Beware the Old Fox
The receiving magic circle on the office floor slowly emitted light. Platinum lines intricately intertwined, completing a circular ritual. It was the highest-tier magic, far beyond ordinary long-distance communication. A technique usable only between rulers of great powers. Even that wasn't as convenient as warp gates. Physical movement was impossible; it merely conveyed voices, presences, and faint silhouettes.
I stood outside the magic circle, looking down impassively.
The Gaia Holy Kingdom. The original story had already gone to hell by the time I possessed this body. In this unpredictable situation, I needed to gauge the Pope without panicking. Foreign Minister Rowen Haizer opened his mouth cautiously beside me.
"Your Highness, the connection will be established shortly."
"I know."
My curt reply shut him up immediately.
Red and golden lights intertwined in the center of the magic circle, and a figure began to emerge. It lacked realism but carried a definite presence. Flowing decorative cloth over a white robe, restrained dignity, an unyielding aura despite his age. Urban 14th. The Pope of the Gaia Holy Kingdom spoke first.
"Crown Prince Kainar Iskara von Solaríos."
His voice was impeccably polite.
"I thank you for permitting this distant reception. I also inquire after Your Highness's health and the well-being of the Imperial Palace."
I regarded him without leaning back in my chair. Formal. Excessively formal and courteous, as befitted a Pope. But people like him always saved their real intentions for last. My Sword Master instincts were blaring alarms that it would be the same this time.
"Spare me the pleasantries."
My voice was stiff.
"What do you want, Urban 14th?"
The air in the office froze for a split second. The Foreign Minister averted his eyes, and the court mages maintaining the ritual held their breath. Calling the Pope by name and number alone was tantamount to provocation, even against an enemy nation.
'Does His Highness want war again?'
'Ah... His Highness was always a mad prince.'
'Even a mad prince wouldn't go that far.'
The court mages were communicating telepathically, as they always did. But the Pope didn't flinch at my provocation. He bowed his head slightly, his face even calmer.
"I wished to hear directly about the recent events in the Empire."
The purge, after all. I'd gotten my hopes up for nothing.
I asked with a hardened expression.
"The purge?"
"Yes."
The Pope was unshakable.
"I heard that many nobles and officials lost their lives in the Sun Justice Hall. The Holy Kingdom does not take the scale of this lightly."
"So what? What does this have to do with the Holy Kingdom?"
"I merely seek to understand Your Highness's true intentions."
His voice was low, but the implication was clear. Why did you kill them? How far does this purge go? And where is the Empire headed?
I didn't answer for a long while. I had no intention of spilling everything to an enemy nation. That the Empire was rotten, that I was moving to clean out the corrupt noble faction, that I was seeking a way to awaken the Emperor. No reason to volunteer that.
I met the Pope's gaze and spoke lowly.
"I merely cut away the rotten roots."
The Pope didn't reply immediately. Instead, he stared straight at me. Those shrewd eyes wouldn't take my words at face value. But he couldn't dismiss them entirely. Blood had flowed, after all.
"If it's an internal Empire matter, other nations have no right to interfere."
"You know that much."
"However, the Empire is no longer a nation confined to its internal affairs."
I narrowed my eyes. The Pope pressed on.
"In the days when His Imperial Majesty Leoniel Kaiser von Solaríos was hale, Solaríos was mighty yet predictable. But since Your Highness seized real power, the Empire moves faster, wilder, and broader. This purge signals that the Empire's changes may veer in yet another direction."
The old fox was adept at beating around the bush.
'Sly old bastard.'
His point boiled down to one thing. The current Empire threatens world order.
I smirked inwardly. Not wrong.
The Pope continued.
"The Holy Kingdom desires no further unnecessary wars."
"Unnecessary wars?"
"Yes. We judge it necessary to restore stability to relations between the Empire and the Holy Kingdom."
I tapped the desk once with my finger.
"And?"
"Reconnection of inter-nation warp gates..."
The Pope's voice sharpened slightly.
"And an armistice."
One of the mages in the office swallowed involuntarily. The Foreign Minister's face stiffened briefly. I stared at the Pope for a long moment.
Armistice. Warp reconnection. Relationship restoration.
'Why the sudden humility?'
The Empire hadn't even pressured them first. For the Holy Kingdom to swallow its pride and offer this unprompted was hard to believe. Suspicion rose first. What were they thinking? Did they truly seek to spare blood and pursue peace? Or did the purge make them want to peer deeper into the Empire? Or—
A figure flashed in my mind. Raphael de Saint Gaia. The top holy knight, connected to Serennia Rosalyn Edelwein in the original story—a sub-male lead type.
'No way.'
I knew it was ridiculous. But this was a romance fantasy crazier than any demon realm. Characters here could upend the whole board with a single connection. If the Holy Kingdom was scheming to reconnect with Serennia...
'Fuck. That would just prove they're idiots.'
Even in a romance fantasy, they wouldn't stretch plausibility that far. I dismissed the pointless suspicion and refocused. Romance wasn't the priority now. At least not outwardly.
Then the Pope got to the point.
"This time, we wish to dispatch an envoy to the Empire."
I furrowed my brow.
"An envoy?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
The Pope took a brief breath.
"It's not solely my will. It is the Saintess's direct request."
Saintess. I frowned. The Gaia Holy Kingdom's Saintess. I knew the name.
'Seraphina Elione, was it?'
That was it. In the original romance fantasy, the Holy Kingdom wasn't that prominent. It served as backdrop, with occasional mentions of holy knights or the Church. The Saintess existed in setting, but her personality, desires, and limits were never detailed. To me, she was a complete unknown.
"Why dispatch an envoy? What's the reason?"
The Pope answered calmly.
"She wishes to confirm the Empire's current situation firsthand."
"Mocking the Empire now...?"
My eyes felt bloodshot suddenly. Trivial outsiders daring to target the Empire. Wait. This wasn't my emotion. Not my willful anger.
'The Crown Prince's own feelings.'
Precisely, his body was reacting on its own. As I raised my voice in irritation, the Pope shook his head.
"No. The Saintess merely seeks to discern the future world situation through Your Highness's intentions."
I stared piercingly at the Pope's face. No lie, at least not entirely. And I quickly calculated that this proposal benefited me too.
To awaken the Emperor, I needed the Saintess's holy power. Deep, pure holy power to dispel the Necrovan Necromancy Kingdom's darkness that induced his coma. In this world, only the Pope or Saintess came close.
Moreover, to legitimately eliminate Second Prince Lucian Theodor von Solaríos, Holy Kingdom backing might be essential. Fabricating evidence was easy. But to solidly link him to Necrovan, external hands were needed.
For now, Ortes de Belloa and Concubine Violetta Arshien de Belloa propped up Lucian. Rash moves would make me look reckless. And Aurelia Bellatrice von Estelhart too. Holy Kingdom, Emperor, Lucian, maternal clan and nobles, fiancée. Mountains of concerns.
'Better to just head to the battlefield.'
I clicked my tongue inwardly. This body could end things with a sword, but what I needed now was brains over blade. Irritated, I raked a hand through my hair. Pure white strands spilled between my fingers.
The Pope held his words while I was silent. No pressure, no urging. He had reason. Kainar was the Empire's Crown Prince—world rank one—and a Sword Master. The original Kainar could single-handedly destroy the Gaia Holy Kingdom. I didn't know why he hadn't in the original, but perhaps Acreasia Alliance Kingdom checks.
I reached a decision.
"Very well."
The Pope's eyes shifted minutely.
"We'll accept this envoy."
The office air shifted instantly. The Foreign Minister's face flashed disbelief before he composed himself. The court mages showed no reaction, but tension eased.
The Pope bowed slowly.
"I thank you for your wise judgment, Your Highness."
"Spare the thanks. But."
I added coldly.
"Act like an envoy. The moment it seems the Holy Kingdom is sneaking in to probe the Empire's insides, this permission is revoked."
The Pope accepted calmly.
"I shall inform the Saintess as such."
The brief reception ended. The magic circle's light faded, blurring the Pope's form. To the last, his expression remained unflappable. That old man was no pushover.
Once the connection fully severed, the office fell quiet again. The Foreign Minister asked cautiously.
"Your Highness, shall we prepare immediately for the Holy Kingdom envoy...?"
"Proceed. And set the visit date via direct reception with the Holy Kingdom."
"Yes, Your Highness."
I exhaled shortly as the minister hurried out. The board had grown larger. More complex. No regrets, though. It was closer to what I'd anticipated.
"The Saintess..."
The name rolled lowly in my mouth, strangely unfamiliar. An unknown variable, undetailed in the original romance fantasy. Such a being was entering the Empire. Like it or not, things were about to get interesting.
That afternoon. Deep in the Imperial Palace training grounds. I lightly gripped the wooden sword in my hand. After reports, calculations, reading minds, and diplomacy intertwining, my head throbbed. Piling on worries the original owner never had made wielding a sword far better for mental health.
So I'd summoned him. The only one in the palace who could briefly withstand my power.
Across the training ground stood a middle-aged knight in black training garb over light armor. His face was set, eyes steady. Short-trimmed beard, sturdy build, the aura of a battlefield survivor. He was hailed as the strongest current Aura Master.
The previous strongest slumbered in Seongiljeon like a Sleeping Princess. A kiss from the Empress might wake him easily.
Irrelevant. I vividly felt the massive aura emanating before me.
Harten Lloyd Valken. Commander of the Holy Sun Knight Order, strongest Aura Master. A realm below Sword Master, but no laughing matter.
Those who precisely channel aura into heart, upper, middle, and lower dantians, imbuing swords with explosive might. A rampaging Aura Master could sweep ten thousand troops. Not hyperbole. As martial artists, they were monsters, superhumans.
The issue? Sword Masters loomed far above.
An old saying: Only another Sword Master can kill a Sword Master. After dragons vanished into myth, these absolutes filled the void. Transcending world laws and human limits, becoming the concept of sword itself. That was a Sword Master.
Only three in this era. Crown Prince Kainar. Northern Grand Duke Cassius Leon Barkanov. Acreasia Alliance King. Known as Sword Emperor, Sword Duke, Sword King. Collectively, the Three Venerables.
Among them, the era's strongest was me, Kainar. Conditions and variables could shift outcomes, but in sword heart depth and raw power, I surpassed the others. No one denied it.
Yet.
'No worthy opponents is boring too.'
I'd felt it since possession. The Crown Prince's listlessness, ennui. Perhaps why he aggressively bared conquest lust. Too strong, no equals, so he manufactured his own dopamine. Cleaving everything too easily grew dull.
Thus, I stood here with a wooden sword before Harten.
"Nervous?"
Harten's lips tightened at my words.
"Any knight unbraced before Your Highness is already dead."
I chuckled. Good. That answer made it a bit less boring.
Knight at the grounds' edge held their breath, watching. They knew Harten the Aura Master was strong. But his foe was a Sword Master. The Sword Emperor Kainar. No real match.
"Begin."
At my word, Harten moved first.
Boom!
The ground exploded, his body shooting diagonally upward. Aura erupted, cloaking his wooden sword in blue. Heavy pressure crushed the grounds, as if it were a steel greatsword.
The first strike was simple. Thus sharper. The overhead slash wasn't escapable by dodging alone. Harten had calculated his next stance, shifting his center.
Aura-laced sword pressure bore down on my body.
"Hup!"
With Harten's shout, I sidestepped lightly.
Slash!
The wooden sword grazed by a paper's width, carving the ground. His wrist twisted for the second cut. Waist. Then throat. Thigh. Four strikes chained without breather. An average knight dies at the second.
I stepped once. Half-step. Twisted, deflecting all.
Each miss tore the air.
'This guy's a monster too.'
Worthily the strongest Aura Master. Not just power—seamless sword links. Smooth aura flow, sword and body unified. Not a trained beast, but a seasoned war veteran.
Harten's eyes wavered. He felt it. I hadn't counterattacked.
Aura exploded again. Fiercer. Blue aura from heart and dantian blazed on the sword.
Not a mere slash—crushing space itself. The grounds groaned under mid-pressure.
Harten gritted his teeth.
'This... is a Sword Master?'
I was in his sight. Yet unreachable. He'd read distance, timing, breath—still, no contact. Fighting not a man, but the sword concept.
He unleashed all remaining power.
"Haaap!"
Aura burst, his wooden sword diagonal-dropping. Full sincerity. Battle, not training. As if facing an enemy commander, not the Crown Prince.
I thinned my lips upward.
And stepped. One step. Truly one.
Slipping fully inside his sword path. His wooden sword grazed my shoulder in empty air. I twisted my wrist lightly, striking his hand's back.
Thwack.
Too light. Yet next instant, his wooden sword flew from his grip pathetically. It spun midair, rolling on the ground.
My wooden sword tip halted at his throat.
He froze, forgetting to breathe. Sweat dripped from his jaw.
Aura still raged in him, but the bout ended. No—never a bout to begin with.
I withdrew my sword, smiling.
"Indeed, worthy of strongest current Aura Master."
Harten panted roughly.
"Your Highness..."
"Entertain me more."
With that, I lowered into stance again. Harten's eyes widened. Not over.
Edge knights swallowed. Strongest Aura Master downed in three exchanges. Yet the Crown Prince looked just warmed up. That sight showed why Sword Masters were revered.
Harten gritted, resetting stance.
I raised my sword tip once more.
Today, I'd enjoy a bit longer.