Children of the Holy Emperor
Children of the Holy Emperor - Chapter 4: Pearl Palace (1)

The body, which began to show signs of recovery once, quickly improved. The food was also changed from porridge to regular food, and the range of behavior began to increase.

In the meantime, Seongjin spent time doing various exercises in his room in his spare time.

He wanted to run outside right away and do high-intensity aerobic exercise, but he decided that it was impossible with his physical strength, which fell to the floor while lying down due to illness.

‘In addition, if I move too hard right now, it seems like my joints will fly……’

Look at the trembling knees just by doing national gymnastics once.

Standing exercise is also burdensome, but if he run with this heavy weight, the cartilage won’t just wear out.

Is there no swimming pool anywhere? He wanted to train with the feeling of rehab.

As he was clumsily struggling with his arms and legs, leaning part of his weight on the bed so as not to strain his body as much as possible, the demon king comforted him and spoke nonsense.

[Well, it’s better than the first time though, right? It seems that the outline of the face is revealed a little.]

When he looked in the mirror, a huge blond boy approaches him with a sullen expression.

He had grayish blonde hair, and his slightly fierce eyes reminded him very much of Queen Lizabeth.

Although he is overweight, he seems to have grown quite well for a 15-year-old, but since he is not familiar with the average height of the people here, it is only a guess.

‘I don’t know of any change. Isn’t it just a little swelling?’

[Shouldn’t we inspire motivation with a positive mind first? Maybe not? If you keep working hard, will you become a handsome man from a pig? Now, fighting!]

I want to just destroy him. Seongjin shook his head and started his bare-handed exercises again.

* * *

The detached palace where Seongjin is currently staying is a pretty ivory building called ‘Pearl Palace’.

From the outside, it was just a subtle and neat shape, but if you look around, it was a beautiful villa filled with luxurious and colorful decorations.

It is said that the First Queen built it specially for Morres, so it probably wasn’t a normal effort.

It is equipped with all facilities for the prince’s education and social activities, including small but luxurious bedrooms, a private study, a private gymnasium, a private greenhouse, and a private banquet hall. The gymnasium and the library were planned to be visited by Seongjin sooner or later.

However, as a result of observing for several days while building basic physical strength, Sungjin found out that this Pearl Palace is a place where things go a little strangely.

First, none of the humans who reside or visit the Pearl Palace have divine power.

It was a really strange thing. The entire imperial palace is filled with divine energy, but the source of that energy is not visible.

‘I’m sure the area is overflowing with divine power to the point that the Demon King can’t get out of this body without permission……’

However, in reality, Seongjin had never met anyone with divine power after entering this body.

Morres’ body is no exception. The current Holy King, Nathaniel himself, was an unprecedented holder of enormous divine power, but unfortunately, Morres, the son of the most ambitious First Queen, was not born with even a handful of divine power.

Well, it was a very fortunate thing for Seongjin and the Demon King. If Morres’ body had held even a little divine power, the Demon King would have disappeared as soon as he entered this body.

‘… What a waste. I could have sent it completely.’

[This bastard! Do you think you bastard will be fine alone? You are the evil spirit that entered the prince’s body at will! If you were to be discovered by the priest, wouldn’t you be exorcised right away?]

That might be a bit difficult.

Anyway, the Holy Empire Delcross has a strong theocratic system, and its influence extends to the entire continent. In other words, it means that it is a place where people with divine power gather from all over the continent.

However, there are only ordinary people without divine power in the Pearl Palace. Could this be a coincidence?

Not seeing that common healer, it was really strange considering that the precious prince had been brought back to life.

The demon king carefully guessed the reason.

[Maybe it’s because the original Mores doesn’t have divine power?]

‘What does that matter?’

[Think about his reputation. Even though he’s the son of the Holy Emperor, it is said that he has zero divine power. With that personality, he would have overlooked other people using divine power. I think he just went out of his way because of his inferiority complex?]

It’s plausible, but is that all?

[Hey, that’s why, let’s go here. Isn’t it good for us? Those with divine power are particularly sensitive to magic and evil spirits. How good is it without worrying about getting caught?]

Uh, wait a minute.

‘But isn’t Morres’s father doing well? How can the priests avoid their father if they are stuck in a separate palace? In the same palace?’

[… Is the final boss your father?]

Seongjin sighed as he felt the demon king tremble.

I don’t know either. Be it what it is.

Second, the servants of the Pearl Palace were somehow strange.

Pearl Palace is managed by a small number of servants. Excluding the minimum number of guards, the number of people residing in the palace compared to the size of the palace was few and far between.

One dedicated lady-in-waiting, two maids, a resident housekeeper, a chef, and a low-level administrative official.

Even Queen Lizabeth, who occasionally visits Seongjin, is accompanied by attendants, escort knights, and nearly 20 people.

Moreover, even these very few servants were unusual.

First of all, as an example, there would be Edith, the one and only lady-in-waiting.

She was a young lady with short bobbed hair and a graceful face, and she walked around the palace with a blunt expression unsuitable for an imperial court lady.

Every time she go to Seongjin’s room alone, he thought at first that she had a lot of trouble at a young age in a poor working environment.

Even though it is a town without labor laws, shouldn’t there be a minimum number of shift workers?

But this woman was no ordinary person.

Even if Seongjin makes a small gesture, she flies into the room, or she picks up and carries an enormous amount of food by herself.

What a surprise she was when she lifted Mores’ huge body with her slender arms, saying that she would change the sweaty sheets while he was lying down. She initially suspected it was an assassin posing as her handmaid.

Hunter’s intuition, forged by decades of battles with demons, said:

Maybe this woman is on par with quite a few knights.

He thought people here were just like that, but that wasn’t the case. Even just looking at the First Queen, she is just a weak lady who grew up finely, and the same goes for her ladies-in-waiting who follow her when she goes on a journey. Although they were skilled housekeepers, they were all just women with extremely normal bodies.

Why is it that only Morres’ dedicated handmaid is so special?

“Edith, how is Edith so strong?”

Well, if you’re curious, you can ask yourself.

Edith, who opened the curtains to ventilate the room, quickly bowed her head and answered Seongjin’s question.

“Yes, Your Highness. That’s because I’m an Aura user.”

Perhaps because the queen had such a strong influence, she maintained a relatively polite attitude even in front of the prince, who had a dirty reputation.

It can be said that it is a professional attitude that knows how to exclude emotions when working.

[She just said, ‘What is this Pig Prince doing to annoy people in the morning?’ in her thoughts.]

Of course, it was meaningless to the person next to the demon king who was talkative and liked to tell stories.

Seongjin, embarrassed for nothing, cleared his throat.

“Hmm, Aura user?”

“Yes, Your Highness. ‘Aura’ is said to be the power that is the basis of life that spreads evenly throughout the world. Those who consciously collect and use them on their bodies are called ‘Auro users’.”

In response to Seongjin’s basic question, perhaps thanks to the excuse that her memory was not perfect, Edith gave an explanation without any doubt.

“As long as you enter Aura Initiation and be recognized as a proper Aura user, you will be eligible to take the Imperial Palace Knights entrance exam.”

“Uh, you mean that, Edith too?”

“Yes, I also entered the imperial palace at first as a squire aspiring to join the Royal Guard.”

“Squire? So, an apprentice knight?”

Seongjin’s doubt deepened.

Why is a sane aspiring knight doing this in the Pearl Palace?

“That is……”

Edith glanced at Seongjin and cautiously continued.

“That… Your Highness, in the past, treated servants a little harshly……”

In short, as Morres’ depravity escalated, injuries and complaints from employees continued.

The First Queen tried hard to crack down on the mouth, but it was impossible to cover it up quietly as people were getting hurt every day.

And the news reached the Holy Emperor’s ears.

– Can’t control it? Then the prince should hire someone he can’t carelessly hurt.

On the way, the Holy Emperor arranged many servants of the Pearl Palace to other palaces, and recruited a few high-wage servants.

A high salary was offered to those who are relatively skilled in handling the internal auras, and those with skills higher than squire.

At first, people thought there would be no applicants. No matter how high the salary is, it is difficult to be a maid or servant to the innocent aspirants who have come to the capital with a swollen dream of becoming a decent imperial knight.

However, the Holy Emperor said without a sign of great concern.

– There must be at least one.

As expected, there were exceptions everywhere.

Edith, who decided to come without any connection at just the right time and stick around anywhere with just one skill as a user, entered the Royal Capital around that time.

“I took the entrance exam, but it’s a little difficult to roll from the ground in the Knights.”

“…….”

Thus, the strongest handmaiden was born, who could catch a dish thrown with quick wits, fly away easily when a weapon was wielded, and smear fish bones with a knife containing Aura.

The more he listened to her explanation, the more Seongjin became confused.

‘Where did this go wrong?’

[Well……]

It was expected of Morres, who was corrupt enough to the extent that a servant could only survive if they can master Aura, but he also thought that the Holy Emperor who came up with the idea of replacing everyone and hiring Aura users was not a sane person either.

Of course, the strangest person seems to be Edith, who was caught up in it and is acting as an exclusive maid.

“… But Your Highness.”

Suddenly, Edith looked up at Seongjin and tilted her head.

“Are you all right now?”

“What?”

“Before, if you heard even the slightest talk about the Aura, you would get very angry……”

“Angry?”

“You used to throw things all over the place.”

“……”

The more I got to know Morres, the more he was an asshole. Why throw things over nothing? Are you a kid?

Seongjin opened his mouth, but he had nothing else to say.

“… Sorry.”

Edith’s eyes widened at his answer. She looked a little surprised, probably not expecting to hear an apology.

Soon she smiled and shook her head.

“It’s okay, Your Highness. It was also quite fun to catch the flying dishes.”

“……”

Seongjin looked at Edith, who was quietly lowering her head, with a pitiful eye and said to the demon king.

‘She must be a little strange too.’

[I know.]

By the way, it means to come.

Sungjin thought deeply.

Seeing that Aura, Divine Power, and concepts that appear only in fantasy novels actually exist, Lee Seongjin realized once again that this is a different world.

Of course, Seongjin’s world where the demonic gate was open and the war with monsters was also fantasy-like, but at least at that time it was a clear and tangible battle of power.

At that time, hunters became physically stronger even by absorbing the spirit of monsters, and the occasionally born supernatural powers only exercised physical power through psychokinesis.

The same goes for demons. Occasionally, there were those who generated high heat with incendiary materials or those with corrosive poison, but it was only a small fraction, and most of them were just ignorantly smashing them with force.

So, until the demon king tried to burn the soul with ‘the Flames of Gehenna’, Seongjin could not even imagine that such invisible forces could exist.

[That’s because Sigurd District 34 was that much of a lower dimension. The fact that you are unfamiliar with such powers is proof that it was a low-level world where magic and divine power were not allowed.]

‘It’s kind of bad to say it’s low-level. Why are you skipping Gehenna? You said it’s the same sub-dimension.’

[Do you think that all flames are the same? Gehenna is a little different! At the critical moment when we are about to take a big leap, you guys get in the way……]

‘What?’

When Seongjin’s eyes became fierce, the demon king quickly turned around.

[Ahem. In any case, such low-level flame worlds usually have limited spiritual abilities or powers related to the mind. It seems that the concept itself is connected from the Main World, but there is no way to actually demonstrate its power.]

‘…….’

[So please don’t treat Pandemonium Gehena as the same level as a lesser dimension like Sigurd District 34. Because that place was on the verge of transforming into a Regular World.]

Seongjin blinked his eyes.

What is a Regular World?

[This bastard makes a blank face again. Wow, you ignorant Earthling. Dimension, huh? Big, huh? It is classified into the Main Phase, the Regular Phase, and the Flame Phase, huh? Don’t you know that?]

‘Why is this bastard fighting again? Whether you classify the dimension into three or four, is that an important issue in the current situation?’

When Seongjin gets angry, the demon king’s voice creeps in.

[It doesn’t matter… It may not seem like……]

‘Let’s get back to the point. So, how can I use Aura?’

If he didn’t know, Seong-jin felt a strong interest when he learned about the possibility of a new power.

Originally a successful hunter who used to fly around, he was about to die of frustration to be confined to such a dull body.

It seems that there are no monsters in this world, so if he can’t regain the power of a hunter, how about becoming an Aura user as the next best thing?

[I don’t know that either. Because our world is different from here. To explain it with your perception of the earth, there is a difference between hydroelectric power generation and thermal power generation, no, nuclear power generation. That the way the world works is completely different.]

There are things that even the Demon King, who pretended to be proud as if he didn’t know anything in this world, doesn’t know.

At his words, the demon king snorted.

[Hmph! What do you know about that? This body is the demon king and the ruler of one dimension. It’s strong enough even without that!]

The guy who got beaten up by Seongjin was the strongest.

‘Then, what about Morres in the past? Was he a user?’

He thinks it’s already wrong to say that divine power has to be innate, but if it’s Aura, maybe it can be acquired through learning?

He didn’t feel any special feeling that is presumed to be an Aura on this body, but it’s not a very rare ability because it’s a power that can handle not only escort knights but also even a handmaid skillfully.

However, Morres’ garbage power far exceeded Seongjin’s expectations. The demon king seemed to contact Edith’s soul for a moment and find out about this and that, and then he sighed.

[Hmm, it seems that the difference in achievement is extreme depending on talent. There are people who can’t even feel the Aura properly no matter how much they train, and there are talented people who use Aura as if they were breathing since they were young. It’s a pity, but Morres seems to have been the former.]

What did the First Queen believe in and think of making this guy the crown prince?

Seongjin sighed.

‘… Should I do some physical training for now?’

[Cheer up. Life is inherently unfair. For our existence, fighting!]

‘Shut up!’

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T/N:

I love that little remark about Nate. Seongjin is crazy, but the emperor himself is also unhinged in his own way. Like Father like son.