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67
A man with both shoulders tightly bound in white bandages staggered out, yet walked steadily. Drops of blood that hadn’t been wiped away fell sporadically onto the red carpet beneath his feet.
“Your Majesty, I am here to see you.”
Despite his unsteady body, he maintained perfect posture as he greeted with formal respect. As he knelt on one knee, there was an almost devout look, as if gazing up at his god.
“Rise, Oscar.”
The Emperor, Mikhail, who had been silently observing this, called to him softly. His leisurely voice was tinged with amusement.
“You’re badly hurt.”
“I apologize. It was due to my carelessness.”
“Do you think I don’t know your abilities? I’m only grateful that you managed well in such a dangerous situation. Did you receive proper treatment?”
“Yes.”
The bandages wrapping both shoulders were already soaked with blood. Even from afar, it was clear the treatment had been crude, but Mikhail didn’t inquire further. He simply continued speaking with a gentle smile.
“And the child?”
“Confirmed.”
Tap, tap. Mikhail’s hand began to irregularly drum on the armrest of the imperial throne. Oscar, lowering his gaze slightly, answered without hesitation.
“…Oh?”
Mikhail’s eyes sparkled as he listened silently to Oscar’s story. He often had such an expression when an unexpected interesting event occurred or when a good plan came to mind.
“A sword becoming human… It’s an unrealistic story, but if you saw it with your own eyes, Oscar, it must be true.”
He blinked slowly. For a moment, a hint of anguish crossed his face. His emerald eyes looked almost sacred.
Long ago, Mikhail had collaborated with the Salvation Church to steal the Demon Sword from the temple. Although he had lost interest afterwards, when he heard the experiment had failed, his curiosity was piqued and he took possession of the Demon Sword.
Mikhail remembered its appearance then. Although it was a Demon Sword, it could no longer be called as such. It felt as if it represented the imperfection of the gods, which didn’t displease him.
Just then, he heard from a spy planted in the temple about a being that had received a blessing in this generation. The unexpected development was that a child blessed by the Celestial God’s temple had also appeared around the same time, but he thought it wasn’t a bad situation to cause discord between the two temples.
He had the sword secretly placed in Rohan’s house and burned down the village. Rohan, the sole survivor, seemed to have grasped the Demon Sword as he had intended.
“…Perhaps I should have kept watching until the end.”
If there was a single mistake, it would be not properly monitoring Rohan’s movements after burning down the village. Although it was to immediately observe the temple’s actions, the gap created by not recognizing the existence of ‘Arpel’ at that time eventually led to the current situation.
Until recently, the Emperor believed his plan had somewhat succeeded. Although the spy was discovered and he could no longer monitor the activities within the temple, he was certain that Rohan’s condition couldn’t be normal after coming into contact with the corrupted Demon Sword.
While he couldn’t drive a wedge between the two temples, he thought he had left an indelible stain on the temple.
But the fact that the Demon Sword wasn’t sealed and remained by the side of the blessed one all along… It was like saying something had gone terribly wrong.
His plan had failed. Completely.
The rhythm of his fingers tapping the armrest gradually slowed. Mikhail, who had closed his eyes tightly before opening them, spoke.
“I heard those insects were conducting an interesting experiment recently.”
“Yes. Shall I relay the information?”
“Yes. Help them if they need anything. And…”
I should hold a banquet soon.
He smiled with satisfaction as he gauged the remaining days. There were quite a few things he wanted to experiment with by bringing those two before his eyes. The Emperor decided to look forward to that day, which wasn’t far off.
***
That day, Rohan and Arpel handed over all the information they had gathered about the evil god and the executives of the Salvation Church to Lexia. Lexia accepted the large amount of material with an ambiguous expression, somewhere between a smile and a frown.
The days that followed were similar. Although Leriana and Casia were absent, the two continued to raid branches of the Salvation Church here and there, collecting evidence.
“You’ve become quite famous, haven’t you?”
Although it was impossible for people to know about their raids on hidden locations, they started to gain attention after directly saving someone who was about to be captured, coincidentally at the right time. Unfortunately, it was in a territory where commerce was developed, so the story spread rapidly due to frequent travelers.
Rohan looked tired, but Lexia was smiling brightly. He seemed to be quite pleased with the current situation.
“Although it can’t be said to be entirely good as it will raise their guard… it will significantly reduce the number of victims.”
“Enough, what’s the next information…?”
“Ah, this time it’s a bit different.”
Lexia winked at Rohan, who wasn’t hiding his annoyed expression. He rummaged through his drawer for a moment and pulled out two pieces of paper. Anyone could see they were extraordinarily lavish, far from ordinary in appearance.
The gold embroidery decorating them felt exquisite to the touch. Arpel, who was carefully examining them, asked:
“Is this an invitation?”
“That’s right. To be precise, it’s an invitation from the imperial family.”
When they turned over the invitation, the sender’s name was written in elegant cursive on the bottom right of the back. The name “Mikhail Lencester,” the Emperor of the Empire, was too conspicuous.
“You know the Empire’s festival period is coming up soon, right? The imperial family is also holding a grand banquet to commemorate the festival, and this is the invitation to that banquet. According to what’s written, they intend to commend your achievements.”
The content of the unfolded invitation was the same. After various flowery phrases, it continued with the sentence: ‘We commend your achievements and request your presence at this banquet to promote the stability of the Empire’s people and to brighten the festival.’
Although the tone of ‘we request’ seemed to show an attitude of respect, the moment the name of the imperial family, the Emperor, was attached, it carried a strong sense of compulsion regardless of the wording.
“Do we have to attend?”
Arpel, who glanced at Rohan, asked on his behalf. Rohan’s expression had been crumpled for a while. As if he had expected this, Lexia, who was staring at the two, shook his head firmly.
“The temple and the imperial family are independent but close to a cooperative relationship. Even now, when conflicts haven’t surfaced, that’s how it appears on the surface. If we refuse this without a valid reason, it will only provide an excuse for the temple to be attacked.”
“Did Dionel say anything specific?”
Rohan, unable to smooth his furrowed brow, stared straight at Lexia. Originally, this invitation would have been delivered to the temple. But seeing that Lexia had it, it was clear that one of the priests had handed the invitation to him.
Obviously, many words must have been exchanged. Lexia shrugged and nodded at the same time.
“I heard there were differing opinions among the elders. However, the High Priest left a message saying it would be fine for you to do as you wish.”
Rohan’s expression became subtle. After pondering for a long time on the spot, Rohan finally accepted the invitation Lexia was holding.
“I’ll go.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, Arpel will be by my side anyway.”
Arpel’s tone, following up with a question, was quite worried. The Emperor had become Rohan’s biggest target for revenge after learning the details of the incident.
Attending the banquet meant he would inevitably see him up close. In that sense, Arpel was worried about Rohan, but Rohan, turning to look at Arpel, wore his usual gentle smile.
His emotions, which Arpel narrowly gauged, were the same. As if it was a lie that they had once been turbulent, they were stable… As usual, only his affection towards Arpel was clearly felt. Arpel eventually had to bite his lip and turn his gaze away from him.
Lexia acted as if he had expected this. His hand moved naturally as he brought a piece of paper and wrote down an address.
“Then go to this place. The priests who will accompany you will be waiting.”
It was when Rohan, who had received the paper, momentarily turned his gaze to put it in his pocket. Lexia, who had been smiling brightly, suddenly approached Arpel.
“What?”
“So, what did you wish for back then?”
Arpel, who had slightly furrowed his brow, acted as if he was about to say something, but no words actually came out. As he just opened and closed his mouth, Lexia looked at him curiously with round eyes.
“…I didn’t make a wish, so mind your own business.”
His tone was quite sharp. However, despite such an aggressive response, Lexia had to struggle to keep his mouth from curling up. The back of Arpel’s neck, who turned his head away abruptly, was red. Though he didn’t seem to notice it himself.
“Send my regards to Evelyn!”
In the end, Lexia’s voice sending his regards while bursting into laughter was quite irritating. There was no way Rohan wouldn’t notice Arpel frowning and showing his displeasure.
“What did you talk about?”
It was also because he had seen Lexia sticking close to Arpel and asking something earlier. Arpel froze as Rohan leaned his head close to ask.
“…Nothing. It’s nothing.”
It felt very much like he was avoiding the situation. Rohan, who seemed to be examining him with narrowed eyes, only pulled away his head that had been close after seeing Arpel’s slightly flushed ears. The smiling face that immediately followed looked quite pleased.
“Is that so? Then that’s fine.”
They walked through the bustling streets, familiar in their robes. One person’s steps were excessively cheerful.
Arpel could only watch Rohan, who was holding his hand as always. Because Rohan seemed to be in a good mood, because the emotions coming through their clasped hands were purely affectionate, because the firm touch wasn’t unpleasant… There might be various reasons, but in any case, Arpel didn’t dislike this time.
‘I don’t know.’
I don’t know what this feeling is. I don’t know how I think of you either. Beyond what kind of love it is, I couldn’t even be sure if this emotion was love at all.
Occasionally, it felt as if everything was pushed to the edge of a cliff. Was it because of a kind of certainty that the end of this emotion was not far off?
Fidgeting with his hand for no reason, Arpel recalled that night when he had fearlessly promised to grant a wish.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
