CHAPTER 47…………………………………..
He hurriedly tried to calm her.
“Sonia. You’re safe here. Don’t worry.”
If there’s any danger, I’ll protect you.
He struggled to soothe her, but her screams only grew sharper and louder.
It seemed as if his desperate voice couldn’t reach her at all.
As her body shook so pitifully, he caught a strange scent.
A scent?
It was a sweet aroma he had smelled a few times before.
Schwarz inhaled deeply.
The moment he breathed in the scent, as if buried in a pile of flowers soaked in honey or a lump of sugar, he felt fear.
It was her emotion.
He could read Sonia’s feelings.
Naturally, as if it were obvious.
Her heart was writhing in extreme fear, suffering.
“……Aaah!”
He felt he had to somehow calm Sonia down.
But Schwarz could do nothing but stare blankly at her. He could instill fear in others, but he did not know how to calm someone down.
Desperately, he asked,
“What are you afraid of? Tell me.”
I’ll make whatever scares you disappear.
Sonia clenched her fists and struck Schwarz’s chest.
“G-go away…! Please, let me go!”
The scent grew even stronger in that instant.
Schwarz’s alpha instincts told him: this was pheromones—not the disgusting kind of alpha, but an omega’s pheromones, meant to be cherished.
The scholar and priest, reacting to her intense emotion, hesitated.
All of them were swept up in Sonia’s feelings and took a step back to avoid Schwarz.
Schwarz himself felt a deep disgust toward himself.
He wanted to erase his existence from the world.
“Sonia……”
His voice trembled.
“I-I hate it! Let me go!”
Schwarz couldn’t understand.
Why is she afraid of me?
Before he could resolve the question, Sonia’s scent vanished, replaced by Cassius’ alpha pheromones.
“Move aside.”
Cassius grabbed Schwarz’s shoulder and shoved him firmly.
The pain was noticeable, but the ache in his chest was far worse, so Schwarz did not resist and stepped aside.
Cassius embraced the collapsed Sonia.
What could she have seen that made her so terrified?
This time, he wanted to read her mind, but due to interference from the evil spirits, he couldn’t use his ability at all.
Hoping she would calm down, he gently brushed Sonia’s cheek.
“Sonia, do you recognize me?”
Her eyes, trembling as if she were about to cry, gradually steadied and focused on him.
“……Your Highness?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
Sonia, still trembling, gripped Cassius’ priest robes tightly, her hands turning pale from the force.
“I was scared……”
Then she buried her face in his chest.
At that moment, Schwarz felt a sharp sting in his chest, as if pricked by thorns.
He wanted to gather darkness immediately, slit Cassius’ throat, and take his place.
He used his ability.
Darkness swirled in his hand but soon dispersed.
Sonia lifted her head, looking at him with a terrified face.
He couldn’t allow her to be any more frightened.
Yet he also couldn’t bear to see her in someone else’s arms.
Schwarz disappeared.
Finally, Sonia, exhausted, closed her eyes and lost consciousness.
Cassius returned to the imperial palace carrying the unconscious Sonia.
Without properly explaining to Jade, who had been waiting for him, he headed to the palace where the priests resided.
Jade, completely ignored, later learned the full story of what happened in the sanctuary through Shane, who arrived late.
“The healing priest was rescued by Grand Duke Lundmier.”
Schwarz?
Although he had no orders, it seemed good that he saved the healing priest.
“But when the priest regained consciousness, she screamed at the Duke and fainted.”
Jade’s head began to ache at that.
Probably, the healing priest fainted out of fear of Schwarz.
Still, why did Schwarz go to the sanctuary in the first place?
He had appeared unannounced at the previous celebration ball for discovering the sanctuary and even danced with the healing priest, causing tension with the hosts.
It seemed he was lingering around Sonia.
“Schwarz is aiming at Betas since there are no Omegas…”
Jade murmured, and Shane’s lips tightened. He clearly refused to comment on the matter.
The report ended there.
Jade ordered a servant to check on Sonia’s condition.
The servant, returning from the priests’ building, bowed and reported.
“The rescued healing priest wasn’t seriously injured. However, she hasn’t regained full consciousness yet.”
A priest with healing abilities was an important figure even within the empire’s delegation.
Hearing she was injured troubled Jade greatly.
The fledgling Grand Duke might not grant forgiveness just for causing trouble here.
Jade had committed many sins over time.
He had even shamelessly seduced married women.
One day, thinking there was no god, he had a dream.
In the dream, Jade stood in the main temple.
─Jade Ludwig Reintvia! The evil you have committed will return as a tremendous punishment!
The voice was so loud it seemed to shake the sky, and he woke in shock.
He dismissed it as a mere dream.
Soon after, red spots appeared on his body.
The red flower-shaped spots were early symptoms of the incurable “Plum Disease.”
He tried using mercury for treatment in secret, but the pain only worsened after a short relief.
Plum Disease was said to be divine punishment.
He heard that divine forgiveness was possible only if the Grand Duke personally issued absolution.
The previous Grand Duke would accept money for absolution, but the current one, Cassius, refused even when offered wealth.
“I believe those who commit sins should face corresponding punishment.”
Even though a grand party was prepared, his answer didn’t change. Jade swallowed his anger.
A fake Grand Duke, indeed.
Cassius was an alpha with abilities.
Since the empire didn’t recognize supernatural powers, he would be considered a heretic and could be deposed.
Jade wanted to threaten him, but needed proof—he would have to show marks of the curse on Cassius’ body.
Without evidence, he couldn’t act.
This is a card to save for later.
Once he had proof, he could threaten to depose Cassius and secure the absolution.
As he organized his cunning thoughts, Cassius appeared.
He didn’t hide his anger upon seeing Jade.
“You deliberately withheld the report? Are you joking?”
Jade needed to earn his favor, but instead, he earned hatred.
What did that priest even say!
Even as a newly ordained priest, she was merely a fledgling.
No matter how valuable a healing priest, she had no worth if she wasn’t awakened.
“I didn’t hide it intentionally. I thought I’d report after rescuing her myself to avoid worrying you.”
“Your arrogance. What authority do you have to interfere in imperial matters?”
“….”
“Also, you prevented the priest with the wind attribute from reporting to me?”
The insult alone stiffened Jade’s lips.
It was blatant disregard.
“This is the Empire’s land. It’s natural for me to be informed first and handle it.”
Yet Cassius didn’t stop venting his anger.
“Do not interfere in imperial affairs.”
This was the imperial capital.
No matter the rank, the emperor should be respected on imperial soil.
Cassius, however, spoke arrogantly as if to a subordinate.
Jade was displeased, but Cassius continued.
“If you interfere further with the affairs of priests serving the gods, I will not remain idle as the Grand Duke guarding the Empire.”
Cassius’ gaze weighed heavily on Jade.
Jade, much smaller in stature, felt crushed.
He was displeased that Cassius, despite being smaller, looked down on him.
But for the sake of absolution, he drew on patience.
“Still, since she was safely rescued, there’s no need to worry, right?”
“I’m not worried.”
He had already sent a priest skilled in medicine to Sonia, as imperial medicine couldn’t be trusted.
Cassius’ anger stemmed from another matter.
“Your arrogance, interfering and trying to conceal the affairs of the gods.”
“I didn’t intend to conceal anything. I was confident I could rescue her safely…”
“Safely?”
Cassius cut him off.
It was impolite.
Even though Jade was the emperor, he spoke as if he were blameless.
“Safely? She hasn’t even woken yet!”
