Lord Asha?"
"Wearrel? You've come already?"
When I opened the door from the bedroom in the Gold Room, there stood Wearrel—a half-beastman with ears and tail covered in green fur.
Wearrel was originally a mage employed by a count's family, rehired as my tutor when my father moved to the palace.
However, since he commuted, he was usually absent in the morning, and even when present, he would only relieve Ikt, my sole bodyguard, from night watch, leaving by morning.
Thinking about it this way, I was receiving rather careless treatment for a prince.
But freedom suited me fine.
"I came early today because there was a gift."
"A gift?"
I let Wearrel lead me to the Blue Room.
While the Gold Room was largest, this area was spacious too, consisting of multiple rooms.
In one of them—the room nearest to the stairs that served as the entrance—several packed boxes were stacked.
Ikt, with his pale skin, was carrying them effortlessly despite his slender build.
"Good morning, Ikt. Aren't they heavy?"
"Ah, good morning. It's fine. It was much heavier dragging back a monsterized grizzly."
Wearrel, taller than Ikt, looked exasperated, but my eyes sparkled.
The tales of Ikt's valor from when he worked as a specialized monster hunter were as enjoyable as listening to stories.
In this world, monsters existed.
The fact that an entire continent was unified under imperial rule was because of the threat posed by these monsters.
It wasn't that humans didn't fight among themselves, but unity provided safety in defense against them.
Animals gained magical power and suddenly monsterized, becoming dangerous.
Those who defeated them for reward were called hunters, and famous ones were treated like star athletes, apparently.
Ikt had become such a star athlete, earned a noble title limited to one generation, and now served at court.
He was acquainted with my father before he became Emperor, and Father designated him as my bodyguard, saying he could be trusted.
"Oh my, what is all this?"
Harty arrived in the Blue Room carrying a silver tray with breakfast.
There were sandwiches, milk tea, fruit, a baguette, and jam.
The generous amount was probably because Harty intended to eat too.
Wearrel, who had mentioned gifts, unwrapped one package.
From within layers of cloth appeared a flask about the size of my head.
"Actually, I heard the Academy was disposing of equipment and obtained permission to take it."
"Could this be... alchemy equipment!?"
Unable to sit still, I ran to the flasks.
Meanwhile, Ikt, finished with carrying, had moved on to unpacking despite it not being his guard duty.
What emerged were specialized apparatus called distillation devices and alchemical furnaces.
There were also familiar tools from science experiments like mortars and pestles.
"These are all quite professional, Wearrel."
"They're disposal items from the Academy's Alchemy Department."
Wearrel answered Ikt with a troubled smile.
"The Academy... you mean that Rukiusaria Academy Kingdom?"
"You remembered well, Lord Asha. Yes, Rukiusaria—the odd one out even among the empire's territories, with academy operations as its main industry. As it's a sanctuary of learning, even disposal items are of reliable quality. Since Your Highness asked about alchemy from a book you read the other day, I inquired with an acquaintance at the Academy, and upon hearing they were disposing of these, I collected them."
I had heard Wearrel was formerly a teacher at the Academy.
It seemed he had tried to answer my questions about alchemy, which was outside his specialty.
"Wow, thank you! Um, if you don't mind, books about alchemy..."
"I anticipated that and have already borrowed some."
Wearrel had prepared everything meticulously, from the Imperial Library to books on alchemy.
Delighted, I hugged the flask.
"Well, well, alchemy for the Prince, eh? I glanced at a book myself and couldn't make heads or tails of it."
"Helkov, good morning. You're early—wait, did you carry these up to the third floor?"
Helkov shrugged his thick shoulders.
Though he was supposed to be my sword tutor, I was still too young for him to fulfill that duty, so he had been pressed into service carrying luggage.
"We shall need additional breakfast."
"Yes, thank you, Harty."
Harty headed back to the Red Room to fetch breakfast for Helkov and the others as well.
Though I responded, I couldn't resist and began examining the equipment, neglecting even my breakfast.
"Where shall we put them? Perhaps it's fortunate we have spare rooms after all."
Helkov asked, making a joke that wasn't really a joke.
"Since it's alchemy... the Emerald Room, perhaps?"
"Is alchemy associated with emerald?"
Ikt sought confirmation from Wearrel regarding my answer.
But Wearrel was also a layman, and his answer was vague.
"I believe there was something about an Emerald Tablet or some representative riddle."
"They say the secrets of alchemy are written there. That's what the book explained, though no one has been able to decipher the difficult text to reach those secrets."
In other words, a dubious legend.
But because I possessed scientific knowledge, I understood that truth lay hidden within.
According to the Emerald Tablet: "All things are generated from one thing by adaptation."
This corresponded to the concept of atoms, and thinking further, protons and neutrons.
This was because it continued with the method: "Separate the fine from the coarse with great diligence and care."
Rather than magic I knew nothing about, it was only natural I felt affinity for alchemy and grew enthusiastic about reading.
I did feel bad for making Wearrel run back and forth to the Imperial Library multiple times in one day because of this.
"Lord Asha, enthusiasm is good, but today is your walk."
"Ah, yes."
Before I knew it, Harty had returned and pinned me down with those words.
Wearrel and the others smiled at my disappointment.
The "walk" Harty mentioned upon her return was a form of punishment.
Recently, I had been reading too much, staying up late and skipping meals.
Consequently, I had been strictly ordered to take a walk today that would make me hungry enough for my stomach to growl and sleepy enough to doze off.