The Crown Prince Who Raises a Side Character

Eris clutched her head and let out a silent scream.

‘So what happens next!!’

She wanted to read the next volume.

She wanted to check what happened as soon as possible.

But the reason Eris was reading the novel in the first place was to pass that sharp-eyed librarian’s “test” and earn access to magic-related books.

She hadn’t even fully absorbed the current theory books yet. Returning them just to get a new test novel would be putting the cart before the horse.

‘If I could just find out whether they die or not, I’d be less bothered!’

That librarian seemed to have a strange fondness for making Eris read novels. Maybe if she just asked for the next volume, he’d hand it over without a fuss.

But Eris couldn’t bring herself to choose that option.

She knew exactly what kind of reaction the librarian would give to such a request.

「Ah, so that’s why I recommended you read to the end... Well, it can’t be helped. Here’s the next volume. I do hope you’ll keep the proper order this time.」

Grit.

Eris unconsciously clenched her teeth.

Just imagining Ernest’s calm, expressionless face, talking in that ever-casual voice laced with subtle mockery, made her boil with rage.

“You think I’d give in to something like this...!?”

Eyes blazing, Eris reached for the pile of theory books.

First, she had to finish reading all of those.

Only then could she legally wring the next volume out of Ernest.

If the Eris from before getting involved with the library saw her now, she would’ve stopped her on the spot, demanding what kind of bullshit this was. Unfortunately, Eris didn’t have the ability to communicate with her past self.

The only thing to cut back on was sleep.

Eris burned through the night.

***

“D-Done...!”

Three days later.

Eris trembled with the satisfaction of having devoured all the theory books.

If it had been a normal student at the training school, it would’ve taken over six months to finish just one book. Even for Eris, it should’ve taken at least a month. But she’d managed to absorb the content of two volumes—an incredible pace by any measure.

She did benefit greatly from the annotated edition, but her burning passion was equally responsible for her achievement.

And as luck would have it, today was a day off at the training school.

Without hesitation, Eris marched proudly into the library from the early morning.

“Librarian, right now—”

She was about to habitually say, Please give me the next book, as she approached the front desk, when she suddenly froze.

“Thank you so much, Librarian. That book you recommended last time—I really enjoyed it!”

“I’m glad it suited your tastes. Shall I recommend something new right away?”

“No, I actually came to give you this today. Please accept it.”

“These cookies look delicious. Eating inside the library is prohibited, but I’ll enjoy them after my duties. Thank you.”

“Oh, you don’t need to thank me!”

Despite the librarian’s seemingly dry and professional tone, the girl beamed brightly.

Eris froze in place, completely thrown off by the bizarre sight.

Ah, now that she thought about it—this was technically a public library.

She’d forgotten, since she’d never seen any other visitors during her visits, but this place wasn’t some private space just for her.

Perfectly normal and reasonable.

Of course it was.

But then—

What was this weird feeling?

A strange unease stirred in her chest, and while she frowned at the unfamiliar emotion, the girl left the library. Only then did Eris finally manage to approach the librarian and speak.

“Returning these. And I’m here for a new book.”

Even Eris was startled by how cold her voice sounded.

But the librarian remained utterly unfazed.

“Welcome back, miss. Did you enjoy the book?”

Eris almost snapped but forced herself to stay calm.

“Well, it wasn’t bad.”

“I see. I’m glad to hear it.”

“Do you not understand what ‘not bad’ means?”

“‘Not bad’ means it wasn’t bad, does it not? Does it imply something else?”

“......”

She couldn’t really argue with that.

Every time she stood in front of this librarian, she felt like her rhythm got thrown off. With that thought, Eris handed over the books she brought.

As if it were the most natural thing in the world, the librarian handed her a test sheet. Eris twitched her brow as she read the question.

[Is there anything about the protagonist’s personality, behavior, or hobbies that should be corrected? If so, explain why.]

Eris had intended to scribble out a harsh critique out of spite, but quickly realized her pen wouldn’t move so easily.

It wasn’t that the detective protagonist had no flaws.

In fact, he had quite a few.

But if she were to strip away all those flaws, it felt like the strange charm and uniqueness she’d sensed from him would die along with them.

In the end, all Eris could manage to write was a single line.

[He shouldn’t have died there. If he’s still alive, I’ll forgive him.]

After submitting her answer, the librarian nodded several times, for some reason, clearly satisfied.

Something about that reaction made Eris feel embarrassed, so she snapped.

“Hurry up and bring me the next book already.”

“Understood.”

As he said that, the librarian held out two books to Eris.

One appeared to be the next volume of the novel she had been reading, and from the other, a faint magical aura could be felt.

“A magic tome!”

Eris’s eyes widened as she opened the magic tome.

Then she faltered.

Roughly two-thirds of the pages were already dead—grayish-black and lifeless—and only the remaining portion glowed with blue-tinged letters.

When Eris focused on those blue letters, some of them dimmed into gray as the magical energy they contained flowed directly into her.

At the same time, the exhaustion in her body—worn out from successive sleepless nights—began to lift.

Eris understood what this book was.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“A magic tome with restorative effects. The more you read, the more the magic inside it restores the reader.”

Whereas the previous theory books held no magical power of their own and were simply filled with knowledge, this one was the opposite—it contained no knowledge, but merely by reading it, the owner would benefit.

Eris’s eyes gleamed with interest and desire... but quickly dimmed with resignation.

“This kind of book loses value the more it’s used. It’s a consumable. I can’t borrow something like this.”

If she borrowed it and read it, that would damage the book. But not reading it would make borrowing it pointless.

Unless the book’s ownership was transferred to her entirely, Eris wasn’t shameless enough to drain a borrowed book’s magical power.

But the librarian casually declared,

“You may use it all, I don’t mind.”

“...Are you serious?”

“I told you, didn’t I? I have full authority over the library. Some of the items that were on the second floor aren’t quite suitable for public display downstairs. Whether I toss them out or gift them to someone, it makes no real difference.”

“You...”

Eris was quietly moved.

She’d thought he was just a mean-spirited librarian, and never imagined he’d offer such a gift.

“Fine. If you’re offering, I won’t refuse. But if I ever become a great mage, I’ll be sure to repay the favor.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but I’d advise against making promises too quickly. You might change your mind as soon as tonight.”

“Do I seem that fickle to you? I’m not the kind of woman who says things lightly.”

With that proud declaration, Eris packed her books and left the library, returning to the dormitory.

She wanted to dive straight into the next volume of the novel, but her mind wasn’t in the clearest state at the moment.

And it felt like a waste to use a consumable magic tome just to read fiction.

‘I’ll nap for a bit.’

Fortunately, there wasn’t anything she had to study or memorize with this book, so a few hours of sleep wouldn’t hurt.

If she recovered her energy and read with a clear head, she’d surely enjoy—no, analyze the book better for the next test.

With that thought, Eris drifted off to sleep.

And precisely that night—

“...It’s not the story after the waterfall!? It’s a flashback arc!?”

Then what happens next? Did the protagonist die or survive?

Tormented by the questions spinning in her head, Eris kept flipping the pages.

The questions weren’t being answered, but the fact that the book was still entertaining just made it worse.

***

The library, now silent with everyone gone.

Under the bright lamplight, Ernest quietly closed his book and stretched.

From within his shadow, a stunning beauty with flowing black hair slowly emerged.

The archdemon Lucidra watched Ernest roll his neck and wore a complicated expression.

It was similar to seeing someone rubbing sticks together to make fire despite having a perfectly good box of matches nearby.

“But seriously, why are you doing that?”

“What do you mean, all of a sudden, Patron?”

“Pa...tron?”

“I’m employed by the Brown Trading Company. And you’re a major investor there, are you not? So I’d say ‘patron’ fits, wouldn’t you agree?”

What kind of nonsense is this.

Lucidra felt the urge to retort that he’s the one who orchestrated all that, but held her tongue.

If she were to borrow the Crown Prince’s terms, then a character in the story and the actor playing them—or a TRPG character and the player—were separate entities.

Telling the librarian Ernest, “You’re actually the Crown Prince, aren’t you?” was utterly pointless.

“Fine, let’s say I’m your patron, whatever. But still, you can finish a book in a few minutes, right? So why have you been holding the same one for over an hour?”

To her question, Ernest replied,

“Let’s say two people eat the same dish. A rushes through it without caring about the taste, just to move on to the next task. B takes their time, savoring each bite. A saved time, but B enjoyed the meal.”

Just because you can go quickly doesn’t mean you should.

And if it’s something tied to the joys of life—what you’d call a “hobby”—then that’s all the more reason to take it slow.

As a demon well-versed in desire, Lucidra immediately understood what Ernest was saying.

“So, this is your slow and indulgent investment in a hobby?”

The library had closed, yes—but that didn’t mean the day was over.

It was just past evening.

There was still time to read several more books, yet instead of pulling out a new one, Ernest had prepared paper and pen and was writing diligently.

His movements were so ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) quick and fluid, it was hard to believe it was the same man who had been lazily flipping pages moments ago.

Normally, ink takes a while to dry—but the letters he wrote dried instantly, in less than 0.1 seconds. The completed sheets were stacked with invisible precision, as if guided by unseen hands.

He compiled the pages, slipped on a prepared cover, and used magic to finish the binding—just like that, a book was done.

To anyone in the central continent’s printing and publishing world—where such technology was still underdeveloped—this would look like pure fraud.

Lucidra scoffed.

“At this rate, you’ll go full-time as an author.”

“An amusing thought, but I doubt it. All I do is translate the original material into the local language and adapt a few things. It’s not proper authorship. His Highness, however, seems to have some interest in distribution.”

Indeed, Ernest had never once put his own name on any of the books.

Half of it was to mess with Eris. The other half was the desire to share thoughts on the story.

But he had never considered them to be his works.

When Lucidra asked where the “original” came from, he’d said the Crown Prince would know—and the Crown Prince, in turn, casually mentioned something about a past life.

Of course, Lucidra didn’t take that too seriously.

It clashed with everything she knew about the world. And if, by some chance, it were true, it meant that guy wasn’t just strange in this life—he was some kind of freak in his past one, too, able to recall every book he ever read down to the last letter and recreate them from memory. That level of ability crosses over into the realm of the inhuman.

“Hmph,” she snorted and leaned back in midair, as if reclining into an invisible sofa. Then she began reading the book Ernest had just finished.

After a few moments of skimming through with sharp eyes—

“...You know, I’ve said this before, but ending the first volume with the protagonist falling off a waterfall and then starting the next one with a slow backstory arc... that’s just cruel.”

Lucidra had at least been lucky—she read the books after Ernest had already completed the whole series, so she could immediately jump to the revival scene. But Eris wasn’t so fortunate.

By now, she was probably trembling her way through the ending of that book.

To that, Ernest replied nonchalantly,

“I rearranged the order a bit on purpose. It makes you more curious about what comes next, doesn’t it?”

“You’re secretly a demon in disguise, aren’t you? My ancient senior.”

“I’m a perfectly honest human being, thank you.”

Sure doesn’t look like it.

Lucidra thought that to herself as she glanced over at Ernest, who was already hard at work on another new book.

“So? What’s that one about? Doesn’t seem like another volume in the detective series.”

Ernest replied,

“It’s a story about four birds. But I only have enough for two.”

“...Right. Of course. Carry on, senior.”