I Became the Father of a Degenerate Emperor

Episode 24. Who is he?

Episode 24. Who is he?

“Kahah-“

Duke Shade has returned to his crow form again.

She was looking at the emperor through the window.

It’s been a long time since he fell, but the emperor still can’t open his eyes.

The empress continued to mutter something of hers in a soft voice while holding his head in her arms.

From the perspective of Duke Shade, it was a very enviable scene.

‘…… If only I could be there for just one day.’

Instinctively, jealousy welled up, and I even briefly harbored undeserved greed.

Actually, she was the one who thought that if she was beautiful, she wouldn’t be too far behind, but she couldn’t easily imagine working as her lady next to the emperor.

It was because he knew well what the emperor’s love for the empress was.

Through her oracle, she had already confirmed the sincerity and depth of that love.

So, wouldn’t her emperor love only her from now on?

Of course, the situation after the emperor’s return was not viewed as an oracle, so it was unknown what kind of future would unfold.

Duke Shade looked at the sleeping emperor.

Perhaps the reason he fell was because of paralysis.

‘…… A poison that can poison a sword master.’

Originally, the Sword Master was an existence that could never be killed by poison.

It was because the miasma would burn up just by causing an aura in the body.

That’s why no one tried to poison the Sword Master, and of course the Sword Master didn’t have to fear poisoning unnecessarily.

‘That’s why even Your Majesty wouldn’t expect it at all. The empress would have been the same.’

I don’t know what kind of material it was used for, or what principle it was, but Madok poisoned the emperor who was a sword master.

Madok did what no poison on the market could do.

He even limp on one leg and made it impossible to use the aura.

It must have broken down the mana circulation within the body.

‘What kind of material was it made of?’

Actually, it wasn’t that I couldn’t guess at all.

But that guess was so absurd that I just couldn’t accept it easily.

‘…… The dragon’s poison.’

An ancient monster that eats the heart of a dragon, ‘Salryongsa’.

It was a legendary monster, otherwise known as ‘one hundred fangs’, or ‘white teeth’ for short.

Although it was quite a long time ago, I had a clear memory of reading it in a book that collected various tales and legends.

It was written that the dragon’s venom has the ability to rot the dragon’s scales and skin.

However, dragons are beings that contain an enormous amount of mana.

There was no way I would let the poison run amok with the dense mana that would never be inferior to the aura.

So poisoning a dragon was impossible from the start.

‘But if such a poison really exists, wouldn’t it be possible to poison the sword master?’

I did hear such absurd speculation.

But no matter how much I thought about it, I thought it was just an absurd legend passed down through people’s mouths.

“Kahah-“

A Duke hurriedly throws out its beak as if to chase away miscellaneous thoughts.

To be honest, it wasn’t that important now.

She saw clearly through her oracle.

Olic Desapio.

That trash bastard took over the demon poison and poisoned the emperor.

But it was a while before she saw her oracle, and there was nothing she could do except watch.

The desire to kill Count Desapio at once surged up every day, but in order to obtain an antidote for the poison, he had no choice but to keep him alive.

Because he was the only link with the demons who gave him the demon poison.

Anyway, if it was that demon, he must have the antidote or know the recipe.

So, if you do well, you might be able to use Count Desapio to obtain an antidote from the demons.

But one big problem was holding her back.

That’s right, the demons were Shade’s natural enemies.

The Duke of Shade still remembered the words of her predecessor’s caution about it.

– People have long forgotten about the demons, but they are only looking for an opportunity to destroy humans all over the continent. However, even if you see them, you should never collide.

– Why?

– It is because the energy of chaos they use absorbs Shade’s darkness.

At that moment, the face of the ancestral master was frowned upon, and I could feel a deep resentment in the voice that followed.

– Miraak, your father and mother were actually killed by demons. Because of that, you wandered the back alleys and lived a difficult life. Honey, if you run into demons, run away as quickly as possible, no matter what. Got it?

Her predecessor, Zhu, had never seen her so angry, so her memory of that moment was still vivid.

The demons were beings that Shade could never oppose.

So, if you rashly touched Count Desapio, you might find it difficult to handle him.

So she had no choice but to watch the count, unable to do this or that.

Anyway, now, Count Desapio and the demons were all dead at the hands of the emperor.

It was like killing a demon.

The emperor had eliminated an opponent that Shade would not have dared to step forward with.

It was as if the emperor knew the secrets of this world to himself.

It wasn’t enough to tell them the location of their enemy, Sabarus, because they knew about Count Lake’s betrayal.

These were things that didn’t get caught at all even by the Shade duke’s dense information network.

However, the person who was only in the imperial palace told me exactly as if he was looking ahead to everything.

Where is that?

He even killed Sword Master Domtar with a mysterious weapon he had never seen before.

I thought there would be something up until I went to Florante, but I didn’t expect to really kill Domtar at all.

So the emperor must have also known how to make an antidote for paralysis.

So there’s no need to worry anymore.

Then suddenly, the emperor’s voice came from behind the window.

“Back off!”

The emperor hurriedly gets up while pushing the empress away. It had finally woken up.

However, anyone could see that he looked like an angry person.

Awkward airflow that took over the bedroom in an instant.

Even in that uncomfortable atmosphere, the empress calmly continued with a calm expression.

“I’m glad you woke up.”

That one word was all.

Perhaps he already knew that it was because of the poison.

However, if such incidents continued to repeat, it was impossible to know what and how misunderstandings would arise in the future.

Duke Shade felt very sorry for that fact.

She had seen clearly through her oracle.

Although the empress endured her painful life, in the end, she could not abandon her love for her emperor.

As a result, even her life was lost.

Esteel.

Perhaps she was the only woman who deserved the emperor’s love.

The love she gave her life for.

Compared to the noble things that Estill had in her arms, her own feelings would be mere petals that bloomed briefly in the springtime.

So even though they were rivals, I felt sorry for Estill.

Her ‘If only I could tell her the contents of her oracle.’

Then it might be possible to prevent future misunderstandings to some extent.

But that was impossible.

Not long ago, the Duke of Shade tried to inform her emperor and his lieutenant about her oracle.

However, even though I could say that I had received an oracle, when I tried to talk about the contents, I found myself saying something else before I knew it.

Strangely, the words kept twisting, so I couldn’t convey the contents properly.

Perhaps something like absolute providence was interfering to maintain the order and balance of the world.

‘Now that His Majesty is awake, I have to go back.’

But when she was about to leave, there was no way to suppress her regret.

What would the emperor say if he found out about his performance today?

I was infinitely curious about that.

Should I say thank you?

Perhaps a ray of joy could permeate that withered face.

“Kahah-“

But she was well aware.

Useless lingering always makes people sick.

Just doing something for the Emperor would have been enough.

She jumped in place and turned around.

I didn’t plan to tell anyone what happened today until the moment I die.

‘But I’ll definitely drink wine with you.’

The Emperor had clearly promised that after she subjugated the Lake Earldom, he would drink her wine with him.

‘I’m really looking forward to it.’

She looked up at the sky.

A thick darkness spread before you knew it.

Starlight was scattered like jewels through the sparsely floating clouds.

Now it was time to go back.

Pud Deuk-

She took off rapidly with a powerful flap of her wings.

Soon, a blacker darkness than the night sky rises from the crow’s body.

At the same time, the body grew huge in an instant and began to transform into a completely different creature.

The neck, tail, and wings and legs were all growing magnificently.

You wouldn’t be able to see it as a crow anymore with just that, but two pairs of wings were added as it extended to the crest.

Duke Shade’s appearance now looked like an ancient divine beast that ruled the night sky a long time ago.

Although it was of a grand size, no one would be able to see it properly because everything that made up its body was pitch-black darkness.

Hwaak- Hwaaak-

Every time the six wings rise and fall vigorously, a fierce gust of wind is generated and it starts accelerating at a tremendous speed.

Darkness rapidly blooms from the tips of its tail and wings.

With them stretched out, Duke Shade disappeared as if sinking into the abyss of the night sky.

*

Early morning.

Eric opened his eyes on the big bed.

On the left, Huron was hugging his waist, and on the right, Edwin was asleep with his legs hugged tightly.

Unlike his two younger brothers, Eric had been awake for several days already.

It wasn’t because of my younger siblings who kept crying and clinging to each other.

The real reason was different.

‘Oh my God.’

I said I would follow the emperor and recover Florente.

The emperor and empress who remained in the palace are substitutes, and they will be back soon, so he left a message saying to take good care of his younger siblings.

I didn’t forget to say that it would be okay as thousands of knights and soldiers of the Bright Duke would go with me.

After that, he explained everything about the emperor with a pitiful expression.

‘Madok’

All the tragedies that happened in the imperial family were said to have originated from that.

So the father is not guilty of anything.

It won’t be easy, but he even asked with tears in his eyes to take away his hatred.

But Eric couldn’t easily understand.

Even though he is now lame and can’t use it, the emperor was definitely the strongest sword master in the empire.

In the past, it was definitely possible to use Auras.

So, there was absolutely no way he was poisoned.

Perhaps the queen was being tricked by the emperor.

If the emperor really deceived his mother, there would be only one reason for taking her to death.

‘I’m trying to kill without anyone knowing.’

The moment I felt that certainty, I naturally burst into tears.

Because of that, her younger siblings also burst into tears, and they cried and cried and begged not to go to their mother.

Nevertheless, the mother never gave up on her will.

But Eric could see that her own mother was forcing herself to act okay. Not only Huron, but probably even Edwin noticed.

But in the end, Mohu turned around and left. She wouldn’t even let her see her off.

Even at her young age, she had already witnessed many of her deaths, so her mother’s attitude was clearly recognized.

The face and gestures of a person walking towards death were full of it.

So how can I not worry?

Although he’s been acting strange lately, the emperor has been constantly abusing his family.

Remembering the memory of that time, I still couldn’t stand the stiffening of my body and rapid breathing.

But what? You want to restore Florente?

When I sneakily asked the courtiers, the answer came back that it was absolutely impossible to recover Florente with the current power of the Empire.

It was said that there were savages who ate people there.

I have heard that barbarians are ferocious people who have already destroyed several kingdoms in the southern part of the continent.

In case you didn’t know, I asked the chamberlain and the minister of finance, but the answers I heard were not much different.

Of course, the newly inaugurated Chancellor Henri Carceau gave a slightly different answer.

– It must be impossible even in my opinion. But I want to believe in him. He is the one who sees what others cannot see. If it’s what he wants, whatever it is, I’m ready to give my life.

The chancellor seemed well aware of the fact that the emperor and empress in the palace were substitutes.

‘By the way, who is he?’

Henri Carceau had said cautiously to Eric, who was staring at him, not knowing who he was.

– Please forgive me for being cautious in answering. Well then, Your Highness the Prince, I’m done, I need to do some work. I still have a lot to deal with.

In fact, on top of his desk, papers were piled up like a mountain.

He must have been wrestling with documents for days and days.

After meeting the chancellor, Eric was engulfed in new concerns.

Who the hell is he?

Mofu? Or his maternal grandfather, the Duke of Bright?

Anyway, it would never be as good as the emperor.