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Chapter : 15
Two days later, a considerable number of guests arrived at the Imperial Palace.
As if they had dropped straight down from the sky, they strode confidently toward the palace’s main gate, which was guarded by knights.
There were too many of them to take in at a glance, but only the man standing at the very front opened his mouth.
“Open the gate. I promise I won’t kill you if you do.”
The tall man with black hair and red eyes gave off an inexplicably threatening aura.
While the knights hesitated to respond, only a very faint sound could be heard in front of the gate.
Scratch, scratch.
Another man standing right beside him had been writing something for a while now.
It was an absurd situation that made no sense at all, yet no one could bring themselves to speak.
The man’s sheer presence crushed them, making it hard even to breathe. Perhaps realizing this, he let out a quiet chuckle.
“Don’t be so scared. I never intended to kill you anyway.”
“……”
“I have even less intention of not passing through here, though.”
At those words, the knights, having gathered their wits, charged at him—but they couldn’t even touch a single hair on his head.
Part of it was because those escorting him instantly surrounded him, but there was a more fundamental problem.
It was the man’s chilling aura, so eerie it made goosebumps rise all over their bodies. Above his head, the image of a roaring dragon seemed to appear.
Overwhelmed by that pressure, the knights faltered, then unconsciously began moving as if they were clearing a path for him.
As though someone had commanded them to do so—it was an utterly instinctive reaction.
As a result, nothing stood in the man’s way, and his group passed through the main gate in the blink of an eye.
Just as the knights, their legs giving out as they collapsed to the ground, stared after them in shock, something fell from the sky.
“Huh…?”
“……Rain?”
At that, torrential rain poured down like thunder from the heavens. Rain that came only a few times a year at most in the Kailum Empire.
And never had it fallen this heavily.
“This can’t be……”
A knight, turning his head toward the palace at the unreal sight, cried out in astonishment at what he saw next.
The Imperial Palace—once magnificent yet somehow desolate—was regaining vitality as if by magic.
Those who witnessed the scene all realized it then: just who the man they had let inside was.
It was the return of the palace’s true master.
The man who arrived at the Imperial Palace—no, Leonard—looked upon the emperor who now occupied what was originally his place.
Along with him, he saw silver hair that closely resembled that of someone he knew.
“You know who I am, don’t you?”
Though it was an abrupt and discourteous address, the emperor, Isaac, quietly nodded.
How could he not know? When the man was flaunting his power so openly.
Moreover, Leonard was the spitting image of Khalid, the last Dragon Emperor—it was impossible not to notice.
Isaac had been staring at Khalid’s portrait every day while searching for Leonard.
If I were to stab that neck right now…
Isaac’s eyes traced the spot where his sword was sheathed, but he soon gave up and let out a sigh.
Behind Leonard, he could see the imperial knights lying defeated.
This was the emperor’s office—those guarding it should have been highly skilled—yet they had fallen in an instant.
Even if he managed to draw his sword, there was no chance he could defeat that monster.
At least it’s a relief that Enoch isn’t in the palace.
Seeing Leonard move his hand toward his sword, Isaac opened his mouth in a hurry, without time to think further.
The words that came out of his tightly closed lips were unexpected.
“I have been waiting. O true master of this land.”
Isaac knelt before Leonard.
Leonard frowned at the unforeseen development, but Isaac did not change his posture.
Sensing the conversation would be long, Leonard subtly moved to Gerald’s side—losing track of what they’d been discussing would be troublesome.
At that moment, Isaac caught sight of Gerald’s face and cursed inwardly.
Damn it.
Of course—it had to be the Hentison baronial family.
Three hundred years ago, they were the only family suspected of helping Leonard escape who had never once come up to the capital.
Lacking clear evidence, Isaac had left them alone.
If I’d known it would come to this, I should’ve just crushed them.
After a moment of thought, Isaac shook his head.
Rather than regretting what couldn’t be undone, it was far better to think about what to do next.
First and foremost, he needed to leave this place alive.
“……First of all, I offer my deepest condolences for what happened ‘that day,’ Your Majesty.”
Isaac steadied his breathing as he uttered the forbidden words—those events from three hundred years ago that Leonard did not remember, making them all the more painful.
“After that incident, we searched diligently for Your Majesty, who had disappeared. Only you are worthy of sitting in this seat.”
It wasn’t a lie that they had searched for Leonard. The problem was that they had intended to kill him for good while he was still an infant.
“But we could not find even a trace of you.”
“……”
“We were told that the throne could not remain vacant for long, so the House of Defron stepped in—nothing more than that.”
The emperor—no, now the former emperor—Duke Defron, Isaac, slowly rose to his feet.
“The House of Defron has never coveted this seat. Now that the true master has returned, I shall step down and return to my original position.”
After speaking, Isaac walked over to a desk drawer and took out a ring embroidered with the dragon, the symbol of the Kailum Empire.
The emblem of authority worn by successive emperors.
Once I hand this over, the throne will change hands.
And he would no longer be “Isaac Daire Defron,” but simply “Isaac Defron.”
Those who were not of the imperial family could not keep the same name.
He disliked the shortened name intensely, but there was nothing he could do.
Returning with the ring in hand, Isaac offered it to Leonard with a trembling hand, then knelt once more.
“It was always Your Majesty’s to begin with.”
Thus, the transfer of imperial authority happened in the blink of an eye.
Faced with the unexpected turn of events, Leonard quietly looked down at Isaac.
Isaac appeared quite sincere. Even the knights watching exchanged looks of admiration.
But Leonard could see it.
The deep desire glittering in the eyes that pretended to hold no regret, and the humiliation conveyed through the trembling hands.
Being unable to distinguish people by their appearance, Leonard had learned to read human emotions as his own way of telling them apart.
It would be easier on my mind to just kill him.
But with Isaac acting this way, Leonard couldn’t do that. Killing him now would only instill fear in others.
Above all, there was no proof that the House of Defron had tried to assassinate Leonard when he was an infant.
And the other families who took part in the assassination plot would surely keep silent about it too.
To outsiders, Isaac was an ideal emperor who had governed the Kailum Empire well while awaiting the eventual return of the palace’s true master.
That was how good Isaac Daire Defron—no, Isaac Defron’s reputation was.
And hadn’t he handed over the throne without a word the moment Leonard returned? No matter how he looked at it, there was no justification for killing him.
Whatever the truth, there would be plenty of evidence that the House of Defron had searched for Leonard.
Right after ascending the throne, there’s no need to take such a risk…
No—honestly, all of that was just an excuse.
There was another reason Leonard hesitated. Even now, one single person lingered in his mind.
Loreina Amelio.
The strange woman unaffected by his curse.
Even after four years, his memories of her only grew clearer.
The way her beautiful blue eyes curved when she smiled. Her face when she was on the verge of tears but tried hard not to show it. Her fragile body that stepped in front of him without hesitation.
Even the trembling hands she tried to hide behind her back were etched vividly into his memory.
That was why Leonard couldn’t bring himself to kill the man before him.
Because he knew whose father this man was—and he was afraid of the expression Loreina would make if she learned the truth.
In the end, Leonard reached a decision.
“……Lock him up at the top of the eastern tower of the palace. Release him around tomorrow.”
“Yes! Understood!”
The knights took Isaac away, leaving only a few knights, Gerald, and Leonard in the room.
Everyone felt dazed at how quickly things had ended.
As if this wasn’t truly over—as if hidden enemies might still reveal themselves.
Creak.
“Who’s there?!”
At the perfectly timed sound, the knights reacted sharply, drawing their swords.
Contrary to expectations of a formidable opponent, what appeared from behind the door was a small-framed man carrying a bulky bag.
Trembling at the sight of the armed knights, the man hurriedly rummaged through his bag and spoke.
“I, I’m…”
He soon pulled out a paper envelope.
“I-I’m a letter carrier.”
“A letter carrier?”
A knight scanned him with a suspicious look.
The man, his face on the verge of tears and hands shaking, opened his bag and showed its contents.
“S-see? I was just here to deliver these letters!”
“Then why did you come all the way in here? Normally you hand letters to the knights at the main gate and leave.”
“There was no one at the main gate!”
Only then did the knight realize how they themselves had ended up here, and he let out a quiet sigh.
Right—there was no way any knights would still be at the gate.
“What should we do?”
Gerald approached Leonard and asked.
After briefly looking at the letter carrier, Leonard made a small gesture and walked away.
It meant: handle it yourself.
Understanding perfectly, Gerald quietly led the letter carrier aside.
“Who is the letter addressed to?”
“To His Majesty the Emperor…”
“From today on, His Majesty the Emperor is that man over there. Watch your words.”
Gerald warned him sternly. The carrier wanted to cry.
He had only come to deliver letters—how had he ended up witnessing what looked like a coup?
“And who is the sender?”
“Ah, that would be…”
The carrier hurriedly checked the envelope.
“Loreina Amelio…”
“What?”
Before he could finish, someone else reacted. The letter was snatched instantly.
When he came to his senses, the black-haired man who had been standing in the corner was right in front of him.
The man whom someone had earlier addressed as “His Majesty the Emperor.”
“Why would Loreina…”
With a puzzled expression, Leonard carefully opened the envelope.
Inside were neat, compact letters—not exactly as he remembered, but unmistakably Loreina’s handwriting.
Leonard’s expression brightened when he confirmed it was her letter, but grew darker the more he read.
The letter carrier, not understanding what was happening, trembled violently.
D-did I do something wrong?
After staring at the letter as if he might bore holes through it, Leonard finally spoke.
“……Gerald.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“When did Crown Prince—no, Enoch—say he would return from the Kingdom of Allen?”
“According to schedule, today, but he said he had business in the south beforehand and would stop by—”
Gerald, answering dutifully, suddenly stopped mid-sentence as a realization hit him.
Wait. The south meant…
“The Amelio County…”
Gerald blurted it out, then reflexively looked up—and met Leonard’s gaze.
The moment he saw those red eyes, he knew.
Leonard was thinking the exact same thing.
Leonard let out a slow smile and spoke softly. The neatly folded letter crumpled pitifully in his hand.
“Loreina is coming to the Imperial Palace to attend a matchmaking meeting with Enoch Defron.”
“Kh—!”
“And at the same time, Enoch Defron is heading to the Amelio County.”
“Hhk—!”
“What do you think that means?”
Faced with a question whose answer was obvious, everyone fell silent, only drawing breath.
They knew what it meant—but absolutely must not say it.
If we answer, we’re dead!
Everyone thought so, except for one person.
The letter carrier, who had no idea why Leonard was acting this way.
“Ah, maybe they like each other? A matchmaking meeting is meant for marriage, after all.”
“……”
“Or maybe it’s an elopement?”
Finding the silence strange, the carrier cautiously added.
At that moment, a chilling presence suddenly arose behind them.
Leonard was leaning against the wall, looking their way.
The letter had already been reduced to powder and destroyed.
“An elopement, huh… interesting.”
Leonard murmured with a smile. He was clearly smiling—so why did he look angry?
Despite the room being well heated from recent use, a cold chill crept in, making Gerald flinch.
They had to resolve this situation somehow.
“I’ll immediately send knights to the Amelio County. Or I can go myself—”
“No, that won’t be necessary.”
Leonard passed Gerald and slowly walked out of the room.
“You stay here and take care of things. I’ll go to the Amelio County myself.”
“What?”
Leaving the shocked Gerald behind, Leonard moved swiftly. There wasn’t much time.
“Prepare the knights. Right now.”
