Chapter 59

59.

After the representative meeting concluded in the small conference room,

I reported the recent events to Iris, who was busily working with her quill pen in the Audience Chamber.

The conclusion, although it was supposed to be covert, was essentially about causing chaos during the festival period.

This time, it was supposed to be a peaceful event tied to both our marriage and the Founding Day commemoration. As a longtime imperial citizen, one might have felt uncomfortable about staging a coup during the Founding Day.

So, if I had shown any reluctance by saying, ‘That’s a bit of a problem,’ they would have planned to proceed in a more moderate manner. But,

“Will it impact the festival?”

“First priority is discretion, second priority is also discretion. Most people might not even realize something happened.”

In response to my confident answer, Iris tapped her quill pens and then eventually nodded her head.

With Iris’ approval obtained, I was about to return to my desk to start drawing up detailed plans when,

“Cain.”

“Yes, Iris.”

Turning immediately to look at her, she met my gaze with a calm expression and spoke.

“Will you use the Black Falcon?”

“That’s correct. The purpose of the Black Falcon and my ultimate goal is to weed out the traitor within the Central Intelligence Department. While the intelligence department focuses on headhunting, the Black Falcon will find the traitor.”

“The main players are the Black Falcon and the intelligence department. This means you’re not directly involved this time?”

After finishing her statement, Iris gave a small nod and turned her gaze back to the report.

That attitude – was she worried I might rush off to some dangerous place again?

‘This time, I’ll just stay put.’

Even I wasn’t planning on running around wielding a blade before getting married. Who knows what could happen.

That’s why I am conducting the operation through the intelligence department. It’s a little disappointing, but,

‘If it weren’t for the wedding, I would have handled it personally.’

Later on, I received documents from Max as he visited the Audience Chamber as scheduled.

After designating three spies for the intelligence department to target, I informed him of our plan of action including the operational guidelines and the execution date.

Lastly, I instructed the two dukes to assist by providing some pieces of information that will be used as bait for the spies.

With that, Max left the Audience Chamber, visibly sweating, marking the end of today’s external affairs.

‘Next is…’

I reviewed the plan alongside Charles and Alberto, who appeared like ghosts.

“There are quite a few discrepancies.”

“They appear to have been deliberately omitted.”

Alberto’s and Charles’ assessments after going through the intelligence department’s data.

“Well, it’s as expected.”

I shrugged and examined the materials from both the intelligence department and the Black Falcon.

There was a commonality among the spies the intelligence department missed: they each had seemingly credible and natural backgrounds and were subtly connected to the Imperial Palace in some way.

The Black Falcon had doggedly tracked their activities. Investigations revealed that their backgrounds were fraudulent.

The one causing confusion in the records might be a member of the intelligence department looking to make a quick buck or, possibly, the head of the department, Max himself.

“We will track down these omissions.”

“Understood.”

At Charles’ acknowledgment, he vanished like a ghost once again.

‘Preparations are done. Now, I just have to wait for the Black Falcon and the intelligence department to act.’

Whether targeting the spies or causing turmoil within the Central Intelligence Department, that’s the plan.

‘Now, I should focus on the festival preparations.’

The Empire was still busy preparing for the grand festival.

Unlike regular festivals, dignitaries from foreign lands would be arriving in the capital for our wedding with the Empress this time.

The knight regiments, who’d recently returned from vacations, abandoned their routine combat training in favor of focusing on etiquette.

Even I was kept busy learning etiquette, preparing for the wedding, and getting an accelerated education on foreign histories.

Time quickly passed, and we reached about three weeks before the great festival.

I put aside all tasks and made my way to the Hye-wol Palace, the main hub for imperial law and technological research.

*

Amid preparations for the festival,

there was something that kept nagging at my mind.

Ptt.

‘Damn it. Broke another one.’

Once again, the pen snapped under my grip.

After absorbing Idan’s mana, who had just breached the threshold of transcendence,

my body, which used to boil with excitement only when entering combat, began to burn even during normal times.

Despite trying to control my inner self using the breathing techniques taught by Master,

the heat only intensified, and my strength grew stronger.

My body was strengthening faster than I could adjust it. With this continuous unrest, my speed was suffering, and my frown persisted.

It’s reaching the point where daily life is becoming impossible.

My initial guess is that the delicate balance maintained between this body and my modern soul was disrupted by absorbing mana, tilting it one way.

Though I planned to address this after the wedding when I had more time, I no longer could afford to delay it.

Alberto, who spent a long time working in the Imperial Palace and traveled to the Eastern Continent, might know something.

When I explained the situation briefly to him, he recommended the Hye-wol Palace and also provided some very unexpected information.

“I believe it would be best for you to seek help at the Hye-wol Palace. There’s a mage there.”

“…A mage?”

At first, I thought I misheard. However, Alberto nodded despite my surprised query.

“Yes, the Empire’s only mage resides at the Hye-wol Palace.”

A mage.

Though treated like a legend, it’s not an existence that has been completely absent from mention in my life. I had vaguely thought I would encounter one someday.

‘So suddenly, though?’

In fiction, anyway, there aren’t many mages combined in both the Western and Eastern continents. Most people don’t even know if these mysterious figures exist.

Alberto continued, emphasizing that it was the highest level of classified information.

“Since they are quite elusive and roam around unpredictably, I do not know their exact location. All I know is that they are somewhere in the Hye-wol Palace. Even if you go there, you might not meet them.”

“Hmm…”

“The Hye-wol Palace is a place where knowledge from all over the Empire gathers. If you don’t meet the mage, I recommend reviewing the records housed in their archives.”

That concluded, Alberto sent off a letter to the Hye-wol Palace.

‘Indeed.’

There’s a saying about pulling a stubborn ox horn, isn’t there?

I need to solve my physical condition as soon as possible.

The next day, after discussing Hye-wol Palace with Alberto,

I arrived at the palace with Rani who seemed to have nothing better to do.

‘This place also isn’t small.’

The premises of Hye-wol Palace were located to the north of the Imperial Palace.

Just as I was admiring the vast area that seemed to give me a headache at a glance, Hofnagel, who had been contacted beforehand, appeared to greet us.

“Your Highness, welcome to the Hye-wol Palace! Is this your first visit here? Our Hye-wol Palace is…”

I listened distantly to his lengthy speech about the Hye-wol Palace and a subtle request for increased budget while taking a walk around.

Around the time the sun hanging in the mid-heaven started to set,

“…Well, I have a lot of work to handle, so I’ll go ahead. If you need anything, just let any staff know.”

“That’s all, then. Thank you for your hard work.”

After quickly dismissing Hofnagel, whose face had a sallow complexion,

I was finally able to descend to the archives located in the basement of the main building.

“Wow…”

“Really spacious… and it smells like books.”

As we descended the old staircase illuminated by lanterns, a colossal wall of ancient books unfolded before us.

The area was much larger than the Hye-wol Palace’s surface portion. Though called an archive, it more closely resembled a massive library.

As I inhaled the distinct smell unique to libraries and looked around, Rani excitedly darted ahead.

“This place is full of strange books!”

“Don’t run around so much or you might trip.”

“Yes!”

As soon as I finished speaking, a loud thud echoed as Rani tumbled onto the ground.

“Just be careful…”

Fortunately, it seemed she wasn’t injured.

I nodded back to a staff member of the archive who silently appeared to bow respectfully,

and then started looking for books related to souls or the physical body alongside the now sprightly Rani.

‘This isn’t it, and neither is this. What’s this?’

The Wise Researcher’s Life?

Out of curiosity, I opened the book to find a journal filled with the sweat and tears of a Hye-wol Palace employee. They were supposed to record information, but they ended up writing a novel.

After sliding the book back onto the shelf, I continued inspecting others.

‘Efficient Study Methods: Sleep Adjustment Edition’, ‘To Secure Funding, Lower Yourself’, ‘The Judge Who Married the Law,’ etc.

Oddly, there were many useless books, but fortunately, I found some useful ones as well.

Kung.

I placed the books on a table set aside in one corner of the archive and sat down in a chair.

‘Let’s begin, then.’

The most ideal would be to find a solution to my physical condition here.

Only, it’s not a common case. Given my uniqueness, there’s a high probability that I won’t find a solution.

‘If quickly scanning through doesn’t work, I may have to visit Ruben.’

Though asking my master might provide some insight,

with just three weeks left until the grand festival, traveling to and from Ruben would be extremely tight. Either way, it’s unclear.

Flap.

‘Just start reading.’

Time is money.

As I began examining the stack of books on the table, by the time I had finished with the sixth book,

“Your Highness! Your Highness!”

Rani’s thunderous cry shattered the tranquility of the archive.

Though I hesitated between scolding her or just ignoring her, she enthusiastically grabbed my sleeve and pulled.

“What did you find that made you so excited?”

Led by her small hands tugging at my sleeve, I slowly moved forward.

We passed the gigantic classified bookshelves of society, economy, and culture.

Moving all the way to the corner of the archive, a dim, damp area devoid of light where Rani finally stopped in front of a column between history bookshelves.

“Here!”

With her hands on her hips, Rani turned around with a confident smile. Behind her stood a plain column as thick as a grown man.

“It’s just a column.”

“No, it’s amazing! Just watch!”

With a light bounce, before I could say anything, Rani dashed full speed at the column.

“Huh?”

Suck.

Whereas I expected her to smack her head loudly against the column,

Rani didn’t even bump into it—she disappeared straight into the column.

“Huh?”

What is this?

“How is it?”

“Guack!”

Suddenly, Rani’s head popped out.

Carefully grabbing her head, as if she had become one with the column, I gently pulled her out without a hitch.

“…”

It’s like a magical platform you board when entering a famous magic school. A fantastical and incredible phenomenon I’d never seen in my 21 years in this world.

“…Hold on. Magic?”

Hearing ‘magic’ reminded me.

Alberto mentioned that there’s a mage living in Hye-wol Palace.

Right in front of me, there is a clearly supernatural phenomenon that can only be described as magic.

Turning my head, I looked down at Rani.

The brown-haired maid, her eyes shining, looking up at me for praise.

If Rani discovered a place where the mage is hiding, then…

Shh. Shh.

“Whoa!”

Very carefully stroking Rani’s head, I picked her up and spun her around three times.

After gently setting the giggling Rani back down,

I walked towards the column. With no resistance, my body was drawn in as if being sucked through.

A moment of distorted vision accompanied by slight dizziness.

As the swirling vision returned to normal, a dark and dingy workshop appeared instead of the archive.

Glass flasks bubbling with liquid,

Complicated symbols and numbers scattered across chaotic documents.

Garbage scattered on the floor and papers casually thrown around among various scraps.

Certainly the exterior looked like a workshop, but combined with the dim lighting from the candles, which barely repelled the darkness, it looked more like a dump.

And inside this messy pigsty of a place,

Someone slumped over a desk groggily stood up with a creak.

Swoosh-

She was perhaps slightly taller than Iris.

Her uncombed, unkempt hair extended beyond her waist to her thighs, resembling a hedgehog. Her body was cloaked in a drab robe matching the workshop’s atmosphere, and from the faint curves visible, it seemed to be a woman.

The silver-haired woman slowly turned around.

“Oh, who’s there…? No…how did you get in here…?”

Her voice slowly echoed through the workshop like the wail of the dead. Eventually, our eyes met through the dim, darkened gaze of a sunken face.

Her half-asleep, dull eyes met mine and,

She slowly nodded her head up and down.

“Um…?”

Her mouth hung open as if she had seen a ghost.

“Er, er, er…how are you… still alive?”

…What?

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