Chapter 68

Prince Michael Krohats.

Born of the Empress, he was ‘known’ to be a prince who strongly inherited the power of the divine beast. However, that was all fabricated by the Empress.

‘Michael didn’t inherit any power of the divine beast.’

The power of the divine beast played an important role in inheriting the imperial throne. To win the battle for the throne, the Empress forcibly injected the divine beast’s power into her son’s body.

The injected power didn’t last long and dissipated, so the process of injection had to be repeated each time.

[In his childhood, Michael terribly hated the time he met his mother, the Empress. When strange blood was injected into his body, his entire body would be in excruciating pain.

“You must endure it. Only by enduring this can you become Emperor.”

No one in the imperial palace would listen to the young boy’s voice.]

Later, when he grew up and his position as Prince was secured, he no longer needed to receive the injections. But at this current time, the young male lead would still be suffering greatly.

Though it was pitiful, I had no intention of saving him.

‘The female lead will save him later anyway.’

Hela, the Saint who heard the voice of God, knew the male lead’s secret yet remained by his side. The male lead felt forgiven by God because of this.

And he put an end to a life where he had to deceive others for his entire life. After the rebellion ended, he announced before everyone that he had no power over the divine beast.

[“The imperial family has come to a time when it must break away from old myths.”

Michael resolved to establish imperial authority without relying on myths.]

The overcoming of his long-standing trauma was truly protagonist-like. He was highly praised as a protagonist who never gave up, even in unfavorable situations.

The righteous and kind original male lead’s childhood appearance.

“I wonder what he looks like.”

Since he’s the original male lead, I’m a bit curious.

At that moment, Tristan, who had been reading a magic book in the carriage heading to the capital, poked his head in and asked.

“Little one, what are you thinking about?”

I pushed Tristan’s face aside and answered.

“Just thinking how comfortable the journey has been.”

Thanks to using long-distance warp, we arrived without much trouble. Not long after departing, the carriage was already near the capital.

Tristan nodded as if he understood what I meant.

“It’s not easy to move this many people and luggage with long-distance warp.”

“There probably aren’t many people who can do this.”

“Well, that’s because it’s Father.”

The warp machine in this world required massive magical power to operate. The reason so many people could instantly come to the capital was because of the Grand Duke.

‘The timing right before the ball is also significant.’

Normally, there was a procedure required to take a warp from the provinces to the capital.

Only during the annual imperial ball period was this procedure waived. If not for that, we would have had to depart much earlier.

Tristan took out a blanket from subspace and covered my knees.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. So what’s the rough schedule like, brother?”

“Why are you asking me that?”

“Father is busy, you know.”

The Grand Duke had been processing documents ever since boarding the carriage.

The carriage, expanded by magic, was furnished with furniture. The Grand Duke worked for hours in the same position at a desk placed in the corner of the carriage.

Watching him, Tristan patted Lucas on the shoulder. His skill at teasing was truly masterful.

“Good luck with your future, brother.”

“What about you?”

“I’m the second son, so I plan to live freely, enjoying rights without obligations.”

Now that’s an impressive future plan.

As I inwardly admired this, Tristan put his arm around my shoulder. He poked my cheek with his finger and said with an innocent smile.

“By the way, my younger sibling will also enjoy only rights like me.”

“Tristan. Liat is not a rascal like you.”

Unfortunately, I was more of a rascal than Lucas could imagine.

‘Though I won’t be able to live like that.’

The core vassals were aware of the Grand Duke’s rebellion plan.

It was natural since a rebellion wasn’t something that could be prepared in just a year or two. But the still young Lucas and Tristan seemed unaware.

The ordinary future they spoke of was something none of us would enjoy.

“Little one. In the future, I’m going to dump all the work on my brother and just travel around. Want to come along with me?”

“Are you planning to leave me behind, comrade?”

“Wow. Brother, what’s with that expression? I feel like I’m going to throw up.”

Lucas, who had been sending silent pleas with moist eyes, immediately raised his eyebrows.

Shedding his pitiful look, Lucas lunged at Tristan. The two rolled around and tumbled under the sofa.

Thud!

The Grand Duke didn’t look up at all, as if he couldn’t hear the noise. I flicked both of them on the forehead in turn.

“Ouch! Little one! That hurts.”

“Use your words.”

Looking at them now, they’re both just children.

It was hard to believe these kids would grow up to become mid-bosses in the original story.

“Both of you stop fighting and tell me what you were saying earlier.”

The two looked at each other and blinked. Seeing they had completely forgotten, I spoke up.

“The schedule. The schedule.”

“Oh. If that’s what you mean, I heard roughly from Father.”

“What, brother? If you knew, you should have said so.”

“…He said we’ll be staying at the imperial palace first.”

At the mention of the imperial palace, Tristan’s eyes narrowed.

“I don’t like it.”

Small and large flames flickered around Tristan. Leaving him to his displeasure, I decided to sleep until we arrived.

When I opened my eyes again, the carriage had arrived at the imperial palace.

***

As we got out of the carriage, servants who had been waiting in advance moved our luggage.

“Then I will guide you to your designated rooms.”

A white-haired head servant led us to the annex. I took in the unchanged appearance of the imperial palace, which I hadn’t seen in a long time.

How many lives ago was it when I first set foot in this space?

‘Still pure white.’

The imperial palace, modeled after the divine beast of light, was magnificent in every way. Looking at the tall spires and marble columns made one feel diminished.

Tristan lowered his voice and whispered in my ear.

“This place still feels unpleasant. Don’t you think so too?”

“Yes. Definitely.”

“The air is gloomy too. I want to go back soon.”

Even when I was Kashian, I felt depressed in the imperial palace. It was like seeing something that shouldn’t exist being forcibly pieced together.

The place the servant guided us to was an annex prepared for high nobles in the imperial palace.

“Grand Duke, please follow me. The rest of you may move around freely.”

“We can go anywhere?”

“Yes. Knights will block any restricted areas.”

“Hmm. That sounds good.”

Tristan was filled with the thought of exploring the imperial palace. No doubt he would first go to places he shouldn’t.

And then he would pretend he didn’t know better.

Having similar thoughts, Lucas’s expression darkened.

There’s nothing more dangerous than a smiling Tristan. I patted Lucas’s shoulder while looking around the annex where we would be staying.

It was called an annex, but it was more like a separate castle in terms of size.

“This building wasn’t here before.”

The previous Emperor, wary of rebellion, didn’t create spaces for nobles to stay within the imperial palace.

The very creation of this place showed how the empire was more stable now compared to then.

“Lucas. So other nobles will stay in this annex besides us?”

“No. All other high nobles will stay in their mansions in the capital.”

“So it’s a place everyone avoids.”

“Because staying here symbolizes being under surveillance.”

After hearing what Lucas said, the situation looked different. The unusually large number of servants placed in the annex was probably for surveillance and warning.

‘Still afraid, I see.’

I thought this generation’s Emperor, the male lead’s father, would be different. Indeed, he was worthy of the bloodline that would discard a war hero once his usefulness ended.

Lucas sat on a sofa on the first floor of the annex and closed his eyes.

“Tristan has already disappeared, and I’m going to rest here. What about you?”

“I’ll just watch Lucas sleep.”

At those words, Lucas’s lips loosened slightly. From what I could see, Lucas had been excessively tense since we departed for the imperial palace.

It seemed he was like that because he wanted to keep his promise to protect me.

“Get some sleep.”

“I hope you’ll still be by my side when I wake up.”

“I will be.”

“Liat, you won’t go anywhere while I’m asleep, right?”

I had been planning to walk around the garden a bit once Lucas fell asleep, so I cleared my throat awkwardly. After being in the carriage for so long, I wanted to breathe in fresh air.

I sat next to Lucas and patted his stomach.

“Don’t worry and just sleep.”

“Okay.”

Lucas’s eyelids, which had been struggling to stay open, finally closed. It was natural to be tired after fighting the whole time in the carriage.

As Lucas fell asleep, I felt subtle gazes from all directions. The servants who had been moving luggage were openly staring at us.

‘Not exactly pleasant gazes.’

It was a blatant display of surveillance. Pretending not to notice the gazes, I asked a servant to bring a pillow.

“Thank you.”

I tucked the pillow under Lucas’s head. It took a while to move without waking him.

Let me just take a short walk before Lucas wakes up.

“Rest in the meantime.”

I rolled up a blanket in the shape of a person and placed it next to Lucas. Half-asleep, Lucas hugged the blanket and nuzzled his face against it.

Carefully getting off the sofa, I walked to the garden of the annex.

I also informed the servants of my simple destination in advance.

“The weather is different.”

Instead of the chilly weather that indicated autumn had arrived, a summer scene unfolded before my eyes again. Compared to the north where only varieties that could withstand temperature differences were cultivated, there was a greater diversity of flowers here.

The only disappointing thing was that medicinal herbs weren’t very noticeable.

“What’s this?”

As I was walking, I grabbed a tuft of hair sticking out from beyond the bushes. When I looked at what I had grabbed, it was hair.

Startled, I let go, and a crying sound came from within the bushes.

“Sob, sob.”

I parted the bushes to see who was hiding inside. A young child with tears falling like chicken droppings was crouched down.

Upon seeing me, the child’s eyes widened and they tried to flee deeper into the bushes.

My hand reflexively grabbed the child’s arm. In the process, the inside of the arm was revealed to be covered in bruises.