The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL]

Better yet, the tip of his shaking pinky.

Honestly, the Elven Prince wasn’t entirely sure what had just happened. As he stared at his outstretched pinky, he kept wondering whether all of this had simply been a fevered dream.

Was he going to wake up tomorrow and realize he’d hallucinated this entire trip? Because at this point, it felt like he’d stepped into an alternate universe despite the fact that they were all, very clearly, in the same one.

It all started when Luca asked a question that Elior initially thought was purely hypothetical.

Luca was still teary-eyed. He was practically hiccuping in between words.

”Hic— P-Prince Elior... does it have to be the exact crystal seed for succession?”

The question came out soft. Fragile.

Before Elior could even answer, Luca stiffened slightly, as if struck by his own audacity.

”I-I’m sorry!” he hurriedly added, flustered. ”That was inappropriate, wasn’t it? It’s probably something very precious to you. Like an heirloom passed down through generations, and I just—”

In his mind, Luca had already painted a dramatic image of an ancestral ceremony under starlight, elders weeping as they entrusted a glowing, very expensive relic into the hands of a chosen heir. He looked like he was about to apologize again.

Prince Elior blinked.

”There’s no need to apologize,” he said quickly. ”It’s not exactly something of extreme sentimental value.”

That earned him a few confused looks, but he wasn’t lying. It had been given with a lot of expectations and reminders. Not exactly something heartwarming.

”So no, not really,” he continued. ”It doesn’t have to be the same exact crystal seed. It’s been largely ceremonial for a long time.”

He rubbed the back of his neck.

”Earlier rulers even cheated their way through it by presenting a different crystal cluster as proof of growth. That worked back when spiritual energy was more abundant and backers prepared well in advance for the heirs they wanted to endorse. But in recent decades... not so much.”

He exhaled.

”At this point, any minuscule growth that can be publicly reported is considered sufficient.”

”Really?” Luca asked, a flicker of hope slipping into his expression.

Then he asked something that sounded mildly insane.

”So you’re saying that if you could obtain another crystal seed and used that instead... it would be fine?”

This time, it wasn’t just Luca staring at him.

Several pairs of eyes were suddenly shining.

Bright.

Expectant.

Elior hesitated.

”Well, yes,” he admitted cautiously. ”In theory. But I’m not sure how it would be possible to obtain more crystal seeds.”

Luca, who seemed to be recovering earlier, now looked horrified.

”I-is it really impossible to get more?” he asked weakly. But Luca shouldn’t have been surprised, since even his Auntie Cece had said they were extremely rare.

How disastrous!

Definitely.

Because while one desperate little money-grubber thought about the worst possibilities, Prince Elior, on the other hand, could feel his spine turning to ice. Even his fiancée was looking at him as though he needed to choose his words very carefully. But how could she not? The arcade relied heavily on Lumen crystals. Moreover, Luca looked like he might topple over at any moment.

Elior wasn’t entirely sure what those stern gazes meant, but he decided to tread carefully.

”It’s not impossible,” he began slowly. ”And I believe there’s no point in hiding this from you, of all people.”

That statement alone shifted the atmosphere.

”The difficulty in producing viable seeds stems from how hard it’s become to meet the conditions required for nucleation.”

He thought that might’ve been enough.

It wasn’t.

Everyone continued staring at him.

So he went on.

”The main issue is creating an extremely pure environment with sufficient spiritual energy.”

Back at the elven palace, this had once been achieved through the crystal-growing chamber maintained by their ancestors. The palace itself had been built with the deliberate purpose of protecting the cave where the original natural deposits were discovered. Even now, that cave would occasionally produce one of the key components, albeit only in trickles fewer than his tears.

”Spiritual water,” Elior said grimly.

”From what I’ve been taught, it requires a delicate balance of heating and cooling, followed by the evaporation of Lumen dust within spiritual water, all within a location saturated with spiritual energy.”

He grimaced.

”Unfortunately, each of those variables is problematic on its own. Using machinery to replicate the conditions results in crystals, yes, but not the kind we need. Artificial attempts typically produce polycrystalline structures, malformed growths, or contaminated samples.”

He shook his head slightly.

”And even attempting the process within the original cave offers no guarantee of a viable seed—”

He stopped mid-sentence.

Because instead of the gloomy silence he expected, he was met with something else entirely.

Stares.

Wide.

Bright.

Intense.

For a moment, he genuinely thought stars had materialized around him.

No.

On second thought, it felt less like stars and more like he and Rahil were standing in front of a row of extremely bright headlights.

”???”

__

Just what was happening?

Prince Elior was just as confused as Rahil, who had wisely positioned himself half a step behind him, as though preparing to either catch his prince or drag him away if necessary. Then again, it might just be his aide using him as a meat shield.

That was definitely a possibility.

”...”

On top of that, the odd silence wasn’t helping to calm his racing heart.

And yet, despite not fully understanding what he was stepping into, when the question was posed—whether he wanted in on whatever they were doing—his entire being answered before his mind could.

Yes.

It wasn’t a hesitant yes.

It wasn’t calculated.

It was instinctive.

He agreed before he truly grasped what he was agreeing to and only afterward realized that perhaps Eren had cursed him at birth, because how else could he be this impulsive?

If anything, maybe he kept getting into the oddest situations because sometimes he randomly adopted the defense mechanism of a dodo.

Then again, maybe it wasn’t foolishness.

If the people standing before him had wanted him dead, they wouldn’t have gone through all that trouble to rescue him.

And as he watched his beloved kneel before Luca and utter words he couldn’t entirely process, how could he possibly say no?

Princess Kira stepped forward.

Then she knelt.

The movement was so abrupt and unexpected that several people visibly flinched.

The Crown Princess of the Orcs of the Pyroan Galaxy knelt before Luca Kyros.

She didn’t hesitate.

She didn’t waver.

”You told us to think about it before. And since then, I’ve thought about this countless times,” she began steadily. ”Every possible scenario. Every possible outcome I could come up with.”

Her gaze was unwavering.

”And every time I considered the alternative, I reached the same conclusion.”

She inhaled softly.

”I can’t even imagine a future where I wouldn’t support the people who have continuously supported me.”

There was no theatrics in her voice.

No arrogance.

Only certainty.

”From my people. My family. Myself. And now my Bunbun and the cute toothpick of a Princess.” She allowed the faintest smile to tug at her lips. ”I’m pretty dang certain where my allegiance lies.”

The room felt heavy.

”So I, Princess Tharkira Zulgara, Crown Princess of the Orcs of the Pyroan Galaxy, would like to formally ask if I may join you completely, so I may contribute in thanks for changing my life.”

Beside her, Ada stepped forward.

Ada Marn of the long-standing Marn lineage.

She knelt as well.

”As aide to Her Highness and as a Marn,” Ada said calmly, ”I also offer my service and allegiance. We do not forget those who stand with us.”

Prince Elior’s breath caught slightly.

But what truly stunned him was what happened next.

Rahil, his actual aide, actually stepped forward.

Then knelt on one knee.

”Not only for today, but also for the past,” Rahil said quietly. ”You saved my prince. You saved me. I’d like to formally request to join you as well, to repay everything you’ve done for us.”

Elior stared.

For a brief moment, he wondered what he was supposed to do.

But something inside him settled instead.

This.

This felt right.

So he did it too.

He knelt.

He didn’t hesitate this time.

He just didn’t expect his fiancée to look at him with utter seriousness and say, ”Extend your pinky really well.”

”???”