The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL]-Chapter 953: The Prince Who Waited

Safe to say, one Elven Prince who had been waiting for his most-awaited news couldn’t have been more livid as he crushed the small device in his hand.

The delicate instrument gave a sharp crack beneath his fingers, its surface fracturing into thin, spiderweb lines that made the holographic projection flicker.

It was the kind of anger that steamed rather than exploded, the sort that filled a room slowly until even the air felt heavy.

Because of that, Elven Aide Bram had the sense to remain a few steps away from his master. Not out of cowardice, but experience. The Prince was not the sort to shout when he was furious. If anything, the quieter he became, the more likely it was that objects in the room would suddenly find themselves thrown with frightening precision.

Honestly, Bram’s only saving grace was that this disaster hadn’t been his report.

Prince Eren himself had chosen to spare time from his schedule to personally watch the fruition of his plan unfold.

And so both of them had watched.

From the very beginning.

Until the very end.

Only for absolutely nothing to happen.

Nothing of the outcome they had been waiting for anyway.

Instead, a number of other things had unfolded. Things that seemed to grow increasingly irritating the longer the Prince stared at the wobbly projection still flickering from the damaged device in his hand.

Despite the fractures on the lens, Star Net comments continued to stream rapidly across the display.

Thousands of viewers had apparently decided to treat the polishing competition as the evening’s entertainment.

Some of them weren’t even trying to hide it.

[This polishing competition is actually insane. I thought it would be boring, but now I can’t stop watching.]

[Who else is watching with popcorn?]

[Stop! Brother/sister, don’t even go there! Did you bother coming to the livestream just to brag about your popcorn?!]

[+1]

[+1]

[+1]

[Nevermind that! Instead of focusing on the snacks, shouldn’t we be talking about something more important?!]

[House Kyros is ridiculous. What kind of mechanics are they raising over there?]

[Is it really true?]

[Did you even watch the right stream? Obviously it’s true! Have you not seen the Master Mechanics? They’re out there trying to gut each other because they couldn’t believe that no one said anything about this until today!]

[Even worse, a cadet came out at the top of the competition, with a perfect rating and a faster time!]

[A CADET.]

[When I was that young, I was still drooling in bed.]

[...]

[...]

[How does one house have this many master-level mechanics?]

[They’re all so young, too!]

[I keep replaying Oliver Mylor’s shy escape! So cute that one!]

But surprisingly, even those who had different opinions were replaying the looped clip that had already gone viral across the stars.

A blonde cadet appeared on the screen, raising his hand casually before declaring in a bright voice,

"I’m done!"

It actually took a good amount of time because the grading would only happen once everyone had finished submitting their pieces.

Eventually, and in an unexpected turn of events, the scoreboard flashed.

100%

There was a united hang time before the comment feed exploded beneath the video.

[There’s no way that score is legitimate, right?!]

[Check the CF values! That’s just impossible!]

[That rotor polish is insane!]

[How does a cadet get a perfect combined score? What kind of rubric did they even use to get that number?! Was it an A for effort?]

But eventually, the commenters’ tune changed the moment they saw the masters reacting to the pieces that nearly had them foaming at the mouth or bedridden.

[Is House Kyros secretly producing monsters?]

The clip replayed again.

And again.

And again.

From the outside, it might have looked like the Elven Prince was fixated on House Kyros.

Or perhaps the absurdity of the score.

But Bram knew better.

His master wasn’t watching the blonde.

Nor was he thinking about mechas at the moment. No. That would have to be for later.

Instead, Prince Eren’s gaze kept drifting past the arguing masters—who were hitting each other with long canes—and onto the crowd behind him.

Two figures stood there.

Familiar builds.

Familiar faces.

Prince Elior.

Princess Marin.

A pair that should never have made it inside safely.

In fact, none of the things being broadcast across Star Net right now should have been happening at all.

What the entire Empire should have been reporting instead was something very different.

A strange phenomenon.

A sudden epidemic.

An inexplicable attack.

Ideally, the Empire would already have been forced to publicly condemn the Lumirian elves as fear and death spread at unprecedented speed throughout the capital.

The outrage would have been immediate.

The panic even faster.

And the moment that accusation was made, Prince Eren would have returned fire with one of his own.

He would have declared that the Empire was framing them.

Because clearly, it would have been absurd to claim the Lumirian elves were responsible when the first ones harmed were their own royalty.

If something like that had happened right beside an Imperial officer, what conclusion should the elves have drawn?

Who would they blame?

But even if the accusation didn’t hold completely, it wouldn’t have mattered.

By then, the Empire would already be drowning in its own crisis.

Too busy containing corruption right at the heart of their territory. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Too busy controlling panic.

Too vulnerable to mount any meaningful response.

It would have been perfect.

In fact, the likelihood of losing their gathered leaders would have been high as well, because that kind of corruption would have thrived in a place like DG’s booth. With how difficult it was to detect that aberration’s existence, it would have been so surprising that it would have spread before people even realized what they were fighting!

And all it required was one thing.

That single aberrant parasite.

The one creature that only his brother had managed to host and cultivate within his body.

The device in Prince Eren’s hand cracked further as his grip tightened.

Then suddenly he stood.

The chair behind him scraped violently across the floor before toppling over as he shoved the desk aside with such spiritual force that the heavy wood slammed against the wall.

Splinters burst outward from the impact.

One of them struck Bram across the cheek.

A thin line of blood immediately formed.

But the aide didn’t move.

He didn’t even lift a hand to wipe it away.

He simply stood there.

Waiting.

The room remained deathly quiet as Prince Eren’s chest rose and fell with restrained fury.

Then he turned toward his aide.

His eyes were cold yet burning.

"Figure out," Prince Eren said slowly, his voice low with restrained rage, "what the hell happened."