Chapter: 28
A Secret Visitor
He was so kind in my dream.
He smiled more often, and his voice was gentle.
But now that he was pretending not to know her at all, Jusielia felt upset and even embarrassed.
‘Was he pretending not to know me because he was ashamed to be associated with me?’
Jusielia’s face turned pale.
It was possible.
Ekiel was already a great Archmage, powerful enough to be an emperor, while she was just a white tiger cub who hadn’t even properly awakened.
In a dream, where no one could see, he could offer his help out of kindness, but here, with so many people watching…
‘An emperor has his dignity to maintain.’
Thinking this way, Ekiel’s attitude became understandable.
Though she still felt a little upset and disappointed.
She recalled how, just a few hours ago, she had been so happy to see Ekiel that she had run up and hugged him.
Her face flushed beet red.
“Kyaheuuuung.” (Why did I do that!!!)
It was too much, no matter how you looked at it.
Jusielia covered her face with her front paws, whimpering, and kicked the terrace floor with her hind legs.
She wanted to turn back time.
“Huhu.”
And then.
Nearby the Princess’s Palace, sitting on a thick branch of a large tree, someone was secretly watching her.
The figure watched the squirming little white tiger on the terrace with a sinister smile.
“How cute.”
The voice was sweet, yet cloying and dark.
“Well, now.”
Just then, the figure let out a short sigh, and his form blurred before vanishing in an instant.
*Shing, crack-!*
In place of the vanished figure, a golden chain of magical energy struck the thick branch hard, causing leaves to rain down.
*Flutter.*
Startled birds took flight, and a boy leaped onto the thick branch, now marked by the magical chain.
‘Gone.’
In the darkness, Ekiel’s crimson eyes darted about.
He spread his magic meticulously around the area to search, but the person who had been here was truly ‘nowhere.’
Ekiel frowned.
To leave not even a trace… this was no ordinary foe.
Who dared to come and go right under the nose of the Penterin Princess’s Palace without anyone knowing?
Unless it was an emperor-class Archmage like himself, or a member of the Penterin royal family, it should be impossible…
“Kyang!”
‘Ah.’
Lost in thought, Ekiel flinched at the sound of the little tiger’s cry from behind him and turned around.
‘She shouldn’t be able to see me.’
Ekiel was in the tree.
The noise from the magical chain had been quite loud, and since Jusielia had good hearing, she must have at least realized something had happened.
‘But I’m too far away for her to recognize me clearly.’
Ekiel hesitated.
He could just disappear quietly.
But if he did…
Ekiel recalled the image of the white tiger’s ears drooping sadly at the banquet hall the moment he had treated her coldly.
‘Is it because I was so cold to her all of a sudden…?’
His heart heavy, Ekiel confirmed once more that no one was around, then slid straight down from the tree using his magical chain.
He landed silently on the railing of the Princess’s Palace terrace.
Jusielia’s eyes filled with bewilderment.
As if she hadn’t expected Ekiel to reveal himself.
Ekiel gave a faint smile to Jusielia, who hadn’t said a word to him since he’d drawn the line at the banquet.
“Hello?”
He raised a hand and waved.
Jusielia tilted her head in confusion, seemingly wary of his sudden change in attitude.
Ekiel felt a little sad.
He didn’t want to be disliked.
He couldn’t reveal even a hint of the secret that he could peer into the dreams of Jusielia and the Dark Divine Beast in front of so many people.
After the Dark Divine Beast broke its seal and escaped in the Rilberg Empire, Ekiel had secretly infiltrated its dreams through the traces it left on the fragments of the broken seal.
If the Dark Divine Beast were to find out about his method, it would either destroy the fragments or find a way to block the dream passage.
‘I can’t let that happen.’
Ekiel intended to keep this a secret.
For the final battle to come.
Until then, he planned to use this passage to infiltrate and destroy the Dark Divine Beast’s inner self.
‘It could be my hidden card.’
Therefore, he had to keep it a secret from Jusielia as well. Only by being the sole keeper of this secret could he perfectly deceive the Dark Divine Beast.
“Um.”
Wanting to soothe the dejected-looking Jusielia, Ekiel spoke.
“I, uh, just came out for a walk.”
“Kyang…”
Ekiel smiled faintly, finding it cute that Jusielia finally reacted.
Jusielia’s brilliant blue eyes looked even more mystical and beautiful at night.
Ekiel found himself saying,
“Hey, want some candy?”
“Aheung?”
When Jusielia gave him a look of disbelief, Ekiel regretted his words, thinking he’d said the wrong thing.
But Ekiel had spent his childhood mastering magic and various other studies, so he’d never had the chance to raise or even interact with pets like cats or dogs, let alone a white tiger.
Moreover, he’d never even made a friend. Meeting Jusielia in his dreams was the closest he’d ever come.
Still, when Jusielia took a step closer to him, Ekiel jumped down from the railing.
Ekiel used magic to conjure a piece of candy, choosing a formula that would dissolve easily, and rolled it in front of Jusielia’s paws.
Then, in a serious tone, he gave her a stern warning.
“Little tiger.”
“Kyang.”
“You can’t swallow the candy.”
Seeing Ekiel’s serious expression, Jusielia growled as if to say, ‘Do you think I don’t know that?’
“…Kyarrrrreung.”
“You have to suck on it.”
“Kyarreureung!”
“If you swallow it, you’ll choke.”
Jusielia got annoyed and yipped, as if to say she wasn’t stupid.
“Kyang kyang kyang kyaa kyang!!”
“Good girl. Sleep well.”
But Ekiel didn’t think Jusielia was angry.
Instead, he called her a good girl and patted the little, soft white tiger’s head a couple of times.
Then, after a moment’s hesitation, he vanished from the terrace.
He reappeared on the tree branch and watched with a pleased smile as Jusielia stared at the blue candy he’d given her, then bit off the wrapper and slowly began to suck on it.
“So cute.”
Ekiel suddenly remembered what Jusielia’s sharp-tongued Golden Tiger brother had said.
Temptation magic.
Isn’t that what Jusielia casts on everyone?
Ekiel looked down at the mark his magical chain had left on the branch, his expression turning serious.
The crow-like followers weren’t the only problem.
There might be a formidable enemy hiding nearby, targeting Jusielia directly.
Ekiel leaped down from the tree.
***
The next day, at noon.
The first secret meeting between the two empires began, presided over by the Emperor of Penterin.
The venue was a conference room in the Imperial Palace, but one hundred of the Emperor’s elite knights stood guard around it.
Furthermore, three high priests were dispatched to cast a triple sound barrier, ensuring that no conversations from within the conference room could leak out.
It was a meeting where security was of the utmost importance.
The first summit between the two empires of the East and West Continents. And it was a summit where the emperors of each nation met face to face, not their envoys.
Seated across from each other at the rectangular table in the Imperial Palace’s conference room were the representatives of the two empires—five and four people, respectively.
From the Penterin Empire: Emperor Ritain, Crown Prince Ijeten, Duke Atasix, Marquis Skoten, and Count Talon.
From the Rilberg Empire: Emperor Ekiel, Archmage Urna, Archmage Kandek, and Archmage Noah.
Besides them, there were no attendants or knights.
Ritain began.
“I say this again, but we are deeply grateful that the Rilberg Empire has come all this way. I never imagined the Emperor himself would come in person.”
“It is an important matter.”
As Ekiel responded calmly, Ritain gazed at the boy emperor for a moment before continuing.
“The reason we are beginning this meeting with a minimum number of people is because the subject is sensitive. It must be the same for Rilberg as it is for Penterin.”
Ritain frowned at the people from the Rilberg Empire, who showed no reaction.
“I will now begin. Hiding things will not solve anything. I hope the Rilberg Empire will judge wisely and cooperate with us.”
After Ritain finished speaking, Count Talon stepped forward with a prepared presentation board.
It was a visual aid that briefly showed the history of the Penterin imperial family, from its founder to the present day.
