No Entry Except for the Master - Chapter 79 - No Entry Except for Master

Even the angelic Imperial Crown Prince, who always wore a smile despite the mounting workload, was finally nearing his limit.

If you lack the ability, give up the right.

None of the documents coming in were satisfactory, and the more he worked, the more frustration piled up inside him. With a twitch of irritation, the Crown Prince slammed the papers shut.

“That’s enough for today.”

“Starting tomorrow, you’ll be meeting with representatives of the newly formed Werebeast Rights Association in the southern region. Will that be all right?”

“What’s the local lord doing?”

“He’s part of the anti-werebeast faction.”

“He’s really trying everything, isn’t he.”

Teia rose from his seat, clearly annoyed.

His personality had become notably worse and sharper compared to his time as Grand Duke, but people fully understood the change. The volume of work he now dealt with was enough to turn even an angelic Grand Duke into a temperamental Crown Prince.

Even with the shift in temperament, his clean, innocent appearance remained the same, so people still described him with words like “angelic,” “flower-like,” and “gentle.”

As Teia stepped out, Cesar, who had been waiting, immediately fell in step beside him.

Though Cesar had been promoted to Teia’s personal guard knight, his duties hadn’t changed much. His main job was still to handle Teia’s hidden hysterics and help relieve his stress.

Ever since Hecate’s death on the Rafelia Archipelago—or more precisely, since the last spirit guarding the island perished—the curse of the corrupted spirit had vanished.

Thanks to that, werebeasts began reappearing across the continent. After living for thousands of years as ordinary animals, the werebeasts were finally returning to their original forms.

With the return of the supposedly extinct werebeast race came a storm of bloodshed in the Imperial Palace. It was revealed that Crown Prince Ludvio had illegally kidnapped individuals with no background or affiliations and used them for werebeast chimera experiments.

The whistleblower was none other than Lady Eris Dialia.
She revealed everything she had seen and heard and begged the Emperor for mercy.

Though it was a crime not easily forgiven, she had never directly participated and was the sole insider to come forward—thus, she was exempted from responsibility.

Teia thought to himself that there must have been a reason she had once been his fiancée. Unlike Ludvio, who recklessly crossed every line like a madman, Eris at least knew where the final line was and when not to cross it.

Ludvio was stripped of his title as Crown Prince. The furious Emperor exiled him to an abandoned castle. Yet even as he was dragged away to what was essentially a prison, Ludvio continued to resent Teia.

In response to Ludvio’s long-standing obsession, Teia personally explained where he had gone wrong. A cruel kindness.

<Rudy, I’ve always pitied you.>

<Don’t pretend to be noble.>

<That’s a lie! Father gave you better territory on purpose…!>

<More accurately, he buried me in that “better” land so I’d live quietly.

<Yes, I’m more capable than you in every way, but that’s not the quality His Majesty sought in an Emperor.>

<W-what did you just say?>

Teia clicked his tongue.

The Emperor, while not as perceptive as Teia’s mother, still understood Teia’s nature to a certain extent.

No matter how talented Teia was, the Emperor had decided long ago he could not inherit the throne.

The thought of handing the empire to someone who viewed people as less than toys was terrifying. Who knew when Teia would grow bored and devour the Empire like a delicacy?

And Teia himself had no real desire to be Emperor. He enjoyed teasing the Crown Prince from time to time, but had no interest in a role filled with responsibility and duty.

But now, the situation had changed. Ludvio, who had succumbed to his inferiority complex, had tried to devour the empire in an even more disastrous manner than letting the bored Teia ruin it only for him to get caught in the act.

The emperor still didn’t think much of Teia, but upon hearing rumors that he doted on his pet rabbit, he reluctantly named him crown prince. It was a sliver of hope that a man who could love an animal wouldn’t, at the very least, go down in history as the worst tyrant.

Thanks to that, Teia was abruptly elevated to the position of crown prince and, because he kept a beastfolk pet, he was put in charge of overseeing the treatment of beastfolk appearing throughout the empire.