𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔𝟗
The Empress glared fiercely.
“Why is that?”
Moghald slowly raised his head and looked directly at the Empress.
Then he spoke in a dignified voice.
“The magic sword is currently dormant, but to allow it to choose a host, it must be awakened. Once awakened, the sword will undoubtedly want to reclaim its host, and I cannot be certain who that will be.”
The Empress, who had just proposed to summon the Second Prince, spoke shamelessly.
“Then it doesn’t matter if the target isn’t the Crown Prince, does it?”
“That’s impossible.”
Moghald denied it gently but firmly.
“That day in that room, the sword went berserk and tried to consume someone before being stopped. At that time, the sword broke and its fragments scattered, so it’s only natural that the magic of the sword flowed into the two Your Highnesses who were there. And the magic sword will want to recover the scattered fragments of its magic.”
The Empress’s gaze finally wavered.
“The sword will recover the remaining fragments? Why didn’t you explain that before?”
Moghald looked up at her as if he didn’t understand.
“Your Majesty said that you would let the magic sword choose its host. The condition for selection is, of course, only the two Your Highnesses who were there.”
The Emperor asked in an anxious voice.
“The sword is dormant? Are you sure the restoration was successful?”
The former Tower Master’s answer was clear and unwavering.
“Its power may have diminished somewhat, but it can be reactivated.”
Then the Emperor turned to the Empress.
“Let’s stop this, Empress. There’s no reason to reawaken the sword that the Tower Master risked his life to subdue and bring disaster again. It’s a dangerous gamble. The luck we’ve enjoyed with it so far is enough.”
However, after much conjecture, the Empress concluded inwardly.
‘The sword will choose that Lurik bastard.’
Even in her eyes, the Crown Prince did not seem like a good host.
He had already lost his health and his mind was broken, wasn’t it?
“Then, if I call both the Crown Prince and the Second Prince, will you awaken the sword?”
“We shouldn’t ruin the newly renovated detached palace again. We’ll use the training ground for safety.”
Moghald carefully added.
“I will reactivate the magic sword, so have the Tower Master erect a barrier. Also, just in case of an accident, let’s have only the two of you and the Imperial Guard observe.”
While the Emperor only wore a sullen expression, the Empress finally nodded.
“Alright. Let’s do that.”
Moghald made a final request.
“Then, as promised, will you give me the book?”
🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹
When they went to the training ground at the appointed time, Moghald encountered his disciple with a disgruntled face.
“Master.”
What are you doing now?
Moghald chuckled as if he could clearly hear the question.
“When His Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness the Second Prince come out, erect a protective barrier outside the two of them.”
“Master! Why are you doing this……?”
Ren seemed to have a lot to say, but Moghald cut him off and said,
“Don’t make a mistake, Lennie.”
Ren flinched.
He joined the Magic Tower at a younger age than others.
During his childhood, his master always ignored his request not to call him by his childhood name, but after becoming the Tower Master, he never did.
Moghald held out a small video memory orb and added softly.
“Trust me just one last time.”
One last time?
Ren always trusted him.
Even when he left the Magic Tower with only a careless note.
“One last time, what does that……?”
Then he noticed his master’s complexion was very pale.
Just then, Lurik came out, supporting the Crown Prince.
Moghald didn’t answer Ren.
With a face that wasn’t the least bit afraid of that terrifying sword, he grabbed it with his bare hands and plunged it into the ground.
No, it wasn’t the ground.
The old, crumbling book of Studites was pierced by the sword, leaving a large hole.
―Uwaaaaaaaaaaagh!
A strange scream echoed, and something like black smoke began to gather on the ground.
“Master……!”
Ren called out to him in bewilderment, but the pierced book was soaked black and even emitted a foul odor.
An ancient command was uttered from between Moghald’s lips.
The crimson energy flickered along the hilt of the sword, as if responding to his voice.
Hwaruru, a black, formless thing stretched up and down the sword, spewing out unpleasant lumps like a dirty chimney.
And then, as everyone watched, it shot straight towards the Crown Prince.
“No!”
The ominous black smoke drew a thin parabola.
The Empress screamed and ran, but she bounced off Ren’s barrier.
“Hart! Hart!”
Contrary to the Empress’s expectations, the black evil energy didn’t even graze Lurik.
Hart stretched out his hands towards the magic sword, then his eyes rolled back and he convulsed.
―Thud.
His knees buckled and touched the ground, and his whole body undulated unnaturally.
The Empress shrieked.
“Tower Master, what are you doing without stopping this instantly!”
Ren wanted to silently follow his master’s orders no matter what anyone said, but because of his position as Tower Master, he couldn’t help but look at the Emperor.
However, the Emperor only shook his head silently.
As the Emperor of the Empire, he couldn’t allow the terrifying magic of that sword to escape the barrier and attack anyone here.
―Plop.
Hart collapsed limply onto the sandy ground.
The black energy of ‘Belich’ seeped out from the tips of the Crown Prince’s ten fingers.
Hart’s face, no longer convulsing, was ashen.
“Crown Prince! Hart!”
The Empress furiously drew the longsword of the Imperial Guard standing beside her.
“Remove this damn barrier right now!”
It wasn’t because of the Empress’s outburst that Ren removed the barrier at that moment.
“Master……?”
It was because Moghald, standing opposite him, vomited black blood.
“Master!”
With the barrier gone, the Empress and Ren each ran towards the ones they cared for.
“Master, Master!”
Turning her back on Ren, who was embracing Moghald, the Empress screamed.
“Hart! Ahhh! Hart!”
The Emperor looked at the magic sword ‘Belich’ still stuck in the ground.
The sword, which used to shine gold, was now burnt black.
Wheeing, the winter north wind blew.
The blackened blade crumbled and scattered.
In the midst of misfortune, Lurik looked directly at his father.
“When I first received that sword, I was twelve years old.”
His reciting voice was gloomy.
The Emperor flinched as if caught off guard, then quickly pretended to be calm.
“My greed was excessive. Thank you for enduring.”
But Lurik knew.
Knowing that one of them would die, the Emperor still brought him to this place.
The Second Prince, who had always obeyed his father, smiled wryly and turned away.
The last chance Lurik had given him ended just like that.
🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹
That same night.
Ren sat blankly beside his unconscious master, replaying the video memory orb he had already seen countless times.
“So the finishing touches are mine as well.”
His master intended to shoulder all of this alone with that one cunning sentence.
Thus, he broke the oath of the Tower Master and revealed the Imperial Family’s shame to Saint Helena.
Naturally, it would have put a strain on his body, and so, in order to destroy the book of Studites, he must have had to use up the rest of his life force.
“Haa……”
Ren sighed and stood up.
He had used all kinds of recovery magic to barely keep his master alive.
Because of the damn imperial order, he had done the same for the Crown Prince, so both of them were no different from clinging to life by magic.
“So the finishing touches are mine as well.”
The image of his master, whom he had watched endlessly, appeared before Ren’s eyes.
He couldn’t even tell if his master had any will left to live.
The Imperial Palace was filled with an eerie atmosphere.
With a mentally ill and now practically dead Crown Prince and a fainted Empress, the Emperor remained silent.
Ren left the main palace, where he could hear someone crying, and headed towards the detached palace.
It wasn’t just because of Louise’s request to look after Prince Lurik.
‘His Highness the Second Prince knew everything from the beginning.’
That’s why he responded without complaint to the Emperor’s sudden summons, and why he stood still and held his ground amidst all that chaos.
‘Moreover, the nun Helena was a Saint.’
It was Louise who called for her, so does that mean Louise realized Helena’s true identity?
‘That’s impossible.’
Ren also saw Helena at the monastery.
At that time, she was just a maid, not even a nun, but he saw her up close several times.
However, he didn’t feel anything from Helena.
―Knock, knock.
Ren knocked on the Second Prince’s door.
It was the cheerful-faced nun, no, the Saint, who opened the door he had knocked on for the first time in his life.
“I was waiting for you, Tower Master-nim.”
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