Chapter 07 …
Calix
A leisurely set of footsteps echoed through the imperial palace corridor, followed by hurried ones. Yucar closed the distance to Calix, his jade-colored hair swaying.
“Your Majesty, I apologize for overstepping, but I must offer a suggestion—”
“No.”
“Yes, sir.”
Yucar immediately fell silent at the firm rejection. However, he soon licked his lips, appearing anxious.
“Your Majesty, please…”
Leaving behind Yucar’s near-groaning voice, Calix arrived at the library. The guard standing by bowed and stepped aside as he opened the grand doors. As the doors parted, a quiet space filled with a cold stillness and the dense scent of books was revealed. The emperor’s library was primarily used for private discussions. Calix leisurely walked toward the window.
“Your Majesty.”
Noticing Yucar hurrying in and closing the door behind him, Calix flicked his hand as if irritated.
“Go ahead. Speak.”
Yucar’s green eyes flashed.
“Your Majesty, please grant permission to investigate her.”
“Her?”
“The woman named Lucina Langport!”
Yucar’s face twisted as he clutched the front of his clothes.
“If anything happens to the princess… I… I…!”
Yucar shut his eyes tightly as if witnessing a catastrophe. When it came to matters involving Rubellin, his nickname of “Iron Wall Chief Advisor” was meaningless.
“Hah.”
Calix let out a short laugh.
“Anyone watching would think she was your niece.”
Yucar released his grip on his clothes and looked up with determined eyes.
“Your Majesty, please grant permission. In a world where witches who bewitch human souls exist, I believe further investigation is necessary—”
“Yucar. Are you saying she is a witch?”
Calix turned around with an expression as if he had just heard something absurd. The reddish glow of the sunset soaked into his hair.
“Well, even if she isn’t a witch…”
Yucar trailed off and glanced cautiously.
“I am concerned about the remnants of the Tetan Kingdom.”
“Hardly.”
Yucar quietly fell silent, letting out a small sigh. He knew even himself that he had already gone too far in his thoughts. The fallen Tetan Kingdom had been wiped out, and its remnants had become slaves in foreign lands. Thinking of Prince Alex, the princess who had spared his life had been sold off as a slave in another country, her fate and survival unknown—she was already powerless. And yet, whenever it concerned Rubellin, Yucar would stay up for three nights, contemplating worst-case scenarios before making decisions, only to still feel uneasy. Though protective magic had been layered three and four times around Rubellin, his anxiety remained unavoidable. Yucar sighed deeply and glanced at Calix.
‘His Majesty shows no outward concern…’
Yucar, weighed down by worry, radiated a gloomy aura.
‘I should have the chamberlain instruct Rinell to keep watch over her.’
Yucar intentionally sighed loudly as if for someone to hear. Calix was dumbfounded by his subordinate’s behavior.
‘At this point, it’s a disease.’
He had already thoroughly investigated not only her lineage but even the dust from Lucina’s household, and yet here he was asking to investigate again. Calix clicked his tongue briefly and turned toward the window, crossing his arms and leaning slightly against the wall.
“A witch, huh.”
Hundreds of years ago, after the bloodline of a clan that practiced black magic had died out, the sole surviving woman among them was referred to as a witch. Her name and age were unknown, and rumors claimed she appeared and vanished somewhere without trace. But Lucina Langport being that witch? Calix let out a scoff at such a ridiculous assumption. She was clearly neither a witch nor anything of the sort.
Calix recalled their first meeting. She had clear, smooth light brown eyes and soft hair. Her face had turned pale, and she knelt trembling as she looked up at him, resembling a hamster about to be devoured.
“Sometimes, unseen places get hurt too, Your Majesty.”
Yet despite that, she had looked straight into his eyes and stated her conviction. How absurd it had been when she ran toward Rubellin without hesitation and embraced her. A woman who could lose consciousness from even a light touch from Rubellin had held and protected a child stronger than himself.
“The princess regards that woman as her birth mother. It is likely that, because of that, the princess is unconsciously controlling her immense strength,”
Calix had been told by Ken in his report. It was a question he had. Even when excellent tutors and mages had been summoned, the issue had never been resolved. The idea that simply recognizing someone as “mother” could allow control over such power—it was strange. But that wasn’t the only oddity. Calix frowned and closed his eyes.
“Brother!”
The scene of Alex returning as a corpse was vividly etched in his mind. The king of the Tetan Kingdom was a man who lacked any sense of his position. A corrupt and inherently lazy ruler, he used his daughter, the princess, to marry Alex into his family. Numerous arrogant and insolent trade demands followed under the pretext of Alex being the empire’s second prince, but Calix endured them—until his younger brother returned dismembered.
“Anyone left?”
“None, aside from the remnants who fled.”
After hearing Yucar’s report, Calix looked over the blood-soaked Tetan royal palace and sneered.
“To have lived in a place like this… Alex must have lost his mind. It’s not even worth using as territory.”
“Your Majesty…”
Calix turned away from Yucar’s call at that moment.
Waaah!
A child’s cry echoed from a small room in the empty palace. When Calix entered the room, the loud crying became deafening. There, amidst the bloodstained surroundings, stood a lone cradle. A baby with reddened cheeks and tear-like drops streaming down her face. The faint flow of draconic mana and her resemblance to Alex made it unmistakable—she was of imperial blood, a descendant of dragons.
Clang— Calix’s sword slipped from his hand. He unconsciously reached out toward the child, then flinched at his own hand.
Black thorns tangled chaotically, his bloodied hand overflowing with mana that could threaten the child even by mere contact. Calix withdrew his hand helplessly. As the child’s piercing cries filled the palace, he turned away.
“Your Majesty!”
At that moment, Yucar rushed into the room. Upon seeing the baby, his eyes widened.
“Your Majesty, that child is surely—”
“Yucar, I will take the child.”
“Your Majesty, take the child?!”
Waaah— As if understanding Yucar’s words, the child cried even louder.
“If she’s no longer needed, we can just kill her.”
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”
Calix halted his recollection and opened his eyes. It was an impulsive action unlike his usual self. Even he found it strange. Was it necessary to bring her if she could simply be killed?
“Waaah!”
It was only the desperate cry rejecting death that lingered in his mind. Perhaps it reminded him of his younger self from distant memories. Maybe it was because of their first meeting. From then until now, the child had always cried before him.
“No… no… my mom…”
And yet, Rubellin, who had always been too afraid to even speak up before him, had for the first time voiced her own will. She used to hide in fear whenever she saw him, but this time she had rushed forward to protect Lucina.
Calix looked down at his right hand with a blank expression. Centered on the ring on his middle finger, dark thorns stretched outward like vines, wrapping around his knuckles. Ancient texts recorded the words of his ancestors:
“Only the strong can control their abilities.”
He knew that this ability did not refer to physical strength. Separate from the brute strength he had been born with, his powerful mana had always tormented him. From the time he was young enough to discern right from wrong, everything his hand touched would wither and decay.
As he reached adulthood and his father’s health declined, Calix set out to find an artifact recorded in ancient texts that could seal his mana. After a long and arduous journey, he found a ring buried in a swamp of monsters. That ring, which greedily claimed his finger, was the result.
The process had not been smooth. The ring absorbed his mana while inflicting agonizing pain that seemed to scrape his bones, and the stored mana would erupt, transforming him into a monstrous form once every half year. After enduring great hardship, Calix proved he could safely control his mana with the ring’s help and ascended to the throne. He coldly looked down at his dying father, gasping for breath.
“Since I have inherited it, you may leave in peace.”
“You… you finally…!”
But contrary to expectations, he did not feel relief or joy.
“Brother. I will be taking my leave.”
Alex had smiled lightly, yet possessed sharp insight. He knew he would become the seed of civil war and departed to help Calix secure the throne.
“Brother, may you remain in good health until we meet again.”
From that point on, Calix lived a life opposite to Alex’s freedom. He purged and eradicated all officials who had advised him to remain eternally confined, as well as military officers who had sent assassins since his youth. Looking around the emotionless inner palace, Calix felt both doubt and anger. Why had he been forced to live imprisoned like this?
“Anything that gets in the way can be killed and subdued.”
Even if everything he touched withered and died, what did it matter? Why must he live hiding this power? Yet paradoxically, Calix could not remove the ring. He still found small, fragile lives uncomfortable.
Years had passed since then, but without the ring, he still could not control the surging mana. That was why he wondered—
“What is she.”
Lucina Langport—what was she, that Rubellin had grown stronger? What was she, that unlike himself, who could not control his mana without the ring, Rubellin could control her immense strength?
Calix raised his gaze to the sky beyond the transparent window. Pale violet clouds resembling Rubellin’s hair stood out. He recalled the scene of fluttering hair entangled with straw-colored hair. Flushed cheeks, moving lips. Round eyes glaring at him, then quickly lowering her gaze upon meeting his.
“We’ll know if we keep watching.”
Calix narrowed his eyes slightly and ended his thoughts. When he turned around, Yucar was still lingering with a dejected expression.
“Your Majesty, she is someone by your side as well. Should we not investigate further?”
Calix frowned and waved his hand dismissively.
“If she becomes a threat, she can be killed. What is the issue?”
Without hesitation, Calix headed for the door. Yucar let out a strained groan but ultimately stepped back.
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
Knowing that the emperor would kill without the slightest hesitation if necessary, he could no longer speak further. Yucar let out a barely audible sigh.
Click. The door opened, and Yucar turned toward his lord’s direction and bowed again. As Calix exited the library, he suddenly stopped. He stared at the cascade of jade-colored hair flowing down like a waterfall.
“Do you have something else to say?”
Yucar lowered his head under the piercing gaze, his eyes only shifting side to side.
