Chapter 151
Chapter: 151
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 151
>Chapter Title: Eve (6)
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[Calm yourself, my son.]
The voice resonated not through his ears, but directly into his mind, as if bypassing them entirely.
“…Lady Sharon?”
Seongjin blinked.
The one blocking his hand right now clearly took the form of Lady Sharon.
Yet the eyes gazing down at him intently were not hers at all. They were silver-gray, just like those of someone he knew well.
‘…Huh?’
Before Seongjin could even process it, the words slipped out.
“Father?!”
Lady Sharon—no, the Holy Emperor—opened his mouth once more.
[It is not yet time. You have no need to go that far right now.]
The moment he heard those words.
A slow, unknown pulsing gradually subsided, and the aura rampaging through his arm settled calmly.
His bizarrely expanded field of vision returned to normal, and his heightened, stretching senses receded in an instant.
Now, before Seongjin’s eyes, neither the twisted rift of dimensions nor the faint trails of souls remained. Nothing but Isabella, trembling and staring at him.
‘…What was that?’
A sense of his consciousness suddenly swelling enormously.
It felt like something he absolutely couldn’t miss, something tremendously important.
Lost in a daze, trying to recall the sensation that had already vanished, he felt the hand pressing down on his arm release as the strength drained from it.
Seongjin looked up anew at the tall exorcist.
‘She really is Lady Sharon….’
Her appearance was that of the quirky exorcist from the monster response team, yet the aura enveloping her now was starkly different from before.
Thoroughly controlled, yet utterly natural—that distinctive aura.
Lady Sharon had never been one of low realm to begin with, but the way her aura blended perfectly with her surroundings now was nearly at the level of a Decaron Knight. It was no wonder Seongjin hadn’t noticed her approach until she was this close.
And above all, those eyes.
There couldn’t possibly be another person in this world with such eyes.
This situation wasn’t entirely unfamiliar to Seongjin. Hadn’t he felt exactly this when the head of Arenza possessed Captain Bruno not long ago?
[Hiiiik!]
Looking at the demon king who’d been letting out strange shrieks without a peep since earlier confirmed it. The one possessing Lady Sharon right now was undoubtedly the Holy Emperor himself.
Thud!
At that moment, Isabella staggered and collapsed to the floor. Her unfocused eyes shook aimlessly, as if she’d suffered a massive shock.
“…I, I…”
The exorcist—no, the Holy Emperor—gazed down at her coolly for a moment before speaking.
[He just left.]
“That can’t be….”
Isabella, staring blankly into empty space, soon shook her head vehemently.
“There’s no way… I am… the Dream Demon King….”
Tears began streaming from her eyes in thick drops.
“I, sob! A mere human like me… Ah, no…….”
Unable to hold herself up, Isabella crumpled, clawing at the floor with her nails as wrenching sobs burst from her throat.
The heartbroken wail of someone who had lost everything sustaining their life in an instant, as if their five viscera were being wrung out.
Seongjin knew instinctively.
The Isabella who had injected stimulants into her arm and hopped around the room was no more.
“Father.”
Having made up his mind, Seongjin stepped forward and spoke.
“Isabella is already Sigurd Sigurson’s complete puppet. He’s been driven out for now, but as long as the connection remains, we don’t know when he might return here.”
[…….]
“An ego that eroded that far might not be reversible. Even now, with him gone, doesn’t she still believe herself to be the Dream Demon King?”
Seongjin didn’t know how to sever a puppet’s connection. He couldn’t even guess how Ricardo’s had been cut.
And even if, by some chance, there was a way to successfully sever it between him and Isabella, would that really be for the best?
Even Ricardo, who saw himself merely as an assistant, suffered frequent delusions and fits. Could Isabella, having lost her very self, endure that sense of loss?
“Sigurd Sigurson is an extremely dangerous individual. It’s unfortunate for Isabella, but we have no choice here.”
At those words, Isabella lifted her head and looked at Seongjin. Her turquoise eyes, filled with sorrow and fear, shook violently like a storm-tossed sea.
Not avoiding her gaze, Seongjin finally uttered the heavy final words.
“…Father. Before a bigger problem arises, we must behead the puppet right here and now!”
The Holy Emperor lowered his gaze and stared silently at Seongjin.
He had braced for rebuke or reprimand, but unexpectedly, the Holy Emperor’s eyes held deep understanding.
[Yes. Your judgment is reasonable.]
“Then……!”
Thud.
Before Seongjin could say more, a hand came down on his crown.
A low voice followed.
[I know well that you never hesitate before choices in adversity.]
Tap, tap.
The light patting on his head brought an oddly comforting sense of relief.
In a sudden release of tension, Seongjin stood blankly and realized he’d been unnecessarily tensing his entire body.
[However, my son, you need not be driven to such choices yet.]
“Uh…….”
[Sometimes, it’s all right to entrust that burden to another, isn’t it?]
After soothing him with a few more pats on the head, the Holy Emperor slowly approached Isabella.
[Your brother cooperated with him of his own will, but what of you?]
“I, I…….”
Pale-faced, Isabella trembled and couldn’t continue. The Holy Emperor looked down at her and let out a small sigh.
[…It may already be too late, but what must be done, must be.]
In that instant, Seongjin doubted his own eyes.
The Holy Emperor drew his shotel like lightning and plunged the sharp silver curved sword straight into Isabella’s crown!
Squelch!
“……!?”
Splatter.
Blood sprayed in a fountain as Isabella’s body fell limply backward.
An enormous volume of blood spread in concentric circles around her body.
Stunned by the shocking sight, Seongjin could only blink and stare blankly at the Holy Emperor.
“Uh…….”
What? He’d thought he was trying to stop him from beheading Isabella, so why did this guy suddenly do it himself…?
Surely, “entrusting the burden” didn’t mean…
“Next time you’re getting revenge, leave some for Father’s share too?”
[…….]
As the Holy Emperor gazed at Seongjin with an odd expression, about to speak, Dasha burst urgently into the study, shouting.
“Your Highness, something’s off with the signs! I thought it was too easy—there were guys watching from afar… H-heek!”
Overwhelmed by the gruesome scene and the thick stench of blood, she gaped silently. The Holy Emperor slowly bent down and touched Isabella’s head.
A brilliant light burst from his hand, and Isabella’s deathly pale face brightened in an instant.
Her color fully returned, her breathing eased—anyone unfamiliar would think she was just sleeping on the floor.
In that moment, a puzzle piece clicked in Seongjin’s mind.
Ricardo, found with no wounds despite improbably excessive blood evidence.
“By any chance, did you smash Ricardo’s skull the exact same way back then?”
[…….]
Yep, this guy did.
‘Wait, then the one who severed the storyteller’s connection to Ricardo was…?’
Seongjin looked down anew at Isabella, lying in the pool of blood.
She looked deeply asleep, undoubtedly utterly harmless now.
He’d said there was still no need to choose.
‘I see…….’
As long as this man was before him.
He…
At that moment, Dasha, who had been cautiously peering out the window, whispered.
“The presences are drawing closer, Your Highness. We need to withdraw from here—hurry. Knight, come with me. Quickly!”
Dasha probably had no idea Lady Sharon was the Holy Emperor.
“Ah, wait a sec. I have one thing to leave behind.”
“Yes?”
Before the puzzled Dasha, Seongjin grinned confidently and pulled another medal from his bosom.
* * *
“Dominic. There were intruders at the townhouse. Ricardo’s badly hurt, and Isabella’s unconscious.”
Scarpino main residence.
Dominico, who had been working through the dawn without rest, nodded at his informant’s report without lifting his eyes from the documents.
“I see.”
As if he’d already anticipated it.
“Milo Company, or perhaps the Dark Church?”
“Who knows. I only glimpsed from afar, so it’s not certain. But there was a Dark Church marker at the scene.”
Dominico glanced once at the small medal proffered by his personal informant, Olivier, then buried his nose back in the papers with evident disinterest.
The day young Lord Ricardo had collapsed in the garden.
After cleaning up the social gathering, Dominico had brought his entire guard team straight back to the main residence.
As a result, security at the townhouse had inevitably been lax, but neither Ricardo nor Isabella had complained about the reduced guards.
“We should contact Archduke Sigsmundt. Say Isabella’s fallen ill and regrettably can’t attend this year’s birthday celebration.”
“Hah.”
Olivier chuckled dryly, crossing his legs with a jab.
“Cold as ever. This is about your siblings, Dominic. Don’t you even worry?”
At that, the cool turquoise eyes behind his glasses shot Olivier a glare.
“I told you, Olivier. They haven’t been my siblings for a long time.”
* * *
The next day, morning.
Orden rubbed his temples against a headache from the urgent early-morning dispatch from the Scarpino family.
The news that Isabella had suddenly collapsed yesterday and couldn’t attend the birthday celebration.
The Dark Church sending their insignia and bluntly demanding partnership was absurd enough, but this was infuriating in its own way.
He didn’t want to read into it, but Orden was still the empire’s most popular figure in the capital.
To suddenly lose his partner and attend the birthday celebration alone—what an embarrassment!
“Well, even popular guys have off days, right? Chin up, Lord Orden.”
Leaving Hermann’s mocking consolation behind, as he prepared sullenly for the grand mass, an unexpected summons arrived. It was from the Saintess herself, called the lesser blessing of the Lord God.
Dazed, he arrived at St. Bastian Church, where Saintess Sisle greeted him alongside Prince Logan.
“Your Highness, Saintess.”
Orden bowed politely, then glanced at Prince Logan standing behind her.
The genius holy knight evaluated alongside him as Delcross’s most promising swordsman.
The aura activation he sensed was comparable to Orden’s, perhaps a touch inferior. Considering how many years younger he was, it was astonishing.
Yet why was it that every time he saw him, a vague dread arose that this might not be all there was?
Like thinking it was a clear, small lake, only to find an unfathomable ocean upon entering.
‘The Holy Emperor’s princes all have something unsettling about them.’
Orden thought so, recalling Prince Mores, who always smirked annoyingly at him.
But if he knew what Logan was thinking right now, he’d be shocked.
‘A rare young man these days. His innate talent as a swordsman is nothing short of heavenly.’
Logan regarded Orden with quite a pleased look.
‘And not a word of nonsense—such a serious fellow. Truly the epitome of virtue in word and deed, a splendid youth!’
If Seongjin knew, he’d probably snap, ‘That guy’s just a simple brute, you old coot!’
“Archduke Sigsmundt.”
A voice clear as crystal came from above Orden, who was bowing.
“I’m sorry to call you so suddenly. If it’s all right with you, may I ask one favor?”
At her words, Orden looked up at the small, snow-white princess before him.
Unlike expressive Amelia, this girl had almost no expressions, like a delicate doll.
‘Those eyes…….’
But those clear gray eyes, just like Amel’s, unwittingly melted a layer of his mental guard.
He knelt on one knee, meeting the little princess’s eyes, and replied.
“Yes, Saintess. Command me.”
His uncharacteristically gentle voice made Hermann, standing beside him, gape in horror.
“As the Archduke knows, today is my first birthday celebration. So I need the help of someone as splendid as you.”
The Orthodox Church had originally planned to present Sisle at this gathering of the continent’s notables. But unexpectedly, with a new saintess appearing recently, they were announcing two at once.
The problem was that the western saintess knew nothing of dancing or court etiquette.
A major blunder at an event concerning the empire’s face—what a disgrace. And it even contained a bomb named Cardmos!
-I’ll escort her. I’ll keep her in check without taking my eyes off her for a second. You never know what that Cardmos might pull.
As the former strongest swordsman of the east and youngest sword master, Logan had first voiced his sense of responsibility to manage this headache.
-Then what about Sisle?
At Seongjin’s question, Amelia pondered before answering.
-Come to think of it, I heard something happened to the Scarpino lady….
And so, Orden had been suddenly summoned to the church.
“Archduke Sigsmundt. Will you be my partner at the birthday celebration?”
As her tiny, pale hand extended, Orden took it supportively and replied with utmost sincerity.
“To escort the Saintess would be the honor of my lifetime.”
Of course, it was utterly genuine.
Serving the Saintess wholeheartedly might make Amelia, who loved her siblings, smile at him once more.
Logan, standing behind, nodded in satisfaction at the earnest reply.