CH 13

Chief Chamberlain Louis entered the office and was startled. It was because the Holy Emperor was lying on the sofa in his office with his hand on his forehead.

It was a rare look from the young holy emperor.

When he saw the chessboard lying on one side of the table, he smiled knowingly.

“Come to think of it, today was the day the twin princess and prince had an audience. Did you play chess again?”

Nate let out a murmur.

“It’s getting more and more difficult to deal with those two. Can’t they simply play like children?”

“Isn’t it something you can just lose?”

“If I don’t do my best, it’s a problem because they’ll notice it like a ghost.”

Well, they were very intelligent twins. The chamberlain nodded his head.

“By the way, what about Amelia?”

Louis knew that the Holy Emperor had been keenly aware of the situation at the Silver Rose Labyrinth recently.

Two mornings ago, the First Princess had a sudden seizure and called the imperial doctor. Although he had heard reports of no particular abnormalities in her health.

“They says she eats less and is a little depressed.”

“Okay.”

“And I heard that she visited the Pearl Palace twice.”

“… That is surprising.”

Two children who never seemed to get close started coming and going. It’s certainly a welcome thing, but it would rather prove that what happened to Amelia wasn’t just a change of heart.

Nate sighed as he got up from the couch.

“It would be nice if she could tell me what the hell is going on at the audience tomorrow.”

At that time, the Holy Emperor could not even imagine what kind of trouble his lovely daughter would bring him.

* * *

Unwillingly, the direction of a naive girl’s life changes completely, and thanks to this, her father is going to grab the back of his neck1.

However, Seongjin, the culprit behind all of this, was heading to the gymnasium with a throbbing heart, unaware of anything. This is because the swordsmanship class with Marthain, who has finally finished taking over, has begun.

He’s was a little sorry for the adjutant who took on the duties of the knight commander. However, being able to have one-on-one lessons with a motivated swordsmanship teacher all day long was an opportunity that would not have been easily obtained if it were not for the prince.

Seongjin was a little impatient because he wanted to come in contact with the unknown power to come quickly.

After a couple of laps around the empty gymnasium without a resident engineer training somehow, Seongjin finished his warm-up with his usual national gymnastics. However, Marthain, who was watching him closely, wrinkled his forehead.

“Your Highness, is it okay if we continue the class as it is? Aren’t you feeling uncomfortable somewhere?”

“Huh? I’m fine though? Why?”

Now he’s got some strength and he can move.

Seongjin was puzzled and asked, and Marthain asked again.

“Are you sure you have fully recovered from the fever?”

“The doctor said it was okay to exercise. Why, is something wrong?”

“But why is the Aura……”

Marthain looked carefully at Seongjin’s complexion and then continued with a rather serious face.

“A while ago, I thought it was because you just woke up from the sickbed. I don’t know why Your Highness’ Aura activity is still so weak like a sick person even though you’ve recovered.”

Aura is the power that is the basis of life that spreads evenly throughout the world. It is said that even if you are not an aura user who performs contraction from the outside, a certain amount of aura activity will basically occur if you have a normal body.

Occasionally, in the case of a weak person or a person with a disease, this aura activity is weakened. However, Morres’ body is said to be extremely inactive, like a person with a serious illness.

“Can you see it? I can’t even see Aura.”

“Of course it is not visible. However, if you become accustomed to feeling the flow of the Aura, it is possible to guess the degree of activity within the body by detecting the movement of the Aura around you.”

It is said that Aura originally has the property to distribute evenly like air or water. If you try to collect the Aura that has flowed into your body without sending it out, the Aura will move faster and faster to fill the gap.

So, the more Aura is used, the more energy is used, the more naturally Aura moves around that person.

It is also a way to indirectly guess the state of others, Marthain added.

“… Oh, come to think of it!”

There was something that suddenly came to Seongjin’s mind. These were the words Doctor Ninnias had said in passing during his last regular check-up.

-Compared to normal people, it seems that the activation of the Aura in the body is a little weak, so I think that recovery will be faster if you put in effort at least in Aura practice.

When he told that to Marthain, he tilted his head.

“Did the doctor say that? There aren’t many members of the clinic who really feel the activation of Aura, but he seems to be quite experienced.”

“Yes, Doctor Ninnias didn’t seem to take it too seriously. I heard that I was inherently insensitive to Aura, isn’t that why?”

However, Marthain seemed very surprised by Seongjin’s words. He breathed in vain and immediately stared at Seongjin’s face with round eyes.

What? Is it strange that I say that his Aura is dull?

As expected, he was seriously contemplating whether he should break the plate at least once, but Marthain opened his mouth with a slightly pale face.

“Your Highness previously……”

He licked his lips for a while, as if his mouth still didn’t come off, then swallowed dryly and cleared his throat.

“As far as I know, before you got sick, your Aura activity wasn’t much different from that of normal people.”

“Really?”

“Yes, Your Highness. So, if it’s not the aftereffects of a fever, what could be the cause?”

Somehow, when he first opened his eyes in Morres’ body, he thought it was exceptionally heavy. Maybe it wasn’t just because of being overweight.

Anyway, it was fine now. It’s not too hard to move.

Seongjin swung his arms around to loosen his shoulders and spoke indifferently.

“I must have lost a lot of weight and my body was a bit weak. I’ll be fine soon.”

Marthain had a slightly confused expression, but soon nodded.

“Yes, the doctor has some truth. It’s true that once you start contracting your Aura, your Aura activity will increase, so even if you have the aftereffects of your illness, your recovery will be quicker.”

Then he began to elaborate on how to meditate. It was the first step towards full-fledged Aura training.

* * *

At that time, in the Holy Emperor’s office, the countdown started with a large bomb manufactured by Seongjin the day before in Amelia’s hand.

“Hmm……”

Amidst the heavy silence, Holy Emperor Nate let out a short sigh.

Audience time with his daughter alone. This is because his daughter, who would normally talk for hours about the flowers and accessories she received as a gift and the prince she admired, kept her mouth shut.

He looked down at Amelia’s rosy hair, her head bowed down, and his eyebrows furrowed slightly. Because that little head is full of worries.

Nate decided to untie the knots one by one. First of all, he tried to change her mood by conveying news that her daughter would like.

“Amelia. About the Second Prince of Rohan you always talk about.”

Confirming Amelia’s flinching reaction, he continued.

“He sent me a letter saying he would visit here soon. As if he’s going to eventually become the crown prince instead of his sickly older brother. It looks like he’s trying to solidify his position as the crown prince by receiving official teachings.”

Leonard of Rohan.

A sleazy bastard who sings that his daughter has longed for him since last year.

Although it was distasteful to directly deliver the news of the scandalous bastard, it is said that parents cannot beat their children. His daughter said that she likes him, so what more can he say?

However, his daughter’s reaction, which he thought would be delighted, was completely unexpected. Amelia lifted her head in a flash, and soon he noticed that jewel-like tears began to drip from her large gray eyes.

“Father, Your Majesty, this girl does not want to meet Leonard! That cruel man will eventually become the source of evil that will harm me, Morres, and Delcross!”

Nate was instantly taken aback by his daughter’s sudden violent reaction.

And bombs were dropped on him.

“Your Majesty, I… retured from death to the past!”

It was a sudden bolt from out of the blue.

Afterwards, Amelia’s complaints poured out as if a blocked dam had burst, shaking the office like a storm.

To sum it up roughly, Leonard, that damn bastard, seduced his beloved daughter, openly spied on her, deceived and mistreated her, and soon began to physically and mentally abuse her. Even that was not enough, she was confined in a cold tower for years, and finally killed in front of his eyes.

And his daughter returned to the past from that gruesome death?

These were stories that were not easily believable.

“Aah! Your Majesty was so against it from the beginning, but this foolish daughter of yours ruined everything!”

“……”

Nate just stared blankly at his daughter, who was now starting to sob.

There was a lot to say, but he couldn’t easily ask any of them. It was because Amelia’s voice pouring out like she was vomiting was so desperate.

“Last night, this girl had a lot of troubles too. Will I embrace this secret alone? If so, how far can a girl’s power change the future? Even coming here, I was constantly conflicted. However!”

“……”

“It is a conspiracy that begins within the royal family of a neighboring country. These are events that will bring about a great war on the continent. If I don’t discuss all of this with Father, the greatest monarch of the continent, who can I ask for help?”

At least, as if it were true that she had been thinking all night, thick dark circles were sitting on Amelia’s always neat face.

“… I am well aware that all of this is nonsense for Your Majesty to hear. But for me, every day was like hell. Those vivid memories cannot be dismissed as a midday nightmare.”

“Is… that so?”

“Yes. Your Majesty the Holy Emperor, Father. It has been a long time since I came back.”

She swallowed sadly for a moment, then raised her head.

“So this girl will take revenge. I will pursue him to the ends of hell. I will crush all his hopes and utterly ruin them. I won’t forgive anything that gets in my way!”

“……”

“Only his body will appease this girl’s hunger, and his blood will satisfy my thirst.”

Fufufufufu.

His daughter, who was like a single rose, laughs gloomily while making a scary sound.

Nate blinked in bewilderment. Had he been misinformed about this child all this time?

Okay, let’s just say everything Amelia said is true. Even so, is this tender child calmly harboring a sword of malice towards others?

She is the daughter who did not hold a single grudge against the Marquis2 who neglected her as a child. How can a person’s personality itself change like this in one day?

As he stared at his daughter’s venomous eyes, which were only unfamiliar to him, Louis, the chief chamberlain, who was watching from the side, tipped off to him.

“Apparently she has been hanging out with Prince Morres recently……”

“……”

That’s right, Mores.

Nate let out a small sigh.

From some time ago, there was always that child in every causal distortion.

“… Amelia.”

The Holy Emperor did not hastily say that he believed in her.

Nor did he console her that it was simply her nightmare and that it would not be true.

He just asked this.

“It must have been a very long and painful time for you. Shouldn’t you be compensated for this now?”

“……”

“If I use my hand, Leonard, he won’t be king. You will not go to Rohan, you will find other happiness in Delcross. Why do you want to throw away the time you regained for revenge?”

But Amelia firmly shook her head.

“I came to realize that a girl’s happiness could never be separated from her revenge. Your Majesty.”

A blue light is burning in the eyes of the daughter who was just beautiful and neat.

The Holy Emperor realized. She can’t be stopped.

In the end, he had no choice but to ask in a low voice.

“Do you have… a specific plan?”

If it is unavoidable, as a father, he has no choice but to generously pour in advice.

“After he took the throne, didn’t he go through a complicated process to find a reason to confine me? In order to guess the power structure at the time, it is necessary to find out the current situation of Rohan……”

“I don’t know how it was possible for you to be so completely cut off from Delcross. Even in Rohan, there are many talented subjects of Delcross. What I remember about that place……”

“Isn’t it strange why it should have been a Holy War? Instead of a war, it’s possible Rohan was trying to draw in allies under the guise of a Holy War……”

“Daughter, that Leonard is not a person with exceptional strength. Aren’t you out of shape when you’re so easily hit by a dagger? Swordsmanship class starting tomorrow……”

The tea time with his daughter turned into an insidious time plotting the destruction of the royal family of a neighboring country.

After seeing off Princess Amelia safely, Louis entered the office and stopped in shock. It was because the Holy Emperor was lying face down on his refreshment table with his hand covering the back of his neck.

Arguably, it was the first time the chief chamberlain had seen this in his many years as an assistant.

The Holy Emperor groaned a little.

“I’d rather just play chess for a week and a half……”

T/N:

Truthfully I was gonna stop editing for the day back in chapter 11 but I’m really on a roll today so I decided to just continue. So expect a few more updates after this!

Nate is such an affectionate and supportive father to his kids T_T So what if his daughter wants to absolutely destroy the life of a prince from another country? He’ll make sure that she can do it while staying as safe as possible ^_^

1When people grab their neck in stress. Nate will be doing this a lot when dealing with children, ESPECIALLY Morres.

2Just a reminder, Amelia’s mom was an illegitimate daughter to a marquis and Amelia’s life was pretty miserable before Nate found her and brought her to the imperial palace.