Children of the Holy Emperor

Seongjin was squatting down, staring into the campfire.

Crackle. Crackle.

From the foggy view and the strangely pale landscapes, even the red flames seemed to have their heat diminished. It was like watching scenes from an old film.

This must be a dream, Seongjin thought blankly.

-“What are you grilling now, hyungnim (brother)?”

He asked someone in a small child’s voice. Then, a kind man’s voice answered.

-“Freshwater crayfish.”

-“Freshwater crayfish?”

-“Yes. I was dragged into the mountains for survival training a while ago and starved for several days. I’m grilling these because I remembered the taste of the crayfish I ate then.”

-“Hmmm.”

Seongjin, no, the child, then poked at the small crustaceans wriggling above the campfire with a stick in his hand, seemingly curious.

-“Where did you get these from?”

-“I asked the gardener to get some in exchange for money. It feels like I’ve been ripped off.”

Haha.

A bashful laugh followed.

Seongjin couldn’t see the man’s face, but he thought the voice sounded strangely familiar.

And then, the two waited silently for the crayfish to cook.

Crackle. Crackle.

The savory smell was probably spreading all around. Seongjin couldn’t smell anything, but he knew that the child in the dream was looking forward to tasting the crayfish.

Is this really a dream, or just someone else’s memory?

The child patiently waited for the man to peel a crayfish for him, and finally, he was able to take a bite.

Hmm, how should I put it? It’s more bland and mushy than I expected.

Seongjin couldn’t taste it, but he could vividly feel the disappointment the child felt.

The child spoke a bit sulkily.

-“Hmm… Brother, this doesn’t seem to taste good.”

The man, who was also chewing on crayfish meat next to the child, laughed and scratched his head. A glint of bright golden hair seemed to show.

-“Yes. Actually, I just thought the same thing.”

Chirp, chirp, chirp.

The birds of the Pearl Palace were chirping, flying in at the same time as always. Seongjin opened his eyes and blankly stared at the canopy above him.

‘It’s been a long time since I’ve had a dream…….’

Seongjin usually didn’t dream often. In his previous world, he was too busy fighting monsters in his sleep, and even after his soul inhabited Morres’s body, he hadn’t dreamt until now.

Moreover, the dream felt more like glimpsing into past memories than a simple dream, making him feel strange. He vaguely realized that the dream was of Morres’s childhood.

[Why? What did you dream about?]

The demon king’s soul asked in a clueless voice. It felt like he was stretching after a nap.

[Why? You didn’t think souls need sleep?]

Is that so?

While Seongjin was surprised, the demon king grumbled.

[No, what do you want me to do then? I can’t stay away from you, and I don’t have anyone to talk to while you’re sleeping. What else can I do but sleep?]

‘Well… but…’

Isn’t sleep for the brain to recover?

[Souls also need time to recover from fatigue!]

That seems plausible.

Anyway, Seongjin explained everything to the demon king. He had a hunch that the scene from his dream actually happened inside the palace, and he felt as though the child’s perspective in the dream was that of Morres.

[Hmm.]

The demon king affirmed the possibility.

[You already know this place’s language, which we assumed was because we’re using Morres’s brain. Then, there’s no reason why you couldn’t recall the memories of Morres stored in that brain.]

‘So, it’s like that?’

[If it’s only this one time, I wouldn’t worry, but if this continues, you might end up recalling all of Morres’s memories.]

That didn’t sound too favorable. Isn’t it better to recall more memories?

But the demon king was considering a more serious assumption.

[Don’t underestimate memory. Remember the time when you once mistook the language of Delcross for that of Sigurd-34 planet?]

That’s right. To be honest, it still feels like Korean unless I consciously think otherwise.

[So, wouldn’t it be the same with memory? At first, you might feel you can distinguish yourself apart from Morres. But if you continue to mistake his feelings for yours, his knowledge for yours, wouldn’t there eventually be times when you overlap yourself with Morres?]

That seems plausible.

Lately, the demon king’s eloquence seemed to be improving.

[Do you get it? To preserve your identity as [Lee Seongjin], you might need to come up with some special measures.]

Seongjin nodded seriously.

‘Hmm, for now….’

[For now?]

“I need to train.”

Training is the best for headache-inducing matters.

[Wow, what a simpleton.]

The demon king stuck out his tongue in disdain.

Having quickly consumed his breakfast, Seongjin rushed to the training ground, beginning his meditation with great focus. His aura energy was noticeably increasing. He felt satisfied, thinking he might soon attempt the fifth level of aura.

And from Sir Masain, he finally learned how to weave Banahas 2nd Form.

“So, this is the Nutcracker…”

During lunchtime, Amelia, who had come to visit the Pearl Palace, curiously inspected the sword. She had come holding a new fairy tale book to lend to Seongjin.

Having been scolded severely by the Holy Emperor for not studying during his near-death experience, Seongjin passionately read the new book aloud.

“Listen. The representative… of God. The weak Dr, agon said…”

“Listen. The representative of God. The wicked dragon said.”

“If my request… is rejected… soon, the spark of, disaster, will spread… in this land?”

“If my request is rejected, the spark of calamity will soon spread across this land.”

Amelia, who had read the book to the point of memorizing it during her childhood, corrected Seongjin’s reading without even looking at the book.

The book she brought was a famous fairy tale that reportedly contained the tales of the first emperor. The story was about the representative of God who overcame the temptations of a wicked dragon and eventually established an empire called Delcross, bringing peace and prosperity to the continent.

Indeed, dragons appear in fairy tales. But when he asked Amelia if she had ever seen a dragon, she looked at Seongjin with the kind of smile a mother might give when asked about Santa by a child.

Ugh, it seems that in this world, dragons are merely creatures of legend.

And if you were to pinpoint the most malicious aspect of the dragon, the antagonist in this story, it would undeniably be the way it speaks. 

Why is it using such an overly pompous and archaic tone? It’s hard to read.

Having recently read books where cats meowed and dogs barked, the vocabulary difficulty suddenly increased too much. At this rate, he wondered when he would be able to read books on theology or philosophy.

As he was browsing through the poorly illustrated book with a deep sigh, Amelia was mumbling something incoherent while inspecting the nutcracker.

“I distinctly remember that in the past, Father, His Majesty, having this until the very end, but what changed that this ended up with you?”

What’s she talking about?

“Well, unexpected occurrences might be a good sign. It must be!”

Amelia seemed to have convinced herself of something and nodded.

Right, this sister is living somewhere in fourth dimension. Sometimes I can’t even keep with her conversation.

Amelia looked pleased as she examined and swung the Nutcracker from different angles.

She always talks about the satisfaction of revenge, but watching her like this, I’m wondering if she actually enjoys learning martial arts.

Just as Seongjin had predicted a while ago, she had been making significant progress in accumulating aura lately. Even as a beginner in aura initiation, he could sense that the aura around Amelia was becoming more active.

She had her struggles, especially with the initial stages of aura cultivation, as she had started just a few days ago and the introductory initiation method was that notorious Weiloz.

Wondering if there was a way to help, a brilliant idea occurred to Seongjin.

“Sister, the royal audience is soon, right?”

Considering that the Holy Emperor had returned from seclusion and was frantically dealing with official tasks, there probably wouldn’t be any delays in the royal audience. Amelia nodded.

“Yes, why?”

“How about asking Father for help? It’s amazing how that nobleman handles Aura.”

Seongjin shared a story he’d heard from Masain with Amelia.

The impressive tale of how, for the sake of a nephew who struggled with aura, he had personally infused his own body with aura daily.

If it’s Holy Emperor, perhaps he could easily do something similar? After all, he’s the person who even blocked the otherworldly passage with aura.

Amelia admired and nodded her head.

“I didn’t know that about Masain orabeoni (brother). Given how young he became the commander of the knights, I thought he was just a prodigy.”

Orabeoni (brother)?

Seongjin tilted his head at the somewhat unusual term.

“..so Imperial Father is capable of such things. Amazing. I should ask him to teach me like he taught orabeoni (brother).”

Filled with ambition, Amelia’s eyes began to sparkle like stars.

Hmm? I feel like this conversation is going off track.

“So, why don’t you start by asking if that’s possible? I am thinking of asking you to tell me the story about Sir Masain’s uncle…”

“Yes, from Imperial Father… huh?”

Only then did she seem to realize that their conversation had gotten off track.

“Who else but Imperial Father could be brother Masain’s uncle?”

Huh?

Seongjin’s mouth gaped open.

“You… didn’t know? I wondered why you kept mentioning brother Masain’s uncle specifically.”

Amelia smiled.

“I know you don’t remember the past, but haven’t you been frequently hanging out with orabeoni (brother) lately? I thought he would’ve told you. It’s like him to keep silent on the matter.”

Sir Masain’s uncle is the Holy Emperor?

Seongjin had always imagined an elder master, not someone close in age. The revelation was a shock.

She patiently explained to the still-shocked Seongjin. The Holy Emperor was originally the 3rd prince of the previous emperor. Above him were two older princes and a princess.

Sir Masain is the second son of the eldest prince, Cameron. That makes him a cousin to Morres.

Although now bearing the name Klanos instead of Klein, and having lost the right to the throne, he’s still quietly treated as a member of the imperial family.

“Wait…”

That reminded Seongjin of the twins he met previously. They clearly greeted Masain as…

“Hello, Masain orabeoni.”

“Hello, Masain hyungnim.”

The way they said hello… huh?

W-Why didn’t you tell me something so important, Sir Masain?

Amelia began, “Honestly, him and you Morres were somewhat distant before.” She glanced at Seongjin and hesitated, “…In fact, you were the only one who didn’t call brother Masain ‘brother’.”

While Amelia stopped there, Seongjin inferred more from her hesitancy.

Morres, you jerk! You’ve been mean and disrespectful to Sir Masain, haven’t you?

A headache crept on Seongjin, and the demon king quickly spoke.

[Whoa, your blood pressure is rising. Relax! Relax!]

Does it look like I can stay calm?

How am I supposed to treat Sir Masain now?

Yet, the afternoon lesson time inevitably arrived.

Distracted, unlike his attentive morning self, Seongjin caught Sir Masain’s curious gaze. Still, Sir Masain refrained from reprimanding him, probably because Seongjin usually had a good attitude.

As the sun set over the training ground, Masain, who had finished his meditation, looked at Seongjin who seemed like had something to say. As Seongjin tried to play it off, Masain, looking determined, bowed his head.

“I have a request. Please.”

“Uh… Yes? A request?”

“Yes, could you lend me the Nutcracker for a moment?”

Masain’s face was uncharacteristically serious. Without realizing, Seongjin nodded and handed over the Nutcracker.