Children of the Holy Emperor Chapter 19

019. Closing prayer (1)

That night at the main palace came a little earlier than usual.

After the auror storm that destroyed all of the patronage, the people in the main palace were busy dealing with the aftermath for a while.

Above all, Seonghwang, who was at the center of the storm, has not yet woken up. The chief chamberlain, who was busy, soon called the priest and the palace attendant, and most of the servants left the palace early to ensure the emperor had enough rest.

The main palace, with only the minimum number of attendants and escorts left, was an unusually quiet night that day.

A man wearing a black stealth suit seeped into the darkness.

The man walked quietly through the main palace corridor while he was deeply asleep, and even avoided the guards on guard in all directions with his familiar movements, and soon landed silently in the royal chambers.

In the middle of the bed, where the moonlight flowing through the window created a long grid pattern, the young Holy Emperor lay quietly with his eyes closed.

Considering that I usually noticed his approach like a ghost, this was a very unusual thing. Maybe it would never happen again.

The man’s footsteps silently headed toward the bed.

But he couldn’t get very far and had to stop. This was because the blue blade was touching his neck.

“Who dare you look at with such disloyal eyes?”

Francis Azen, adjutant of the Knights of St. Aurelion.

A paladin with a sharp expression and a head taller than an average person was glaring fiercely at the intruding man.

“… … .”

There was a cold silence in the room for a moment.

“Francis.”

Their confrontation ended quickly.

Before they knew it, Seonghwang was standing up and looking at them. Considering that he had been lying unconscious until now, his face looked very normal.

“Put down your sword. “He is from the guild.”

The young paladin glared at the man for a moment after hearing the command, but then sighed and put away his sword. The guild’s informant, free from the threat, immediately knelt down toward the bed and bowed his head.

“Your Majesty.”

“Report.”

“We have located your whereabouts. You are currently in a slash-and-burn village located at the end of the western mountains, near the border of the Kingdom of Flanders. The guild understands that this village is a group of thieves disguised as slash-and-burn farmers. “It is said that after the subjugation order was issued in Rohan, a significant number of bandits settled here along the western mountain range.”

Seonghwang furrowed his brows slightly.

“… “Is this the border area with Asin?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

The Kingdom of Flanders had been engaged in minor local friction with the neighboring Principality of Carthage for as long as 40 years. The fight that started over the dowry issue has quickly degenerated into a dispute over rock salt mines near the border, and now the only one who has been profiting from them for decades is the sinister Grand Duke Asin.

After all, even if they settle down, what is the relationship between Asin and Flandor? I didn’t have a very good feeling.

Seonghwang was lost in thought in silence. The guild’s informant raised his head and stared at him for a moment, but then bowed his head again at the Seongwang’s instructions.

“Further investigate the movement of the upper vessels between Flandor and Assin. “As for slash-and-burn villages, do not neglect surveillance and immediately report any unusual occurrences.”

The informant bowed his head in an extremely polite manner and then disappeared as quietly as he had appeared.

Francis, who had been glaring for a moment in the direction where the man had disappeared, turned his head towards Seonghwang. A look of dissatisfaction is evident on his face.

“You’re someone who isn’t usually good at hiding. Since when did assassins start coming and going in the imperial palace like this?”

The Emperor sat comfortably on the bed and waved his hands.

“He is a guild informant who has known him for quite some time. “There’s no need to worry so much.”

“Are you talking about someone who shows off such profanity?”

“At least I’m not a fool who throws myself into impossible tasks.”

The young paladin twitched one corner of his mouth.

“How can you be sure that it is impossible? Are you confident that you will not get stabbed under any circumstances, or are you confident that you will not die if a knife is inserted into your heart?”

It was both. However, Seonghwang also had enough sense to not say those words out loud. Instead, he asked a different question.

“What about Katrina?”

The leader of the Knights of St. Aurelion was famous for doing everything for the sake of the Holy Emperor. If it were her, she would most likely have insisted on not leaving the unconscious Seonghwang’s side.

As expected, Francis responded in a slightly annoyed tone.

“Then why does he have to worry? It hasn’t been long since the leader replaced me. “Please stop putting someone of your age through a hard time.”

Then he sat down on the sofa on one side of the room and leaned his sword against the armrest. He opens the book he had closed one after another and pushes up his glasses.

It was a strange sight, reading in the dark of night with the help of Aura.

Seonghwang, who was feeling uncomfortable as he was about to spend the night here, rubbed his chin and ordered.

“You worked hard. Now go back and rest.”

However, the arrogant adjutant, who had been in conflict with him for the past 10 years since his days as a squire, knew too well when it was appropriate to ignore the Emperor’s orders.

He snorted as he turned the pages.

“Do you think I’m doing this because I like working late into the night? “I’m tired from arguing with the academy dean all day.”

“Okay, it’s okay now… … .”

“This is the leader’s order. “I have to shift with the leader tomorrow morning.”

Behind his glasses, Francis’ sharp eyes emit a cool glow.

“Instead, if I don’t get a day off tomorrow, I swear to the Lord that I will hand in my resignation.”

* * *

Always at the same time, Seongjin opened his eyes to the sound of a bird flying into the garden of Jinju Palace and chirping.

It was early in the morning, before the workers had yet to begin work in earnest.

Usually, he started the day by jumping up and stretching as soon as he opened his eyes, but today he just lay there with a blank face, staring at the sunlight coming through the curtains. Something felt strange.

It was a feeling of elation that is difficult to explain.

You can feel the soft texture of the bedding that wraps your body comfortably. Even the movement of each small piece of dust floating under the sunlight had a strange sense of reality. Every time you breathe in and out, you can vividly hear the changes in the concentration of gases infiltrating and escaping from each alveolus.

This can’t be right.

‘Auror… is it? ‘Can you feel the aurors?’

Seongjin got excited and jumped up.

at las!

I jumped off the bed and walked barefoot around the room, feeling strangely lighter than usual.

Seongjin, who was pulling up his pajama pants that were falling down due to his movements, suddenly realized that the circumference of his stomach had decreased noticeably.

‘… uh?’

He unconsciously turned his head and looked at the mirror.

There was a rather neat boy standing there.

The outline of the face, which had been buried deep in the flesh, is revealed, and the volume of the body is noticeably smaller. Although he still had a chubby physique, he was now evaluated as looking healthy and not as bloated as before.

I lost a little more weight, but more than anything, I felt like my body had become compressed and hardened. The skin, which had shown signs of sagging due to rapid weight loss, became firmer.

The height of his eyes also rose slightly, but rather than growing taller, it seemed as if his distorted skeleton, which had been bent and twisted due to poor posture, had returned to normal. Her shoulders were straight and her spine was straight even without any extra effort.

This is an overly dramatic change for something that happened in just one day.

Seongjin, who had knowledge of modern civilization, literally felt like his knowledge of physics and physiology had been denied at once.

Are all of these changes just caused by the return of depleted aurors? It was a moment when the theory of Auror omnipotence was clearly embedded in his mind.

‘Looking at it this way, there are some aspects that resemble Seonghwang… … .’

Although her impression was a bit fierce, resembling that of Empress Lizabeth, a beautiful woman with squinty eyes, the lower crown revealed as she lost weight and her mouth with delicate lines definitely resembled those of the King.

As I was turning around and looking in the mirror out of curiosity, I heard a polite knock on the door.

“Did you cough, sir?”

As Edith entered the room like any other morning, carrying a new water bottle and a clean cloth, an unexpected person was seen behind her.

“Lord Martha?”

“How are you feeling, sir? “Is there anything uncomfortable?”

Why are you here so early in the morning when you are not the resident knight of Jinju Palace?

The knight commander approached Seongjin with a gentle smile.

“Well, wasn’t there any chaos yesterday? “It seems necessary to strengthen the security of Jinju Palace for a day or so.”

So, it is said that he voluntarily stayed the night at Jinju Palace, which was not his place of work.

“But wasn’t the Lord a member of the Royal Guard? Why didn’t he stay by his father’s side…? … .”

“Is there room for me to step forward? Katrina herself rolled up her sleeves. “The main palace is probably tightly guarded by the Aurelion Holy Knights.”

Masain also told us about the situation at the main palace.

Seonghwang, who woke up safely last night, is completely back to his usual self this morning. Of course, it is said that the morning assembly was skipped under the excuse of poor physical condition.

This is no different from usual, so there is nothing to worry about in the main palace.

“But rest assured that the Royal Guard will not neglect its duties. “The security is working flawlessly according to the emergency manual.”

Are you really okay with that?

Well, in an emergency, shouldn’t the knight commander still show his face at the main palace? Other people have concerns too.

“What’s the problem? “I’m the leader.”

Even the commander of the knights who controlled the discipline of the Royal Guard like a sword was more lax than expected.

“Besides, there’s no way something could happen to His Majesty the Holy Emperor.”

“… … .”

Ah, so that was the one that left FM.

Seongjin, who tried to head straight to the training ground after seeing Lord Masaine’s face in the morning, ran into an unexpected difficulty.

Suddenly, the size of my body decreased so much that no clothes fit. No matter how tight the waist strap was, the moment she swung her wooden sword once, her pants were about to fall down.

In an instant, all of Jinju Palace’s few employees were mobilized to sew.

Seongjin, who was hoping that he would learn the Auror exercises properly this time, was greatly disappointed. He was wearing baggy pajamas and sullenly preparing breakfast when Martha Yin spoke brightly, as if to comfort him.

“But classes will accelerate from now on. “Because you definitely felt the aura.”

He seemed to have an idea of ​​what changes had occurred in Seongjin’s body.

“Do you notice that Lord Masaine has also changed?”

“of course. The flow of aurors around the prince has become considerably more active than yesterday. Something similar must be happening inside the body.”

Ugh, I want to run to the training ground right now.

“Anyway, this is difficult to understand with common sense.”

Seongjin kept rolling up his sleeves, which were falling over the backs of his hands, and spoke with a sullen expression.

“How can a person’s body size decrease so much in one day? Is this really something that can be explained by Auras alone? “Don’t you think that not all Auror users experience this phenomenon?”

Among the resident knights of Jinju Palace that I encountered along the way, there were some who were quite meaty. Of course, they would also be skilled Auror users.

Masain smiled.

“Because Aurors are effective in making the body healthy and recovering damaged bodies. “Auror users usually experience physical changes in a positive direction.”

“Is that so?”

“yes. Auror users who have reached this level do not even develop cavities, let alone colds.”

wow. As expected, the theory of Auror omnipotence.

“Of course, changes usually occur gradually over a long period of time, and this is the first time I have seen a case like the prince where there is a noticeable change in just one day… … .”

After saying that, Masain smiled shyly and scratched his head.

“Well, wouldn’t His Majesty the Holy Emperor have taken care of something?”

“… … .”

It seemed like he was the one who deviated from common sense.

It is said that His Majesty the Holy Emperor used Aurors to teach Prince Mores something.

It is said that His Majesty the Emperor did something with his Auror and the prince lost weight and became healthy.

It seemed like the rumor had spread to the imperial palace in that way.

The workers who had gathered to mend clothes were startled when they first saw Seongjin, then started whispering and nodding among themselves. Although Seongjin thought it was an extremely strange incident, everyone seemed to naturally move on, thinking that he must have done something else.

Amelia, who visited Jinju Palace in the morning, seemed surprised for a moment, but then just made a wistful expression, as if she was looking at a face she missed.

Even Empress Lizabeth did the same. Her son has completely changed.

-Ah, how long has it been since I woke up from the hospital? . Such drastic teachings to such a weak child. I must say something to him today!

As he said that, he just sharpened the corners of his eyes, which were already raised, and trembled.

‘His Majesty is just a cheat… … .’

Even though it’s a different world, don’t you think it’s too vague?

The hectic morning passed like that.

Seongjin noticed something strange when he received a hastily repaired set of clothes.

While changing his clothes, he inadvertently spoke to the Demon King.

‘It’s hard work to live wearing only tailored clothes. If I lose more weight, I’ll have to get it repaired again. is not it?’

But there was no answer.

‘… hey? ‘Demon King?’

Only then did Seongjin realize that there was no sign of the devil around him at all.

fantasy,