Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 230

Episode 230

Meanwhile, the Demon Sword, which had been stubbornly digging in, disappeared into the Duke’s body. It was said that a Demon Sword absorbed in this way would completely dissolve inside, leaving only death energy. Because of this, the curse would mistakenly believe that the host had died, cease all activity, and then seep into the death energy to assimilate, leaving no trace. In other words, the only way to be freed from the curse was through death. It was a truly vicious method, I realized once again.

Soon, the blue light illuminating the magic circle rapidly spread throughout his body. The Duke trembled as if he were having a seizure. I had to struggle to hold him still as he thrashed about.

Just when I was starting to worry about how long this would continue, a strange phenomenon suddenly occurred in his wide-open eyes. The whites of his eyes began to turn black. No, rather than discoloration, it was as if they were absorbing ink. In fact, an unidentified black liquid was filling his eyes. It not only completely covered the Duke’s eyes in black but also flowed down the sides.

“Cough, cough!”

The Duke gasped for breath, blinking rapidly. Each time, the black liquid filling his eyes drained away, revealing and then concealing his original pupils.

“The curse is coming out,” Sibelius explained to Isana and me, who were fidgeting. The Demon Sword had merely stopped and absorbed the curse’s activity; it was the purification spell that expelled it. The phenomenon occurring in the Duke now meant that the curse was being purified smoothly.

“Hah, hah! Hah!”

It was a little later that his urgent breathing, as if he were about to pass out, calmed down. By then, most of the liquid had drained away, and his eyes were almost clear. The blue light of the magic circle covering his entire body gradually faded as well.

Soon, as the light completely disappeared, the magic circle placed on the Duke’s abdomen turned to ashes and scattered. The purification was complete. The Duke seemed very exhausted, but there didn’t seem to be any other problems. His pulse and complexion were normal, and the part where the Demon Sword had been embedded was unscathed.

“Brother, are you okay?”

Isana, unable to bear his anxiety, approached when there was no movement from the Duke even after he had calmed down. The Duke was soaked in a cold sweat, only panting roughly. Flustered, Isana released the cloth that had been blocking his mouth. The Duke, who had been limp and motionless, rolled his eyes weakly. It seemed that he was reacting reflexively to the touch, rather than consciously recognizing the situation. But the next moment, his face briefly stiffened as he took Isana in his eyes.

“…Your Majesty?”

“…!”

Isana, who had been examining the Duke with a worried expression, widened his eyes. But the Duke himself seemed even more surprised by the words he had uttered. He wore an incomprehensible expression for a moment, then stared intently at Isana as if trying to confirm again. The longer he scrutinized, the wider the Duke’s eyes grew. His face was filled with undisguised agitation.

“Your, Your Majesty? Is the person before my eyes truly Your Majesty? I’m not seeing things, am I?”

“Do you recognize me, Brother?”

As Isana’s face brightened, the Duke wore an even more confused expression. Countless emotions—joy and shock, denial and acceptance—rapidly crossed his face.

“…That can’t be. What on earth is…”

Thinking that he would be fine by now, I released the restraints that had been holding him down. As soon as he was free, the Duke hurriedly got up and looked around. It was a place he had been staying in since before we came, yet he looked around as if exploring a place he had never seen before. It seemed that he had realized what he had been doing.

“Good heavens…”

He muttered to himself, stunned for a long time.

“What, what happened to me?”

“Do you understand the situation?”

When Isana asked cautiously, the Duke nodded hesitantly.

“My head is still a mess, but I remember most of it. Until just now, I didn’t recognize Your Majesty even when I had you right in front of me. Even while looking at your face, I thought you were someone else. It seems someone cast a spell on me, but I wonder if my guess is correct.”

As befitting a person who ruled a duchy, he was quick to grasp the situation. Isana didn’t say anything, but the Duke closed his eyes as if he had already heard the answer.

“I see. Not long ago, I drove away vassals [loyal subjects] who came to see me. I didn’t recognize some of them either. I thought they were talking nonsense… but it wasn’t them; it was me who was strange.”

“It’s not your fault, Brother.”

“No, that’s not true. It’s because I’m incompetent that I fell for such an absurd trick. Your Majesty, I don’t know how to be forgiven for this sin. What on earth have I done…?”

The Duke, who had been apologizing in a miserable tone, suddenly stopped speaking at that moment. He covered his mouth with a shocked expression.

“Brother?”

“Your, Your Majesty. What should I do? E, Eril! Eril, that child came to see me. I didn’t recognize her and drove her away. Good heavens! I…”

His whole body began to tremble. He realized the truth he had overlooked in his past memories and was greatly shocked.

“It’s already been quite a while since that happened. It’s as if I killed her. Ah, no! Your Majesty, I killed Eril! My one and only sister! That kind and innocent child! I…!”

“Brother, calm down. Eril is safe.”

Isana hurriedly calmed the Duke, who was uncontrollably agitated. The Duke, who had been wailing painfully as if spitting out blood, froze with wide eyes at his words.

“Yes? She’s, she’s safe?”

“I met her here. She endured the crisis well by improvising. She’s in a safe place now, so don’t worry.”

At those words, the Duke gaped blankly. Tears were already streaming down his eyes, which had been red with blood vessels.

“Your Majesty…!”

However, he could not fully enjoy his emotions. It was because another voice suddenly interjected.

“Um, sorry to interrupt your serious conversation, but there’s something we need to take care of first.”

“…?”

The person who forcibly changed the subject by barging in was Sibelius. When we turned around with puzzled faces, he smiled awkwardly.

“It’s been 10 minutes.”

Kukwang!

At that moment, a loud noise rang out from the tightly closed door, and soldiers rushed in. The spell he had cast had been broken, and they had smashed the door from the outside.

“Duke! Are you safe!”

“They are the intruders! Capture them!”

The soldiers who rushed in like a wave quickly took control of the surroundings. Duke Cael was staring at them with a bewildered expression, then rubbed his forehead.

“…I see. It seems there are indeed many things to resolve.”

The expression of an ordinary brother worrying about his sister disappeared, and the solemn face of a duke was superimposed. When he raised one hand, the soldiers who were about to rush in stopped moving. After staring at them hesitantly with a stern gaze, the Duke bowed politely to Isana.

“I will fully atone for today’s rudeness later. Please blame me for the faults of my soldiers.”

“Their courage to protect their master deserves praise. I have no intention of blaming them.”

“Thank you for your generosity.”

“D, Duke?”

The soldiers, who did not understand the conversation, blinked with bewildered faces. Duke Cael looked at them with a complicated gaze and then sighed.

“What are you doing? This is His Majesty the Emperor. Put down your weapons and kneel.”

He commanded, and the soldiers who had been standing blankly belatedly wore shocked expressions. The situation was so unexpected that it seemed to take them some time to understand and judge the Duke’s order. After all, no one would have imagined that the Emperor, who had disappeared from the Imperial Palace and whose whereabouts were unknown, would appear in this way. Soon, the weapons they were holding fell to the floor all at once. The soldiers prostrated themselves with pale faces.

“We, we greet His Majesty the Emperor!”

A thunderous shout echoed through the mansion as if to shake it. Duke Cael also knelt on one knee towards his Emperor. Isana, standing dignifiedly in the middle, looked so great and powerful that he made one forget his true age.

It was a process of regaining what had been lost and restoring what had been scattered. The first button was being fastened smoothly.

* * *

The first thing Duke Cael did after regaining his senses was to ferret out the mole of the Demon God’s Church within his mansion. When he learned that he had been cursed, he suspected those closest to him first. To curse him, a Sword Master, one would have to be in constant contact with him for a considerable amount of time. He judged that the only people who could be with him all the time and induce his carelessness were those who knew his usual habits and schedule.

That expectation was correct, and it was soon revealed that the identity of the mole was the butler. Thinking about it, it wasn’t that surprising. Except for blood relatives, the butler who managed the mansion was the only one who could have the most intimate access to the Duke. Moreover, there were many suspicious points in the process of April being driven out. There must have been more than one or two people among the staff who recognized her face, but they all stood by and watched when the Duke kicked her out. It meant that someone had ordered them not to interfere. The only one who could do that was the butler.

In fact, he seemed to have been strictly controlling the staff to prevent what was happening inside the mansion from leaking out. He had been managing the employees in an overbearing manner, unconditionally following the orders of the higher-ups, and firing anyone who considered it unfair. As a result, everyone had become accustomed to silently obeying his every word, and this was also the case when the princess was expelled. ‘The expelled woman is a spy disguised as a princess. Do not interfere with what the Duke has decided.’ He had told the soldiers that. That statement, coupled with the Duke’s resolute attitude, made them believe it was true.

The only unfortunate thing was that it was closer to the side where he revealed his identity on his own, rather than directly catching the butler and receiving all this confession. That’s because he slipped away and fled at the very moment the Duke’s curse was lifted.

The runaway butler was originally from another region, not from this area. He was said to have been brought in in a hurry because the existing butler suddenly fell ill without a suitable successor. That was already five years ago. The fact that he was a foreigner was unsettling, but he was good at his job and many people recommended him, so they didn’t suspect him. Until then, it was the time when the late Emperor was still alive, so they wouldn’t have even considered the possibility of this happening.

The enraged Duke investigated him to track him down, but he couldn’t find anything. His place of origin, his age, even his name. Everything that made him up was unclear. Even the people who had recommended him to the Duke did not properly know his identity. The bewildered expressions on the faces of the Duke’s family members when they learned all the facts are still unforgettable. In the end, they had been played from beginning to end.

“I am truly sorry.”

Even while grinding his teeth in anger, Duke Cael apologized to his Emperor first. The Duke’s vassals [loyal subjects] and the Emperor’s imperial guards who were with him also had bad expressions. Isana quietly shook his head.

“How can you stop something that was planned from the beginning? It was just unavoidable.”

“If I had been a little more careful, things wouldn’t have gotten this big. I was too complacent, trusting only in my position and abilities. Because of the incompetence of this unworthy subject, Your Majesty has suffered so much, so I have nothing to say. Eril, I’m really ashamed of you too.”

“No, Brother. I’m just really happy that you’re healed. Don’t think like that.”

April, who was standing next to the Duke, grabbed her brother’s hand with teary eyes. As soon as the affairs of the mansion were settled, she returned with the Duke’s vassals. She also changed the appearance she had magically transformed into to avoid being discovered and returned to her original beautiful aristocratic lady. The Duke looked at his sister, who was comforting him, with affectionate eyes.

“Never again will I allow anyone to harm you.”

When he faced his sister for the first time in years, Duke Cael hugged her tightly and swore that. His face, overwhelmed with emotion yet unable to swallow his resentment, was contorted.

That was the same even afterwards. The look in his eyes as he looked at his sister was extremely warm, but he couldn’t erase the shadow on his face. His only sister was in danger of dying because of him, and the Emperor he served had gone to a distant land to obtain a Demon Sword to undo the curse, so he couldn’t have been comfortable. Just looking at his blazing eyes, one could clearly feel that he was tattered like rags. Nevertheless, it was amazing that he maintained a composed and dignified attitude without getting agitated.

“He’s really an amazing person the more I get to know him, Uncle. To think he had been preparing all these things since 5 years ago. No, maybe even before that.”

A sigh was mixed in with Isana’s muttering voice. From the forged seal of the priest to the fake oracle, and even Duke Clamor. Every time the pawns that he had laid down since who knows when were revealed, I began to rethink the man called the Grand Duke. At first, I thought he was just an ambitious man who seized opportunities well, but the more I learned, the more I wondered if we were flowing according to the framework he had set up. Even the Duke, who did not yet know the deeper truth, was fully aware of the seriousness of the situation.