Chapter 104

KWA-A-A-ANG!

A fierce sword aura whizzed past me, shattering the wall. Shards of the broken wall showered down, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Thanks to the sudden haze of dust, I felt I hadn’t revealed the instinctive cringe that pulled my body back. If I had been under true hypnotic control, I wouldn’t have felt even this fear.

A furious voice sounded behind me.

“You scoundrel! Get out of the way!”

“Are you trying to kill Lady Chacha?!”

“It’s to protect His Majesty the Emperor!”

It was the Knight Commander, enraged, who had fired the sword aura towards me. It seemed Wilhelm had blocked it, as a skilled fighter like the Commander wouldn’t miss a target by that margin.

My legs were shaking and cold sweat ran down my back at the realization that I had almost died.

‘No, I still have to pretend I’m hypnotized…’

Roon was still nearby. I continued walking toward the Emperor, maintaining a pace that was neither too fast nor too slow, like someone under a trance. I had to clench my hand tightly to hide its trembling.

Behind me, I heard the sounds of knights screaming and collapsing in a desperate struggle. Roon, positioned close behind me, was eliminating them as if to cover my approach.

“Cut down the Duchess! She must not reach His Majesty!”

“Lady Chacha! Please, snap out of it!”

Knight Commander Abe was willing to kill me to protect the Emperor, while Wilhelm blocked him, shouting until his voice was raw. The stench of blood wafted strongly from behind.

As I finally stood before the Emperor, Roon approached my side, laughing loudly.

“Now, it’s time to finish it, isn’t it? If you just kill the Emperor, you can witness a chaos even greater than this. I’m truly excited.”

I fiercely suppressed the urge for my breathing to falter from the tension and slowly raised the sword. I felt the gaze of everyone in the Audience Chamber concentrate on me as I raised the blade.

“Your Majesty!”

The moment the Knight Commander screamed, Wilhelm pushed off the ground and rushed towards me.

Slice! Clang!

With a sharp noise, a head was cleanly severed and rolled across the floor. The detached head, fallen from the place my sword was aimed, rolled and stopped at Wilhelm’s feet.

“Oh my?”

Roon’s head looked up at Wilhelm and me, seemingly bewildered.

It was a surprise attack attempted by luring her into complacency, but since she was a monster who had overwhelmed even Wilhelm, it was not an easy task. I could see her headless body, still standing, sharpen its claws as if preparing a counterattack.

Thankfully, the charging Wilhelm blocked the attack, preventing it from touching me. Roon blinked her large eyes, then wore a disappointed expression and said, “This is unexpected, isn’t it? Hahaha.”

Those were her last words.

Thud.

A thick, bright blue blood oozed from the body and head that collapsed onto the floor. After spewing blood as if boiling, her body quickly turned to ash and scattered into the air. Only the blue blood remaining on the floor attested to her presence.

“Lady Chacha! That was reckless!”

“But I survived thanks to you, Wilhelm.”

The moment Roon died, Wilhelm immediately scolded me. I smoothly brushed past his anger and checked on the Emperor. The Commander, who had been staring blankly at us, belatedly rushed over.

“Just… you weren’t under hypnosis? No, more importantly, have you learned the sword?”

He clutched his platinum-blond hair, asking in confusion.

However, this was no time to answer, so I ignored his questions and commanded a surviving Pink Marten Knight.

“Please summon a physician.”

“Yes!”

***

The Emperor woke up about two hours later.

“So, you pretended to be hypnotized to protect me?”

“Yes.”

He had been under hypnosis for a long time, but fortunately, there was no abnormality in the Emperor’s body or mind. As soon as he woke up, he grasped the seriousness of the situation and began interviewing those present, one by one, to hear the full story. I was the first person to be interviewed.

Perhaps because of the massive incident that had just passed, I felt no tension even in this private audience with the Emperor.

“Only my escort knight knew that I had trained with a sword. Therefore, luring her into a false sense of security was my best option. Of course, it was dangerous, but thanks to my escort knight, a major disaster was averted.”

“Hmm.”

The Emperor looked at me with a mischievous smile. It wasn’t a very pleasant smile, and just as I started to feel tense, the Emperor suddenly burst into hearty laughter and clapped my back thump-thump.

“Agh!”

“Oops! My apologies. I can’t control my strength well. In any case, I owe my life to my nephew’s wife! Hahaha!”

He seemed genuinely delighted and laughed out loud. He still had the unreserved manner I had seen when I met him with Nine. I rubbed my aching back and forced a smile.

“Still, I was lucky. I didn’t know how to handle an aura, so I didn’t think the monster would be cut so cleanly.”

“Ah, that must be due to the Imperial Sword. It is said to be made from the Dragon’s Tooth, which struck fear into monsters.”

“A Dragon?”

“Yes. It is said to retain the Dragon’s power; it can slice through monsters without being imbued with an aura, and most monsters are said to avoid anyone who carries it. Though, this is the first time I’ve seen it in action myself, hahahaha.”

I realized how much pure luck had been involved in my being able to slice Roon.

However, my astonishment was brief, and I immediately offered counsel to the Emperor.

“Your Majesty, I believe you need to address this situation now.”

“Indeed, I must!”

The Emperor thumped his broad chest with his fist, guaranteeing action.

After that, things moved swiftly. The first step was to arrest Count Laurel’s envoys remaining in the Imperial Palace, and the Emperor immediately convened a Council of State. Although I would not normally be allowed to attend, the Emperor requested my presence. I was initially bewildered but soon understood his intention.

“Duchess Eclipse shall explain the events unfolding in the current Empire.”

His intent was to put forward the person from the Eclipse family who was most intimately involved with the incident. Since this was a necessary position for me as well, I immediately shared the details regarding the connection between the Laurel family, the Urkel Church, and the monster.

“Are you asking us to believe that, Duchess Eclipse?”

“Your Majesty. The Eclipse Ducal House has not yet been cleared of suspicion. Bringing the Duchess into this meeting…”

“Are you suggesting that I am uttering a falsehood?”

Everyone was confused, claiming the events were unbelievable, but having just experienced the incident himself, the Emperor left them no room for disbelief. Once those hostile toward me fell silent, there were no further obstacles. Others had also begun to feel the strange atmosphere flowing through the Empire.

[The previous Imperial announcement was a fabrication created by the Laurel family, and the Imperial Family supports the Protector of the North. Count Laurel, who dared to disrespect the Imperial Family, shall pay the price, and the Urkel Church is hereby declared a heresy.]

At the conclusion of the Council, it was decided not to explicitly mention the connection to monsters in the official Imperial announcement. This was based on the judgment that many innocent citizens would suffer if the panic among the Empire’s people and the ill will toward the Urkel Church became too great. The Eclipse side, which was informed of the announcement beforehand via communication orb, agreed with the contents.

‘It’s done.’

I finally let out a sigh of relief as I listened to the Emperor’s announcement from behind the dais. The whole ordeal wasn’t over yet, but this was my entire role in the capital.

‘I must return North quickly.’

Although the Imperial Family had revoked the announcement, we still didn’t know how Count Laurel would react.

I spoke to Wilhelm, who was standing behind me.

“Wilhelm, let’s return North immediately.”

“…”

“Wilhelm?”

Puzzled by his lack of response, I turned around to find Wilhelm’s complexion dark. His state had been peculiar ever since encountering High Priestess Roon. It was then that I remembered the unresolved question still lingering in my mind.

“I wondered how Count Laurel managed to move a monster.”

“Hm? The child next to you can do that too, you know?”

Roon’s comment bothered me, as did the fact that her skin color had become similar to Wilhelm’s when she revealed her monster form.

‘But his skin tone is a characteristic of a minority ethnicity…’

“I have something to tell you, Lady Chacha.”

He spoke with a determined voice after his silence. I nodded, thinking I shouldn’t take this lightly, separate from the trust I had in him.

“Alright.”

“I’ll listen to that story, too.”

Just then, the Emperor, having descended from the dais, abruptly leaned in. He wore a mischievous smile, but his eyes were not smiling at all. His serious gaze was fixed on Wilhelm.

“You shall tell it in great detail.”