Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Minster Family (4)
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The coachman arrived at the office, carefully glancing around.
He knocked politely and entered.
Inside, there were not only the emperor but also a host of heavyweights.
The Capital Defense Knight Commander, Greta.
The Red Lion, Tutton Grand Duke.
And finally, the empire's First Prince, Ivan Andalusia.
The coachman gauged whether he should return later.
"Come in. It's fine."
The emperor beckoned, and the underling shuffled inside hesitantly.
He stood cautiously among the big shots and reported on his mission.
"Your Majesty, I have something worth reporting."
"I see. For you to come at this late hour, it must be important."
Bodewang VIII gestured for him to come closer.
Since those present today were rivals for the princess's hand, he listened as a whisper.
"......"
The silver-haired prince and the red-haired Tutton Grand Duke watched the emperor with interest.
But soon, their interest turned to full immersion in the coachman's report.
The emperor's expression was growing increasingly grave.
"That's all I saw."
Those with high mana levels noticed it immediately.
The emperor, sitting silently, was growing stronger by the moment.
His back muscles twitched like in his days as a war hero sweeping battlefields.
"Derek Minster......"
The emperor muttered the report's subject without realizing it.
Greta, who knew him personally, asked politely.
"Has the warden caused trouble again?"
Bodewang VIII had a trait: when anger boiled, his words grew few.
Knowing this well, the knight commander plugged her ears with her fingers.
After a long silence......
There was always the lion's mighty roar.
The emperor, Bodewang VIII, bellowed in front of all his close aides.
Though clearly over seventy, his entire body rippled with muscle.
"Your Majesty, what do you mean......?"
"Does that mean Derek Minster entered Her Highness Camillia's bedroom?"
The prince and Tutton asked in turn.
Despite being the princess's rivals, the furious emperor spoke without hesitation.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. Her Highness Princess pulled him in first. The man just followed."
Judging he'd blown things out of proportion, the underling tried to salvage the situation.
But the emperor's mind held only one serpent slithering into the bedroom.
Tutton Grand Duke, understanding the situation, chuckled.
He explained to the emperor he served what had happened.
Ivan was dumbfounded at the news his only sister might have a boyfriend.
The sister he knew was a staunch celibate.
Fierce beast-like breaths snorted from the emperor's nostrils.
His eldest son, Ivan, stared steadily at the enraged figure before speaking softly.
"But what did he intend to do by taking him to the bedroom?"
The prince, with silver hair like Derek's, tapped his temple.
After a few taps, he asked the coachman.
"When Warden Derek came out of the bedroom, how did his condition look?"
"He looked very healthy. In fact, stronger than when he entered."
"How long was he inside?"
"He came out very quickly. Less than thirty minutes."
Ivan nodded slowly.
"Your Majesty, I don't think there's cause for such worry."
The emperor still emanated golden mana.
His 25-year-old eldest son smiled maturely, soothing him.
"If they'd been intimate, wouldn't he have emerged even more vigorous? In just thirty minutes, no less."
The sovereign, of grandmaster and archmage lineage, declared proudly.
For a moment, his office fell utterly silent.
"......Warden Derek isn't imperial blood. I hear his father, Count Damon, has no special lineage either."
Ivan continued calmly.
"From what I see, she probably gave him a skill tome or elixir stored in the bedroom. It makes sense if he emerged stronger."
"That fits perfectly."
Tutton Grand Duke boldly agreed.
Only the emperor......
Like a sulky beast full of spite, he stewed in silence with a grumpy face.
His extraordinary talent only fueled suspicion.
If he were mediocre, the emperor might not think twice, but that tongue at the hearing.
His cute daughter, like a young lion cub new to men, could fall for it.
Ivan cleared his throat, seeing the emperor fully deluded.
No one else in the world saw the empire's top spear as cute.
Unlike the taciturn father and daughter, Prince Ivan was born sociable.
He waited with an awkward smile until his father cooled down.
Tutton Grand Duke did the same.
Only Greta, who never spared advice, remained expressionless.
"Your Majesty, may I speak?"
The Capital Defense Knights were the empire's elite guardians.
Composed of the upright and incorruptible, their commander spoke her mind.
"Your Majesty seems unusually strict only with Warden Derek."
"......!!"
A single phrase piercing the emperor's heart.
Prince Ivan and Tutton flinched, looking at Greta.
But the black-haired woman with sharp eyes pressed on.
"Frankly, Warden Derek was disowned by his family and bullied and extorted in school."
She fired heavy facts like a multi-barrel crossbow on the walls.
"Yet he endured six years to graduate, and to prevent others suffering as he did, he entered the empire's worst prison of his own will."
The listening prince and duke were dumbfounded.
They knew the Minster family's notoriety, but not Derek's ordeals.
"At first, I cooperated because his records were suspiciously erased. But he's already proven innocent."
The office atmosphere turned solemn.
Even Tutton and Ivan, who always smiled at him, stared intently at the emperor.
"Your Majesty, this is a bit much."
"No matter how precious your sister, he's a citizen too. This is unfair."
"......"
Shadows fell over the emperor's heated face.
Beads of sweat formed on his brow and trickled down.
"Camillia must have helped him out of pity for his rough life. He was hit with Confession Magic, I hear."
"By imperial law, if innocence is proven under Confession Magic, the caster bears lifelong responsibility."
He'd raised his prince too well.
Bodewang VIII, lord of the world, was speechless under the point-by-point support fire.
"In such an environment, he'd naturally mature early......"
Sweat pooled on the emperor's forehead.
His golden eyebrows glistened wet.
"If you're so suspicious of Derek, why not attend the northern tournament yourself?"
The prince suggested a compromise, urging his father northward.
"Warden Derek is entering as Berryhill's representative. People reveal their true selves in crises."
The emperor pondered briefly.
Come to think of it, he'd felt much healthier lately.
Before, having achieved all, he'd have rested everything away.
Now, new gossip revived his vigor.
Greta judged the emperor calm enough.
She agreed, adding the northern visit to the schedule.
With aides not siding with him, the emperor pouted, lips pursed.
The eldest son and Greta bowed, hiding smiles.
"Understood, Your Majesty."
"Good night."
Thus ended the raucous audience.
Prince Ivan and Tutton Grand Duke walked the corridor, chatting.
"Her Highness is bold. First love or not, inviting him to her chambers already."
"You think they've been intimate too?"
"Honestly, it's suspicious enough. If it were my daughter, I'd rage too."
Prince Ivan, hands behind back, narrowed his eyes.
Unlike father and sister, he had swift, silver-wolf eyes.
"Hard to say. A little thought shows nothing happened."
He knew the lewd novels Camillia hid as a child.
By those, a mate wouldn't return vigorous.
Besides, her thigh strength rivaled a monster elephant's.
If serious, no ordinary man lasts minutes.
Yet Derek returned stronger.
Clearly, she'd given an imperial elixir.
Probably to shine in the tournament, earning respect.
Sensing this, the prince mounted his white horse, chin high.
"Grand Duke, the tournament prospects are reliable?"
"Of course, Your Highness. Our top elites, even eastern swordsmen."
"If they face Derek, press him hard. He breaks, her faction crumbles."
"Noted."
The prince raised a finger.
And warned.
"No dirty tricks. You know my Holy See troubles?"
"Engraved deep."
Ivan rode to his palace.
Derek Minster lodged deep in his mind too.
"The one Camillia fancies......"
Defeat in tournament means dismissal from warden post.
At that broken moment, he'd snag him.
Since old, he'd poached her eye's talents.
"This'll be fun."
Even handing precious elixirs personally.
The empire's First Prince grew curious about his talent.
'Surely just boosting strength?'
Suddenly, myths of kidnapping handsome boys for marriage surfaced.
Ivan shuddered.
Meanwhile, in the dark night's annex palace.
Well-kept gardens were vast and quiet.
I'd stepped out to train, refining the elixir's power within.
This should do.
I sat cross-legged, hands on knees.
Meditating, I absorbed the continent's finest lineage essence.
"Hoo......"
The more power settled, the more sensitive my body grew.
Sounds and senses I'd ignored came alive.
Distant insects wriggling.
Leaves rustling in night breeze.
And......
Someone leaning against a far tree.
'Hm? Someone in the garden?'
I followed the faint presence to a woman approaching.
An unexpected figure.
"Oh, Lord Derek."
"Lady Eri? Why are you here?"
I looked up at her with a puzzled expression.
The woman in modest skirt and blouse crouched gracefully.
Her beautiful pink hair spilling onto the grass.
"I won a contest prize here in the annex."
"Ah, the palace awards prizes. I had no idea."
I unfolded and stood.
Then strolled the garden beside Eri.
"I never dreamed I'd meet you here."
"Same. Even in the same annex, it's so vast."
"Night walks spark inspiration sometimes."
"Me too. Nights feel more vibrant than days."
Eri giggled, pointing at my sharp eyes.
"You do seem stronger than before."
Keen-eyed as a top author.
To her, now friendly, I dropped a hint.
Staying close to Eri could link to Anje.
Their exchange might tame the saintess's ferocity.
"Got a good elixir. Lucky."
"Elixir?"
"Yes. Gave Her Highness a ring; she repaid with top-grade elixir."
"......"
The pink-haired lady halted abruptly.
Staring blankly up at me.
"Who'd you give a 'ring' to......?"
Her once-radiant ruby eyes darkened instantly.
Like the blood sea in the saintess's pupils.
After 'ring', she scrutinized my body.
Soon realizing.
The mana flowing through me......
Had tinged slightly golden, imperial exclusive.