Chapter 40

“Right? If they tried to stir up the people’s anxiety and win obedience of the people, they should have blamed Phillip. They should have denied that Phillip was chosen by the goddess.”

I went on looking at the letters.

“It’s only them Roum who has been chosen by heaven, and Phillip’s an impostor. They are being deceived by him. Shouldn’t they write it like this? But the stone plate did not deny that Phillip had been chosen by the goddess. They’re giving him the credit.”

“Are you saying that Emperor Phillip himself made this stone tablet?”

Eunhan is smart. With this conversation alone, he understand my thoughts.

“Yes, it was probably King Phillip, not the Rakshul or the Roums who built this stone plate.”

Everything was strange.

“It contains warning to the people. But this is inside of the Imperial Palace, which is also the deepest part of Tenlarn Palace. It’s strange to put up a stone plate in a place where even the nobles can’t easily come.”

“Wasn’t it just to show off his strength?”

“Even so, it doesn’t make sense that Phillip hasn’t cleaned up these plates. I heard that the Zelcan revival movement was strong at the time, but he eventually wiped out all the rebels and executed Rakshul.”

Phillip was forced to move the capital because the damage to Khan and Tenlarn Palace was so devastating and the land was polluted with black magic.

“Phillip was the winner. But why would he have to leave the stone plate that Rakshul built?”

The more I thought about it, the more convinced I was that Phillip had built the stone plate. I touched the stone plate that was clean without a trace of burning.

At that moment, her mana necklace shone and her whole body cried as if she had been electrocuted. Then came the darkness.

I saw a huge stone plate. But in a moment, the stone plate had changed.

The stone plate was clean. There was no trace of time at all as if it was only recently made.

[Phillip, what is this stone plate! Are you crazy? You’re out of your mind!! How could you do this!]

A woman’s voice was heard shouting in front of the stone plate.

She vented her anger. Then the red pupil of the man standing on the opposite side flashed fiercely.

[Don’t talk nonsense. I am the emperor of the empire. If you commit any more disrespect, I will not forgive you.]

So that guy is Phillip?

The first emperor of the Asteric Empire, who betrayed the goddess and created the heir of the curse?

I looked at the man with silver hair and red eyes. As soon as I tried to check his figure in detail, my eyes was blurred, and an urgent voice of Eunhan was heard.

“Your Highness! Your Highness!”

The moment I heard him shout, the illusion disappeared. As I slowly blinked, I saw a stone plate that has the traces of the time and Eunhan panicking.

“Eunhan.”

“Your Highness, are you all right?”

“Yes, just a little dizzy.”

Once again, things from a thousand years ago were unfolding before my eyes. Why on earth does this keep happening?

“It seems to be the influence of black magic. Let’s go back now.”

“No, I’ll look for it a little more.”

Maybe this is a gift from the Goddess of Light. Maybe she’s showing me a hint to lift the curse because I’m struggling to heal Blake.

That’s a clue to lift Blake’s curse. The goddess of light is leading me. I was convinced.

“No. His Majesty has ordered me to return to the palace immediately if it is dangerous.”

Eunhan spoke politely and firmly.

“I’m fine.”

“You look pale.”

“Wait, just a second.”

There is a clue. I might find a way to lift the curse. I couldn’t leave like this with a clue in front of me. Eunhan, however, was worried but did not budge.

“Your safety comes first. Let’s go back to the palace and then come back ····.”

Eunhan’s eyes, who persuaded me with a soft tone, suddenly stared at the sky.

“Eunhan…?”

“It’s a demon.”

“Is it a monster? I heard that Tenlarn palace couldn’t even be a monster’s lair because it was too polluted…”

Unexpectedly, I followed Eunhan’s gaze and looked up at the sky, but saw nothing.

“Excuse me, Your Highness.”

“What? Ow!”

Eunhan suddenly carry me. In a typical ‘carrying the princess’ posture, I shouted in surprise. The moment I hugged his neck reflexively in order not to fall, white monsters appeared from the sky.

That monster that resembles a giant bean sprout is…

“It’s a Macul!”

How come a demon that lives only in the valley of chaos appears here?

“Hold on tight.”

When Eunhan ran with me in his arms, the Macul followed quickly as if it had aimed for us from the start.

Dozens of macul flew in quickly, waving their long bodies. Eunhan moved with an unbelievable speed.

But there are tons of macul. And the maculs drove Eunhan into a corner.

“Please drop me off, Eunhan.”

If he’s alone, he’ll be able to beat the Macul easily. I didn’t want to hold him back.

“Hold on tightly.”

“I insisted you being there with me. Just run away, Eunhan…”

“I will enter the palace. There’ll be a lot of dust.”

As massive mana rushed into the narrow corridor, the already precarious building began to shake. Their front was blocked by a wall, and their back was blocked with Macul. There was no way to escape any more. Eventually, Eunhan put me down on the floor.

“I will make a way. Your Highness, flee to the place where we first came.”

He pulled out the sword with a grim face. No matter how much Eunhan uses magic, it will be difficult to deal with a lot of monsters. That’s when a Macul flew to us at a tremendous speed.

Eunhan stretched his sword toward Macul, pulling me into his arms. But Macul went past us and hit the wall.

Gwang!

The other Macul just flew towards the wall, and did not attack us.

He watched Macul’s movements with his sword firmly in his hand.

Gwang! Gwang!

As the macul hit themselves one after another, cracks began to appear on the hard wall.

And one wall collapsed completely.

“…..!”

There was a new space beyond. The macul went into it. Eunhan and I were hardened and stood there. Then the macul, who had been going in before, turned and looked at us.

“I guess it want us to follow it.”

“You can’t go in. The demon has stopped the attack, so you must take advantage of this gap and return to the palace.”

“No, I better go in.”

“Your Highness, it’s dangerous.”

“It’s not dangerous. Come to think of it, they never attacked us.”

“They showed up to get us here from the start.”

“Then, we have to run even more.”

“It’s a demon that lives only in the valley of Chaos. There must be a reason why they’re here.”

As if I was right, the macul gave off a white glow. At the same time, the mana stone of light in the necklace began to shine.

I was lured away by the light and walked like I was possessed. Eunhan couldn’t stop it anymore.

There were still traces of fire in this corridor. After the fire broke, the wall seemed to have blocked the entrance.

It was a corridor without a window, but it wasn’t dark because of the macul’s light.

Not long after, another wall blocked it. Then Macul thumped the wall.

Wouldn’t it hurt?

Perhaps because we were convinced that they would not attack us, we started to worry about them.

Before long, the wall broke and the hidden stairs revealed themselves.

As I tried to go down the stairs, Eunhan dissuaded me again.

“It’s dangerous.”

“I can’t give up here.”

“Maybe it’s a trap. Let’s go.”

“Don’t worry.”

The light that filled the hallway shook at the same time. The Maculs agreed to my words. At first, they looked like a scary enlarged bean sprouts, but now they looked cute.

“Look, the macul says it’s okay.”

“They are evil creatures. I can’t believe them. Let’s go back.”

But Eunhan was stubborn. I understand what he’s worried about, but I couldn’t get back. I stared straight into his eyes.

“Eunhan, I really want to lift Blake’s curse. If I can lift the curse, I can take any risk. Even though it’s really dangerous, I can’t give up on the fact that it’s possible.”

“But, Your Highness…”

“I’m sorry for forcing you. But please follow my will this time. Please.”

Bowing deeply, I asked Eunhan for a favor. Then he panicked and was at a loss.