Chapter 114
Chapter: 114
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 114
>Chapter Title: Scarpino (1)
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>“There won’t be any issues with those students.”
That evening, Masaine cautiously spoke up as she checked on Sungjin’s complexion. This was after she had already given a rough report to the Saint Aurelion Knights about the incident at the imperial palace’s medical center.
Ashly Vecher, who had suddenly collapsed vomiting blood, had been in a state of severe shock after the evil spirit possessing him was forcibly expelled.
Fortunately, Logan had hurriedly healed him with holy power, but afterward, he had simply reverted to that initial empty, doll-like state.
Jonathan called for a doctor, and soon after, Masaine arrived along with the Saint Aurelion Knights bursting into the hospital room.
They had originally planned to request help from an exorcist, but Francis happened to be leading the knights in a rush toward them.
Considering how the Saint Aurelion Knights usually moved like the Holy Emperor’s own limbs, Sungjin speculated that it was probably due to his influence.
Given the immediate appearance of what seemed like twin-related channel interference and the timing of the knights’ arrival, it was safe to assume the Holy Emperor had acted the very moment Ashly’s possession began.
‘In any case, in the imperial capital, no matter what happens, you can’t escape that man’s eyes….’
Francis arrived at the hospital room, briefly examined Ashly’s condition, and then the holy knights supported Ashly and took him away somewhere along with Jonathan.
Jonathan’s anxious face, constantly looking back, somehow tugged at Sungjin’s nerves.
“The involvement of the Saint Aurelion Knights means the students’ safety is now under Lady Katrina’s care. So please don’t worry anymore, Your Highness.”
Masaine reassured Sungjin once more.
“Lady Katrina is a woman of exceptional character. Whatever the matter, if she’s stepping in, it will undoubtedly be handled fairly and justly.”
Right, if it was Lady Katrina, he could somehow trust her. After all, she was the knight commander whom even that mad dog Francis deeply respected.
Only then did Sungjin feel a bit relieved and turn his attention to other matters.
First off, it seemed the Holy Emperor himself had expelled the evil spirit possessing Ashly Vecher.
Even after returning to the Pearl Palace, the Demon King, who had trembled in Sungjin’s mind for quite a while, later admitted it.
[Uh, your dad came and went. Wow, that soul is really… even seeing it again…]
‘What happened to the evil spirit?’
[Of course it died! I just poked it once, and that pathetic thing’s soul crumpled up instantly, leaving no trace.]
But at the same time, the Holy Emperor was said to have been in the audience chamber receiving foreign envoys. So his body had stayed in the main palace, and only his soul had briefly visited the hospital room.
Last time, he had chased Sungjin all the way to the dimensional boundary, so it seemed the Holy Emperor had some easy method for astral projection or the like.
As expected of God’s proxy, he was a man who transcended common sense in many ways.
Setting aside that inhuman figure, what about the twins who had suddenly intruded during Ashly’s possession?
Herena and Gades. Were those extraordinary children capable of astral projection like the Holy Emperor?
But the Demon King’s explanation was a bit different.
[Well, it’s hard to call them proper souls…]
And after pondering for a moment, the Demon King gave an unexpected answer.
[There were definitely two distinct soul presences at the time. Thinking back now, they felt similar to the souls of those twins I sensed before. But they weren’t complete souls. More like… fragments of souls detached from somewhere.]
‘…Soul fragments?’
Sungjin blinked.
Huh? That felt oddly familiar somehow?
[Yeah, exactly. It felt similar to those guys.]
Arenza.
The spiritual surveillance network watching over the imperial capital from the shadows.
And the Demon King drove a firm wedge into Sungjin’s speculation.
[Plus, one of those two is someone we’ve already met. Remember? Back when you climbed over the imperial palace wall, the one who told us to follow him.]
‘……!’
And words the Demon King had said back then flashed through Sungjin’s mind.
-This time a different one appeared. Stronger… Huh? This one seems reasonable?
-This guy’s telling you to follow him for a bit. What do you say?
That had been one of the twins?
Herena and Gades were part of Arenza?
‘Whoa, hold on…!’
Sungjin felt his mind light up.
‘No, thinking about it, it makes perfect sense? Why didn’t I suspect that earlier?’
The twins had known about the Demon King’s existence from before, and Arenza had known about him too.
The twins were suspected to be high-level channelers, and they shared quite a bit of information with the Holy Emperor.
In that case, wouldn’t it be stranger if they had no connection to the Holy Emperor’s secret organization of channelers!
As Sungjin clutched his head in self-reproach, the Demon King offered comfort from the side.
[Well, they’re minors anyway.]
‘…….’
He couldn’t deny that he had let his guard down because they were kids.
In any case, now that he knew, confirming it would be simple.
Without delay, Sungjin summoned Knight Commander Bruno to his room.
“Yes, Herena the Imperial Princess and Gades the Imperial Prince are unofficially affiliated with Arenza.”
The knight commander, who soon arrived in Sungjin’s room, channeled with Arenza for a while while staring into space, then nodded.
“It’s just a closely guarded secret known only to internal agents. Oh, and…”
Once again listening intently as if tuning in somewhere, the knight commander added,
“Yes, yes. It seems they’re the ones who named Red the Red.”
“…Huh?”
[What?]
The Demon King was astonished.
[Is that so? Those little brats! I can never forgive them! Graaaah!]
While the creature screeched and threw a fit noisily, Knight Commander Bruno gave Sungjin a more detailed explanation.
“Arenza’s internal agents are all high-level channelers capable of creating soul terminals. Not only do they receive thoughts, but they actually move fragments of their souls to monitor every corner of the imperial capital.”
Soul terminals.
The incomplete soul fragments the Demon King had seen were small terminal devices created from these psychics’ own soul parts.
They used such devices for safety reasons. Even if something happened to a terminal, their main souls preserved within the imperial palace would remain safe.
Moreover, Knight Commander Bruno added that fully detaching and moving a soul from the body carried significant risks.
‘Then why does the Holy Emperor go around directly with his soul instead of making a terminal like the other Arenza members?’
If the twins could do it, surely that man could too?
As Sungjin pondered, Edith entered the room and clinked down a teacup. Sensing the conversation dragging on, she had brought tea without being asked.
‘Improving, Edith!’
Sungjin felt inexplicably proud.
Edith, who once had zero tact, seemed to have picked up things here and there since the Pearl Palace’s maid staff had been bolstered.
“The soul terminal you met today was likely from Herena the Imperial Princess and Gades the Imperial Prince. The two of them are even stronger channelers than other internal agents and are the quickest to detect anomalies in the palace.”
Knight Commander Bruno continued, lifting a warm teacup with steam rising.
“However, since they mainly live outside the palace, they straddle the line between internal and external agents and don’t handle official duties separately. They’re still young, after all.”
His face noticeably brightened as he said this, so Sungjin couldn’t help but ask,
“Do you like tea by any chance, Commander?”
“Haha. Embarrassingly, yes, Your Highness. I drank it often while working in the palace. It was a simple pleasure.”
The hardest part of living outside the palace was not having good tea. As he said this, the commander fiddled with his sharply trimmed mustache.
Indeed, the more he looked, the more aristocratic this man seemed.
“Of course, I didn’t like it from the start. Just putting tea to my lips got me caught up in all sorts of gossip. Those who mocked a lowborn like me for not even knowing how to drink tea later sneered that a vulgar upstart was just aping the nobility.”
“So how did you end up liking it?”
“If I’m going to be mocked anyway, better to enjoy what I want. Once I thought that way, tea suddenly tasted good.”
Indeed. For a commoner to endure the palace and rise to knight commander alone, he had incredibly strong mental fortitude.
“In any case, Your Highness, the problem is that the soul possessing that academy student today was the same. Arenza says it was close to an incomplete terminal made from a soul fragment, not a full soul.”
“So that means?”
“Yes, the technology to create soul terminals. Whoever it was, it means they’re also a high-level channeler.”
Sungjin furrowed his brows.
“And their real soul is still alive and well.”
“Exactly.”
Knight Commander Bruno nodded, slurped his tea, and…
“…Pffft!”
Spewed it heroically out of his mouth!
“…Edith?”
Amid tea droplets scattering everywhere, Edith wordlessly sweated coldly and averted her gaze.
Edith’s tea-brewing skills showed no improvement whatsoever.
* * *
Recently, among Delcross nobles, the two young ladies most admired were these two.
The beautiful rose of the imperial palace, Amelia the Imperial Princess.
And the flower of elegant high society, Isabella Scarpino.
Every noble son hoped to be their partner at balls and spent sleepless nights yearning for even a brush of their skirts.
But for one day alone.
No young lord dared ask them to be his partner at the annual birthday gala’s main ball. That day, their partners were always predetermined.
However.
“…This year, you’re attending with a different partner?”
Isabella’s face twisted oddly upon confirming the reply from the Pearl Palace. She had sent a letter to coordinate dress codes, only to receive an unexpected response.
“Oh my, really? Isn’t that great? That pig of a ugly prince with our beautiful Lady Isabella? No matter that it’s Her Majesty the Empress Consort’s order, how could that possibly be fitting?”
“…….”
The immature maid chattered ignorantly beside her.
Indeed. Ever since Prince Mores reached the age to attend the gala, Isabella had always accompanied him out of respect for his potential fiancée candidates.
Of course, it wasn’t pleasant. The prince was not only unattractive but had manners toward ladies that could only be called abysmal.
The reason she went with Prince Mores was solely due to the intense pressure from Empress Consort Elizabeth.
Nor could she foist the role onto another fiancée candidate.
Julia Mayer showed up to balls in knight’s uniform like a tomboy, and Lady Balua was little more than a toddler barely weaned.
“You’re finally free, my lady! Now you can truly enjoy Delcross’s grandest ball!”
‘Free….’
It was true, but…
Just thinking of that pig prince ruined her appetite.
Yet, the idea of him going with someone else oddly pricked her pride.
“So, my lady, who will you be attending the ball with now? Perhaps that famous Archduke Sigmund…? Eek! How wonderful!”
Leaving the bouncing maid behind, Isabella left the room.
As high society’s most famous figure, she didn’t feel right proposing to someone first, and with no suitable partner coming to mind, the ball was right around the corner.
So she thought of asking her brothers as a last resort, but…
“I can’t leave Olivier alone. Sorry.”
Her eldest brother Domenico, already engaged, refused.
“You know, right? I never attend the birthday gala every year.”
Her second brother Ricardo also politely declined with a gentle smile.
“Why not?”
Isabella asked, puzzled.
The second brother she knew was an extremely sociable man. He enjoyed drinking, romance, and conversing with people from all walks of life.
He was the most welcomed guest in every salon of the imperial capital, and the regular gatherings he hosted were the hottest social circles that Delcross’s promising youths vied to join.
At his sister’s question, Ricardo looked up with unfocused eyes, staring off somewhere for a moment. Then, with an expression that was a bit ambiguous for a smile, he replied,
“Sadly, I can’t enter the imperial palace.”