Chapter 04
Chaiten seemed to understand the situation. He frowned and glared at the young Marquis of Zichellia.
“Trying to hit the bride on your wedding day? Young Marquis. You’re even more trash than I thought.”
“Y-Your Grace, Grand Duke. How did you come here…?”
“I received a wedding invitation too. Marquis Zichellia sent it.”
Chaiten said mockingly as he pulled the invitation from his coat and waved it.
“Did I come somewhere I shouldn’t have, young marquis?”
“O-of course not.”
The young marquis bent his waist respectfully. Like many people, he was weak in front of someone stronger.
“This is the wedding of the Leilaten family, loyal servants of His Majesty the Emperor. Of course I should attend.”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
“It seems His Majesty sent me to a place where a civil war was happening, hoping that this time I wouldn’t come back alive. But here I am, attending a wedding. I wonder if His Majesty will be disappointed again.”
“N-not at all. Everyone will welcome Your Grace’s safe return.”
“That’s what you think? You believe His Majesty will welcome me?”
Chaiten put his hands behind his back and slowly walked around the young marquis, like a leopard watching its prey.
“Y-Your Grace, I…”
“But surely the young marquis wouldn’t dare raise his hand against the only daughter of the Leilaten family, the loyal servants of His Majesty?”
“It’s a misunderstanding!”
“It better be. As you know, His Majesty can be quite cruel. Just look at how he sends his own nephew to dangerous places again and again.”
The young marquis lowered his eyes and nodded nervously.
Chaiten suddenly stopped walking and quietly looked at his face.
“…Then I will inform His Majesty that the wedding between the two of you has been canceled. You may leave now, young marquis.”
“I-I will take my leave.”
The young marquis should be grateful he was allowed to leave peacefully. He quickly ran away without looking back.
Watching him disappear, Chaiten walked over to Roshanne.
“You don’t need to thank—”
“You don’t need to thank me, Grand Duke.”
Chaiten raised one eyebrow.
“Are you finishing my sentence for me, Lady?”
“If I married the young Marquis of Zichellia, the Leilaten family would become stronger, and the Emperor’s power would also grow. That wouldn’t be good for you. So you don’t need to thank me for canceling the marriage.”
The little boy from before had grown into such an impressive man.
Time really had passed.
The person standing in front of her was no longer the young member of the dragon subjugation team from ten years ago. He was now the Grand Duke of Barpheus.
And she herself was no longer the hero who led that expedition, but Roshanne, the daughter of the Leilaten family.
But at this moment, facing him like this made her feel as if she had gone back to that time.
“…‘That’s what you mean?’”
She didn’t even notice Chaiten frowning as he repeated her words.
Chaiten narrowed his eyes and carefully looked at Roshanne. His expression seemed both confused and curious, as if he were looking at a strange creature.
Roshanne tilted her head slightly, not knowing the reason.
“You…”
Chaiten stared at her without blinking, as if they were having a silent staring contest. He opened his mouth to say something.
At that moment, someone approached behind him.
“Your Grace.”
Chaiten closed his mouth.
“His Majesty the Emperor is looking for you.”
A royal attendant had appeared behind him. The moment he heard the word Emperor, a cold smile appeared on Chaiten’s face.
“It seems His Majesty has finally called me, hoping that maybe one of my arms was cut off this time. Seeing that I’m still in one piece, he’ll be disappointed again.”
Chaiten brushed his hair back with a bitter smile.
Even though he spoke harshly about the Emperor, he still couldn’t refuse the summons.
Just like ten years ago.
“I must go now, Lady.”
Chaiten gently took Roshanne’s hand and lightly kissed the back of it.
Up close, his red eyes looked like sparks flying before destruction.
“I originally came to congratulate you on your wedding. Since that didn’t happen, I’ll congratulate you on your broken engagement instead. Congratulations, Lady.”
“…Thank you, Grand Duke.”
“Your way of speaking is a bit— never mind. I hope we meet again.”
Chaiten carefully placed her hand back down and straightened his body.
Then he followed the attendant, leaving with a cold expression.
…The Emperor.
By now, the Emperor must have noticed that the hero’s soul had disappeared.
Roshanne watched Chaiten’s back as he walked away, then looked out the hallway window.
She could see the wedding guests complaining while waiting for their carriages to leave.
Roshanne’s wedding had been completely ruined.
Later
“Where did it go?! Where did it go?!”
Inside the Emperor’s secret library—a place where no one was allowed to enter.
The Emperor turned the entire room upside down like a madman.
Glass shattered everywhere, and piles of ancient books fell to the floor, but the Emperor did not stop.
“Who? Who dared to steal what belongs to me?! Who?!”
He kept searching frantically, as if he could find it if he destroyed the entire library.
“My hero!”
The Emperor screamed as he looked at the broken crystal orb.
More precisely, the soul that had been sealed inside it for hundreds of years—the soul of the Empire’s guardian—was gone.
During a state meeting earlier, he had felt something strange. He immediately stopped the meeting and rushed here.
The guardian of the Empire.
The hero.
A gift from the gods to the Empire.
A dog that only the Emperor could command.
A living weapon.
A great asset of the Empire.
“No… no! This can’t be happening!”
The crystal orb that sealed the guardian had shattered, and the soul had disappeared without a trace.
The location and tool used to seal the hero’s soul were top secret.
So who had found it and stolen the soul?
The hero’s soul normally appeared as a faint mist, making it recognizable.
But no matter how much the Emperor searched the secret library, there wasn’t even a trace of mist.
Finally, he collapsed to the floor with a pale face.
“Your Majesty.”
The royal court mage, Jarel, who had been watching quietly from behind, spoke.
The Emperor’s wandering anger immediately turned toward him.
“You… you stole what belongs to me.”
The Emperor staggered forward and grabbed Jarel’s collar tightly.
“Y-Your Majesty! How could I possibly—”
“Then did someone else enter this place? I clearly ordered it to be guarded.”
“Only those with Your Majesty’s permission can enter here. There are no signs that the magic barrier was broken.”
“Then who did it?!”
The Emperor shouted loudly. His voice echoed in the small library like a wild animal’s roar.
“If no one entered… then it must be you. You’re the only one.”
“It wasn’t me! I swear!”
The Emperor’s eyes looked like those of a madman, as if he might kill Jarel at any moment.
“If I had stolen the soul, I would have already run away, Your Majesty! I truly didn’t take it!”
“…Then who did?”
His cold voice made Jarel shiver.
He was too frightened to speak.
“Useless.”
The Emperor clicked his tongue and released Jarel’s collar.
“…What about tracking magic?”
“We already tried it, but the tracking spell cannot find the soul.”
The Emperor’s teeth ground together loudly.
The hero was the guardian of the Empire.
The one who could save the Empire from danger.
Which meant the hero was a powerful tool to strengthen the Emperor’s rule.
Just as the Emperor was about to grab Jarel’s throat—
“Your Majesty.”
A voice called from above the secret library.
“The Grand Duke of Barpheus is waiting in the audience chamber.”
Ah, right.
He also had that annoying nephew with the long lifespan.
The Emperor clicked his tongue and walked up the stone stairs.
After climbing the dark steps, he finally reached a bright light.
The exit from the secret library connected directly to the Emperor’s bedroom.
Behind him, Jarel followed and used magic to close the hidden door. The stone wall sealed shut, and a bookshelf covered it again.
“So my nephew has returned once again after my summons.”
The Emperor snapped his fingers, and the assistant opened the bedroom door to call the waiting servants.
Servants entered and began removing the Emperor’s dirty clothes to prepare new ones.
But before he could change, the Emperor stopped them.
“There’s too much dust. I’ll wash first. Prepare the bath.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The servants hurried away.
The Emperor sat down and gestured again. The assistant quickly brought wine and a glass.
“Is my nephew still in one piece this time?”
“At first glance, he appeared unharmed.”
“How unfortunate.”
The Emperor poured wine into the glass until it overflowed.
“No one even hopes for his safe return, yet he keeps coming back alive.”
The wine spilled over the glass and soaked the table, then dripped onto the carpet.
“Should we send him away?”
After the bottle was empty, the assistant asked.
“No. My nephew just returned after stopping a civil war. We should welcome him.”
The Emperor smiled cruelly.
“Tell him to wait and have a drink. Say it’s a celebratory drink.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“And tell him I must wash first.”
“I will.”
“Anything else?”
“…Ah. The wedding between the Leilaten family and the Zichellia family has been canceled.”
“That doesn’t matter. Anything else?”
“No.”
“Then leave.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The assistant left with the empty wine bottle.
“Jarel.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Find the hero. No matter what method you use. I don’t care who stole the soul.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor had no intention of giving the hero freedom.
The guardian of the Empire must always belong to the Empire.
