CH 95

A moment ago, in the secret library reserved for the imperial family.

I saw Master beyond the communication mirror.

No, I tried to see him, but I couldn’t.

He was covered in a black cloth or something, and the screen through the mirror was dark.

“Master, why are you covering the mirror?”

“I’m afraid it’s because I am not wearing a mask, so please forgive me.”

“Ah. That’s about it, it’s fine.”

“Thank you.”

Just by the sound of his voice, I could tell that the corners of the Master’s mouth had turned up smoothly.

He seemed to be in good spirits, but I felt a bit sorry for him, unable to go anywhere without his mask.

‘He’s a very self-loathing person.’

As expected of a Master of the Dark Intelligence Guild, there was very scant information about him in the original story.

He had been severely wounded in the Continental War and had always covered his face with a mask.

All I know is that it’s a magic mask that makes people think he’s a different person every time they see him.

‘They say that others perceive him as a different person, almost like an inanimate object.’

If he hated himself, he would try to erase his existence.

‘Will there ever come a time when the master will be unmasked?’

Lost in thought, I quickly gathered my thoughts and asked Master.

“What’s going on, by the way?”

“I got word from the Grand Hall, and I thought you should know.”

“Grand Hall? They’re supposed to be in the middle of a presentation right now…………. What’s the news?”

“Her Majesty the Empress Dowager has appeared in the Grand Hall and is causing a ruckus, demanding to see you, Roselina, immediately.”

The Empress Dowager wants to see me?

‘Why all of a sudden, I don’t even know her.’

The Empress Dowager entered the life of a chaplain upon the Emperor’s ascension to the throne.

Her biological children had been purged in the struggle for the throne, so people assumed she was making a choice to save her life.

“Why does she want to see me?”

“Her Majesty has been hiding the symptoms of the Curse of the Rose for a long time, and now that a cure has been found, she wants to see it for herself.”

“Yeah, but something’s not right. Her Majesty isn’t on the list, is she?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

From the other side of the mirror came the Master’s agreement.

After discovering the cause of the Curse of the Rose, I asked the Master to create a list.

It was a list of people affected by the Curse of the Rose and when it manifested itself.

The idea was to get to the bottom of the curse of the fake rose.

(T/N: remember that there is the ‘real’ curse of the rose and the ‘fake’ curse of the rose)

“The timing of the curse can mask its authenticity.”

For example, anyone who was cursed with the rose before I was born would have been cursed with the Curse of the Fake Rose.

My first thought would be to find the person whose Curse of the Fake Rose was manifested.

That person would be somehow connected to the person who created the Curse of the Fake Rose.

My list would be centered around nobles.

This was because their identities were certain, and the time frame of the curse was relatively clear.

Naturally, the royal family was the first to be investigated.

“But the Empress Dowager wasn’t on the list.”

Either her symptoms were mild enough that she could hide them, or she’s lying.

The answer could go either way, but it didn’t really matter.

‘Even if the Empress Dowager had the curse of the rose, it would be a fake curse of the rose anyway.’

There was no way someone who had never met me would like me enough to manifest the Curse of the Rose.

‘Besides, it’s suspicious that she’s making a fuss now.’

I had planned to say my goodbyes at the end of the presentation and leave.

However, after sensing Felix’s strange behavior, I changed my plans and announced that I would make a surprise appearance later in the presentation.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes anyway, so why do I need to see her now?”

There was a sense of urgency in the Empress Dowager’s demeanor that made me break out of my longtime chugger routine.

Suddenly, my gaze fell on Felix.

‘What if the Empress Dowager is the one who imprisoned Felix in the palace?’

Once the door was opened, one thought after another popped into my head.

‘She’s an unbeliever. She kidnapped Felix for some reason, and planned to sacrifice him on the altar we saw earlier.’

That plan must have fallen apart when Felix disappeared.

And they must have known that I was the one who took him.

I could deduce one more thing.

‘If they have that kind of intelligence, they don’t know where I am.’

It was as if she had only been given the information, “Roselina is the one who took Felix.”

“She’s not the one who knows the secret passages in the palace.”

If she was, she would have shown up here, not in the Grand Hall.

It was then that Felix gave me a strange look.

“The Empress Dowager?”

“Yes. Do you know anything about Her Majesty the Empress Dowager?”

I asked, thinking that Felix would know more about her than I did, but he didn’t answer.

“Her Majesty, no, she’s strange.”

“Strange?”

“When I was a kid, I used to explore secret passages, getting up at night when everyone else was asleep and wandering all over the palace.”

I ask, and Felix answers enthusiastically.

“I took a wrong turn that day and ended up at the Empress Dowager’s palace.”

At this point, Felix was excited and enthusiastic.

*Start of Felix’s flashback*

‘Today we’re going to have an even more exciting adventure!’

Even though he’d never been here before, he knew it was the Empress Dowager’s palace.

“I wonder if I’ll ever get to meet Her Majesty the Empress Dowager?

As Felix walked down the aisle with excitement, he stopped in his tracks when he spotted something.

‘What is this?’

It was a faint trace, barely noticeable unless you looked closely.

As he examined it, a smile spread across his face.

‘A new path!’

He saw a gap that hadn’t been there a moment before.

It was small and cramped, but young Felix’s body was smaller and lighter, so it didn’t matter.

Without hesitation, Felix pushed his body through it.

Wow. I can see inside from here, can’t I?

Where Felix was standing now seemed to be the entrance to another secret passage.

There was a tiny gap between the wall-opening devices, and when I stuck my head through it, he could see into the room.

The next moment, Felix noticed something strange.

“Ugh.”

Felix quickly covered his mouth.

It was forbidden to make a sound in the secret passage.

But what he saw was shocking enough to make the well-trained Felix groan.

‘What was that?’

Children were lying dead and bleeding.

Felix gagged as he realized they were children his own age, layered on top of each other on the altar.

“Ugh…”

A woman stood tall in the middle of the disgusting scene.

“No. They’re not enough, they’re not enough!”

Shouting hysterically, she was clearly the Empress Dowager.

He had never seen her before, but he was sure of it.

“The sacrifice must be a child with special powers, otherwise it’s useless.”

The Empress Dowager looked at the already dead children as if they were trash.

“Did you succeed?”

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the room.

The Empress Dowager clung to the hooded figure at her feet.

“Ha, just give me one more chance, I’ll do it next time!”

“…………You’ve failed again, I’m very disappointed.”

“It’s because that damned Helios got in the way, otherwise I could have made a sacrifice to our god…………!”

Felix was taken aback by the Empress Dowager’s words.

‘Her Majesty the Empress Dowager has committed blasphemy?’

In the Sylvester Empire, the god Helios was absolute.

Not even royalty was free from blasphemy.

‘This place is dangerous.’

Felix’s instincts screamed red flags.

The Empress Dowager was about to deny the god Helios and make a sacrifice to an unknown entity.

The moment this was discovered, she would be forced to relinquish all of her barely held power.

If anyone witnessed this moment, she would destroy them at all costs.

‘I should go back.’

Felix pushed himself to his feet.

“The wood for the sacrifice must be able to see and feel the spirits.”

“But in the Empire, such children are scarce. How can we find one?”

“The most likely candidates would be Brighton or Blake’s blood relatives.”

Meanwhile, their conversation continued.

The sound of their words seemed to drown out the sounds Felix made when he moved.

“Ugh…….”

Felix gritted his teeth.

His legs cramped from the shock.

‘What if they heard me?’

Felix shuddered and peered cautiously out of the secret passage.

“Like this kid, for example.”

He turned to see the hooded figure of shadow standing in front of him.

Intense eyes stare right at him.

*End of flashback*

“So?”

I asked in disbelief.

“So what happened?”

“I just blacked out, and when I woke up, I was on a bed in my palace.”

“What? How does that make sense?”

“No, it doesn’t. It doesn’t make sense, so at the time I thought it was a nightmare, but then………….”

“But?”

I felt my chest tighten with frustration that Felix wasn’t able to tell me right away.

“So that’s it.”

There are two ways to piss someone off. The first one is to say something and then stop.

The second one is…

(T/N: wow Author-nim, what a cliffhanger)