Chapter 52
At that moment, a purification ritual was underway at the stone tower.
Meanwhile, orphanage staff and volunteer helpers were conducting a search for the missing children.
After a couple of hours of searching, it was a male volunteer who made a discovery first.
Inside an abandoned warehouse on the grounds, he found traces resembling a magic circle used for a gate summoning ritual.
“From now on, the State will take control of the scene.”
Amid the ensuing confusion, Ivybin persuaded her siblings to quickly relocate all the children from the living quarters to the duchy. This was to protect the witnesses who had seen Elder Mateo.
“These children are also the last witnesses to the missing children. Leaving them at the orphanage as it is would be far too dangerous.”
“But…!”
The orphanage director resisted strongly, but soon relented after Ivybin continued.
“Currently, isn’t the Werner Orphanage under the State’s operation?”
Since the regency of Gregory, the Werner Orphanage had indeed come under the State’s administration.
Ivybin’s implication was clear: in a situation where a State elder was under suspicion, could they leave the witnesses at the scene?
“That’s overstepping your authority, young lady.”
When a State soldier, tasked with controlling the scene, attempted to stop her, the triplets stepped in front of Ivybin.
“Then where is that bald-headed elder right now?”
John spoke up first.
“He’s currently at an emergency meeting convened by the State…”
“A meeting? He sneaked off by himself last night to get there early? What is this, foresight or something? Huh?”
Then came Hum’s sarcasm.
“Insulting an elder is subject to strict… according to the Holy State law…”
“Ah, forget it. Just tell him he’s overstepping.”
“…Excuse me?”
“We’re about to cross the line!”
Dun Kinzelo shouted at the State soldier.
“And besides, who crossed the line first? You guys kidnapped our precious youngest princess and locked her up without permission. Haven’t forgotten that yet. Tit for tat, that’s what it is.”
The soldier froze in astonishment while the triplets and Ivybin gathered all the children from the living quarters.
“Alright, everyone. Hold on tight! We’re going on a field trip to the duchy, the finest in the Hwig Empire!”
The children, frozen with fear, quickly huddled together like a cluster of chestnuts.
Ignoring the protesting soldiers, the triplets tore the return scrolls.
Fwaaah!
As all three scrolls were torn simultaneously, a massive dome-shaped green flame shot up from the ground.
“You do realize that if you step on the magic circle, you’ll be dragged along to the duchy too, right?”
“Well, it wouldn’t matter to us to go together, it’s just that you might instantly die stepping on what’s basically demon territory.”
With the triplets’ grins, the green light enveloping them vanished.
Meanwhile, news from Werner Orphanage reached the Emperor during his morning session.
“So… after I hurried back to the palace because of Rosy, this happened outside the orphanage auditorium?”
The gate disturbance had occurred the previous evening. Rosinell had left the performing auditorium in a rush after hearing news about his younger sister, Rosy.
―Your Majesty, an urgent message just arrived from the palace. The princess suddenly suffered an asthma attack. The palace’s dedicated physicians are doing their best to treat her, but the situation has yet to improve.
Upon hearing this, Rosinell immediately returned to the palace.
It wasn’t that he distrusted or doubted the physicians’ abilities.
In the vast palace, the only family member he could truly care for was his younger sister Rosy.
He couldn’t possibly enjoy a performance knowing his sister was in such a state.
Luckily, by the time he arrived at the princess’s chamber, her condition had improved significantly.
It seemed the physicians had swiftly administered a “prayer enhancer” and herbal steam treatments.
That evening, Rosinell stayed by Rosy’s side, listening to her wheezing throughout the night.
Since such events had been frequent since her childhood, he was accustomed to dozing lightly by her bedside.
Even long before he became Emperor, he would secretly leave the Crown Prince’s quarters to spend the night beside his sister.
That habit had remained, often waking him early in the morning, yet Rosinell had never considered it a bother.
That day was just one of many such nights—until the sounds of gates and whatnot reached his ears early in the morning.
“Everyone from the Holy State’s top officials was at the orphanage. Even the holy Saint Pavella was there… And then? What happened, and what was discovered?”
Rosinell ended with a wry smile.
The situation was so absurd that even after hearing the report, he wasn’t angry.
“Further investigation is needed, but the circumstances are similar to the unsolved cave incident in the Eastern District.”
Geometric patterns drawn in formation, monster blood and bones, ritual tools.
And…
“Except for a few personal belongings of the kidnapped children, which were found later.”
The incident was larger than expected.
It even involved a high-ranking State elder.
“Unbelievable… The State elder nearly had his limbs bound on the torture rack in front of the heretic inquisitor.”
Rosinell’s lips curved into a subtle, mysterious smile, as if an idea had just crossed his mind.
He wondered what expression Gregory, who had always controlled him like a leash, was wearing now.
And what about Saint Pavella, who loudly proclaimed the State’s authority and sanctity?
A crisis for someone is an opportunity for someone else.
A familiar phrase suddenly popped into Rosinell’s mind.
“Your… Majesty?”
Noticing the Emperor lost in thought, his advisor cautiously addressed him.
“Um?”
“There’s another problem…”
“What is it?”
The Emperor, leaning back in his chair with arms crossed, showed no signs of tension or anger.
Rosinell often seemed completely relaxed regarding State affairs, yet when a crucial matter arose, he would always zero in on the key points, catching ministers off guard.
“That day, the Kinzelo family children attending the orphanage event took all the orphanage kids to the duchy.”
“What?”
Rosinell immediately thought of Ivybin Kinzelo.
Previously, the mention of the Kinzelo family would make him think of the burly family head, Dillon. Now, it was the small woman resembling a little violet who first came to mind.
“The State dispatched an investigation team immediately, but the entire group of orphans had already vanished…”
“Wait, wait a second.”
Rosinell’s crooked posture showed a hint of amusement as he listened to the report.
“I heard the Werner Orphanage had as many as seven hundred children. You mean to tell me they moved that many at once? Are they some kind of instant-transport sorcerers?”
“Ah, my apologies. Not all of them—only about a hundred children, aged 10 to 12, in Living Quarter A at the time.”
The advisor quickly corrected himself after the Emperor’s precise question.
He swallowed dryly and glanced at the Emperor, marveling that even after years of service, Rosinell remained unpredictable.
The Emperor would act nonchalant about national or political matters, yet latch onto minor details when it mattered most, unnerving ministers.
His actions were difficult to read: whether he was truly reckless or simply pretending.
From the advisor’s perspective, having to relay reports back to Gregory while juggling both sides was increasingly exhausting.
“This is ridiculous.”
“…Excuse me?”
“No, not you.”
Suddenly, the Emperor stood, mumbling nonsensical things and walking somewhere. The advisor panicked and hurried after him.
“It’s on purpose.”
Rosinell, clearly amused, kept chuckling to himself.
“I see… You’re really asking me without realizing it?”
The Emperor took a silver revolver from his desk drawer.
The handle bore an engraving of the imperial double-headed eagle.
Swish.
The barrel pointed directly at the advisor’s forehead.
From this distance, if he pulled the trigger, the advisor’s head would undoubtedly explode.
The sudden action froze Advisor Ben in place.
“Your… Majesty!”
Rosinell was a capricious man.
He could laugh one moment, scold the next, joke freely, then become deadly serious—truly unpredictable.
‘W-what? Could it be… he knows I’m Gregory’s man…?’
In the tense silence, as Advisor Ben awkwardly tried to force a smile,
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Shots fired rapidly from the silver revolver.
