Don’t Concern Yourself With That Book

“Pushover?”

He repeated innocently.

“Can I not call you that when you were buying an item at such an exorbitantly high price?”

Now I remembered. I helped him out since he looked like he was about to puncture a hole in his wallet.

“Right. I placed a blessing on you so that your impression of me would be vague but it seemed like you really didn’t recognise me.”

“It was too long ago.”

“But I remember you. That’s disappointing.”

He smiled before tilting his head. Seeing his carefree expression, I could feel my guard letting down.

“I had given you the desert princess’ necklace.”

“Did you recognise me back then?”

“Of course I did. How could I have not?”

No, if we hadn’t been in the North Tower, it would be like we were having afternoon tea.

“You’re my younger sister.”

“How could you be sure that I was your younger sister when you’ve never seen me before?”

Strictly speaking, we weren’t biologically related. The emperor did not have a daughter. He only had seven sons.

‘Of course, just because we don’t share blood, doesn’t mean we can’t be family.’

Moreover, perhaps because I remembered my previous life, I had taken a long time to consider Fleon my family. But there was no reason why I would be moved by a man who suddenly appeared before me, saying that I was his younger sister.

“Even though we’ve never met before, it doesn’t change things. I’ve always wanted to see you. But I never expected you to come here.”

“Why didn’t you come to see me since you wanted to?”

“Then Dane and Fleon would have hated me. I didn’t want to be hated by my brothers.”

Julian smiled gently.

“But I enjoy watching them protect you once in a while.”

The warm and gentle prince, whom I had only heard of, had shown me the truth.

Usually, rumours were exaggerated.

“Alright, why did you come to see me?”

Julian straightened his back. He had just shifted from leaning against his bed but even then, he looked elegant. This was where the little bonding session between unrelated siblings ended.

“I can’t stay here for long so I’ll get straight to the point. The emperor and Castor did not kill you off even though you were the mastermind behind the coup, why?”

“So, why did the emperor imprison me instead of executing me? Because he liked me.”

“… I’m not here to ask the obvious.”

Julian tilted his head.

“That’s strange. You might want to ask about His Majesty but why would you want to talk about Castor?”

His eyes that had narrowed seemed to have a strange glint for a moment.

“Or did you ask the wrong question?”

He leaned against a chair before staring at me.

“So what do you want to hear? Would you like to hear the truth I know?”

“The truth?”

I repeated after him.

“Otherwise, you would have no reason to come look for the prince who had failed in his coup.”

Julian smiled, rendering me unable to have any idea as to what he was thinking.

“I had no clue. That you were that desperate to know the truth?”

The princes in the Empire usually had sharp and fierce impressions and if not, they looked somewhat languid, often making lethal looks.

Julian felt completely different, perhaps because of his appearance.

“There was only one reason I was not killed by His Majesty. Because he cared for me.”

Julian said softly.

Instead of picking his answer apart, I took a step forward.

“The 6th Prince, Fleon, is dead. He had been executed.”

Julian raised his head. It seemed like he had been unaware.

The number of people entering the tower was extremely restricted. And now, there was no reason for anyone to seek Julian out. Also, since everyone who would want to was dead or imprisoned. Others were probably too afraid to look for him.

“The brother whom I loved had died to cover for your sins. I’m not here to blame you.”

“…..”

“But, for the dead, I need to know the truth. Tell me the truth that you know.”

I crossed my arms before slowly lowering my back.

“Just as you’ve said, instead of dying, you had been imprisoned, right? Tell me. For you, who is unable to do anything, I will use that truth.”

At my urgent tone, Julian stared at me in silence for a moment. The look in his eyes changed.

But the gaze did not feel pointed.

Rather it was focused and collected as if he was calculating.

“… You are a kind and warm person but you’re not the same with your work. In some cases, it is inevitable for you to discard things based on the benefits you calculated they bring you. That’s what politics entails and that’s what being an heir meant.”

Julian was in a state of limbo.

“That was what my grandfather used to say. Though I might be a good grandson, I struggled to be a noteworthy heir.”

His dark brown eyes remained so still that it was as if he had never been angry before in his life.

“That was why I had become so curious about my sister who had found herself in a situation where she managed to ignore all politics and turn the tide, as if she was standing in the eye of a storm. Should we get a table next time?”

“You are not answering my question.”

Julian smiled.

“His Majesty cared for me. For a non-templar like me, he had cared for me though he already had a strong heir to his throne.”

Even I knew that. He was famous for being the emperor’s favourite back in the Imperial Palace.

“In His eyes, other than the fact that I was not a templar, I was the perfect heir. My personality, appearance, popularity and family background.”

Julian turned his head slightly by staring out the window. It was the magnificent view I saw a while ago.

“Did he love me as his son? Well. No. I think he loved me because I was the perfect body.”

“Body?”

“The truth is something you cannot imagine even after peeling back all the layers.”

He spoke neither too loudly or softly.

“His Majesty had exhausted all his divinity in order to maintain his life. Despite the fact Heirs of the Lord usually have longer lifespans than that of non-templars. That’s why he thought of me. What if he could transfer his soul into an able body? So that he could live life again?”

“What?”

At the words I had not expected to hear, I widened my eyes.

“Is that even possible?”

“It’s possible if there’s a strong Templar of Death around. And it’ll take a lot of divinity.”

Rusbella, she had been in a Temple of Death when she summoned another soul.

‘She had made a wish upon the God of Death.’

For a moment, I was reminded of the crystal lying beneath the Empire. To transfer his soul to another body, he needs a powerful Templar of Death and a lot of divinity.

‘I know that the emperor had sacrificed templars to the crystal to provide for his divinity.’

That was how the current state of matters came to be. And it had been this way for the past 10 years at the very least.

But the state of the Empire remained.

And then.

“I am a Templar of Death.”

I spoke without realising.

“Auresia? Don’t tell me that’s the reason why Auresia is by the emperor’s side.”

Julian nodded.

“His Majesty had massacred all the Templars of Death at the time before bringing in the most powerful. And that was your mother, the 8th Queen.”

The strength of a Templar of Death was amplified by loss.

“It’s thanks to me that you haven’t gone mad.”

She told me I had the same powers as her because I was her daughter.

And that was why the emperor had been so obsessed with her. An escape from his old, dying body.

Because of what he wanted, the emperor had trampled all over a woman’s life. But it couldn’t have been just her. Victims who had been suffering for so long. There must be some who couldn’t even scream.

“From the love of a man with golden eyes. A rotten smell rose.”

Auresia, what could she have been thinking standing next to the emperor?

“Ashley. How do you intend to use the truth of the man who had failed in his coup?”

Slowly, he turned his head.

“Do you want to get out of here?”

Julian shook his head slowly.

“If I die, the living would lose hope. By keeping me alive, His Majesty was holding me hostage over all those that followed me. Even I have a hostage being held over my head.”

He calmly explained why he did not die on his own after the coup failed.

“Is the emperor still looking for an opportunity to transfer his soul into your body?”

He lowered his head.

“Why you?”

“Because that’s the most the 8th Queen can do. Souls can only be transferred between templars and non-templars.”

I zipped my lips for a moment.

Why did the emperor want to hold a Succession Ceremony? The emperor was still watching for a chance to transfer his soul. The fact that Julian was alive and the fact that Auresia was next to him was proof.

“Why did you tell me everything?”

“I wanted to prove to be of some use to you.”

Our eyes met. Julian smiled gently. He was someone who smiled often.

‘Or someone who uses smiles to hide his thoughts.’

The relaxed atmosphere tightened in an instant.

“There was something I heard. So, I could guess. Castor is interested in you. And you’re the daughter of the 8th Queen.”

Julian paused for a moment before continuing.

“Hold on!”

For some reason, he stood up and tried to approach me. But he tripped over his legs and fell on the spot.