15. The Emperor’s Mark

The capricious weather that had rained all night seemed to tire of their argument and stopped.

The sun appeared from between the clouds, and they eventually came out to town and arrived at the hospital.

The disguise tools Adeline had brought when fleeing from Marquis Credion’s family were useful.

Just wearing glasses and changing her makeup made her appearance different.

The duke also wore brown contact lenses and a wig, but Adeline thought this wasn’t enough for him, so she added glasses to cover his eyes.

“Your fever is quite high. Take this medicine three times a day.”

After taking the medicine prescribed by the doctor, Adeline felt her body becoming lighter.

As her condition seemed to improve, her mood also brightened.

“Shall we sit by the fountain for a moment?”

“Now? We’re being chased.”

“Who would recognize us in this appearance? Let’s rest for a bit.”

The duke asked while looking at the clear sky and pointing to the fountain ahead.

Adeline quickly looked around.

The knights from Marquis Credion’s family who had been moving in groups last night seemed to have left.

“It’s fine, let’s go.”

At the duke’s urging words, Adeline’s vigilance eased slightly.

‘Yes, it should be fine for a little while.’

While the two were pleasantly resting at the fountain.

A kind-looking elderly man approached the fountain leading neighborhood children.

He was holding a string of dolls in one arm.

The elderly man sat on the fountain, and the children naturally gathered around him.

This didn’t seem to be the first time.

The sight of children huddled together was so heartwarming that the two couldn’t take their eyes off them.

—

This land was originally a barren place filled only with winter.

A righteous warrior heard rumors that a monster living at the top of the mountain was making this land barren, so he climbed the mountain.

When the warrior finally reached the summit, an amazing sight awaited him.

A beautiful woman was trapped inside an ice crystal. The woman with jet-black hair was so beautiful even with her eyes closed that the warrior couldn’t look away.

The moment he touched the ice crystal while in a daze, the ground rumbled and a huge monster appeared.

It expressed anger at the warrior who coveted the woman in the crystal.

After a long battle, the warrior was able to defeat the monster.

The moment the ice crystal was covered with the monster’s blood, the ice storm that had been raging at the cold mountain peak stopped, and a warm breeze began to flutter.

The ice cracked, and finally, the woman inside opened her eyes.

The woman’s eyes sparkled red like clear, transparent rubies.

The warrior couldn’t take his eyes off the woman who had opened her eyes.

The woman approached the warrior and said:

“You have awakened me, goddess Helena, and saved this land, so I bestow upon you the right to rule this land for generations to come.”

The warrior, struck by these words, automatically knelt in reverence.

The goddess took one step closer and bestowed a kiss on the warrior’s forehead.

Then the warrior’s eyes began to turn red.

“Rule the world with these eyes. These eyes will be proof of the qualification I have bestowed.”

Named after this warrior who brought warmth to the world, the warrior named this land Soltarius and began to rule.

The first Emperor of Soltarius first built a temple for goddess Helena in the closest and best location to the imperial palace.

Even now, more than 600 years after the founding of the Empire, under the protection of goddess Helena, only one person per generation in the imperial family was born with red eyes.

Although all imperial descendants were of Soltarius lineage, those who did not have red eyes did not receive recognition from goddess Helena and could not ascend to the throne.

For generations, imperial descendants with red eyes had to receive approval from goddess Helena before ascending to the throne, proving that they were the ones who inherited the goddess’s protection.

Those who passed this proof all ruled this empire benevolently and kindly.

—

The puppet show was about the founding legend of the Soltarius Empire.

Although Adeline had heard this story since childhood, she was newly immersed in the elder’s storytelling.

“Del, is that story true?”

Adeline was puzzled by the duke’s sudden question.

“Yes. The emperors of the Empire since its founding all had red eyes, and many were born with black hair. It was said that only one person per generation was born with red eyes.

And now it’s a bit different as two people were born with red eyes. Namely, Duke Torpeo and His Highness the Crown Prince.”

Adeline sensed something strange even as she continued speaking.

“Then why do I know of three people?”

Adeline couldn’t answer the duke’s question.

The duke and he were the same person. Even setting that aside, there were the Crown Prince and the Duke. This generation had two people with red eyes.

“Doesn’t this country’s Crown Prince, the Duke, and I all have red eyes?”

Adeline quickly covered the duke’s mouth, afraid someone might hear.

It seemed strange to her too.

‘Why do both the Crown Prince and the Duke have red eyes?’

Adeline became frightened the moment this question, which she had never found strange before, blossomed.

It was as if she had encountered a massive secret she shouldn’t know.

Could it be that the person trying to harm the duke was the mad Crown Prince?

There should be only one sun under one sky.

But in the Empire, there were two people born with red eyes, which were essentially the Emperor’s mark.

The assumption that the Crown Prince tried to kill the duke who threatened his position seemed quite plausible.

Adeline recalled that the “Torpeo” ducal family to which the duke belonged was a prestigious family that had produced empresses for generations.

Wasn’t the previous Empress also from the Torpeo ducal family? Although the fate of the deposed Empress wasn’t good.

‘Certainly, if it’s the Torpeo family, they would have imperial blood mixed in, so it wouldn’t be strange for red eyes to appear, but……’

Adeline narrowed her eyes as she looked at the duke before her.

No matter how close the duke’s family was to the imperial family, it wouldn’t be easy for the Emperor’s mark to appear unless they were direct blood descendants.

Is it just a groundless fear?

Adeline eventually dismissed it as a useless delusion and organized her thoughts.

No matter how high his social status, the Emperor’s mark? That’s nonsense.

“Let’s go back now.”

Adeline stood up and extended her hand toward the duke.

⁕⁕⁕

At that time, Severus reclined on the sofa in front of the table.

He had stayed at Horn’s most luxurious inn, but it wasn’t to his liking.

He had received word that traces of Adeline had been found in Horn.

“Your Grace, we’ve discovered traces of Miss Adeline moving south. It seems she exchanged the jewels she took at a pawnshop for gold coins.”

“Route?”

“She moved straight south, so we expect it’s the Horn region.”

The Horn region, far from the capital where the Marquis Credion family’s downtown house was located.

Known as the end-of-the-land village, Horn was the region with the smallest population in the Soltarius Empire. In short, an underdeveloped area.

To think that she had fled to a village without even a proper local noble.

Along with the news that the Crown Prince’s marriage proposal had arrived, Adeline disappeared at dawn.

Adeline had been a child with no interest in marriage since she was young.

Or more precisely, she wasn’t interested in things that noble girls would typically be interested in.

‘Marriage, luxury goods, social circles.’

Adeline, who showed no interest in any of these, was only fascinated by money.

A child interested in business that would typically be done by merchants.

Therefore, he thought she wouldn’t welcome the engagement with the Crown Prince, but to run away like this.

For a moment, the Marquis’s eyes gleamed fiercely.

At first, he considered it a simple runaway and thought she would return after a few days.

Since the inherited property wasn’t much, Adeline didn’t take much with her.

Having lived her entire life as the only daughter of the Marquis family, he thought she would return crying and reluctantly agree to the engagement with the Crown Prince.

One day became a week, and a month passed, but Adeline showed no signs of returning.

“Your Grace, His Highness the Crown Prince is very displeased. It’s been a month since he sent the marriage proposal, yet the response is so delayed.”

“Surely Miss Credion isn’t really missing? Especially when she’s about to be engaged to the one and only Crown Prince of the Soltarius Empire.”

The words of the Crown Prince’s secretary had an edge to them. It was an implicit pressure to find Adeline and respond to the engagement.

Eventually, Severus had no choice but to set out to find Adeline.

With the report that Adeline had moved to Horn, Severus formed a knight order and headed south.

He thought she would stand out anywhere since she looked exactly like him, so he would find her quickly.

But he couldn’t find her easily.

The Marquis deeply inhaled from his lit tobacco pipe and exhaled.

The murky smoke dispersing in the air seemed to represent Severus’s feelings, making him emotional.

At that moment, there was a knock, and a subordinate appeared.

“Your Grace.”

“How did it go?”

The man approached where Severus was sitting and knelt.

“I apologize. We deployed the knight order, but couldn’t find any trace of Miss. It seems she’s skilled at disguise, making it difficult to……”

Severus picked up a cup on the table and threw it at the knight commander.

With a loud crash, the teacup shattered right next to the man.

A flying piece scratched the man’s cheek diagonally.

The knight commander’s face turned pale at the red blood dripping to the floor.

“Are you saying that I, Marquis Credion, have come all this way only to return empty-handed?”

As the chilling voice echoed, the commander bowed his head to the floor.

More than a few knights had been dismissed for displeasing the Marquis.

“I apologize! I will turn the entire Empire upside down to find……”

Before the knight commander could finish his words.

From behind Severus, the Marquis’s secretary, who had been standing in the shadows, came forward and bowed. The man was the Marquis’s closest aide.

“Your Grace, you must return now. Leave finding Miss Adeline to them and let’s go back.”

Severus narrowed his brows at the secretary’s words.

“Your dinner appointment with His Highness the Crown Prince is in three days.”

The “them” the secretary referred to were those who handled the Marquis Credion family’s covert affairs.

Severus muttered “useless” toward the knight commander and stood up.

To think he was being pushed around by a young Crown Prince because he couldn’t find his own daughter.

“Let’s return. I’ll decide your punishment when we get back.”

Severus’s gaze sweeping over the knight commander was as cold as frost.