[V13C27.3] Interlude: Eternal Rivals

One day had passed since the Sage Induction Ceremony and the magnificent parade through the capital. Elliott Howard, the Lord of Rainfield, was still in the palace.

Elliott was not of a high enough status to attend the ceremony, but his domain had suffered significant damage in the large-scale dragon disaster. As such, he had to visit the capital a few days ago to report on the extent of the damage.

The Starspear Witch managed to contain the spread of the fire before it reached the temple, but not before it burnt down a substantial portion of the forest.

Moreover, the trees of this forest were a special kind that absorbed the land’s mana, maintaining a stable mana concentration. Replacing them was no easy task.

Thus, he needed to request assistance from House Roseberg, the foremost experts when it came to plants, to grow trees capable of mana absorption.

“I appreciate your contribution to the restoration of Rainfield, Lord Roseberg,” Elliott said, bowing his head to the man with curly red hair seated across from him.

He was currently meeting with the current head of House Roseberg, Raul Roseberg the Fifth Thorn Witch.

Raul did not look much older than Elliott, yet he stood at the pinnacle of the magical world as one of the Seven Sages.

“I’m glad to be of help,” Raul replied with an embarrassed smile as he scratched the back of his neck. “I’ll have one of my people stay in Rainfield. Feel free to consult them if you have any other concerns.”

The First Thorn Witch was notorious for her cruelty, but the Fifth Thorn Witch was the splitting image of an amiable young man.

His red curls, green eyes, and well-proportioned face were surely inherited from First Thorn Witch, yet his cheerful smile made him seem much more approachable.

Raul went out of his way to ensure Rainfield would not have any problems cultivating the trees, and even offered detailed advice on every step.

(I can hardly believe he’s one of the Little Squirrel’s colleagues…)

The Little Squirrel, aka Monica Everett the Silent Witch, was currently praised as the great hero who defeated three evil dragons.

Clearly, public opinion on the Silent Witch and the Thorn Witch did not reflect the whole truth.

The discussion regarding the trees ended with Elliott signing a few documents.

“Oh right,” Raul said, looking a bit apologetic. “I’ll be away for about a year starting this summer, so if you run into any trouble, you’ll have to contact Melissa Roseberg, the acting head of the family.”

“Is that so? …I understand.”

One of the Seven Sages going absent for a year was practically unheard of, but Elliott decided not to delve further into the subject.

After all, the Sages held a higher rank than him, and he was the one asking for assistance. It was not his place to pry into their affairs.

Raul picked up the documents and stood up, glancing at the door leading to the corridor.

“By the way, Lord Howard, do you have some time after this?”

“Yes, I do.”

Elliott had delivered the damage report and handled the forestation arrangements. Now, he only needed to greet a few acquaintances and purchase a souvenir for a certain songstress who kept begging him for one.

“You see,” Raul continued. “I ran into Prince Felix in the corridor earlier, and he asked me to pass you a message. Apparently, he wants you to stay a bit longer so that he can say hello.”

Upon hearing Raul’s explanation, Elliott quickly suppressed the urge to twist his face into a scowl.

Prince Felix… in other words, that damn servant.

(Why the hell do I have to wait for him?)

That’s what Elliott wanted to say, but he could not possibly say it out loud. After all, the servant was currently the Second Prince.

“…I see. Then I shall wait for him in this room.”

Elliott swallowed his anger and nodded reluctantly. His response put a warm smile on Raul’s beautiful face.

“You went to the same school as Prince Felix, right?” Raul asked.

“Yes, I did.”

“So you’re friends! How wonderful!”

“…Haha.”

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Raul departed the room.

Now that he was alone, Elliott leaned back against his chair and allowed his grimace to surface.

(Damn servant. What the hell does he want?)

Come to think of it, after the spring festival where he asked Monica to perform a magical dedication, he also told her to pass the servant some hard-baked sweets as a souvenir… along with the message, “Don’t tell him how to eat these.”

Perhaps he came to complain about his teeth breaking. If so, serves him right.

Suddenly, a male attendant said, “Excuse me,” as he entered the room rolling a cart with tea and snacks.

The attendant placed a cup in front of Elliott and poured tea into it. The tea gave off the distinct fragrance of citrus, or more precisely, bergamot.

“Oi,” Elliott frowned. “Get me a different tea. I don’t drink bergamot.”

However, the attendant ignored Elliott’s request, instead placing a small dish of cookies in front of him. Elliott did not even have to bend down to smell the strong aroma of cinnamon wafting from these cookies.

At this point, it was clearly harassment. This attendant was probably acting under the orders of that damn servant.

Elliott scowled at the attendant, ready to shout a series of insults.

The attendant was a tall young man in a well-tailored valet uniform, standing straight with perfect posture. He had blond hair and blue eyes, as well as a scar running vertically above his right eye.

Elliott had no memory of this scar, but he did remember the attendant’s sharp gaze that made no attempt to hide his hostility. This triggered a rush of memories from his past.

“No way. Impossible,” Elliott whispered with trembling lips.

“My deepest apologies, Lord Howard,” the attendant replied without any hint of a smile. “I was mistakenly informed that you love bergamot.”

Elliott widened his eyes in shock, as if he had seen a ghost. Perhaps he was seeing a ghost, as the man in front of him should have been long gone.

“Y-You! The damn servant!? Why are you alive…? I mean, I knew you were alive… but, that face!”

The servant made no attempt to reply to Elliott’s screams. He simply traced the scar above his eye in silence.

This was not the clean cut of a blade, but a gouge made by the claws or fangs of a large creature——likely a dragon.

(So that’s why he hid his face under his bangs…!)

Elliott had recently gotten the chance to see a wyvern up close.

Just imagining those claws descending on his face sent shivers down his spine. It must have been worse for this servant, as he was still a child at that time.

As Elliott froze at the realization, the servant finally opened his mouth again.

“Due to various circumstances, I can now swap my face under the right conditions. I don’t see any reason to explain the details to you though.”

“…Fine by me,” Elliott scoffed, suppressing his surprise. “So why did you go through the trouble of meeting me with that face? Because you felt like it?”

The servant twisted his lips into a smirk.

“I just wanted to see your reaction.”

That nasty smile, that tone of voice!

(Who does this servant think he is!)

Elliott jumped out of his chair and clenched his fists.

“You know what I’ve been thinking all this time! That I’d smack you if it weren’t for Prince Felix’s face!”

Elliott slammed his fist into the servant’s stomach with all his might.

He avoided hitting the face not out of mercy, but because the servant mentioned he could swap faces. Elliott knew he would feel guilty if he left any bruises on Felix’s face.

Despite getting punched in the stomach, the servant grit his teeth and withstood the blow. Apparently, he had tensed his abdominal muscles in advance, anticipating that Elliott would punch him there.

“…You know,” Isaac said, exhaling through his clenched teeth. “I decided that if you wanted to punch me, I’d let you land one hit.”

The servant’s blue eyes gleamed through the gap in his bangs, and his lips twisted into a scowl.

“…Then I would return the favor without holding back.”

The servant delivered a powerful blow to Elliott’s stomach with his right fist. Elliott fell backwards to the ground, clutching his stomach and groaning in pain.

It was a good thing he didn’t drink the tea, as he would have coughed it all up.

(Dammit! He provoked me into punching him so that he could get me back!)

He had even mitigated Elliott’s punch, so the exchange of blows was essentially one-sided. The servant did not play fair.




“I hate you and everything about you, Elliott Howard.”

Isaac sneered down at the doubled-over Elliott, not even trying to hide his contempt.

Elliott Howard had always been completely incompatible with him.

Despite constantly bullying Prince Felix, he had the gall to suddenly flip his stance one day and act like they were best friends.

In contrast, Isaac was only allowed to be Felix’s friend in secret, as he was nothing more than a servant.

Then, Elliott ridiculed Cyril’s background as a commoner during their time at Serendia Academy. But after graduation, the two addressed each other on a first name basis.

Meanwhile, Cyril continued to call Isaac “Your Highness” forever!

And to top it all off, there was the incident with Monica.

This man had casually asked Monica for a magical dedication, while Isaac was dying for a chance to see the Silent Witch’s latest masterpiece.

Every time he heard about the magical dedication in Rainfield, he felt more and more jealous.

Elliott Howard kept snatching away everything Isaac wanted, and he did so effortlessly, with a noble arrogance as if to say it was only natural.

“Well I hate you too,” Elliott said, scowling back as he clicked his tongue. “If I knew this would happen, I would have reported your disrespect to Duke Crockford when I was kid.”

“How exactly would you tattle on me? Did you even remember my name?”

Elliott shrugged his shoulders and put on a taunting smile.

“Of course not. Do you expect me to bother remembering the names of other people’s servants?

Elliott had always been good at remembering names and faces. In fact, he had an almost perfect memory of Serendia Academy’s entire student body.

He just stubbornly refused to remember Isaac’s name. To Elliott, the name of a mere servant was simply not worth remembering.

“Such arrogance. Typical of you,” Isaac muttered.

Elliott scoffed back. It was true that he looked down on people below him.

Elliott stood back up, rubbing his stomach as he returned to his chair. Then, he gulped down an entire cup of the bergamot tea he hated so much.

“Oi, servant,” Elliott said, leaning back in his chair. “For the second cup, bring me a milk tea with autumn-picked lignum. Milk first. One cube of sugar. Also, do your job properly and treat me with respect. By the way, I’ll make you start from scratch if you add even a pinch of cinnamon.”

“…”

Isaac ignored Elliott, instead returning the tea set and dishes to the cart.

He reached for the large cloth-covered basket placed at the corner of the cart. It seemed to be for storing a spare tea set, but Isaac pulled out an expensive-looking jacket from it instead.

(It’s about time.)

Isaac placed a hand over his face, ensuring that the scar above his right eye was covered by his palm. Soon after, his skin began to change shape.

A few seconds later, when Isaac lowered his hand, he wore the flawless face of the Second Prince, Felix Arc Ridill.

“Disgusting,” Elliott muttered.

Ignoring him again, Isaac swapped his attendant uniform with the jacket from the basket, then changed his tie.

There would be no need to change if he asked Wildianu to cast an illusion instead, but Isaac had a strong aversion to wearing a servant’s outfit with Felix’s face.

His outfit seemed a bit off since he was still wearing the pants and shoes of a servant. However, that was unlikely to cause any issues for the short walk to his room. Most people would only look at his glamorous jacket and handsome face if they passed him in the corridor.

“Well then, I’ll be taking my leave now. Another servant will be coming to deliver the tea you requested.”

Isaac turned to Elliott with his usual princely smile.

“I’m glad to have had the opportunity to catch up with a former classmate.”

His words lacked any shred of sincerity, of course.

Elliott raised an eyebrow for a moment, but he quickly recovered and returned a smile of his own.

“I’m honored to hear that from you, Your Highness. I’ll be sure to invite you the next time I hold a festival in my town. I plan to request another magical dedication from the Silent Witch, you see.”

Isaac narrowed his eyes at the mention of the Silent Witch, causing Elliott to put on a triumphant smirk.

As usual, they were still completely incompatible. This only reaffirmed what Isaac already knew.

Isaac turned around and left the room with a dignified gait befitting the Second Prince.

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