Lord of Charm



The gorilla screamed in pain as it retreated a few steps back. The prince and the gorilla looked at each for a few moments, and the gorilla turned around and escaped.

A guard in the True Mage Stage instantly trapped the gorilla in a cage made of stone and dragged it back when he saw that the prince wasn't chasing it.

"Prince, what should we do with the gorilla?"

"Nothing, let it go. I'm only here to practice, not to hunt. Since I've already defeated it, I don't need it anymore."

The group kept traveling in the forest and let the prince fight with first-rank beasts they met. The guards made sure to take care of anything above that to prevent any harm from coming to the prince.

In the evening, the group went back to the camp and saw the guards.

"Sixth Prince, there's something you need to know before you return to the camp…"

One of the guards who stood outside the camp said with a hesitant voice while swearing his bad luck in his mind. Nobody wants to be the one to bring bad news.

"What is it?"

"There are guests in the camp."

"Guests? Who are they?"

"The third prince and the second princess."

Kisuke already heard some general information about the prince's siblings. The third prince and the second princess were full-blood siblings, and they supported each other in the race for the throne. 

Because of the empress' way of life, the females in the imperial family were quite dominant. Thus, it was the prince supporting the princess who contended for the throne.

"What are they doing here?"

Tanjirou asked the guard who told him about the news with a frown on his face.

"We don't know. They only said they heard that you finally went out to train and wanted to see you."

"Ok, you can keep watching over the camp."

Tanjirou chose 2 advanced mages to escort him, and he went to the camp. They found one woman who looks in her early twenties with a man of the same age. However, the woman was closer to her thirties while the man showed his real age.

The guards and Kisuke remained behind as Tanjirou sat down in front of his siblings.

"Kisuke, come take a seat next to me, you don't need to stay behind."

Tanjirou called Kisuke to sit by his side. Kisuke didn't act shy; he went and sat in front of the royals. 

"Sixth Brother, I've heard you grew very close to a magician who saved your life, it seems that the rumors were true."

The princess remarked with a surprised face when she saw a mere guard sit down with three royals without hesitation.

"Hanako, why are you here?"

"Is this a way to speak to your older sister? Hanako and I just missed you after not seeing you for so long."

The prince scolded Tanjirou for his unwelcoming attitude.

"That's weird, you could've visited me when I was at my house. My doors are always open in front of my dear siblings."

Tanjirou didn't budge and answered with a confident tone. However, Hanako's attention was already pulled away. Kisuke wasn't holding back his charm in the forest; he didn't worry about magi noticing it in such a remote place.

"I can see why you like to keep this guard close; he is so handsome. But you are a man yourself, it's unbecoming for a prince to have such a forbidden relationship. How about lending him to me?"

Hanako smiled at her little brother who lost his composure from her words.

"The princess' words make me happy, but I'm very loyal to Prince Tanjirou. I'm afraid I can't agree to serve the princess."

The princess placed her leg on Kisuke's thigh and slightly rubbed it. In the forest, she didn't have to act formally.

"I don't think you have the right to argue. If I want you, you'll have to enter my harem."

Hanako smiled at Kisuke as if she said something completely normal. But Kisuke also didn't plan to act weak; he moved his hand and ran his fingers over her shin, making her feel a tinge of pleasure from his touch.

"I don't know if the princess can afford a man like me. I'm a very hungry man."

Before Hanako could reply, Tanjirou quickly put an end to their flirting and pushed her leg away from Kisuke.

"Kisuke, don't talk nonsense. I already told you that you can use my name without honorifics, so why are you still calling me Prince?"

Tanjirou wanted to establish their close relationship to make his sister give up on having Kisuke.

"You're right, Tanjirou. We are too close to use honorifics."

Hanako's eyes widened when she imagined something forbidden in her mind.

"Could it be that you two are…?"

"I'm straight, you can still woo me, Princess Hanako."

Kisuke sent her into a daze with a bright and charming smile.

"Well, I didn't expect to meet someone so interesting by Tanjirou's side. Little Brother, make sure to keep one eye open all the time because I'm going to steal your friend from you. Takeo, let's leave."

"Already?"

"Yes, I changed my plans."

They originally planned to pressure Tanjirou while he was outside and threaten him, but she now had new plans.

She took after her mother in many ways, and one of them was her leisure pursuit of collecting handsome men.

"Find out his affinity."

She sent one of her assistants to find out more about Kisuke. If he had an affinity lower than SS, she would forget about him. other than being handsome, good genes were important for the imperial ladies when they picked men.

'With his temperament, he can't be a good-for-nothing.'

-------

"Kisuke, will you abandon me if the princess wants to marry you?"

Tanjirou asked him with an insecure voice after his siblings left the camp.

"Of course not, I wouldn't leave my little brother. Don't worry Tanjirou, as long as I'm by your side, you can even be the emperor."

Although it was a long-term goal, Kisuke already thought about the possibilities that would open for him if the next emperor considered him to be his big brother.

"I don't have such ambitions."

"Don't let the empress affect your mentality. As a man, you need to have high ambitions."

"So women should have low ones?"

"Urm, I didn't say that. Everyone should have great ambitions, but we are talking about you at the moment."

Kisuke felt that the powerful females in the imperial family made the males too timid. out of 5 people who contended for the throne, three were women and two were men, despite being more princes than princesses.

"If I'm strong enough and the opportunity arises, I will give it a try. Otherwise, it's better not to get tangled in the messy fight for the throne. Most of the contenders are likely to die."

Kisuke only smiled in response.

'Hanako is only one mistake away from becoming the first casualty of this fight.'

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Six days passed since they went out to the forest, and Kisuke already earned 3000 merit points. Overall, he had 30,100 points after spending some points on clothes and resources to avoid looking suspicious.

"Big Brother, should we go out?"

"Go out without me for today, I will stay behind in the camp."

Those past days Kisuke escorted Tanjirou into the forest and helped him to find magic beasts to hunt. At other times, they'd spar as they did normally.

"Why?"

"I feel like I might break through the next stage soon. I want to keep practicing."

"That'd be amazing, you could become an intermediate elite human if you break through soon! Guards, give Kisuke as many fourth-grade resources as he needs to stimulate his advancement. I will pay later double the price of everything he uses."

He didn't have any fourth-grade resources because he was only at the first rank. He mainly used second-grade resources and some third grade to get inspired. The Mage Phase was out of his understanding.

"Good luck, Kisuke. I will go out with the other guards for now."

"Good luck, be careful."

Kisuke closed his eyes and meditated in the prince's tent. The tent had inscriptions to mute noises from outside that could be turned on and off. If the user expects danger, they will turn this option off to keep their guard up.

He closed his eyes and trained his mental strength as always, but this time he made sure to keep fluctuations of mana around him at the peak of the third stage. He got to watch a magician or two breakthroughs in the past, so he knew what it should look like.

This went on for a few hours, and he kept burning through the fourth-grade materials the guards gave him. He knew that they would resent him if he didn't use those materials; the prince already promised to pay double for everything he uses. It was a great opportunity for them to make some easy money.

After 5 hours, he created an eruption of mana with himself at the center. Unfortunately, he couldn't loosen the limitation set by the artifact to the fourth stage until he pretended to strengthen his body.

He couldn't wait to connect to the mana again on the Mage Phase level. The time he spent as a magician made him feel like a man who lost his sense of smell or taste; something was missing.

'Now it's going to be interesting. A commoner who turned into an intermediate elite human isn't something that happens often, if at all.'