“The High Elder is the culprit.”
The revelation cast the audience chamber into absolute silence.
The Emperor currently had two children under his care: the Crown Prince and the Second Prince. These two had been waging civil war to claim the throne, each backed by different noble factions as they maneuvered against one another in an endless game of political chess.
But ten years ago, there had been another child who held the Emperor’s favor—the Third Prince.
The most brilliant of all the princes, and the Emperor’s most beloved child. A son born from his marriage to a foreign princess.
The Emperor had chosen the Third Prince as his heir, but the nobles viewed such imperial favor with deep displeasure.
It was only natural—if the Third Prince became Emperor instead of the prince each faction supported, it would destroy their carefully laid plans and create new power structures they couldn’t control.
The nobles began conspiring together, and eventually orchestrated an incident.
The Third Prince died in a riding accident at a cliff.
The same place where the Seventh Elder fell.
I’d thought something seemed familiar about that location—now I understood why. It was the same cliff I’d heard described before my regression.
The Third Prince’s death was ruled accidental, and the Emperor had lived the rest of his life carrying that loss like a wound that would never heal. He bore the guilt of failing to protect his most precious son.
Any mention of the Third Prince had become the Emperor’s ultimate taboo.
Yet I had just shattered that taboo completely.
What choice did I have? Given the information I’d obtained from Lexa, the culprit was certain.
Though I hadn’t realized that old fox had been connected to Artezia since back then.
The evidence was damning: the High Elder had used a Dark Relic ten years ago, and that Relic's ability was to control animals. These two pieces of information alone revealed the truth of what had happened—and who had orchestrated it.
I addressed the Emperor quietly. “The High Elder was the first to report news of His Highness the Third Prince’s death. First, please examine this.”
I drew a paper from my breast and extended it toward the Emperor. The knights beside us tensed, their Auras flaring as they prepared to strike me down, but the Emperor raised his hand to stop them.
In one swift motion, he snatched the paper from my hands and began reading with intense focus.
Silence stretched between us like a taut wire.
Finally, the Emperor looked up with bloodshot eyes and a trembling voice. “What is the reliability of this information?”
“To say it’s completely certain would be—”
“Answer briefly!” His roar echoed through the chamber.
I met his gaze directly. “Enough to stake my life on it, Your Majesty.”
That was all it took. The Emperor’s grip on my collar went slack. He stepped back, his face pale.
“Yes... that’s how it was. My son was murdered.” His voice cracked. “The treasure of my very heart, the boy who slipped from my hands and departed this world—he was murdered!”
The Emperor fixed his bloodshot gaze on the knight commander. “Prepare for immediate deployment. The House of Praha shall be erased from the map today.”
“Your Majesty!” The knight commander stepped forward. “House Praha has served loyally for generations! You cannot be swayed by such unverified information!”
“Do you believe I am incapable of sound judgment?”
“That is not—” The knight commander bit back his words, unable to continue.
The Emperor’s voice erupted with barely contained rage. “My son! The son whose body I couldn’t even recover! Do you feel nothing for him at all?”
The knight commander remained silent.
“Then what should I do? Must I bury my child’s truth in my heart once again? Must I endure this to avoid reopening old wounds?”
The knight commander had no answer for the Emperor’s anguished cry. He understood all too well the torment His Majesty had endured these past ten years—how such a burden had slowly drained the life from him.
Still, he forced himself to speak. “It cannot be, Your Majesty.”
The knight commander urged restraint, laying his life on the line as he pleaded that His Majesty not start a civil war. He closed his eyes, awaiting the death sentence.
“Your Majesty,” I said quietly, stepping between them. “I’ve revealed this truth because there are puppet masters operating behind the scenes. I intend to remain silent about them until I have solid evidence, but destroying Praha would be exactly what they desire. I beg you to withdraw your imperial command.”
“Are you mocking me as well?” The Emperor’s fury turned toward me. “If so, why reveal the truth in the first place? Why torment me with this knowledge?”
One wrong word would cost me my head, but I continued steadily. “I will handle this myself. I’ll bring you the High Elder’s head directly. Would you withdraw your imperial command in exchange?”
“You expect me to believe that? Just because I’ve called you a hero, have you mistaken yourself for a Grand Duke?”
The Emperor’s disbelief was understandable. How could a mere Aura Expert defeat an Aura Master? He naturally assumed I was lying to escape the situation.
But this was exactly what I had planned.
“It would indeed be impossible for me alone,” I said, taking a measured breath. “But it would be possible with Your Majesty’s knights.”
“What?”
“Lend me Your Majesty’s knights, and I’ll bring you his head by whatever means necessary. If you prefer, I can bring him back alive.”
My brazen response drew incredulous laughs from the knights and guards. They seemed to wonder if the Emperor would actually accept such an audacious claim.
I continued without concern—after all, I had calculated every aspect of this exchange.
“If my words prove false, take my head. If House Praha or the Grand Duke are accomplices, I’ll gladly offer my life. However, I beseech you with utmost sincerity—please do not kill the innocent and endanger the Empire.”
The words fell calmly into the chamber. Others looked at me with confusion, wondering why I would state such obvious principles.
But the Emperor stared at me with a blank expression, as if searching for something in my face.
As expected.
I suppressed my relief. Those words—do not kill the innocent and endanger the Empire—had been the Third Prince’s constant refrain to his father.
I did well to have Lexa research the Third Prince’s speech patterns.
After a moment that felt like eternity, the Emperor covered his face with weathered hands.
“Am I making the wrong judgment right now?”
No one in the audience chamber could answer.
Only I spoke. “Yes, Your Majesty. If you destroy Praha, you would only aid those who murdered His Highness the Third Prince.”
“Can you truly take responsibility for those words?”
“I’ll stake my life on it.”
“Very well. I understand.”
The Emperor moved with unsteady steps, then waved his hand toward the knight commander. “Go and capture the High Elder. It matters not if he’s barely breathing—I’ll have the palace healers and interrogators prepared.”
A far more reasonable command than wholesale destruction of the Praha Ducal House.
The knight commander didn’t fully comprehend how the situation had shifted, but fearing the Emperor might change his mind, he quickly bowed. “I shall obey Your Imperial Command!”
“Imperial command... Yes, do so.”
The Emperor returned to his chambers as if utterly exhausted, and I was escorted from the audience chamber by the knight commander and his men.
* * *
I can’t believe what I just saw.
The knight commander wore a dazed expression as he led Louis Berg through the corridors.
Though he’d served as His Majesty’s guard for several years, the Emperor remained an intimidating figure—not because he mistreated his subordinates, but because he always wore such an iron-blooded expression that he seemed more like a puppet crafted specifically to rule than a living man.
Even thinking such a thing borders on blasphemy... yet there could be no more accurate comparison.
However, the Emperor’s behavior today had been the complete opposite of a puppet. He had raged, regretted, and laughed with bitter dejection—exactly like any other human being.
And this young man accomplished that transformation.
The knight commander glanced at Louis Berg. The North’s second hero—though it was a ceremonial title, his achievements were genuinely impressive. The knight who single-handedly hunted a Kobold Lord and saved Baron Harris’s territory, and at only mid-level Aura Expert level at that.
Based on this alone, he’d seemed like a promising knight with a bright future. That had been his first impression of Louis Berg.
I never imagined such a person would know the Third Prince’s secrets.
Third Prince Chan Fortia—the tragic genius who died in an accident ten years ago.
He didn’t understand how Louis Berg had learned the secret behind the Third Prince’s death. He only knew that His Majesty had read the paper this young man provided, and immediately believed what was written there.
The knight commander walked alongside Louis Berg and asked casually, “How did you come to know?”
“I learned of it by chance while investigating the High Elder. As you know, I’m caught up in political strife myself.”
By chance...
The knight commander found that seemingly dismissive answer somehow more credible than elaborate explanations. If Louis had been lying for personal gain, he surely would have emphasized his loyalty and dedication.
“I see.”
Just then, a messenger came running over from the distance, his expression urgent and his forehead slick with cold sweat.
“Uh, Sir Farian!”
“What is it?”
“This...!” The messenger gasped as he drew a letter from his breast.
The knight commander stared at the letter without speaking for a long moment.
Finally, he looked at the messenger’s face. “Is all of this true?”
“It’s a report from the Second Imperial Knights. They were patrolling the northern region and confirmed it themselves!”
“Damn it.” The knight commander rubbed his face and handed the letter to Louis Berg. “Read it.”
Louis Berg scanned the contents, and a moment later, harsh profanity spilled from his mouth.
“That lunatic scum.”
His expression twisted with rage, and the Aura radiating around him turned utterly menacing.
The knight commander observed this reaction briefly before giving orders to his adjutant.
“Prepare immediately to head north—to the Duchy of Praha. Our mission is to capture the Praha High Elder alive.”
“Yes sir!”
“Make haste. Time is of the essence.”
The adjutant hurried off to prepare supplies while the knight commander exhaled a weary sigh and looked at Louis Berg.
The letter’s contents were devastating: the House of Praha had been overthrown by the Elder Council.