Chapter 99
Chapter 99. The Awakened One
With a swift motion, Eurene was seized by a powerful force and dragged forward. She gasped as the grip tightened around her throat.
“Huk!”
Silver-gray eyes stared directly at her from mere inches away. Those eyes, burning with pitch-black hatred, reflected nothing—not even her terror-stricken face.
“H-How…!”
Tatar’s brow furrowed at the sound of Eurene’s voice. He flung her to the floor as if discarding something filthy.
Her frail body rolled across the floor, thrown by a merciless force. In that moment, fearing for its safety, Eurene hurriedly cradled her stomach.
Tatar rose from the bed, tilting his head back before lowering it again. He flexed the hand that had just squeezed Eurene’s throat, clenching and unclenching his fist.
Reliving the terror of that day when she had forcibly drugged him, Eurene scrambled backward on the floor.
“Ah, aah…”
Tatar pulled a decorative sword from the wall. Though ornamental, it was a real blade, well-honed and capable of easily piercing a couple of human necks—always ready to dispatch any would-be assassins.
As if reacquainting himself with the feel of a sword, he rotated his stiff wrist. The long blade glinted, slicing through the air with a menacing sound.
“Tch.”
Apparently dissatisfied that his body wasn’t moving as he wished, Tatar clicked his tongue in annoyance after rotating the sword in his hand a few times.
Eurene instinctively knew: no matter how much she begged for her life, she would die by his hand here.
Those eyes, barely recognizing her as human, held nothing but killing intent.
“No, please…”
A sobbing plea escaped her lips, but Tatar looked down at Eurene with chilling eyes, as if he heard nothing.
Eurene desperately struggled to her feet and ran for the door.
Please, please.
She prayed that someone would save her from this man, even if it meant being arrested for intruding into the Empress’s palace.
As she grasped the closed doorknob and opened it, three startled faces greeted her on the other side.
Deron quickly assessed the situation, noticing Tatar about to swing his sword at Eurene’s back.
Deron’s face contorted.
The situation couldn’t be allowed to worsen. With the paternity of the child in Eurene Castallo’s womb still unconfirmed, if he were to kill her now, the reputation of the imperial family and the Emperor would plummet.
“Lady Lineue!”
“Understood!”
Deron hurled the documents he was holding. As dozens of papers scattered in the air, obscuring vision, Lineue, who had been standing beside him, grabbed the wrist of the collapsed Eurene and pulled her out of the room.
“Aah…!”
Stumbling, Eurene leaned against the wall, a mix of terror at her near-death experience and relief at survival washing over her. As she turned her head, she saw Tatar slowly raising his head amidst the fluttering white papers settling on the floor.
Eurene flinched, pressing her back against the wall with nowhere to retreat.
“Are you alright?”
Turning towards the concerned voice beside her, she saw the priest who had been taken away by the guards.
“Priest Nemil, please take care of them both. You need to leave this place immediately.”
“What?”
What on earth was going on? Nemil stared at the man inside the room with a hardened expression.
“Your Majesty…?”
“It’s dangerous. Please hurry.”
Despite Deron’s warning, Nemil hastily approached Tatar. Seeing that Tatar was still holding the sword, Deron called out to Nemil urgently.
“Priest Nemil!”
“I apologize, Sir Deron. But time is of the essence.”
As Tatar’s grip on the sword tightened, Nemil presented the object he had brought from the temple. As the gray blanket fell away, a transparent, circular crystal was revealed.
“Your Majesty, do you remember this?”
Nemil held out the object to him. As Tatar gazed at it, the sword clattered to the floor.
He placed his hand over the cold crystal.
“…Where is the Empress?”
Realizing that Tatar had fully regained his senses, Deron breathed a sigh of relief and answered.
“We must move quickly, Your Majesty. The nobles and the temple have put the Empress on trial for heresy.”
“Ha—”
Tatar let out a bitter laugh.
A heresy trial. It had been a while since he’d heard those words. The image of Vinea burning at the stake in another life flashed through his mind.
“She said she’d rather avoid being burned to death…”
Tatar removed his hand from the crystal and left the room. He passed by Eurene, who was trembling in fear to the point of losing her mind, without so much as a glance. Deron followed close behind. From a distance, Nemil hurriedly wrapped the crystal in the blanket and held it to his chest before hastening his steps.
“How many days have I been unconscious?”
“Today marks the seventh day, Your Majesty.”
“If only I had died, things would have been simpler…”
Tatar’s face twisted in irritation.
“Throw Eurene Castallo in prison. If she resists, you may cut off a limb or two. She dared to attempt regicide; she must pay the price.”
“Your Majesty, Lady Castallo is currently… in a delicate condition.”
Tatar stopped abruptly at Deron’s words. Consequently, Deron and Nemil, who had been following behind, also halted their steps. Meanwhile, Lineue hurriedly attended to the now unconscious Eurene.
“What nonsense is this?”
“The lady claims to be carrying Your Majesty’s child. She recently received confirmation of her pregnancy from a doctor. As you know, the protection of a woman carrying an imperial heir is above the law—”
“Shut up, Deron. Before I cut out that tongue of yours.”
Deron wisely closed his mouth. Tatar resumed walking.
“What a mess they’ve made.”
“Then, is it not true?”
“Think back to how long I was holed up in the bedroom with the Empress, Deron Morkan.”
Deron nodded with a sheepish expression, realizing his mistake.
“I understand.”
“What else do I need to know?”
“Your Majesty, you were in a state that anyone could see was not that of a living person. The Empress brought you to her palace for protection, but that action fueled malicious rumors that spread immediately after.”
A sneer appeared on Tatar’s lips. He didn’t need to investigate to know who was behind this.
“Also, it seems the temple had been keeping the Sefitiana. The Grand Priest avoided responsibility by claiming he had received divine revelation to do so. Furthermore, they publicly announced that it had been stolen…”
“Continue.”
“The sudden change in Your Majesty’s behavior right after the wedding, your blind devotion only to the Empress, the disappearance of the Sefitiana immediately after your visit to the temple, and your collapse—all these events have converged to point accusations at the Empress.”
“Damn it all…”
“While the Empress was away, the nobles discovered Your Majesty and requested a heresy trial to confirm the truth of the rumors.”
“Why did the Empress go to the temple?”
“We don’t have confirmation yet. Lady Lineue might know, but she seems to be delayed in tending to Lady Castallo. She said she had urgent news regarding the Empress, which I assume is related to this. Shall I call for her?”
“That’s enough. Tell her to keep a close watch on Eurene Castallo to prevent any further mischief.”
Having heard most of the situation, Tatar furrowed his brow.
Perhaps this life would turn out to be even more wretched than his thirty-fourth regression. Thinking of Vinea, who must have endured alone while he slept, made him want to plunge a knife into his own heart.
Tatar arrived at the underground chamber where the teleportation magic circle was installed. He stood before the mages who were resting in chairs.
“Y-Your Majesty…!”
The mages, shocked to see the Emperor who was said to be dead now standing before them, hastily bowed.
“Activate it.”
“I-If you’re referring to the teleportation magic, we need at least two hours to replenish our mana—”
“Deron, bring the next group of mages immediately. I intend to cut down any who prove useless.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The mages hurriedly surrounded the magic circle. Though their vision swam from mana depletion as if they might vomit at any moment, it was preferable to having their throats cut. They activated the magic with all their might.
He stepped onto the magic circle. Deron followed, and after some hesitation, Nemil joined them at Deron’s beckoning.
Soon, a bright purple light enveloped the three.
When they opened their eyes again, they were no longer in the dark underground chamber but on the grounds of the Dawn Knight Order.
Deron struggled to suppress his nausea and caught his breath, while Nemil staggered and steadied himself against the ground.
The Knight Order grounds were empty, as the nobles had been escorted to the temple. Tatar headed straight for the stables. He selected the largest horse and led it outside, then lightly vaulted onto its back.
“We’re heading straight for the temple. Follow as you see fit.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
As Tatar was about to spur the horse forward, Nemil hurriedly stepped in front of him.
“Your Majesty!”
Meeting the cold silver-gray gaze, Nemil felt fear but still held out the crystal cradled in his arms.
“I came to deliver the Sefitiana to you! I’m certain it will be of help…”
Sefitiana? Deron, standing nearby, looked with surprise at the transparent crystal Nemil was offering. This object, which neither emitted the legendary aurora light nor manifested the pillar of light symbolizing God’s miracles, was the Sefitiana?
However, the lack of any mockery in his lord’s expression as he looked down at it made it difficult to dismiss as nonsense.
After a moment of silence, Tatar spoke.
“Do as you wish with it—discard it or use it as decoration. Why did you bring such a useless stone in the first place?”
“A… stone…”
Nemil was taken aback, but soon realized that his choice had not been wrong.
The Sefitiana, with power that could potentially destroy the world. It was right for it to be in the hands of someone who would not use it frivolously, rather than the Grand Priest blinded by greed.
“I will follow you, Your Majesty.”
Tatar did not respond. He jerked the reins sharply and galloped forward, kicking up a cloud of dust. Deron, who had brought two horses from the stable to follow him, looked at the object in Nemil’s hands with a complex expression.
“Is that truly… the Sefitiana?”
“Yes. I don’t have holy water to confirm it, but we can easily prove it once we reach the temple.”
“It’s not emitting any light at all.”
“I find it strange too, but…”
Nemil, pondering the memories of the artifact, finally voiced the only conclusion he could reach.
“This too must be God’s will.”
“What a convenient excuse.”
Deron sighed as he mounted his horse. Nemil also wrapped the Sefitiana in the blanket again and secured it to his chest.
“When was the last time a heresy trial was held?”
“The trials themselves happen more often than you might think. Once a report is filed, they automatically begin.”
“Has anyone ever been proven innocent and released?”
After a brief silence, Nemil answered.
“No. Blasphemy against God is ultimately judged from a human perspective, so personal interests are inevitably involved.”
In other words, the majority of those who died were innocent victims of false accusations.
Deron’s expression hardened. He urged his horse to go faster.
