Chapter 146
Chapter: 146
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 146
>Chapter Title: The Eve (1)
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The day of the audience ritual at the Holy Crown.
As soon as Seongjin returned, the Pearl Palace erupted into chaos. The prince, whom they believed was safely in his room, had suddenly appeared at the main gate drenched in blood.
His body was already fully healed by the Holy Emperor's divine power, but the bloodstains soaking his tattered clothes were impossible to hide.
While one of the attendant knights panicked and rushed off to fetch Physician Ninnias, Seongjin was firmly seized by Masain and transported straight to his bedchamber.
"No, Father already healed me completely. I'm fine now, really?"
Seongjin protested, but Masain looked as if he might faint at any moment.
"What in the world happened? All this blood..."
It was utterly baffling for him.
He had strengthened the palace guards out of concern for the prince's safety, preparing for any possible incident, only for the prince himself to return covered in blood from gods-know-where.
"What were the escort knights doing to let him end up like this...!"
"Don't blame him too harshly, Sir Masain."
Captain Bruno, unable to bear seeing Haven shriveled up and silent, tried to console Masain.
"His Highness's stealth skills are hardly ordinary. He's mastered them so quickly that even I occasionally get caught off guard these days."
"...Stealth skills?"
"Oh, you didn't know? It seems His Highness has been learning from an assassin he's recently befriended."
"...An assassin?!"
"Hm? Ahem."
Seongjin was dumbfounded.
Captain Bruno? Wasn't this pouring oil on the fire instead of putting it out?
"Who in the world would dare teach such a dangerous skill to an immature prince like His Highness..."
Woooong.
A menacing aura of battle spirit began to swirl thickly around Masain.
'Oh no, this is bad!'
Seongjin broke out in cold sweat.
He had been planning to formally introduce Dasha soon, but this felt like things were going disastrously wrong from the start.
Unable to watch any longer, Seongjin tried to smooth things over.
"B-but Sir Masain! Whatever it was, I averted a crisis for Delcross! Father even praised me! It's true!"
"A crisis?"
Captain Bruno, feeling responsible for the situation, chimed in enthusiastically from the side.
"That's right, Sir Masain! I heard from Arenza that His Highness accomplished something major earlier. Isn't that impressive?"
But Masain's expression grew even more somber.
"And during that critical moment, I wasn't by Your Highness's side."
"...Huh?"
"A useless security chief who wasn't there when His Highness needed me most..."
"Eh?"
"This is all my failure! I should never have taken my eyes off Your Highness, not even for a moment...!"
In the end, Seongjin had no choice but to throw up his hands in surrender.
"I'm sorry! I really messed up, Sir Masain!"
Someone, anyone—stop this man from digging a hole into the ground!
[I've told you countless times before, but you're the one who needs to rein him in.]
The Demon King sighed and nodded along.
"You look more intact than I expected, Yi Seongjin."
Logan said this when he visited the Pearl Palace around lunchtime.
Dressed impeccably in the formal uniform of the St. Bastian Knight Order, he had apparently come straight from official knight order duties.
Seongjin, who had been lying on the bed pretending to meditate, sat up.
"Weren't you at the ceremony? How did you know to come here?"
"With that massive clash of energies, who wouldn't notice? Most of the knights probably sensed it. If it weren't for the formal event, I would've rushed over immediately..."
No, isn't it just that you're unusually sensitive to auras?
The distance from the main palace to the church isn't short.
"I heard the St. Aurelion Knight Order was dispatched on emergency alert, so I went to the Silver Rose Palace first, but Sister Amelia and Sisley were actually worried about you."
He had promised to check on you in their stead.
But upon arrival, the attendant knights looked like they were on the verge of death, with Sir Masain raging in front of them.
"I heard from Brother Masain. You were badly hurt?"
"Yeah, don't even ask. Sir Masain is making such a fuss. He told me today not to take a single step out of bed."
Thanks to that, he was pioneering a new aura cultivation method: bedridden meditation.
Logan sat on the edge of the bed and lightly scolded him.
"You should've taken better care of yourself. You know how much Brother Masain worries about your safety ever since that time you were badly injured before..."
He suddenly froze mid-sentence.
Ah, this guy got confused again.
"Did something like that happen with Mores before?"
"...Yeah. It did."
Then Logan muttered with a slightly downcast expression.
"I wonder where Mores's soul is now. I hope he's safe..."
"Um..."
Seongjin awkwardly turned his head, unable to offer empty reassurance that he'd be fine.
"So, what exactly happened to cause all that commotion?"
"Well, actually..."
Seongjin candidly explained about the first Holy Emperor, Cadmos, who had become trapped in Seo Iseo's body after the Holy Crown audience ritual.
Logan had an uncanny knack for detecting lies, and Seongjin figured that to prevent bigger issues, he needed to brief this guy in detail.
After all, Logan had instantly noticed the difference in presence between Mores and Seongjin before.
So how could he guarantee that this guy, who already harbored strong suspicions about Seo Iseo, wouldn't draw his sword on her the moment her presence changed suspiciously!
"...What do you take me for? Even I wouldn't be so rude as to berate a saintess in an official setting."
Yeah, right. Instead, you'd sneak over at night and knock on her window?
"......"
He couldn't deny it.
"Anyway, the soul of the first Holy Emperor..."
Logan rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought.
"I knew he was revered as a demigod, but I thought it was just exaggeration to sanctify the empire's founding. To think he's still alive and well after a thousand years..."
His face looked quite conflicted.
From the perspective of someone dreaming of Ortona's reconstruction someday, it must have dawned on him that checking the greatest obstacle—Delcross—wasn't as easy as thought.
"And all the saintesses who've operated as reincarnations of Saint Grazia for centuries were actually being manipulated by that Cadmos."
"Yeah, that's what he said."
"Seizing their bodies and even erasing their souls—something only a demon would do. Turning saints deeply revered by the faithful into that? Where do the roots of the empire's profound evils truly lie?"
Noticing Seongjin's subtle expression, Logan quickly added,
"Ah, of course, I think the current empire is a necessary evil. It's protecting the continent from demonkin, and the present Holy Emperor is pursuing historically unprecedented moderate policies toward neighboring countries. As a prince of Delcross, I have no intention of turning away from my duties to the empire and its people."
"......"
"But let me say this clearly, Yi Seongjin. In the long term, I believe this empire must eventually cease to exist. Either vanish entirely or undergo fundamental change—otherwise, this continent has no future."
Gazing at Logan's serious face, Seongjin thought,
This guy might be mostly right. But grand causes and the continent's future? Seongjin couldn't care less about such macroscopic views.
That Cadmos was extremely dangerous. And he might bring harm to the Holy Emperor or Sisley.
That was what mattered.
"Anyway, don't take your eyes off that guy for a second, Logan. Father seems to have sealed him away properly for now, but who knows when he might snap and try to kill Seo Iseo or attack Father."
"...Huh?"
"Think about it. He's still after Sisley. So who's the biggest obstacle? He'd definitely target Father first, right?"
Logan stared blankly at Seongjin for a moment before giving a wry smile.
"You're worrying about the wrong person."
"......"
"He's a powerhouse worthy of being called God's proxy, Yi Seongjin. You're probably the only one in the world who would worry about him like that."
Hm. Judging from Sir Masain and Captain Bruno's attitudes, it was clear what kind of existence the Holy Emperor held in Delcross.
'But still...'
Regardless, Seongjin couldn't shake the feeling that Logan's demeanor toward the Holy Emperor was unusually detached.
Of course, with his past life's memories intact, it couldn't be easy to accept him as a father.
In a sense, that man was no different from the enemy who destroyed Logan's homeland.
'No, maybe because he's so detached, he harbors no particular grudge...'
Seongjin looked at the guy—a total embodiment of this dilemma—with a touch of pity.
Was there anything that could help this poor soul?
'...Ah! Didn't that group exist?'
The Blue Republican Revolutionary Front.
One of the seditious groups Mores had sponsored before.
It seemed connected to the remnants of the Ortona Republican Party somehow. Should he ask Dasha to investigate it?
* * *
A mansion in the townhouses mainly used by visiting foreign dignitaries.
Leonard, neatly dressed for the first time in ages, let out a hollow laugh in front of the lavish carriage procession prepared for him.
"Finally. What a ridiculously pretentious bastard! This damned Delcross Holy Emperor!"
He was royalty from the rising power Rohan.
Despite being a top-priority guest, he had only just been granted palace entry right before the birthday celebration!
"There are many ears listening. Please mind your words and actions."
A man in a half-mask approached from behind and admonished him.
"Once you enter the palace, you'll have to judge everything for yourself, Lord Leo. I won't be able to look after you one by one as before."
"...Romain."
Leonard turned back with a gloomy face.
"Honestly, I'm not confident. Can't you come with me?"
"Unfortunately, I cannot enter the imperial palace."
Romain glanced toward the palace and let out a smirk.
"The imperial palace has become the absolute domain of the Guardian right now. Treaties and restraints mean nothing there. The moment I set foot inside, he'd probably cut me down on the spot, deeming it righteous."
"Come on, really?"
"It's no 'really.' Even royalty is no exception, so please refrain from mishandling the servants."
"What a ruthless guy..."
"And that's not all. Even when alone, keep in mind you're always under his watch and act with utmost caution."
At those words, Leonard's face turned as pitiful as a donkey being dragged to the slaughterhouse.
"Ah, I don't want to go."
"......"
"Okay, okay, I get it. Just kidding."
Leonard waved his hand dismissively and headed to the carriage.
"Still, I don't get it, Romain."
As Leonard stepped into the carriage, he suddenly turned back, struck by a thought.
"Everything's fine, but why suddenly create a connection not just with the princess, but with the 3rd Prince of all people? Every kid in Rohan knows he's a worthless scoundrel."
"Don't believe every rumor, Lord Leo. He is one who effectively conceals his true nature, and someday he will bare his sharpest fangs against the empire."
"A prince of the empire? How do you know that?"
"Because I directly confronted his soul not long ago."
It was the achievement gained at the cost of wasting the last unbloomed seed.
"But if he's hiding so carefully, will he really reveal himself just because I approach?"
"That's not what I'm aiming for. Just create a little opening. Hm, yes..."
Romain gazed toward the palace thoughtfully for a moment before speaking.
"Then how about probing him like this first?"
And the lips beneath the half-mask curved into a confident smile.
"Hurry back. The brothers of the forgotten old order await only your command in agony."