TPOTLPIM Chapter 26

The attempted assassination of the Emperor. The assassination method was a bomb, and it was an incident perpetrated by those who had disguised themselves as imperial guards and infiltrated the imperial palace. They targeted the celebratory banquet and planted explosives on the platform where the Emperor and the tournament victor were to ascend.

The disguised assassins were swiftly rooted out and thrown into the underground dungeons. Despite brutal torture, they kept their mouths sealed about who their mastermind was and why they had committed such a deed. When prisoners began dying from the unbearable torture, even the interrogators started to feel perplexed. In the end, when it was determined that no information could be wrung from them, the ragged prisoners were publicly executed before the eyes of many.

This incident starkly exposed the gaping holes in imperial security. Five years prior, rioters had also pillaged an imperial villa. Sinister rumors—that there were factions scheming rebellion, that the master of the imperial palace could change—spread like wildfire on people's tongues throughout the entire empire.

It seemed it would take time to restore the fallen prestige of the imperial family.

Meanwhile, Asen had been holed up in Odik Castle like a prisoner since the incident, not venturing outside. There was a visitor who came to Odik Castle to meet her—none other than Marcel, the captain of the Red Knights.

Asen was nervously chewing her lips as if anxious.

"Please sit down, Sir Marcel."

"Are you all right? You look very gaunt."

Asen lowered her gaze to hide her moistening eyes. She stared blankly at her own hands gripping tightly to the hem of her dress and gritted her teeth.

"When I think of the ordeal my brother will face... this is nothing... sob, I'm sorry."

Finally, the tears she had been holding back began flowing down her cheeks.

Seeing this, Marcel didn't know where to look for a moment, then took out a neatly folded handkerchief from his inner pocket and handed it to her.

The person who had been wrongfully harmed by the Emperor's assassination attempt was none other than Hadel. Hadel was now confined in the imperial magic research laboratory, living a prison-like existence.

Asen recalled the situation from that day when the explosion occurred.

Cecilia, who had asked if there wasn't some strange smell, had a surprised expression as if she had seen something.

["Explosion..."]

Asen distinctly heard her quietly muttering. Following that, Asen's eyes caught sight of Cecilia's retreating figure as she dashed toward the platform. Asen stretched out her hand to catch hold of her, but only the fluttering blonde hair brushed past her fingertips and slipped away.

Afterward, accompanied by a thunderous boom, Asen lost her center and collapsed to the ground.

["No!"]

At that moment, she instinctively cast a protective barrier. The barrier she created was actually two—one protected Teros, the Emperor, and Cecilia who were on the platform, and the other protected herself and Hadel.

Fortunately, thanks to the barrier, the three people on the platform didn't seem to be seriously injured.

But Hadel was startled as if struck by lightning and hid Asen behind his back.

In front of the platform, she could see Teros lying prone on the floor, reaching out his hand toward them as if pleading for help.

["Brother, you need to heal him."]

["Shh, be quiet, Asen."]

Hadel still hid Asen behind his back and stood there like a statue, not moving a single step.

Teros, who had been struggling and exerting all his strength, soon seemed to lose consciousness as his head dropped to the floor.

As soon as she saw this, Hadel turned around and gripped Asen's shoulders tightly. Though he was holding her with rough force, Asen knew that her brother's thorn-like hands were trembling.

["Asen. The barrier just now was cast by me. Do you understand? Don't you dare open your mouth."]

["Brother!"]

When she looked up at him with eyes that didn't understand,

["You foolish thing, do you think the Emperor will be grateful if you save him with a barrier? Instead, he'll make all sorts of trouble saying we kept such magic secret from the Empire, and might even torture you unnecessarily to find out how powerful it is."]

["B-but Brother, you can't do this."]

Originally, the Odik family's protective barrier was extremely weak. It could only protect oneself and had a short duration. It didn't have the power to withstand the force of a bomb.

For this reason, the protective barrier had been kept secret from the imperial court. If they carelessly boasted about something they could barely do, they might be drafted to the front lines of battlefields where it would be useless and die pointlessly.

The barrier Asen had just created was only possible because it was her. She had simultaneously formed barriers in two places and protected several people from the powerful shock of the explosion.

["Just make excuses that it was power manifested in an instant and that you can't normally use it. If I, an imperial magic researcher, say so, who can do anything about it? It's safer for everyone if I say I did it rather than you."]

The siblings' green eyes, like fresh leaves, looked at each other as if sharing a dangerous secret.

Asen grabbed onto Hadel's clothes pleadingly. Unable to withstand the force of her grip, the golden cufflink on his sleeve made a 'snap' sound as it fell and rolled on the floor.

["Why, why should Brother take responsibility for what I did? Don't do this."]

["Pull yourself together. Do you think I'm doing this because you're dear to me? It's for the sake of the family. When I'm absent, you are the head of House Odik."]

Hadel was cold-headed. All his judgments aimed at the prosperity of the Odik family.

When he touched the cuffless sleeve end with an indifferent expression, Asen finally felt a slight sense of relief seeing the usual Hadel.

He gestured with his chin toward the crowd flowing out of the banquet hall like an ebbing tide.

["You too, naturally blend in and escape. Don't come out of that research lab you love for a month. You're in confinement."]

That was the last time she saw her brother. Afterward, Hadel healed the three people who had been on the platform and tended to other casualties before being immediately confined to the imperial magic research laboratory by the palace guards.

It was a painful memory that had to be kept secret for life. Just thinking about it made her throat choke and her chest feel completely blocked. Since that day, there hadn't been a single day when Asen didn't cry.

"The Marquis sent me. He said the young lady would feel more comfortable with me than with the Marquis himself."

"Sir Marcel, might I know whether my brother is faring well? Surely Lord Teros could look after him adequately."

"He's confined but receiving good meals and seems to be living quite comfortably. You don't need to worry too much."

"My brother has a weak constitution. His body must be deteriorating from extreme stress."

"The Marquis says if you answer the questions he's curious about, he'll arrange a meeting between the siblings."

Asen tensed her jaw to restrain her grinding teeth. Teros must know that he lived thanks to Hadel's barrier. If he understood this debt of gratitude, he should naturally arrange the meeting himself, yet he was imposing conditions on it?

But now was not the time to show anger. Now she had to think about the family's prosperity in place of Hadel. Asen answered weakly.

"What is he curious about?"

Seeing Asen's face, pale as paper, Marcel couldn't readily voice his question. He usually wasn't particularly sympathetic or merciful toward others. If he had such a soft personality, he wouldn't have been able to lead the Red Knights, famous for their harsh training.

But the helpless expression of the woman in front of him strangely softened his heart. With her hollow expression that looked like she would collapse at a touch, barely managing to sit upright, she seemed pitiful.

He gave a small cough and asked the question he had prepared.

"The Marquis believes that the barrier from that day was not cast by the researcher."

Asen's green eyes glared at Marcel. As expected, he had come to interrogate the Odiks.

Marcel sensed that the eyes which had been vacant suddenly transformed into audacious ones staring him down, yet he feigned ignorance and continued his words.

"The Marquis has seen the researcher's barrier before on some occasion. He says the strength and range of the barrier were definitely different from that day's."

Marcel recalled the conversation he had with Teros before coming to Odik Castle.

On the day Hadel came to Hasblue to heal Cecilia, Teros had tested Hadel's barrier in the mansion's basement. The barrier that was so feeble it would crack when struck with a dagger could never have endured the force of an explosion. Teros was certain that Hadel, who could only muster that degree of strength even when his own life was in peril, could not have unleashed greater power for the sake of others.

Asen hesitated for a moment about what to say. Should she just tell him to leave since she had nothing to say? That would rather confirm Teros's suspicions.

She finally opened her mouth based on what her brother had said on the day of the explosion.

"Lord Teros observed properly. Our family's protective barrier is inherently quite feeble. It's such an insignificant ability that we haven't even disclosed it to the world. Perhaps that day..., my brother's dormant power surfaced in an unforeseen crisis. It would be something that might occur once in a lifetime."

This should be a perfect answer. Asen stressed the point that it was 'something that happens once in a lifetime' so that the imperial court wouldn't even consider exploiting such dormant power. 'I shouldn't have made any blunders with this.' She forcibly arranged a composed expression while pressing down her racing heart as she continued to speak.

Across from her, Marcel scrutinized Asen's expression thoroughly. All his nerves were focused on determining the truth of what Asen was saying.

"Indeed, it matches exactly with what the researcher said."

Asen barely managed to hold back a sigh of relief that was about to escape. If it matched exactly with the statement her brother had given to the imperial court, then the answer she had just given would add credibility to her brother's words.

However, her answer, which had made her break out in a cold sweat, didn't seem sufficient to fool Marcel.

"It's so identical that it's puzzling."

One of Asen's eyebrows shot up.

"What do you mean? You came all this way just to ask questions to someone who's already troubled, and now you're saying you can't believe it? If you're going to talk nonsense, then leave."

At her fairly firm voice, Marcel looked at Asen's expression with interest.

Asen abruptly stood up from the tea table where she had been sitting across from Marcel and sat intimidatingly in the oak chair behind the large desk. This was Hadel's beloved study.

Since the desk and chair were on a raised platform above the floor, Marcel, sitting in front of the tea table, suddenly found himself looking up at Asen.

"What are you doing? Aren't you leaving?"

At the cold rejection, Marcel finally stood up from his seat with a refreshing manner.

"The Marquis told me to convey his gratitude to the young lady. Whatever the young lady's answer may be, the meeting between the siblings will be arranged. I'll send a letter soon."

"Ha! The gratitude shouldn't be directed at me. Lord Teros should take better care of my brother. He's his lifesaver."

Still trembling with anger, Asen bit her lips tightly. But since Teros had said he would arrange Hadel's visitation, she had to endure more for now.

Only after Marcel's retreating figure disappeared through the study door did she collapse against the oak chair.

'Did I do well?'

If Hadel had seen her trembling like a frightened rabbit at the knight's provocation, he might have looked at her pathetically.

'Why did Teros tell him to convey gratitude to me instead of my brother?'

It seemed he had already noticed something. Sweat soaked into Asen's tightly clenched fists.