Chapter 145
Chapter: 145
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 145
>Chapter Title: The Holy Emperor's Casket (7)
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Amelia and Sisley stood locked in a tight embrace, staring at the sky beyond the barrier that looked unusually ominous.
Suddenly, the sky above the main palace had darkened in patches, and fierce winds swirled in a massive vortex as if a storm had descended.
Garden trees were uprooted from the ground and shot into the air, accompanied by occasional flashes of small golden lightning crackling like zzzt, zzzt—an utterly surreal sight.
“It’s probably just the aftermath of the long-overdue audience with the Holy Emperor’s Casket. It should calm down soon, so please don’t worry too much.”
Francis, standing behind them, explained in a calm tone.
Even without his words, both princesses vaguely sensed it. Something unusual was happening at the main palace.
Amelia felt the faint tremors in the aura.
Sisley sensed the aftershocks of massive divinities clashing.
Each in her own way, they detected the danger and stomped their feet anxiously, worried about the Holy Emperor standing alone in that storm at the distant main palace.
—At least, that’s my guess. Maybe from that point on, the audience with the Holy Emperor’s Casket lost all real meaning?
Sisley’s mind kept replaying what Amelia had said to her earlier.
—Or perhaps the Holy Emperor’s Casket has become something dangerous now?
What if that was really true?
What if the Holy Emperor’s Casket was some terrifying thing she didn’t know about, and that’s why something so dangerous had befallen His Majesty?
“Daddy...”
Without realizing it, the old title she hadn’t used since that night slipped from Sisley’s lips.
—If there’s anything we can do to help, it would be wonderful. But right now, the best we can do is stay quiet and not get in the way.
The loyal knight commander, standing firm before the barrier to protect the princesses, had surely said that before.
Just as he had that night when his body was drenched in blood, and now with this sudden storm.
The Holy Emperor had surely been shouldering everything alone then, and was doing so now.
—If you think you’re useless, he’ll cut you down without mercy. In the near future, you’ll meet your end by his hand, just like the others.
Someone had warned the girl like that in her mind that day.
But that couldn’t possibly be true.
Even Katrina, who called herself the Holy Emperor’s shield and was always by his side, was now kept at a safe distance when real danger struck, forced to simply wait for him to resolve everything.
If that was a shield, was there ever a more useless one in the world?
It must simply be because the Holy Emperor cherished his knight commander so dearly.
This divine barrier protected the princesses, but in effect, it protected the entire Order of St. Aurelion.
‘Daddy would never intentionally do that...’
Sisley was slowly coming to realize it.
If the future shown in that book was so bleak, and if the Holy Emperor ended up playing a major role in her misfortune as depicted...
At the very least, it wouldn’t be something he truly wanted.
How much time passed like that?
At some point, the raging storm abruptly died down, and the sky cleared as if by magic.
“...Situation clear.”
The exorcist, who had been gazing sleepily into the void, muttered.
Katrina, who had been glaring rigidly ahead, relaxed and nodded.
“Situation clear!”
“Situation clear! Situation clear!”
The commander’s shout was followed by the calls of several squad leaders.
Soon after, the vast silver divine barrier that had enveloped the entire Silver Rose Palace began to fade.
The vice-commander of the Order of St. Aurelion, who had been guarding the two princesses until then, let out a sigh of relief as he gathered his gear.
“Fortunately, nothing happened. Your Highnesses, you can relax now. The ban has been lifted.”
Francis said this, bowed politely to the two, and left the room.
“Really... it’s really a relief.”
Amelia finally exhaled the breath she’d been holding.
She hugged Sisley tightly once more, then turned to quickly prepare for going out.
“No special message must mean Father is safe, right? Still, I’m not entirely reassured. We should hurry to the main palace.”
Sisley flinched and spoke up.
“...Amelia.”
“Yeah?”
“The mark... the Saintess mark hasn’t disappeared yet.”
What? Amelia turned her head in confusion, and her youngest sister was looking up at her with teary eyes once more.
“I can still feel it at my feet. Normally, it should have vanished right after Miss Sey had her audience with the Holy Emperor’s Casket. I was supposed to be dishonorably stripped of the Saintess position...”
Clear tears streamed from Sisley’s eyes as she murmured.
“...Sisley!”
Amelia, startled and clueless, quickly pulled her sister into an embrace.
But now, Sisley’s face no longer held the pent-up sorrow from morning—instead, it shone with awe and a glimmer of hope.
“Sister, I can’t believe it! Something really is changing!”
* * *
That night.
An exorcist sneaked into St. Bastian Church.
She slipped past the guards at the main gate and easily evaded the patrolling squads of the Order of St. Bastian with light, leisurely steps.
Stealth skills that even the world’s best assassin couldn’t detect—Decaron Knight stealth techniques.
Descending to the church basement, before the Holy Emperor’s Casket, the exorcist’s eyes flickered with their signature silver-gray glow.
[I keep troubling you, Sir Sharon.]
The exorcist let out a chuckling sob.
“Not at all, Your Majesty. When Your Majesty possesses me, all those noisy things shut their mouths. The world has never been this quiet and peaceful.”
It was a rare moment of peace for the exorcist, who constantly suffered from uncontrolled channeling.
“The audience ceremony is over, so this door won’t open for a while. We can take our time looking around.”
Sir Sharon began slowly circling the Holy Emperor’s Casket, searching for something.
At one point, her eyes flashed bright silver-gray.
[That one.]
Following the Holy Emperor’s direction, Sir Sharon pried off a small ornament from one side of the casket. It was a gem gleaming with deep emerald light.
“...Such a tiny device.”
[Indeed. Truly someone we can’t let our guard down around.]
A dangerous trap that had activated the moment Cardmos tried to draw on his true power while clashing with the Holy Emperor.
One of the many traps the Storyteller had prepared centuries in advance.
[Items from the Material World are always so insidious. No matter how carefully you inspect, the multi-layered activation conditions hidden deep within are nearly impossible to find.]
That’s why the laws of the Material World were so fearsome.
They could perfectly isolate even a demigod’s immense power from the Delcros dimension so easily.
Yet the primordial power, well-suppressed by divinity, could suddenly unleash without reason.
[That child truly saved Delcros from crisis.]
“A future Your Majesty foresaw?”
[Yes. One that won’t happen now—a thing that’s already become the past.]
The Holy Emperor never foresaw his own future.
Even glimpsing a mere possibility made it certain in some way. Oracle prophecies carried such weight.
—I’m not here to cause trouble today; I’m here to stop it.
That’s what his bloodied son had said as he approached.
As the boy claimed, the Holy Emperor only fully confirmed the catastrophe that would have occurred without him afterward.
The unchecked primordial power unleashed in full.
The maddened, profane yet holy monster rampaging.
[Bring it to me now.]
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Sir Sharon tucked the gem into her bosom and continued.
“But, Your Majesty. If I may be so bold, one question?”
[Speak.]
“The founding Holy Emperor, a demigod, was so easily trapped in a Material World body. Then, wouldn’t it be equally perilous for Your Majesty to possess a homunculus?”
The Holy Emperor fell silent for a moment before replying.
[...I’ll keep that in mind.]
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The exorcist grinned and vanished into the darkness.
* * *
The day after the audience with the Holy Emperor’s Casket. Fortunately, Sisley’s mark remained vivid and unchanged.
And.
“Sisley niiim!”
Despite properly completing the ceremony and receiving the founding Holy Emperor’s blessing, Sey was astonishingly still just Sey.
Of course, it wasn’t as if nothing had changed at all.
“Listen, Sisley. Get this—when I woke up, a brand-new skill had appeared in my skill window!”
...What the heck is a skill window?
“The skill name is super cool too. Demi-God Descent, nothing less! But I have no idea how to use it!”
That was the problem.
This skill, which sounded like an ultimate ability just from its name, was actually a passive that activated constantly.
So whenever she tried to take a short nap, hours would pass in a flash, and she’d find herself having wandered all over the place.
Or when a feast was laid out and she thought, “Wow, looks delicious!”, she’d suddenly be sitting blankly before empty plates.
“But Sisley, mass is soon—why are you getting ready to go out? Where to?”
“Yeah, to the main palace. It’s been a while since I’ll see His Majesty.”
“Whaaat? You’re going to meet that terrifying black boss? What if he does something to you!”
Sey exclaimed in shock, and Sisley laughed in exasperation.
It was oddly amusing how Sey, the book’s protagonist, feared the Holy Emperor more than Sisley, the villainess.
“It’s fine.”
The girl gave Sey a pure smile.
“Even if something like that really happened, the fact that His Majesty is thinking of me wouldn’t change.”
Cardmos’s rampage had left the office still in disarray.
Sisley steadied her slightly pounding heart and entered the office under Louis’s guidance.
“...Sisley.”
Aid had been busy lately with visitations and services, leaving the palace often, and even avoiding their few regular audiences.
The Holy Emperor seemed a bit surprised but soon dismissed the others and welcomed her.
“Did I interrupt while you were busy?”
“No, perfect timing. I was just about to rest.”
But what immediately caught Sisley’s eye as she sat was the sleep mask hanging on the wall.
A white mask embroidered with a cute rabbit, displayed at a slightly crooked angle.
“That...”
The Holy Emperor followed her gaze and nodded.
“Owen sent it. A birthday gift, so I put it on display.”
The Holy Emperor had realized from the start it was a Material World item.
He simply couldn’t pinpoint its exact use, so he’d kept it nearby to investigate later.
“I know what it is. Owen-oppa gave me the same one.”
Sisley held up the pink mask she wore like jewelry around her neck.
According to Sey, it was a great item for sleep. As promised, Sisley had been using it lately, and her prophetic dreams and nightmares had greatly decreased—she was quite satisfied.
“It wards off nightmares, huh...”
“Yes, shall I show you how to use it?”
With that, the mysterious Material World item approached slowly in his daughter’s hand.
The Holy Emperor blinked but didn’t avoid Sisley’s hand.
If it was something his child gave him, whether poison or trap, he would likely accept it gladly.
As the white rabbit mask settled over his head and around his neck, the Holy Emperor’s eyes widened slightly.
Sitting blankly as if stunned for a moment, he slowly tilted his head and murmured his impression.
“...So quiet.”
Indeed.
Miraculously, the moment he put it on, the world fell utterly silent.
The voices of the past clinging to him from somewhere—gone.
The sly whispers of the future—gone.
Above all, the anguished screams of souls from distant realms—gone.
“So very quiet...”
As the Holy Emperor blinked slowly, Sisley giggled softly and sat close beside him.
Noticing anew how she’d missed the rustling sound of his white vestments from her childhood, the girl leaned against his arm and slowly closed her eyes.
That day, the head steward had put great effort into the tea spread for the youngest princess visiting after so long.
He filled the table with pastries and flowers, and brought out precious tea imported by foreign envoys for the birthday celebration.
And at what he thought was perfect timing, he entered the office confidently with the tea tray.
“...?”
But Louis’s eyes went wide. An unexpected scene unfolded before him.
On the plush office sofa, the Holy Emperor and Sisley sat side by side, eyes closed in sleep.
Each wearing a white or pink, adorably mysterious item around their necks.
In the unusually silent midday, where not even birdsong could be heard, and the warm sunlight felt frozen in stillness.
Only the gentle breeze from the terrace moved, lightly ruffling their hair now and then.
“...”
Louis, overcome with a strange sentiment, gazed at the scene for quite a while.
In his over a decade as head steward, had he ever seen His Majesty’s face so peacefully at rest!
Though the carefully prepared tea grew cold in vain, Louis left the tray as is, quietly backed away, and closed the office door.