The Emperor of Valquia, Leonel de Valquia, persistently craved Lucian’s body whenever a certain cycle approached.
The madness of breaking Lucian’s ankles as he wept and begged to be let go, and eventually taking him by force.
That was the side effect of the awakening ability passed down through the bloodline.
The Emperor continued, self-mockingly.
“The ends of the Valquia Imperial Family were mostly similar. By the end of their reign, they were captured by madness and the administration was left to the nobles, and the end of the next emperor was the same. In special cases, the peak of madness manifested when they were young.”
This was the reason why noble-centered governance was rampant.
Even the previous emperor eventually became a puppet of the three dukes in his later years, and he released his impulses to his heart’s content rather than suppressing his rampage.
A dissolute and stupid emperor.
Even if he was an emperor who received trust, he could not escape the madness.
And the noble society knew that fact very well.
However, the absence of an imperial family with powerful abilities was nothing short of a disaster in Valquia, where magical beasts appeared.
They might dominate the imperial family in their later years, but they could never bring themselves to go against the imperial family as a whole.
I recalled the sentences from the dystopian novel, The Birdcage Emperor’s.
‘Leonel de Valquia killed all his brothers and ascended to the throne himself.’
“Then, the former princes and princesses…”
“Yes, it was an unavoidable choice because the rampage had started. They weren’t fit to rule because they were already mad to begin with, so I have no regrets.”
Hearing the backstory of the novel ‘The Birdcage Emperor’s’ through the mouth of the person himself felt mystical.
The fragments of the past coming from the Emperor’s mouth were excessively cruel and terrifying, but through his calm tone, it felt strangely relieving.
“Your Majesty, is it really okay for you to use your ability? Hearing about the previous generation, using strong abilities seems excessively dangerous.”
“I am on the side where the side effects from the ability are less severe. Unlike the former princes and princesses born from incestuous marriages, I am a child born outside. In that respect, Ian, we have something in common.”
“I don’t know what’s so good about it that you call it a commonality…”
I answered sourly. But unlike my calm appearance, my inner self was surging.
This, too, was a hidden setting of The Birdcage Emperor’s.
The blood-and-iron, obsession-driven tyrant emperor, ‘Leonel,’ was a bastard child.
“Still, the symptoms that visit periodically couldn’t be helped, so I used to send away the servants and lock myself up.”
Leonel’s golden eyes turned toward me.
“Thanks to you, there’s no need for that anymore. Because it will be fine if you, Ian, treat me before that happens.”
Surprisingly, the powerful tyrant who seemed to have neither blood nor tears was relieved.
Ordinary headaches, sudden violent impulses that would blind one’s reason—the fact that I could free him from such things.
That I, myself, could save someone.
But I had to return home someday.
It was a quest I accepted to do so, and I was giving it my all just to survive anyway.
I tried to avoid Leonel’s gaze.
Perhaps he didn’t want to put too much burden on me either, so he turned the conversation with a question.
“But Ian, who exactly is this ‘Baek-gyeong’ person?”
“Huh? How do you know that name, Your Majesty…”
“You kept calling it while you were sleeping. Even with tears. Who is it, perhaps a former lover?”
‘Ah, so it was you. I lost consciousness and dreamed of you.’
I chuckled and answered.
“A friend. I can’t see them anymore.”
“Is that so?”
Leonel did not ask anything more about it.
He just stretched out his large hand and patted my shoulder a couple of times.
Back then, I couldn’t protect them, but now I had become someone who could protect.
What are you hesitating for, Choi Doyoon?
You can be both an exclusive guide and a civil servant.
Multitasking is not the duty of an illustrator, but surely it is for me?
I steeled my resolve.
At that moment, something began to twinkle inside Leonel’s arms.
It was the communication stone that the Count had pressed into my hand when I left the Count’s castle.
As Leonel infused the stone with his golden energy, the Count’s voice began to be heard from beyond the glowing stone.
“Lester.”
“You’re finally connected! Your Majesty, are you unharmed?!”
As it turned out, it seemed the Count had been sending messages constantly for the three days that the Emperor and I were unconscious.
Just as I was wondering why the stone hadn’t connected, it seemed it had finally linked up.
I guessed, using my knowledge from my time at the Ability Management Bureau, that perhaps communication via magic had been impossible due to the unique magical power of an S-rank monster.
We greeted the Count’s party, who arrived with a stretcher and faces full of worry.
“Oh my, heavens! Someone, bring the advisor at once!”
The Count shrieked at the sight of my terrible state—my shirt soaked in blood and my entire body covered in red, raw burns.
Thanks to that, while being loaded onto the carriage, I had to endure hours of nagging about why I, a frail scholar type, would dare to step into a fight recklessly.
I tried to prove that I wasn’t “frail,” but I just got nagged at again for trying to stand up when I was a patient.
I promised myself a hundred times in my heart that as soon as I healed, I would immediately start a physical training routine, beginning with 100 squats.
But would it sound strange if I said the nagging didn’t feel unpleasant?
I accepted it happily, assuming it was just nagging born of worry.
We were finally able to return to the Count’s castle, where there was a stove.
To be honest, I really thought I was going to die of cold.
How wonderful it would have been if I could have introduced South Korean boilers here.
If I had known this would happen, I would have acquired some architectural knowledge before possessing this body instead of reading monster databases.
And then, I heard one piece of shocking news.
“Pardon? A large-scale monster outbreak already?”
Count Lester sighed and answered.
“Yes. It’s been two days since evacuation orders were issued across the empire. If things had gone as scheduled, it wouldn’t have been until the end of next week.”
The large-scale monster outbreak occurring in Valquia—the so-called “Great Subjugation” period—had arrived earlier than expected.
The Count shared the status of the subjugation that had been coming in from all over the empire through communication stones.
Although the commercial district of the capital had been half-destroyed due to the premature outbreak, it was said that they had set a new record with zero civilian casualties thanks to the quick response of the subjugation team.
I had worked myself to the bone for three days, staying up all night creating monster encyclopedias and checking training drills in preparation for the Great Subjugation.
It was a relief that the hard work had paid off.
‘This is why I pull all-nighters.’
So, the subjugation was mostly wrapped up.
