The Crown Prince Who Raises a Side Character

Sergio, the Chief Secretary of the Golden Cloud Palace who served the Crown Prince, was a veteran official with over forty years of experience in the imperial palace.

He had worked through the reign of the previous emperor—grandfather to the current Crown Prince—and had assisted numerous members of the royal family over the decades.

When the Emperor began transferring some of his administrative duties to the Crown Prince under the pretext of succession training, Sergio was dispatched to assist him. At the time, Sergio’s colleagues regarded the appointment with concern.

“Wait, isn’t the Crown Prince still in the middle of his succession education? There’s no way he has time to handle actual governance. You’ll end up doing all the work yourself.”

“You’d be lucky if all you did was work. If something goes wrong and they need a scapegoat... sigh.”

Even among officials like Sergio, the education of the imperial family in Aizern was so grueling, “harsh” felt like an understatement.

There’s only so much one human can learn at once, yet they were expected to master every field under the sun. Most royals ended up focusing only on subjects they liked, studying the rest just enough to save face—or skipping them altogether.

But the current Crown Prince wasn’t skipping anything. He was diligently completing every subject that others treated as mere formalities.

The teachers, who had spent years dragging half-hearted students through classes, were thrilled. The officials assigned to assist the Crown Prince, however—including Sergio—were much less enthused.

Even though the Emperor had only handed over a portion of his work, it still required the paperwork capacity of a count managing their own territory.

For someone like the Crown Prince, who had no practical experience, it was an impossible volume—especially while continuing his full education.

Just as his colleagues had warned, it would fall on Sergio and the other officials of the Golden Cloud Palace to handle most of it.

And if something went wrong? The blame wouldn’t fall on the Crown Prince—it would land squarely on Sergio.

It would be far more “reasonable” to discard a capable bureaucrat than to risk marring the record of the future Emperor.

‘This might be the end of my civil service career.’

Half resigned, half resolved, Sergio entered the Crown Prince’s service—

“Tell them to expand the warehouses in this region immediately. When we have a good harvest, we need to store the surplus. That’s how you avoid problems during shortages.”

“Here, take another look at this report. The amount of stone listed here doesn’t match the other documents. If it’s a simple error, fine—but if someone’s skimming off the top, they need to be punished.”

“As for that backwater region that doesn’t use currency and pays taxes in local goods—looks like there’s an issue with the listed specialties. This area had its lake dry up fifty years ago, so why is fish still on the list? You want them to go to another region to trade just to pay taxes? That’s hard enough on the people, but it’s also a loss for the imperial treasury due to inconsistent quantities. We need to reassign specialties across the board to match current conditions. And ideally, standardize everything to currency.”

—and was promptly blown away by what he witnessed.

‘What... is this?’

The Crown Prince was competent.

No, more than competent—he seemed practically born to govern.

Of course, being new to real work, he made mistakes now and then. But they were minor, easily covered by Sergio and the support staff. And once he noticed a flaw, he corrected it with startling speed.

He made proper use of his aides, but never overburdened them or pushed responsibility onto others.

Sergio was amazed by the Crown Prince’s capabilities, but also worried.

‘He has so much ahead of him... how long can this level of drive last?’

Motivation and mental stamina—often overlooked because they’re invisible—are resources just like physical energy. They need time to recover.

Sergio had seen plenty of passionate newcomers burn themselves out until nothing remained but ashes.

He didn’t have to look far. The current Emperor—the Crown Prince’s father—had also started his reign with fiery resolve, only to lose interest in politics and fall into indulgence and sloth.

Thankfully, the Crown Prince had risen early as a capable successor, and the Emperor had swiftly handed over power. If not for that, the Empire might’ve been thrown into chaos by the Emperor’s many women and children.

‘To avoid the same fate, the Crown Prince needs proper rest.’

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Sergio knew well that people who balance work with rest and hobbies last longer and achieve more.

And from that perspective, the Crown Prince was in a dangerous place.

He worked relentlessly, day after day, without rest. When exactly was he supposed to recharge?

That said, rumors were already spreading that the Emperor planned to pile on more duties due to the Crown Prince’s talent. And what could a mere secretary like Sergio do about it?

All he could do was fulfill his own duties as best he could.

“Hm, such lovely weather today. A good day indeed.”

Yet despite Sergio’s worries, the Crown Prince never showed the slightest sign of exhaustion.

In fact, he seemed to grow more energetic by the day.

Sergio was speechless.

A man with no private life who lived only for his duties, yet remained this enthusiastic... What other explanation could there be?

‘Ah! His Highness finds joy in leading the nation and caring for the people!’

It was astonishing. Sergio’s heart swelled with emotion.

He found himself resenting the white hair on his head, wishing he could serve this man for even one more day.

At the very least, he vowed to give everything he had while he still could.

“Ahhh, I never knew how fun it was to train talented companions and watch them grow. Maybe someday I’ll create a duplicate just to teach full-time.”

[The ones suffering under you don’t look like they’re having much fun.]

“Hoho, and what does a demon know of humans? Leveling up is a universal thrill.”

[Even for a demon, I understand humans better than you do, you borderline-human Crown Prince.]

Some truths, it seemed, were better left unknown.

***

"I'm assigning you the promotion request."

Adventurers' Guild, Eastern Branch.

At the manager’s words, the atmosphere grew noticeably heavier.

If 1st-class adventurers were rookies, 2nd-class regulars, and 3rd-class elites, then 4th-class adventurers were the aces—so rare that there might only be one party per branch.

5th-class adventurers? The Guild Master, and the Guild Master alone. And even they rarely accepted requests, focusing instead on guarding the headquarters. So in practice, 4th-class was the pinnacle of active-duty adventurers.

The opportunity she had once come close to seizing—only to watch it slip away—was now before her again. The thought made Blanca freeze up without even realizing it.

Even Renya, who normally would have made a fuss, sat uncharacteristically still, visibly tense for once.

"A promotion request... does that mean if we complete it, all three of us will be registered as 4th-class adventurers?"

Bern alone remained calm, as always.

Unfazed even with a position within reach that most people would never attain no matter how hard they tried their entire lives. His composure might ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) have come across as disrespect for the guild ranks, but the branch manager didn’t take offense.

While his career was relatively short, and party-based achievements required time to accumulate, Bern’s skill alone had already far surpassed the requirements for 4th-class.

If he had wanted to, he could have pressured the guild to expedite his promotion—but instead, he’d simply carried out every request in silence. That alone spoke volumes of his character and sincerity.

"That’s right. Complete this, and you're 4th-class. If you fail... well, it’s not like you’ll lose your chance forever. But the next opportunity will be further away."

"Understood. What’s the request?"

"You’ll head north, to a territory called Frencia. Young women have been going missing there. We’ve received a request to investigate and resolve the matter."

"Wait a second."

It was Blanca who spoke up, breaking her silence. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Frencia... isn’t that where the Alses Party was dispatched?"

Bern had heard the name Alses Party before. As he recalled, that was the only 4th-class party currently registered with the Eastern Branch.

The manager nodded.

"This was originally assigned to the Alses Party. But they gave up. Said they couldn’t identify the cause, no matter what they tried."

"So you want us to solve the case a 4th-class party gave up on?"

"That way, no one can dispute your promotion. You’ve already got more than enough achievements, but some folks are always going to grumble about your short track record."

Blanca let out a small breath through her nose.

This wasn’t one of those straightforward requests like “go defeat this monster” or “retrieve this rare item.”

They had to identify the cause, come up with a solution, and carry it out—all on their own.

It wasn’t enough to be strong. You needed investigative skills, reasoning, adaptability. It was a true high-class request.

Difficult.

But if she wanted information on the Lich, she had to become 4th-class—no matter what.

She met Bern’s eyes. Blanca gave a firm nod.

Bern opened his mouth again.

"Very well. We’ll depart immediately."