The Emperor Who Was Chapter 67 : Chapter 67

Chapter . 67

Yolande hides in a corner while her teacher is busy. She takes out a pendant she had secretly hidden and looks at the portrait of her sister, whom she was separated from when young.

She strokes it and kisses it for a long ti, then gritting her teeth, tries to destroy the pendant with her staff.

-Don't do that.

But Vincent recognizes the pendant with concealnt magic cast on it and speaks to her.

-I will beco a hostage instead of the person in that pendant.

When Yolande glares, Vincent takes off his mask. Showing a face where the lower jaw has practically collapsed, not caring about or healing the hand injured by breaking the taboo, he says.

-I have no one anyway. Rather than staying alone, I want to beco your hostage.

Yolande hesitates, but the old teacher welcos Vincent's proposal enthusiastically.

-Since you two are not related by blood, marriage will do.

The registrar recording the list of hostages quickly draws up marriage docunts, and when the two sign with their staffs, the Emperor's seal is stamped. They beco a married couple like that.

-Kiss if you want to.

The registrar sneers. Vincent shakes his head, but Yolande hugs him and kisses his cheek.

While whispering in his ear.

-Thank you for saving my younger sister.

Vincent, who only saw Yolande looking at the pendant and not the inside of the pendant, smiled with his broken face.

-Since you are a pretty person, I thought the precious person in the pendant was a lover. But I gained a sister-in-law. I had no one, but now I have a family of three.

However, after finishing the oath, knowing Yolande has no lover, Yolande's hostage leaves her alone without looking back. Towards the Empress's mages he ca with. As if they are strangers, not a married couple.

Yolande frantically chases his retreating figure with her eyes, but the Emperor's command falls.

-Begin!

The master of the Throne Magic Circle doesn't need to drip blood individually. When mages receive his command and chant spells, the Throne Magic Circle manifests. Mages completely surround the Throne Magic Circle. Using the Throne Magic Circle, they cast barrier after barrier over the entire Audience Chamber. Artifacts are also mobilized in large quantities. So that what happens in the Audience Chamber absolutely never leaks outside.

-Guardian Dragon Ilaves has arrived, Your Majesty.

As mages raise their staffs, the windows lined up filling one wall rge into one huge window and open wide. Through it, a dragon flies in and lands elegantly in the center of the magic circle.

The Emperor enters the center of the magic circle, raises Juratio, and touches it to the dragon's brand. The dragon does not resist. As mages simultaneously point at the dragon with their staffs and manifest magic, the Throne Magic Circle shines as if burning. A chorus of spells follows.

-Escape from the current form and proceed to a new form, form is ultimately just a confining fra—

Sweat drops drip from the mages' foreheads. Because imnse mana is consud. However, unlike between

and Michelon, they do not receive mana from the dragon.

Thud, mages collapsing from mana exhaustion appear. Gaps appear in the circle of mages surrounding the magic circle. Mages who have to fill their share convulse.

-Kuaaak!

The dragon also screams and starts to convulse. Only the Emperor, holding Juratio against the dragon, keeps his place without shaking. Every ti the dragon struggles trying to escape its position, mages flinch in fear, disrupting the circle surrounding the magic circle. But the Emperor returns the dragon to its place with Juratio.

The dragon is doubly surrounded by the circle of mages and the circle of the magic circle, looking nailed to the spot, pierced at the brand by Juratio.

-Execute the Imperial Command!

To the exhausted mages, the Emperor shouts in anger. Mages drink magic potions, make the fallen ones drink, and exert all their strength.

And finally—

-Kyaaaaaaak!

The dragon screams and struggles. Mages tremble in fear. However, that sound changes from a dragon's scream vibrating all directions to a human scream at so mont.

-Aaaaaak!

Finally, a blonde woman appears instead of the dragon in the center of the magic circle.

-Ilaves! It is a success!

The Emperor rejoices, and mages sigh in relief. But mana is depleted and the magic is unstable. There are mages bleeding, and mages collapsing. The light of the Throne Magic Circle also fluctuates, flaring up like a wildfire and then suddenly extinguishing.

Before a stable conclusion, disaster strikes.

The human form that clearly existed for a mont twists. Changes back to a dragon, then back to a human, back to a dragon, human—

-Kyaaaaaak!

-Aaaaaak!

Now mages are screaming. Amidst the dimming light of the Throne Magic Circle, the dragon struggles to return to a dragon again. The Emperor is also hurriedly rescued by guard knights just before being crushed to death by the dragon. However, there are mages trampled to death.

Yolande was almost one of them. If Vincent hadn't thrown his body to save her.

The two barely save their lives, but at that mont, the dragon breathes fire.

-Kuaaaaaa!

A crisis of burning to death imdiately after avoiding being crushed.

However, the Emperor cuts his wrist with Juratio to draw blood and drops it onto the Throne Magic Circle. And stabs Juratio onto it.

The dying Throne Magic Circle revives. Although the fla the dragon breathed seed to burn even Juratio, the Throne Magic Circle swallows even that fla and burns fiercely enough to engulf even the dragon.

It was the death throes of the dying dragon in the end. If that fla had been as strong as originally, even the Imperial Palace would have collapsed.

-Block it!

At the Imperial Command, mages barely raise their staffs while collapsed to cast magic. While shedding blood and tears profusely.

-Ilaves! My dragon!

The Emperor screams madly, but the form indistinguishable between dragon and human collapses like ruins. The Throne Magic Circle also loses light and fades away.

Yolande freezes in front of that terrible sight. Vincent's hand pulls her face, making her turn her head away from that scene.

But in her eyes turned away like that, the old mage who was her teacher cos into view. From the hand of the mage who died with eyes open, a staff broken in half rolls down. As Yolande crawls and picks up that staff, the staff turns to ash.

-Must get up.......

Vincent grabs Yolande's hand and leads her. Then, sothing flares up behind their backs. The two who tried hard to look away instinctively turn their heads simultaneously.

The remains of the huge dragon lying on the Throne Magic Circle are being engulfed in blue flas. Flas dancing like a tidal wave are devouring the dead dragon. Sotis shining gold, sotis red, consuming even the remains of the dragon that died after wastefully consuming even that vast mana without being able to use it properly for transformation, so regretfully.

Finally, the Throne Magic Circle becos clean. The dragon's remains placed inside, the scattered blood and tears are gone as if washed away.

Now the flas surge even to the mages who fell dead at the edge of the Throne Magic Circle. Yolande opens her mouth but no scream cos out.

At that mont, the Emperor pulls out Juratio. When the light of the Throne Magic Circle slowly extinguished, Yolande's consciousness also extinguished.

“What are you two watching? What on earth are you doing?”

Michelon's words return us to reality. Coming to my senses, faces and hands are soaked wet. Whether my face and Yolande's hand on it, or my hand and Yolande's face under it.

“Both your faces are a ss. You are bleeding from your nose too, Leontes!”

“…Almost finished.......”

I barely open my mouth.

“Later... I will tell you later.”

It's a lie. Having seen with my own eyes how Michelon's mother died, I can never tell.

Michelon says sothing more, but I manifest magic again.

…It was really coming to an end.

Yolande secretly visits Vincent.

As a result of finding out with difficulty, Vincent was given to Desmond as punishnt for marrying Yolande without the Empress's permission. Yet the Empress's ownership didn't completely pass to the Third Prince either. He just ca to serve two masters, the Empress and Desmond.

-Who are you?

Vincent does not recognize Yolande. Because the pain of punishnt was so severe, he beca more addicted to oblivion and forgot everything. The fact that he got married, the fact that he is Yolande's husband.

-Send a mage who is strong yet will not betray to Leontes.

When the Imperial Command fell, the mage who beca the eldest succeeding Yolande's teacher chose Yolande.

-Your husband is the Empress's person, not family bound here like us.

Nevertheless, the fact that Vincent was Yolande's hostage did not change.

Thus, knowing Nanette was with

but intending not to co because of Vincent who beca a hostage instead, Yolande ca to . Vowing never to betray the Emperor.

Just as Vincent protected Yolande and Nanette, Yolande wanting to protect Vincent.

“…Please save Vincent. I will do anything to save him. But if you cannot save him, please, do not save

either.”

When the mory reading ended, Yolande said with a calm face.

“I cannot abandon Vincent. A person who betrays the benefactor who saved her sister is better off staying away from Nanette too.”

I answered.

“That power.”

“Pardon?”

“The power of your heart not utilizing the fact that you know my secret, which would receive a great reward if told to the Emperor, to save Vincent.”

Yolande's mouth trembled. Perhaps she hadn't completely ruled out the thought of reporting the fact that I am a mage and requesting Vincent's life.

“…Vincent is not a person who would want to be saved by harming the child I comforted. After all, because Vincent comforted that child then, didn't that child grow up to save another child?”

But Yolande's face answering like that now was resolute.

“Are you not surprised by the fact that I, the Prince of Armatia, am a mage?”

“Of course I was surprised. But there are stories handed down among mages too.”

Yolande said, hinting with aningful eyes. It sounded like Master, who claid there were mages among Emperors too, just hidden thoroughly by any ans necessary.

“What truly surprised

is the fact that there is an imperial family mber who treats mages like people.”

“Because I am also a mage.”

“You might be the first Prince to say that fact straight out. Usually, wouldn't they claim to be heroes sent by god? Possessing the sa power, claiming they are heroes but others are evil mages, so if they don't obey them, it is corruption and sin.”

“I am not. I am a person like you, and you are a person like .”

Tears welled up in Yolande's eyes. I extended my hand to my very young Master.

“Be with . Let's save Vincent with . Let's save mages like us.”

Yolande looked at

in surprise. As if she couldn't believe her ears.

As I faced her silently, her face slowly flushed with heat.

“If the Prince ascends to the Throne—”

“Mage hunting will disappear, and mages will no longer be evil people. I will beco the first Mage Emperor to change Armatia.”

There might have been Mage Emperors in the past, but those who claim themselves not to be mages are indeed not mages.

“…Would it really be possible?”

“If no one starts that struggle because it looks impossible, only defeat becos possible. It is the biggest reason why victory is impossible.”

“In that case, the Prince is already my monarch.”

Strength surged in the voice that was full of sorrow.

Eyes shining in a face full of fighting spirit.

Indeed, it was the Master I knew.

The mont I saw those missed eyes again, the fourth circle opened its eyes in my heart.