Chapter 95
Chapter: 95
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 95
>Chapter Title: Logan (2)
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Elizabeth Acein. The daughter of Duke Acein, who wields immense influence over the current continental situation.
She bore the 3rd Prince Moreth from a connection made before the Holy Emperor ascended the throne, and now sits as the 1st Imperial Consort, a woman brimming with ambition. It was unknown if she aimed for the Empress's seat itself, but the Demon King had informed him that she had relentlessly worked to make Moreth the Crown Prince.
Seongjin harbored several suspicions about her.
First, she clearly wanted to hide some past, and she seemed relieved that Moreth had no memory of it.
For someone so eager to make her son Crown Prince, it was odd that she didn't seem to interfere much in what he did. Seongjin suspected this might be related to why Masain was particularly wary of her.
Second, the suspicion that Elizabeth Consort had secretly sponsored various organizations in Moreth's name in the past.
Setting aside why she chose such suspicious groups, was it even possible for someone else to impersonate a prince and provide covert funding for so long?
He'd get more clarity by asking Jonathan, whose condition was improving, about the Black Prophets' gathering sponsorship in detail.
Third, the possibility that she had subjected young Moreth to consistent emotional abuse in the past.
Given that Logan, the 2nd Prince unknown to Seongjin, appeared in his dreams, what he was seeing was surely Moreth's past. Though it was only a brief synchronization, what Seongjin felt then was that the consort's verbal abuse had persisted for quite some time, not just a day or two.
There might be a connection to why Moreth, who seemed like a relatively normal child, suddenly turned into a utter wastrel.
"Hehe, so the son is commissioning an investigation into his own mother."
Dasha flashed a meaningful smile.
Her face oddly reminded Seongjin of a junior excitedly anticipating a cornmeal soap opera meltdown, so he waved his hands dismissively.
"It's not like I have my previous memories. It feels wrong to keep asking Mother about it."
"Hmm..."
Dasha nodded knowingly at his excuse.
"The Consort is the daughter of Duke Acein. Around her, there's always this intense standoff between Duke Acein's spies and Delcross intelligence agents. It's hard to approach carelessly or gather info easily. Plus, there's a high chance that news of an investigation into her would immediately reach Duke Acein and His Majesty."
As expected, it would be difficult.
As Seongjin thought that, Dasha gazed into the air and clenched her fist tightly. Her vibrant turquoise eyes sparkled as if stars might pour from them.
"What an achievement this would be! Just leave it to me. I'll uncover every single move of the Consort more secretly than anyone—every past connection and deed, down to how many bites of meat she ate a day or how many times she visited the bathroom. I'll confess it all in detail!"
Hey, miss. That's a crime. Are you saying that with the knowledge that I'm the son of your investigation target?
At least respect some privacy.
"Then I'll take my leave, Your Highness. Rest well!"
With steps even lighter than when she arrived, she hopped over the terrace and vanished like a ghost beyond the Pearl Palace garden.
Seongjin blankly stared out the window where she had disappeared.
He'd felt it before, but she was truly a rare breed—someone with sky-high achievement drive.
[Why don't you tell her to investigate your father too? I'd love to see her reaction.]
The Demon King seemed genuinely curious.
Nah, I'm not curious. I can clearly see the future where Dasha and I get thrashed side by side by that guy.
Seongjin rose from the bed and stretched. It was an awkward time to fall back asleep, so he considered meditating.
Though his body had nearly died or been crippled, thanks to the Holy Emperor's thorough treatment, vitality surged through him, and he even felt better than before.
'...Hm?'
He noticed the anomaly shortly after starting meditation.
His depleted dantian aura had fully recovered—that was fine—but as he focused his mind a bit, the surrounding auras gathered smoothly and automatically formed the 6th layer!
'......?'
Well, he'd been close to the 6th layer recently anyway. Thinking that, he tried to sink back into meditation, but the aura kept flowing into his dantian. Suddenly, his aura activity had spiked excessively.
Whoa, even as he panicked, the wildly incoming aura barely stopped after nearing the 7th layer.
By then, Seongjin was flustered enough that his concentration shattered completely.
'This... what is it?'
Seongjin broke into a cold sweat. Was it normal for his aura layers to increase this much in a single day? It scared him.
He hoped it wouldn't explode like that wooden sword and burst his body.
Fortunately, inspecting his body condition showed it relatively stable. A massive amount of aura surpassing half the 6th layer circulated through his body, endlessly infusing vitality.
What was the cause? Related to his aura being completely depleted once?
Or perhaps...
'Did that guy do something?'
Seongjin chuckled inwardly at the thought. Whenever something strange happened, his mind jumped to the Holy Emperor—truly, he had become a Delcross palace dweller.
No longer in the mood for meditation, he just lay back on the bed. Contrary to his expectation that he wouldn't sleep easily after a long nap, Seongjin slept soundly through to morning without a single dream.
The next morning, as usual, Seongjin woke at the hour when the Pearl Palace birds sang. He was rubbing his eyes dazedly when there was a knock, and Edith entered with a fresh water pitcher.
Following her, Masain walked into the room.
"Were you coughing, Your Highness?"
Seongjin flinched momentarily and glanced at his eyes. He was aware that despite Masain's dissuasion yesterday, he'd gone overboard fighting the magical beast.
After nearly dying once at the Degory estate, Masain had seemed overly sensitive to Seongjin's safety lately. What nagging would he get today?
But contrary to Seongjin's worries, Masain's face looked more at ease than expected.
No, not at ease—more like enlightened.
"At least your heart didn't stop—that's something."
Ah, right, last time he was so out of it that CPR was done.
"No matter how much I fret, nothing changes, Your Highness. I've realized that."
Masain spoke calmly, gazing at the garden outside the window.
His eyes, looking at the lush greenery, seemed distant, as if he'd let go of everything.
"How dare I try to stop a prince? I won't expect much from you anymore, Your Highness. Just... don't die suddenly like before."
"Uh..."
"Then this Masain will somehow get you before His Majesty. Yes, if you do that, everything will be resolved. Hahaha."
"......"
In the cool morning air, only his hollow laughter echoed emptily.
Seongjin found this more terrifying than when he was about to yell.
Sir Masain, I was wrong!
That morning, while training aura with Masain, Seongjin tried to investigate the sudden aura increase in his dantian. But Masain said firmly,
"I don't want to repeat what a mess you were in yesterday, Your Highness. Stay in bed today and rest obediently."
He couldn't even go to the training grounds. Visitors to the Pearl Palace didn't stop all morning.
The first to visit was Amelia. She'd rushed from training, unusually dressed in a light shirt and slim pants instead of a dress.
Surprisingly, she was angrier than anyone else. Her flushed cheeks and furrowed brows were still adorably beautiful.
Amelia fumed at Seongjin in a way that wasn't threatening at all.
"Moreth! Why don't you ever take care of yourself! Stop rushing into danger like that! Do you know how it feels for those watching?"
"...Pardon?"
When did I rush into danger again?
Is this even a habit?
Seongjin blinked in bewilderment, and Amelia approached, gripping his hand tightly and staring straight into his eyes. Even her clear gray eyes were moist with tears.
"Don't ever—never again—do anything that scary! Got it?"
"Uh..."
Flustered, but feeling her hand tremble lightly in his, Seongjin nodded obediently for now.
"I won't."
"Really?"
"Yes, of course."
"It's a promise with me!"
"Yes, promise..."
Seongjin answered awkwardly again.
Only after extracting firm confirmations multiple times did Amelia finally relax and return to the Silver Rose Palace.
Next came Hernia, Gades, and the twins. Today was their audience with the Holy Emperor, so they'd come to play chess.
You two know he hates chess, yet you insist on tormenting him?
"Moreth!"
"Moreth!"
The doll-like pretty kids with identical faces ran toward him. Unlike Amelia, their faces were full of joy.
They grabbed Moreth's arms from both sides of the bed and grinned brightly.
"What on earth did you do, Moreth!"
"No one saw it coming, Moreth!"
Then they looked at each other and nodded.
"Moreth is Moreth, after all."
"Moreth is just Moreth."
What, talking in your private code and nodding to yourselves again? You sly little rascals!
I've got something to grill you on today too.
Why didn't you explain the Monkey Tower to me beforehand?
"Who cares about that now?"
"Yeah, that stuff doesn't matter anymore."
What did you say, you brats?
As Seongjin frowned, the twins hugged his arms from both sides and peered into his face.
"You did well, Moreth. Thanks to you, things resolved with less damage than expected."
"You did well, Moreth. You ruined that guy's long-prepared plan completely."
From their words, Seongjin suddenly realized his prior suspicion was true.
The Holy Emperor had known someone was planting magical beast eggs and creating the Gray Plague but had deliberately taken no action.
"Who's that guy? Why did Father know and do nothing until now..."
At Seongjin's question, the twins answered with slightly downcast faces.
"He knows, but he wasn't supposed to."
"It's not that he couldn't—he shouldn't."
What did that mean? Seongjin blinked.
"It's because Father Holy Emperor has some important restrictions now."
"Thanks to that shameless old geezer who dumped everything on Dad."
Hernia and Gades pouted and rubbed their faces against Seongjin's sleeves. Still incomprehensible.
"But thanks to you, Moreth, he's relieved for now."
"Really lucky you came, Moreth."
"......"
They chattered enthusiastically, but artfully dodged the core. Seongjin was gradually getting used to the twins' way of speaking.
They lingered by the bed for a while, then left the Pearl Palace saying they'd go play with Amelia.
After that, visits from Captain Bruno and the resident knights continued nonstop, so the morning flew by.
And lunchtime. Wondering why Elizabeth Consort, who seemed like she'd rush over immediately, hadn't contacted him, an unexpected guest arrived.
The entire Pearl Palace staff suddenly tensed up.
[Eek.]
The Demon King flinched and squished to one side of his head.
The abrupt change was so dramatic that even Seongjin, rolling around in bed, felt it clearly. Puzzled, he heard a knock, followed by Edith's shrunk voice.
"Y-Your Highness. His Holy Majesty the Emperor has arrived."
...What?
Before he could be surprised, the door opened, and the Holy Emperor strode in with his usual icy face. Apparently, he'd come straight from morning duties.
Gulp.
Seeing his chilling eyes, Seongjin hiccuped involuntarily.