The Hidden Extra: The Lazy Prince Refuses to Ascend The Throne

Seeing him fall silent, Elina felt confused and unsure of what was going on.

But she was too embarrassed to ask.

After all, they had just exchanged sharp words.

Mikazura opened and closed his mouth, as if speaking to someone else.

Strangely, no sound came out. Instinctively, Elina turned her head toward the spot Mikazura was looking at, but she saw nothing—only an empty area at the end of the hall.

Mikazura withdrew his gaze and looked back at Elina.

His cold face instantly softened.

”You are right, Your Highness. The dagger is already in the emperor’s hands. I apologize for asking you this. I hope you are not offended,” he said, placing his right hand on his chest and bowing slightly.

Elina, Rafine, and the watching guests were clearly shocked.

Elina especially did not expect Mikazura to bow his head to her like that.

Still, she quickly regained her composure and replied in a gentler tone than before, ”It’s okay, Prime Minister Mikazura. I’m not offended at all.”

”Good.” Mikazura straightened up and let out a small sigh.

His expression showed relief, as if he had just been forgiven for a grave mistake.

Inevitably, Elina grew curious—what exactly had Mikazura seen just now?

Why did he suddenly change his attitude completely?

While she was still confused, Mikazura reached into his pocket and said, ”An apology alone is not enough. So, I will give you this, Your Highness.”

He took out a green letter with dragon scales engraved around it and handed it to her.

”What is this?” Elina asked instinctively as she accepted it.

”This is an invitation card, Your Highness. Since the two empires have no official diplomatic relations, neither I nor you can enter each other’s territories without permission from both rulers. So, I am giving you a letter of permission to enter the Eastern Empire of Izanagi. You may come and go as you please.”

Unlike ordinary people or noble families, a prince or princess like Elina was part of the imperial family.

And the imperial family itself represented the face of the Great Velmora Empire.

Because of that, they could not enter the Eastern Empire of Izanagi without permission from the emperor or prime minister.

In this case, Mikazura had given Elina permanent permission.

That meant Elina could enter the Eastern Empire of Izanagi now or in the future without needing approval from the emperor or Prime Minister Mikazura again.

As soon as she heard the explanation, Elina’s body stiffened. Her face tensed, and her heart raced.

She, of course, knew the situation between the two empires.

They had no diplomatic relations, so special permission from each ruler was required to cross into the other’s territory.

For example, Mikazura wouldn’t have been able to come if not for her father’s permission.

It might seem trivial, but only Elina and other members of the imperial family understood how valuable this letter truly was.

A sense of embarrassment immediately enveloped Elina as she slowly shook her head and handed the invitation back to Mikazura.

”I’m sorry, Prime Minister Mikazura, I cannot accept it,” she said shyly.

Rafine, who stood beside her, was greatly surprised by the invitation letter.

But she was even more shocked when Elina actually refused it.

She wanted to stop Elina from returning the letter, but she knew she had no right to interfere.

”You can’t accept it?” Mikazura looked surprised. ”Why, Your Highness? Do you not like the gift?”

”It’s not that.” Elina shook her head. ”I just feel bad. After all, I already did something wrong by buying the legendary Shinketsu dagger and giving it to my father. A great gift like this invitation letter feels completely unworthy of me.”

Sometimes, Elina understood that being shameless was important—something her brother often did with ease.

But this time, she really couldn’t bring herself to do it.

She knew she wasn’t the one who had obtained the Shinketsu dagger; it had been a gift from her brother.

Still, in public, she was the one who seemed to have acquired it and presented it to her father.

Frankly, her conscience prevented her from acting shamelessly in a situation like this.

Mikazura fell silent for a moment, then gave a faint smile.

”You are very interesting, Your Highness. It seems I must reevaluate my opinion of you,” he said with a meaningful look.

Elina appeared calm, but in truth she was deeply embarrassed.

It felt truly humiliating to receive praise from the very person whose empire’s precious possession she had taken.

She couldn’t understand how her brother in the past could stay so composed in a situation like this without even changing his expression.

”As for the Shinketsu dagger, let’s just forget about it. After all, it has already been given to Emperor Ragan. Besides, the matter is long past, and there’s no need to bring it up again.” Mikazura covered half his face with his fan. ”And since I already intend to give this to you, please accept it, Your Highness. That way, our relationship will no longer feel awkward.”

Upon hearing this, Elina hesitated. It would be a lie to say she didn’t want to build good relations with the Eastern Empire of Izanagi, especially with Mikazura.

Such a connection would clearly benefit her in this battle for the throne.

After much thought, Elina finally chose to give in.

”Alright, I will accept it. Thank you, Prime Minister Mikazura,” she said softly as she placed the invitation letter in her pocket.

”You’re welcome, Your Highness. I won’t bother you any further.”

With a slight bow, Mikazura turned and walked away, leaving Elina and Rafine still in a daze.

Meanwhile, the guests who had witnessed the sudden turn of events exchanged surprised glances.

”I didn’t expect things to end like this.”

”You’re right. I thought there would be a fight between the princess and the prime minister. That would’ve been quite the spectacle.”

”Spectacle? Are you insane? If that happened, the conflict could spread between the two empires. It could trigger a major war, you know?”

Whispers spread among the nobles. Some were pleased to see the tension between Elina and Mikazura.

They were nobles who supported princes like Aldric, Cedric, Adalen, and Cassian.

However, there were also those who did not wish for that outcome—Elina’s supporters and those still neutral in the battle for the throne.

Either way, none of them wanted a war that could lead to mass deaths.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen. Instead, Mikazura changed his mind and gave Elina an invitation letter that allowed her to enter the Eastern Empire of Izanagi without needing permission anymore.

Naturally, this was good news for her supporters.

”Damn... Why did it turn out like this?” Cedric gritted his teeth in dissatisfaction.

What he had expected to become a conflict had instead turned into friendship. Completely unacceptable.

Roswell patted his shoulder to calm him. ”It’s fine. Most likely, Mikazura is afraid of the Singularity of Chaos, so he chose to make peace.”

It was a reasonable explanation, and Roswell himself could understand Mikazura’s actions.

After all, no one wanted their empire destroyed by such a terrifying figure, right?

Cedric’s anger began to fade, though he still disliked seeing Elina accept the invitation letter.

Just then, a loud voice echoed from the far end of the hall.

”His Majesty the Emperor is entering the hall!”