The Place Where I Was Sold as a Slave Was the Imperial Palace

＜ A child who resembles the Duke of Watoring ＞

* * *

It is still dark everywhere, but it seems that it is already time to reduce the fire. I could hear the servant who tended the lights and candles wandering the hallways.

‘Is it time already?’

Magic tools are the best tools to show off the health of the imperial palace.

So, especially at this time of year when the New Year’s banquet is held, many lights are turned on.

So that everyone in other countries would be surprised to see it, and so that the nobles within the empire would never rebel against the emperor’s majesty.

And when it’s time for them all to go to sleep, they turn down the lights so they don’t notice.

Reynolds, the chamberlain, received the ointment from the servant and turned around.

The door closed quietly, and the room was once again enveloped in silence.

Crackling, the sound of dispersing flames rises constantly.

There are no lights in this spacious room.

The long hanging chandelier and the thing plugged into the wall were not magic tools, but candles with actual fire.

It is said that he is of nobler blood than anyone else in the imperial palace, but there are almost no magic tools in the emperor’s room.

Because the owner of the room hates it.

Reynolds approached the back of the Emperor, who was wearing only a robe and a long shirt.

The emperor’s body is large and fat enough to make a large chair look small. A chunk of flesh looked like it would fall off the bottom of the chair.

Reynolds pulled back the emperor’s clothes and dripped perfume on his skin. Gently massage and tap the Emperor’s shoulders.

The emperor, who has grown in age and has grown in weight, still fights swords with slaves in the gladiator arena, but he has no more energy than he did when he was young.

Others didn’t notice it at all.

In the eyes of others, the Emperor still seemed to possess explosive power and magical powers.

However, Reynolds and the gold-necked slaves who always deal with the Emperor already knew this from before.

Still, nobody mentions it.

Quietly, as if no one knew.

This time, it is like attending a banquet for several days.

Looking at the back of the emperor’s head, who dropped his head forward as if tired and sometimes snored as the massage lengthened, Reynold’s heart felt a little sad.

When did the hard back I had seen since childhood become so buried in my flesh? When did it turn into such a lumpy flesh?

The previous chief chamberlain, who had taught himself that the emperor and the chamberlain were one soul born with two bodies, came to mind.

Would that person have been heartbroken to see the emperor of the previous generation aging as if a dead tree was drying up?

After massaging for a while to loosen the calluses, the emperor suddenly raised his head a little.

“Ray, are you angry?”

“…”

With no answer, the emperor remained so quiet that it was impossible to tell whether he was asleep or awake before opening his mouth again.

“Don’t be angry. If even you act coldly towards me, I have nowhere to go.”

“I am not angry, Your Majesty.”

“You’re politely telling me to quit your majesty.”

“Because it’s a servant.”

“Are you that angry that I took that child away?”

“…”

Reynolds sighed lightly.

Wrinkles formed on his forehead as he remembered the scars on Rudy’s tiny body.

“Didn’t I tell you? That child is needed by Mama Nadia. I was finally able to calm down, but the uproar… For the time being, it’s messed up again.”

“There was a reason.”

“Well, there is always a reason for what you do.”

“…the ring reacted.”

“!”

Unknowingly, the hand that was rubbing the emperor’s shoulder became stronger.

“sorry.”

“Hey, it’s okay. Ray, sit in front of me like before.”

“Your Majesty, I am no longer the wretch of my teenage years. You and I are great adults. A good emperor does not speak unreasonably to his subjects.”

“Don’t talk so harshly. It’s okay sometimes.”

As the emperor leaned back in his chair, Reynolds had no choice but to let go of his shoulder.

As he goes to the emperor, he points his chin to a nearby chair.

As Reynolds sat down, the Emperor stared down at one of the rings on his hand.

The ring is a treasure passed down from generation to generation in the imperial family. It was known to respond to people with strong magical powers.

As far as Reynolds knew, there weren’t too many cases where the ring reacted to beauty.

The most recent response was to Prince Enrico.

He didn’t react to the prince.

“Is it true that the ring reacted?”

When Reynolds asked, the emperor nodded and smiled.

“I was also surprised. He reacted as soon as he saw him. Since he is young, I wonder if he was surprised to see the banquet.”

“oh my god!”

Reynolds muttered involuntarily.

It is true that rings respond to magical powers, but this is not always the case.

Mana doesn’t usually leak out. It is known that magical powers are expressed outside the body when there is a sudden change in emotions.

And no one can notice it.

The emperor’s magic ring was a special object that could detect it.

“Then it must be quite a possession of magical power. The fact that mana leaks out just by being a little startled is obviously amazing…”

My heart was pounding with excitement.

Until now, there is no prince born with magical powers as strong as that of the emperor. Rather, only princes who pretended to have magical powers like chaff were born one after another.

So the Emperor continues to be impatient.

He could not hand over the imperial treasure to anyone.

Even the ring that the emperor always wore was useless to the current prince.

At this rate, there was no choice but to keep the magical tools passed down from generation to generation in the treasury of the imperial family, and the emperor continued to worry about his descendants.

‘If only I could acquire possession of strong magical power…’

Reynolds swallowed and clenched his fists.

It’s still too early to expect.

Reynolds calmed his excitement and looked at the emperor.

It is true that the magic ring is great, but it is not omnipotent. I couldn’t know in detail how much the opponent’s magical power was. Only the fact that the opponent’s magic power exceeds a certain level can be known.

As far as Reynolds knows, there are three stages.

First of all, it is impossible to determine who it is because the ring does not point to anyone.

Anyone in that room could become magically possessed.

Reynolds opened his mouth thinking about that possibility.

“The possibility that it’s someone other than that child… Ah, that’s why I let them fight.”

When Reynolds eyes widened, the emperor nodded and smiled.

“Before that child started fighting, the ring signaled the highest level. It was the first time I had ever worn a ring to get to that level.”

The Emperor raises a glass from the small table next to the chair and takes a sip. Burying himself deeply in the chair, the emperor stared blankly at the glass.

A golden goblet flickered in the candlelight, creating a shadow.

A sullen smile appeared on the emperor’s face.

“I’ve had everything I ever wanted. There was nothing I couldn’t have. Except for one thing.”

“…”

Are you talking about a child with magical powers?

As Reynolds stayed still, the emperor took another sip.

“Don’t get me wrong, Ray. Possession of magical powers can be acquired by pursuing them to the end of this world. It just takes time, but it’s not something you can’t have once you’re born into this world.”

Reynolds looked at the Emperor’s face slightly startled.

“Isn’t that what the princes were talking about?”

weird. As far as he knew, there was nothing the emperor wanted and couldn’t achieve.

said the emperor in a melancholy voice.

“I am the princess of the Corea Dynasty. She was the only thing I couldn’t have.”

“ah!”

Reynolds laughed bitterly.

“Are you talking about the Duchess of Watoring?”

Although she is said to be a princess, she does not actually have the title of a princess. It was just like a nickname people in the world call.

It was a very long time ago that the Corea Dynasty formed a kingdom. They had already been destroyed for a long time, and now they were scattered here and there like parasites in other kingdoms.

The Duchess of Watoringu was almost the only woman with a coat of arms among the descendants of the Correa dynasty. So everyone calls her a princess.

The Emperor desired her, but could not force it.

The Correa Dynasty is not friendly with each other, but rather, it can be said that it is a biting relationship, but if the family in the oath is at a disadvantage, everyone refuses the magic spell.

Currently, they are the only ones who can engrave magic formulas on magic tools.

Because of that, no one touched the Correa family, who had an oath.

The emperor, like other men who courted her, had no choice but to move his legs to visit her, offering flowers and jewels to beg for love.

But in the end, the one she chose was the Duke of Watoring.

“Your Majesty, do you still have in mind the fact that she rejected her marriage proposal?”

“You don’t know because you haven’t seen her. She’s not just a woman with a coat of arms. Her black hair is…”

Suddenly he stopped talking and the emperor sighed.

“I know why I like Nadia. Nadia looks like her.”

“this.”

Reynolds shrugged.

The emperor shook his head and murmured.

“Anyway, I think I was quite jealous of the Duke of Watoringu.”

“You don’t look like Your Majesty. The duke and duchess are no longer in the world. Stop having those feelings. If you do wrong, you will err in judgment.”

“Well, that’s over now.”

The Emperor smirked and bent down to look Reynolds in the eye.

“That kid looks like a peacock.”

“…”

Reynolds never met the Duke of Watoringu.

I only heard rumors about him being a handsome man, possessing tremendous magic power, or being a popular lord. From what I’ve heard, he seemed like a capable and nice guy.

The Princess of Correa was probably a wise woman.

Using her position, she chose the man who would be the happiest.

I heard that until the princess died after marrying, the Duke of Watoringu cut off all the lovers he had been in a relationship with and loved only her.

If the princess had married the emperor, she might have been alive, but would not have been unhappy.

“Ray, you said she looked like Nadia, but that’s just because of her hair and eyes. Actually, he resembles the Duke of Watoringu.”

“no way···!”

The emperor asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Have you found the Duke’s infant yet?”

“There is no trace.”

“Didn’t you change your mind in Chania? He said he would hand it over, but maybe he hid it because he felt sorry for it.”

“I’m looking for that too, but I can’t find any trace. But Rudy will not be the heir to the duke. Like the color of her hair and eyes, but there was no crest on her body.”

“well···. The duke’s lineage is related to witches, so there might have been a way. But even if that child isn’t the duke’s heir, he’s probably at least an illegitimate child. They resemble each other to the extent that it is impossible to exist without blood.”

The candlelight shaded the Emperor’s face.

The emperor poured a couple of sips down his throat and laughed softly.

“The princess who rejected me is dead. Watoringu lost his life after receiving an insult he could no longer receive. And the son of the two is missing… The only child who appears to be descended from a duke is in my hands.”

“…”

“One day, the princess’s child will also come into my hands.”

Seeing that the Emperor’s goblet was empty, Reynolds got up and poured the drink from the table.

“Ray, tie that child’s heart here. If you feel affection for Nadia, keep her in that place, and if you have affection for the princess, give her the child. Anything is fine, so bind that child’s heart to it and never let it escape.”

The beard on the emperor’s face smirks.

“Don’t let that child get away from me. All precious things in Watoringu will be mine without any remaining…”

“…”

Reynolds quietly bowed his head.

Harsh actions, harsh words.

Sometimes emperors act so barbaric that they cannot be considered members of the imperial family.

When he was young, he followed him around, and if the current crown prince had done it, he would have done something that would have made him an aborted prince right away.

Still, Reynolds continued to admire this man.

Even the emperor knew that.

That’s why Reynolds is the only one in the world, the Emperor’s only ally.

He was the only one who shared not only the secret of the ring, but also the dark work buried deep in his heart.

Feeling secret pleasure at the fact, Reynolds quietly rose from his chair.

“It’s time to go to bed, Your Majesty.”

“okay.”

I put the slightly drunk emperor on the bed and cover him with a blanket.

The emperor looked at the ceiling with slightly blank eyes and muttered.

“Sometimes I see my father in my dreams. Maybe the day I will die is not too far away. Find the duke’s infant as soon as possible.”

“All right.”

Seeing the emperor close his eyes, Reynolds quietly left the room.

Rudy, if that child is really the blood of the Duke of Watoring…

‘I must hurry up and find the witch’s traces.’

If the witch did something, only the witch would know.

Unfortunately, the Empire has had a bad relationship with witches for a long time. Not sure if you can find someone who can cooperate.

Still, you’ll have to find someone with connections to witches.

＜ A child who resembles the Duke of Watoring ＞ End