CH 145

At first, Max lost all sense of reason and became extremely angry to the point where he wanted to pull out his sword and attack his master. However, his violent and destructive thoughts gradually subsided when he recalled Jubelian’s words from before.

“Thank you for being angry for me. But what you said to my father back there was too much.”

Max felt his head clear and his reason return as her words suppressed his ferocious impulses. ‘There’s no way a man who cares so much about his daughter will just sit by and watch her fall into danger. Still… I want to see her in front of me.’ In his head, he understood that he needed to stay calm, but he couldn’t stay still due to his anxiousness. The only way he was going to feel relieved was after he checked that she was okay with his own eyes.

A sense of desperation overcame Max, as if he were stranded in a desert wishing for a drop of water. Such desperation made the arrogant man kneel in front of his master. “Tell me where she is, master. Please,” he barely let out with all his pride laid down. Still, kneeling and bowing was nothing if it meant that he could see her right away.

Regis, who was quietly observing Max, soon opened his mouth. “Go to the annex where the Room of Shadows is.”

Max’s eyes widened and he raised his voice when his master mentioned the Room of Shadows. “Why are you telling me that now? What if she goes in there and ends up becoming trapped?!” Regis silently stared at his disciple who had returned to his impudent self. Max gritted his teeth and spit out, “I’ll bring her back first, then we’ll talk.”

After his disciple quickly disappeared from his sight, Regis quietly murmured to himself. “I needed to make sure that you would protect her even if… I happened to be gone.”

Max rushed to the annex, without the slightest clue about what his master was saying. ‘Why did she go to that place anyway? That idiot.’ The Room of Shadows was the most perfect prison cell in this world; it was so perfect that it didn’t even require guards. Although the key to the cell existed, it was only used to seal the door. The only people who could open and close the cell freely without artifacts were descendents of the royal family. Max thought everything would be fine since the door normally remained closed, but he was still driven by impetuosity. He frantically ran towards his destination and soon caught sight of the annex.

‘I can definitely feel… Wait, what is that aura?’ The descendents of the royal family had a distinctly different aura from normal people, which was said to be due to the special lineage of the first emperor, the archmage.

“I carry the blood of the great race of Dragon. For this reason, my descendents, you will be able to become a wizard like me.” The authenticity of this statement, which was claimed to be spoken by the first emperor, was unknown, but it was certainly true that the descendents of the royal family carried a special aura. Their energy was the reason why they could open and close the doors to the Room of Shadows.

‘Who’s next to her?’ Two direct descendents of the royal family passed by in Max’s head. He didn’t know if it was his stepsister or father, but was confident that one of them was with Jubelian. ‘If you even dare to touch her fingertip, I’ll kill you.’ Max quickly approached the location where he felt Jubelian’s presence coming from, leaving behind a trail of murderous intent.

“It was you.”

Max was aware of the fact that all the attacks attempted on him were done so by both the empress and his stepsister. Nevertheless, he had left his sister alone since she was a weak being who wasn’t even worthy of his hostility. However, his carelessness had caught him off guard. Max became furious at himself for remaining complacent until now. ‘Was that why Master came to see me?’ His stepsister must have felt a sense of crisis from what happened today and was looking for a way to turn the situation in her favor. It seemed the solution she came up with was to take Jubelian hostage and summon Duke Floyen. Max smirked. ‘Beatrice, it’s none of my business whether you think of a stupid plan or not. But…’ Max’s eyes shifted over to Jubelian, who appeared quite different from usual. He felt his blood boil when he saw her slightly frightened expression.

‘I’ll never forgive you for messing with Jubelian.’ Max, gripped by anger, glared at his stepsister with a ferocious gaze. There was no way Beatrice would be able to withstand his violent aura that not even the stout knights could endure. ‘It might be good to warn her to not do anything stupid again.’ Max took a step forward, carefully watching his sister who was trembling like a leaf.

At that moment, Jubelian stepped in front of his stepsister and curtsied. “I greet the Crown Prince, soon to become the Great Sun of our empire.”

The terrible thoughts that had flooded Max’s mind swiftly disappeared as soon as he heard Jubelian’s voice.

* * *

At first, I was relieved that he wasn’t looking at me. However, when I noticed where his eyes were headed, I was startled. He was looking at Bea. I hastily rummaged through my thoughts for a solution. Unfortunately, I couldn’t willingly step up to the man who I had been trying so hard to avoid. What should I do? I think I need to see what he does first…’

Surprisingly, my body ended up moving reflexively when I saw Bea trembling in fear.  “I greet the Crown Prince, soon to become the Great Sun of our empire. I’m Jubelian Eloy Floyen from the Floyen household.”