Chapter 24: Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Various people were seated in the banquet hall. There were chandeliers made of colorful crystals above the heads of those who showed off in their colorful clothes. Everyone marveled at the chandeliers and magic stones floating.

“As expected, Larchen is different.”

“It’s amazing. How much is the magic power that sustains it?”

“Isn’t it natural because it’s a magic empire?”

It was a decoration that showed the majesty of the empire. Berthas’ party couldn’t help but admire it.

“What’s floating over there… Is it a video stone?”

Hector clicked his tongue while looking at the video stones installed throughout the banquet hall.

“That expensive thing…”

“Strictly speaking, it was made in Larchen.”

They were busy looking around.

“Is it the first time you’ve seen something like this since you’re from a far-flung country that can’t even be called an empire?”

It was Usman.

Berthas gazed at him as he spoke with a graceful smile. Their gazes collided in the air, creating tension. Usman, dressed in the robes of the desert empire, was almost exposing his upper body. The lightly wrapped cloth seemed insufficient to cover his tight muscles.

“You are almost naked.”

“Oh, this is what it is.”

Usman’s lips drew an arc at Berthas, who was beckoning at him. His odd-eye, scanning his own body, shone brightly and turned towards Berthas.​

“It’s nothing, isn’t it? And if you’re a man, you should have this much.”

“Think carefully about whether your head is full of muscle.”

“It’s not what I’m talking about.”

Usman sneered as he looked at Berthas’ robes.

“What is that attire? I will lend you our imperial clothes.”

“This is enough.”

“It’s black from head to toe. You do not know beauty.”

“Better than the naked one.”

Passing through the criticism without hesitation, Berthas looked straight ahead.

“Aren’t you wondering why I’m here?”

The next moment, he was startled by the sudden whisper in his ear and turned to Usman.

“There are rumors that the Empress will hold a national marriage.”

“A national marriage?”

This was some interesting news… National marriage.

“So, there were rumors that they were looking for someone who would become her husband this New Year’s Eve.”

“The rumor that the empress was missing came first, wasn’t it?”

“Do you believe it?”

Usman raised the glass to Berthas, who didn’t say anything.​

“Not everyone here will believe it. If the Empress disappeared, all barriers here would lose their power.”

The Imperial Castle of the Larchen Empire was a place protected by the magic of the Imperial Family. It was a place that could collapse if it was not periodically injected with the power of the imperial family. The fact that the barrier had been maintained normally so far meant that the imperial family was still alive.

“She may have been imprisoned.”

“‘That Empress? No way.”

“You know her well.”

“She was the best woman I’ve ever seen.”

“Best…?”

“I have never seen anyone so beautiful. Her hair, which burns like the sun, and eyes that shine like a starry night.”

Berthas said coldly, looking at Usman’s dreamy appearance somewhere.

“It was the first time I knew that the Crown Prince of the Khalifa Empire was a poet.”

“Ha! When you see her, you will have no choice but to admit it.”

“Get away from me. Why do you keep talking to me?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be exiling our empire soon?”

“No.”

“It’s easy to dash away too. There’s no place for you in Hillenton anyway, right? Don’t sacrifice your power and defect to our side?”

Berthas’ men were tense at Usman’s words, which he uttered jokingly, but the content was not.

They were feeling it, too. Berthas were too under-recognized for his abilities. No, he was rather superior in his abilities, so he was not able to establish himself in the empire. Would it have been different if his abilities had been a little less?

‘If such a person had been the royal family of the Empire, the country would have been better.’

Hector was sad.

However, Berthas drank the spring waters of the oath, promising to give up the imperial throne. Due to the binding force of the spring, Berthas could not ascend the throne of Hillenton. The spring water of the oath was precious holy water that could only be obtained by going to the land of the gods.

It was to be taken as a promise to each other in the case of a marriage between the empires, or in the case of having a superior person as a subordinate. If a person who drank the spring water violated the contents of the pledge, they would die instantly. It was to be redeemed with their life.

Berthas were the last to use the spring of oath. He was the Imperial Family of the Hillenton Empire who could not ascend to the throne.

,…Berthas Hillenton.

At Usman’s insulting words, Berthas did not budge.

‘It is impossible to ascend to the throne.’

As he was told that he could do anything if he did not become Emperor, he dreamed of the fall of the Hillenton Empire. He didn’t care where they were going to perish anyway, so he was okay with the insult upon him.

He wanted to get rid of Hillenton if he could.

“It’s none of your business.”

His subordinates breathed a sigh of relief at his resolute words. Berthas could feel Usman looking at him in surprise though Berthas didn’t say any more. It was because the chief attendant’s words were heard.

“Her Majesty the Empress enters!”

Isilis was in the midst of preparing for the New Year’s Eve.

“It’s annoying.”

At her words, the handmaids bowed their heads and retreated. It was really annoying. Her vicariously decorated hair was heavy, and her makeup face tickled. Her clothes were clunky and heavy, and lastly, she was upset that she hadn’t finished dressing up.

“You have to be patient. Your Majesty.”

Even though she could hear the chief handmaid talking, she couldn’t calm her heart. It was all because of that man. Since she met the man yesterday, he had been the one who kept ringing in her ears.

Even looking at the child, the man’s face came to mind with hair similar to that man’s.

“Ha…”

“Are you tired?”

The imperial doctor approached her as she continued to sigh.

“No.”

“Exactly fourteen times so far.”

“I will stop now.”

Casting her gaze at the Imperial Palace, Isilis rose from her seat.

“You can’t get up yet!”

“What do you mean no?”

“The moon will rise soon.”

The chief handmaid told her to straighten her posture as she slumped back into her seat.

“Still, since you are today’s stars, you have to be pretty.”

“There is no use for the empress to be pretty.”

“You used to say that even when you were a princess.”

“I don’t want to hear it.”

She cut off the chief handmaid’s words, who was about to start nagging. When Isilis turned her head, the chief handmaid spoke with a smile.

“Now that you are a decent parent, you need to be stronger.”

“I know.”

The chief handmaid looked at her with her mouth shut and gave a strange smile.

‘You talk a lot today.’

It was different from what it was before. It was the first time the chief handmaid had spoken so long to her. While she filtered the nobles to some extent, but tensions surged because she could not properly identify the impure parts of the Imperial Palace.

‘No way, the chief handmaid…’

She knew that information was constantly leaking out to others. How could there be a mess during the month she was away?

Fortunately, Duke Verus was well centered, and nothing happened. It was fortunate that from the beginning, she ordered Duke Verus to act on the side of the nobility. Otherwise, the Imperial Palace could have been occupied by nobles while she was away.​

“Maybe, it was the magic.”

“What did you say?”

When the imperial doctor asked about her muttering words, she shook her head.

“Nothing.”

She had to deal with the guards inside the palace. Isilis decided to present the princess on the New Year’s festival as a starting point, so she had to get rid of all those who would harm the child.

Seeing her bright blue eyes with determination, the imperial doctor bowed his head.

‘…A wind of blood will blow in the Imperial Palace.’

When the successor appeared, a bloody purge followed.

For almost a year and a half, the Empress must not have been idle. The imperial doctor got goosebumps about everything she had plotted behind and with Faylos at the forefront. Meanwhile, the chief handmaid did not know the whereabouts of the Empress, until a month ago.

Isilis hid it so thoroughly. The birth of the imperial family and the vacancy of the Empress.

He wondered about everything prepared for those who did not know the fear of the Empress. Witnessing the Empress’ early cruelty, the imperial doctor prostrated himself. He was with the empress when she was the princess, where she punished a handmaid for handing over her position to another noble.

The movements of the Imperial Family were confidential.

There was no mercy for the handmaiden who handed over her secrets. The handmaid’s family disappeared without a word. Fortunately, the handmaid was killed instantly by the Princess on the spot. And, he was the one who witnessed all of the handmaid’s body being thrown on the mountain.

‘I had nightmares about it for a while.’

The Empress’ hands were relentless. Witnessing her magic against the handmaid, the imperial doctor had been loyal to her since that day.

‘Those who haven’t seen her hand yet will still do a betrayal. What can I say?’

The other nobles may have no pride, but pride was essential to him, who practiced medicine. It would be a different story if the Empress were betting on his affairs, but she didn’t do anything about it.

Following her orders, he still served the Empress, and he studied medicine deep in the Imperial Palace—a study to improve the Empress’ idiosyncratic constitution that collides with other people’s magical powers. She was alone studying a state secret that should not be known to anyone.

“What are you going to do?”

“I have to take care of the princess.”

“Then, will you bring the Princess?”

“That’s right.”

“When?”

“I’ll be there in half an hour after the banquet starts.”

“Yes.”

After having a brief conversation in front of the door of the banquet hall, the imperial doctor bowed his head and backed away. She beckoned to the attendant, who then shouted.

“Her Majesty the Empress enters!”

—

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