SYMDF 44

Chapter 44

The night was unusually dark, as if the moon were waning. The side door of the Crown Prince’s palace, located on the east side of the Imperial Palace, gently opened, and two figures passed through.
The attendants did not greet the two cloaked figures and led them directly to the bedroom where Vernian was. Passing through a corridor lined with candles, they stopped near the door, and only then did the attendants notify Vernian, who was waiting inside.
“Your Highness, Head Mage Janice and his assistant have arrived.”
“Let them in.”

Even considering the letter Vernian had just received about their visit, it was late at night, and the suddenness of the visit left Vernian in light pajamas. His expanded chest fully exposed, he had only tightened the belt at his waist as he sat on the bed to receive the head mage.
“What brings you, Janice?”
In response, Janice threw back his hood, revealing a neutral face with indistinct features, exuding an almost androgynous appearance. He smiled quietly.
Janice, with his assistant Mariel, bent slightly at the knees before straightening and performed an unusual greeting.
“I pay respects to the Sun of the Empire.”

“What?”
A frown creased Vernian’s brow. The reason was obvious: the only one worthy of such a salute now was Vernian’s father.
The mystery was quickly unravelled.

“His Majesty the Emperor has passed away.”
“…What? I have not received word of that yet.”
If such news were to come, Vernian would be the first to hear it. Considering that the news had reached them now, it suggested the Emperor died on the way to Iodin.
Janice dispelled Vernian’s doubts with a brief reply.
“That’s expected. I was simply the first to know.”
“What do you mean?”
“We detected a change in the energy of the Imperial Palace’s magic barrier.”
“…”
“You are now the new Sun of the O’Brien Empire.”

Though he had not spoken congratulations, the meaning was implicit in Janice’s words. A flicker of ecstasy briefly brightened Vernian’s eyes.

“Ha, haha… That’s… very…”
Pausing briefly, one corner of Vernian’s mouth lifted sharply upward.
“This is delightful.”

Their laughter intertwined and soon merged into one. The room was filled with their muffled chuckles for a while.
When Vernian received Janice’s letter about tonight’s visit, he had felt annoyance and foreboding, but now he was much more relaxed.
He took a burning candle from the side table and used it to light other candles, brightening the space. Mariel’s lower face under his assistant’s hood became clearly visible.
Even he smiled quietly, a rare occurrence. Though the curse disfigured his face beneath the cape’s hood, Vernian was seemingly at ease.

Vernian relaxed his waist and let his body slump slightly.
“So, is that all the news? Is there nothing else?”
“There is more. We intend to dismantle the current Imperial Palace barrier and raise a new one.”
“Suddenly?”
“Though the current barrier appears formidable, it is already over thirty years old and outdated.”

Janice spoke casually, but the Imperial Palace barrier, designed by his grandfather’s generation, was said to be so complex that even skilled mages could not decipher it. No mage had found a way to break it in over thirty years.
“That’s overly modest.”

Janice took Vernian’s muttered praise as a compliment and bowed slightly with a hand on his chest.
“Do not worry. A stronger barrier will protect Your Highness, or rather, His Majesty. But there is a requirement…”

Trailing off and glancing cautiously, Janice was quickly interrupted by Vernian.
“Speak.”
“To complete the magic circle, Your Highness’s blood is required.”
“…”

Janice cocked his head at Vernian’s unwavering gaze.
“What are you hesitating about? Do you doubt I will dismantle and rebuild the barrier? Or fear I might make a weaker one?”

Though Vernian certainly had such concerns, he soon relaxed his expression and scoffed.
“Of course not. I was thinking about something else.”
“Something else?”
“If it doesn’t take too long, why not have the show during the coronation?”

He preferred a grand spectacle.
From when his father lay sick in bed, Vernian had eagerly awaited the day he would be crowned Emperor. So having one more lavish display would be no problem.

Understanding Vernian’s desire well, Janice smiled broadly, almost hiding his pupils in the candlelight. His smile appeared deeper and richer than usual amid the shadows cast by the flickering flames.

“If you wish, there is nothing I cannot do. I am a servant of the great Clodel dynasty and His Majesty.”
“Good, very good.”

Upon receiving the grant, Vernian laughed aloud again. He barely remembered a time when his shoulders had felt so light. The news of the Emperor’s death brought relief rather than sorrow.
It finally extinguished the faint hope that the Emperor’s fragile life might drag on until Vernian grew old, delaying his ascendance.

“Why such a late hour? I thought you had good news to dispel my fatigue today, Janice.”
“Flattery, Your Highness. Later, perhaps you’ll give me many carrots.”

Janice’s tone was uncharacteristically familiar, but Vernian ignored it for the moment.
“Carrots? What might you want? I feel as if I could grant any wish right now. Shall I be the first mage to receive a title?”

Janice tilted his head as if to say “What nonsense is this?”
“Titles or wealth mean nothing to me. The greatest reward is having my dearest wish fulfilled whenever I desire.”
“Then as long as you don’t ask for my life or seek to harm me, I will grant that.”
“Of course not. I have pledged absolute loyalty to the Clodel family until death. Even if I perish, someone else will carry on the will of the Clodel dynasty.”

Janice cast a glance to Mariel standing beside him. But this was not the moment to dwell on that, so Vernian paid it no mind.

“You speak well. So then…”
“Do you have more questions?”

Vernian hesitated uncharacteristically, and Janice pressed further,
“When you become Emperor, won’t you need to welcome an Empress as well?”

“Quite right.”
“So I wish to resume the conversation we began before.”

Janice feigned searching his memory as he raised his eyes to the dark ceiling,
“A conversation half-finished… I do not quite recall it.”

Though the matter had occurred only days ago, it was odd to forget.
Sensing Janice’s avoidance, Vernian inserted with no alternative:
“It’s about Ion Craiger’s curse.”

“Ah…”
Janice softly exclaimed, as if remembering.

“Was there a problem with something I said back then?”
“Do you really not know? There is no proof. You never even saw Ion yourself.”

The conversation referred to Mariel encountering Ion near the palace grounds. Seeing Ion staggering and in poor shape, Mariel injected mana to sustain him and thereby learned more about Ion’s curse.

Most gossipers knew of Vernian’s interest in Ion. Though the Mage Tower was slow with news, no one would be ignorant of this for years by now, so Janice relayed this to Vernian and added his own opinion.

Vernian recognized instantly that this was the key. The problem was trust—no one would believe it.

Janice brushed off Vernian’s skepticism lightly.
“Haven’t you already sent him a marriage proposal?”

A slippery fox.
Though appearing aloof, it was clear Janice knew all too much.

Vernian’s mood darkened dramatically. When he threw even a subtle glare, Janice grew a bit more serious and spoke solemnly:
“Also, though I haven’t seen it myself, Mariel’s detailed explanation suffices.”

Yet Vernian quickly dissected a flaw in the statement:
“How can someone who doesn’t know how to break a curse fully interpret it?”

Vernian’s sharp gaze shifted to Mariel.
“Mariel, when we first saw the curse, didn’t you fail to identify exactly what it was?”

“…”

When Ion’s critical condition was reported years earlier and he was brought to the Dukes’ mansion, Mariel could only conclude she did not understand.
But she kept her head bowed beneath her cape and said nothing in defense. Janice spoke on her behalf.

“The two matters are indeed related, but clearly different in nature. And almost ten years have passed since then. Mariel’s insight has advanced greatly.”

Though it was not a perfect explanation, Janice spoke as the foremost Mage Tower head, leaving Vernian little room to argue.

Irritated, Vernian decided to drop the subject for now.

“So what exactly is this curse? What kind of curse…”

Before Vernian could roundabout his words, Janice interrupted bluntly:

“Makes him able to have children in a man’s body?”

The room fell into deep silence.