Ch.27(-1) – Restricted Area

**Note: This is a side episode. You may skip it without issue.**

“Did you hear? They say there’s a ghost living in Yvonne Palace!”

Why is it that none of the blonde-headed bunch seem normal? Hiasen inwardly laments.

Unlike the girl excitedly sharing her gossip, Hiasen didn’t even bother looking up as he responded indifferently.

“No thanks. Are you trying to drag me along again?”

“Aww Hiaseeen, don’t be like that, come with meee.”

“Take Niobe instead of me.”

“But Niobe is taking her afternoon nap right now!”

Josephine revealed she had already checked Niobe’s bedroom.

“Mother will be very angry if she finds out.”

“That I’m here? So what? They’re just being petty about their own bad relationship.”

“That’s not the issue, Josephine.”

“So you’ll come with me, right? To Yvonne Palace?”

“Hah.”

Hiasen finally closed the magic tome he had been reading.

From the beginning, Prince Hiasen never really had a choice in the matter.

Few in the Imperial Palace would dare defy Josephine Floria Kaizen, sister of Crown Prince Jade.

Even young Hiasen had felt the strict hierarchy in his bones since birth.

“They say you can hear a baby crying at night!”

“That’s just ridiculous gossip.”

“You’re scared, aren’t you? Be honest, are you frightened? Getting goosebumps?”

“W-when did I ever say that!”

Still, Hiasen was relieved it was daytime. If Josephine had tried to drag him along in the middle of the night, he would have resisted fiercely, hierarchy be damned.

Nevertheless, Hiasen couldn’t let go of Josephine’s hand. Being scared was a separate issue.

“This is my first time visiting Yvonne Palace. The atmosphere is so eerie—do people actually live here?”

“I don’t know. If no one’s here, let’s just go back.”

There were no gardeners tending the grounds, no busy maids in sight.

The absence of people who should be bustling about during this busy hour made the scenery even more desolate.

When they reached the main gate of Yvonne Palace, a guard greeted them.

“I am honored to meet the noble Second Princess Josephine Floria Kaizen. And beside you is…?”

“It’s been a while, Rupion! Are you working here these days? This is Hiasen—you don’t recognize him because he rarely comes outside?”

“Forgive my rudeness!! I am honored to meet the noble Third Prince Hiasen Luminos Kaizen!”

“Alright, alright. I have some business here, so can we enter?”

Josephine tried to naturally pass through the main gate, but the guard blocked her with his body.

“I have orders not to let anyone inside, so I must ask for your understanding!”

“Orders? From whom? Who dares to block my path without permission?”

Josephine’s voice suddenly turned ice cold.

Hiasen found this side of Josephine truly frightening.

Usually she was nothing but a mischievous young lady, but when her eyes changed like that, she showed her Kaizen lineage with unrestrained authority.

“I-I’m sorry. It was Butler Vargo’s instruction…”

“Butler Vargo…”

Josephine bit her lips tightly.

Though lower in rank than herself, he stayed close to Father Emperor.

His orders were essentially the Emperor’s orders, as he faithfully served as his proxy.

Formally, disobeying wouldn’t be an issue, but if discovered later, there would certainly be major repercussions.

Yet her internal conflict didn’t last more than a few seconds.

“It’s fine, just let us in. We’ll only be a moment and leave quickly.”

“…Please exit as soon as possible. The Butler will be greatly displeased if he finds out.”

“In return, don’t snitch about us being here! Come on, Hiasen, let’s go in.”

Yvonne Palace was located on the northwestern outskirts of the Imperial Palace.

One could easily guess why Yvonne Palace was called an annex rather than an official palace by its size and appearance.

“It’s really small. And it seems quite old too?”

The walls were dingy, built in the Romanesque style from several centuries ago.

Josephine couldn’t understand why such a shabby building hadn’t been demolished yet.

It seemed to be only three stories tall, and only the creaking floorboards echoed through the corridors.

Despite circling the palace interior several times, Josephine and Hiasen couldn’t find any trace of people.

“Ugh, this is boring!”

All that trouble ditching Jade who was supposed to be watching her, for nothing. Josephine snorted in frustration.

“Aren’t you close with brother Jade? You’re siblings after all.”

“What about you? I heard you fought with Niobe recently?”

“W-who said that?”

“Count Aria mentioned it.”

“Uncle… Niobe is three years old. I’m not a child, why would I fight with her?”

“Well, you both look the same to me!”

Josephine thoroughly ignored Hiasen’s denials and continued exploring.

“She ruined my book first, you know.”

“As her older brother, you should be generous enough to forgive her. You’re becoming more like Jade every day.”

“It was my only magic tome!”

“Oh? There’s a staircase here! It must lead to the fourth floor!”

The building height appeared uniformly three stories from the outside, but they found stairs leading up another level.

A few rays of sunlight through window cracks illuminated the fourth-floor corridor, which had no lighting.

The floor was thick with dust, and the ceiling covered in cobwebs.

Perhaps due to an environment where no insects entered,

The corpses of starved spiders were scattered across the floor.

“Stop joking around, Josephine. Making those noises isn’t scary at all.”

“Huh? What noises? I didn’t say anything.”

“You just made some weird crying sound!”

“I’m telling you, I didn’t! Why would I make such sounds?”

“But I definitely…!”

[Heuuuuung]

“…!”

“Did you hear that…?”

“Yeah. What was that?”

“I don’t want to go.”

“It seems to be coming from the end of the corridor?”

“No, I said no!”

“Let’s go! Let’s meet the ghost of Yvonne Palace!”

“Aaaaargh!”

Josephine roughly grabbed Hiasen’s arm.

With each step they took, the unidentified sound grew louder.

“What if it’s really a ghost, sis? It might eat us.”

“You just said ghosts don’t exist. Be quiet, there seems to be something beyond that room.”

At first, she thought it was just the wind, but as they got closer to the source, Josephine was certain it was a young girl crying.

“The door is locked!”

“You’re not going to break it down, are you?”

“There’s a baby crying inside. Hiasen, stand back!”

Josephine immediately took a stance.

She lowered her center of gravity and read the magical currents around her.

The golden eyes, said to be possessed only by legitimate Kaizen royalty, shimmered and flickered distinctively.

Colorless mana had already formed a golden vortex, gathering in her right hand.

“Here I gooooo!”

A single, brutally simple punch.

But when aura surrounds even a fragile girl’s arm,

It was comparable to nothing less than a fearsome siege hammer.

CRASH!!!

What was once a door exploded, literally, scattering sharp metal fragments.

Hiasen, though coughing, groped his way forward to keep up with Josephine.

The crying that had been seeping through the door crack was now clearly audible to both children.

As their vision cleared, the first thing they encountered was a neatly arranged bedroom.

But when they recognized the alien object placed beside the bed, their expressions turned to horror.

“It hurts…”

A cross the size of an adult man.

“It hurts… save me…”

Large nails pierced through a person’s wrists and heels into the massive wooden cross.

“It hurts… it hurts… it hurts… save me… it hurts… save me…”

Josephine’s legs gave out, and she collapsed on the spot.

“Urgh…!”

Hiasen also fell to the floor, unable to suppress the rising nausea.

“It hurts… it hurts… it hurts… save me…”

The flesh had already festered and burst, mixing pus and blood, filling the room with a putrid stench.

But the prisoner hanging there,

Was clearly much too small for the cross’s size.

“Please… kill me…”

They say you can occasionally hear the cries of a three-year-old baby in Yvonne Palace.

* * *

“Savior of the East (Asha). What an ominously chosen name.”

“By the East… you mean the magical boundary zone, correct?”

“Somewhere beyond the Lainris Ice Gorge and the Ciela Mountains.”

“Do you have any regrets?”

“Regrets? Neither she nor I have any parental affection. I have no intention of breaking principles in my life. Never have, never will.”

“I understand.”

When the butler’s communicator rang, he excused himself from his superior to answer the call.

[This is the commander of the 101st Battalion of the Dark Magic Clan Eradication Unit]

“Your mission?”

[I report that Tenebreia has been killed on site]

“Well done. I’ll receive the rest of the report in writing.”

[There’s a small problem elsewhere. It seems to be a matter requiring your personal attention]

“Problem? Handle it yourself, I’m busy right now.”

Did he even know who the butler was accompanying?

But the voice on the communicator still sounded urgent.

[Kaizen bloodlines are currently in Yvonne Palace]