Chapter 14
Chapter: 14
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 14
>Chapter Title: The Holy Emperor's Circumstances
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>Holy Emperor Nate was not originally a man of deep faith.
However, what he could say without a shred of shame before the Lord God was that he had never been particularly fond of women or indulged in reckless romances.
In other words, he hadn't lived his life so dissolutely as to be called the "[Notorious Playboy Holy Emperor]."
Yet why, at the tender age of twenty-one when he ascended to the throne, did he already have five children officially?
There was a somewhat pitiable circumstance behind that, one that might even earn him some sympathy.
Born as the Third Prince of the previous Holy Emperor and the son of the despised Second Empress Consort, he was unfortunately the most outstanding among his half-siblings.
A prince blessed with innate dignity, a brilliant mind, and even exceptional talent in swordsmanship. Naturally, he became the primary target of vigilance for the rest of the imperial family.
Moreover, as the son of the powerless Second Empress Consort, who had been shunned by the Holy Emperor and cast out by her own house, he was not only a priority for elimination but also the target with the least backlash if things went wrong.
Because of this, he had endured countless assassination attempts since childhood.
Not only repeated ambushes but especially relentless poisoning attempts. It went without saying for his three meals a day and drinks, but things were so dire that the entire detached palace was frequently shrouded in toxic fumes.
No matter how quick-witted Nate was or how exceptional his divine power, he couldn't escape every brush with death.
Before he turned ten, the Second Empress Consort, who had suffered from poison for years just like him, finally passed away.
The Holy Emperor and her family had long since cut off all contact. Facing her lonely death alone, with her only son poisoned and wheezing beside her.
Around that time, Nate's own health had reached a critical state. The oracle of Cornsheim left a curse-like prophecy: he would never sire an heir, and he would meet a tragic end at a young age.
The imperial physicians unanimously declared that the young prince, saturated with poison, was already infertile. They added the gloomy prognosis that even with the best care from then on, he was unlikely to live past his twenties.
A prince with no backing and no hope of heirs.
No one was unaware that Nate had been completely excluded from the line of succession unofficially.
Even after that, the prince endured alone for more than two years. The poisoning attempts didn't stop even in such a state—it was truly a tear-jerking struggle for survival.
But after another major incident at the imperial banquet celebrating the Holy Emperor's birthday, where he vomited blood spectacularly, the young Nate finally exhausted his patience. Lying on his sickbed, he thought with a serene smile.
Fuck my life.
After that day, the pitiful Third Prince vanished completely from the imperial palace.
Once he left the capital, the young prince wandered the country alone for several years.
At first, he fled recklessly just to survive, but once outside the small confines of the imperial palace, his innate talents astonishingly began to blossom brilliantly.
His precocious cleverness allowed him to evade the palace pursuers adeptly, and the miscellaneous skills he picked up here and there rapidly elevated his already exceptional swordsmanship to new heights. His suppressed divine power was fully liberated, granting him healing abilities akin to miracles.
And that was not all. Everyone he met treated him kindly.
Seasoned hunters, skilled treasure hunters, hidden herbalists in the wilds, wandering swordmasters.
Though their connections were fleeting, all of them cherished the prince's talents and went out of their way to help him.
It didn't take long for the prince to transform into a fairly competent adventurer. His desperate wandering life gradually turned into a delightful culinary journey to savor his remaining days to the fullest.
Several years after fleeing the palace. The assassins' pursuits had grown somewhat sporadic, but they never ceased, so Nate periodically moved between cities, drifting across the nation. As he matured, encounters with women naturally began to occur.
Nate must have been quite the type that appealed to women. Even after he disclosed his inability to settle down, there were plenty of women who desired a fleeting, passionate romance with a dashing swordsman.
At the time, Nate was enjoying his wanderings while harboring a constant fear in one corner of his heart about his terminal life, not knowing when death might come.
As such, he met women with a earnest rationale—if he could leave them with a cherished memory, wouldn't that make his life a bit more worthwhile? Looking back now, it was naive, but it was his own desperate reason.
With the mindset that it might be the last time every time, he was faithful in love.
It might be an excuse, but the women he met were immensely happy, and their partings were always tender and beautiful.
The one fact Nate overlooked was that, free from periodic poisonings and now properly wielding aura, his health was rapidly improving.
And given that his innate divine power far surpassed that of previous popes, his natural healing ability was beyond imagination.
In short, he was not infertile.
He learned this fact only when he was nearly twenty. In a city where he stayed longer as the pursuers grew infrequent, starting from the day his lover Melody began dry-heaving.
The physician's diagnosis was pregnancy.
He harbored no doubts about his lover. He knew better than anyone how pure and devoted she was.
"No way..."
A chilling hypothesis flashed through his mind.
From then on, Nate hired an information guild to track down his previous lovers.
When exactly had his body returned to normal?
What was the oracle's prophecy that he would have no heirs and die young?
If by chance other women had borne his children, how were those fatherless kids faring now?
In anxious anticipation day by day, Melody's belly gradually swelled, and by that winter, he received a response from the information guild.
-From the women's subsequent movements and the babies' appearances, there are currently three children suspected to be the client's blood. Further reports as investigation progresses.
Meaning there could be more if they kept looking.
Cold sweat poured down like rain.
"What do I do? First, find them all and take responsibility... No, what about Melody? I have to marry her first, but if she finds out, how heartbroken will she be?"
Such thoughts crossed his mind.
"Ah, what if those women have already built families with other men? Then wouldn't true love be to quietly wish them happiness without interfering? No, no, that's irresponsible..."
Nate clutched his head. Even he thought he seemed like utter trash.
But the water was spilled, the arrow loosed.
Wracked with torment, he decided for now to focus on caring for his lover as her due date approached. And to confirm whether he needed to intervene, he commissioned the guild for detailed investigations into the women and children's current situations.
However, separate from his complicated personal affairs, the Holy Empire's situation began to unfold strangely.
Just as the succession struggle between the First Crown Prince and First Princess seemed to intensify, the Second Prince suddenly seized control and ousted the princess.
Soon after, the Holy Emperor unexpectedly passed away, sparking what seemed like a civil war between the First Prince's and Second Prince's factions—only for both princes to die simultaneously in a minor clash of capital forces. Ridiculous.
Nathaniel Klein, age twenty-one.
On the joyous day Melody placed their lovely daughter in his arms.
And the day the three Holy Knight Orders and five cardinals swarmed the village, kneeling en masse to celebrate the birth of the new Holy Emperor.
The information guild reported finding yet another child, and upon inheriting the throne, he officially became the father of five.
* * *
"Are you still bothered by what Her Highness the Princess said?"
Clink. At the sound of the teacup meeting its saucer, Nate looked up. It was Louis, the chief steward who had attended him for the past several years.
Without being asked, he had brought the tea the Holy Emperor enjoyed in the evenings—a capable man.
"Hmm..."
Nate shifted his propped-up chin to his other hand and tossed out a casual question.
"What do you think? How much of Amelia's words can we trust?"
Louis smiled faintly.
His young Holy Emperor occasionally did this. Only after reaching a full conclusion on his worries would he ask for the steward's opinion, which he had no intention of heeding anyway.
Thus, the seasoned steward offered a suitably commonplace view.
"Wasn't she always kind-hearted and full of imagination? She must have had a nightmare."
"Yes."
Nate nodded.
"How is Pearl Palace?"
"Prince Mores spent the entire day training in swordsmanship with Lady Masain. Both were more enthusiastic than ever before, and it seems they're getting along without any reservations."
"I see."
With a curt reply, Nate lifted his teacup, peered into the untouched tea without drinking, and sank back into thought.
The steward stood silently by his side. From experience, he knew the Holy Emperor would soon issue a command.
A moment later, Nate spoke.
"...Louis."
"Yes, Your Majesty. What are your orders?"
"Retrieve the necklace from Amelia's room."
Louis's eyebrow twitched upward slightly.
Among the many jewels the princess owned, there was only one the Holy Emperor would specify.
As someone who knew a little about that gemstone, the steward couldn't help but realize the Holy Emperor was taking this incident more seriously than expected.
"Your Majesty, that necklace is..."
As the flustered steward opened his mouth, the Holy Emperor suddenly raised a hand lightly.
The steward, who had been gaping in shock, noticed Nate staring calmly at the ceiling and promptly shut his mouth.
"......"
Soon, a dark shadow dropped from above. A man in black nightclothes.
An information guild agent familiar even to Louis, with ghostly skills. He had arrived without a sound, and even his landing was silent.
The steward always marveled at how the Holy Emperor sensed this man's approach every time.
"Your Holiness."
Kneeling on one knee and bowing reverently to Nate, the man began his low-voiced report without lifting his head.
"New progress in a long investigation prompted this late visit."
"......"
Louis startled and glanced at the Holy Emperor. There was only one matter this guild had been pursuing for so long.
Sure enough, even Nate's usually impassive face twisted faintly.
"...Report."
"Yes. We tracked the woman Your Majesty met in Yusenia hot spring village. Her trail vanished completely after leaving the village, stalling the investigation until now. But during inquiries, someone vaguely recalled she was the daughter of a baron in Rohan."
Yusenia. Probably mid-wandering days.
No wonder her whereabouts were so elusive—she was from Rohan.
"She gave birth in the hot spring village and set off for home. However, no entry records into Rohan exist, causing setbacks—until we learned she was attacked by bandits en route..."
Clink.
At the somewhat rough sound of the teacup hitting the table, the agent glanced up at the Holy Emperor's face before continuing.
"The woman and her party all perished, but witnesses later spotted a boy with the bandit group. Circumstances suggest the bandits raised the baby..."
Louis, watching the Holy Emperor's fist clench so tightly his face drained of color, quietly closed his eyes.
It was the moment his eighth child was confirmed.