EP.199 The Curtain Falls (5)
The blood-red circuit etched into the wall.
From a distance, it looked like dozens of insects crawling across the surface. A circuit that was anything but tidy.
A messy collection of lines, not neat ones.
It resembled tangled yarn or the doodles of a child. This was a characteristic of circuits made in the Ancient Kingdom.
There was no regularity. A raw circuit, not refined.
While the circuits used by mages in the current era pursue precision and balance, those of the Ancient Kingdom sought chaos and imbalance. Gazing at the asymmetrical circuit, I muttered.
“…This is complicated.”
It was complicated.
I wasn’t just referring to the circuit before my eyes.
An unexpected situation.
The discovery of a corpse and an unknown circuit. And Skebal’s lingering presence.
From the information I had, the worst-case scenario I imagined was merely the appearance of an altar in the Royal Castle.
But this…
It was something that far surpassed my worst imaginings.
“By stealing blood ties, life continues.”
A circuit with such meaning.
And the one before me was incredibly old. There were traces of blood that had been redrawn over the faded lines countless times. This wasn’t a circuit from one or two years ago; it felt at least a century old.
Centuries of time.
I recalled the history of this country in my mind. The information Master had hammered into my head as culture. I listed it one by one.
“…Year 682.”
The year this country was founded.
“The first palace built was the Red Palace.”
Although the throne had been moved to the newly constructed White Palace, the first palace ever built was the Red Palace.
Reflecting on this…
“…”
I raised my head to look at the circuit.
A circuit that seemed hundreds of years old, marked with the traces of repeated use. Looking at it, one word came to mind.
“The Dark Veil.”
The dark veil that has loomed over the royal family for ages. Something that had been lurking deep within this country’s most hidden corners, changing its form. I had no way of knowing exactly what it was.
But one thing is certain…
There is darkness that pervades the royal palace. The deeply rooted darkness wasn’t something that could be completed in just a day or two.
“Why now?”
This raised a question in my mind.
“It could have been hidden longer.”
An existence capable of drawing an ancient circuit of this scale. Most ancient circuits I had seen were broken into fragments.
Broken words or fragments of letters.
But this is a complete sentence.
An existence capable of etching such a circuit. An entity that had been lurking for at least centuries.
“Why reveal itself now?”
I narrowed my eyes.
Even though it could have hidden itself for much longer, it chose to reveal itself. I pondered the reasons.
“…Did it feel confident it wouldn’t be caught?”
If not…
“Did it not think it could be stopped?”
Suddenly, the candles placed throughout the Red Palace flickered.
Along with that, the crimson shadows on the floor danced.
The flickering shadows resembled a human face.
Ha ha ha.
The face-like shadow was laughing.
As if mocking someone.
2.
“There’s no trace.”
“…No trace?”
With nothing more to investigate, I left the First Prince’s residence and joined Kalt, who was examining the vicinity.
“Sir Kalt, have there been any developments in the investigation?”
“If there are, please share the situation…”
As I strolled through the Royal Castle’s corridors, the panicked guards rushed towards Kalt, questioning him, and given the current situation, it was understandable.
The First Prince’s disappearance.
And Kalt, walking next to me, specialized in ‘finding someone.’
Tracker.
A special class optimized for tracking and following trails. Kalt was one of the most renowned knights mentioned when discussing the Tracker class.
He had accomplished significant feats on the battlefield, from rooting out betrayers to destroying key strongholds through reverse tracking of magic, and his exploits as a Hound were well known.
The finest Tracker.
A hunting dog that doesn’t miss even the smallest traces.
“I’ve tried everything, but…”
Kalt was now declaring this in front of me.
“I can’t find anything.”
The conclusion reached by Kalt while investigating the disappearance of the First Prince, Izak, was ‘there’s nothing to be found.’ This was my first experience with such a scenario, causing me to furrow my brow.
“…What do you mean?”
“Truly, there are absolutely no traces left.”
Kalt spoke.
“The First Prince, Izak, has spent a long time in the Royal Castle. He has never left it, which means he has been in the Red Palace since birth…”
It was suspiciously clean.
Kalt muttered.
“If he were human, there should be at least small traces left, even the common lingering scent is absent. There’s nothing at all. It’s as if a ghost passed through.”
“Is that even possible?”
“It’s impossible for a human. Even the treacherous Gletus leaves a strong trace…”
With no traces left, it was futile to search.
Faced with Kalt’s words, I scratched my chin momentarily. My pace slowed, and before long, I came to a stop.
“Hey, Kalt.”
“Yes, sir? What is it?”
I turned to Kalt.
“What if it’s not human?”
“Not human? Well…?”
Kalt crossed his arms, tapping his elbows.
“As long as it doesn’t burn everything to ashes, an existence with substance leaves traces somehow. Even if we assume it’s not human, it’s still illogical.”
“If that were possible, what form might it take?”
“Perhaps…”
At my question, Kalt gestured at the shadows beneath my feet.
I lowered my gaze. A shadow loomed beneath me.
“Something like shadows or light, possibly—”
As he spoke, Kalt smiled bitterly.
Though he provided an answer, it didn’t seem particularly enlightening.
“I plan to investigate further. So, did you identify the nature of the circuit?”
“…For now, yes.”
“What was it about?”
I wrote a sentence on the paper and handed it to Kalt. His face stiffened as he read it.
“…It’s fortunate that the court mages couldn’t decipher this.”
Kalt tightly gripped the paper without a word.
“What do you plan to do?”
“Well, ideally, I’d find it first, and then take care of it… but that seems impossible.”
If Kalt asserted ‘it can’t be done,’ that meant it was impossible to track down the First Prince immediately. Maybe destroying the entire Red Palace might help, but then again…
‘That method isn’t guaranteed.’
An entity capable of switching bodies.
If I tried to capture it with a half-baked approach, the chance of it fleeing would be high.
‘What if I went to take out the king, who might be involved…?’
That was not a simple matter.
Before making a decision, I felt the need to meet someone.
“First off, I should speak to someone.”
“Who do you mean?”
I replied.
“The First Princess, Lruiel.”
3.
In the office of the First Princess, Lruiel.
Before the firmly shut door, nobles were calling out her name as usual.
“Please, give us a chance…”
“Even once would be good, please listen to our story…”
Their voices began to fracture.
Despite their pleading, the closed door remained shut. No sound could be heard from within.
“Ugh.”
The voice came from behind them.
With vacant eyes, the nobles turned around. There stood a woman with a black robe pulled down deep. Her skin, barely visible from beneath the robe, was pale white.
“You need to clear a path.”
The voice that came through was feminine.
Startled by the voice laced with disdain, the nobles flinched and withdrew slightly, unable to utter a word due to an unexpected intimidation.
She passed through the nobles who stepped back.
Upon reaching the door, she lightly knocked. Compared to the uproars the nobles had been making, her knock was almost inconspicuous.
Creek.
Yet, the door responded to it.
The door, which had remained perfectly still for hours, slowly opened. As the nobles’ eyes widened, the woman stepped into the office with light footsteps.
Thud.
The door closed again, leaving the nobles staring blankly at it. Their eyes were filled with emptiness.
*
In light sleepwear, Lruiel sipped tea while gazing at the paper in front of her. On the paper was a single line written. Lruiel read it aloud.
“By stealing blood ties, life continues.”
An unsettling line indeed.
Lruiel, frowning, looked up.
“Is this the meaning held by the circuit engraved there, Professor?”
Lruiel’s opposite, Rania, nodded.
Lruiel pressed her eyes with her fingers.
“How long has the circuit been in use?”
“I cannot say for sure. What is clear is it hasn’t been just once or twice. The engraving has been there quite a while.”
“…Does that mean it’s been rooted through several generations?”
Lruiel felt a throbbing in her head.
‘This is a story I want to dismiss as mere conspiracy.’
But Lruiel knew it couldn’t be dismissed.
“I understand it’s hard to believe, but…”
“No, I believe it.”
Lruiel shook her head.
“If you think so, it must be true. Furthermore, assuming this statement is true… it fits the situation quite well.”
Rising from her seat, Lruiel pulled a few books from the shelves that lined one side of the office. The ones she pulled were historical books of the kingdom.
“Look.”
Pointing at the books laid on the table, she spoke.
“Think about it; it’s strange. The royal family has traditionally had quite a number of children. And the count has always been maintained. No one instructed them to do so.”
Five or six.
Thus the number of heirs had been maintained.
“Frankly, this is unusual, Professor.”
“…That must be troublesome.”
“Exactly. The more of them there are, the more complicated the process of determining the heir becomes. It only serves to provide a justification for the nobles to split into factions.”
Yet despite this.
Having witnessed numerous royal family members buried in the front yard of this Royal Castle due to power struggles…
“Those who experienced such power struggles… meaning those who have stepped over the corpses of their blood relatives to ascend will, once on the throne, mysteriously turn into mere puppets.”
Lruiel tapped the history book lightly, gazing at the professor.
“Surely, this story has been told before.”
“Father may be somewhat talented in politics, but he has a key flaw: he toys around too much. That flaw is embodied by my brother.”
Rania nodded.
Before becoming king, everyone who left a significant episode in history seemed to change the moment they took the throne. Some referred to it as a royal curse, and many who spread such rumors were executed.
However, looking back at this now…
“They weren’t wrong.”
Lruiel exhaled heavily.
“Was having many children all for creating bodies to possess? Even I, that girl Ayla, my sister, or my brother and the rest…?”
The golden eyes grew cold.
Realizing she was born to be a puppet, Lruiel’s lips parted slightly. A hollow chuckle escaped her lips.
“What a load of crap.”
“…”
“There’s no need to view it like that, Professor. The world was already awful, it’s just gotten a bit more awful.”
Lruiel reached for her teacup.
Taking a sip of her remaining tea, she momentarily closed her eyes. Rania silently waited through the brief silence, which wasn’t long.
“So, Professor.”
As she opened her eyes, Lruiel stated.
“You don’t suspect me?”
“…Pardon?”
“There’s been an entity lurking in the royal family for a long time. It has continued its life by stealing the bodies of those born of royal blood.”
If that were the case, Lruiel questioned.
“Couldn’t I fall into that category as well?”
“…That’s.”
“Ayla rejects the impending fate she carries due to her inherent starlight, while I am merely an ordinary being. Now, with my brother missing, the one I suspect the most is me.”
A mere human who would be consumed.
An entity that couldn’t resist an abnormal existence, merely a human.
“You…”
Lruiel gave a slightly sad smile.
“What do you think of me now?”
Perhaps even this expression could appear to the other party simply as an act, and Lruiel felt a constriction in her chest.
Everything she had built up.
All the life she had struggled through.
She sensed it became meaningless, and Lruiel gazed down. The empty teacup seemed to resemble her life, causing Lruiel to mumble weakly.
“You have every right to doubt me…”
“No, I haven’t really thought that.”
“…What?”
Lruiel lifted her head.
When she looked closely, Rania was merely blinking her blue eyes. That gaze hadn’t changed even a bit since their first meeting.
“From the very start.”
Rania smiled wryly.
“Your Highness’s character is one I feel you wouldn’t be able to fake.”
