Chapter 146: The Eve (1)
Chapter 146: The Eve (1)
On the day of the grand imperial ritual.
The Pearl Palace was thrown into chaos as soon as Seongjin returned. It was a shock to everyone when the prince, who was thought to be safely in his room, suddenly appeared at the main gate covered in blood.
Although his body had been healed by the sacred power of the Holy Emperor, the bloodstains that soaked through his torn clothes were unmistakable.
In the midst of the panic, an imperial knight dashed to summon physician Ninnias, while Seongjin was forcibly taken to his bedchamber by Masain without a chance to resist.
“But father has healed me completely. I’m telling you, I’m fine now.”
Seongjin protested, but Masain looked as if he was about to faint.
“What in the world happened? All this blood…”
It was utterly bewildering for him.
He had intensified the palace security, worrying about the prince’s safety and preparing for any possible incidents, only to find the prince returning drenched in blood from somewhere.
“How could this happen when the escort knights were supposed to be with you…!”
“Don’t be too harsh on him, Sir Masain.”
Bruno, the commander, consoled Masain, seeing the downtrodden Haven.
“The prince’s skill in stealth is extraordinary. He has mastered it so quickly that even I am caught off guard by him sometimes.”
“…Stealth?”
“Ah, you didn’t know? It seemed like His Highness was learning from the assassin he’s been seeing lately.”
“…Assassin?!”
“Hmm? Ahem.”
Seongjin was stunned.
Sir Bruno? He just poured oil on a fire he’s trying to put out, didn’t he? Right?
“Who in the world would dare teach such dangerous things to the reckless prince…?”
Wooooosh.
An ominous aura swirled around Masain.
‘Oh, this is bad!’
Seongjin broke out in a cold sweat.
He was just about to formally introduce Dasha, but it felt like things were getting off to a terrible start.
Unable to stand it any longer, Seongjin tried to salvage the situation.
“Ha, but sir Masain! I don’t know the details, but I stopped the crisis in Delcross! I even got praised by my father! Really!”
“Crisis?”
Sir Bruno, who also felt responsible for the situation, hurriedly chimed in.
“That’s right, Sir Masain! I heard from Aarenja that His Highness accomplished something great earlier! Isn’t that amazing?”
However, Masain’s expression darkened even further.
“And it seems I wasn’t by His Highness’s side during that critical moment.”
“…”
“I’m just a useless escort who isn’t there when Your Highness needs me the most…!”
“What?”
“This is all my fault! I should never have taken my eyes off of Your Highness, even for a moment…!”
In the end, Seongjin had no choice but to raise both hands and feet in surrender.
“I’m sorry! I was really wrong, sir Masain!”
Someone, please stop this guy from digging a hole into the ground!
[I’ve told you over and over again, you can’t talk to him like that.]
The Demon King sighed and muttered.
“You seem to be more sane than I thought, Lee Seongjin.”
Logan, who had visited the Pearl Palace around lunchtime, said that.
Judging from the fact that he was neatly dressed in the ceremonial attire of the Order of the Knights of St. Bastian, it seemed that he had come here straight after finishing his official duties with the Order.
Seongjin, who had been lying in bed meditating (or not meditating), raised himself up.
“You didn’t even go to the ceremony. How do you know about this?”
“Who wouldn’t know when such a large amount of aura collided? Most of the knights must have noticed it. If it wasn’t for the ceremonial event, they would have come running right away… .”
No, aren’t you just sensitive to aura?
The distance between the palace and the church isn’t that far.
“I went to the Silver Labyrinth first since I heard that the Order of the Knights of St. Aurelion had been called out on an emergency, but Amelia and Sisle were more worried about you.”
So he said he came here instead after promising to check on him.
But when he actually arrived, the resident knights were all on the verge of death, and sir Masain was running rampant in front of them.
“I heard from brother Masain. You were badly injured?”
“Oh, don’t even mention it. Sir Masain is really unlucky. Today, he told me not to leave the bed at all after seeing me.”
Thanks to him, I’m in the middle of developing a new aura cultivation method called “lying down meditation.”
Logan then sat down next to the bed and lightly patted him.
“You should at least take care of your body. You know that, right? After you were badly injured that time before, brother Masain… .”
Then, suddenly halting, he stopped speaking.
Ah, it seems he got confused again.
“Did something like that happen to Morres in the past?”
“…Hmm. Yes, that did happen.”
And then, Logan murmured with a slightly gloomy expression.
“I wonder where Morres’ soul is now. Whether he is safe…”
“Hmm…”
Unable to offer the empty reassurance that everything would be fine, Seongjin awkwardly turned away.
“So, what exactly happened that caused such a commotion?”
“Well, actually…”
Seongjin candidly revealed the events following the Emperor’s ritual, where the spirit of the First Emperor, Cardmos, ended up trapped in Seo Yi-seo’s body.
Logan had a knack for detecting lies, and Seongjin felt it was necessary to share some details with him to prevent further mishaps. After all, Logan had previously instantly noticed the difference between Morres’s and Seongjin’s presences.
How could he then assure that Logan, who harbored strong mistrust towards Seo Yi-seo, wouldn’t draw his sword in suspicion upon noticing her suddenly altered demeanor?
“…What exactly do you take me for? I may be many things, but I’m not so uncouth as to publicly rebuke a saintess in an official setting.”
Oh, right. Instead, you planned to sneak to her window and knock softly at night, didn’t you?
“……”
Unable to deny it.
Logan stroked his chin and pondered. “The soul of the first emperor, huh…”
“I knew he was revered as a demigod, but I always thought it was just an exaggeration to sanctify the founding of the empire. But to think he’s still alive after a thousand years…”
His face looked quite complicated.
Perhaps the thought of containing Delcross, the biggest obstacle to his dream of rebuilding Ortona, was not as easy as he thought.
“And all the saintess who acted as the reincarnation of Saint Grazia for hundreds of years were actually being controlled by Cardmos?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“To take their bodies and even destroy their souls, what kind of devil would do such a thing? They turned the saintesses, who were deeply respected by the people, into such things. Where on earth does the root of the empire’s deep evil lie?”
Logan, who had said this far, noticed Seongjin’s subtle expression and quickly added.
“Oh, of course, I think the current empire is definitely a necessary evil. It protects the continent from the demon race, and the current emperor is pursuing an unprecedentedly moderate policy towards neighboring countries. As the prince of Delcross, I have no intention of shirking my duty to the empire and its people.”
“…”
“But I will say this for sure, Lee Seongjin. From a long-term perspective, I believe that this empire must eventually disappear. If it doesn’t disappear altogether, or at least change fundamentally, this continent has no future.”
Seongjin looked at Logan’s serious face and thought.
Maybe what he said was mostly true. But Seongjin didn’t care about such a macroscopic perspective as the cause or the future of the continent.
What was important was that Cardmos was extremely dangerous. And that the emperor or Sisle might be in danger because of him.
That was all that mattered.
“Anyway, don’t ever take your eyes off him, Logan. For now, it seems like our father has locked him up pretty well, but I don’t know when he’ll go crazy and try to kill Sisle and harm my father.”
“…?”
“Think about it. He’s still after Sisle. So who would be the biggest obstacle there? Wouldn’t he be the first to try to harm our father?”
Logan stared blankly at Seongjin for a moment before smiling bitterly.
“You have someone else to worry about.”
“…”
“He is a strong man who deserves to be called the representative of God, Lee Seongjin. You are probably the only person in the world who can worry about him like that.”
Hmm. Judging from the attitude of Sir Masain and Commander Bruno, it was clear to see how the emperor was perceived in Delcross.
‘But still…….’
Apart from that, Seongjin couldn’t help but think that Logan’s attitude towards the emperor was unusually dry.
Of course, with his memories of his previous life intact, it wouldn’t be easy for him to accept him as a parent.
Come to think of it, that man was no different from an enemy who had destroyed Logan’s country.
‘No. Maybe because he treats him so dryly, he doesn’t hold any particular grudge…….’
Seongjin looked at the guy who seemed to be a collection of dilemmas with a slightly pitiful gaze.
Was there anything that could help this poor guy?
‘…Ah! Come to think of it, wasn’t there such an organization?’
The Blue Republican Revolutionary Front.
It was one of the terrorist organizations that Morres used to sponsor.
It seemed to be somehow connected to the remnants of the Ortona Republican Party, but should I ask Dasha to investigate it once?
***
A mansion in a townhouse, often used by distinguished guests from foreign countries.
Leonard, who was dressed neatly for the first time in a long time, smiled bitterly at the sight of the splendid carriage procession prepared for him.
“Finally. They really charge a lot for this! This damn emperor of Delcross!”
He is a member of the royal family of the rising power Rohan.
Even though he was clearly a guest who should be treated with the utmost priority, he was only allowed to enter the palace on the eve of his birthday!
“There are many ears listening. Please be careful with your words and actions.”
Behind him, a man wearing a half-mask approached him and rebuked him.
“Once you enter the palace, you will have to judge everything for yourself. I won’t be able to take care of everything for you like I used to.”
“…Romaine.”
Leonard turned around with a sullen face.
“To be honest, I don’t feel confident. Can’t you come with me?”
“Unfortunately, I cannot enter the palace.”
Romaine glanced back at the palace and snickered.
“The palace is currently like the absolute domain of the guardian. Agreements and constraints are meaningless there. The moment you step inside, wouldn’t he immediately kill you, saying that he is right?”
“Oh, come on?”
“It’s not a joke. There are no exceptions for royalty, so please don’t do anything that would unnecessarily upset the servants.”
“This is such a bloody place…”
“That’s not all. You must always keep in mind that you are under his surveillance even when you are alone. Be careful, and be very careful.”
At those words, Leonard’s face immediately turned into that of a donkey being dragged to the slaughterhouse.
“Oh, I don’t want to go.”
“…”
“Oh, okay, okay. I was just kidding.”
Leonard waved his hand and headed for the carriage.
“But I still don’t understand, Romaine.”
Leonard, who was about to step into the carriage, suddenly turned around and asked.
“Everything is fine, but why are you suddenly asking me to make contact with not only the princess, but also the third prince out of the blue? Even a child in Rohan knows that he is a terrible bastard.”
“Don’t trust all the rumors, Lord Leonard. He is a man who effectively hides his true identity, and he is the one who will one day show the sharpest fangs towards the empire.”
“The prince of the empire? How do you know that?”
“Because I faced his soul directly not long ago.”
It was an achievement obtained by wasting the last seed that had not yet fully bloomed.
“But if he is hiding his body like that, will he really reveal his identity if I approach him?”
“That’s not what I’m expecting. I just want to create some room for maneuver. Hmm, I see……”
Romaine stared at the palace for a moment and thought deeply before opening his mouth.
“Then, let’s try this first.”
And, the lips under the half-mask draw a confident curve.
“Come back. The brothers of the forgotten old sect are eagerly waiting for your order only.”