Chapter 57
The Reason I Can’t Leave
Flap!
A gray pigeon tapped on the window.
“…What?”
Dekan turned his head in surprise.
It was a message bird sent from the Silver Shield. What surprised Dekan was that the bird, which was only supposed to fly to designated locations, had come all the way to the Duke of Pielion’s estate.
Clatter!
Dekan hurriedly opened the window and took in the bird.
“Coo, coo.”
The pigeon evaded Dekan’s hands and fluttered into the room, circling around Rasillia.
It wasn’t a bird that could talk. But it was clear that it wanted to communicate something.
“You have something for me, don’t you?”
“Coo.”
When Rasillia held out her hand, the pigeon calmly perched on it. A small rolled-up piece of paper was tied around its ankle.
Rasillia untied the string and handed the note to Dekan.
“Take it. It’s addressed to you, so you should be the one to read it.”
“Ah… Yes. Only a Shield should open this.”
Dekan looked uneasy as he received the paper.
“But?”
“Even the birds know that…”
The pigeons were rigorously trained through enchantments. The message birds of the Silver Shield were supposed to go only to specific locations and hand off messages only to known individuals.
And yet this one had flown straight to Rasillia, calmly giving her the letter. Its gaze stayed fixed on her with a brightness that seemed even more alert than usual.
“It’s like it’s saying it shouldn’t be so friendly with me.”
“Exactly. …But I think this is beyond my control.”
Seeing the bird nuzzle its head against Rasillia, Dekan gave a brief, defeated smile.
“Maybe it’s not such a bad thing. If an enemy ever tries to send a message bird, as long as Her Majesty the Empress is present, it’d be easy to intercept the intel.”
Rasillia simply responded with a wry smile.
“Then I’ll check the contents.”
Dekan unrolled the thin paper.
It was filled with a string of ciphers, readable only by the knights of the Silver Shield.
“…This can’t be!”
After reading it, Dekan crumpled the paper into a fist. The moment he opened his hand again, the note turned to ash and vanished.
“I must return at once, Your Majesty.”
The message was clearly serious.
“What’s happened?”
“His Majesty has transformed. And not even inside the palace.”
“What? Why all of a sudden?”
The Blue Moon had already passed. There was no reason for the Emperor to undergo a demonic transformation.
“I don’t know the reason. In any case, His Majesty needs you now.”
In the past, she would’ve hesitated. Thinking that as a fake, there was nothing she could do.
But not now.
Rather than worry about whether she was real or not, her first instinct was: I must go.
“Lead the way.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Let’s hurry.”
Rasillia grabbed her dress and began to run.
* * *
“Are you serious? What the hell does that mean?!”
The Silver Shield moved swiftly. News had already spread throughout the palace that the Emperor had transformed and was now rampaging through the capital.
Lescal, who had just stamped the royal seal without much care, stopped and looked at Lian, who was reading the message aloud.
“His Majesty…? What on earth is happening?”
“I transformed?”
“Exactly. When did you even do that? And why?”
“…Because when I transform, the Empress comes?”
“…What?”
It had already been half a day since the Empress had left.
Lescal had been getting up from his seat every ten minutes, pacing around his office, and had finally moved his base of operations to the Empress’s palace.
The parlor in her palace had become his temporary office. He held audiences there, summoned royal secretaries and palace attendants there.
He’d even rushed through delayed work—but still, there was no word from the Empress.
Saying “if I transform, she’ll come” meant that he had seriously entertained the idea of forcing her to return.
But the moment he said that aloud, both of their expressions changed.
A demon had appeared in the capital. The Silver Shield had caught wind of it and activated its network.
Since Dekan was with the Empress, he would’ve been the first to be contacted. The Empress, believing the demon to be Lescal…
Bang!
Lescal jumped to his feet.
“Where’s that fledgling bird? Did it go with the Empress?”
“Oh, the phoenix? I’m not sure. I’ll ask the handmaiden at the Empress’s palace.”
“Hurry. And the Imperial Guard—”
“Already on it, Your Majesty.”
Since the Silver Shield was mobilized, the Royal Guard would already be moving toward the reported location of the demon.
But Lescal planned to lead the Imperial Guard himself.
He had a bad feeling.
The demon was said to look like him. If it wasn’t actually him, that meant another demon had appeared on the continent.
He had only just begun to sense his true mate. Yet now, at such a moment, something was clearly trying to tear them apart.
First, the temple had questioned the Empress’s mark. Now a demon impersonator had emerged.
And the Empress—she didn’t even realize she was his mate yet, let alone accept him.
With everything walking a tightrope, these constant interruptions were unbearable.
“Haa…”
He exhaled deeply, and all his senses heightened.
His fingertips glowed faintly red. Lescal knew that if he took one more step forward, the transformation would begin.
“For now…”
For now, he could endure it.
Nothing had happened to the Empress yet.
“Your Majesty!”
Lian returned with Yvette, who was carrying the small phoenix in both hands. Its feathers were half-wet—likely from a leisurely bath.
“You know what you need to do.”
The moment their eyes met, Lescal snapped.
“Pii!”
Pipi, with a solemn look, shook the water off its body.
That meant yes.
Pipi had to fly and report quickly so that Rasillia wouldn’t be lured away by another demon.
“Don’t dawdle. Fly now.”
“Pii! Pii!”
With an indignant cry, Pipi soared into the air.
“Pii!”
As it shrieked from the window, a flock of birds filled the sky. Pipi perched on the strongest-looking hawk among them.
“Pii!”
The hawk carrying Pipi shot into the sky, and the birds followed.
Lian silently gave a thumbs up behind them.
No matter how tiny it was, a phoenix was still a phoenix. When it was on your side, it was incredibly reassuring.
“The Guard is ready, Your Majesty. Your sword and armor are prepared with the horses.”
“I’m on my way.”
“Yes, sir.”
Soon, the first division of the Imperial Guard rode out of the palace gates.
Their blue armor adorned with golden tassels fluttered alongside matching flags, a stirring sight in the wind.
But the most striking presence of all was, of course, the Emperor at the head.
* * *
“It must’ve been because you were apart too long.”
Serben spoke seriously.
“It’s already been over five hours since you left the palace. His Majesty might’ve simply lost his patience.”
He wasn’t joking.
Since the trial was disrupted, Lescal hadn’t slept for three whole days.
He wasn’t an ordinary human—he had demon blood—but even then, it was excessive. Lescal was on edge, his attention entirely focused on the Empress’s palace.
He had even set up seven tracking magic circles. The reason there were only seven was because casting more of the same magic would risk mana entanglement.
In other words, if there hadn’t been that risk, no one could guess whether he would’ve made seventy—or seven hundred.
Despite all that, Lescal had agreed to let the Empress visit the Pielion estate alone.
He was clearly holding back desperately just to avoid getting on her bad side.
You could picture him in his office, getting sharper by the hour, with Lian swallowing dryly as he watched.
No wonder he had transformed and stormed out.
“So as long as we get back quickly, it should be fine.”
His serious face turned nervous.
It was clear that last part was something he was saying more to himself than anyone else.
“What if someone saw His Majesty’s transformed state? What happens then?”
Rasillia asked.
“…Well.”
Serben turned to Dekan for help.
Dekan slightly shook his head.
“We could try erasing their memories through sorcery. But there may be too many people for me to handle alone. If that’s the case, we’ll need another method.”
Rasillia’s expression darkened.
The “other method” clearly meant silencing witnesses—permanently.
“There would be public backlash, wouldn’t there? The people won’t take that lightly.”
“That’s the biggest concern. And with the temple already unpredictable lately… They were the ones who submitted the complaint about the Empress’s missing mark. They might use this to blame you for His Majesty’s transformation.”
“That would be… a huge problem.”
“Exactly, Your Majesty.”
It hit her again—the heavy burden a mate must bear.
‘If I really am the true one… I’ll never be able to leave.’
Even just a few hours apart had caused the Emperor to transform. She could never turn her back on that.
Rasillia clenched her hands tightly and nodded.
“The sooner we arrive, the fewer witnesses there’ll be. Tell the driver to go faster.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Dudududu!
The coachman urged the horses faster. The carriage shook harder.
Which was why they almost missed the soft sound at the window.
“Pii! Pii!”
“…Pipi?”
“Pii!”
The carriage was going too fast, and Pipi was struggling with its tiny wings to keep up.
It had dismounted the hawk once it saw the carriage—but the speed had suddenly picked up.
“I’ll open it.”
Dekan quickly opened the window. Since it opened outward, Pipi almost smacked into the frame.
“Pii!”
Pipi huffed and plopped onto Rasillia’s lap.
“What’s the matter, Pipi?”
“Pi? Pi… Pii! Piiiit!”
“Huh?”
What it said was completely unexpected, leaving Rasillia dumbfounded.
“…Is that really true?”
