Chapter 29

“Then… today’s incident as well.”

“Yes, something unknown fell from the sky, destroying buildings and ships. Magic must have been involved.”

“Who could have…”

“I don’t know that either.”

“So, you’re saying that the Kark tribe can use this… magic?”

“Some can, but not all. If it were all of them, it wouldn’t have been so easy to hide it in the records.”

Kaiden answered with a bitter smile, finishing his drink.

“Outside the palace, people, and even jesters, pass on all sorts of stories, which is why it’s still known.”

Kaiden, uncharacteristically verbose, quickly closed his mouth.

“I see.”

Rohana, after a moment of silence, looked up again.

“And I should ask if you can use magic.”

Kaiden smiled faintly as Rohana flinched, as if he had anticipated her question.

But it was different from before. He was still polite, but much more dangerous. A high nose cast a shadow as he tilted his head slightly.

“Well, what do you think?”

Seeing Rohana’s face stiffen slightly, Kaiden chuckled and stood up.

That was when Rohana reached out and grabbed him, surprising him for the first time. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

“See you next time.”

She was at a loss for words. Rohana knew the original story.

Although it seemed she couldn’t do much as planned, she thought at least she wouldn’t be completely ignorant. Maybe that’s why things never went her way.

Perhaps the original story…

“Escort the Lady.”

Kaiden’s voice snapped Rohana out of her thoughts. He ordered a servant to escort her as he walked away to his room without looking back.

***

In a dark room where the high ceilings and the heavy velvet and silk curtains made it impossible to tell if it was day or night, the opulence was meaningless. The air was stale as if it hadn’t been ventilated for a long time.

A doctor in a white coat was quietly taking temperature and pulse, while the old former emperor lay silently on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

“Call the emperor.”

The doctor was startled next. He had been unconscious for days, let alone speaking, and the doctor didn’t know what to do. A quiet sound of the door opening followed.

Confident footsteps made the doctor bow his head in surprise.

“I thought you might call for me.”

The door closed firmly behind everyone as Bardi Rentworth, his blue eyes shining, spoke.

Constance Rentworth. The founder emperor, with a dark, thin face covered in black spots, had lips so dry they couldn’t eat even the finest delicacies.

Constance, struggling to breathe, looked up at his grandson and the new emperor, Bardi. His grandson’s sharp blue eyes resembled his own.

“Was it… the Kark tribe’s… doing?”

“No matter how much I tell them to keep their mouths shut, they don’t listen, do they?”

Bardi spoke kindly, sitting crookedly on a chair.

“It’s one thing to take the throne…”

The old emperor gasped for breath.

“But letting the Kark tribe run wild like this…”

“What would you have done, Grandfather?”

Bardi, losing patience, interrupted Constance.

“How could I have known in advance, and what can I do about something that’s already disappeared?”

“Still… I gave you… the throne… for a reason.”

The old emperor struggled to speak through his heavy breathing. Bardi looked down coldly at the man who once held glory.

His grandfather meant nothing to him anymore. Despite stepping back as much as he could, his mere existence was disgusting and burdensome to Bardi.

“But eradicating the Kark tribe… is impossible.”

“Why is that?”

Blue eyes glinted in the dark.

“I think I can solve it very simply…”

“Use Kaiden. Only… he… can control… the Kark tribe… for the empire…”

“How tiring it must be to give such amateur advice while struggling to speak.”

Bardi mocked, crossing his arms. Constance, brimming with suppressed anger, opened his dry mouth as if to shout.

“You… how could you… as soon as you became emperor!”

“I know, it must be shocking that the kind grandson is gone.”

Bardi continued.

“But let’s stop this. Stop groveling to Kaiden out of fear. He’s lived long enough as it is, being half-blood.”

Bardi gritted his teeth as he spoke.

“If I had known…”

“If you had known?”

The former emperor, now furious to the point of struggling to breathe, tried to sit up in bed, but a large hand gently pressed him back down.

“Are you going to talk about Kaiden again? Just like in the old days?”

Bardi’s voice was sweet and smooth, yet heavy with venom.

“What… what?”

“Did you think I didn’t know? Did you think my father and I wouldn’t figure it out?”

Constans’s jaw dropped in shock at Bardi’s sharp blue eyes.

“So… it was you two…”

Overwhelmed by the thought that struck him, the former emperor suddenly choked, struggling for breath.

Bardi, eyes full of disgust, stood up and rang the bell. A servant entered, followed by the doctor.

“From now on, you’re the only one who will come in here.”

The doctor bowed repeatedly.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“And if the former emperor speaks out, no matter who is present.”

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty.”

“If he speaks in front of anyone else, put him to sleep deeply.”

“Yes.”

“Use a lot of medicine. Even if he dies, it doesn’t matter.”

“Yes.”

The doctor’s eyes gleamed slightly, as if being on the emperor’s side was the greatest fortune for him.

***

“I need to visit Nopthal for a while.”

At Kaiden’s words, Heath closed the window he had been standing by.

“Nopthal?”

“Have Ciriel investigate the chandelier fragments. It doesn’t seem like something we can take our time with.”

Kaiden sighed deeply. The palace was quiet at night, as if the daytime chaos had been a lie.

“Even R.D. can’t handle monsters. That didn’t even happen during the first war, did it? Even if it appeared by chance, something feels off.”

Kaiden nodded slightly at Heath’s interpretation. A monster said to be wiser than humans had appeared and attacked. Instead of causing significant damage, it only left confusion.

“But why go now?”

“I’ve been at the palace for too long.”

Kaiden’s cold voice made Heath chuckle.

“Your wedding is just around the corner. Can’t you wait a little longer? The imperial wedding is literally tomorrow.”

“I have things to bring.”

Although he spoke nonchalantly, Heath, with his long-standing familiarity, noticed Kaiden was more focused on the ‘things to bring.’

“Things to bring?”

Kaiden frowned, annoyed by the persistent question.

“Go do your job.”

Heath turned away, leaving the somewhat complex-looking Kaiden. It seemed different from the events of the day.

When faced with an enemy, Kaiden would become startlingly cold and calm. But now, he seems different. Rather than cold, he seemed…

A bit disheveled.

“Leaving tomorrow?”

Kaiden, his eyes still on his book, nodded slightly.

“I need you to check on Rohana for me.”

“Check?”

After a moment’s thought, Kaiden spoke.

“She might try to do something on her own.”

“Something like what?”

Heath narrowed his eyes, looking at the much younger but now very mature Kaiden.

After a moment of silence, the duke closed his book with a sharp snap.

“Make sure she doesn’t run away.”

Heath, now understanding, nodded.

***

A few days had passed since the chaos in the city. Without reaching any concrete conclusions, the empire’s citizens spoke of the event as if it had been a natural disaster.

As if it was just an earthquake, and there was no need to talk about it any further.

News of Kaiden, who disappeared shortly after the commotion in the city, was equally quiet, and time moved steadily forward to the morning of the imperial wedding day.