Children of the Holy Emperor
Children of the Holy Emperor - Chapter 10: The Red Battlefield (1)

-Please be my precious family, the one and only family I will love with all my soul.

When the foreign prince finally held her hand and whispered to her, the girl just nodded silently, unable to contain her throbbing heart.

This is the story of a girl who wanted to be part of someone’s family one day.

* * *

She was suddenly dragged out of the tower, tied up, and walked for a long time wearing an blindfold. Her thin shoes touches the cold, hard stone floor.

Amelia shivered lightly as she smelled the strange smell of metal through the cool morning air.

The voice of the people, no, the voice of the soldiers. Weapons that sometimes cause friction and the strange heat condensed like a dam before bursting.

Eventually, the black cloth covering her eyes came undone, and she found herself standing in the middle of the wall.

“Look, Amelia.”

She blinked.

As soon as her eyes, which had been covered for a long time, got used to the light, she saw longbowmen and foot soldiers tightly packed on the walls.

Inside the gates, Rohan’s lancers were ready to rush out at any moment, and on both sides of the castle, thousands of infantry units lined up in long lines, waiting for the battle to begin, soaked in quiet excitement.

And the allied army camped like a swarm of ants on the plain beyond the wall. Even the flag of the Holy Empire, Delcross, that shines the brightest among the allied flags.

After taking in all the sights, Amelia turned her head to the side and met the man holding her blindfold.

King Leonard of Rohan.

At one time, she had no doubt that he would become the most loving family in the world, but in the end, he deceived and betrayed her and pushed her life into a pit. He was the culprit who framed her for her guilt and imprisoned her in a cold tower for years.

Leonard looked into Amelia’s terribly dry eyes and raised one corner of his mouth.

“That’s right, is it unfair? do you resent me? But all this is the retribution that a sinful daughter of the empire deserves. Aren’t you the main culprit of this Holy War?”

Amelia showed no reaction. It was because she knew that everything he said was actually a lie, just because he knew it was a good fit.

Who was the real culprit of this war, neither the speaker nor the listener knew who it was.

A strong wind blew over the castle walls, blowing her rosy hair, which had been cut short.

Leonard gazed at the scene for a moment, as if bewitched, then raised his hand and gently touched its end.

“Romaine’s plan was not even half successful. Your goddamn father did a good job capturing the raccoons in that kingdom.”

He tousled her hair, brushed her rough cheeks, and finally grabbed her slender neck.

“So you have to pay the price instead. Now I will cut your throat and make it the beginning of this war.”

Amelia closed her eyes as she felt the strength in the hand gripping her neck. She had no more regrets in her life, which was full of pain.

She just hoped that at least the allied forces will thwart this cruel man’s ambitions, and that they will completely crush what he desires so that he cannot get his hands on anything. At that moment, that was all she wanted.

It was then that disturbances broke out on the front.

The allied camp, far away, began to stir, and soon after, a black shadow jumped out of the camp like an arrow.

Only one cavalry. It was a sudden rush made without any sign of openness.

Leonard hesitantly grabbed her by the neck and narrowed his eyes as he surveyed the allied camp. As the uproar grew, it seemed to be an accidental action that was not planned even on the enemy side.

After a while, a group of cavalry corps rushed out from the allied camp. It seemed that they were hurriedly chasing after the knight in the lead.

“That person……”

As the figure of the knight in the lead got closer and closer, the rumblings intensified even in Rohan’s camp.

The knight’s black armor and main huge stance on the back. And even the several spears worn on the sides.

A famous man who until recently had notoriety on the frontlines is charging towards the walls single-handedly!

“… The Black Demon!”

“It’s The Black Demon of Delcross!”

“It’s the Crown Prince! The Crown Prince of Delcross!”

Woosh-

The knight in black armor pulled out a single spear. As the spear was enveloped in an ominous dark red aura, the entire castle wall began to shake.

Was he crazy? He hasn’t even come within range of the arrows yet, and he’s going to throw a spear there?

“Shoot, shoot! What are the archers doing! Go ahead and shoot him!”

Bewildered, Leonard’s order fell.

Swish-

The arrows soared into the air, covering the sky black, and after a while, they slammed to the ground with terrifying acceleration.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa. However, the range was also a bit short. The knight ran past the field of arrows with the same posture as aiming the spear.

“Damn it……!”

While the archers quickly reloaded their arrows, the prince narrowed the distance by another 50 meters and finally threw the spear he was aiming.

Crash!

Scattering auras, the spear flew with terrifying momentum and pierced the ground right in front of the castle gate. It couldn’t reach the wall by a hair’s breadth, but the faces of the soldiers who looked at the deeply dented ground became pale.

“Is, is he even human?”

“Ready to launch! Ready to launch!”

Hundreds of arrows soared into the air all at once again. The prince pulled out the sword from his back, created a wide sword shield with his aura, and deflected most of the arrows. However, it was not enough to block all the massive amount of arrows that were intensively sprayed.

Neigh! With the sound of a horse screaming, he fell off his horse and rolled across the floor. They wondered if he would roll around and get up like that.

Crash!

The spear that flew in again landed firmly in the center of the wall this time.

“This crazy……!”

With a couple of arrows stuck in his armor, the black knight started running toward the wall again.

The horse’s speed was incomparable, but the relentless appearance of running towards the castle wall with dark red aura burning all over the body was terrifying. Waiting for the reload, the knight commander’s neck was shaking with tension.

Amelia watched the whole scene, standing on the castle wall, held in Leonard’s grip. Her eyes, which had become numb to the point of insensitivity, trembled slightly as they showed emotional agitation for the first time.

She gave up her own life, but someone else has yet to give up. And he is running without hesitation to the place where he is sure to become a limb.

Swish-

The rain of arrows poured down mercilessly toward the prince once again. But this time, he wasn’t the only one to face it. It was because the group of knights who ran after the prince who had left the camp without permission caught up with him and raised their shields all at once while the attack was concentrated on the prince.

Thwack thwack thwack. The shield made by intertwining shields quickly became a honeycomb.

“Hey! You crazy bastard!”

It was the sound of an unknown knight who had thrown a ruined shield and screamed at His Highness the Crown Prince.

Leonard bit his lip nervously.

“… Can he reach here? Can he really reach here?”

The knights formed a formation in a circle with the prince in the middle, and began to advance little by little in that state.

Arrows began to rain indiscriminately after entering the direct range, but the party managed to narrow the distance from the wall by alternately opening sword screens, probably all of them were considerable Aura users.

The crown prince was deflecting arrows with his bare face exposed, having lost his helmet while rolling on the floor.

Fierce looking eyes and a slightly sharper jawline with age. It was a familiar yet unfamiliar face to Amelia. In the meantime, he was grazed by an arrow, and half of his pale blonde hair is soaked in his blood.

“… Morres.”

She thought they weren’t close to each other since they were young. But why is that child trying so desperately to reach her like that right now, was what she was thinking.

At the same time, the gray eyes of the two people who resemble each other meet.

A moment. Morres’ eyes widened.

Thump-

A sharp pain radiated to the right chest.

“……!”

Amelia looked down at the dagger lodged in her chest. The bloodstains spreading red on the shabby dress are unrealistic like blooming flower petals.

Following the hand holding the dagger, she slowly turned her head and looked at Leonard’s face. He had the most desperate look in his eyes, but at the same time, his mouth was leaking a fishy smile.

“If you are so precious to them, what can I do? I have no choice but to return you. Only……”

“……”

“… I will never hand you over unharmed.”

Thud.

Relying on Leonard’s grip, she was barely standing at the end of the wall, and was easily pushed out of the wall with just a slight push.

“Amelia!”

She fell helplessly to the ground as she heard Morres screaming her name in the distance.

What she saw beyond the overturned vision is a calm blue sky like a lie. She thought she could see a bird disappearing through the clouds, but then she lost consciousness.

The sound of someone shouting, screaming, and clashing weapons. The sound of flesh being split.

“… Amelia, Amelia! Sister! Wake up!”

And Amelia’s eyes opened as he continued to call her.

Cough! At the same time as she let out a cough, her chest hurts like it’s burning. She rolled her eyes and looked around.

In the middle of a battlefield where forces from both sides collide. Morres sat down next to the lying Amelia, his gauntlet removed and his hand pressed against her chest where the dagger was stuck.

“Mo……!”

I wanted to call his name, but no sound came out. The dagger hurt her lungs, and every time she tried to breathe, she heard a whistling sound, and blood leaked out of her mouth.

“Shh… Don’t talk, stay still, sister. The wound is open. I think I caught you well when you fell, but the place you were stabbed wasn’t so good……”

Morres said as if to soothe Amelia, who kept struggling.

“Still, Father will come in a little while. These wounds are nothing to that man, so don’t worry. Sister knows that, don’t you?”

The younger brother’s face also turned pale with tension. He continued to talk to her as if he wanted to reassure Amelia as well as reassure himself.

“Hold on for a moment. Amelia. If you endure a little longer, everything will be fine when Father arrives……”

Aah, His Majesty the Holy Emperor. Father.

Thinking of him, Amelia’s dry eyes began to shed tears for the first time in years.

After objecting to marriage with Leonard until the end, and eventually disowning and leaving the house, she never sent a message to her father. Even if he comes now and sees her again, what will he say to Amelia.

Morres, who had managed to sense her guilt, spoke in a low voice.

“Amelia. That guy always thinks of and worries about sister. He wasn’t mad at sister in the least, so when you see his face later, just pretend not to know and smile. Understand?”

“……”

“He was so disheartened with the loss of Logan not too long ago, it was kind of scary. I don’t know what that guy will do if something even goes wrong with sister. That guy needs sister.

Amelia’s eyes widened and she looked up at his face. He hadn’t laid his eyes on Amelia the moment before. Unfocused gray eyes stare blankly into space.

Come to think of it, she thought it was because of nervousness, but why is his face so pale?

“… And at this point, I’d like to apologize a bit. I’m sorry that I recklessly talked to you and bullied you when we were young. I was all wrong……”

Amelia, who was examining Morres closely, was startled. She didn’t notice because they were facing each other, but it was because his armor behind him was already filled with dozens of arrows.

Most of what wet his hand, which was pressing Amelia’s chest, was his own blood.

Amelia realized he must have rushed into the rain of arrows to catch her as she fell off the castle wall. Even though she fell from such a high place, why did she not have any other wounds, and why did not even one of the arrows grazed her?

In that fleeting moment, Morres poured out all his strength for Amelia.

And only then, she could hear the shouts of the knights surrounding them.

“Hold on a little longer, Your Highness!”

“Anyway, they pop out all the time, don’t they? Huh? Crown Prince, see you when you get out of here!”

“His Majesty is coming soon! Your Highness! Don’t let your mind wander!”

Amelia sobbed helplessly, feeling Morres’s breathing slowly fading away.

Aah. It’s because of me.

Since I came to Rohan on my own, Father had to carry out unfavorable diplomacy continuously, and my younger brother, the Crown Prince, had to run into an unpredictable death.

And despite all their sacrifices, she eventually dies as their burden to the end.

It was then that the sky suddenly began to turn red.

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T/N:

This chapter was so sad I literally cried when I first read it. Even while editing this I was tearing up a bit T_T I’m happy we get to see a glimpse of the future though, even if it’s doomed.