Chapter 128

Astell’s presence quickly faded. Only then did Dante open the bedroom door.

“Your Highness! Please open the door—!”

The attendant, who had been knocking urgently, saw Dante and hastily bowed his head.

“S-Second Prince? Uh… when did you arrive?”

“Just now.”

“I wasn’t informed of your visit. My apologies.”

“Where is His Majesty?”

“Ah! He is on his way up now. But, the First Prince…”

Dante stepped aside from the door and gestured with his chin.

“In there.”

“Yes, then if you’ll excuse me… Gasp!”

The attendant, bowing obsequiously as he entered the bedroom, sucked in a sharp breath.

He had discovered Igrid lying on the floor with his arm severed.

“W-what in the world…”

The attendant screamed and rushed to Igrid.

“Your Highness! First Prince? Oh my, w-what is this… Your Highness! Wake up!”

The attendant was at a loss. He dared not touch a member of the royal family, only able to scream.

At the commotion, the knights standing guard outside the bedroom rushed in.

“What is going on!”

“It’s a disaster! His Highness has been harmed!”

The knights’ faces turned ashen.

If something happened to a royal, not only the attendants but also the knights on guard duty would not escape unscathed.

“T-that can’t be! We were guarding the bedroom like a fortress! What are you talking about? There were no intruders!”

“Are you suggesting His Highness harmed himself?”

Igrid had been perfectly fine just a little while ago. After that, no one had entered his bedroom.

To be found attacked in a sealed room where he had been alone. It was utterly mystifying.

“You knights will have to take responsibility for this!”

“What are you talking about? We know nothing of this! Can you attendants claim to be innocent? You are the ones who serve the First Prince!”

“What did you say? Are you suspecting us now?”

Leaning against the door, Dante let out a smirk.

They must really want to live. Their squirming attempts to shift the blame onto each other were laughable.

Seeing people like them, he couldn’t resist the urge to tell them.

That death is not the end. That their wretched lives will repeat for eternity.

“What is all this commotion!”

The emperor, who had made his way up to the bedroom, bellowed.

The attendant and knights, who had been at each other’s throats with veins bulging in their necks, fell silent and stepped back.

“Y-Your Majesty!”

“What a spectacle. How dare lowly servants raise their voices within the palace!”

“We have committed a sin worthy of death, Your Majesty!”

The emperor, clicking his tongue in disapproval, stepped into the bedroom and abruptly stopped.

His dark brown eyes stopped on Dante before moving to Igrid.

“…!”

The emperor’s face instantly stiffened. He didn’t scream, nor did he check on Igrid’s condition.

He simply stood ramrod straight, staring at Igrid.

The emperor clenched his jaw.

“Move the First Prince to another palace and summon a priest.”

The attendants and knights hesitated, unable to follow the order immediately. A frosty shout rained down upon them.

“What are you doing! Did you not hear my command!”

“Yes, yes! We understand, Your Majesty!”

The attendants and knights scrambled out of the bedroom.

The emperor ground his teeth, and only after the door closed did he ask in a low voice.

“Was this your doing?”

“Yes.”

The whites of the emperor’s eyes became shot with red capillaries. He glared at Dante, his hatred and disgust on full display.

“Look me in the eye and say that again.”

“I cut off Igrid’s arm.”

“Why?”

“Because he deserved it.”

Dante shrugged nonchalantly. The emperor strode forward and struck Dante across the cheek.

A sharp slap echoed.

“Did you think I wouldn’t see through your scheme? Did you think that if Igrid was no longer whole, you could become emperor in his stead?”

Dante ran his tongue over the inside of his torn cheek. The wound was slowly regenerating, thanks to the good meals he’d had at the Ruthius estate.

“That wasn’t my intention, but well, it seems to have turned out that way.”

“What?”

“Your Majesty, it seems you have no choice but to pass the throne to me. Since I’m the only able-bodied son you have left.”

“Silence! You devil!”

The emperor raised his hand to strike again.

“…What is this?”

He looked up at his own hand with a bewildered expression.

His hand wouldn’t move.

It wasn’t just his hand. His entire body had frozen like a statue.

“Ugh… Gck!”

Straining with all his might changed nothing. The only things he could move were his eyes and his tongue.

“How is this… Ugh! W-what is happening…”

Veins bulged on the emperor’s neck and forearms.

No matter how hard he struggled to break free from the unseen force, he couldn’t even twitch a finger.

Dante observed him for a moment before tilting his head.

As expected, he felt nothing.

The emperor was his father. His own flesh and blood. Yet, looking at him was like looking at a stone; there was no emotion.

But when he saw Astell get slapped, he’d felt his blood boil…

“Don’t waste your energy resisting. It will only tire you out more.”

“…Is this your power?”

“Yes.”

A power that could immobilize a person. He couldn’t even guess what kind of magic it was.

In utter disbelief, the emperor asked again.

“You had this kind of power? Is it something you gained after awakening as a Hunter?”

Dante sat on the sofa and answered casually.

“No, I was born with it.”

‘Could that be true? If so, why did he meekly endure the purification rituals? Why did he allow himself to be whipped?’

He could have easily avoided it all by immobilizing them. It made no sense.

The emperor skillfully hid his confusion and instead lashed out.

“Insolent whelp! What is the meaning of this! Release me at once!”

“I’ll release you right away if you promise me one thing.”

“You dare try to negotiate with me? A monster like you!”

Dante calmly pointed to the sofa.

“Sit down first.”

“I have no intention… Ugh!”

The emperor groaned. His body was moving on its own.

It was moving against his will, controlled entirely by someone else.

Born a royal, had he ever been treated this way by anyone?

And of all people, it was Dante. To think the monster he was certain he had thoroughly tamed had been hiding such an ability!

The thought of how much Dante must have been laughing at him all this time filled him with unbearable shame.

“Let me go! How dare you display such wicked tricks before me! Stop this at once!”

He resisted, trying not to move, but he couldn’t hold out for long and started toward the sofa.

Walking awkwardly, the emperor plopped down where Dante had pointed. A testament to his resistance, beads of sweat had formed on his forehead.

“What is this! Do you think you can get away with this!”

Dante pressed his temples with a weary expression.

“You’re so loud, my head is starting to hurt. Your Majesty, I’m going to shut your mouth for a moment.”

“What—! —!”

The emperor, his face filled with rage, moved his mouth. But no sound came out.

That wasn’t all. He couldn’t breathe properly, as if he were underwater. The emperor’s face grew redder and redder.

“Listen carefully. Proclaim me as the Crown Prince as soon as possible.”

Dante paused, tapping his fingers on the armrest of the sofa.

Up to this point, it was just as it had been in the tedious repetitions. But…

“You won’t do something I dislike, will you.”

This time, he found it hard to suppress his greed. He wanted Astell. Even if only for a very short time. Just this once.

“And meet with Duke Ruthius to discuss the matter of my engagement to his daughter.”

“…”

“Do you understand?”

Gasping for air, the emperor panted with his mouth wide open. His neck was covered in scratch marks from his own nails.

“Hmm, if you promise not to scream, I’ll let you speak.”

He nodded. And nodded again.

As the emperor agreed frantically, Dante gave a slight smile.

At the same time, his constricted throat cleared. The emperor broke into a violent coughing fit.

“Heeuk! Cough, cough! Gack!”

“Are you all right?”

“Haa, haa! W-water…”

The emperor hastily drank the water. His hands trembled so much that more water spilled than he drank.

Dante rested his chin on his hand with a bored expression, idly watching the emperor who looked on the verge of suffocation.

Bang!

The emperor set the water glass down harshly. Despite having faced the terror of death, his eyes shone, not the least bit cowed.

“I will ask you one thing.”

“Go ahead.”

“What was the reason you endured all this time? With that power, you could have escaped the imperial palace at any moment! Why did you stay put! Were you deceiving me?”

It would have been better if Dante had fled, unable to withstand the violence. Why had he steadfastly endured it?

“Because that is my role. It helps the Princess the most if I endure within the imperial family.”

“W-what do you mean…? Are you saying you endured all that pain for just one person? Why? What is the Princess to you!”

Dante tilted his head to the side. Lost in thought for a moment, he gave a bitter smile.

“The only reason I can endure this repeating time.”

Repeating time? It was difficult to fully comprehend the mad ramblings of a lunatic, but one thing was certain.

‘That bastard’s weakness is Astell.’

The emperor scoffed.

“Is that so? Fine! Then get on your knees and beg right now! Plead with me to let you be engaged to the Princess!”

“…Your Majesty, wouldn’t it be better not to provoke me?”

“Did you think I would be frightened by a monster like you? Obey me completely! Otherwise, you will never achieve what you desire! I would rather choose death here and now than become a monster’s puppet!”

The moment Dante ascends the throne, the empire is finished anyway.

With ruin imminent, what was there to fear? Madness flickered in the emperor’s eyes.

“Do you want to be the Crown Prince? Then kneel and beg! If you want to be engaged to the Princess, then kiss my feet!”

“Is that what you want?”

“What, you can’t do it? You can endure pain for the Princess, but not humiliation?”

Dante, who had been quietly looking down, burst out laughing.

“…Why are you laughing?”

“Because it’s too easy. So easy that I regret not having tried it before.”

“W-what did you say?”

His knees hit the floor.

Dante was kneeling. A moment later, his lips touched the emperor’s instep.

“I beg you, Father. Please give her to me.”

The emperor clenched his fists.

More than when his life had been threatened, the sight of Dante enduring humiliation so casually was what truly terrified him.

“…Crawl into the Blue Room and purify yourself for a week.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Dante walked over on his own and pushed the fireplace aside. When a dark passage appeared, he calmly stepped inside.

The emperor glared, teeth clenched, at Dante’s back as he disappeared into the darkness.