"Is there something wrong, Crown Prince?" Spencer asked in concern. It had been a few minutes since he revealed that the House Lawson was having an internal conflict.
Though the more correct term would be a civil war.
A civil war that would end with the reward being the authoritative party of the House Lawson.
"I was told that you interrogated the suspect Bea before my return. Have you gotten any results?" Leonard ignored his question and raised his own.
Despite being ignored, Spencer held no anger and was very willing to reveal the interrogation result.
Sometime later, Leonard frowned at the name Umbra Vex being brought up.
The notoriety organization called Umbra Vex was something even the old Leonard had heard about. Thus, he understood the implication behind the conclusion that Spencer came about.
If it weren't for the previous pep talk with his father, then Leonard might have believed it. Unfortunately, he did and the more he pondered over the conversation, the less likely he felt it was the work of Umbra Vex.
Rather than saying it was their work, he found it more plausible to believe someone was posing as one to frame them.
Initially, Leonard thought it might be his father's conduct.
However, he quickly discarded such an idea. 'There's no need for father to play that underhanded.'
"Have you discovered something, Crown Prince?" Spencer asked softly.
"Do an intensive check on my family members. Not a single person is to be excluded." Leonard commanded.
Almost immediately, Spencer's eyes turned cold. He didn't need Leonard to explain it explicitly for him to understand what was going on.
'The Lawson members seriously dared to harm the Crown Prince for the sake of controlling the house.' Due to Spencer's identity as an Eight Circle Mage, such trivial authority was nothing in his eyes.
But to those who weren't that talented, such authority was like honey to them. Even if it was a poisonous honey, they would be willing to rush forward to be the first to to taste it.
"This old servant obeyed the command." Spencer knelt on one knee and said solemnly. "What about the plans to head toward the Aldros Imperial Academy?"
"Put it aside for now." Leonard waved his hand. Since Mirelle was a guest instructor, there was no need to rush to meet with her. Instead, the most urgent matters were finding the culprit of the poisoning incident and resolving his house's internal strife.
If the internal strife continued, the only beneficiary would be the other houses excluding House Aldros.
"Spence, if I use the command as Crown Prince to put a stop to the internal strife of my house. Do you think anyone would obey?" He inquired.
To the public, he was known as the cowardly, incompetent, and useless prince. He was despised and underestimated by everyone else.
Spencer appeared very hesitant. He seemed to have aged a few more years. As much as he wanted to lie and sugarcoat it, he recalled Leonard's previous warning.
Suddenly, a frightening thought process emerged from his mind.
'Wait a second, could the Crown Prince have been pretending all along until now?' Throughout their interaction, Spencer somehow failed to notice that Leonard had not only become eloquent but also very bright and courageous.
In the past, Spencer would simply need to report or relay some events and Leonard would just casually nod his head.
Yet this time, it was inherently different. Leonard was asking more questions and even began to give commands to counter the sequence of events.
All these changes occurred as soon as Leonard ascended to the position of Crown Prince.
'This has to be it! The Madam wouldn't have given birth to a cowardly son.' Spencer was excited and felt his blood boiling. The more he thought about it, the more he felt it was likely that Leonard played the fool.
While Spencer was lost in his own imaginative world, Leonard remained oblivious to it and thought his silence meant his authority was nonexistent.
"Forget about it." Leonard shook his head.
"You may leave now, Spence." He then dismissed him.
Spencer bowed and obeyed the command. On the surface, he was calm and collected. But secretly, he was already thinking about how the Aldros Empire would start to change under the Crown Prince.
A few seconds after Spencer made his exit, Leonard plopped to the bed and furrowed his brows. His arms were spread open in the bed, his eyes staring at the chandelier light on the ceiling with a dazed expression.
"There's no way to go back home. I'm stuck here without any cheat-like abilities. I can only do my best to survive and live my life here." He murmured. His emotion was in turmoil now that most of the things were settled.
Vincent's life was distant and foreign to him, and he was starting to adapt more to the original Leonard's mindset.
As he pondered over his previous command to execute someone without batting an eyelid or expressing any emotion, Leonard came to realize he was already integrated into the world of Aetherion.
Diving deep into the original Leonard's memories, he wished to find the reason why he hadn't formed a magic circle yet.
Soon, memories of a conversation during age 10 resurfaced.
—
"Spence, how come my other brothers already formed their magic circle but I cannot?" The young Leonard turned to Spencer and asked.
"They were just lucky, Prince Leonard." Spencer lightly said. "In the past, this old servant could only form my magic circle till I was 30 years old."
"Why are you lying, Spence?" Young Leonard tilted his head sideway. "I've heard from the maids that Spence is a talented mage at a young age."
Spencer's expression shifted slightly before returning to his original complexion. With a bittersweet smile, Spencer shook his head. "Don't listen to those maids. They just wanted to deceive the young prince and dampen your determination."
—
Shortly after recalling those memories, the present Leonard sighed and realized something must have been wrong with his body. After all, the maids from the past memories were all discarded later on.
'It can't be that I have some curses or mana deficiency, right? That would be too cliche.' Leonard frowned.