TAPGB - Chapter 72
The Abandoned Prince's Ghost Bride
As soon as Caesar arrived at the entrance to the village, he walked towards where Lucian was likely to go.
It's obvious where he would go. It's Bill's Weapon Shop.
"Come on! What? Brother, it's been a while, huh?"
Bill, Dio's father and the owner of the weapon shop recognized Caesar.
***
"...Master Caesar!...Master Caesar!"
When Javier heard that a handsome man with red hair was looking for him, he immediately recognized it as Caesar and hurried out.
He hurriedly called out to Caesar, but when he actually faced him, his whole body became stiff.
'Still... I'm scared."
The memory of their first meeting is so strong that his body naturally stiffens when he faces Caesar.
"I have a favor to ask you."
Didn't he come to get information?
This was the first time Caesar had anything else to do with him. Javier, who was puzzled for a moment, noticed the gaze focused in this direction.
"It's too noticeable, so please move to my room first."
The two moved to Javier's residence. After confirming that there was no one around, Javier closed the door.
"You may speak now."
"Can you find one person?"
"A person?"
"You know someone too. Lucian."
Javier realized that he was referring to the child he encountered at the mansion eight years ago.
"He suddenly disappeared a week ago. According to the last witness, he said he was going back home, but apparently, something happened on the way."
"Okay... However, I haven't seen that child since eight years ago. Isn't he of age by now?"
Knowing this, Caesar handed Javier the picture of Lucian that he had prepared in advance.
Javier trembled when he saw that.
"... Aren't he His Highness the Crown Prince?"
"It's Lucian."
"How can they be so similar?"
For the past eight years, Javier has made every effort to enter the deeper parts of the temple. As a result, he quickly rose to the position of the bishop's confidant.
Thanks to this, he took charge of the affairs of the deep department and naturally had many close encounters with the imperial family, so he often came face to face with the Crown Prince or the Emperor.
Moreover, didn't he see the Crown Prince up close for a brief moment during the Crown Prince's coming-of-age ceremony a week ago?
"First... All right. Let me try to ask a question. How can I contact you?"
"If you leave a note on the window, I will come and check it."
This is the 3rd floor?
Javier was about to ask how he was going to come and check, but for a moment he thought that ignorance was the cure, so he kept his mouth shut.
"Ah! There has been a big uproar recently, so I wanted to report it to Caesar."
"What is that?"
"A week ago... His Royal Highness the Crown Prince suffered some kind of attack and lost consciousness."
Javier informed Caesar of the fact that the Crown Prince had been carried away unconscious and of all the rumors that were secretly circulating no matter how much the high-ranking officials tried to stop them.
"... But from what I saw, it wasn't an attack."
"What if not?"
"What did the Pope and other high-ranking priests plan to do to His Highness the Crown Prince? Above all, the person designated as a spy was the Pope's hand and foot. I'm not the type of person who will ever stab you in the back."
"Are you saying that you deceived the imperial family at the temple?"
"First of all, that's my guess."
"Hmm... Didn't you say last time that the temple and the imperial family have a deep close relationship?"
"Yes, but this is a little strange. The current high-ranking people are only loyal to His Majesty the Emperor. He often makes it a habit to say that it is for His Majesty's sake. "The term "Your Majesty" referred to here does not refer to the current emperor, but to his predecessor."
Then suddenly, Javier remembered something and made an embarrassed expression.
"... However, this time, not only His Royal Highness the Crown Prince but also His Majesty the Former Emperor has lost consciousness. According to what I heard, he had almost become an idiot, but strangely enough, the shrine did not pay any attention to the former Emperor but only paid attention to His Highness the Crown Prince. It's never been like this before, so I'm a little confused."
Above all, there was the biggest reason why he was so confident.
"At the time, there was a child who was helping His Highness the Crown Prince with his return. The child died mysteriously the day after the ceremony, wondering what kind of mistake he had made. It is said that during the ceremony, he brought in items that the Crown Prince should not bring in..."
Javier didn't give it much thought since he had already entered the deep end with other thoughts, but he felt bad when he thought of the child who met a cruel death less than a day later.
However, the current story was of no help to Caesar. The most important thing to him now was Lucian's safety.
"You can figure it out later. For now, please prioritize what I asked you to do. Because it's urgent."
"Yes, I understand."
"Well, I have to look elsewhere, so let's go."
Before there was any chance of catching him, Caesar used teleportation. Javier, who was looking blankly at where Caesar was, scratched his head.
"Oh, now that I think about it, I didn't mention this."
Even now, a priest is periodically dispatched from the temple to look after the unconscious Crown Prince, and there have been eyewitness accounts of the Crown Prince walking around in good health in the imperial palace.
Of course, this was something he heard as a whisper from the nobles who visited the temple.
They talked about the Crown Prince they had met at the banquet. If it was a banquet, it would have been shortly after the Crown Prince fell. This means that he cannot possibly attend.
'But it actually made a mark on the nobles.'
Could it be that this was also done through black magic or something?
Flutter...
The picture of Lucian that Caesar had left behind came into Javier's field of vision. When he looked at it, he looked just like the Crown Prince.
"But this kid was definitely an ordinary kid with brown eyes and brown hair."
Javier had a strong feeling that this child was probably related to the imperial family.
"Shall we take a look?"
Javier wondered how he could enter the imperial family.
***
Two weeks have passed since Leopold lost consciousness.
Finally, Lucian accepted the Emperor's offer. The deadline is until Leopold regains his consciousness. It may have lasted indefinitely, but the Emperor was diligently looking for a way to wake Leopold.
In order to perform a perfect performance, the Emperor required a thorough study of court etiquette, politics, and other education. When engaging in external activities, Lucia was granted half freedom so that he could act within the bounds of fear. However, he cannot escape the imperial palace.
Instead, when the contract ended later, he promised to hand over to Lucian a compensation of 1,000 gold coins per year for the work he had done so far, and all property that Lucian had acquired on his own.
In addition, the Emperor decided to give Lucian the authority to choose the escort knights or servants to be by Lucian's side. Also, a teacher who will help him adapt to the new environment.
Currently, Lucian was preparing to meet the teacher he had personally chosen. Due to circumstances, it was not possible to have multiple teachers, so it had to be someone who was versatile, had absolute loyalty to the imperial family, and would not reveal Lucian's existence.
The one who fits all of this is the imperial nobility. The Emperor first selected four nobles and showed them to Lucian, and among them, the one Lucian chose was the Duke of Libya, who ruled the north.
Lucian was even more nervous than when he first met the Emperor and continued to rub his sweaty palms on his pants.
"Whoa, I can do it. It's okay."
While he was reassuring himself that he was okay, he perked up his ears when he heard footsteps coming from outside.
Knock knock.
"Excuse me."
The door opened and a man with black hair and clear, light blue eyes came in. He appeared to be in his 30s and was accompanied by an older-looking servant.
"May the light reach the little sun. Nice to meet you, Prince. It's called Isis Libya."
"Lucian Odelion. Nice to meet you. Is there an attendant next to you?"
"He is my faithful subject, so there is no need to be wary. I will not go anywhere and reveal your true identity."
"Okay. Let's sit down for now."
Isis went to the other side, and the attendant stood behind him.
Lucian felt a subtle pressure just by being across from him. Lucian felt cold sweat running down the back of his neck as he spoke with Isis.
The introduction was about how education would be conducted in the future, and Isis said that since he was very busy as the Duke of the North, it would be difficult for him to stop by often and dedicate himself to education.
"To be honest, I was quite surprised when the offer came to me. I thought there was someone better suited than me."
"You mean the Duke of Sevans?"
"Yes, this was the first time I learned of the Prince's existence, but the Duke of Sevans probably knew of the Prince's existence long ago. The Duke of Sevans could have helped you more than me, so why did you choose me?"
Although his tone was kind, there was a sword hidden in his eyes.
Lucian decided that it was impossible to hide something from him and decided to be honest.
"Certainly the Duke of Sevans is suited to this task. He has a close relationship with His Majesty, knows my secrets, and is the father of the Crown Prince's fiancee. But that doesn't mean he can say it's entirely for me."
"That means..."
"The Duke of Sevans is the Crown Prince and His Majesty's ally, not me. When my usefulness is up, he might dispose of me behind my back."
Isis made an interesting expression. Lucian's guess is by no means excessive. It is very likely that the Duke of Sevans will really try to deal with Lucian later.
As he said, he is the Crown Prince's person, so there is no way he would allow Lucian, who would be the Crown Prince's weak point, to live.
"And..."
When Lucian had not finished speaking yet, Isis looked at him with puzzled eyes.
Lucian looked nervously at his lips and then swallowed his saliva.
"You are not the person I want to meet."
"Yes?"
"Dragon."
Isis' pupils got a little smaller.
"What I need is not you, but a dragon protecting your family."
"A dragon... I didn't know that the Prince still had childhood innocence. Aren't dragons fantasy creatures?"
"It doesn't matter if you act like a fool. Because I already know everything. Isn't the first Northern Duke a white dragon? After that, he made his human servants into Dukes, and he continues to exert great influence over the Odrian Empire."
As detailed explanations, rather than vague guesses, followed, Isis lost his expression.
Hook-!
Then, in the blink of an eye, Isis disappeared from sight and a sharp blade touched Lucian's neck.
“Hoo?”
However, Lucian caught the blade threatening his neck just in the nick of time.
"I was planning on beheading you, but you stopped me from doing that?"
"Haha... Are you not even thinking about negotiating? If I die, it won't be much of a problem!"
Lucian screamed at the thought that he might die. But Isis only snorted at his threats.
"It's cheaper than revealing our family's secrets. Where on earth did you hear that? You will have to answer correctly."
"I have nothing to talk to you about."
"Ha, can't you understand the situation now? What answer you give will determine whether or not your neck will be stuck?"
"So the person I want to talk to is not you! Dragon! I want to talk to him!"
Lucian looked across at the servant standing behind the seat where Isis sat and spoke.
The servant's eyes, which had been covered with a smile, were revealed, and his icy blue eyes were revealed, incomparable to Isis's.
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