CH 11

It was the season when new life bloomed.

In the midst of the sunniest days of spring, it was finally the anniversary of the princess’ death. She was born weak and died at the tender age of eight, she was also a favorite of the entire imperial family.

She was as affectionate as she was lovely, and no one disliked her. She was so popular with her subordinates that the day she left, the entire empire wept. After her departure, the emperor declared a day of mourning so that everyone could honor her.

“There, wipe the chair one more time. Is the cloth dry?”

On the day of the memorial, the empire’s leading figures, including the Pope, gathered at the imperial palace. It was one of the palace’s big events, albeit a reverent and quiet one. There was a shortage of labor, so the slaves of the crown prince’s palace were also brought in to help.

“What, who wiped this table?”

“I wiped it.”

I was diligently wiping the utensils for the event in the sunlight. I walked over to the table and looked at it.

“What’s all this glow?”

“What?”

“Come here and watch and learn, everyone!”

I must have the talent for being a slave, since it seems like everyone is always impressed by everything I touch. I received many offers to come and work in their palaces as well. Perhaps I should make a name for myself as the best slave in the Empire.

“Seth, look.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t turn your head. Just your eyes.”

Eva whispered to me as I was busy tying ribbons on the chair. I glanced in her direction, and even from a distance, I could see someone I recognized even when I was from another world.

“That’s her, His Majesty’s fiancée.”

An intangible arrow suddenly pierced my heart.

Cesaria Lè Chenío.

She was dressed in a deep purple gown, the lace at the ends of the sleeves and around her neck was glowing white. Her silver hair was tied back in a half-bun and a purple ribbon flowed in the breeze. It was the first time I laid eyes on the female lead in this novel.

Her gait was neither slow nor fast, and she exuded gracefulness. I naturally imagined the crown prince standing next to her. It would be a picture of gracefulness between them.

“Why do you look so smitten?”

“She’s so pretty….”

The Duke of Lé Chenío, one of the most influential families in the Empire. As an honorary daughter, Cesaria was born with looks and wealth. Of course, there is a dark past behind her, but people will only see the surface. I was mesmerized and couldn’t take my eyes off her until she disappeared.

‘In the original version of Blood-Soaked Moon, Cesaria was originally an illegitimate child who was abandoned in a brothel before being taken into the ducal family.’

‘You don’t know how long I’ve been looking for you, my precious daughter.’

The Duke lied, as if he had been looking for her all along. He hadn’t cared whether she was there or not, but had brought her in when she was of use. However, she had believed his snake-like words.

‘Your father has a favor to ask of you, will you do it?’

‘I will do whatever you ask, Father.’

Using her eagerness to repay the favor, he forced her to become his highness’ fiancée and ordered her to harm him. If she managed to kill him, he would blame her for all the crime.

The prince also shares the news with the duke, and they turn on the female lead.

They want her to kill the crown prince, Shane, right now.

The female lead was ready to do anything for her father, but she couldn’t do that. No wonder, she’s in love with him.

If memory serves her right, there was an incident on the princess’ anniversary. The crown prince happened to see her being threatened by the prince. He pretended to harm her on purpose, and when he tried to stop him, the prince accidentally got hurt. The prince is clearly in the wrong, but public opinion is still against Crown Prince Shane.

He was once again seen as dangerous and was trapped in a circle of priests. Lady Cesaria finally goes to her father and the Prince on her own initiative to appeal for his release.

‘I will do as you ask, but please release him.’

She knows that the crown prince’s power and the priest’s are at odds with each other, and that instead of stabilizing his power, they will cause it to explode further.

‘Ah, it was so much more interesting when I was simply a reader.’

In the original, it’s an event that makes them grow closer to each other, but it’s also an event that deepens Cesaria’s internal conflict.

He was the man she had to kill but couldn’t.

It was fun to see it as an unattainable love from the reader’s point of view, but I couldn’t do it now. And it’s also the event that makes the crown prince truly suspect her motives.

‘First of all, I have to prevent him from getting hurt.’

I thought about how to adapt the original story, but I decided to prioritize the ending where he is happy. If he is unharmed, she will not have to go to the prince and her father to beg. I resolved once more to do what I could. And the day of the long-awaited memorial for the princess dawned.

⚘

The ceremony was held in front of a shrine within the main palace. Nobles dressed in black arrived one by one in carriages.

Deng, deng–.

The bell in the shrine’s bell tower rang, causing everyone who heard it to clasp their hands together and pray reverently. Eva closed her eyes for a moment and prayed beside me.

I hid with her on the upstairs balcony and looked down. Once the ceremony was over and everyone had cleared out, we would quietly slip downstairs and help clean up, but until then, we would watch from this corner of the balcony.

The prayers turned and bowed in unison. The royal family was slowly emerging, escorted by the Imperial Knights. The emperor, empress, and prince walked down the aisle, followed by the people. His blond hair shone in the sunlight, creating a halo behind him.

The prince and empress were about two steps away from each other, but there was still an air of mother-son relationship between them. It was a strange feeling to see the royal family that I had only seen in the original story. I felt like I was in another world.

The crown prince didn’t appear until much later. When they saw him, they all nodded again. I could feel a small uproar in the room. I thought they were whispering that it was wonderful.

The way he wore his black uniform to perfection exuded strength. No one could be more fittingly titled Hero of the Empire but him, and he seemed to be the center of attention here, perhaps because he was the last to arrive, and perhaps the Empress didn’t want to go out with him, so he kept his distance.

A mother calls her son a monster. She wiped her tears as she stood in front of the princess’ portrait. The emperor put a gentle hand on her shoulder to comfort her. At the very back of the temple, a group of maids, probably the ones who served the Empress, stole a glance at him.

“Let us all pray for the Princess.”

The Pope presided over the memorial service. Dressed in stark white, he stood out amongst the all-black crowd.

The Pope. I think he made an appearance in the original novel. He didn’t appear until later in the story, but I remembered that he was around the same age as the Emperor. I think he had a role in the second half, but I can’t quite remember. It was a disaster that I read while skipping. I thought about not reading it because it was too exhausting, but I only continued and read because of the Male Lead, so the rest of the contents were quite blurry. This was especially true at the end.

“Does your head hurt?”

“Huh? No.”

Eva whispered as I clutched my head in pain. I wondered why I hadn’t read it properly, even though I was paying for it.

“Oh, God.”

Eva clapped her hands together, sounding moved. When the Pope had finished speaking, he spread his hands out in front of him, and I could feel a warm sensation settling over my body, like a warm breeze.

This is Divine Power.

People clasped their hands together and bowed their heads in devotion. I leaned closer to the balcony and looked towards the crown prince. The royal family was seated in special seats behind the pope, so I could see their faces. I wasn’t completely close, but I wanted to make sure he was okay.

He had his eyes closed as if in prayer, and while he was outwardly just expressionless, I saw the corner of his eye frown heavily and then returned like nothing happened.

He was… holding back.

Divine power was not good for him. Actually it was, but only if he wanted to use his powers. If not, then it was like a detonator, boosting the power within him. If he wanted to use it, and it was there to help him, then it would be magnified. But now that he was trying to contain his power, he would do his best to hold it in and not let it explode.

“Ah, Pope. You’re using your powers like never before.”

Eva leaned against the balcony wall, mesmerized. Why was he using his powers so much today? A pleasant warmth coursed through her body. If I hadn’t been thinking about it, I might have found it touching.

But when I thought of him enduring it alone, all I could think about was how much I wanted it to end. But the emperor and the prince were fine.

They actually looked very relaxed. It was a stark contrast to the crown prince’s hardened expression.

How could there be such a difference in their innate strength despite being of the same dragon blood? Even so, can’t you feel the power?

Could it be that even with the same blood, there are individual differences in how divine powers affect the body?

For a moment, my gaze lingered on the prince as he pretended to correct his posture. He was watching so closely that I could see the corners of his mouth rise and fall, and I saw it.

He knows.

He knew how it affected him.

“Ha.”

He even smiled at his own sister’s memorial service. In the original, he was a villain who tormented the crown prince and the lady, so I didn’t want to see him, but in person, he was even worse. He wanted to be emperor so badly and was only interested in getting rid of the crown prince.

I will never let him do what he wants.

His expression was back to normal now, but the memory of that brief smile was too clear. My desire to make the crown prince happy was fueled even more by it.

(T/N: I have a feeling that there’s more to the Crown Prince’s birth than we know in the story. Why was he so different? Why can he control space? Wasn’t it mentioned that only Ephiro’s can do that?)