Drawing Manga in a Romance Fantasy

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The late-night, dim moonlight cast shadows on the wall.

Thud!

What was once a faint moonbeam revealed a black silhouette that would have gone unnoticed were it not for the moonlight.

Its incredibly stealthy movements barely made a sound, making it highly unlikely anyone would notice.

“Who goes there!”

Unfortunately, luck ran out as the guard patrolling nearby spotted the intruder.

“Oh dear, I’m going to hear more nagging from my uncle!”

“A woman?!”

The guard, trying to fend off the intruder while his comrade was momentarily occupied elsewhere, was startled by the voice, which sounded distinctly female—like that of a young girl.

But,

“That’s not the point. An assassin? How dare you sneak into the Imperial Palace!”

Kroon, the imperial guard, tightened his grip on the spear he held.

No matter how the intruder managed to bypass the palace’s security barriers, it was certain they didn’t come with good intentions, and he was determined to stop them at all costs.

“Everything is for the sake of His Majesty the Emperor.”

This year, Kroon was selected as an imperial guard, ready to give his life for the Emperor since before he even joined.

Even though ten years had passed, he had participated in the battle against the wicked dark magic organization, the Abyss Cult, which sought to plunge the empire into crisis.

Kroon, having been chosen for his large stature, fought against the Burrow Snake commanded by Crown Prince Alex at the time.

And just as the still somewhat inexperienced and timid Kroon was about to lose his life in an attack by the Burrow Snake—

“It’s okay. Don’t worry anymore.”

The scene of Crown Prince Alex sacrificing his own arm to protect Kroon was still vivid in his memory.

Since then, Kroon vowed to live solely for Alex and diligently honed his swordsmanship skills by attending a martial arts dojo.

Finally, he achieved his goal by passing the selection for elite imperial guards—an exclusive group.

Though he could only see Alex from a distance now that he was Emperor, it didn’t matter that much to Kroon.

Guarding Alex was his only purpose.

“Can’t we just let it go?”

“Nonsense! This is the place where His Majesty resides, and intruders cannot set foot here!”

Kroon figured his comrade would arrive shortly, so he aimed to keep the intruder at bay.

Now a rather seasoned soldier, Kroon readied his spear and thrust it at the intruder, the spear darting swiftly towards the target.

However,

Pop!

“What?! She vanished!”

The intruder appeared to vanish from Kroon’s eyes, moving with such speed.

Then suddenly,

Thud.

In an instant, the intruder moved behind Kroon and lightly struck his neck, knocking him out cold.

“Looks like my uncle’s popular, huh?”

The intruder grinned, pleased as she looked at the fallen Kroon.

*

“Aida, I’ve told you countless times, why can’t you just come through the palace’s main gate without causing a fuss?”

“Ugh, but people will notice me, and it’ll be so uncomfortable!”

“I swear, you haven’t changed since you were little.”

Alex couldn’t help but chuckle seeing Aida lounging on a chair like she was in her own living room.

Considering they were in the imperial residence of the Emperor of the empire, Aida was probably the only one who could act like that.

“By the way, the Duke asked me to make sure to capture you if he found you. What’s going on?”

“My brother? Oh! I guess it’s because I caused a ruckus last time, uncle.”

“A ruckus?”

Alex was taken aback by Aida’s comment.

One would expect that an eighteen-year-old girl couldn’t cause too much trouble, but that complacent assumption was a mistake.

Especially since Aida had just committed the outrageous act of sneaking into the palace.

If it were someone else, it would have caused quite a stir, a hundred times over.

“But hey, uncle, you’re quite popular, it seems?”

“Where’s that coming from out of nowhere?”

“Well, you see! There was a guard patrolling earlier…”

As Alex inquired, Aida excitedly relayed exactly what the guard had said earlier.

“Oh, that’s good to hear.”

“Right?”

“It would have been even better if you hadn’t knocked that guard out.”

“Let’s overlook the small stuff, uncle!”

Alex was at his wits’ end.

‘Uncle, there’s an elixir in the storeroom, right?!’

Who would believe that someone would sneak into the palace like it was a playground or whine for a yummy treat?

Thanks to Aida’s antics, strange rumors began circulating among the imperial guards.

‘Beware the blonde girl.’

The guard she had just taken out was likely a rookie.

Guards with a bit more experience would ignore Aida entirely if they happened to spot her.

“I wonder if Andre is still asleep?”

“Probably.”

“I was hoping to at least see his face. What a bummer.”

Andre, Alex’s nephew and the current Crown Prince, was the son he had with the Empress eight years ago.

‘That’s my nephew?!’

Aida thought that Andre was incredibly cute.

Being the youngest at home, she expressed her affection enthusiastically for the first sibling she had.

However,

‘Waaaaaaaaah!’

‘Why is he so timid?!’

Aida’s way of playing could be a bit too aggressive, turning her into a source of terror for Andre.

Last time, she had taken him to the top of the palace to show him a cool view, and he ended up crying out of fright.

“I brought a gift for Andre this time, so please give this to him, uncle.”

“A gift?”

“Yep! It’s something very precious!”

Alex eyed the object she called a gift with skepticism.

‘Last time it was a golden beetle.’

How Aida managed to find such odd things was baffling, and there were many times Alex was surprised because of her.

The golden beetle was cute, and there was a time when she brought a suspicious egg.

At first, he didn’t pay attention thinking it was just a decoration in the room, but he got quite the fright later on.

‘Your Majesty, dozens of strange-looking frogs hatched from the egg!’

‘Aida!!!!’

Alex almost fainted at the sight of the baby frogs filling his room.

So, naturally, he had become cautious whenever Aida brought something claimed to be a gift, and now he carefully unwrapped the package.

“Fruits?”

“Yep! I felt a tremendous power coming from this tree, and while I was there, there was a bird that breathed fire!”

“Hold on! A bird that breathes fire?!”

“Yep! I wanted to catch it so badly, but there were baby birds nearby, so I decided to leave, but the bird brought me these fruits from the tree.”

Upon hearing Aida’s tale, Alex was utterly flabbergasted.

‘Is this… the Fruit of Life?’

The legendary treasure said to grant the ability of near immortality to whoever eats it.

However, those who acquired it were so rare, they only appeared in legends.

The tree that bore the Fruit of Life was always guarded by a Phoenix that protected the fruits.

According to tales, the Phoenix was as legendary as a Dragon, instantly turning anyone with sinister motives to ashes.

The very thought of trying to capture such a Phoenix was ridiculous, but even more surprising was that Aida had received the Fruit of Life as a gift from it.

‘Could it be a treasure only attainable by one with a pure heart?’

Alex watched Aida as she excitedly shared her adventure tales.

She was the only one who still called him uncle now that he had become Emperor.

From childhood until now, she was the only one who treated him with such familiarity that Alex could relax and forget about his duties as emperor around her.

If it hadn’t been for Aida, Alex would surely still be living recklessly.

“Speaking of which, where’s Rach? Isn’t he usually with you?”

As Alex reminisced about his times with Aida, he found it strange that Rach, who always tagged along, wasn’t around.

“That guy? Rach is quite smitten these days.”

“Huh?”

“He won’t come out of the Kingdom of the Little Mermaid.”

Aida told Alex how Rach had become infatuated with a princess from the Kingdom of the Little Mermaid and was in turmoil.

Having grown and been able to transform freely with the powers of the Blue Flower, Rach accompanied Aida on a trip to the Kingdom of the Little Mermaid.

Ever since then, Rach had been lovesick.

‘The Kingdom of the Little Mermaid… once a legendary tribe.’

Alex recalled the time they formally established exchanges with the Kingdom of the Little Mermaid a few years ago.

—I want to meet the author of this book.

It was astonishing enough that a merfolk had appeared in the empire, but they didn’t just come for a visit; they sent an official envoy.

The merfolk, who had been invited to the palace, were holding a book made by none other than Rupert, titled The Little Mermaid.

As it turned out, Aida had given that book as a gift to the merfolk, which allowed the empire to establish diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of the Little Mermaid.

But that wasn’t all.

Thanks to Kroon, now a Master in the Somerset Workshop, exchanges began with the Dwarf Kingdom as well, and due to Richard, the first son of Somerset who married an Elf, they also resumed formal exchanges with the Elf tribe.

Now, all sorts of diverse beings could be seen easily in the empire.

It was a time when the empire was continuously filled with things no one could have imagined before.

“Oh right! I saw my brother.”

“My brother? No way….”

“Yep, I ran into Edric while traveling.”

At Aida’s last words, Alex instantly jumped to his feet in surprise.