#023

As Kiyen had predicted, Cullen encountered the guards looking for him. Upon returning to the palace, there was a commotion. Duke Refellon had apparently thrown a fit, talking about the Crown Prince’s safety after disappearing overnight. The Duke looked at Cullen, who had returned, with a grave expression, asking what had happened.

He hadn’t expected anything, but that sheer audacity disgusted Cullen.

However, finding proof was the priority. After telling the Duke he had gone for a walk and fallen asleep outside, Cullen returned to the palace and immediately checked the tea he had drunk and the bunch of White Sage left in the room.

But the bunch of sage was gone. Even though he had confirmed one was left last night.

Next was the tea. Cullen ordered the attendant who had brought him tea the day before to gather all the tea leaves and tea sets. Since he lacked the ability to discern curses, he planned to ask Kiyen to identify all the White Lantern Tea in the palace.

After that, Cullen interrogated the attendants who had been in the palace last night. However, they only repeated that they were scared and knew nothing.

He restrained himself from cutting off ears and torturing them one by one. It was difficult to punish someone whose guilt was not certain. Not if they were the mastermind, at least.

So, Cullen met with Marquis Grove separately. The voice he had heard from across his chamber brought on a wave of nausea, but he suppressed it and began a probing conversation.

The suspected mastermind was Duke Refellon, but he needed proof. To Cullen, sitting stiffly in his chair, the Marquis testified. He seemed genuinely unaware of what had happened.

“A messenger came. He said something had happened to Your Highness and asked me to come immediately.”

Before he could even look, the messenger disappeared. Although suspicious, Jules said he had rushed over just in case.

The interrogation ended there. Cullen’s disappearance for over half a day, and the sheer volume of work he had to handle, meant he had spent nearly a full day on this.

Moreover, he couldn’t escalate the matter immediately.

Many people already found Cullen’s sudden actions strange. Cullen wanted to minimize the number of people who knew about this. While the suspicion pointed strongly to Duke Refellon, he had to leave open the possibility that it wasn’t him.

If so, he couldn’t let the situation escalate and become known. Especially since it had already happened, the other party would surely be cautious.

For now, all he could do was wait for things to calm down while Kiyen figured out exactly how Rodiak had worked.

“This power is something even I have never seen. It’s a power with a different context than magic. I don’t know how or through what means it can be used. However, the person who uses this power must pay a corresponding price.”

“Then what exactly were you trying to do to me?”

“I’m not sure… but if you took a human that day, you would have become bound to that human in some way. I still need to investigate further.”

Two days after that incident, Kiyen told him this when they met briefly for Cullen to deliver the White Lantern Tea. Cullen froze for a moment at the unexpected content.

“…Then what will happen to you and me?”

“I am not human, so I should be fine. You will have to wait and see.”

Should he consider that a small mercy?

Cullen stared blankly at Kiyen, who spoke of that night’s events so casually.

The rising anger was momentarily scattered by Kiyen’s words. Memories he had deliberately pushed far away filled Cullen’s mind, starting from those words.

Everything was confusing. Kiyen’s naked body and the sensations touching him kept coming back.

It was more problematic because they surfaced at unexpected times. The tongue that had licked his lips, the sensation of it probing his rear, drove Cullen mad. He didn’t miss the feeling of his opening tearing apart, but the heat of it lingered.

It was as if he had witnessed a special moment of a Dragon.

While he thought it was a meaningless act, Cullen recalled Kiyen saying he had a good view. The soft pink lips that had curved up so coyly flickered in his mind.

With the repeated hallucinations he had never experienced, Cullen was sure Kiyen had misunderstood the curse. Otherwise, why would he keep recalling it?

That’s why he thought of Kiyen. It must be. It was just releasing desire, so why attach meaning to it?

The coronation ceremony was just around the corner. The white cloths hung on every door were taken down, and preparations began to welcome the new Emperor.

The Imperial Palace was no different. They started eating forbidden foods again, and the attendants were busy.

The nobles who had left their territories after a sudden oracle were equally busy. The biggest concern was whom the Emperor would favor.

Apart from the Imperial Family passively leaving regional affairs to the nobles, the Emperor was the one with the greatest power. It was natural for those he empowered to grow. Just as the Lenon Dukedom had grown significantly after Emperor Belarus.

Duke Lenon, who held power at the time, gave half of the Duchy of Jenix to nobles in his faction nearby as crumbs. Count Linden was a prime example. He became a Count from a Viscount for his service in finding evidence of treason.

Count Hillash also took half of the Duchy of Jenix, but five years ago, he and his relatives died in a Demonic Beast attack. Thus, his territory was currently vacant. Naturally, attention turned to that land.

The Emperor had historically only accepted tributes and taxes from nobles, and could demand anything he desired. Since Emperor Belarus had suppressed treason with Dragons only 39 years ago, there was no one who would dare disobey the Emperor’s word.

Cullen was at the very center of it all.

The tailor’s hand brushed lightly against Cullen’s neck. Normally, it would have been nothing, but his body flinched involuntarily. A short groan escaped, and the tailor startled and lowered himself.

“Forgive me, Your Majesty.”

He came to his senses at the changed title. Now, most people openly called Cullen “Your Majesty.” Only Duke Lenon and his close associates still called him “Your Highness.” It was clear they wouldn’t acknowledge him until the end, but Cullen didn’t have the luxury to care about such things.

It would have been easier to worry about such matters.

“No, it’s fine.”

Cullen replied indifferently. His purple eyes beneath dark brows were expressionless. He touched his face with his fingertips, which showed no agitation, and then he looked at the mirror.

It was a face he had seen for a long time. A stern, expressionless face, with boring purple eyes. The only difference was that he was wearing an unfitting, grand outfit.

Yet, something had changed.

At that time, Cullen had no remaining marks on his body except for the bite marks on his ankle. Unlike him, who had left all sorts of red lines on Kiyen’s back.

Thanks to Kiyen’s medicine, the dull ache in his back and opening had now vanished. Even the fang marks on his ankle, the only remaining trace, had healed cleanly.

Only Cullen’s memory proved that they had been connected. As if it would cease to exist the moment he forgot.

Nevertheless, Cullen couldn’t easily shake off the night with Kiyen. Confused by this fact, Cullen deliberately avoided visiting Kiyen’s residence. He was busy with coronation preparations, but the biggest reason was the memories.

“It is finished.”

The tailor bowed, grateful for his leniency, and retreated. The words announcing the completion of the outfit were accompanied by the mirror being slid in front of him. It was a luxury only the Imperial Palace, with its glass, could afford.

Even thin bronze mirrors were rare for commoners, but the palace mirrors were as tall as a person and transparent. His reflection appeared within them.

“You look magnificent, Your Majesty.”

“You suit it perfectly, Your Majesty.”

The tailor and the attendants offered their congratulations. Cullen silently looked at himself in the mirror again. The collar filling his neck, the golden pin fixed to his shoulder and the long, flowing black cape, and inside that, the white uniform and clothes embroidered with gold thread. A sash bordered in navy blue.

Unlike when he traversed mountains and plains, his neatly swept-back, smooth hair and his face, free of blood, felt awkward. It was a mistake to think nothing had changed when he looked in the mirror earlier. In just one month, much had been transformed.

He had grown accustomed to comfort and taken in beautiful sights. His heart, once like a still mountain, now, like a turbulent sea, occasionally caused him trouble.

Was this change brought about by the Imperial Palace, or did it originate from Kiyen?

For a moment, he felt breathless. The changes rushed into his vision all at once, and the unfamiliarity made him feel nauseous.

What on earth am I doing? I should be out seeking revenge, but instead, I’m sitting here, perhaps being tamed?

The clues I’ve found so far have been pathetic. While some leads have emerged over the long years, Cullen still hasn’t found the motive or trace of the beast that targeted his mother. And on top of that, haven’t I myself fallen victim to strange schemes?

Feeling a pressure like his throat was being choked by a rope, he unbuttoned the tightly fastened collar. At his sudden action, the tailor asked,

“Does the collar not fit? I can adjust it for you.”

The instinctive fear born from the changes of the past month fueled him.

This wasn’t what he wanted. He didn’t want to feel this confusion and fear.

Before coming to the Imperial Palace, Cullen didn’t have to feel anything. He didn’t have complicated thoughts. Everything changed when he met Kiyen.

“It’s fine.”

Suppressing the urge to leave immediately, Cullen replied silently. It’s fine. It’s nothing. It’s just the echo of an experience he hadn’t gone through. If he could just get a proper hold of himself, he would return to how he was.

Cullen slowly re-fastened his collar. The tailor glanced at him for a moment, then ordered the attendants to bring out more clothes to fit other outfits. A fatigue greater than that of running day and night washed over him, and Cullen turned his head towards the window for a moment.

Just then, a red light bathed his forehead. All eyes turned to the window as the red light flowed into the room. Unlike when the Emperor had passed away, this light was spreading from afar, from the distant west.

The light shot up into the sky like an exploding star. Like a volcanic eruption, crimson masses scattered in all directions like dots. The attendants began to murmur. The tailor, with a frightened face, bowed his head to Cullen and whispered,

“Something seems to have happened, Your Highness.”

As if to affirm his words, the clouds soon turned an ominous color.