Episode 120
Lucius, murdered? That was impossible.
‘Wait, then what about Mother?’
What had happened to her? Could it be that she was also…?
Elonia’s mind raced, her thoughts a jumbled mess.
“A-all that was left in his dormitory… was a severed arm. We’re searching for the rest of his body, but…”
Julietta’s voice trailed off, unable to continue. Elonia numbly picked up the arm.
It was cold, lifeless.
‘Lucius… really…?’
Had he been discovered and eliminated for betraying Heilan?
She regretted not stopping him.
Elonia slowly reached out and took the severed hand in hers.
“…!”
Her eyes widened.
This wasn’t Lucius’s hand.
She was certain. She remembered the feel of his hand from the Academic Festival.
And there were calluses, the telltale sign of a swordsman, calluses Lucius shouldn’t have.
And the ring they had exchanged was missing.
Thud.
The arm, its owner unknown, fell to the floor.
Where was Lucius? The question consumed her thoughts.
‘The training grounds.’
The place where they had met countless times to practice for the presentation.
Elonia ran.
‘Please…!’
She flung open the door to the training grounds.
But it was empty.
Elonia, her heart sinking, slumped to the ground. Just then, someone touched her shoulder.
“Lucius!?”
She turned around, but it wasn’t Lucius’s pale, slender hand on her shoulder. It was a wrinkled hand, its age evident.
Elonia, her disappointment evident, asked,
“…Professor Caroline, what are you doing here on a weekend?”
Caroline pulled something out of her robe.
It was a simple white envelope, sealed with red wax bearing the Lucid Academy insignia.
But her next words were far from ordinary.
“A message from Lucius Allen.”
“…!”
Elonia snatched the envelope.
It wasn’t particularly thin or thick.
A message? Did that mean Lucius was truly dead?
Elonia couldn’t accept it. Her mind went blank, her body numb, as if she was sinking into the earth.
Caroline quickly added,
“He’s alive. He faked his death and returned to Heilan.”
“…Heilan?”
Despite the muffled ringing in her ears, the word “Heilan” pierced through her shock and confusion.
He had returned to Heilan? Had he betrayed them?
No, Caroline wouldn’t be so calm if that was the case.
Elonia looked up at Caroline, her eyes filled with questions. Caroline, her wrinkled hand gently closing around Elonia’s, pressed the letter into her palm.
“He didn’t betray you. This letter is proof. It contains his true intentions.”
But Elonia was still afraid to open it.
Even a beautifully wrapped gift could contain something unpleasant.
You never knew what was hidden inside until you opened it.
Caroline, sensing her hesitation, shook her head.
“Lucius came to me before the semester started and asked for an audience with His Majesty.”
“…With Dad?”
Elonia’s head snapped up. This was news to her. Caroline bowed her head.
“I apologize for not informing you sooner. Both Lucius and His Majesty wanted to keep it a secret.”
Why only Artius? Did they not trust her?
Lucius knew her secret. He could have at least told her.
Elonia stared at the letter. It wasn’t a suicide note.
She opened it and read the pages.
Elonia crumpled the letters in her hand, her eyes blazing with fury.
“I have to go to the palace.”
Elonia teleported to Artius’s office. He seemed to have been expecting her. He was sitting calmly in his uncomfortable chair, his expression resigned.
Elonia marched towards him, her face grim.
“Can I get straight to the point?”
“…Yes.”
Elonia thrust the letters at him and asked, her voice tight with suppressed anger,
“Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
Artius remained silent. He couldn’t answer.
Elonia changed her question.
“Why did you agree to it?”
“…”
He still didn’t answer. But Elonia didn’t need an answer. She already knew. It was all written in the letters.
He was going to search for the holy relic? He had said it was just a backup plan!
He was going to kill Tristan? He had said it was impossible!
“…Did he find the holy relic?”
“He said he has a lead, based on what Princess Olivia and Prince Simon told him.”
“So he doesn’t know.”
Elonia murmured. Artius, his voice barely a whisper, added,
“Even if he didn’t find it, it was fine. He was the center of their missionary work here. Faking his death would disrupt Heilan’s plans. …That’s what Lucius Allen said, and I agreed.”
Artius, choosing his words carefully, explained what had happened.
But his explanation was unnecessary.
It was all written in the letters.
Elonia, unable to refuse Artius’s insistence that she rest, returned to her room.
He had expected her to be angry, but she had simply left, so he anxiously followed her.
But she had told him she wanted to be alone, and he had reluctantly left.
It had happened before the start of the second semester.
“He wants to return to Heilan?”
Caroline had requested an audience with Lucius, and Artius had granted it. And Lucius, despite his precarious situation, had made a bold request.
Caroline, seeing Artius’s baffled expression, calmly explained,
“He said he would fake his death, return to Heilan, and find the holy relic, which is their weakness.”
“I don’t believe him. He’s the one who spread the prayer altars. Request denied.”
Artius, as expected, refused without hesitation.
It was the normal reaction, unlike Elonia, who had trusted Lucius.
Lucius, bowing his head, said calmly,
“I understand your distrust. You’re worried I’ll leak information to Heilan.”
“You’re perceptive.”
Artius sneered, about to dismiss him, when Lucius interrupted him,
“But Your Majesty, it’s too late to worry about that.”
“…What?”
Artius frowned, and Lucius pointed at his piercing.
“This piercing is a communication device created with Tristan’s power. Even the academy couldn’t detect it.”
Both Artius and Caroline’s gazes were fixed on Lucius’s ear.
Lucius had been at the academy for over four years.
And no one had noticed his communication device.
It was a chilling thought.
“…Are the other hostages wearing it as well?”
“I don’t know everyone in Heilan. But only I, as the apostle, am allowed to wear this device, created by Tristan himself, and communicate with him directly.”
Artius stared at Lucius’s piercing, but he couldn’t sense any power or aura.
Tristan was truly beyond human comprehension.
Artius, suppressing his unease, asked,
“Is it still working?”
“It doesn’t have an eavesdropping function. It’s only for communication. And His Highness Felix and Tristan are always busy at this hour.”
Artius, his nose wrinkling in disgust, asked,
“What kind of information did you report?”
“…My mission was simply to spread Tristan’s influence. I only reported on missionary work.”
It was a small mercy. It wasn’t the worst-case scenario.
Artius placed a hand on his forehead.
Lucius bowed his head lower and continued,
“I understand your distrust, Your Majesty, considering my past actions. But I only followed Tristan because I had no other choice.”
Lucius had been seeking death ever since he became an apostle. Death was the quickest escape from his prison.
“But the princess promised to save me from Heilan. I want to take her hand.”
Lucius looked up, meeting Artius’s gaze.
“There’s no better opportunity than the Academic Festival. Tristan won’t miss it. He’ll order me to use my power. And that day, I’ll betray Heilan.”
“You’ll betray them and return to Heilan? You said you wanted to live. Isn’t that suicide?”
Lucius, despite the obvious contradiction, smiled.
His smile fueled Artius’s anxiety.
He saw Chelon, and his past self, in Lucius’s burdened expression.
“…What will happen to you when you return?”
“I won’t die. Tristan can’t kill me.”
“You’re too confident. I’ve never seen anyone so confident survive.”
Lucius chuckled softly. He was right. But Lucius would survive.
Because—
“He was planning to keep it a secret, but unfortunately, I discovered it. He needs more than just faith to become a god. He needs my power, the divine power I possess.”
Because Lucius was an apostle.
Ironically, he had been used because he was an apostle, but it was also the reason he could survive.
“He hasn’t gathered enough faith yet. So my life is safe until he does.”
Of course, once Tristan became a true god, Lucius would be killed and his power absorbed.
But Lucius, keeping that to himself, continued,
“I’ll tell them I was discovered in Ravanta, that I couldn’t use my power because I was being monitored.”
“…What proof do you have that you won’t betray us?”
Without proof, it was just a delusion. Lucius smiled faintly.
“The princess’s continued safety is my proof.”
“…”
Lucius’s gaze resembled that of the woman Artius had loved, the woman he still loved.
A gaze that accepted death.
Artius had no choice but to dismiss him.
He would give him his answer after the Academic Festival.
After the festival, Artius, after a brief exchange with Elonia, went to the Theology Department dormitory with the Tite Knights.
To give Lucius his answer.
“Wait.”
Artius stopped his knights.
Someone in a Theology uniform, but with the bearing of a swordsman, entered the dormitory.
The suspicious figure emerged a moment later, dragging Lucius along.
Lucius’s request to return to Heilan had been more of a declaration. He was going to betray Heilan and be taken back.
Artius sighed softly and gave the order.
“…Cut off his arm. We have to fake his death.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The intruder, despite losing an arm, didn’t scream and managed to escape with Lucius.
Artius saw Lucius smile at him, his lips forming the words,
“Thank you.”
Artius still wasn’t sure if it had been the right decision as an Emperor. But as a father, it had been the worst possible choice.