episode_0077

The Emperor heard the Empress’s words as she entered the office and checked the time. “So much time has passed already.” Normally, he would have been in the bedroom by now, but he had lost track of time due to the current situation. “You clearly know I’m waiting in the bedroom, so is there something so important that you’d forget the time?” “Nothing is more important than you, my Empress. But it is a somewhat serious situation.” He went behind the Empress, who was feigning annoyance, and embraced her. The warmth he felt was pleasant. Enough to want to stay like this forever. But to protect this warmth, he needed to deal with the pests remaining in the Empire. “So, what is this somewhat serious situation?” The Empress, also seeming to want to stay embraced, squeezed the hand he had wrapped around her waist.

“It seems the necromancer provided the drugs Baron Ashro possessed.” “Lucas is there, won’t it be dangerous?” The Empress anxiously squeezed the Emperor’s hand. The Knight Commander who taught Lucas said he had immense talent. And Lucas himself claimed he could protect himself. But to her, he was still just a child. “Ruska-nim is there, so he’ll be fine. Don’t worry too much.” The Emperor embraced his anxious Empress even tighter. “Ah, then that’s a relief.” Fortunately, upon hearing that name, the Empress seemed to relax a little. “It appears she’s currently using the name Alicia.” Both the Emperor and Empress knew Alicia’s true identity was a dragon. If Alicia-nim hadn’t been there back then, he wouldn’t have ascended to the throne. And he wouldn’t have met the Empress either. That’s why when Lucas was born, they named him Ruska, after her.

“Do you think Baron Ashro knew his counterpart was a necromancer when he made the deal?” “I don’t know that. But one thing is for sure: by tomorrow, Baron Ashro won’t be a baron anymore.” “Then, are you planning to ask Rus… no, Alicia-nim to help with Baron Ashro?” “I was originally going to, but…” The Empress turned her head to look at the Emperor, whose words trailed off. She then traced the corner of his mouth with her hand. “Is there something amusing you’re keeping from me?” The corners of the Emperor’s mouth were turned up. As if he knew something enjoyable was about to happen. “Loki is apparently using the identity of Cardinal again this time.” “Cardinal?” The Emperor smiled at the surprised Empress and embraced her even tighter. He must have just showered, as he could smell her scent through his nose. Of course, the Empress knew that Cardinal’s true identity was the Emperor. After all, she first met him not as ‘Karsten Leonhart’ but as ‘Phantom Thief Cardinal’. He briefly recalled those memories, then stroked the Empress’s head as she looked at him with a worried expression. “Will that child be able to avoid getting caught?” Last time Loki disguised himself as Phantom Thief Cardinal and stole drugs from Baron Ashro’s mansion, there were only the baron’s guards. But this time, special class students were in the mansion. “Unlike last time, this time not only my two shadows but also Alicia-nim has decided to help Loki.” From the moment Alicia-nim decided to help, no one there could catch Loki. Now seemingly relieved, the Empress relaxed her body and leaned her head against the Emperor’s chest. “If Yerika finds out that Phantom Thief Cardinal has reappeared, she’ll probably ask Lucas a lot of questions about what happened there.” “She probably will.” “Ah, no, she’ll probably ask Loki now. She still seems to chatter on the communication device every night until she falls asleep.” When the Emperor heard the Empress mention Loki and Yerika, he frowned. Seeing this, the Empress curved her lips into a smile and massaged his furrowed brow. “Hehe, is Loki really that displeasing to you?” It wasn’t that Loki was particularly displeasing. In fact, he was rather favored. He possessed sufficient talent and skill and never neglected his efforts. His appearance… he didn’t know, but his personality wasn’t bad. That’s probably why Yerika seemed to enjoy talking to him on the communication device every night. ‘Though he seemed to like it when he received elixirs and money.’ It didn’t seem like money was his sole motivation. Perhaps for Loki, money was merely a means to an end. But if he considered him as his daughter’s partner… “Honestly, no matter who it is, you wouldn’t be pleased, would you?” Hearing the Empress’s words, he recalled the other men who had sought Yerika’s attention. Princes, dukes, the son of a cardinal from the Holy Nation. Compared to them, Loki was more… “Tsk.” The Emperor, frowning, clicked his tongue once and changed the subject. “By the way, what did you say to Yerika that made her keep looking for Cardinal?” One day. After a conversation between just her and the Empress, Yerika began searching for Cardinal. He had asked Yerika several times, but she wouldn’t tell him. “Hehe.” The Empress chuckled, seeing the Emperor overtly change the subject. “What I said then will remain a secret from Your Majesty forever.”

* * *

“Cardinal has appeared!” No one knew who said it. But it didn’t take long for the words to spread throughout the mansion. Students already asleep. Students on the verge of sleep. Or students who were doing something else. The special class students, hearing the sound echoing through the mansion, came out of their rooms and gathered. Loki and Alicia were nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Loki?” “I don’t know! I went to his room, but he’s not there!” “He said earlier that he was going out with Professor Alicia to check something related to Phantom Thief Cardinal.” “Why now, of all times…?” Footsteps echoed. Small footsteps resonated through the mansion. At just the sound of faint footsteps, the students stopped talking and drew their weapons. Footsteps echoed. Cardinal, completely unlike a thief, slowly ascended the stairs to the second floor. As if clad in shadows, neither his face nor his body was visible. His height. Whether he was male or female, nothing could be discerned. Finally, Cardinal ascended to the second floor, where the special class students and Baron Ashro were. All the students held their weapons, wary of Cardinal. Their opponent was the phantom thief whom no one in the Empire had ever caught. Everyone paid attention to every single one of Cardinal’s movements. What he would do. Why he had come. No one knew.

“Baron Ashro.” “””!!!!!!!””” He spoke only a single word, yet everyone nearby trembled. An alien voice, like steel grating. Could a human possibly make such a sound? ‘Now!’ As Cardinal was looking at Baron Ashro, Lucas quickly kicked off the ground and charged towards Cardinal. ‘This will hit.’ Just before his spear reached Cardinal, Cardinal vanished. As if he had never been there in the first place. *Thump.* He felt a hand touch his abdomen. “Is that the Crown Prince?” Cardinal’s hand, which had reappeared without him noticing, was on his stomach. “Your father pressed me hard when he was around your age.” *Bang!* Before he could even comprehend those words, a tremendous impact on his stomach and an explosive sound assaulted his ears. “You are far, far lacking compared to your father.” Lucas fainted for a fleeting moment after hearing the sound. When he regained consciousness. Cardinal was moving away. ‘No.’ He himself was flying through the air. By the time he realized it, his body was just about to slam into a wall. *Crash!* Lucas’s body penetrated several more walls before finally falling to the floor. *Thud.*

Clara had been quietly gathering mana since Lucas charged at Phantom Thief Cardinal. Just as she had gathered enough mana and was about to activate her spell. “Insufficient.” The alien voice struck like lightning. ‘My mana is disappearing!’ An experience she had never had before. The mana she had gathered to cast her spell was vanishing. She tried to activate the spell again, but her mana still couldn’t gather and kept disappearing. “Everyone out!” Sepia, though she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was happening, knew Clara couldn’t cast her spell and summoned all her spirits. “Amateurish.” Cardinal spoke calmly, even upon seeing the spirits. *Whoosh…* A gray aura enveloped Cardinal. The spirits trembled, just as they had when they first fought Alicia. At that moment, not only the spirits but also the other special class students were intimidated by the gray aura.

“Baron-nim, are you alright?!” Over ten knights entered the mansion. All of them were clad in armor and carried swords. “There are many left.” Just as Baron Ashro was filled with hope upon seeing the knights. Cardinal, looking at the armed knights, spoke nonchalantly. “I have no interest in you.” Cardinal’s shadow-clad finger pointed at the knights. Two black lights shot from Cardinal’s finger towards the knights. The black lights moved like living beings, and each time a black light touched a knight, one fell. After ten seconds. All the knights lay fallen on the floor. “Did you think this much could stop me?”

* * *

Alicia sat perched on the mansion roof, preventing Clara from using her magic. Her ash-gray hair swayed gently, perhaps due to the wind. In the air, the entire situation inside the mansion was being displayed. “He talks so well, as if my power were his own.” Such brazenness, if that’s a talent, then perhaps it is…