Chapter 9. Collapse

The emperor’s expressionless face was a first. High Priest Sinax nervously swallowed dry saliva at the emperor’s face, which neither giggled nor showed anger as he usually did.

‘He should be confronting the Crown Prince about this. D*mn it!’

Sinax already anticipated why the emperor had summoned him. The widely circulating rumor, which had grown even larger after passing through the Founding Day banquet, was related to him.

“High Priest.”

Just as Sinax was thinking about what excuse to offer the emperor while keeping his head bowed, the emperor called him. Sinax raised his head to meet the emperor’s eyes and froze.

“I trusted you…… For a high priest who has devoted his life to the Goddess to lie to me….. I’m deeply disappointed both as a devout believer and as emperor.”

The purple eyes looked ominous. Though not as bright red as his half-brother Roshan’s, they were intimidating enough to make Sinax barely manage to open his mouth.

“Y-Your Majesty. This is a misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding? What kind of misunderstanding?”

The emperor coldly looked down at Sinax, who was trying to deny the truth despite its revelation, then rose from his seat. As he descended the dais steps, he continued questioning,

“Then explain. As you told me then, was the princess truly cursed?”

“Of course. Why would I lie about such a thing? The princess was certainly possessed by the kingdom’s ghost. Her blindness was all because of that. So, Your Majesty, please believe me and……”

“Silence. Shut that mouth.”

Despite knowing that his subordinate priests and priestesses had been dragged away a few days ago, he still lied. The emperor’s eyebrows twitched and he drew his sword.

“How little you must have thought of me……”

“Y-Your Majesty. That is…… Eek!”

Sinax, who had been backing away cautiously at the sight of the sword in the emperor’s hand, fell. The emperor raised his sword toward the old high priest who was breathing heavily and making pig-like sounds.

“P-please spare me…… Ugh!”

The sword fell and pierced the plump belly. Blood spurted like a fountain, soaking parts of the emperor’s face and body. The high priest met a miserable end unsuited to his position. Servants who had been standing at a distance rushed over in surprise. They hadn’t expected the emperor to actually kill the high priest.

Though he had become the high priest of the temple within the imperial palace thanks to the emperor’s backing, he was still part of the temple. Yet to kill him so easily, and inside the prayer room no less. The temple would not remain silent.

“I wondered why that b*stard Roshan hasn’t died yet……”

But the perpetrator himself looked calm. The servants backed away as if fleeing from the emperor who held the sword dripping with blood. The emperor paid them no mind and turned back toward the dais. Clang. The sound of the sword dropping to the floor echoed.

“It wasn’t that my prayers to the Goddess were insufficient, but all because of that b*stard. That liar gave me the wrong methods, so my prayers couldn’t reach.”

The emperor, wearing a shabby cloak over his splendid clothes, knelt before the altar. Then, with his blood-covered face, he prayed to the Goddess.

“Now I must ask the Goddess directly and seek answers.”

After praying for a while, the emperor slowly rose and muttered while looking at the Goddess statue. Below the dais, a red pool had formed from Sinax’s blood. The emperor frowned at the corpse with its tongue sticking out, then gestured to a servant. Despite their fear, the servants followed the emperor’s orders and lifted the high priest’s body.

The emperor looked at the bloodstain left on the floor, then descended from the dais, spat on it three times, and threw the shabby cloak he was wearing onto the bloodstain. Then he called out to the Goddess three times. This was the method to remove ghosts that Sinax had once taught him.

After completing the ritual, the emperor moved away. The remaining servants followed him. As he was about to leave the prayer room, he stopped at the door and ordered the nearest servant,

“Summon Duke Day.”

* * *

The palace burned once at the threshold between spring and summer. And in the spring, not even two years later, the palace was engulfed in flames once again.

“Drive out the corrupt king! K*ll those who starve us!”

“Glory to the Sedas Kingdom!”

Soldiers in thick armor ran quickly through the palace interior. Screams and pleas for help continued from all directions.

“Your Highness! W-we must escape quickly.”

“Wh-what is g-going on?”

“Your Highness! Didn’t you hear the chamberlain? Come quickly!”

Bianca and Brick fled in panic at the sight of soldiers who had burst in late at night. But they didn’t get far before being caught by the intruders.

“Do you know who I am! I am the queen dowager of this country! The king’s mother!”

Even in her terror, Bianca screamed. Beside her, Brick sobbed and stammered. The soldiers looked at them with contempt, dragged them along, and upon reaching their destination, threw them down like bundles of goods.

‘This place!’

Bianca, who had fallen face down, raised her head and widened her eyes. This was a place where her son had banned people from entering after his ascension. The place where the former king and queen had lost their lives to the imperial army. Bianca also held a large stake in their tragedy. That’s why when rumors of ghosts circulating here grew, she used the excuse of suppressing such rumors to close off this place.

“This posture truly suits you, Queen Dowager.”

As Bianca trembled while looking at the dust-covered place, several footsteps approached, and someone stood before her. She raised her head higher. A young man with auburn hair and sharp eyes looked down at her.

‘Marquis Deren!’

Bianca immediately recognized him. He was Isnal Deren, the new master of the Deren Marquis family that guarded the northernmost part of the Sedas Kingdom.

“Marquis! What is the meaning of this!”

“Can’t you tell by looking? I’m committing treason.”

“Your Grace. It’s not treason, but revolution.”

“Ah yes, that’s right. Did you hear? We’re carrying out a revolution.”

Whether treason or revolution, it was a terrifying matter for Bianca and Brick. Bianca tried to stand up with her eyes wide open. But before she could even straighten her knees, Marquis Deren kicked her shin.

“Aagh!”

“Oh right. I heard the women of the capital don’t receive training. I apologize. That was rude of me.”

The marquis looked down at Bianca, who had fallen at once, and offered an insincere apology. Bianca, who had crumpled to the floor again, groaned in pain before shouting,

“You insolent man! Do you know you’re committing an act that will bring divine punishment? This is treason!”

Bianca’s hands curved like claws. Marquis Deren shrugged his shoulders while avoiding her venomous hands.

“I don’t think so.”

“Aah!”

“M-mother!”

He pressed down hard on Bianca’s shoulder with his sheathed sword. At her scream, Brick called out to her and tried to move. But a knight forced the king back down.

“I’m not committing an act deserving divine punishment. I am divine punishment itself.”

“Ugh……”

Marquis Deren bent his knees and sat down, smiling with his eyes. As his eyes formed long crescents, his impression changed completely. The coolness disappeared, and a cheerful-looking handsome man stared at Bianca.

“Because of you, our great king and wise queen, along with the two princes who were the kingdom’s future, died. Not only that. The princess was taken as a prisoner to the Empire because of you two and ended her life there.”

“Y-you rebel, your tongue is too lo—Urgh.”

“If that were the end, perhaps. But do you know what it was like outside while you two indulged in luxury here and spent gold like water? Half the people volunteered to become slaves due to hunger.”

“……”

“In this situation, am I the rebel? No. The rebels are you and your son. I am divine punishment sent by God to punish you.”

Marquis Deren’s tone grew increasingly harsh. Bianca, groaning in pain, glared at him before spitting toward his face and saying,

“Liar.”

The spit didn’t reach the marquis’s face as she had intended. Instead, it fell on his shoes. Frustrated at missing her target, Bianca continued,

“Look in the mirror! See if you’re really angry about such things!”

“……At least I’m better than that dimwit. And I’m sharper too.”

Marquis Deren chuckled at Bianca’s words. She had seen correctly. In truth, he wasn’t particularly angry about the tragedy of the former royal family. Originally, his homeland and territory, Deren, was a fortress guarding the north, far from the kingdom’s capital. Because of this distance, he was removed from central politics but guaranteed independence. Thus, Marquis Deren had no occasion to contact the royal family and paid them little attention.

“You saw correctly. The royal family’s tragedy? The people’s lives? I’m angry, but not enough to go to all this trouble.”

“Your Grace! Please……”

A man who appeared to be a close knight of Marquis Deren tried to restrain his lord. Whatever his true feelings, they had now raised an army under the noble cause of punishing those who betrayed the former king and saving the people. For their leader to deny this was unacceptable.

“That’s enough.”

Marquis Deren raised his hand, giving his subordinate a cold look. The knight immediately bowed his head and retreated at his lord’s gaze.

“We’re going to kill them soon anyway. They should know before they die. Why they’re dying.”

At the marquis’s continued words, both Bianca and Brick inhaled sharply. “Going to kill them soon.” At these terrifying words, Brick shed tears.

“Because of you two bastards, my six brothers and two sisters died. Thousands of northern brothers were buried in the cold ground.”

Looking at them with contempt-filled eyes, Marquis Deren revealed the true reason for his rebellion. The war with the Empire. How many of his brothers and sisters had died then? Marquis Deren himself, as the sixth son of the previous marquis, originally couldn’t have become the marquis. But because all his older siblings died, he had no choice but to succeed the marquis family.