The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] novel Chapter 960

Chapter 960: A Brother’s Gratitude

But who would have known that the Imperial Princess had a knack for giving gifts?

Because by the end of their laver sheet-making endeavor, one young elf emerged on top with her famous hand shovel.

It was a little too pink and had more gems than anyone would normally expect, but even the Emperor had no qualms about borrowing and using it when the cups they were using proved second-rate compared to the bedazzled equipment that could spread the seaweed perfectly in a single swipe.

Of course, the sight was rather questionable. Towering men stood around using a tiny pink shovel with intense concentration, but at the same time, it made several elves extremely thankful.

Prince Elior watched quietly from the side.

Right now, his little sister, Princess Marin, was positively beaming every time someone came over to borrow her precious shovel.

They would introduce themselves to her politely, and she would gladly hand it over while offering a few tips with surprising seriousness.

At the moment, she was speaking to one particular man.

Minister Kordell Nox.

The tall minister bent down slightly so he could hear her better as the young princess demonstrated with great care.

"This much!" Marin said, holding the shovel carefully in front of her.

Then she squinted, reconsidered, and adjusted the imaginary scoop in mid-air.

"Thiiiiis much, Minister!"

She stretched the word as she tried to show the exact amount with exaggerated seriousness.

Right beside her, Princess Nina suddenly let out a dramatic sigh.

"It was knowledge obtained through hardship," she declared solemnly.

The white-haired girl looked absolutely devastated as she said it, as though the road to discovering the perfect scoop had been filled with unimaginable suffering.

The adults around them couldn’t help but chuckle.

Because the two children looked so serious about something so small that it became irresistibly cute.

Prince Elior watched the interaction quietly.

Then he turned slightly to the side where the Imperial Crown Prince stood.

"Thank you, Your Imperial Highness."

The words seemed to come out of nowhere, but Elior said them sincerely.

Seeing his sister like this... it meant more than anyone could imagine.

Earlier that day, Marin had been terrified. He had seen it clearly.

And Elior had felt helpless, because he himself had only learned how to deal with his own fears and demons after growing up and enduring far more than he wished to remember.

So seeing Marin now, chatting with strangers as though she had known them for years when she had only met them a few hours ago...

It was something he hadn’t expected.

Xavier answered simply.

"Don’t thank me. I didn’t do anything."

Then after a brief pause, he added,

"Thank my wife. Or my sister."

Prince Elior let out an amused scoff.

It was exactly the kind of answer he expected from the prince, whose expression rarely changed unless his wife was nearby.

"I’m definitely thankful to them."

Even as he said that, his gaze remained on Marin.

Earlier, the girl had practically collapsed onto the floor when Elior introduced Princess Kira as his fiancée. The child had rolled away in panic and fled into a room so quickly that he momentarily thought she had some kind of issue with the idea.

But now...

Now Marin stood proudly with her tiny shovel and had even gathered enough courage to approach Kira on her own. She looked like she was one breath away from exploding, but she still took a step forward anyway.

That alone said a lot.

After staring at the scene for a moment longer, Elior glanced back at Xavier.

"I’ll never forget their grace," he said quietly. "But I’m also thankful because you asked to borrow it first."

Xavier looked at him.

"With your abilities and resources," Elior continued, "you wouldn’t have needed to borrow anything from a child. But instead of asking your wife, you went to my sister."

He gestured toward Marin.

"And suddenly everyone started noticing her."

It had been such a small action.

But the moment Xavier approached Marin to borrow the little shovel, the entire group turned their attention toward her.

The Crown Prince had just finished helping with the rice preparations when he casually brought up a topic that had been completely forgotten in the excitement.

The oysters.

After all, with everything that had happened earlier because of the sudden threat of eutrophication, Luca had completely pushed that matter to the back of his mind.

And the moment the reminder reached him—

The little money-grubber gasped.

It was as if lightning had struck him.

"My oysters!"

Without wasting another second, Luca dashed off and hurried toward the containers where their precious haul had been kept.

Several people watched him with mild curiosity as he carefully retrieved one of the oysters and held it up with obvious delight.

The shell was rough and uneven, but to Luca, it looked like treasure.

And honestly, it probably was.

"Host!" a cheerful mechanical voice suddenly prompted.

One little system had been observing the scene closely.

"What are we going to do with this animal?"

Luca blinked.

Then he looked down at the oyster in his hands before his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Oh! Remember the slight differences and random masses you managed to scan earlier?" he said excitedly. "Those would have to be the pearls! So we’re going to go and get them!"

"I see," D-29 replied immediately.

Then the system paused for a moment.

"But how?"

It was a completely legitimate question.

And it was at that exact moment that Luca realized something very important.

He had a problem.

How exactly was he supposed to do this properly?