Chapter 186 – The Underground Throne Room (1)

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Chapter 186 – The Underground Throne Room (1)

“Your Majesty, please take my hand.”

“Ah, yes.”

Juan, who had transferred his spirit into Ivy’s body, grabbed the hand Lenly had extended toward him without much thought. Then, Lenly politely and gently pulled Juan up the stairs that were higher than even his knees.

While Juan didn’t feel weird about this situation at all, Sina and Haild seemed to think otherwise.

“That kind of looks like...”

“Um, yeah... you think so too, right?”

The way that Lenly took care of Ivy was different from the typical escort that Sina and Haild had seen before.

‘If anyone thinks that’s normal, I bet they have read way too much romance.’

Lenly’s every move as he took care of Ivy was meticulous, and filled with caution and consideration—he did not neglect her for even a single moment.

But the problem was that it was the emperor who was inside Ivy’s body right now. Sina felt strange just thinking about the fact that inside this delicate and slender woman’s body was the spirit of the emperor who shook the entire empire. Lenly Loen treating such a woman with such caution and consideration as if she was a tiny and delicate hamster made this situation all the more strange.

“Do you think that the Saintess and the Captain of the Imperial Guards are an item?” Haild asked Sina cautiously.

“An item? That’s something only a child would say... If you’re asking me if I think that they are in a relationship, then I can only tell you that there is no law that prohibits the Captain of the Imperial Guards from having personal feelings toward the Saintess. But the Imperial Guards usually pledge to never get married, so it will be difficult for them to get together.”

“But... um, the Saintess is actually His Majesty right now. The Captain of the Imperial Guards knows that as well, but why is he treating her so carefully, even to such an extent?”

Haild asked as if he was confused.

In response, Sina could only smile with a perplexed expression.

“Actually, that may be why he’s so excited right now.”

“...Excited? Why?”

“I heard that Lenly Loen is tremendously loyal toward His Majesty, to the extent that his loyalty was one of the reasons why his relationship with the Pope fell apart. I don’t know much about Captain Lenly’s feelings for the Saintess, but it does seem like he thinks of her as more than just someone who he has to protect. But now that the emperor who he loves and respects is inside the Saintess who he likes as well, so...”

Haild looked at Sina with a shocked expression upon hearing her words. He hesitated for a long time before opening his mouth again.

“Are you saying that the Captain of the Imperial Guards thinks of His Majesty as a lover?”

“The usual relationship between any boss and their subordinate is definitely not very healthy,” Sina shrugged.

“Well, that’s not the problem...”

“There is also a huge age difference between them as well. We can’t see it now, but they may even experience cultural conflicts if they stay together for a long time.”

“What I was trying to say was...”

“Is there any problem?”

“I’m concerned that Captain Lenly’s feelings will go away when His Majesty eventually returns to his own body. After all, the fundamental question of whether Captain Lenly loves either of the two is...”

“Cheating is definitely a big problem. His Majesty should also be firm and determined.”

At that moment, Haild’s head tilted back with a snapping sound.

When Sina looked forward, Juan was glaring at her and Haild while a distorted expression covered Ivy’s delicate face.

“Stop the unnecessary chats and just follow me.”

Haild nodded silently.

Sina and Haild suddenly felt that they should restrain themselves a little bit. Even so, Haild whispered in Sina’s ear one more time while quietly following Juan.

“I guess we did not consider His Majesty’s feelings. That’s the most important thing.”

Then, Haild’s head once again tilted forward with an even louder snapping sound.

After a while, their party came to a stop in front of a long corridor. Lenly looked at the corridor for a while, then turned back to ask a question.

“There is a high probability that there’s a trap here. I think we should either hurry up to break through it or take a break. What are your thoughts?”

“Let’s take a break.”

Juan was the first to answer. His face was full of irritation and annoyance.

Haild sighed in relief and quickly approached Sina.

“What was that scream just now?” Sina asked.

“Dame Sina, we must go after Captain Lenly. Right now...”

Then one thought passed through Haild’s head. Ivy’s scream just now had come from the direction Lenly ran toward, but Sina was not the type to leave behind someone she had to protect— then there may be something in the underground structure that mimics the voices of people.

Haild’s judgment was a step too late. As soon as he slowed down, a black shadow jumped out of the darkness and stabbed him in the side.

Haild groaned as he found a slimy monster in the form of a shadow amidst the dim purple light.

‘There’s monsters in this direction as well? Did Captain Lenly go the right way? Or were both of them going toward traps?’

He could try to think about it later.

For the time being, Haild didn’t hesitate to draw Elkiehl.

***

As the surroundings brightened up again, Sina knew that Ivy had finished her business. She was surrounded by just walls with frustrating and bizarre patterns, but she was somehow relieved when the light returned, since she had been able to sense some unknown movements—something was constantly rustling around beyond the walls.

“Are you okay, Dame Sina?” Ivy asked.

“Yes, I’m all right. By the way, that’s a much more useful magic item than I thought. I’ve seen a lot of magic lanterns before, but I’ve never seen one that’s this small, but still gives off such a bright light,” Sina said as she looked at the necklace on Ivy’s neck.

Ivy fiddled with the necklace.

“The Captain of the Imperial Guards gave this to me. He said that there was a powerful Grace placed on it. Not only does it emit a bright light but it also has the power to drive out the impure.”

In fact, magic and Grace meant the same thing, so Ivy was basically repeating the same words. But Sina didn’t bother to point it out. The Church had been teaching everyone that all magic was created and permitted only by the emperor, so it was no wonder that the Saintess was mistaken.

“Then let’s get going, shall we? Everyone is waiting for...”

At that moment, a scream of a man broke out. They couldn’t tell if it was Lenly or Haild who had screamed, but it was such a terrible sound that an ominous feeling swept over them. Sina immediately drew her sword and brought Ivy close to her side. Ivy’s face was pale with fear.

“Is Captain Lenly the type to scream out loud?” Sina asked Ivy right away.

“N-no. But I’m not too sure if that was his voice, since he doesn’t talk much...”

“Haild isn’t the type to scream out loud either, though he may ask for help. Stick close to me and watch out.”

Sina moved slowly and cautiously. There was no problem in securing a good view, thanks to Ivy’s necklace brightening the surroundings. Sina and Ivy’s shadows were mixed and shook under the light, but it wasn’t to the extent of bothering them.

Then Sina quickly swung her sword and stabbed it into the shadow.

“D-Dame Sina?!”

At the same time when Ivy called out Sina’s name in a perplexed voice, the shadows scattered in all directions, as if they were being torn by Sina’s sword.

Ivy gasped when she saw that the shadow had gotten much fainter and lighter than before.

“I’d noticed that the shadow was moving a little slower than it should have been,” Sina muttered in a nervous voice. “Maybe these bastards are the presences we had felt earlier. It seems like they were hiding right under our noses. We’ll have to hurry and get out of here just in case they might have the ability to imitate voices. Miss Ivy, please shake your necklace as hard as you can from time to time.”

Ivy nodded with a pale expression upon realizing Sina’s intention to track the movements of the shadows.

Sina quickly advanced forward as she walked just fast enough to make sure that Ivy didn’t run out of breath.

Then Sina inadvertently felt that the structure of this place was a little strange. Sina and Ivy weren’t too far away from Lenly and Haild, yet not only did the sounds feel like they were coming from a distance, but the way back to where they came from felt absurdly long.

‘So far away...? No, the sound is coming from beyond the walls.’

Sina noticed that a faint sound of footsteps was coming from beyond the wall next to her. Sina kicked the wall with all her might. Of course, she didn’t think it would easily collapse, but she planned to give it some shock to let the person beyond the walls know of their existence.

However, the wall collapsed too easily, unlike Sina expected. At the same time that Sina lost her balance and stumbled, the wall disappeared and Lenly appeared.

Lenly tried to swing his sword at Sina who had suddenly appeared, but quickly stopped as he flinched upon realizing her identity.

“Saintess!”

The shadows that scattered everywhere as the wall cracked rushed toward Ivy.

Ivy was so startled that she shook her necklace just as she had been doing until now. The shadows momentarily shook as if they were swayed by the movement of lights, but they did not stop moving.

A shadow brushed against Ivy’s right arm, and red blood dripped down as her skin was cut.

Lenly’s eyes sparked with anger upon seeing the Saintess getting injured.

At that moment, Ivy’s eyes turned black in an instant.