Chapter 542: Jealousy is My Power (42)
Chapter 542: Jealousy is My Power (42)
At the summit of the towering temple sat a single bell.
The tolling of the bell at noon symbolized the grace of the Heavenly God Arus spreading from the heavens to the ends of the earth. How trivial and insignificant is the life of a human, who must look up at the bell tower just to find the source of that sound?
To that end, the temple always boasted a grand and majestic presence.
So that humans may remain humble before God.
Yet, even such a bell tower was nothing more than a human creation. There have always been those who coveted its sacred heights.
In fact, several powerful figures had claimed this place for themselves.
One of them stood before me now.
Second Princess Iris of the Empire.
Her cool, silver hair fluttered in the winds of the high firmament. With her back to me, the woman’s gaze was deeply submerged as she stared at the landscape beyond the railing.
This was a place where only a select few, aside from the bell-ringer, could stand. Nevertheless, there wasn't a hint of awkwardness in her posture as she looked down upon the earth with a haughty gaze.
It was the hour when starlight began to seep into the darkening land. If the night were to fully descend like this, the world would shine brightly with two heavens.
Of course, I didn't have the luxury to enjoy such a romantic sight.
There was a specific reason the two of us had climbed up here.
A low breath escaped Princess Iris’s lips.
“...Is this your first time climbing the bell tower?”
“I’m not in the habit of making unreasonable demands of the temple.”
“How unexpected.”
Despite my blunt response, there was no significant change in Iris’s expression. Perhaps she had already given up on trying to measure the man known as ‘Ian Percus.’
Even the Emperor of the Empire, a man of absolute power, could not treat me lightly.
There was no way Princess Iris could touch me either.
All of the woman’s missteps originated from that fact.
The reality that she could not crush the second son of a mere viscount with her authority.
Perhaps Iris had finally learned the correct way to deal with me.
To simply give up and speak in riddles.
Until now, only two people had been able to control me.
Reto and the Saintess.
Senior Delphine was excluded because she never even attempted to control me in the first place.
“Rumors are circulating that you have the Saintess as your lover. There could be no better place for lovers to have a secret tryst than here...”
“That is a misunderstanding.”
Because the Saintess and I weren't ‘lovers,’ we were ‘husband and wife.’
Even the Heavenly God wouldn't be able to find fault with my statement.
Of course, Princess Iris didn't seem particularly inclined to believe me. She merely snorted and looked down.
“If you have any ambition to succeed, you should learn to enjoy climbing to high places.”
“I don’t quite understand what you mean...”
“A ruler must always look down upon everything. When all humans converge into dots, all that remains are lines and masses.”
With those words, Princess Iris slowly turned to face me.
Leaning against the railing with her arms crossed, she looked somewhat relaxed. There were no prying eyes to worry about here.
With a snap, her folding fan opened, concealing the Princess’s mouth.
“Have you never dreamed of it? The dream of standing in a position higher than anyone else and looking down upon the entire world...”
“Does this have something to do with the ‘Imperial Household's Long-Cherished Wish’?”
“Of course.”
Now we were getting to the main point.
I remained silent and stared at Iris.
It was a signal for her to go on.
Princess Iris was not so dense as to miss that.
“Ahem,” Iris cleared her throat to add weight to her words, then spoke in a low voice.
“Ian Percus, what do you think of a ‘Master’?”
“...?”
At the sudden question, I couldn't help but look puzzled for a moment.
What did I think of a ‘Master’?
The name carried so many meanings and contexts that I tilted my head for a while before finally speaking.
“Well, isn't it the dream state for any martial artist...?”
“Then, what do you think I think of a Master?”
Just as I was about to let out a hollow laugh, wondering how I could possibly know what was in her heart.
A thought suddenly flashed through my mind.
‘The ruler’s perspective.’
“Or not just me—what about His Majesty the Emperor? The Papacy of the Holy Kingdom? The Round Table of the Southern Kingdoms?”
“What are you trying to say?”
I asked, my face instinctively contorting.
Depending on the context, I wouldn't have been able to complain even if I were punished for ‘blasphemy.’ To ask what the highest powers of each nation thought of a Master.
Masters were the symbols and the roots of their respective nations.
They were irreplaceable forces, beings no different from strategic weapons in and of themselves.
Without them, it would have been impossible for the three powers to hold hegemony over the continent.
Furthermore, the three Masters currently existing on the continent shared deep ties with their respective nations. Not to mention the Sword Duke, who was of the Imperial Household, or the Saint, who was a priest; even the Great Witch had created the opportunity for the birth of the Southern Kingdoms by sealing the vampires in the Great Forest.
One could not insult such great figures.
Just as I was about to get worked up and add another word.
Princess Iris snapped her fan shut and wore a mysterious smile. It was as if she had already anticipated this reaction.
“Are you asking how I could possibly doubt a Master?”
“Well, I mean... isn't the Sword Duke also a great elder of the Imperial Household?”
“That is true. ‘Fortunately,’ that is.”
Unlike me, who was stuttering in my fluster, Princess Iris’s attitude was nothing but composed.
“What if the Great-Grandfather wasn't a Master? Or, what if a Master who doesn't belong to the three powers appears? What should we do if a newly born Master holds a grudge against the Empire?”
“Well, that’s...”
“It’s too uncertain.”
It was a flat assertion.
A declaration that my opinion wasn't even worth a moment's consideration.
I should have felt offended, but for some reason, I didn't feel like arguing against her claim.
Because it was the truth.
“Hundreds of millions of people live in the Empire. Have you never thought about how terrible and strange it is that the fate of this great nation depends on the whims of a single person... that it depends on a variable that can neither be predicted nor controlled?”
It was something I had never considered.
Until recently, I was nothing more than the second son of a rural viscount. Stories about ‘Masters’ or ‘national power’ were like another world to me.
But what if I were the Emperor of the Empire?
For now, things were fine. There were no signs of another Master being born on the continent, and the Masters of the three powers were living quietly while protecting their respective homelands.
There was just no guarantee that it would remain that way.
Nevertheless, I hastily put forward a counterargument.
“Is there any other way? The existence of a ‘Master’ is an undeniable fact, and as long as there is no means to fundamentally prevent the birth of such a being...!”
“Think of it the other way around.”
With a smile that hid her true intentions, she took a step forward.
Before I knew it, the distance between me and Princess Iris had closed significantly. Once again, the woman’s blue eyes were reflected on my retinas.
A flickering flame.
How could I define that emotion?
The Princess whispered.
“It is impossible to block the birth of a Master. But, what if we could mass-produce them...?”
And my breath hitched.
My eyes widened as I looked at the Princess. The woman’s lips, close to my ear, were curled into a feverish arc.
“Would our Empire still have to tremble before a single Master then? And what country would dare to defy the words of our Empire?”
“But, that’s...”
“Impossible, you say?”
Along with a sweet breath that tickled my eardrums, Iris let out a soft laugh.
Finally, the woman’s voice began to drift away.
“Everyone said so. That it was an unfeasible plan... My predecessors said so, my father said so, and even the Sword Duke said so.”
“Doesn't that mean it’s impossible after all?”
“No, it’s possible.”
Her words were laced with a strange conviction.
The fire in Princess Iris’s eyes showed no sign of going out. On the contrary, its brilliance only seemed to intensify as time passed.
It was an obsession that naturally brought the word ‘madness’ to mind.
“Ian Percus, how much do you know about ‘Secret Arts’?”
“Aren't they techniques that contain the enlightenment of martial artists?”
“Yes, that’s right. And the interesting thing about Secret Arts is that their utility doesn't just stop at the acquisition of a technique. Those who master a Secret Art always show an improvement in their skills.”
I let out a low hum and sank into thought.
That was true.
At the end of battles where I hovered between life and death, my hands always grasped the tail of a hazy enlightenment. Only then was I able to properly wield a Secret Art.
It was only natural for one’s skills to take a step forward in that process.
Princess Iris seemed to want to claim that this was another function of a ‘Secret Art.’
“The reason is simple. Because they are techniques that contain the enlightenment of martial artists who have reached a high level... in the process of learning that technique, fragments of the enlightenment the martial artist gained are also absorbed.”
“So? You’re not saying that if one just blindly masters Secret Arts, they might reach the level of a Master...?”
“You hit the nail on the head!”
For the second time, my breath stopped.
What is she talking about?
My gaze, filled with pure doubt, turned toward the Princess. However, Princess Iris, already as excited as she could be, didn't care in the slightest about my expression.
“That’s exactly it, Ian Percus! What if we gathered all the Secret Arts from across the continent and crammed them into a single human?”
“This is insane...”
At this point, I realized.
The woman standing before me was not just a ruler.
“The strongest martial artist, having mastered the Secret Arts and enlightenment of every school, would be born... It’s not about ‘talent’ or ‘coincidence.’ It is an inevitable god, made by human hands!”
This woman is out of her mind.
“This is the long-cherished wish of our Imperial Household...”
She is a lunatic.
“Commonly known as the ‘Artificial God (Deus ex machina)’ project.”
And she was also a ruler with the power to make a madman’s dream come true.
The woman’s eyes were now drenched in ecstasy. Facing this, I felt a drop of sweat trickle down my spine.
‘I’m screwed.’
I thought to myself, realizing I had just laid hands on knowledge I should never have heard.