‘What?’
Why is she so freaked out?
Dad cleared his throat trying to express his displeasure. Yenna finally collected her thoughts and wore a forced smile.
“I- I see. You’ve graduated early. Hanelope is incredibly smart. Your Highness must be delighted. Now you can spend more time with your daughter.”
“Yes, I suppose so.”
“So you’re not going to… the borders now?” Yenna asked hopefully.
Dad nodded, “The situation there with the demonic cult is mostly settled. The rest is for Margrave to handle. I should spend time with my daughter.”
“I see! Hanelope, congratulations. We’ll see each other often from now on, right? Let’s be friends!” Yenna said, trying to be friendly.
I subtly stepped back.
Her overly friendly attitude felt uncomfortable because I could sense her intentions.
***
In the Prayer Room of the Grand Temple.
The countless prayer rooms that used to be empty until a few years ago were now all occupied.
The Empire was full of people wanting to fulfill their overflowing desires.
In a secluded prayer room separate from the others, instead of prayers, a secretive conversation going on.
“Can I really receive the genuine hybrid right away?” A timidly dressed man asked with a trembling voice.
Archbishop Liang nodded, “Of course. Do you think we would lie in the Grand Temple?”
“W-well, I don’t quite understand why such deals are made here. And so covertly.”
“The Morning Butterfly Flower is a gift from Prache to humans. It should rightfully go to those who are deeply faithful.”
“T-That’s true. Our family has been making significant offerings to the temple for generations.”
The man easily accepted the reasoning and chuckled nervously. He was currently cornered, and his judgment was clouded.
Archbishop Liang inwardly mocked such a man.
‘How pitiful! How can he smile when it’s the same flower that made him lose his wealth!’
This man was the heir to a wealthy merchant family. But he had ventured into Morning Butterfly Flower investments and lost most of his wealth. After having fun selling Morning Butterfly Flowers, he invested a large sum in a cultivator who promised to raise and sell new hybrids.
But the hybrids he received were too similar to existing ones, offering no advantage. Soon the competition became fierce. Eventually, the price of the Morning Butterfly Flowers he owned plummeted.
Since the cultivator hadn’t lied or cheated, the loss was entirely his.
‘He should have stopped there after suffering losses. But he invested in other hybrids to make up for it.’
Seeing others making big money from hybrids made him impatient. But the hybrids he touched kept plummeting in value, leaving him with almost nothing in the end.
The Grand Temple was the one extending a hand to such a man.
“Please sign this contract. Then you can receive the most expensive hybrid on the market, the < Blue Deception >. This is purely to help the faithful in need…”
“H-here! I’ve signed!”
Without even listening to Archbishop Liang’s words, the man signed the contract. The ‘Blue Deception’ was so expensive that even one flower could buy a small estate.
‘A whole estate for one flower. People were that insane.’
Archbishop Liang looked over the contract that the man had signed without properly reading it. Among the clauses, there was one particularly noticeable sentence.
[ The contractor swears to dedicate their body and soul entirely to Prache in exchange for the product. ]Even if he had read it, it would appear as a mere condition to maintain faith. In reality, it had a very heavy meaning.
“Alright, then. Let me give you the ‘Blue Deception.’ Follow me.”
“Yes!”
Archbishop Liang led the man. Soon they reached a more secluded area. Even though the man was impulsive, he also felt something amiss.
“Isn’t this His Holiness’s chamber?”
“His Holiness will personally give you the ‘Blue Deception.'”
“I see…”
“Please enter.”
The man hastily opened the door and entered.
And moments later-
“Aaaargh!”
A horrible scream echoed from the room. Archbishop Liang’s face contorted as usual. Even though he witnessed it many times, he couldn’t help being disgusted by it.
Soon the screams were replaced with mocking laughter.
“Are you still scared?”
The owner of the laughter was Yenna.
“It’s not fear, it’s disgust.”
“I’m going to tell Prache about my visit to the palace. Do you want to come?”
“D-Do as you please!”
Archbishop Liang hastily left.
Yenna giggled and entered the Pope’s chamber.
Inside the dark room, the Pope sat with his head bowed. He sprinkled flower petals across the stack of clothes before him.
They were petals of the ‘Blue Deception.’
“Has the contract been completed?” Yenna asked with a smile.
Then the Pope raised his head. He had a young face with bright blue eyes. Despite being sick, there was no sign of aging or illness.
“I took what I desired, now I should uphold my part of the bargain.”
His tone was arrogantly confident.
Yenna seemed familiar with this sight.
“I hope you recover soon after savoring the bodies and souls of contractors, Prache.”
“I still need to recover my lost powers,” The Pope, or rather Prache, who was rooted in his body, said.
A few years ago, he had been greatly injured in a fight with Hanelope. He had to hide and use the Pope’s body as a vessel.
But the pope’s life force was not enough. He needed more sacrifices to fully recover.
Prache found it disgraceful to live in such a body and consume the life force of pathetic beings like humans.
He gnashed his teeth.
‘Is it even worth living like this?’
Yenna said, looking at the scattered petals on the floor, “Duke Eisen is going crazy over the flowers. We shouldn’t have made it public.”
Yenna glanced at Prache. He was the one who had told Yenna to make the cultivation method known. And Eisen helped him initiate this domino effect.
‘Not only did we put the Emperor in trouble, but also rope in desperate human sacrifices.’
Prache’s expression sharpened as Yenna continued to pout.
“Yenna, hasten your marriage plans with Prince Patrick. Your child will be the new Emperor of the Berg.”
Prache intended to use Yenna to have Berg under his control. He wanted to be the ruler of the largest and most fertile continent.
‘Emperor Robert.. that blasphemous, miserable wr*tch. I’ll make you and your descendant beg for my mercy.’
“Does it have to be Prince Patrick?” Yenna snapped, “Why can’t I marry Prince Hart?”
There was her nagging again.
“I thought I said no,” Prache replied coldly, “Asta has already shown you that it is impossible to get your hands on Hart von Reinhardt.”
“You think I’m the same as that unattractive loser?”
“Shut up. If Patrick is to become Emperor, Hart is a man who must die. As soon as I regain my strength, I will kill him and his daughter with my own hands.”
After saying this, he turned to warn Yenna, “Don’t think about doing some nonsense, unless you want to go back to your world and die a miserable death.”
***
It had been a long time since I visited the Imperial Academy, and it had grown bigger.
Even the office assigned to me was very spacious and clean.
“You look like you’re having a hard time adjusting,” Richter said.
I nodded.
“Yes. I’ve been living in the deep countryside of Barbetz for the past few years.”
“You’ll get used to it soon. If there’s anything you don’t know or need, you can ask me.”
“Yes, Professor!”
Richter had become a very influential person over the years. It was mostly because of Professor Munich, who handed over his duties to her. Munich was currently focused only on being grandfather’s aide.
“Professor, can I take my knight to see the academy?”
“Of course. Feel free to look around.”
Richter said, glancing at Brantley, who was wearing a mask. She didn’t seem to recognize him.
Brantley and I headed to the classroom we used during our student days.
“Are you really trying to show me around? I remember the academy days,” Brantley said.
I shook my head, “I want to reminisce with you.”
“Why?”
“For no reason.”
I smiled and opened the classroom door, “Remember? We used to…”
I couldn’t continue because the classroom had been completely remodeled.
“It looks like all our memories are gone,” Brantley said cynically.
‘This wasn’t what I expected!’
But I wasn’t the type to give up.
“Let’s go to the garden! We had a lot of outdoor classes there!”
I grabbed Brantley’s wrist and headed to the garden.
But-
“They’ve completely changed it too.”
I was disappointed.
‘I thought that reminiscing about memories might remind Brantley of his old feelings and confidence.’
While I was feeling disappointed, Brantley said, “Not all our memories are gone. Look, this tree is still here.”
Brantley said, touching a leaf of the tree.
It was indeed the tree I was familiar with.
“Under this tree, we made magic golems, and taught Jacob a lesson.”
He said nostalgically.
Note: About – 푸른 공작
푸른 – Blue
공작 – Duke/ Peacock/ Manipulation/Crafts etc.
I’m translating this as ‘Blue Deception’ for now. I’ll notify you if I’m forced to make changes due to the context. Thank you for reading!
