The Crown Prince In Hiding

It turned out that instead of returning today to rest on Sunday...

Late Saturday Night

Mathema University of Natural Studies

A photograph of the towering university building, with Casca, his future wife, standing beside him, craning her neck to look up at its peak.

”How did our world come this far?”

”I can’t even imagine what it looks like inside, but Mathema’s engineering always creates amazing things for this world. Should I take Monday off?”

”Then take it. I can file the paperwork for you.”

”But then those guys will be asking for me all over the place.”

”That’s even better. Stay away from them for a while.”

”What exactly do you mean by tha—”

When he turned to the side, the young man found that his wife had already vanished into a cloud of invisibility magic.

For heaven’s sake.

The young man therefore decided to walk into the institution’s lobby alone, passing by the many older students as he made his way through the great place of knowledge for those who sought the truth of the world.

Professor Pi’erre had already given him directions. They would meet at the engineering department, while Dan had refused to come together with him, saying that he would come by himself because he intended to secretly go on a date with Casca (off-screen) during the daytime, since Professor Pi’erre’s friend was only free at night.

His personal notebook opened to check the coordinates, his memories recalling the place Professor Pi’erre had told him to go.

The young man continued climbing the winding staircase.

Until eventually, he began to hear voices coming from inside an office. When he arrived, he found Professor Pi’erre and another professor there—a man with a thick black beard and bright yellow eyes, who looked exceptionally distinguished.

”Hello.”

Professor Pi’erre introduced them.

”Dan, this is a friend of mine. He’s in the engineering department.”

”Pi’erre has already told me about you. Come on, young man. I’ll show you around.”

Cut to a large university workshop.

The frame of a massive door slid open.

What stood towering before him after the dust cover was pulled away was something Dan had never seen anything like before.

It was a gigantic spherical object made entirely of metal.

There was a small circular window attached in the center.

”What is this?”

”This is a prototype of a ship that can dive underwater.”

Dan walked over and tapped it with his hand.

”The metal is really thick...”

”To withstand the pressure of the ocean.”

He explained.

”The pressure gets immense the deeper you go. It can literally crush metal.”

”......”

Dan didn’t look convinced by his words, because he was quite certain that Freya, who was obviously softer than metal, could swim just fine.

Professor Pi’erre saw his expression and immediately understood what he was thinking, so he explained the concept of pressure to him.

”Deep-sea animals can live without being crushed by the pressure around them because the pressure inside their bodies is equal to the pressure outside.”

”...Oh. So that’s how it works...”

Dan gave a small nod while continuing to walk around the submarine. Eventually, he discovered that the entrance was on top.

”We have to get inside this thing, then tighten the bolts and seal it completely?”

”We have to do that because the pressure inside and outside can’t be allowed to differ too much. Otherwise, it’ll implode.”

”Have you tested it yet?”

”We’re still in the process of refining it. We took it down to a depth of 200 meters once, and it performed quite well.”

”200 meters?”

”We have to thank the Mathema Ministry of Defense’s funding for that. They supported us in carrying out this work.”

Dan looked back and forth as Professor Pi’erre’s friend continued explaining.

Then, suddenly... his eyes stopped on something written on the submarine.

Production under : Goodison Inc.

”Huh...?”

Dan had to read it again to make sure he hadn’t misread it... before slowly widening his eyes.

Goodison? That guy’s company...

”Excuse me.”

Dan raised his hand to interrupt the explanation.

”Professor, didn’t you manufacture this submarine yourselves?”

”Oh, that.”

He patted the hull.

”We didn’t manufacture it ourselves. We designed it and then outsourced the manufacturing to an external factory. The factory that offered the best price got the contract.”

And the factory that got the contract...

was Goodison Inc.

Everton? They’re manufacturing things like this now? I thought they were a sugar factory.

”Wouldn’t that risk the secrets being leaked?”

”They only manufacture the external hull. We handle the control systems ourselves. It’s still just a prototype, after all.”

That means... Everton has the blueprints for this thing.

The thoughts began connecting into a network inside the young man’s mind.

His eyes widened... staring at the strange invention before him.

He felt a heat in his chest. He felt like he was about to discover something truly monumental, as though this thing had arrived in the world at exactly the right time.

Or perhaps...

SKIP

”I may have found a way to go underwater.”

Cut to after the tour.

Dan was lying on the hotel bed, arms and legs spread out like a starfish, staring up at a painting on the ceiling in an ancient Greek style. At the foot of the bed, Casca was sitting in a black tank top, applying skincare cream to her face.

”Can you really trust something that looks like that?”

Casca hadn’t gone anywhere. She had stayed beside him the entire time. She had heard everything he had heard, but honestly...

she was rather skeptical.

”No human has ever gone diving before. They have to think outside the box. They’re right about that.”

”Now, listen.”

His future wife turned around, her face covered in a white skincare mask. She pointed and waved her finger through the air.

”Your real body can’t swim, yet you want to climb into that thing, get locked inside, and then lowered into the darkness? Absolutely not.”

She stated firmly,

”If something happens, I can’t go down there to save you. If it implodes, your body will be torn to pieces before you even realize what’s happening.”

”Don’t nag me so much.”

”Nag you?”

Dan let out a yelp as she pinched his ear.

”Ow! That hurts!”

”You’re seriously thinking about pouring more money into developing that submarine again, aren’t you...”

”But it’s such a perfect solution. And luck seems to be on our side, too. They used Everton’s factory to manufacture it, so they should have the blueprints.”

”Look at the little boy getting excited~ So cute~”

Dan suddenly bounced up from the bed.

”I’m going for a walk by myself.”

”Going to look at the stars again, are you?”

”...How did you know?”

”Where are you going?”

”The hill behind the hotel.”

”If you come back after ten, I’ll be angry. Don’t make excuses. Be back on time.”

”Understood, my lady.”

The Hill Behind the Hotel

The young man walked quite a long way out, following the grassland while absentmindedly staring up at the sky above.

He walked and thought, taking quite a long time. The submarine simply could not leave his mind.

All this time, he had always left matters concerning the sea to Freya. He was incredibly fortunate to have her as another life partner, someone with whom he shared such a deep connection and whom he could therefore trust.

Whenever Freya described the seabed to him, all he could do was imagine it as a freezing, pitch-black room. But he had never actually seen it with his own two eyes.

There could be millions of strange species swimming through those depths, an ecosystem completely alien to the surface, and ways of life that defied the rules of the land above.

The more he thought about it, the more hopeful he became.

Until, as he continued walking...

the young man suddenly stopped.

He saw a man sitting in the middle of the field.

He was young, seemingly a university student.

And more importantly, he was looking up at the sky as well. Dan knew that, but unlike Dan, he wasn’t looking with his naked eyes.

He had equipment.

The young student sensed the arrival of a stranger.

He turned around, then turned back again.

But the prince was curious about what he was holding.

”What are you doing?”