Chapter 47
Chapter: 47
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 47
>Chapter Title: Premonition (5)
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>A silence fell between the two for a moment.
“You? My...?”
When Nate nodded, Kaien gave him a strange look.
“Just how old are you, anyway? How old were you when you had me?”
“…….”
Nate subtly averted his gaze.
How could a human who looks so young be my father?
And how the hell did I even find him?
Are you really a devil worshiper? I finally escaped the bandits, and now I'm the son of a criminal?
He peppered Nate with questions in a slight fluster, but the boy seemed to accept the fact more easily than expected. Having met someone else who could see souls for the first time—and that someone claiming to be family—it must have felt incredibly convincing.
On top of that, Kaien was probably starting to notice how much they resembled each other. Their overall impressions differed greatly due to the intense red hair and the tri-colored eyes with prominent whites, but a closer look revealed fairly similar facial contours.
“So, what's your name?”
“Nathaniel Klein.”
The name of such a famously renowned figure popped out of his mouth so suddenly that it took Kaien a moment to realize who he was.
...The Holy Emperor? My real father's the Holy Emperor?
The boy's jaw dropped.
“I heard the current Holy Emperor is a notorious playboy unlike any before...”
“…….”
“So that's why your soul looked so extraordinary—you're God's proxy. But why aren't you in that form now? Do you usually hide your power?”
“...Something like that.”
“Then that means I was a prince of Delcross.”
Not bad at all. Kaien's face brightened a little.
In a quiet tone, Nate explained to the boy.
His mother had been a noble of Rohan, someone he'd briefly met and parted with in his youth. On her way back to Rohan after giving birth to Kaien, she'd been attacked by bandits, and everyone but Kaien had died.
The Holy Emperor, learning of his existence late through the information guild, had disguised himself as a prisoner and come here personally to find him.
“Why go to such lengths?”
The boy couldn't fathom it at all. What did it matter whether he was there or not?
Just as he felt no resentment toward growing up in the bandit gang, he felt no gratitude toward his father rushing from afar to find him personally. He just thought it was a pointless, inefficient waste of effort.
Nate gazed steadily at Kaien's face before asking in a wistful tone.
“Will you come with me to the Delcross imperial palace?”
The question implied he had a choice.
“What if I say yes?”
“You'll receive every benefit as the Fourth Prince of Delcross and my fifth child. The Blue Rose Palace, residence of the princes, will be your home, and you'll have access to all the education befitting a prince. You can formally enter the line of succession to become the next Holy Emperor, or use the unimaginable power and connections to forge a new path.”
“…….”
“You could also build bonds with your blood kin. The palace is full of your brothers and sisters.”
Kaien frowned slightly. It sounded appealing on the surface, but none of it truly appealed to him.
“What if I say no?”
“I'll grant you the County of Klanos. You'll have all the support except imperial privileges. You can travel the continent freely or settle wherever you wish. Guild informants will check on you regularly to ensure you're comfortable. You'll have no grand authority, but no heavy duties either.”
“Hmm...”
“But you must never devour souls or commit crimes that defy societal norms again.”
The boy smirked, lifting one corner of his mouth.
“Can't you just pretend you never saw me?”
“That won't be possible.”
Nate shook his head firmly.
Kaien rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment. When he finally spoke, his eyes were calmly settled.
“I've done everything to escape Jerome's clutches so far. I thought I could never fully break free unless I wiped out the entire bandit gang.”
Bandits whose lair had been discovered never let traitors live. If someone tried to flee, they'd hunt them down relentlessly or tip off the guards in advance for execution.
Unless he eliminated every bandit who knew his face, Kaien would never be free from the threat of betrayal.
In Rohan, still young, he'd failed to control information properly, inadvertently giving Jerome a chance to escape first. This time, he'd gone all out to delay the Flandor subjugation force's approach without detection.
“But after finally taking down the bandit king, now you're saying Delcross's king is my dad? What's the difference? No—once I join the new group you rule, can I really escape you?”
“…….”
“I'm not going to Delcross, Dad.”
Nate drew in a breath and fell silent for a while before slowly nodding.
“…All right.”
The two then chatted about this and that for a bit. Kaien, who had seemed ready to reject and guard against him unconditionally, proved surprisingly cooperative in conversation with Nate.
Of course, knowing this self-proclaimed father could control his abilities and crush the bandits single-handedly, he saw no point in being defiant.
There was a minor incident where Nate tossed shackles at a few staggering bandits trying to rise, but otherwise, time passed smoothly.
When Nate asked why he held a grudge against Aslan, Kaien's face soured.
“Huh? Oh, that guy. Every time I tried to plan something, he interfered a ton.”
I'd planted not just Rodrigo but more Carthage spies in the mountain village, and even hired assassins to kill Jerome.
The boy grumbled.
“But Aslan rooted out all the aura users, foiling me every time. Because of him, I had Rodrigo's crew raid the Asane Trading Company nonstop to draw the subjugation force faster, but do you know how long it took to see results, Dad?”
To him, it apparently wasn't an unfounded grudge.
He readily admitted responsibility for the death of Marta, the foster mother who had raised him.
“Marta would've died to the subjugation force anyway. Better she served her purpose than die pointlessly.”
Kaien was brazen about it.
Nate's heart grew a little heavier. Among those here, she was the only soul he'd managed to salvage intact. Even for a bandit gang that pillaged and murdered routinely, having their souls torn apart and devoured postmortem wasn't fitting justice.
With a grave expression, he warned his son once more.
“Mark my words. Your soul is at its limit now. If you rashly devour another, I can't guarantee what will happen.”
But upon hearing this, Kaien stared at Nate intently for a moment.
“You're not saying it's wrong or anything?”
Marta always said whatever I did was bad. The boy added.
“I didn't expect you to nag like that.”
“You were furious at first when you saw me, weren't you? For eating Marta's soul.”
Nate gazed silently at the boy for a moment. Those eyes, occasionally shimmering with a strange silver-gray glow—Kaien couldn't tell if they were looking at his face or his soul. Perhaps both.
“Do you even know why that's wrong?”
“Nope?”
Kaien had never known standards of good and evil to begin with.
“If I explained, do you think you'd understand their pain?”
“Not at all?”
I don't even understand my own soul's pain—why would I get someone else's?
“Then there's no need to say it.”
“…Weird guy...”
Kaien scratched his cheek with a finger.
“But it's strange. I get along with you so well. Never talked to anyone like this before. Might miss seeing you around, actually.”
“…….”
“Well, I'm off. Time's flown by. The Flandor subjugation force will be here soon. Better escape before the chaos makes it hard—you too.”
“I'll send a guild informant later.”
“My babysitter, huh... Fine.”
Kaien limped toward the barn door. As he opened the locked door, Nate called out.
“Kaien.”
“Yeah?”
“No need to pretend to limp in front of me.”
“…….”
Nate had known since first seeing Kaien. His left leg was perfectly healthy, with aura flowing normally.
Kaien froze briefly before shaking his head with a wry smile.
“…Wow. Jerome, suspicious as he was, fell for it for nearly ten years, but Dad's no ordinary man.”
At first, to protest Marta's failure to protect him properly. Then, to guilt Jerome into holding back. Lately, to fully escape the bandits and start a flawless new life—the boy had kept up the limp pretense.
That long charade ended today.
Pushing open the barn door, he stepped out vigorously on the left foot he'd feigned injuring all this time. Midway, he paused and turned back to Nate, as if struck by a thought.
“Since we're both clueless about our own souls, wanna hear something I teach you, Dad?”
“…….”
“When you talked about palace life inside and out, did you notice your soul's expression?”
Kaien smirked with a nasty edge, curling one lip.
“Dad, you really hate being in the palace.”
The boy waved cheerily and vanished outside the barn.
* * *
Dusk was falling.
The mountain village erupted in chaos upon discovering Jerome dead in his quarters late.
The boss is down! Spies! Attack! The panicked bandits summoned back the search parties and gathered in the clearing.
Only then did they learn of the Flandor army approaching, scrambling to arm and flee—but the subjugation force had already tightened the encirclement.
Nate, barely slipping out before the noose closed, trudged down the mountain in a daze. The problem: even reaching Asane Pass, a condemned prisoner couldn't pass alone.
“Ah, Enrique.”
Luckily, he encountered Enrique hurrying up the path.
“Your Majesty!”
Nate paused to study his face at the visibly relieved shout. Enrique's features flooded with relief upon spotting him.
Nate already knew Enrique sometimes looked at him with profound discomfort. Francis had even wanted to behead the man once.
Yet in moments like this, Nate couldn't tell if Enrique wanted him dead or worried for him.
Passing the stiffly frozen Enrique—who'd forgotten proper etiquette—Nate patted his back. He didn't forget to infuse holy power either, aware he'd pushed his people hard today.
“The encirclement's already complete. You nearly suffered if we'd crossed paths.”
Enrique quickly composed himself, bowed, and reported.
“The two were safely handed to guild members at the pass.”
“No need to rush back—you've done well.”
“…….”
As Nate descended the mountain path past him, he drifted into thought.
Kaien had marveled at how well they clicked, but it was natural. Nate knew someone else with the same symptoms.
That person hadn't felt emotions from the start either. Unable to empathize with others' hardship or sadness, no explanation could make them understand.
It likely stemmed from the body. Their soul wept at sorrow and thrilled at joy, just like anyone else's.
The soul's pain reached them—it was just that they didn't know why it hurt.
Thus, their soul wailed while their face smiled, in extreme dissonance.
Nate hadn't noticed at first with Kaien because both the boy's face and soul glowered at him sullenly.
The boy had left carefree for the first time stepping into the world, but his soul now...
His thoughts halted as trailing Enrique asked abruptly.
“Shall I carry you, Your Majesty?”
He's making weird jokes today, Nate thought.
But Enrique hesitated and pressed.
“…Are you all right?”
“……?”
What wouldn't be?