#106
“I have something I want to ask.”
Thirty minutes later, Marcus entered the reception room where the old palace servants had been isolated.
His attitude was as leisurely as when he had first set foot in the palace, but the three people listening couldn’t hear it comfortably.
“Wh-whatever you wish to ask.”
“Yes, yes, anything!”
“…Ugh.”
Ten minutes.
That was the time it took for the palace servants, who weren’t many to begin with, to drag their heavy bodies and clean every corner of the palace perfectly.
The palace servants were forced to move because whenever their actions became even slightly sluggish, killing intent would be directed at them.
And this was just the beginning.
About a dozen palace servants all received training bordering on torture under the pretext of making them come to their senses, but it was ambiguous whether this infringed on their master’s authority, so there was nowhere to complain.
“His Highness also asked me to help you all come to your senses.”
Since they had readily believed his claim about being told to check the palace’s condition without any evidence and had even shown him the office, there was no basis to question the truth of this statement.
If an external noble like him were punishing palace servants who served the royal family, they could raise objections, but since he said he was doing training at their request, that too was impossible.
But it was painful.
All the palace servants except exactly three felt an ominous premonition that they might not be able to leave the palace alive today.
“Very good attitude. I’ll specially cut the training you’ll receive later by half.”
“Half… do we also have to receive training?”
“Huh? You’re stating the obvious?”
…It would be nice if he could tell them exactly what displeased him.
He surely wasn’t doing this just because they hadn’t managed the Prince’s palace.
If so, then probably…
The Head Servant calmly spoke up.
“If perhaps His Highness offended you.”
Ah, that’s it! The remaining two palace servants made expressions of realization.
Marcus was dumbfounded but decided to hear them out, tilting his head and asking back.
“If that were the case?”
“His Highness would willingly pay the price. Please don’t worry.”
“Aha?”
Thus, the Head Servant crossed a path of no return.
Marcus actually didn’t remember anything else about him, but he remembered one thing. That his young daughter had been cruelly murdered by Eris.
He had been working as Head Servant in this palace for over 13 years while harboring that resentment.
The other palace servants could be seen as venting their resentment due to being assigned here, but the Head Servant was different.
He was a volunteer.
If Marcus had been in the Head Servant’s position, wouldn’t he have killed Ersen long ago?
So even if he was crossing the line a bit, he wasn’t planning to have him officially punished for matters related to Ersen.
The training he said to receive only half of was just words since he had no intention of killing these three elderly people.
“Willingly, he would take responsibility himself.”
It was the moment Marcus’s feelings toward him definitely shifted from additional petty crimes to blasphemy.
He calculated how far he could go within the scope of training that could properly punish the Head Servant while not becoming an obstacle when Ersen personally disciplined them later.
And he made up his mind.
“Good words. Taking direct responsibility for wrongdoing. Then you won’t have any complaints either.”
“…Pardon?”
“How fortunate, hahaha!”
Without immediately telling them what punishment it would be, Marcus ridiculed the Head Servant’s face, which was thoroughly stained with anxiety, to his face and said:
“Then first, shall we answer the questions I ask?”
“Y-yes…”
All three waited anxiously for Marcus to speak.
Marcus sat on the reception room sofa in a relaxed posture and crossed his legs. Then he slowly caressed his sword hilt while looking at them.
“Everything you remember about this palace from 13 years ago.”
If they didn’t speak, they would die.
They had to tell everything without leaving out a single trivial detail to leave here alive.
Even if the three people’s accounts didn’t match, they couldn’t leave.
Without needing to say it explicitly, the three palace servants understood Marcus’s warning.
Yet they couldn’t open their mouths for a long time, only breaking into cold sweats.
Marcus gripped his sword hilt threateningly without changing his expression at all.
* * *
Head Servant, Head Maid, Head Cook.
The positions of the three palace servants were indeed senior ones.
And they had seen and heard as much as their years of service.
There was nothing more frightening than speaking carelessly in the palace. They knew that too. Whatever they knew, there was always someone in power for whom that information could become a weakness, and killing them would be as easy as killing a single ant in the palace.
However, the information about the Prince’s life before age seven wasn’t that kind of information.
The only person who could be harmed if it became known was the Prince alone, and the Prince wasn’t someone with the power to harm them.
If anyone might be displeased by what they said, it would only be the half-demons and the evil spirit, but the half-demons were indifferent to Ersen, and the evil spirit was dead.
Nevertheless, the reason they couldn’t easily open their mouths was purely because the information they had to tell was unpleasant.
Anyone would find it difficult to describe a child being abused.
“What we remember is only about two years from when His Highness turned five. We entered together at that time.”
Once started, the words flowed endlessly once the floodgates opened.
“We never thought of it as abuse.”
They said they either thought it was just like mother like son, were indifferent to the child, or thought of the mother and child together as monsters.
The three palace servants seemed to have never thought about those events from Ersen’s perspective.
Marcus captured in his eyes each moment when their expressions became awkward as they took turns speaking.
He didn’t even add common interjections until they finished speaking.
In the middle of their continuing words, the Head Maid said something carelessly.
“It was torture.”
His head rang slightly, then he barely came to his senses.
Marcus quietly closed his eyes, opened them, then gestured with his chin to continue.
At least to the palace servants, he appeared completely unshocked. So the palace servants also freely poured out those two years of memories they had condoned.
Their words continued until the palace servants repeating endurance training outside in the predetermined order collapsed one by one and dusk fell.
Since the recording orb had been turned on without their knowledge, Marcus couldn’t stop even when he wanted to interrupt.
If not now, they would become more cautious.
He interrupted their words only once.
“…I wondered if the Prince had received shadow education, but surprisingly not.”
It was pure curiosity showing no human sentiment toward Ersen. At least, that’s how it appeared to the three.
Now the three began to feel completely at ease.
They had wondered why the Empire’s only Sword Master was meddling in such useless affairs, but apparently there had been suspicious points while recently using Prince Ersen for some purpose.
Taking anger out on them today and giving punishment disguised as training was half venting anger toward the Prince, and the other half was simply reflexive disgust at slack palace servants.
‘Well, despite appearances, you were someone who couldn’t stand slack behavior.’
They had done wrong. They thought they should show a diligent appearance at least in front of that person next time…
While sharing such thoughts through eye contact, the three palace servants competed to answer.
“Actually, we heard that the talent he showed was in something other than assassination.”
Ominousness washed over him, but Marcus tilted his head without showing it.
“Something else?”
“Yes, it was something only half-demons knew about, they called it sacrificial constitution. We don’t know what it means though.”
“…Huh?”
It felt like his blood was draining. Marcus could understand those words.
Among half-demons, sacrificial constitution referred to half-demons with no talent who only had value as sacrifices. They could replace several ordinary people and were often used as mediums for casting curses in special rituals…
“Material…?”
“Yes, that’s what they said. It-it must be a metaphor. Anyway, they said he showed considerable talent for that, then…”
Concubine Eris had laughed strangely then suddenly changed and went into a frenzy, raging like mad.
“We really thought His Highness would die that day.”
The Head Servant stopped there and suddenly pressed his lips shut.
His expression was calm, but his eyes were trembling very slightly. Marcus looked at him coldly.
He had been consistently speaking without reserve.
The hesitant Head Servant looked at Marcus again and continued.
“At that time, the Concubine said many blasphemous things to His Imperial Majesty.”
So, she cursed the Emperor while beating the child.
Even though he could just think the evil spirit acted like an evil spirit, Marcus somehow found himself grinding his teeth.
Looking at the symptoms, it was almost certain he had received shadow education. It was strange that the palace servants hadn’t noticed, but if it was that evil spirit, it wouldn’t be odd whatever methods she used. However, he hadn’t expected this much.
To hide his hands trembling slightly while listening, he repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists.
After hearing their two years’ worth of confession, or rather, what was absurdly close to tattling, Marcus drove them outside.
Seeing him say nothing about training or anything else, the three palace servants smiled inwardly thinking their prediction was correct and withdrew.
Not knowing that something bigger awaited them.
“…”
It felt like his breathing was somewhat blocked.
And just as Marcus fell silent then slowly stopped the recording orb and sighed.
The curse chains revealed themselves near his heart.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
