Chapter 1. Kill the Empress
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Sponsored by Vina 💖 (¾)
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Hartz was worried about himself sticking around here, but he was more worried about Mana being alone.
Strangely enough, he was more worried about Mana than Hannah, who was much younger.
‘I’m sure he wouldn’t even snort for worrying about him, though.’
Hartz took a deep breath, thinking of Hannah and Mana.
Mana was right.
Who was he (Hartz) to worry for them when he himself was in prison?
Hartz mustered up the energy to fight the coming Death.
Emperor Tanatos, a violent and fierce being with a beautiful skin to spare.
The Emperor was never loved by his mother, and his father, a perfectionist, never gave him a single hug.
How could a child who has so much wealth and has not learned love and tolerance grow up to be undistorted?
He was the one who, in a moment of crisis, threw even what he held in his hands to the floor and stomped on it with his feet.
It was the woman who needed to be watched out for more than the Emperor. Natasha Roanti.
She has a face like a flower and a soul like a snake.
She was a woman who would do anything for the survival of herself and her child.
It wasn’t that it was very bad, but it was problematic, mainly because the woman’s methods were unjustified and insidious.
Tap.tap.
Hartz began to hear footsteps climbing the tower. It was definitely the sound of soldiers.
Hartz got up first before the soldiers came in.
He refused to be dragged under any circumstances.
As soon as the door suddenly opened, he spoke first.
“I’ll go down on my feet. If you treat me roughly, I will tell you of your future disgrace; if you treat me politely, I will tell you of people you should be especially careful of.”
The momentum of the soldiers who had stiffened at his words came to a flinching halt.
Hartz calmly walked down between them.
No one held him like a sinner.
It was good to have the power of prophecy, Hartz thought with satisfaction once more.
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Natasha stepped back, frowning slightly at the appearance of the shaggy man who had appeared with the soldiers.
His hair wasn’t gray, but with only a bushy beard and long hair covering his eyes, he looked like an old man, well over sixty.
Gillotti said that there wasn’t that much difference between Hartz’s age and his own.
It was only about a decade ago that Keton collapsed, and Hartz at that time had just graduated from the Academy.
If so, he would be only thirty-two years old at an estimate, but he looked much over forty in this way.
Was it because he was wearing rags?
She didn’t know what the man had to go through to look like that, but he was badly dressed.
Natasha clicked her tongue invisibly and hid behind Gillotti, who was at least ostensibly nice. Gillotti, who thought Natasha was afraid of the man, smiled in satisfaction and hugged Natasha’s shoulders tightly.
Hartz, blindfolded by his bangs, clicked his tongue soundlessly at their shameless appearance.
“Are you Prophet Hartz?”
“The humble prophet is in the presence of the Emperor of Tanatos.”
Gillotti’s eyes wriggled with Hartz’s somewhat rude tone.
Although his country was destroyed, Hartz was still a legitimate Prince of a country, and if it had not been destroyed, Hartz would have been crowned king.
With that in mind, Gillotti, who had deliberately suppressed his anger, immediately spoke.
“Since you said you have such an amazing talent, I’m sure you know already why your were caught.”
‘Caught………’
Gillotti spoke arrogantly, completely unaware that Hartz willingly surrendered himself.
It was a coercive tone, as if he was being scolded if he didn’t answer his words properly.
Hartz didn’t reply, but stared at Gillotti and Natasha.
The high emperor’s position, and standing beside him, the woman’s shadow was short.
A faint image flashed before Hartz’s eyes.
Hertz slowly closed his eyes and looked back at the scene that had passed.
When he opened his eyes again, his voice was determined.
“I see the future, not the past, and if there is anything you wish to hear, please ask clearly.”
Just before Gillotti, who frowned, tried to spit out more harsh words, Natasha gently rubbed his shoulder.
“We need to know why His Majesty’s health is deteriorating. If we don’t know why, we’d like to know how to make him better from now on.”
Natasha asked earnestly in a voice of sincere concern for Gillotti.
Hartz looked at them both and said.
“Do you know the saying that if you use your powers for evil purposes, they will return like a curse?”
Gillotti’s and Natasha’s expressions hardened at Hartz’s words.
It was an unspoken discipline that one must use it for the greater good rather than justice, and for helping others rather than war.
It was not that the emperor didn’t know, he just pretended not to know.
It was all about killing a few people, and he wondered how great an aftermath it would bring back.
But, in the words of the prophet Hartz, all of Gillotti’s symptoms now are the repercussions of using his power in the wrong direction?
“Don’t lie! This power is completely mine! How can you say that my power will harm me when I’m using it for my benefit!”
“Why can’t you believe it? Aren’t the descendants of the kings who used different powers and perished right in front of you?”
“…!”
Gillotti’s mouth naturally froze in surprise.
It was as if Hartz’s words were saying that Gillotti’s future would be like that.
Gillotti’s hand, which was gripping the armrest, trembled.
‘No, it can’t be. I am the one who was chosen to be Emperor. What is wrong with an emperor who kills only fifteen people? No, I don’t think so.’
Gillotti felt like he was about to have another seizure.
The quick-witted Natasha stepped forward to quickly mediate between them.
Holding her big belly, she asked Hartz with a pitiful look on her face.
“I understand why. Then we must also know how to alleviate this disease, mustn’t we? O great prophet, please help my emperor. Please don’t leave my child’s father in despair.”
She was indeed a rare sorceress.
With a round belly and moist eyes, Natasha’s pleading figure was just like a soft and beautiful woman who was worried about the sick husband.
Sadness and fear filled her reddened face.
Hartz was lucky that his hair covered his face.
Otherwise, he might have made an outrageous expression.
“Please, I beg you. Please don’t let His Majesty die. Never ……. for the sake of the poor people of Tanatos and the future of this child. Absolutely!”
Hartz’s throat tickled. He wanted to say, “Actually, for the sake of his poor people, it would be better for him to leave this world soon.”
However, he had to bite his tongue in his mouth to get a grip on his twitching lips.
The whole country knew all about what a mistake that stupid emperor had made.
Perhaps it was the people of Tanatos who know best of all.
The lives of the people, exhausted and impoverished in the mere months since the Empress disappeared from the land, were a wail itself.
Do the two really not know that the sighs that have accumulated throughout the country with nostalgia for the deceased Empress and the hopelessness of life to come are piling up like a mountain every day?
‘They call this kind of thing karma in the far east.’
The accumulation of this karma was bound to eventually lead them to self-destruction.
“How…..”
Hartz closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.
The image of Gillotti and Natasha passed before his darkened eyes once more.
All the paintings were scattered, as if shards of glass with engraved pictures had broken, but as time went on, the pieces were coming together.
Perhaps the Empress, or rather the former Empress was moving, and the imperfect future would be fully in place.
“It’s not perfect, but there is one possible way.”
“What is it?”
Gillotti urgently asked.
Unlike the excited Gillotti, Hartz’s voice was gentler and more relaxed than ever.
“They say that collecting holy relics creates a special resonance. They said it’s God’s response. When they are gathered, they say you can make a special offering and pray for your wishes to be granted.”
Holy relics!
Holy relics imbued with divine carvings, like the descendants of those who had been endowed with extraordinary powers.
There were six holy relics at the beginning of time, but one was destroyed by the gods, and there were only five known to remain today.
One of them was the chain of protection held by Roselyn V Sunset.
‘That evil woman!’
And it remained missing because of the clever Roselyn.
Gillotti was angry, his teeth chattering.
The woman was useless like a speck of dust anyway.
Natasha’s face also tightened as she realized why he was so furious.
‘I should have robbed you of that holy relic beforehand!’
It was past time to regret it now. Gillotti’s head tingled with helplessness and frustration.
If the Empress was right in front of him, he would want to strangle her again.
‘Oh, what should I do?’
Since even the most easily obtainable chain of protection was thus far away, it was going to be even more difficult to gather other holy relics.
‘If the sickness continued to get worse………..’
Gillotti glanced once more at the prophet in front of him.
A beggar-like man whose authority and power have disappeared and function only as guardians of this power.
It was terrible and disgusting to think that would be his future.
Hartz spoke, not caring about Gillotti’s gaze.
“If you’re curious about the location of the holy relics, I can tell you.”