Questions

However, it wasn't as if the secret compartment gave me the stuff that I actually wanted. I mean, here I was expecting Nosir Albius' diary and instead I got some random piece of paper. However, it's not as if I can devalue that piece of paper just because it's a literal piece of paper. I mean, it was in the secret compartment! That does mean it has to be something of value.

Anyhow, it was at this point that I realized that I forgot something really important. There's a slight chance that I might just not be able to read what's written in that paper. I mean, if that is the case, then I'm totally screwed. But for some reason, my mind says otherwise. And why is that? Well, the fact that I'm able to speak this place's language is kinda like the testament for that. I feel like the natural skills that Nosir had were transferred to me as well. Which means that I won't have any trouble reading what's written in the paper.

I got a bit tense as I opened it. I mean, a secret compartment item. I just hoped that it was something really valuable. And when I say valuable, I don't mean money because I feel like Nosir has quite a large amount of money in his kitty.

The moment I opened it, I realized that parts of it were written in the ancient language of this place. This realization alone made me quite a bit happy because this meant that muscle memory is definitely a thing and even if I don't get Nosir's memories, I can comprehend the stuff that he has learned throughout his life, which is actually awesome!

Now for the actual content of the paper… That was actually more than what I could possibly handle at this point. Why? Because it was the will of the previous emperor—the current emperor's father, that is. And it states that once the current emperor is gonna be done with his reign, the next emperor has to be Nosir Albius and only if the emperor swears on it that he can actually reign on the Albius Kingdom. Taking this into account and hoping it to be legally binding, this basically means that I'm supposed to be the one who's supposed to be the crown prince!

However, this just gave me a lot more questions than answers. Why? That's the main question in my mind. Why did the former emperor make such a will? And why wasn't Nosir appointed as the crown prince once the current emperor took charge? And finally, why didn't Nosir make a claim for the throne once he realized the existence of this will and just kept it a secret? A lot of questions, if you ask me.

Now, the thing is that I can't just go to Jerome and ask him about all of this. I mean, although he seems like an actual friend and not a spy, I still have to keep the secrets as secrets. I mean, it's not like I'm going to reveal the fact that I'm just an occupant of this body and that Nosir died to him, right? This is just the same as well.

And if I'm planning to do this without his help, there's just one place to get any sort of clue to this puzzle. And that's the library. I mean, no kidding, the library that Nosir has is definitely bigger than any of the libraries that I've ever seen. Now, with access to such a massive library, the first question is where to start my search. Which question needs to be answered the most?

That would be my—Nosir's family history. I mean, I have to know why the former emperor took a favor towards Nosir. There has to be something behind it, right?

And that was when I found it. The current emperor and Nosir's mother were the betrothed ones. However, the emperor, who was the crown prince at that time, was in love with some Baron's daughter and due to one steamy night of passionate devil's tango, they ended up having a kid before the Emperor's marriage with Nosir's mother could happen. And using that as the reason, the Emperor tried breaking the engagement with Nosir's mom and argued against his father for that.

I mean, if the engagement was canceled, it would have been a done deal. However, there was a massive problem in the midst of all of this. Nosir's maternal grandfather was the Grand Duke at that time and he was best friends with his paternal grandfather and this betrothal was something that was discussed right at the time when his mother and father were kids. So this entire sequence of events enraged the former emperor because this not only means that his friendship with the Grand Duke would be severed, but it also means that there is a minor chance that the Grand Duke who actually had the equal amount of support as the emperor would plan a massive revolt against him.

Worried that something like this would happen, the former emperor refused to acknowledge the existence of the child even when his son threatened to reveal this to the general public. However, once the emperor threatened to kill the child and the lover if his son didn't comply with him, the then crown prince had no choice but to comply.

And that meant that he couldn't acknowledge his first born until he was married to Nosir's mother and had a child with her. However, once the current crown prince was acknowledged, it wreaked literal havoc. The Grand Duke felt cheated by the emperor and Nosir's mother was the same as well. However, for some reason, both of them calmed down after having an hour long discussion with the emperor or so the records say.

Anyhow, this basically explains the main question—why Nosir was favored when it came to the race for the throne. And that leads to the next one. Why didn't Nosir actually become the crown prince?

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