Children of the Holy Emperor - Chapter 368



Only Noblemtl

368. The Return of the Prodigal Son (3)

Even though her identity was clearly revealed, Dasha couldn’t leave the temporary treatment room for a while because Prince Mores’ condition seemed more critical than expected.

‘I have already heard that His Majesty’s condition is so bad that he must be kept in the palace… … .’

I never thought I would see someone who was having a normal conversation suddenly collapse from a high fever.

But unlike her who was at a loss and didn’t know what to do, everyone in the treatment room moved their bodies in unison as if this wasn’t the first or second time they had experienced something like this.

“You’ve been sweating a lot since your fever went down. I’ll bring you some clothes to change into, so please rest for a moment.”

Edith, who came running at the call of Sir Marsain, laid Prince Mores down immediately and quickly tidied up the messy bedding. She had no qualifications whatsoever as a dedicated maid, but at least she was a woman of extraordinary physical strength.

“It’s starting to get a little chilly in the evening. I think it would be a good idea to close all the curtains.”

As Prince Logan makes a slight gesture from one side, the thick curtain slides away on its own with a rustling sound.

There were rumors that the youngest Sword Master on the continent had been born, but I never thought that the legendary realm of Aura materialization would be confirmed in this way.

“Your Majesty! Are you okay? I’ll bring you a towel right away!”

The most ridiculous of them all was definitely Sir Marsain. The former commander of the Imperial Knights, who had been reduced to the prince’s nanny, was stamping his feet and squeezing a wet towel with his gloved hands in a fit of urgency.

Hwaaak-

Meanwhile, an enormous amount of divine power continued to pour down from above the prince’s head.

“Father, I think it’s okay to stop. I really don’t care anymore.”

Despite the attempts of Prince Mores, who now appeared to be in good health, the Holy Emperor pretended not to hear him and poured miracles on his head. This was truly a waste.

“Why do you keep wasting your divine power…?”

While talking, the prince’s forehead is suddenly pushed, and he chews his tongue and makes a strange sound.

Then the king nodded as if he understood.

“You still don’t seem to have much energy since you haven’t come to your senses even after this level of shock. So, don’t say anything and just lie down quietly.”

“No, are you really saying that without knowing the power of your father’s slap? And if you hit him like that without warning, anyone… …!”

“Then I’ll give you a heads up this time. Get ready.”

“…yes?”

Talk.

“Kkuek!?”

“Look at this. It has nothing to do with the preview.”

“No, this guy is really… … !”

As the prince, who was very drunk, flailed his arms in protest, the Holy Emperor pressed his forehead and nonchalantly poured out his divine power once again.

‘Your Majesty. Was this the kind of person you were?’

It was an attitude so sly that Dasha couldn’t believe he was the Sung Hwang she usually knew.

‘hmm?’

Then, Dasha felt a strange sense of emptiness and carefully looked around. When she looked, she noticed that something that should have been right in front of her eyes had not been visible for a while.

Her eyes suddenly found Galeno’s medical notes in Seonghwang’s hands. Dasha opened her mouth in surprise.

“There, Your Majesty. That is… … .”

But Dasha couldn’t continue speaking. Seonghwang noticed her gaze, turned his head, and began to quietly look at her face.

“… … .”

Silver-gray eyes so vivid that you might be mistaken for emitting light of their own.

Dasha, feeling the silent pressure of that terribly inorganic gaze, had no choice but to hesitate and greet Prince Mores.

“Your Majesty. Now is not a good time, so I will take my leave now. I will report back on Galeno’s case later… … .”

“huh?”

But when Prince Mores heard that, he tilted his head as if it was a lie!

“What report? What is Galeno?”

“… … !”

Dasha, who was flustered, turned her head towards the saint without realizing it.

However, Seonghwang, who was receiving suspicious looks, simply stroked his son’s head in a feminine manner and said this.

“It won’t be too late to report back later. It seems like the place is quite uncomfortable with so many people, so I think it would be best to send the author off now.”

‘… You know!’

Your Majesty knows everything about what just happened to Prince Mores, and why. That’s why you took Galeno’s notes yourself, so as not to attract his attention!

Suddenly, Dasha remembered the advice Breman had given her the day she had first been assigned to Prince Mores.

– Got it? Just carry out the missions that His Majesty wants you to do. That’s your role. There’s no need to think about anything else or worry about anything else.

It was a word I just passed over without thinking much of at the time. But now, somehow, its meaning felt a little different.

A warm and beautiful sight, with loving family members gathered together.

However, Prince Mores, who decorated the center of that perfect work as if it were a center stone, gave off a faint presence somewhere, like a jewel with its axis subtly off.

“What’s there to be uncomfortable about? Everyone knows anyway, so just relax, Dasha. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, so why don’t you stay a little longer?”

Innocent-looking gray eyes contrasting sharp gaze.

Dasha, who knew Prince Mores’ usually violent temper, couldn’t help but feel a strong sense of alienation from him.

Dasha slowly bowed her head to the prince, trying hard to suppress the doubts rising in her throat.

“No, Your Majesty. I will now step aside, so please take care.”

* * *

The Countess’s funeral was announced later than expected.

Although there were many who witnessed her being crushed under the dirt, the Earl of Bathurst never gave up hope of her survival and urged the search party to come forward.

But when he discovered her horribly mangled body under a pile of rubble, he was eventually forced to accept the death of his beloved wife.

In the midst of the chaos of the accident recovery, the Countess’s funeral was held quietly.

Princess Amelia attended the funeral as a representative of the Seonghwang family.

With both princes seriously injured and receiving treatment at the main palace, it was the most appropriate gesture of condolences that the Seongwang family could send to Bathurst Territory.

“Thank you very much for coming here despite your busy schedule, Amelia. May the grace of the Lord always be with you.”

A girl who looked exactly like the Countess in her younger days greeted Amelia with a sad expression.

Margaret, Countess of Bathurst.

At the time of her birthday, she was a girl who smiled innocently while sharing news of the tea party, but after experiencing the disaster of Yeongji and the death of her mother in succession, she now exudes a much more mature air.

“What can I say to comfort you? Lady Bathurst, the Countess was truly beautiful and dignified, the epitome of a noblewoman. The Empire has lost such a precious person.”

“It is a great honor that you remember my mother in this way.”

Margaret answered like that and looked back at her mother’s coffin with sad eyes.

There lies the countess, wrapped tightly in a thick veil. Her miserable body, crushed in a mound of dirt, was not worthy of being shown to others, no matter how much it was trimmed.

“First of all, I have something to apologize for. I think I won’t be able to hold the tea party that Your Majesty has requested to attend as planned… I’m so, so sorry… .”

Amelia held the poor Yeong-ae in her arms and consoled her for a long time, as she burst into tears without being able to continue speaking.

In that place was William Bathurst, who had become a completely different person in a few days. Originally, it was the Earl of Bathurst, the master of the estate, who should have personally welcomed the princess instead of the young Margaret.

But now no one could blame him for his impiety. The count, having lost his wife, had not eaten or drank anything for several days, and he looked like a man who had lost his mind, staring blankly into space.

Perhaps, if the priests had not continued to watch over him with their divine powers, the Count would have been buried alongside the Countess.

“It seems the Count is very heartbroken.”

“Human relationships are really different from what they seem on the outside. They seemed to bicker a lot, but it seems like the couple got along better than expected.”

Everyone who attended the funeral thought he was heartbroken over the loss of his wife.

But Amelia could clearly see it. The glaring light that occasionally flashed in the Count’s eyes was extreme anger that had not yet identified its target.

Amelia understood better than anyone else in the room what it felt like to lose a loved one right before your eyes.

That’s why she knew where to direct that endless sadness and anger.

“The countess was truly a capable person. She managed the inside and outside of the estates without any loopholes, taking care of details that even you, the count, were unaware of. Sometimes, I even thought that she was more worthy of the title of countess.”

That was why Amelia gave the Count a somewhat provocative greeting, something out of her usual style.

“… … .”

When the Count showed no reaction, Amelia added in a voice that sounded a little cold.

“And he was also a courageous man who sacrificed himself for the future of the territory.”

Flash!

For a moment, sparks flew from the silent Count’s eyes.

-You know what? The Countess may have actually committed suicide. She walked into the falling dirt herself, I guess?

-What? Oh my goodness! No, what on earth is the cause?

Rumors spread among those who witnessed the death of the wife, and soon they concluded that her death was a ‘suicide’ and even produced unfounded speculations about the cause.

No matter how much he had blocked his eyes and ears, there was no way the Count didn’t know that fact. He just didn’t want to believe it, so he had been denying it until now.

“That can’t be true! The princess has misunderstood something… …!”

The count jumped up as if he was going to grab Amelia by the collar at any moment.

My beloved wife would never do that. How could she make such a choice, leaving Margaret and me behind!

But before he could commit the blasphemy-

Kuung!

Suddenly, an incredible amount of energy poured down from the princess, causing the count to freeze in place.

“… … !?”

I couldn’t believe what was happening now.

The princess, who was always thought to be as fragile as a single rose, when did she become someone who could exert such a strong force and oppress people?

“The Earl of Bathurst.”

The princess, with her cold eyes that I had never seen before, gave a soft warning to the frozen count.

“Now come to your senses and face reality. Please do not let the Countess’s profound intentions go to waste any longer.”

“… … !”

“A first-class large demon species has appeared in Bathurst. Of all places, it is right here in the Count’s hunting grounds. If it had not been for the Countess’s sacrifice, who do you think would have been the first to come under the suspicion of the Inquisition?”

Princess Amelia’s point was correct.

The only casualty was that of the Earl of Bathurst, and the City of Bathurst was so willing to mourn his death that the Earl of Bathurst was barely able to maintain his position as the victim.

“There is another problem. The traces of the red curse discovered in the west of the hunting grounds stretched straight across the center of the territory to the Count’s residence. However, I did not make this fact public separately for the sake of the people of Bathurst who suffered great calamity and the honor of the Countess who chose to make a noble sacrifice.”

Amelia looked into the Count of Bathurst’s eyes, which were shaking violently, and thought back to a time long past.

A memory that is also a distant future that has not yet happened.

At that time, Amelia remembered the cold-faced woman who often visited the royal palace of Rohan. The familiar face of the woman who used to stand by Romain’s side like a confidant, now in a coffin.

-Who on earth is that imperial person that comes and goes from the royal palace of Rohan as if it were his own home?

-The Countess of Bathurst from Delcross? A woman like a poisonous spider.

-That’s right. If not a poisonous spider, then what? She killed not only her husband but also her daughter, the rightful heir to the count’s throne, with her own hands.

The woman’s husband and daughter were reportedly accused of having contact with devil worshippers.

So, after she took upon herself the murder of her beloved family, she was able to preserve her title to the House of Bathurst by being recognized for her service by the Inquisition.

-Oh my god! With my own hands?

-Even so, it is not an easy choice. She is truly a vicious woman.

That was also why Amelia expressed her intention to attend the Countess of Bathurst’s tea party, putting aside other places.

Because I know the future of the Countess of Bathurst, who eventually becomes Romain’s subordinate.

‘So I slowly got closer to them and tried to find out why the Countess made such a heartless choice.’

I never expected that my wife would choose death on her own.

‘but…….’

Amelia somehow felt like she could understand her choice.

She was a woman rumored to be capable even in the future, so she would have fully anticipated the crisis that the territory would face in the future due to the appearance of the demon species.

And maybe.

‘She was most likely already under Romain’s control. It’s probably no coincidence that the red curse symbol extended to the mansion. So it’s possible that she chose the only way to escape his influence.’

Romain is a man who often bewitches people with his strange tricks.

Amelia had fully considered the possibility that the Countess, who would become his confidant in the future, might have gone through the same process.

“A curse, that kind of… . My wife has nothing to do with that kind of thing… .”

The count, who had been muttering as if he found it hard to believe, slowly trailed off as if he had guessed something.

Suddenly, the voice of his wife calling out to him came to mind vividly.

-William! Beware of the suspicious guest coming to the mansion. He has been coming and going from the Countess of Bathurst for a long time and has been plotting something!

Someone.

There is someone who is the mastermind behind this situation!

Amelia, who saw that the Count’s eyes were slowly coming back into focus, continued speaking in a slightly softened voice.

“Don’t worry. I have no groundless suspicions about the deceased. I have complete faith in the honor of the Countess.”

There was not a shred of doubt on Amelia’s face as she declared so.

Yes. I can believe you a hundred times over. Where in the world is there anyone more harmless than a dead person?

“But Count Bathurst. You must not think that all these events were just accidental disasters. The one who summoned demons to Bathurst using the Red Curse and forced the Countess to her death is still watching this territory from somewhere.”

“… … .”

“The palace intends to pursue this matter to the end. The Knights of Saint Aurelion have already begun their investigation based on the Red Curse, and little by little, they are gaining a clue to their true identity. It will be my life’s work to uncover their plot and completely stop it before it happens.”

And Amelia, restraining herself from the momentum she had been channeling toward the Count, made a soft suggestion.

“So, Count Bathurst, will you please cooperate with me? So that I can stop the sinister forces that are trying to shake the empire, and soothe the soul of the countess who died unjustly.”

William Bathurst was silent for a while.

The count, who had been completely dried up for several days, looked no different from a half-dead corpse.

Only his eyes.

The only living part of the Count’s body was his haggard eyes, shimmering with a complex mix of sadness, doubt, and anger.

“…lowering!”

The Earl of Bathurst, who had finally made up his mind, slowly knelt before the princess.

Towards the unquestionable spokesman of the Holy Emperor, who extended his hand, saying that he would gladly turn a blind eye to the suspicions surrounding his beloved wife.

“Please allow me, Bathurst, to join in this task.”

“count.”

“I will offer my loyalty, and if necessary, all of my lands to you! I will spare no effort in the interests of the safety of the Empire! I do not ask for much in return. Only on the day when your task is completed… .”

William Bathurst, who had said so far, looked up at the princess with eager eyes.

The gleam in those intense eyes was not much different from the dazzling light that Amelia had once shown to the Holy Emperor.

“Just hand me over to him the one who killed my wife!”