Edric, who was currently studying at the Academy, was required to return to the Imperial Palace on weekends unless he had a special engagement.

This mandate stemmed from the Emperor's principle that family meals must be shared together.

Though Edric, busy with his manga club activities, would have preferred to skip these meals, such an excuse was not accepted.

“Iolin, aren’t you being a bit hasty?”

“No, Father. If anything, it may already be too late.”

Edric shivered involuntarily at his sister Iolin’s resolute response to their father, the Emperor. It reminded him of their childhood.

“She’s completely fixated on Master Rupert.”

At this moment, Iolin was petitioning the Emperor to hasten her marriage to Rupert.

The Emperor, however, tried to placate her, explaining that the Second Prince William’s engagement was still underway and that nothing could proceed until it was resolved.

But Iolin instinctively sensed something else.

She knew that Amelia and Zinnia—the women she had encountered before—would not remain idle.

While she felt a bit guilty about using her father, the Emperor, to secure her marriage, she also recognized a painful truth.

“Rupert will never take the initiative unless forced.”

Having observed Rupert closely, Iolin was convinced that he was oblivious to anything outside of his manga.

Despite his substantial wealth, he showed no interest in luxury or flaunting power, unlike most people in his position.

“This is something I’ve prepared especially for you, Princess,” Rupert had once said to her in a low, secretive tone during one of their rare private meetings.

“It’s a cleaner!”

What he handed her wasn’t a gift of sentiment but a magical tool for erasing mistakes while drawing manga. Rupert had noted how tedious it must have been to use white paint to correct errors manually.

While the tool did make her work significantly easier, it wasn’t what she had hoped for.

At that moment, Iolin realized something important: Rupert would never approach her on his own initiative.

If she wanted to secure his hand, she would need to act before someone else took the lead.

“I’ve already spoken with Marquess Somerset, but his reaction was lukewarm,” she thought.

The Emperor was making genuine efforts to fulfill his only daughter’s request.

To ensure the Somerset family was of appropriate standing, he had elevated them to a marquessate.

He had even subtly broached the subject of marriage with Rupert’s father, Marquess Bradley.

“The marquess must find it difficult to choose between aligning with the Imperial Family or the nobility,” Iolin mused.

If Rupert married Iolin, the Somerset family would undoubtedly be absorbed into the Imperial faction, subjecting them to heavy scrutiny and opposition from the nobility. The Emperor understood Bradley’s cautious stance in this matter.

“For now, it’s proper to wait until William’s engagement is finalized,” the Emperor concluded.

Since the Second Prince’s engagement was still in progress, the Emperor had no choice but to reject Iolin’s request for the time being.

“William, have you had a chance to speak with the Count of Tena’s daughter, your betrothed?”

The engagement, originally arranged to pressure the Crown Prince Alex, had a deeper layer. The Emperor was well aware of William’s cunning nature—perhaps the most similar to his own among his children.

Despite his darker tendencies, William had prioritized the stability of the Imperial Family over personal ambition, which reassured the Emperor.

Unlike the unpredictable Crown Prince, the inscrutable Third Prince, or the sword-obsessed youngest, William was the only child the Emperor rarely worried about.

“I haven’t had the opportunity yet, Father. My schedule has been quite packed,” William replied.

“Hmm? It’s been quite some time, and you haven’t even introduced yourself?”

The Emperor was surprised. He had assumed William would handle such matters with diligence. For an engaged prince not to visit his fiancée’s family was an unexpected oversight.

“What could he be investigating so deeply?”

William, known for his covert intelligence operations to root out threats to the Empire, seemed preoccupied even during the meal.

“The Dark Mage deck is the ultimate test of a duelist’s skill.”

Having already passed the qualifiers with ten cards, William’s focus was on the tournament finals.

The Dark Mage Deck he had crafted was his pride and joy. While it appeared weaker than other powerful decks, its strength lay in countering opponents by predicting their moves—a strategy that outclassed popular meta decks.

He also ensured to rotate between other decks to mask the Dark Mage Deck’s weaknesses, saving it for critical moments.

Lately, William had spent every spare moment refining his strategies.

“Your Highness, it’s time for your weekly briefing.”
“Unless it’s urgent, I’m not to be disturbed!”

William already knew about the tournament’s special prize:

“Three cards gifted by Rupert Somerset to the Emperor.”

The events in the court were within William’s grasp, including Rupert’s plans reported to the Emperor.

“Wait for me. I will claim them.”

While he didn’t know the exact nature of the cards, he was certain they were extraordinary. Convinced that he was the only duelist deserving of them, William’s eyes gleamed with determination.

Meanwhile, the Emperor, unaware of his son’s true focus, grew increasingly suspicious.

“What kind of incident could be occupying him so much...?”

The Emperor’s misunderstanding deepened further.

++++

"Am I really at the final stretch already?"

Rupert muttered to himself as he worked alone in the studio on the third floor of Somerset Workshop. He was drawing the storyboard for the final scenes of Van Helsing, now down to the climactic battle of its last chapter.

“Once I wrap up Van Helsing, I’ll need to start another series, won’t I?”

In the past, Rupert wouldn’t have dreamed of working on multiple projects simultaneously. But now, things were different.

Thanks to the combination of the goddess’s blessing and the magical pen she had granted him, his working hours had been drastically reduced. Surprisingly, he found himself with more free time now than when he worked on just one series.

Recently, he’d even used his spare time to assist with upcoming animation projects such as Cinderella, Snow White, and The Little Mermaid.

This newfound efficiency gave him plenty of room to plan for a new series after finishing Van Helsing.

"Until Manafia becomes the uncontested leader, I can’t afford to slow down."

Although Manafia already boasted a quality unmatched by rival publishers, Rupert couldn’t let his guard down.

He vividly remembered the rise and fall of manga magazines in Japan, the home of comics, from his previous world.

Even Shonen Jumping, regarded as the greatest manga magazine of all time, had started as a minor publication.

It had climbed to prominence when masterpieces began to emerge one after another, culminating in legendary titles like Dragon’s Orb and The Seven-Star Fist, which secured its throne.

After its golden age, however, it had suddenly plunged into a dark period.

"Detective Kim Joong-il really was incredible."

Rupert recalled how Shonen Magazine, once overshadowed by Jumping, had surged ahead during the mystery manga boom sparked by Detective Kim Joong-il.

Readers of comics were ruthlessly discerning.

They judged solely on entertainment value, and no amount of past glory could sustain a publication’s dominance.

All it took was a single masterpiece.

One timeless work could dictate the rise or fall of a magazine.

Rupert understood this clearly. To ensure Manafia’s continued reign, it needed a groundbreaking series that would define an era.

However, creating such a work for this otherworldly audience posed unique challenges. While history offered many iconic works to draw inspiration from, adapting them to this world wasn’t easy.

"Could the people of this world even grasp concepts like aliens and space as seen in Dragon’s Orb?"

Sports masterpieces like Power Dunk faced similar issues.

This world lacked sports like soccer or basketball, so using them as a basis for a manga was impossible. To create a sports manga, Rupert would first need to popularize the sport itself, which was entirely backward.

Thus, Rupert wrestled with the challenge of crafting a story that felt natural to this world’s audience while guaranteeing success.

"Honestly, this one idea is perfectly adaptable and would undoubtedly be a hit."

Rupert had narrowed down his options to a few candidates. Among them was a work that had ended Shonen Jumping’s dark age and served as a beacon for countless shonen manga in the 2000s.

"The only problem is that this story can’t be rushed, no matter how I adapt it."

Having finished the Van Helsing storyboard, Rupert reached for a blank sheet of paper and began sketching feverishly, trying to bring the imagery in his mind to life.

Waves crashed across a vast blue ocean.

A massive sea monster, as large as a moving mountain, loomed ominously.

Atop the sea monster’s head, a ship adorned with a ram’s head at its prow was perched, defying logic and gravity.

"Maybe it’s time to bring about an Age of Exploration."

At that moment, Rupert’s next work was decided.