Chapter 78
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*Sponsored chapter by Virginie. Thank you ❤️ (½)
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Never before had he seen so many people fill the wide, high hallway, all alone. The chamberlain sank to his knees with a thud, as if an invisible force was pressing on his shoulders.
It finally dawned on him where he had seen his face. It was the face of the Emperor Wilhelm in the portrait gallery. The chamberlain turned to a servant who happened to be nearby and ordered in a trembling voice.
"Fetch the chief priest at once. His Imperial Highness has requested...... proof of lineage."
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Meklen, the imperial chief priest, stifled a sigh as he climbed the stairs, unable to help but groan at the mention of the prince's request for proof of lineage.
He had heard that riots had been raging on the streets of the capital for days. The Emperor had had enough, and had gone into hiding to see the rioters with his own eyes.
He could see why the prince had called him. He wanted to prove his lineage, and then hide his failure from the emperor.
As he had done so many times before, he would ask why he could not pass the proof of parentage, and how he could pass the ritual the next time.
But Meklen's coming-of-age ceremony was sealed at the same time as his signature, and he rose to the position of chief. This meant that he had seen both Emperors Wilhelm and Karl's proof of lineage rituals with his own eyes.
He knew better than anyone that there were no tricks or solutions.
Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to help Prince Leopold.
The servant hurriedly moved forward, looking anxiously at the priest who kept falling behind.
Meklen, however, was in no hurry, trudging up the stairs step by step.
The thought of re-doing the proof of lineage, which was bound to fail, and comforting the sobbing prince was a hassle.
Without the mark, the prince would bring misery to the imperial family. So Meklen secretly hoped that whatever irregularities the prince had committed, he would be able to overcome them.
It wasn't until he had traveled the last half-story that he noticed a strange silence in the palace, probably due to the news of the riot.
His heart dropped when he saw a figure standing in the middle of the hallway.
"Wilhelm.................."
Wilhelm in his youth.
No, it was a man who looked like him, standing tall and upright.
The man smiled gently at him, even as Meklen stupidly mumbled the dead Emperor's name.
"If my guess is correct, you must be High Priest Meklen. Perhaps we have met, but I'm sorry I don't remember."
Given the timing, it was likely that Meklen had come face-to-face with the young Caius, but the truth was that Caius did not remember him.
He did know, however, that Meklen did not actively try to clear the previous Emperor of the accusation of madness.
Of course, Meklen's presence in the palace since that time, and his safe ascension to the position of High Priest after the change of Emperor, spoke volumes for his political position.
Caius first opened the jewelry box to reveal Albrecht's pearl.
"Or will you recognize my face only when you see this?"
Albrecht's pearl.
Meklen knew how hard the Emperor had tried to find it, even if it was an imitation.
The gray-haired high priest's face grew pale.
Today, as far as he knew, Count Burg was going to meet with him to ask for permission to transfer the title.
If the previous Emperor's firstborn son, thought to be dead, had appeared in the name of Coun Burg, it would be a very precarious and dangerous matter, given the forces of change.
But it would be impossible for the Emperor's blood to return to the palace. Meklen had seen the dead prince's body with his own two eyes twenty years ago.
He took a deep breath that shook his immaculate priestly robes, then spoke slowly.
"Was it you who caused the disturbance at the last masquerade?"
The man with the face of the previous Emperor remained where he was, unmoving and unresponsive, as if wearing a shameless mask.
Meklen spoke, feeling his brain grow increasingly cold.
"Was Count Burg ever such an ambitious man? I will admit that your face bears a striking resemblance to the previous Emperor's, but that's all, the Emperor's firstborn died twenty years ago."
The corners of Caius's mouth twitched up as if he'd heard a good joke.
"And Albrecht's pearl?"
"It was lost a long time ago, so maybe you got lucky and bought it somewhere...........perhaps it’s fake."
Caius nodded slowly, suggesting.
"Then why don't you test whether I'm right or not, by proving my lineage? The Mark of Heidenberg doesn't appear on just anyone, and it's rumored that even the one and only Prince Leopold failed many times."
"You speak too much! How dare you call on the dignity of His Imperial Highness!"
Meklen replied coldly, his mind racing.
The odds that the dead body of the young prince he'd seen twenty years ago was a fake, the odds that the man before him was the real one, and the odds that Heidenberg's mark was on the man's wrist.
The extremely low probabilities raced through the worn and tattered priest's mind, but the answer was in fact already known. In the Emperor's absence, the proof of lineage must never be performed, or he would be blamed for the entire affair.
At that moment, the sound of a bell suddenly rang.
He turned in surprise to see the Count’s subordinate standing there. Meklen frowned as he saw that he had shattered the window with his gloved fist.
The next moment, he tore the shards of glass from the window and stalked toward him, his infernal black eyes flashing. The guards were nearby, but none of them stepped forward to stop him.
The sharp glass went straight for Meklen's throat. The black-eyed man clutched his shoulders from behind, immobilizing him.
"Ha."
Mecklen gasped for air.
When Emperor Karl had faked the mania of the previous Emperor to seize power, all the priests who had opposed him had been killed. He, a mere priest at the time, had simply wanted to live.
It may have been cowardly, but he didn’t think it was wrong. A man's life was a noble thing, even in the Bible. Then a chilling voice whispered in his ear.
"Don't you dare speak such arrogant words to my lord one more time. You will never be able to pray to God with your voice again."
In other words, the man was not alone.
In addition to the man with the glass, there were servants carrying decorated chests and, judging by their size, likely disguised soldiers.
But with the emperor gone to the center of the riot, the guards were mostly absent, and the number of guards standing on the same floor was not large enough to overwhelm their opponents.
The emperor's servants and visiting nobles, while terrified, seemed intrigued by this rare spectacle. The situation would be even worse if any of the men were prearranged.
As he saw during the reign of the current Emperor Karl, the enemy was always inside.
If he shouted and rallied the guards, the situation might change, but he might have already be dead.
Where was Prince Leopold at such times as these...............
Meklen raised his hands to the helpless guards and ordered them to stand still, then looked up at the man before him. A man with black hair and golden eyes, who might have been Heidenberg.
The small suspicion he had was abruptly confirmed when his eyes met the golden ones. The familiar golden eyes seemed to be amused.
If he poured holy water over that man's wrist, a blue half-moon would appear and remain.
The man looked down arrogantly at the bleeding Imperial Priest and laughed.
"So this is what the soldiers of change are like. By the look on your face, I suppose I can now prove my lineage."
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