Abandoned Priest at the Hero’s Party

Waiting to die

policy. Grantera.

This place, which was always crowded, suddenly became quiet. People lost their laughter, the market became quiet, and the number of drunks filling the streets at night was greatly reduced. People visiting the red light district also stopped visiting.

The fact that His Majesty the Emperor was about to die is no longer a secret or anything, and the situation was so horrific that everyone who knew it knew it, and even those who didn’t know it had heard of it.

The fact that the emperor had not been drinking properly for several days, and his breathing was getting weaker, made everyone with knowledge nervous. As anyone could see, his life was on the verge of coming to an end.

“Prince. Let me congratulate you in advance.”

The third prince, Edmund von Illumina, nodded with an expressionless face. He had just grabbed the father’s hand and was crying, but his face changed as soon as he returned to his room.

The tears had already dried up, and a glimpse of joy flashed across his face. After a while, he becomes the Emperor of the Empire.

At least nominally, he will rise to the apex of the empire, and theoretically become the master of the empire with the right to escape from life or death of his subjects. Of course, this is because Ardein and Arsein, the enemies of the Empress, were excluded from the competition. He was originally a child of the 3 Empresses, and was one step away from the struggle for the throne.

“grandee. The language was not appropriate. When the father-in-law is passing away, how can I receive congratulations as a child?”

Edmund obviously nodded, but the words that came out of his mouth were very fluent.

The younger brother of the current emperor, Archduke Balder, burst into laughter. The Archduke, the head of the new sect within the Empire, was Edmund’s biggest supporter, and he liked what his nephew was doing.

The savvy and inflexible former Crown Prince Arsein was a difficult person to approach.

He was always smiling, but he was never biased towards sympathy, and he always handled things fairly and was a very annoying person. Gyoguk never wanted such a person to become emperor.

What if Edmund is black and greedy? For Duke Balder, he was much better than Arsein.

In any case, it was easy to earn money with such a person, it was easy to obtain an interest, and, above all, it was easy to manipulate. Edmund would bow his head to the temple as long as his profit was guaranteed.

‘Uncle. Are you also ignoring me because I am the concubine’s child?’

However, that is the personal opinion of Duke Balder.

To him, Edmund was like a dog that listened to, but when you think about it, it was only natural. Because the prince has not yet taken the presidency.

People like Edmund always put the strengthening of power first. Everything else is next. Since I don’t have much now, I needed the background of a temple group, and whenever I saw Archduke Balder, he bowed his head and said hello without forgetting the word Hwangsuk.

‘Let’s put it somewhere.’

However, no one knows whether it will continue to do so even after ascending to power.

A cold light flickered in Edmund’s eyes and then disappeared. In any case, the day he will feud with the Archduke is not now. First, you must ascend to the throne, and first you must command the world.

Only after attracting the secret organizations of the imperial family and building up his own body of guard enough will he be able to give the archduke a suitable bag and drive him to the countryside. At that time, the temple will know that they raised tigers.

However, it was questionable whether that day could come in the near future.

For now, I needed that uncle and his background. Because he was not in an overwhelming position in the struggle for the throne.

“It would be great if you could take your place without conflict, but where? You are wise and I think you know what I am talking about…”

“Authenticity. His legitimacy is always an issue. What the hell is that red book?”

The third prince could not bear it and distorted his expression. He is also the son of the empress, and the other princes and princesses are also sons of the empress. The only children of the Empress, that is, a government official, are Ardein and Arsein.

Even after both of them died or fell worse than death, the brand of descendants of concubines did not disappear. Duke Balder coughed, because he also had a concubine.

“The fifth prince, Arsin, is one of the biggest threats. He’s not particularly talented, but his mother, the First Empress’s father, is Count Marcus.”

Count Marcus Feltman. But he is called Count Marcus, not Count Feltman.

This is because the individual’s fame overwhelms the family’s fame. He was born into a family that had no meaning in the name of a title, but he is a powerful person who revived the family with his personal abilities. Before that, most people didn’t even know there was such a thing as the Feltman family.

A tycoon in the southern part of the empire, this frontier was truly a historical figure, and he made profits by giving salaries and jobs to those who were wandering in the chaos of the empire, and by carrying out large-scale construction.

Gathering nomads, distributing settlements, and enlisting the head of the household as a soldier instead of giving land to them, they formed a large-scale enlisted army. At least in the current situation, no one can touch this man, who can raise more than 100,000 troops if he is conscripted to the maximum.

It is true that he reigns like the king of the southern part of the Empire, but in the Empire it is no less than a necessary evil. If this person disappears, the Southern Solgent Kingdom, which only seeks to roam, will rise up like a wildcat and bite the Empire’s flesh.

In turbulent times, those who have the right to disease have the power. Count Marcus was a rare man with not only military power but also personal force, and the people of the southern provinces do not know the emperor’s name, but everyone knows this person’s name.

Since the land mass of the empire is too wide, it is not possible to control even distant provinces, which is why this is happening. Of course, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“I gave up the position of martyr to protect the empire, but it is a dog that is trying to threaten its owner with that power. But after all, they are just watchdogs. He will not rebel.”

How long and difficult would it be if the Empire directly sent down its generals and conscripted the people of that region to form an army? And how much money will be spent?

Direct control is good in theory, but only good in theory. It is not as efficient as entrusting local defenses to local people. The premise, of course, is the assumption that Count Marcus is loyal to the Empire and the imperial family.

“Marcus Feltman. Will that ambitious man even conspire to rebel? Even if they decorate it, who will respond when the kingdom is behind us? The central authority is still alive, and no one wants to destroy the great ship of the Empire. So everyone makes money from their positions, greedy for power, but they don’t want to cross the line.”

The prince’s confidence had a basis. Once the nevus occurs, it destroys any balance that has been narrowly linked.

That’s something no one wants. From beyond the sea, the Odal Empire presses in, and in the far west, the newly formed Demon Empire threatens the Empire.

The elves of the southeast are not reliable allies, and at best they are neutral. The Southern Solgent Kingdom has already invaded the neighboring kingdoms and is calling for generations, so it will not be long before it will be called an Empire.

That means that even if a powerful person capable of causing a rebellion overthrows the imperial family and succeeds in a counter-revolution, there is nothing left.

So what if you take over the empire? Right now, you will have to think about how to stop Harmael with the power that was cut in half by the civil war. Such a situation is the worst that everyone thinks.

“Lowering. But we can’t be too optimistic. It would be better to be careful ahead of time than to think too much about what the Earl will make in the face of his greed for power.”

So, perhaps, what ambitious locals want is not to destroy the façade of an empire. They most likely would not even think of changing the royal family.

It was obvious that the bloodlines of the Illumina would continue to sit on the imperial throne, and instead intervene by controlling the emperor in the dark. This ‘Hwangsuk’ right in front of me is the person who wants to do that.

Of course, that’s assuming everyone thinks rationally. Humans are more vulnerable to desire than we think, and without it, the Shinigami would not have existed.

“Of course, once you get to the throne, you think about it.”

Duke Balder spoke slightly.

“My dear… there are not many days left to call you like this. You will soon ascend to the throne. I just hope he didn’t forget how he was able to ascend to the throne. What a price the Church has paid for degradation.”

Edmund’s eyes grew cold, but he just smiled.

Don’t forget That these people conspired to assassinate the Crown Prince, so he can assassinate himself in the same way. Of course, that’s easy to say, and it won’t be that easy.

The emperor and the prince are completely different, and the prince and the prince are also different in status. There are many secret forces or secret forces that are loyal only to the emperor, and they are loyal to the emperor, but even the emperor cannot control them at will.

He escorts the emperor, but he does not obey his orders.

Because the first emperor prepared for this kind of situation, the secret power prepared for the time when the emperor commits a crime, loses public sentiment, the national treasury runs out, and power slips out of his hands.

Once a monarch loses his infinite power, it is impossible to recover or take it back. This is because it is after the hands of others have penetrated the forces that should be their own.

‘If I become emperor, I will have absolute authority over the protective magic circle of the imperial family. And the right to use Yongmaek. If all the forces hidden by the Empire pay their allegiance to me, from then on, I will be able to negotiate on an equal footing with the kingdom behind this uncle.’

In order to prepare for such a situation, these forces do not have the authority to issue orders in peacetime, even the emperor. It is like an arrangement that only activates when the Empire is in crisis of Nuran.

This is one of the reasons why the Crown Prince Arsein was assassinated in vain. Of course, the underlying reason is that almost everyone, aristocrats and temples alike, wished for his death.

However, it was also because the secret powers within the imperial family had drastically lowered the level of escort for the prince who was no longer the prince. They are loyal not to a single emperor, but to a perpetual imperial family.

No matter who the next great emperor is, as long as they have the Illumina castle, they will accept and be loyal to that emperor.

If a prince assassinates an appointed prince in accordance with due process, it is a rebellion, but killing the same prince is part of the struggle for the throne.

These secret powers are strictly prohibited from interfering in the struggle for the throne of the empire according to the rules established by the first emperor. Otherwise, the power left for the empire may be consumed in the imperial civil war.

In any case, it was said that the winner of the battle for the throne had their own abilities, so the first emperor did not think badly about the descendants hitting each other. At least it was seen as better than an incompetent one taking over the throne.

“You must go back now. You have been away for too long.”

At Archduke Balder’s words, Edmund nodded. Already his brother and sisters were pouring out all the tears they would shed for the rest of their lives by the fallen emperor. That level of acting ability is one of the essential parts of an imperial family, but some of them were too harsh.

“father! your majesty! Please open your eyes! Son, if your father dies like this, I will also bury my head in the floor and be with you. I will accompany you so you will not be lonely!”

Seeing the prince banging his head until it made a bang, everyone must have had a trembling expression on his face. The 7th Prince, Arzein. Of course, Edmund’s inner thoughts looking at him were no different.

The father-in-law is going to die soon, so who the hell are you trying to show such filial piety to? Because his thoughts are so short, he is not even qualified to intervene in the battle for the throne even though he is a prince.

If the 7th Prince is only the emperor, he will become a kite who has lost his ties and will be sold as a hostage to other countries.

“yes?”

Then, Archduke Balder suddenly frowned.

He didn’t say it out loud, considering the place, but he shouted solemnly.

“What is the fuss? Why is it so noisy outside? Who dares to make a fuss at a time like now! Whoever he is, he should set an example!”

That cry suddenly hardened. A tremendous sense of intimidation emanated from afar, and the hair stood upright and the down hairs all over the body stiffened.

If you don’t know the true nature of this intimidation, can you call him a royal family? This is definitely the dragon form that all the imperial family cultivates with the power of dragon veins!

‘master…?’

However, even with the help of dragon veins, they can only progress faster than others and cannot reach the status of a master. But this power, this sense of intimidation, is definitely the Master’s. What does this mean? Was there an imperial family who reached the status of a master among the royal family?

‘Damn, who the hell? Who are you?’

Edmund’s relaxed expression also hardened. If the owner of this intimidation is either the prince or the princess, an unexpectedly powerful competitor appears.

Woah, the imperial family is the master! What does that mean? It means that the first royal family to inherit the legend of the first emperor was born. Even without any power, legitimacy alone is a threat.

“Shut up! Are you guys going to stop me from seeing the rich man?!”

Edmund’s expression hardened when he heard the voice of the owner of the dragon.

This time, he couldn’t keep his expression any longer. He stumbled unknowingly, and fortunately no one paid any attention to his ugliness. Because everyone I knew stood up in surprise.

“Ah, Ardain?”

bang! The door almost smashed open, and a woman jumped in hastily.

Tears were flowing from her eyes, and people didn’t even care about it. It was only important that the rotten flesh was full of vitality. Armata, the archbishop who serves Goddess Helai, was so amazed that he stiffened while memorizing the prayer.

“Ah, Father…!”

But now, would that even catch her eye? The princess’ eyes turned to the central bed and her crying mother.

The Empress sobbed, wiping her tears with a towel. When she saw Ardein, she hit her buttocks in surprise. The maids around her screamed and supported her.

“Hello, are you right…? Ardain. are you back Hey, isn’t this a dream?”

“Mother… Mother…”

“This is awful! You damn bitch! Do you know how much this mother’s heart burns when she hears that you left without a word? Do you know how much your Majesty cares for you?”

The Empress recognized her daughter, who was younger than before she fell ill, as to what good things she ate. Anyway, she is a daughter born of her own belly. how can you not know I remembered the picture of that child before he fell ill, many times in my mind.

“Still, you’re the daughter of a bitch like you, and it seems that God wants me to see you again before I die with His Majesty.”

After the Empress had finished speaking, she raised her hand and slapped her on the cheek.

A muffled sound echoed through the room, and everyone was unable to speak. The weeping wife wept and laid her hand on the emperor’s chest.

“By the way… this is not really a dream. You… you really are back. Even the disease that plagued you is cured. I don’t know what miracle happened, but come here. Before His Majesty leaves us forever, I must show you at least once.”

The empress couldn’t contain her sobbing and ended up bursting into tears.

“You said so much to me that you wanted to see your illness all get better… But before you leave, you have to grant your wish. your majesty. It’s me. Please open your eyes. My child… Ardain is back. The disease has already left, and the skin has been restored… His Majesty, our daughter is back…”