episode_0147

Edric, a student at the Academy, but had to return to the palace on weekends unless he had a special schedule.

It was because of the emperor’s belief that family meals should be eaten together.

Edric, who was busy with the manga club’s recent activities, wanted to skip meals whenever possible, but he couldn’t allow it.

“Iolin, aren’t you rushing too much?”

“No, it might be late.”

Edric shuddered involuntarily as he recalled his childhood when he saw his older sister Iolin firmly answering to their father, the Emperor.

‘It looks like you’re completely obsessed with your teacher.’

Now Iolin was asking for the marriage between her and Rupert to be expedited.

However, since Prince William’s engagement was still in progress, the Emperor tried to appease Iolin by saying that it couldn’t be done right away no matter how quickly.

She felt it instinctively.

Amelia and Xenia, the girls I met last time, I knew they would never stay still.

She also felt that it was a bit cowardly to get married by putting her father, the emperor, on the line.

‘Rupert is a man who will stay quiet for the rest of his life if you leave him alone.’

Until now, I’ve been watching Rupert and he’s not only clueless, but he’s also so uninterested in anything else that I think he only knows comics.

When people earn that much money, they want to enjoy luxury or show off their power.

‘This is specially given to Her Highness the Princess.’

It was Iolin who had been looking forward to seeing Rupert whispering to her secretly during their last meeting.

‘It’s the cleaner!’

But what he gave me was a new magical item called a cleaner, saying that it was hard to go over the mistakes I made when drawing cartoons with white paint.

Of course, it did make her work a lot easier, but it wasn’t quite what she had hoped for.

And then I realized. If things continued like this, Rupert would never come to me first, even if I died and woke up.

That’s why I thought I should take action first before others do.

‘I already told the Marquis of Somerset, but his reaction was less positive than I expected.’

The emperor was also trying hard to grant the request of his only daughter.

In the first place, he was the one who had made a request to the noble council to have Somerset promoted to the rank of marquess in order to match the family’s status.

Moreover, he even asked Rupert’s father, the Marquis Bradley, about marriage.

‘It will be difficult to easily choose between the royal family and the noble family.’

Considering that the moment he marries Iolin, he will enter the power of the imperial family in name and reality, and that the restraints of the nobles will intensify, it is understandable that Marquis Bradley is being cautious.

“It would be right to discuss it after William’s marriage is finalized.”

Moreover, since Prince William’s marriage was still in progress, the order had to be properly concluded, so the Emperor had no choice but to refuse the request for now.

“William, have you talked to the young lady of the Countess of Tenor House, whom you are engaged to?”

The second son William’s engagement was originally intended to instill a sense of caution in the first son Alex.

The emperor knew very well that his second son’s heart was darker than he thought.

In some ways, among his children, William was the one who resembled him the most.

But strangely, I felt somewhat reassured because he was prioritizing the safety of the royal family over his dangerous abilities, rather than overtaking his brother’s position.

Unlike the eldest who was a pain in the ass, the third who was incomprehensible, and the youngest who was crazy about swordsmanship, he could be said to be the only child who didn’t have to be worried.

“I don’t have time for that right now, so I haven’t even met you yet.”

“Huh? It’s been quite some time already and you still haven’t said hello?”

The Emperor was a little surprised by William’s answer.

The emperor, who had not paid attention to the matter, thought that it would be okay on its own, but could not have imagined that he had not yet visited Count Tenor’s daughter.

Even if it was the royal family, it was a natural courtesy for the engaged couple to visit the family of the other party and pay their respects.

The emperor’s mind became complicated as he thought that his second son, whom he trusted, could not have committed such a rude act without reason.

‘What are you investigating now?’

William, who formed an intelligence organization with the secret bodyguards given to him and used them to secretly eliminate those who threatened the empire.

The emperor suspected that his son was investigating some important matter.

And William was also in agony even though it was mealtime.

‘The Dark Archmage Deck is what can judge a Duelist’s skill.’

William, who had already collected 10 cards and passed the preliminaries, was already looking forward to the main event.

The Dark Archmage deck he created himself this time was truly a source of pride for him.

It may seem weak at first glance compared to other powerful decks, but if you can see through and predict your opponent’s plays, it is superior to other popular decks in terms of its ability to respond accordingly.

That wasn’t all.

If you only use one deck, its weakness will be quickly revealed and it will be destroyed.

You need to mix and match other decks appropriately so that you can use your secret weapon, the Dark Archmage deck, at the right moment.

William has been thinking about the deck every chance he gets these days.

‘Your Majesty, it is time to receive this week’s report.’

‘For the time being, don’t bother me unless it’s really important!’

He already knew what special prize was being offered as a prize for this tournament.

‘Three cards Rupert Somerset gave to his father.’

What had happened in the palace was already in William’s hands, and he could also see the plans Rupert had reported to the Emperor.

‘Just wait, I’ll definitely get it.’

Of course, I didn’t know exactly what those three cards were, but I was certain that they were not ordinary cards.

Then William’s eyes lit up with a sinister glow as he thought that he was the only duelist worthy of having it.

‘Hey, how big of a deal is this…?’

The emperor’s delusion deepened.

***

“Is this the last part already?”

Rupert was drawing the storyboard of the manuscript alone in his studio on the third floor of Somerset Studios.

The work I’m currently working on is , and before I knew it, only the final battle part was left.

‘After I finish Van Helsing, I think I should do one more work.’

In the past, simultaneous serialization would have been unthinkable, but things are different now.

The combination of the blessings bestowed by the goddess and the magic pen has drastically shortened his working time, so Rupert’s daily life has recently become more relaxed than when he was serializing a single work.

Recently, I’ve been helping out with the work on the upcoming animations, Cinderella, Snow White, and The Little Mermaid, in my spare time.

After the conclusion of , there was enough time to serialize a new work.

‘Until Manapia becomes overwhelmingly the best, we have no choice but to exert our strength.’

Of course, even now, Manapia boasts incomparable quality compared to other top comics.

Rupert couldn’t let his guard down.

It was because I remembered the rise and fall of manga magazines in Japan, the country of manga.

Shonen Jumping, which is considered the best manga magazine, was initially a minor magazine.

Then, masterpieces started to come out one by one and started to compete for the top spot, and eventually, masterpieces of the century such as Dragon’s Bead and Seven Stars’ Fist came out and took the throne.

After that, it experienced a golden age, but then suddenly fell into a dark age.

‘Student detective Kim Joong-il was truly amazing.’

It was Rupert who recalled the incident where Shonen Magery, the comic magazine that started the mystery comic boom, overtook Shonen Jumping.

Readers of the comics were very cold-hearted.

Because comics were evaluated solely on the basis of entertainment, the throne could not be maintained solely on the glory accumulated in the past.

Just one piece.

One work that will be remembered for a century is the one that guarantees the rise and fall of a magazine.

That’s why Rupert decided that Manapia needed a monumental work to maintain its top position.

However, there were more monumental works in the history of comics than one might think, and among them, creating works that fit a different world was more difficult than one might think.

‘If only the Dragon’s Beads were available, would the people of this world be able to accept supernatural things like aliens and space?’

Even the Power Dunk, which is considered a masterpiece of sports, was problematic.

In this world, there are no ball sports like soccer or basketball, so I couldn’t draw a manga based on them.

If you want to draw a sports cartoon, you have to popularize the sport, so that’s putting the cart before the horse.

That’s why Rupert was thinking about a work that would be naturally accepted by the people of this world, and would definitely be successful.

‘Honestly, this work can be localized and will definitely be a success.’

The candidates had been narrowed down to some extent.

I had in mind the work that ended the dark age of boys’ jumping that I mentioned earlier, and the work that became a guide for countless boys’ comics that appeared in the 2000s.

‘However, no matter how much you adapt this work, it cannot be finished quickly.’

Rupert, who had already finished the storyboard for , began to move his hands busily with a blank piece of paper.

Rupert was drawing as it came to mind, trying to roughly concretize the image of the work that was in his head.

The overflowing blue sea. And the giant sea monster that looks like a moving mountain.

And then, on top of the sea monster’s head, a ship with a goat’s head on its prow began to appear on paper.

‘Shall we open the Age of Exploration?’

It was the moment when Rupert’s next work was decided.