Chapter 56
[Congratulations!
You are nearing the main storyline.]
The system smoothly changed its letters, uncaring whether my face was rotting or not.
[The Holy Kingdom, Luseid, holds the final remaining fragment of this world’s truth.
They have a deep interest in the correlation between magic and gates.
They have long debated and worked tirelessly for the harmony of these two powers. Respect their history.
But, unbeknownst to them, a veil of misfortune has been cast.
Within them, those who have strayed from the rules are hiding. Weed them out and thwart their will.
Will you accept this quest?
Success: Absorb ????’s fragment, acquire a large number of Soul Stabilization Points, stabilize the Archmage’s abilities.
Failure: Death of the soul.]
What the hell.
What kind of choice is this? Just say “Refuse and you die,” why don’t you?
“Duke?”
The emperor raised his brows, as if puzzled by my silence, while I let out endless sighs inside.
Sure, if I were a possessed reader who remembered the original novel perfectly, I’d be screaming with joy over a quest like this.
I am a transmigrator, but—
It’s not like I had a genius memory that let me recall the story word for word in the first place. And now I even suffer from amnesia bad enough to forget my own name.
Which means I don’t remember who the head villain even is…
I can’t even tell anymore—
Is this a symptom of gradually forgetting my past life?
Or is it just because I skimmed the novel and never paid close attention?
Am I… really okay?
When I realized I had forgotten my name, wasn’t I even more shocked than this?
Sigh. Well, whatever. If I don’t want to die, I’ll have to do it.
I firmly pressed the accept button. But in my moment of focus, I completely forgot about the man sitting in front of me.
And so, when I glanced up, I realized Kaishis was staring at me strangely as I made motions of swinging at thin air.
Cold silence fell. Sweat trickled down my back.
C-couldn’t you just pretend you didn’t see that?
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…There was a bug.”
The emperor parted his lips, as if he were about to say something, but I shamelessly lifted my chin.
“We will prepare the welcoming of the delegation alongside dueling and demonstrations. If Your Majesty’s business is finished, will you take your leave now?”
“No.”
…Excuse me, what?
He answered so naturally that I had already half-risen to my feet to escort him out.
I froze, lips pressed tight, glaring. He sneered, annoyingly smug, before speaking.
“You seem eager to be rid of me. Unfortunately, there’s still one more matter. In fact, the most important one.”
I irritably dropped back into my chair, blinking.
“Two days from now. I’ve cleared my schedule for several days.”
For a second, my mind stalled.
Whose schedule had he cleared? Certainly not mine. He couldn’t possibly mean… giving me a holiday?
“…Wait. Did I hear correctly?”
He wasn’t saying he was taking time off, was he?
The emperor of a nation, the strongest SSS-class awakener in a world where catastrophic gates could rain down from the sky at any moment?
I couldn’t mask my disbelief.
“You mean… you won’t be entering any gates?”
“That’s right.”
I blurted without filter, horrified.
“Are you insane?!”
As if expecting such a reaction, the man only smiled coldly, regarding me with composure.
“I’ve told you many times—fix that tone of yours. Am I your friend?”
“Who cares about that right now?! If Your Majesty refuses to enter the gates, then in the meantime others will be unable to—”
“Duke. You’ll be resting too.”
“…Pardon?”
“My holiday will coincide with yours.”
I hadn’t agreed to rest. Who the hell was going to make me?
“It’s an imperial order.”
With that icy expression, I finally realized—yes, the male lead of the original novel had gone completely mad.
From the very beginning, things had gone wrong. From the moment I became this lunatic’s half-guide, everything had been twisted.
That disastrous first guiding session where we ended up in bed on the very first night… the cursed half-bond…
But the man, oblivious to the fact that my soul had half-fled my body, only narrowed his icy blue eyes at me, stabbing me with his gaze.
“…And why, pray tell, must I do this?”
“I thought I’d enjoy some hunting.”
Hunting…? As in monsters?
“I mean the usual noble pastime.”
I gave up on replying to such nonsense.
Maybe he was spouting ridiculous things on purpose, testing whether I really was Ariel the duke.
Otherwise, why else would he behave so out of character?
The Kaishis I knew from Tyrant of Flames was a workaholic. The empire’s guardian. He knew nothing of luxury or indulgence, only gates, gates, and more gates. And a dogshit temper to boot.
“Where exactly?”
“Your territory.”
I felt as though he had just slammed me across the back of the head.
This time, I didn’t even need to put on an act as Duke Ariel. My fury was genuine.
“I. Have. Never. Invited. Your Majesty. To my territory.”
“Then invite me now.”
Hilaria, I finally understand you.
If I’d had to deal with this infuriating man as an enemy while being worked half to death, I’d have run away early too.
“My territory is not Your Majesty’s hunting ground!”
I didn’t even know where on the map my land was located!
“One day should be enough to release some beasts and prepare.”
This bastard.
The curse burned in my throat.
He narrowed his eyes, brushing his lips with his fingers, tilting his head.
“Sounded like you just cursed.”
“Then was it a compliment?”
Our gazes clashed, sharp and dangerous.
The tension was suffocating.
As I ran my hand through my hair in frustration, I suddenly felt someone’s frozen stare.
Ah.
My pale-faced aide was still standing there.
Sorry—I’d completely forgotten him, standing like part of the wallpaper.
One sharp jerk of my chin, and he bolted, closing the door behind him.
Kaishis glanced at his knights, and they too swiftly exited.
Now, only the emperor and I remained.
“Now we can have a proper talk.”
So, he wanted word to spread that he’d be moving to my territory? Was that his plan all along?
That’s why he sent everyone out from the start. But why?
I sighed.
“What are you scheming? Don’t joke around—speak plainly. My time is valuable.”
He smirked.
“The ones who ran.”
When I looked, he lifted his hand. With a crackle, frost bloomed at his fingertips like a flower of ice.
Wow. Beautiful.
I quickly schooled my expression, realizing I had briefly been distracted by admiration.
“And why do you bring that up?”
“Because this is your land. And just beside it—the Karilis mountain range.”
Once again, I had no clue about imperial geography.
Best to stay silent, arms crossed, pretending to brood like a proper duke.
“Those who sold the drug that drives awakeners berserk—they fled here and vanished. Of all places, near your territory.”
So, his “hunting” meant hunting people, disguised as a noble sport.
Near my land?
“Of course, it may be coincidence. But if their base lies near your estate, wouldn’t it serve as good bait to lure them out?”
“…”
“You know as well as I do—every incident in the palace was aimed at you and me.”
More precisely, aimed at making relations between magicians and awakeners worse than ever.
“If they can truly manipulate gates, then it’s a grave matter. And if such people are targeting our lives as well… then when you and I appear together in your territory—”
Crack. The ice branch shattered.
“—they’ll have no choice but to reveal themselves. Don’t you think?”
