Children of the Holy Emperor

“There is poison in the food that has just been served.

The tingling at the tip of the tongue from the sauce is not due to the spices. It’s likely some kind of neurotoxic poison.

It’s uncertain if the same poison is present in the meat as well. However, a similar type of poison seems to have been lightly applied to the plate.

The wine is also a bit strange.

The color reflecting in the light seems to be due to the effect of Carvamilla, a poison usually served with tea.

Oh my goodness. Are you listening?

Please open the channel quickly.”

* * *

Logan had been observing the Emperor for a considerable time.

He had spent his childhood with him in the Blue Rose Labyrinth, and even after that, they often had audiences together, doing things that a father and son would do.

Occasionally, they would sit in the office and eat walnuts together.

But that was all. He could assert that he had never once seen the Emperor eat other food in the palace without hesitation.

The others were just as surprised. The chief chamberlain next to him was moved to tears.

The Empress and the consorts, too, stopped their veiled jabs disguised as greetings and well wishes, and just stared blankly at the Emperor’s actions.

Unconcerned with the atmosphere around him, the Emperor quietly moved his cutlery, eventually finishing off the entire plate of salmon cutlet.

Of course, after that, he returned to his indifferent facade, merely cutting the food.

However, having observed him for a long time, Logan understood. The man was simply preoccupied elsewhere.

Seeing him act reflexively like that, it seemed that pretending to eat had become a long-standing habit for the Emperor.

‘I thought he was just overly cautious…’

Otherwise, what reason would there be for someone with such immense divine power, capable of recovering instantly from deadly poison, to not eat properly?

“Ah, there he goes again.”

Across the room, a dull murmur came from the one pretending to be Morres. It was the impostor.

Logan looked at this strange imposter with newfound curiosity.

What exactly was this person?

At first, during the opening ceremony, he had no doubt believed that an evil spirit had taken over Morres’ body. Although faint, he even felt an ominous aura around him.

It had only been a few months since he last saw Morres.

But in that short gap, his brother had become a completely different person.

Whatever method was used, his aura had increased as if he had become an experienced knight. And he had lost a noticeable amount of weight.

Above all, there was an occasional wild and fierce demeanor emanating from him, though he tried to hide it.

It was as if he was not a prince raised in the imperial palace but a veteran hunter dedicated to maritime conquests for decades.

“…Your Highness, this is the first time I’ve seen His Majesty eat during a banquet,” whispered Sir Masain, his face filled with emotion.

When had the two of them become so close?

“Why leave it be? It’s disgraceful for the Emperor if such manners are allowed at the table. Shouldn’t someone scold for pickiness or at least offer his favorite dishes?”

“That… talking about His Majesty’s table manners is a bit…”

What a blunt and tactless imposter.

“Morres, thanks to you, His Majesty has finished his meal. I’ve always been concerned about His Majesty’s health as he often skips meals.”

Amelia, with her hands clasped over her heart, spoke joyfully.

When had these two reconciled?

“Wait, he skips meals daily and no one does anything? Why is everyone okay with this? What a disgrace it would be if the Emperor of Delcross suffered from malnutrition!”

“Well… even if that happened, we thought His Majesty would recover with his divine power…”

Could this really be an evil spirit?

Now, Logan found it difficult to make a hasty judgment.

He shouldn’t think this way, but wasn’t this imposter getting along with people better than the real Morres ever did?

Moreover, Logan was caught in a strange sense of déjà vu.

The imposter definitely had a different presence than Morres, but why did he increasingly remind Logan of the wayward young Morres?

‘…I need to have a talk with this person.’

But what troubled him most was the Emperor of Delcross.

Would a person, suspiciously inhuman, who let an evil spirit freely take over his son’s body, just stand by and watch?

Logan thought he needed to be more cautious in dealing with this impostor.

* * *

The banquet lasted a considerable amount of time before finally coming to an end late in the evening.

Feeling a bit tired upon his return to the Pearl Palace, Seongjin, as usual, meditated briefly before opening a fairy tale book borrowed from Amelia.

The book had been quite interesting when the first Emperor was busy brawling with dragons, but as it progressed to the founding of Delcross and laying the foundations of the imperial city, his interest waned significantly. It seemed necessary to finish the book quickly and borrow a new one before his motivation for learning hit rock bottom.

However, Seongjin had to close the book just before reaching the end. The Demon King, in a panic, had alerted him.

[Seongjin, it’s light! There’s light coming!]

What kind of sermon from a pseudo-preacher is that? If you’re going to inform me, do it properly.

Frustrated, the Demon King replied.

[I mean Prince Logan. He’s rushing here at an incredibly fast speed!]

What?

Seongjin tensed up and swiftly rose from his seat, grabbing the Nutcracker he had placed beside his bed, just in case.

He wasn’t sure of Logan’s level, but the approaching presence was so faint that even Seongjin had difficulty detecting it. This level of stealth was almost on par with Commander Bruno.

Regardless, the fact that Logan was sneaking into the Pearl Palace in the middle of the night without any formal notice of visitation did not seem to bode well.

Considering the murderous intent Logan had shown earlier that day, it wouldn’t be surprising if a sword fight broke out right here and now.

After waiting for a moment, sure enough, someone leapt onto the terrace from the third floor.

Considering that Dasha always used this route to visit, it seemed the third-floor security was indeed lax. He would have to tip off Sir Masain later.

While Seongjin was observing the balcony, Logan, dressed lightly and with a long sword at his waist, approached the window.

Then, he knocked.

“……?”

What was he up to? Sneaking in, yet knocking on the window to enter the room?

Bewildered and staring, Logan knocked on the window again.

Knock, knock.

“…Yes.”

As Seongjin reluctantly responded, Logan finally opened the terrace door and stepped into the room. It was peculiar how fastidious he was in such a strange situation.

“I said earlier that we need to talk,” Logan stated, walking towards Seongjin with a calm expression.

No longer could Seongjin sense the rage or murderous intent from Logan that was evident before. Of course, this could change depending on the outcome of their conversation.

Seongjin nodded, and Logan looked at him intently for a moment.

His slightly droopy eyes, which had shown warmth towards Amelia and Marquis Masin, now seemed cold and stern without a trace of a smile.

“I’ll ask again. What exactly are you? What did you do to Morres?”

Seongjin furrowed his brows slightly. He didn’t fully understand what had happened to the real Morres, and explaining his own identity was complicated.

He decided to respond with a question, a simple way to handle a difficult inquiry.

“What about you? What’s your real identity? Are you just an ordinary person?”

Seongjin had already considered the possibility that Logan might be possessed by someone else.

“……”

“What is your secret?”

The moment Seongjin mentioned the word “secret,” the boy’s eyes widened in surprise. It seemed like he hadn’t expected to hear such words from Seongjin.

“How do you know about that… That’s something only Morres should know…”

Logan’s gaze hardened again.

His hand subtly moved towards the sword at his waist.

“So, you did do something to Morres! How did you find out about that?”

Oops, just as the tension was subsiding, Logan’s demeanor turned threatening again.

Trying to probe further might have been too much.

“Where is the real Morres? Where is he?”

“Wait, hold on!”

Before Logan could become uncontrollably agitated, Seongjin quickly interjected. Preventing a potential clash between the brothers seemed the most prudent course of action.

“I got involved in this unintentionally! I really don’t know what happened to Morres!”

“……”

Seongjin, in a mix of urgency and desperation, blurted out, “Let’s calm down. I’m just as curious about why this happened! I’ll tell you everything I know, but you have to be honest about what you’re hiding too. Fair enough? That’s all I’m asking!”

Fair? As if!

Even as he spouted nonsense, Seongjin was incredulous at his own words. Yet, driven by a sense of urgency, he continued to talk.

“Understand? From my perspective, you’re the strange one. Are you really Logan? Or another evil spirit that has taken over his body? Why would I reveal everything to you?”

“……”

Logan’s intense blue eyes gradually calmed. He looked at Seongjin, seemingly contemplating something.

Finally, he slowly began to speak, “…You’re right. From your perspective, such doubts are reasonable.”

“……?”

Seongjin gaped, surprised. Was Logan really persuaded by what he thought was nonsense?

Regardless, Logan looked around, then walked over to a nearby sofa and sat down with proper posture.

“Let’s start this exchange of information you proposed. Sit down.”

“…….”

“We’ll each ask one question at a time. Keep the answers simple, and if the response is satisfactory, we’ll move on to the next question. That seems fair.”

Was Logan fixated on fairness? He was oddly conventional in such an unusual situation.

Seongjin, speechless, just stared blankly as Logan gestured for him to start.

“Shall I begin? Who exactly are you?”

“…I’m Seongjin, likely from another world.”

At this point, Seongjin was just going with the flow.

The two continued their Q&A session for a while. Initially, they strictly took turns asking one question each, but as the conversation progressed, they began to share information more openly, foregoing formalities.

Seongjin revealed to Logan that he had died fighting a Demon King in another world and awoke in Morres’ body. He added that Morres’ soul was nowhere to be found when he arrived, and he had no idea why this had happened.

He also emphasized that he was actually a very old person.

Then, Seongjin learned a surprising fact about Logan.

Logan was not possessed by another soul.

Logan revealed that he was originally an officer from Ortona who had died in a battlefield in his previous life, and had been reincarnated as Logan.

He had never heard of anyone else being reincarnated and was clueless about why it happened exclusively to him. However, he wanted Seongjin to understand that he, too, was a seasoned knight with years of experience in his past life.

“But I might have been over sixty years old! Doesn’t that automatically put me in line?”

“I, too, don’t have clear memories of my past life, but I believe I was over seventy.”

“Seventy and still active on the battlefield? Are you sure you’re not exaggerating?”

What had started as a serious conversation had somehow devolved into an argument about their ages.

After spending some time on this irrelevant debate, Logan hesitantly raised the question that had been troubling him the most.

“Why does the Holy Emperor leave you alone? What’s the reason?”

That was a question Seongjin also pondered.

But the same question applied to Logan as well. Seongjin countered, “What about you? Why does Father leave you alone?”

What? Logan looked at Seongjin with wide eyes, as if he had never considered this before.

Seongjin tilted his head in confusion.

You still don’t fully understand that man.

“You do realize, don’t you? You don’t actually think the Emperor is unaware that you’re not an ordinary person?”