Children of the Holy Emperor

“I fondly remember the times when you both used to argue over who was the older brother in your childhood, but this time, I can’t understand your argument at all. Is this some kind of game?”

At Masain’s words, Seongjin narrowed his eyes and glanced at Logan.

Pretending to be an adult all by yourself, and you had such fights with young Morres?

Logan’s face turned a bit red.

“Why are you both arguing about who is Jibril’s grandfather? You do realize that you’re both actually younger than her, right? Despite her appearance, Jibril is already an adult who has graduated from the academy.”

“No, that’s, um…”

“I never thought I’d have to tell Prince Logan to act his age.”

Logan hung his head in silence. Seongjin, watching with a smug expression, suddenly felt a strange sensation.

Sir Masain, why are you only scolding Logan?

Then Masain replied with an indifferent expression.

“Well, I didn’t expect any such thing from Your Highness.”

“……?”

“You haven’t exactly acted your age either, have you?”

Seongjin’s mouth dropped open.

Sir Masain, you’ve been hanging out with Francis and now you’re picking up his habits!

The carriage continued in silence towards the outskirts of the palace.

* * *

Ashley Betcher and Jonathan McAlpin were receiving treatment at a medical facility operated by the imperial family. They were isolated in a remote room in a large building of the medical center.

As they were still technically prisoners, there were guards at the entrance, but the watch wasn’t intense since they were just young students.

The guard, standing idly in a bored stance, straightened up and opened the room’s door as Seongjin’s group approached.

“…Your Highness! I can’t express how happy I am to see you again!”

Entering the room, a boy who recognized Seongjin’s face shouted with brightened features. He was a slightly plump and smart-looking boy, but Seongjin had never seen him before.

Who are you?

As the boy staggered out of bed to approach, Seongjin, startled, stepped back out and then re-entered the room. This has to be the right place, right?

The boy’s face, once filled with joy, quickly fell, and his eyebrows drooped.

“I’m Jonathan. Didn’t Your Highness call me an old friend?”

What?

“…Jonathan? Jonathan McAlpin?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Jonathan McAlpin, the link between Morres and the Black Prophets.

And possibly, an accomplice who might have secretly supported Morres’s heretical group.

He was a chubby boy when he was groaning in jail just a few days ago, but what happened to him in such a short time?

Even considering the bloodletting treatments by the plague doctors, is it possible for someone to become this emaciated so quickly? He looks like he’s lost a significant part of his body mass.

“…Shouldn’t you be the last one to say that?”

Logan spoke from behind with a slightly incredulous tone.

No, what. I’ve been through aura storms and all sorts of things!

Seongjin tried to hide his confusion and smiled awkwardly.

“Wow, Jonathan. I hardly recognize you. I was worried because you were ill for so long, but it seems my worries were needless.”

“It’s all thanks to Your Highness. You discovered that parasite, right? Thanks to you, I was able to escape the horrific bloodletting treatments.”

Remembering his ordeal, Jonathan shivered.

This guy, he seems more relieved to have escaped bloodletting treatments than to have recovered from the Gray Plague. What exactly did the Lyora Plague Association do?

“Yes. It’s good to see you’re looking better now.”

“Haha, actually, I feel much lighter than before the plague. I think I might be even healthier now.”

Jonathan scratched his cheek with a slightly embarrassed look.

“The problem is with Ashley…”

Jonathan turned his head towards a corner of the room, and everyone’s gaze followed.

Ashley Betcher.

The other victim of the Gray Plague was sitting on a small bed in the corner of the room.

Her condition was markedly different from the lively Jonathan; she sat there with a vacant expression, staring blankly into space. She had lost so much weight in just a few days that she looked almost skeletal.

“Why is she like that?”

“She’s been like this ever since she regained consciousness. She doesn’t talk at all. She barely eats when food is spoon-fed to her.”

“Is it because she hasn’t fully recovered yet?”

To Masain’s question, Jonathan shook his head with a gloomy face.

“The doctors say it’s a lingering aftereffect. It seems that as the Gray Plague progresses, it eventually irreversibly damages the brain.”

Irreversible aftereffects.

[It’s the mind crystals, Lee Seongjin.]

‘Yeah. I thought it might be.’

Even in the case of Commander Bruno, didn’t the salt crystals continue to increase for a while after the parasite was removed? Considering it took him a long time to regain consciousness, it’s likely these two couldn’t entirely avoid the formation of crystals either.

Seongjin then heard a detailed explanation from the Demon King about the condition of the two.

In Jonathan’s brain, a few small mind crystals could be seen, but fortunately, they seemed to have avoided any critical areas. However, in Ashley’s case, a significant number of crystals had spread mainly in the frontal lobe.

“Actually, Ashley was interrogated before me. She was exposed to the parasite longer, I suppose.”

Listening to Jonathan’s explanation, Seongjin slowly approached Ashley.

The girl didn’t even notice someone approaching and just sat there with a vacant look, staring blankly into the corner.

“…Ashley.”

“…….”

There was no response.

Remembering Ashley’s keen and passionate criticism of the Empire’s injustices during the Black Prophets’ meetings, Seongjin felt a pang of regret. A promising young talent was lost.

Considering that all those afflicted with the Gray Plague eventually die, it seemed somewhat fortunate that they were able to remove the parasite and save their lives. But is being barely alive like this truly living?

As Seongjin silently observed her, Logan stepped forward and spoke.

“So, you’re Jonathan, right? It’s unfortunate what happened to your friend, but since things have come to this, we need to ask you some questions. Can you cooperate with the Special Task Force’s investigation?”

“Y-Your Highness Logan? Why are the two of you together…?”

Jonathan, finally recognizing Logan, stared alternately at Seongjin and Logan with wide eyes, his expression revealing his bewilderment. Apparently, the discord between the second and third princes was well-known.

“We’re both part of the same Monster Special Task Force.”

“Ah, yes…”

As Seongjin shrugged and answered, Jonathan nodded with a look of confusion.

And so, they were finally able to hear a relatively detailed account from Jonathan about what happened at the Heresy Tribunal.

“I was beaten senselessly. The scariest part was that the interrogators started by hitting us without asking anything.”

Jonathan’s face turned a bit pale as he recounted the terror of the interrogation.

According to his explanation, both Ashley and Jonathan were the main targets of the Heresy Tribunal from the start. Kenneth Diggory, the mastermind of the incident, was being treated for serious injuries at the time, and the other three had significant backing from high-ranking officials.

Thus, the two of them were thrown into a jail crowded with other prisoners.

In the cell, mainly prisoners accused of devil worship were detained, already brutally tortured to near destruction.

And they all appeared to have lost their minds, drooling while staring blankly into space.

“Looking back, it seems all of them were suffering from the Gray Plague. Despite the dark prison, it was clear their complexions were not normal, and none seemed sane.”

Jonathan, who initially thought this was all due to the interrogators’ torture, felt he would lose his mind from the fear of what awaited him.

Then, Ashley Betcher was taken away, and soon after, her screams were heard.

Having said this much, Jonathan glanced at Ashley, huddled in a corner, with a look of pity.

“After a while, she returned to the cell, completely out of her mind. I guess the parasite was implanted by then, but soon after, I was dragged away, so I couldn’t pay much attention to her.”

Subsequently taken away, Jonathan, upon reaching the interrogator, was immediately beaten with a club.

The interrogators asked nothing, yet Jonathan was soon spilling everything he knew, tears and snot streaming down his face.

“During that, I probably… talked about the support… you gave…”

Jonathan suddenly trailed off, sneaking a glance at Seongjin.

“No, about that help… I think I spoke of it too.”

“…….”

“Sorry, sorry, Your Highness! I knew I should have kept quiet, but back then, I was just…”

Seeing him shrink back, tears welling up, Seongjin couldn’t bring himself to blame the boy.

This crazy Heresy Tribunal, how ruthlessly they must have beaten this bright young student to break him like this.

“I never want to go back there. That’s why I was so relieved when I heard about the accident.”

Jonathan wiped away a tear and took a deep breath, raising his head.

“That’s why I am even more grateful to Prince Morres. Your Highness saved my life, even though I betrayed your trust. And above all, you utterly destroyed the Heresy Tribunal while hunting the monsters. How can I ever repay this kindness…”

“…Huh?”

Seongjin felt the gazes of Logan and Masain on him.

What? Why? What?

Wait, this is a misunderstanding. It wasn’t me who destroyed them!

Why is Masain looking at me like that too? He was there that day!

Just then, an eerie voice sounded from behind them.

“Prince Morres…”

A voice that was slightly hoarse, yet strangely compelling.

Turning around, they saw Ashley Betcher, who had been sitting vacantly until now, turning her head towards them.

Her previously unfocused eyes now held a clear hostility as they stared directly at Seongjin.

“Ashley! Are you back to your senses?”

Jonathan tried to approach with delight, but Seongjin quickly raised his hand, stopping him.

Although he hadn’t known Ashley long, Seongjin sensed a distinct alien feeling from her.

That gaze was definitely not Ashley Betcher’s!

Logan also seemed to sense something, reaching for his sword, Arjuna, while blocking the group from Ashley. Ashley glanced at Logan, then focused back on Seongjin, speaking.

“So, it was you who did that to the Heresy Tribunal…”

A fierce hostility surged from Ashley, the atmosphere in the room suddenly becoming tense and heavy. For a moment, a peculiar yellow glow seemed to flicker in her eyes.

What exactly is happening?

The Demon King urgently warned Seongjin.

[It’s a channel, Lee Seongjin! Someone has opened a channel using her as a medium, though it’s quite unstable!]

‘…A channel?’

Seongjin’s face turned grave.

Seongjin couldn’t help but feel that the Arenja weren’t involved. They had cautiously communicated their intentions through Commander Bruno, but had not yet attempted direct contact with Seongjin.

Yet, knowing about the mind crystals in Gray Plague patients and using it for channeling?

If so,

‘The culprit involved in the Gray Plague or perhaps the one who brought the monsters to Delcross!’

Seongjin, with a hardened face, reached for his Nutcracker, watched closely by Ashley. Then, Ashley, with a sinister voice, again addressed him.

“You ruined everything. What are you, exactly?”

“…Me?”

“Yes, the new horse of the guardian. Do you even know on whose stage you are playing, in whose hands you are being played?”

“…….”

“Foolish one!”

Ashley sneered with a twisted smile, showing a grotesque expression.

Then, suddenly.

She twitched as if electrocuted and began shaking.

And suddenly, she started shouting at thin air.

“Such a persistent nuisance! These tiny beings!”

“……?”

“And you are no different! Do you even know who you are helping right now!”

While Seongjin’s group looked on bewildered, Ashley staggered to her feet from the bed and began gesticulating at thin air!

“Get lost!”

“Don’t interfere!”

“Get lost!”

“You creatures too!”

She seemed to be fighting with herself, shouting and responding alone, appearing utterly mad.

“How long will you keep this up!”

“Get the hell out of the palace, you wretch!”

“Disappear far from the palace, you villain!”

“……?”

Seongjin blinked in confusion.

Huh?

This oddly repetitive manner of speaking, it felt familiar somehow?