SHC_ARCHIVE_C66_CHAPTER 66: ALL GRASS LOOKS THE SAME GREEN.

Chapter 66: All grass looks the same green

Generally, in the empire,  the imperial throne is passed on to the Crown Prince born of the Empress and while the Emperor is allowed to take concubines, any children born to them are considered illegitimate and doesn't have any right to inherit the throne. 

In case the Empress bears multiple sons, according to the customs of this empire, the eldest son is first in line and unless something extraordinary happens, they are raised to be amicable siblings.

However, things are different with the current imperial princes.

The First and Second princes are both sons of the Empress.

However the birth mother of the First Prince, is Empress Sophia, who passed away due to complications after childbirth however before she died, she left behind a dying wish to have her younger sister, who was then a concubine of the Emperor, be elevated to the status of 'Empress'

In other words, the Empress and the former concubine/current Empress were sisters.

All the Elder Sister wanted is to entrust everything to the person she knew best and it was her younger sister.

As soon as the mourning period ended, the younger sister was officially elevated as the Empress and that woman is the current Empress Elisabeth and since the Second Prince was born after she was formally stated as an Empress, he now as well holds succession rights for the crown.

"That's...incredibly complicated."

"Well, yes.," Viktor said with a shrug.  "Her Highness the Empress still publicly supports the First Prince and is known that she's raising the Second Prince to support his older brother too. But in a situation like this....it's never just about the people directly involved. There are outside influences and agendas that are also in play here."

“Even if the brothers themselves get along, there are always onlookers who stir the pot,” Romanov-sensei added. “And if attempts to put out the fires of gossip and division fail, things can escalate.”

“The Second Prince has clearly said he has no intention of opposing his brother… and the rumors still won’t die down? That implies something’s wrong on the older brother’s side, then.”

“His behavior hasn’t exactly been spotless.”

I let out a long, heavy sigh.

So there are people who would benefit if the less capable older brother were removed and the younger brother were made Crown Prince instead.

 

And of course, these manipulators are the kind of powerful, hard-to-discipline nobles who know how to throw their weight around without facing consequences.

There are always adults willing to use children for their own gain.

As my expression twisted with disgust, Romanov-sensei gently pinched my cheek, a wry smile on his face.

“So,” Viktor-san continued, “today there was a tea party hosted by the Second Prince. And somehow—don’t ask me how—another tea party hosted by the First Prince ended up scheduled for the exact same time.”

“Oh no…”

If you get invitations from both princes on the same day, protocol dictates that you prioritize the First Prince, who’s higher in the line of succession.

 

But apparently, a few prominent nobles still chose to attend the Second Prince’s gathering.

 

Which means… this tea party became a litmus test—a line drawn in the sand between factions.

 

Had I gone to the palace today to present my work to the Empress, I might’ve been seen as aligning with the Second Prince.

 

That would’ve been… bad.

In that light, maybe catching a cold was a blessing in disguise.

 

“And here’s something the Princes don’t know,” Victor added. “Lower-ranking nobles from both factions got into a little scuffle today.

Alyosha and I just happened to be passing by, so we overheard everything—and quietly passed the information to His Majesty.”

He said it so casually—"His Majesty." Wait…

“Wait, His Majesty? As in the Emperor?!”

“Yep. We were visiting the Empress for your project, and it just so happened that the Emperor was there too.”

“Apparently, he wanted to see for himself what kind of accessory the Empress had taken such a liking to,” Romanov-sensei said. “He’d heard about it and was curious.”

So the Emperor truly cherishes the Empress.

But wait… wasn’t the whole idea of the accessory originally to help with a legislative proposal?

I asked about it, and Romanov-sensei nodded thoughtfully.

“That was part of it,” he said. “But the Empress also genuinely wanted one for herself. She’d seen Maria wearing hers and found it beautiful—but Maria wouldn’t say who made it.”

Viktor chuckled. “We’d been deliberately keeping your identity under wraps, so Maria assumed you were someone very high-ranking and thought she wasn’t supposed to give away your name. She ended up being incredibly vague about it.”

Apparently, Maria had also attended the Second Prince’s tea party.

 

After their meeting with the Empress, they went to see her—and she looked utterly worn out, saying, “I didn’t know how much I was allowed to say, so I spent the whole time dodging questions!”

Anyway, the Empress was thoroughly delighted by the “Sissi’s Starflower” accessory.

The instructional manual I’d included on how to make the piece was handed to the Emperor, and they’ve decided that it’ll be made public alongside the new legislation.

“Oh, and another thing,” Viktor-san added. “The Empress decided to include curry powder under the same law. Here—this explains everything.”

He handed me an envelope made of fine paper.

Inside were two sheets of letter paper.

The sender hadn’t signed with a name—only “Second Son.”

The first page was written in this world’s language, thanking me for my cooperation.

The second and third were in Japanese, expressing heartfelt gratitude for the curry powder.

“I thought I’d never taste it again… and now I can. It feels like a dream come true.”

There were visible ink smudges at the end of the line, like he’d cried while writing it.

He also added: “Please sell curry powder so we can have curry anytime.”

Apparently, since he’d heard I was starting a company, he figured this would be a formal business deal.

I folded the letter and tucked it into the bedside drawer, letting out a deep sigh.

The “Second Son” was Japanese.

And unlike me, it seemed he hadn’t fully adapted to this world yet.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have cried over curry that didn’t even reach pre-reincarnation quality.

If he’s truly carrying the weight of being alone in a world where no one knows him… maybe there’s something I can do to help.

Someday, I hope we meet in person.

Until then, I’ll do what I can.

But first… there’s a problem.

“He wants me to sell curry powder… but I don’t even know who or where he is.”

I tilted my head, and Victor clapped his hands.

“Oh, in that case, just send it to the Empress.”

“Wait, what!?” Why!?”

“Because the Empress and the Emperor tried the curry… and they loved it.”

“He gave them curry!?”

What are you doing, Second Son!?

I take it all back. You’ve adapted extremely well to this world. I’m honestly amazed.

Anyway, we’ll figure out the pricing and distribution details for the curry powder later.

As a way of thanking Romanov-sensei and Viktor-san, we decided to enjoy afternoon tea.

Utsunomiya-san brought the tea set just in time for our usual snack hour.

As I was savoring the aroma of the freshly brewed tea, I noticed Viktor-san staring very intently—not at me, but at the neck warmer around Lala’s neck.

“What is it, Vitya? Something on me?”

“Uh, not you exactly… I mean, yeah, sort of. That thing around your neck.”

“It’s a neck warmer. I just finished it and thought I’d try it on.”

“Right, right, I get that. But it’s got the usual stuff—‘Ice Resistance,’ ‘Warmth’… And then there’s this—‘Phantasmagoria’?”

“…What?”

I blinked in confusion.

Viktor held out his hand. Lara removed the neck warmer and handed it to him.

He studied it closely, then murmured something.

At his words, the snowy white yarn began to glow.

 

Projected against its silky surface was a dazzling slideshow of vividly colored flowers, shifting from one to the next like a magical slide show.

So, did phantasmagoria refer to a "magic lantern" effect?

“You really do come up with the weirdest enchantments…” Romanov muttered with a dry chuckle, his eyes strangely vacant like a dead fish.

Seeing the deadpan looked in Romanov-sensei's eyes, I quickly averted my gaze to avoid responsibility.

　

___________________________

EUN: I'm sorry!!! I was gonna update 2 days ago but then it started raining hard and that it will keep on raining for 3 more days so I needed to help around harvesting avocados. We only have a few trees for personal consumption but its kinda hard to harvest them cause some trees have avocados bigger and thicker than the size of a bowling pin. They're not avozilla level but they're pretty big. and its probably because I was helping around with my lack of physical fitness and stamina...the moment I hit my head on a pillow....I am GONE!!

Anyway, I'm really curious about the dynamics of the first prince and the second prince and the actual relationship of the King and the (2nd) Empress. I mean its wild enough that the Emperor made the first  Empress' younger sister as a concubine and later on turn the younger sister, albeit a dying wish of the first empress, as the next Empress. and he both got them impregnated. hot dang. 

Your cousin being your half sibling is kinda wild for me.

Now I wonder if such situations is not really rare.

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