SV – 70

Everdio, the capital of the Great Central Empire of Markania.

A chaotic murmur spread in the imperial palace where the flag of the Leonardo family fluttered majestically. The topic was that the Central Portal of Icaruso had been opened.

And very suddenly too.

The portal was connected to Altera in the Archduchy of Edelred and Tezeba in the County of Von Klose.

Rumors abounded over the fact that the two feudal lords visited the capital simultaneously, with nobility pouring out numerous inferences.

The first theory was that Emperor Louis von Leonardo’s health had deteriorated noticeably, and the second was rumors related to the Sentinel Knights.

However, among many, many speculations, the one that was the most popular was the case of the ‘disappearance of Lady Dalia Von Klose.’

“How is the princess?”

“How can she be? Don’t you know how much effort the princess put to not go abroad? Overlooking the princess… . No matter how important love is—it’s like giving her away to a foreign country! It’s a great loss to Marcania.”

“However… . Why? Lord Jurgen isn’t classed, but he’s a Luster-class Sentinel. He needs a guide more than anyone.”

“Tsk, so isn’t that why the temple visits Bluebell House every day? To change his mind.”

“Ah, I see.”

People were both simple and complex.

Then, a magician from the imperial court shouted at those gathered in the library.

“Altera’s Archduke Leicester Tilbury Edelred has passed through the portal! Count Howell Von Klose of Tezeba has passed through the portal!”

At the news of the arrival of Archduke Leicester, the 5th prince of the Great Central Empire of Markania, and Count Howell, the gathered nobles all bowed. All those who had been talking so loud a moment ago greeted them with silence.

When the door to the central portal opened, respectful gazes poured down on the two men striding forward while maintaining a certain distance.

However, their dispositions were so starkly different that they aroused the viewers’ curiosity.

The Archduke of Leicester, who walked out first, looked strangely excited. While Count Howell, who came after him, had a corpse-like pale face with his clenched fists trembling as if he was suppressing anger.

“Relax your expression, Count Howell,”

Leicester whispered softly as he smiled brightly and stared straight ahead. Then Howell shot a sharp glare at Leicester’s profile and let out a sigh.

“If anything happens to Dahlia, the Duke will have to take responsibility for it.”

“Of course. And haven’t you heard that our Jurgen is keeping Miss Dahlia safe.”

The two immediately exited the crown prince’s palace and climbed into the waiting carriage together. With the two nobles getting on the same carriage, the nobles’ doubts ended.

The onlookers had been concerned over the emperor and crown prince. But it seemed the two had no interest in the affairs of the imperial palace.

“I was surprised too. So Miss Dahlia has both powers?”

After the carriage departed, the first to speak was the Archduke of Leicester. He offered Howell a cigarette from a shallow tin case and lit it himself.

“It is a power that she has had since she was born. So far, the power has been suppressed by the Insignia of the Seal. Concerning the temple… I didn’t want to lose my child.”

“Heh heh, I understand that feeling. If I had a daughter, I would have done the same. But… . The Insignia of the Seal literally only blocks leaking power. The fact that Miss Dahlia has power remains unchanged.”

“I know. So I tried to find a way. Before the two forces collided and went amok, I tried to find a way… .”

“We should have met sooner.”

Leicester stared at the distant imperial palace and let out white smoke.

When he was informed Jurgen was responsible for the kidnapping of Dahlia, he thought that this reckless guy had caused a calamity.

However, he couldn’t believe the report that followed, even after hearing it with his own ears. The power of Luster and the power of Liberty coexisted within her. He realized why Jurgen had insisted on marrying Dahlia and why he had upset her father by saying that it was love at first sight.

That’s right. Indeed, since he was a child, he had an extraordinary power to see ahead. So despite him being his son and even though he was his father, he found Jurgen difficult to face.

Leicester opened his mouth while looking at the castle wall where the imperial flag fluttered.

“Count Howell. Do you… . Do you know what a piece of God is?”

A question arose between Howell’s furrowed forehead, which had been deep in thought.

“What is it?”

“Hmm… . Thirty years ago, a gate opened. I was the one who found the gate. I was surprised at first. There was something strange about that gate, I couldn’t sense the presence of monsters or demonic powers—rather the power leaking out of it was closer to the power of a god.”

He recalled and brooded over his memories of the old days.

It was a time when he was still full of curiosity. He had a close relationship with the crown prince at the time, Louis von Leonardo and the two secretly entered the gate.

And what they found there was an incredible space that humans had created.

Night and day came every moment, and lights of different colors floated between the high stone structures that seemed to reach the sky. There were five types of light, and the stonework was densely written in an unknown language.

The first person to recognize the language was Louis, the Crown Prince.

‘It’s Ibelin. Why is the Ibelinian language, the language of the gods… .’

God’s language.

The two, driven by curiosity, called a scribe to transcribe the text and went back and forth between the gates. Perhaps it is not a gate but a portal connected to the realm of the gods. At the time, he had no choice but to think so.

For a year, he went to and from the gate every day, learning and interpreting the Ibelin language.

And the day all the stonework was moved, the gate was gone.

“What was written there was about the Fragment of God. I think the lights I saw then were pieces of God.”

“What does that got to do with Dahlia… .”

The carriage entering the city slowed down. Last night, probably because of the gate commotion in the plaza, police and soldiers gathered to investigate the area around the plaza.

Leicester, who had closed the curtains on the carriage to block out the outside world, rubbed out his shortened cigarette and put his hands together to rest his chin.

“God’s power, destruction and wrath, life and creation, time and luck. And… balance and harmony. It is said to be the power given to those who were born with a fragment of a god. Maybe … . Jurgen— and I suspect that Miss Dahlia may contain a piece of balance and harmony.”