Chapter 13

“A… Homunclepet?”  

“It’s a concept combining a homunculus and a pet. It’s never been openly discussed, but such a combination can exist.”  

“So, what is it?”  

“Sulfur, salt, mercury, palladium, a drop of a lover’s blood, and some fermentation time. To shorten the fermentation time, you’d have to use a magic circle. If all these are combined through alchemy, I can’t guarantee what will come out. It could be a stone, a plant, an insect, a mouse or squirrel, or maybe a cat. A cat is probably the limit. Of course, what comes out and how long it lasts depends on the affection between the lovers. Anyway, if a Homunclepet is produced, it’s considered a vessel for the souls of the two, essentially a child.”  

Lyle’s eyes sparkled with fear. Seisil surely knew that conducting life-related experiments through alchemy could result in execution.  

“The King of Garental will request the Ceremony of Hea before marriage.”  

The Ceremony of Hea is performed before marriage not only in the Empire but by everyone in this world.  

Hea is the god of love and possessiveness, and it’s no exaggeration to say that Hea binds all lovers’ relationships in this world. In legend, Hea called it a blessing bestowed upon lovers, but in reality, many call it Hea’s curse. Because of this god, once lovers or couples have a child, it becomes difficult to love or have children with anyone else. Unless widowed, it’s impossible to have a proper second child with another person.  

Of course, there are exceptions. Those with considerable power tend to ignore this curse. For example, the Emperor of Hillus Empire, thanks to the spirit of Orodium, the guardian deity of Hero Drenai, enabled his heirs to have multiple marriages, and rulers of minor countries outside the Hillus Empire would resort to schemes to get remarried if they wanted a divorce.  

“Mix Miss Parazia’s blood with yours to make a Homunclepet, Prince Lyle. Then, during the Ceremony of Hea, Miss Parazia will be found to already have a vessel for her soul because of the Homunclepet. The old fox of Garental, greedy for an heir, won’t want Miss Parazia as a bride. The marriage will be called off.”  

Lyle felt uneasy.  

“A vessel for the soul…”  

“If it’s a stone, that’s best. Easy to manage, and it’ll disappear after about five or six months. Plants last up to two years, mice or squirrels about five years. If a dog or cat is born, the vessel could last over ten years, but I’ve never heard of such a Homunclepet actually being born. The concept is: ‘an emergency measure to avoid an unwanted marriage.’”  

Lyle was dissatisfied with Seisil’s proposal.  

Saving Ethea from danger was good, but there must be equally significant, perhaps fatal, drawbacks.  

“If it’s not Ethea, some other girl will be sacrificed for the palladium mines.”  

That, too, would be a tragedy.  

Seisil shrugged and replied,  

“Still, for you, Your Highness, it’s better than Miss Parazia being sacrificed.”  

“Isn’t there any other way?”  

Seeing Lyle struggle, Seisil sighed quietly.  

“You can’t go down a difficult path without difficulty.”  

“Seisil.”  

“If you really don’t like it, there’s a simple way. The two of you can take each other’s hand and run far away. Beyond the Empire, to the edge of the continent. Ah, or how about this? Your Highness, you go to Garental and kill the old fox.”  

“Should I?”  

Seisil just threw out the idea, but Lyle started to seriously consider it. Seisil was unnerved by this.  

“Y-Your Highness?”  

“Yeah, it’s better to kill him.”  

Lyle’s determined attitude frightened Seisil. Just as Lyle had no trustworthy friend in the palace besides Seisil, Seisil had no friend but Lyle. Seisil sincerely hoped that his precious friend wouldn’t make such a reckless choice.  

“You wouldn’t want to be the protagonist of a war, right?”  

“If he dies, Ethea won’t have to suffer. Nor will any other woman.”  

Seisil wanted to change the subject.  

“You’re really strange, Your Highness.”  

“What?”  

“I’m glad you came to me in a crisis as a friend, but shouldn’t you discuss this problem directly with Miss Parazia?”  

Lyle shook his head.  

“I can’t let her get hurt.”  

“The pain isn’t from you, but from the adults. Whether she accepts or runs away, it’s up to her. So…”  

“Seisil.”  

“Don’t say you’ll kill the King of Garental.”  

“I have to kill the King of Garental.”  

The two friends spoke at the same time, but with different words, and then fell silent.  

Some time passed.  

***

“Let go! Untie this! I have to go kill that guy!”  

Seisil wiped the sweat from his forehead and walked to the workbench. Behind him, Lyle struggled, his whole body tightly bound. Lyle protested to Seisil, who had tied him up, but Seisil seemed determined not to untie him.  

Seisil thought it was fortunate. He’d used magic—if he’d tried to bind Lyle by force, it would have been impossible, since Lyle was so strong.  

Measuring the ingredients for the Homunclepet, Seisil spoke in a lecturing tone.  

“Please calm down, Your Highness. No matter how strong Hillus Empire is, if the thirteenth prince rashly kills the King of Garental, the minor countries will seize the chance to trouble the Empire. There’ll be a bothersome war between the Empire and the small fry. No matter how much you’re in love, don’t create a huge problem.”  

Lyle, bound by magic chains, could only glare at Seisil. Seisil, a rationalist himself, continued smugly.  

“As long as the marriage is avoided, everything is solved. Give Miss Ethea a child. The King of Garental will look for another bride, and the Emperor will find another sacrifice. Either way, the palladium mines will become Empire property, and as long as the alchemist Parazia can freely use palladium, he won’t care whether his daughter has a child or anything else.”  

Lyle shouted, dissatisfied with everything.  

“I don’t care what he does! He’s not an alchemist! He’s a demon! A demon who sold his daughter for palladium!”  

Seisil chuckled. Lyle’s affection for one girl was so tender that watching him was almost unbearably sweet.  

Turning back to the angry Lyle, Seisil spoke gently, as if comforting him.  

“Well, anyway… Your Highness, comfort Miss Parazia and approach her as a lover. Hehe.”  

Lyle’s face turned bright red. His anger toward the alchemist, his urgent desire to save Ethea, and, deeper still, his love for her seemed to make his blood boil.  

Seisil smiled slyly, as if he understood those feelings well.  

“So, choose the Homunclepet. Do you understand me?”  

Lyle gritted his teeth.  

Even though Seisil teased him, the plan didn’t seem impossible. Right now, it was the only way to stop the marriage. The only way.  

“If a stone comes out, that’s best. Easy to hide. Or an animal wouldn’t be bad. How about a cat? I’ll raise it for you.”  

“Untie the chains.”  

“Are you going to hit me? Take off my glasses first, please. They’re expensive. Oh, come to think of it, my face is pretty expensive too.”  

“Seisil! Hurry up!”  

***

The next morning, freed from the magic chains, Lyle took the ingredients and the summary of the magic circle that Seisil had prepared and went to find Ethea. The hot morning sunlight mercilessly pierced Lyle’s complicated mind.  

‘D*mn.’  

The vow of friendship he wanted would become unbearably heavy.  

‘Ethea, please understand. And please forgive me for being like this.’  

Lyle arrived at Ethea’s house.  

Ethea was working quietly and diligently at the metal refinery set up inside her home. She was so focused that she didn’t notice someone entering the house. Wiping sweat from her forehead as she turned around, she finally met Lyle’s gaze. Afraid his complicated and dark thoughts might show, Lyle deliberately greeted her brightly.  

“Good morning!”  

“Is it okay for you to come two days in a row?”  

“Why wouldn’t it be?”  

Ethea joked when she saw the bundle in Lyle’s hands.  

“Are you moving somewhere?”  

If he could, Lyle would have liked that. Moving, migrating—anything would be fine. He just wanted to leave with her to the ends of the continent, somewhere no one could find them. Suppressing his sadness, he nodded.  

“Yep, here. To your house.” 

Ethea widened her eyes, curious about the story. Even in this situation, she looked cute to him.  

“Surprised? Just kidding. These are supplies. I secretly borrowed them with some help from my friend at the Mage Tower.”  

He made up a plausible excuse and began preparing to make the Homunclepet.  

Suddenly, Seisil’s words came to mind.  

‘It could be a stone, a plant, an insect, a mouse or squirrel, or maybe a cat. A cat is probably the limit. Of course, what comes out and how long it lasts depends on the affection between the lovers. Anyway, if a Homunclepet is produced, it’s considered a vessel for the souls of the two, essentially a child.’

Lyle was curious.  

What would come out? How long would it live? If something burdensome appeared or lived too long, would it become a burden for Ethea?  

Even just making a Homunclepet without asking her opinion was already a burden for her. Moreover, she might not like any of this.  

Even if this stopped the marriage, there was no guarantee she would be grateful to him. Not only gratitude, but he couldn’t expect affection either. She might someday love someone else and marry that person.

‘No… Even so, I must do it. I have no choice but to do it.’

Lyle did not want to regret what he was about to do today.

“Just wait and see. Something amazing will be made. With this, you’ll be able to be happy.”

Sensing the weight of these words, Ethea asked with somewhat anxious eyes,

“When you say it like that, it sounds scary. What exactly are we making?”  

“I can’t tell you. I’ll explain everything later. Just know that it’s going to be something more amazing than the dust stars in the flask. Oh, and we’ll need blood. Yours and mine. Just one drop each, so we only need to prick a finger. Is that okay?”  

After that, he drew the magic circle exactly as Seisil had instructed. It was a task that took quite some time.

When the magic circle was completed, a strong golden light enveloped the space, and Lyle, together with Ethea, gradually lost consciousness as he thought,

I hope this isn’t a mistaken path. In the end, may everyone be able to be happy.

***

Lyle was the first to open his eyes.

He wondered what had been created. But he was afraid to check.

Considering his feelings for Ethea, surely something greater than a mere stone would appear. A mouse or squirrel would be too weak, a dog or cat insufficient. Unrealistic as it was, maybe even a dragon could appear. That’s how confident Lyle felt, if he only thought about his desperate feelings for Ethea.

However, he had no idea what Ethea felt for him. She might think of him simply as a friend, or perhaps as an annoying prince. If her feelings combined with his, at best it would be something like a squirrel.

‘Seisil said a dog or cat was the limit.’

If a fish appeared, it would be troublesome—it could die as soon as it was born. If a worm crawled away somewhere, or a sparrow flew off and got eaten by a predator, that would be awkward too.

Nervously, he shifted his gaze to the center of the magic circle. Whatever was born, the Homunclepet would have broken the flask like an egg as it emerged.

But in reality…

The flask remained intact, unbroken. Only its contents were problematic.

Something disgusting had formed. Blood, veins, and a red lump of flesh were tangled together, bulging and writhing. It was extremely small, about the size of a fingernail, and that made it even more grotesque. That tiny thing kept twitching as if it would transform into something else, thrashing endlessly.

Moreover, it was so red that the flask itself seemed to be dyed crimson.

‘What is this…’

Lyle felt cold sweat trickle down his spine as he rubbed his eyes. When he opened them again and looked at the whole magic circle instead of just the flask, he finally realized something was different.

‘Red.’

Everything was red. He thought only the lump of flesh inside the flask was red, but the floor, the walls, the tools—everything appeared red. Even Ethea, who lay collapsed beside him, looked red.

“This can’t be…”