“Julien…?”
Leon’s expression changed the moment he realized that something was amiss. However, it was only when he opened the door and entered that he realized just how bad the situation was.
“Shit!”
Leon hurriedly rushed in Julien’s direction, his face falling as he noticed the severity of the wounds.
‘What the hell happened?’
He scanned his surroundings but found that nothing was amiss. In fact, everything was completely normal. Noticing the severity of Julien’s wounds, it felt like he had been in a tough battle.
And yet…
“Hold on.”
Leon’s face paled when he reached Julien.
As he dropped to the ground, a look of horror swept over his face.
“No, no, no…”
Julien’s state… it was a lot worse than he had originally expected. No, in fact, it was beyond worse.
“He’s not breathing.”
Leon felt his entire body freeze at the realization.
“How could this…?”
Placing his hand over his neck, he felt no pulse as well. He checked again, but the result was the same.
Leon’s hand started to tremble.
The truth had yet to sink into his mind. How could it sink into his mind? There was no way Julien would die like this, right?
How could he die like this?
“I-t makes no sense.”
Leon’s chest started to tremble. Something pierced his chest as he looked at Julien. Why did it hurt so much?
It wasn’t supposed to be like this at the start.
The two of them were merely people with two different circumstances trying to use each other for their own goals. This was how things were supposed to be from the start, and yet, before he knew it, the two of them had grown closer.
Julien was no longer merely an acquaintance, but…
He was also a friend.
Perhaps his only friend.
…He was someone that Leon had no trouble serving. Even though they usually joked with each other, those were merely jokes.
Leon went along with it because he saw how fun it was to see Julien suffer.
Yes, it was fun.
He had some of the most fun in the most recent years that he had ever had in his entire life.
So…
“….You can’t die just yet.”
Leon’s hands continued to tremble, but he was able to quickly regain his calm. It wasn’t over just yet.
He could still feel that Julien’s body was warm.
That meant that he had only just recently been killed. In that case, it wasn’t too late.
“Hoo.”
Leon took a deep breath and soon closed his eyes.
Blue veins soon started to manifest all around his body as a faint blue glow appeared from deep within his chest.
Leon’s expression started to twist as he began to experience a certain pain.
However, he resisted the pain.
He focused his entire attention on his inner body. Towards the chalice that rested in his heart, and as his body started to shake, he began to place his hand into his chest, slowly retrieving the chalice from out of his body.
“Uekh!”
The pain was unimaginable.
It felt as if his heart was being ripped out of his body.
However, he bore through the pain.
He had to bear through the pain!
“Akhhh—!”
He was now a prince, but he was still his knight.
He had yet to quit his job or be fired.
He was useless.
He had always failed in his job.
In fact, it was always Julien who did most of the work.
What sort of failure of a knight was he?
“K-kh…”
Leon looked towards Julien on the floor as blood started to leak out of his nose.
He smiled then.
“Y-you can’t… say that I haven’t… done my job after this…”
Leon’s face twisted as those words left his mouth, and gradually, he managed to pull the chalice out of his body.
“Haa… Haa…”
Slumping over, his chest heaved up and down unevenly as he felt weak all over.
But it wasn’t over yet.
He stared at the chalice in his hands, a complicated expression marring his features.
But…
“It’s the only way.”
Staring at the black liquid within the chalice, Leon opened Julien’s mouth and poured it down his throat.
A change started to occur then.
“It’s… working!”
The wounds that marred Julien’s body started to rapidly heal, recovering as though he had never sustained them in the first place.
His complexion also started to turn rosy as he returned to how he once was.
Leon’s mind eased seeing this.
Although the liquid within the chalice was extremely important for his growth and future, he didn’t even hesitate to give it all to Julien.
He could always get it again.
Make more.
…Even if it would stunt his growth by years, he didn’t regret it.
After all…
“It’s my duty.”
His duty as a knight.
Clank. Clank.
Once all the liquid entered Julien’s body, overcome with weakness, Leon slumped back, the chalice falling onto the ground as Leon heavily gulped for air.
“It’s… done.”
The wounds on Julien’s body had all healed.
‘He should be out of danger now.’
Leon sighed in relief. His body was weak, and he feared he might remain in such a state for at least a week, but he didn’t regret his actions one bit.
Slowly lifting his head, he turned his attention towards Julien, who still had his eyes closed.
At a glance, he looked like he was sleeping.
Leon felt relieved seeing this.
However… that relief didn’t last very long.
“Julien…?”
Frowning, Leon forced himself back up as he moved towards Julien. At a glance, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong. His actions had healed Julien completely.
Logic would say that he should be good now.
And yet…
“Why?”
Leon pressed his hand against Julien’s neck, his eyes widening.
“…Why… why is he still not breathing?”
Leon took a deep breath to keep himself composed as he stood by Julien.
‘Perhaps it takes time. I know for sure I wasn’t too late since his body was still warm. He should theoretically be all good by now.’
So why?
Why wasn’t Julien’s heart beating?
“…..”
Leon squeezed his mouth as he stared at Julien.
He suddenly felt a sense of dread creep through the inner parts of his mind as his hands started to shake.
It can’t be, right?
Leon looked at Julien, his expression slowly crumbling.
A joke?
Was this some sort of sick joke from Julien?
Indeed, if it were Julien, he’d try to pull this sort of twisted joke.
“I’ll play along.”
Leon stared at Julien’s body, his eyes slowly turning bloodshot.
You’ll reveal it’s a joke soon, right?
“Come on… I’m waiting…”
***
At the same time, in a different location.
Following the events that had transpired on the first day of the Congress, and the ‘misunderstanding’ that arose as a result, the Church of Oracleus invited all the top representatives present to a banquet in order to express their deepest apologies and make amends.
At the helm of the gathering was Cardinal Ambrose, the top delegate from the Church of Oracleus.
“First and foremost, we want to share our deepest condolences with everyone present. I’m sure none of us wanted the event to begin like that.”
The Cardinal held onto a glass as he spoke.
His expression was calm and serene as he addressed everyone present.
“While it is true that we were innocent, it is also true that we were too hasty with our actions. Everything happened so fast that we weren’t able to properly assess the situation. I do hope that none of you present took offense at our actions.”
The many people present shook their heads, offering their own toast.
Cardinal soaked in the atmosphere, his expression calm. However, his outer calmness was merely a facade.
He was anything but calm.
How could he not be worried when Jackal was out there completing such an important mission? Even though everything had been thoroughly planned in advance, with him hosting the event specifically to distract all the top powers as well as providing Jackal with enough force to take someone of Julien’s caliber down, the Cardinal was still worried.
What if it failed? What if Julien had some sort of trump card? He also had the blood so—
However, his worries only lasted for a few more minutes.
It wasn’t long before he received a message, and his expression relaxed completely.
‘He did it…’
The Cardinal could hardly contain his joy.
With Jackal having now completed his mission, it wouldn’t be long before the Church of Oracleus would stand above all churches, and even the Round Table.
“Hahaha.”
He suddenly burst out laughing, looking at everyone present with a serene smile.
“…It pleases me so much to see all of you forgive us like this. I truly appreciate all of you present.”
His words were met with several comments filled with goodwill. At the end of the day, the Church of Oracleus was a well-respected church. Not only did they have a lot of influence in all four empires, but they were also rather strong.
Who didn’t want to get on their good graces?
As the event was in full swing, Orson, alongside several delegates from the Nurs Ancifa Empire, appeared in the corner of the venue.
The atmosphere was rather light.
Following the investigation by the Saintess, they understood that those from the Church of Oracleus were indeed innocent and that the masterminds behind the incident were someone else.
While that investigation was still ongoing, they decided to send several delegates to attend the banquet.
At the end of the day, they did try to save the Emperor.
“Is everything alright?”
However, not all seemed to be pleased.
Sensing something, Orson turned his attention towards Delilah, who sat in her seat, her eyes seemingly unfocused.
She held a glass in her hand as her rosy lips pursed together.
Although she looked no different than usual, as someone who had raised Delilah since young, Orson was aware that something was wrong.
For good measure, he retrieved a piece of chocolate and handed it to her.
“Do you want this?”
“….”
He didn’t even get a single glance.
This pretty much confirmed to him that something was wrong.
He was just about to ask her what was on her mind when someone suddenly rushed in and whispered something in his ear.
His expression immediately shifted.
“Is this information real?”
“Yes, we just learned of it.”
“…I understand.”
Orson closed his eyes before shifting his attention towards Delilah. He felt compelled to tell her, given that she was directly related to the news.
“Delilah.”
As if sensing that something was wrong, Delilah turned her attention towards her father, her eyes seemingly cold and detached.
Feeling her gaze, Orson didn’t waste a second and told her the news directly.
“One of your cadets has been attacked. I’m afraid he’s passed away.”
Delilah’s brows furrowed upon hearing the news, but the next words from Orson made her face change drastically.
“….It’s the Evenus family kid.”
Bang!
The glass in her hand shattered.
