CH 7

[CHE] 007. AUDIENCE WITH THE HOLY EMPEROR (2)

Stepping carefully on the rocking steps and getting off the carriage, a group of knights dressed in fancy uniforms greeted Seongjin.

“We greet Prince Morres!”

“We greet the Third Prince!”

The knights raised their swords in unison and thumped them on the ground with their sheaths, then lowered their heads in a moderate motion. It was a well-rounded courtesy that could not be compared to the resident knights of the Pearl Palace.

Seongjin’s mouth opened involuntarily.

Oh, that was kinda cool.

Looking at the knights with their heads down blankly, one of them, who appeared to be the leader, approached Seongjin and smiled softly.

“I congratulate you on your belated recovery. Your Highness the Prince! From here on, our imperial guards will serve you.”

He was handsome man with his dark blonde hair.

His well-trained, sturdy body was quite intimidating, but the small, round eyes made his overall impression strangely mild.

“……”

Not knowing how to react, Seongjin stared blankly at him, and the man’s smile faded.

However, as if he had been warned beforehand, he immediately calmed down his expression, put his right arm on his chest, and bowed his head politely.

“My name is Marthain Klanos, a member of the Imperial Guard, and the leader of the 2nd Knights, my lord. It’s really nice to see you back in good health.”

Ah, it seems that this person was originally familiar with Morres.

Well, what can he do? Seongjin smiled shyly, and Marthain smiled softly at him again, and then he turned around and started walking in the lead.

He seems to have guessed that he might not know the geography of the main palace at all. Thinking that it was fortunate that there was a person with quick judgment, Seongjin followed him.

However, as soon as he stepped into the high arched entrance, the Demon King made a sound of pain.

[Ew… Stuffy. It feels like my soul is being crushed flat!]

‘Why? Could those people be paladins too?’

[No. They seem to be regular knights… It’s not that, it just feels like this area is exceptionally full of holy power. The moment I leave this body, I feel like I’m going to be crushed to death… ugh……]

After that, the demon king completely shut his mouth. He called out several times, but the presence of the soul itself was extremely faint, and now it was difficult to even feel its presence.

He made up his mind to pretend he entered the boss dungeon, but he never thought that the demon king would be knocked out so quickly.

Concealing his anxiety, Seongjin slowly walked into the lobby of the main palace following the guides of the knights.

The office of the Holy Emperor was located at the end of the second floor of the main palace.

The wide hallway was relatively quiet, but occasionally people dressed in fancy clothes, who seemed to be high priests, would pass by the party.

Each time, Seongjin was nervous inside, but fortunately, they just stepped aside and greeted politely without any reaction.

‘It seems that priests don’t recognize that the soul has changed? Could it be that we were worried for nothing?’

Seongjin, a little relieved, called out, but there was still no answer from the demon king.

Couldn’t withstand the energy of the priests and perished?

The complete annihilation of the demon king was originally what he longed for. He is the main culprit who led Sungjin’s world to destruction, and the enemy who drove him to death by the Flames of Gehenna.

It’s just that until now, there’s no other way to use your hands, and the existence itself is so insignificant that he just left it alone……

However, when he thought that the demon king had really disappeared, Seongjin felt a strange sense of emptiness.

“Your Excellency Cardinal Benitus!”

The thoughts didn’t last long. It was because Marthain, who was walking ahead of him, suddenly stopped and lowered his head.

A thin old man stood in front of the party, poking his head over the shoulder of the lowered knight commander.

He was an eccentric old man with a long hooked nose and a drooping mouth.

Despite his small and diminutive body, the high priestly hat and the splendid robe embroidered with gold and silver made him look quite dignified compared to his size.

It’s a cardinal…… He must be a high-ranking nobleman, right?

The old man stood upright and looked at Morres’ party for a while, then slightly bowed his head toward the knight commander.

“You don’t have to be so polite to me. Sir Marthain.”

Contrary to his strict first impression, his tone was quite polite. Then, he nods his head towards Seongjin.

“Your Highness the Prince.”

“……?”

What? Something feels terribly wrong?

Saying hello to the escort knight first and later pretend to notice the prince? And with just a nod?

The old man’s attitude was strange even for him, who had no knowledge of Delcross’ culture.

Seongjin’s eyes narrowed. As if Marthain also noticed this, he restlessly looked at Seongjin.

“So, what’s going on in the main palace?”

It is not a question directed at the knight commander who always stands guard at the main palace, but the cardinal does not pay attention to Seongjin and asks Marthain.

Truly, the courtesy was an old man who ate cheap wraps. As he was trying to see how far it was going, Marthain, impatient, took a step forward and warned the cardinal in a low voice.

“Your Excellency Cardinal. You are in front of the His Highness the Prince. Please set an example.”

“Ahem!”

Cardinal Benitus, who made a sound that he couldn’t tell whether it was a cough or a snort, only then turned to Seongjin and met his eyes. It was an arrogant posture with hands behind the back and belly sticking out.

“Yes, I heard that you have been through quite a bit of trouble lately, but it is fortunate that you are still in good shape… Huh?”

Except for the old man talking, he narrows his eyes and looks Seongjin up and down.

Marthain’s face hardened at that clearly rude attitude, but the cardinal’s eyes suddenly widened.

“Huh? By the way, wait… No, prince?”

Then, all of a sudden, he started approaching me with a straight face.

Seongjin realized something was going wrong.

“How… What is this……”

With a slightly bewildered face as if he had discovered something strange, the old man suddenly stretched out his arm toward Seongjin.

Soon, a hand surrounded by strong white light approached my eyes like a rake. It was not an auspicious light even to Seongjin, who was unfamiliar with it.

‘Perhaps, this is the divine power……’

It’s the first time he’s seeing divine power after coming to this world. His heart was beating fast, and all sorts of thoughts ran through his head in that brief moment.

Did he recognize Seongjin’s soul? Or did he notice the Demon King who was with him? What will happen if he touched that divine power like this? Will he be expelled from the body?

If he wanted to live as the prince of the Holy Empire, this kind of thing will happen all the time in the future. At this point, it wouldn’t be bad to try the divine power as a test.

That’s right.

‘Let’s see, so you’re just putting your hand in to get it?’

Seongjin’s eyebrows crumpled involuntarily. He had no intention of arguing with the elderly in every detail, but still, isn’t it a little too much to try to touch the prince as he pleases?

Seongjin, who almost threw his hands away reflexively, tried to brace himself. Those bony fingers of the cardinal looked straight and brittle at the slightest mishandling, so fortunately, before he could commit elderly abuse, Marthain quickly blocked Seongjin’s way.

“Stop it, Sir Benitus!”

Stop. The old man, who stopped moving for a moment, looked at the knight commander with a puzzled expression.

“Do you know what Sir Marthain is doing now?”

It was clearly an attitude of blaming him, but the knight commander was adamant.

“No high-ranking clergy can approach the prince. The Cardinal is no exception to that.”

“Don’t you think that is strange at all?”

“This is His Majesty’s command. It is to protect the prince.”

For a moment, a cool air flowed between the two. The cardinal, who had glared at Marthain for a while with sad eyes, opened his mouth as if lamenting as soon as the knight commander showed no sign of backing down.

“Who the hell are you protecting from a priest who serves a god… … .”

The cardinal shook his head and took a step back.

“Sir Marthain has always been like that. Why are you so blind to his words?”

“……”

“Then see you again. Sir Marthain.”

Then he glared at Seongjin and shook his head sideways. It was more like a snort than a greeting.

“… Your Highness the Prince.”

Then, without seeing Seongjin’s reaction, he hurriedly passed the party.

Marthain was just staring at the back of the cardinal without saying anything, but the corners of his mouth twisted strangely, making an expression that he couldn’t tell if he was laughing or crying.

But only for a while. The Knight Commander, who immediately regained his polite smile, bowed his head toward Seongjin.

“We’re a bit delayed, Prince. Let’s hurry.”

The behavior of the two felt a little strange, but Seongjin soon turned off his nerves and followed Marthain obediently.

All right. He had a big job right in front of him, meeting with the Holy Emperor, so what does that have to do with it?

* * *

“Oh, Your Highness Morres! What a splendid figure you are! His Majesty the Holy Emperor will be greatly pleased!”

Upon arriving at the front of the office, Chief Chamberlain Louis, who has been waiting outside the door, approaches with open arms.

I was hesitant about the over-reaction, but Louis immediately flinched and quickly responded.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Your Highness. You are so compliant and dedicated that this servant forgot his manners for a moment.”

There was a corner where the gentle-looking nobleman was secretly out of his arms. Seongjin smiled bitterly and asked.

“Um… Louis? As you know, I can’t remember… isn’t it? Is there anything I should be careful about when I meet my father? I’m sorry for bothering you more.”

Louis’s face lit up. If the Demon King had read his thoughts, he would have said this.

‘You asked such a thoughtful question. That Sir Morres has become so dignified!’

Thanks to Morres, who faithfully laid his personality to the bottom, Seongjin can do whatever he want in moderation.

“I assumed that the prince would be confused about manners. Thankfully, His Majesty the Holy Emperor doesn’t care much about outward etiquette. All you have to do is call him ‘Your Majesty the Holy Emperor’, and it’s enough if you just show respect.”

the Holy Emperor doesn’t seem to have a very strict personality.

As he was feeling relieved inside, the chief chamberlain turned around and spoke to the door in a loud voice.

“Your Majesty, it is Prince Morres.”

Now, in the boss room position.

Creak.

As the door to the office slowly opened, Seongjin walked into the room, trying to calm his pounding heart.

‘In the worst case, I’ll just be kicked out of this body.’

After engraving that fact in his heart once again through his encounter with Cardinal Benitus, his initial anxiety was greatly diluted.

Then, the vacancy is filled with curiosity, and soon thoughts start popping up here and there.

What kind of existence is the Holy Emperor, who is called the God’s representative? When he tried to imagine it, he thought of the pope in the bread hat he saw on TV before Seongjin’s world was destroyed.

That person was a grandfather, but since the Holy Emperor has a son in his puberty, he must be younger than that, right? Could he be a lot like Morres?

Was he a strong person? Or is it the image of a typically weak priest?

At least it didn’t seem like he would be pushed back in terms of age. Now, he and the demon king are fighting and becoming childish together, but even so, Seongjin was over sixty when he died on Earth.

As he entered the room, half nervous and half excited, swallowing saliva, the first thing he noticed was the gorgeous refreshment set in the middle of the room.

he thought maybe it was considering Morres’ taste. This is because he had seen similar desserts often served in the Pearl Palace.

Beyond that, he could see a large desk with splendid reliefs.

Looking at the documents stacked high and the books scattered here and there, he feel that this is a space for official affairs.

And.

the Holy Emperor stood in front of a large window that opened toward the terrace.

“……!”

Seongjin opened his eyes wide involuntarily.

‘The Holy Emperor? Is that person?’

He was a well-groomed young man.

No matter how you look at his soft features and youthful face, he doesn’t look like a father to an adolescent son.

Short trimmed black hair, simple-looking everyday clothes, and a sleek-looking body made him look more like a well-trained swordsman than a priest.

A man called a priest even wears a long sword on his waist!

There is no tall hat of a cardinal, nor a bread hat like the one worn by the pope. Only the white and splendid robe draped over his shoulders like a cloak made it possible to guess that he was not an ordinary high priest.

If I had to look for a similarity with Morres, would it be the gray eyes that catch the light and shine with a mysterious silver light?

Those warm eyes were still staring at Seongjin.

Is that the father of this fat man?

“Ah… Father?”

Oops! He was told to call him His Majesty the Holy Emperor!

He was so flustered that he had spit out the name that was in his head.

The Holy Emperor tilted his head to the side. He might be puzzled, but there was no expression on his cold face, so he couldn’t guess what he was thinking.

“… Your Majesty the Holy Emperor.”

As he quickly corrected himself and lowered his head, the Holy Emperor opened his mouth. It’s a clean low pitched voice.

“Father is fine too, you certainly don’t have any memories of the past.”

“Yes. That is… It happened.”

Seongjin blurted out his words. Actually, the soul has changed, but since he’s in front of the Holy Emperor, it is strangely awkward to lie.

Fortunately, the Holy Emperor responded briefly as if he did not feel anything wrong with him.

“Okay.”

Then, with strides, he approaches Seongjin. The elongated robe swayed accordingly, emitting a soft light depending on the angle.

He was watching the movement inadvertently, and before he knew it, the Holy Emperor, who had come one step closer, stopped walking.

Up close, he was taller than I thought.

Blink. He didn’t know how to react, so he was looking up at him with his eyes wide open, but the Holy Emperor, who was looking down at Seongjin with an unknown expression, suddenly lifted his arm and stretched it toward his head.

It happened so fast, he couldn’t react.

Clench. His fists, which were spontaneously clenched, are damp with cold sweat.

Did he hear it too? Was he going to die like this? Seongjin closed his eyes, anticipating the end. He did.

Thump. The hand came up to the top of his head.

‘… What?’

Nothing happened.

[Hng?]

No, rather than nothing happened……

[Hnggg?]

That familiar, low-key voice echoed in my head.

‘… Demon King?’

The demon king’s presence, which was so faint that it was impossible to detect, suddenly grew rapidly, and at the moment, a sharp vibration was transmitted. It felt as if my soul was stretching.

[What? Wait a minute, huuuh?]

‘Are you alive? What happened?’

The demon king did not respond to Seongjin’s words. Perhaps he himself did not know. Because the surprise and confusion he felt came through unfiltered.

[Huh? What is this… Oh? Hiiiiieeek!]

The demon king’s soul suddenly made a strange sound as if it was startled by something, then fell back into silence.

But this time, Seongjin let out a sigh of relief because he could clearly feel his presence.

At the same time, one side of the head cools down.

‘What did the Holy Emperor do? Did he notice the existence of the Demon King?’

If he noticed, why didn’t he get rid of him? Rather……

But he couldn’t afford to think any longer. It was because the Holy Emperor, who lowered his hand from the top of his head before he knew it, commanded in a calm tone.

“Sit down.”

And the two dissimilar father and son sat face to face with the refreshment table in front of them.