[CHE] 014. THE HOLY EMPEROR’S CIRCUMSTANCES

The Holy Emperor Nate is not a deeply religious person by nature.

However, what he dare to say without shame is that he did not particularly seek carnal pleasure or senseless romance.

That is to say, he didn’t lead his life recklessly enough to be called [The Unprecedented Playboy Holy Emperor].

But why did he already officially have five children when he ascended to the throne at the young age of 21? Here, too, there were some circumstances which deserved sympathy.

Born as the son of the hated Second Queen, the Third Prince of the former Holy Emperor, he was unfortunately the most talented human being among his half-brothers.

A prince with innate elegance, a brilliant brain, and even a talent for swordsmanship. He was naturally a top priority for other members of the imperial family.

In addition, the son of the powerless Second Queen who was shunned by the Holy Emperor and kicked out by her family. He had to be eliminated first, and even if things went wrong, he was bound to be the most uncompromising target.

Because of this, he suffered numerous assassination attempts from a young age.

Several raids, as well as various attempts to poison in particular, continued to happen. Not to mention three meals a day and food and beverages, it was not uncommon for the entire villa to be engulfed in poisonous smoke.

No matter how quick-witted Nate was and possessed extraordinary divine power, he could not avoid the crisis of crossing life and death several times.

Before he was 10 years old, the Second Queen, who suffered from poison for several years, eventually died.

It’s been a long time since the people of the castle or family stopped visiting altogether. His one and only son was also poisoned, and it was a lonely death in a bone marrow.

By then, Nate’s health was also in critical condition. The oracle of Kornsheim left behind a curse-like prophecy saying that he would never see an heir from now on, and that he would die a miserable death at a young age.

The members of the imperial palace also unanimously declared that the poisoned young prince had already become infertile. In addition to this, even if you take good care of your health from now on, it is accompanied by a gloomy prospect that it will be difficult to exceed the terms and conditions.

A prince who has no rear ship and cannot see his heirs.

Everyone was unaware that Nate had been unofficially removed from the throne entirely.

For more than two years after that, the prince steadfastly survived by himself. Even after reaching this point, poisoning attempts continued, so it was a tearful struggle for survival.

However, after going through an event where he vomited blood again at the imperial palace banquet celebrating the birthday of the holy emperor. Little Nate, his patience finally exhausted, thought with a carefree smile as he lay in his bed.

Fuck, life.

After that day, the poor third prince disappeared completely from the imperial palace.

After leaving the capital, the young prince wandered the country alone for years.

At first, he reluctantly ran away to live, but as soon as he escaped the small fence of the imperial palace, many of his natural talents began to bloom brilliantly.

His uncharacteristic cleverness allowed him to evade the pursuers in the imperial palace, and the miscellaneous skills he picked up here and there allowed him to quickly rise to the level of excellent swordsmanship. The suppressed divine power was also completely released, allowing it to exert miraculous healing power.

Is that all? Everyone who met him treated him kindly.

An experienced hunter, a talented treasure hunter, an independent hidden pharmacist, and a wandering sword master.

It was a passing relationship for a while, but they all saved the talent of the prince and tried to help.

It didn’t take long for the prince to transform into a fairly competent adventurer. The desperate nomadic life is now becoming a pleasant foodie trip to enjoy the life that is not long left to the fullest.

Many years after running away from the imperial palace. Although he was a bit infrequent, the assassins continued to pursue him, and Nate periodically moved from city to city and wandered around the country. As his hair grew thicker to a certain extent, he naturally began to have meetings with women.

Nate must have been quite a style to be eaten by women. Even though he revealed that he couldn’t settle down in one place, there were many women who wanted a cool swordsman and a fleeting flame of romance.

At that time, Nate was someone who enjoyed wandering around, but on the other hand, always had a fear of a terminally ill life, not knowing when he would die.

So, if he can remain as a momentary good memory for them, then his life would be worth a little bit. Thinking about it now, he met women with his own desperate reasons.

He was always faithful to love, feeling that it might always be the end of his life.

It may sound like an excuse, but the women who met him were very happy, and parting was always heartbreaking and beautiful.

The only thing Nate overlooked was that his health quickly improved as he got rid of his periodic poisoning and started to deal with his Aura properly.

And since his innate divine power greatly exceeded previous popes, the healing power of his body was also beyond imagination.

That is to say, he was not sterile.

He found out about it when he was almost 20 years old. In the city where he stayed for quite a long time as the frequency of his pursuers decreased, from the day his lover Melody vomited.

The doctor’s diagnosis was pregnancy.

There was no doubt about the lover. Because he knew better how innocent and noble she was.

‘No way……’

An eerie assumption passed through his mind.

From then on, Nate hired the Information Guild and went on to inquire about the women he had dated before.

Since when did he become normal?

What was the oracle’s prophecy about having no heirs and short-lived?

If, by any chance, other women had children, how are those fatherless children doing now?

While anxiously waiting day by day, Melody’s stomach began to grow, and by the time winter came around, he was able to receive an answer from the Information Guild.

– Judging from the women’s future actions and the baby’s appearance, there are currently three children suspected of having the client as the parent. Further reports will be made as the investigation progresses.

That means there may be more if you look for them.

Cold sweat flowed like rain.

‘What should I do? Let’s find them all and take responsibility… No, then what about the Melody? First of all, I’m going to have to marry Melody, how heartbroken will she be when she finds out?’

He had that thought.

‘Oh, what if those women are already in a family with someone else? Then, wouldn’t it be true love to just pretend not to know and wish for happiness? No, no. That’s irresponsible……’

Nate grabbed his head. Because even he thought he was too trashy himself.

But the water has already been spilled, and the flesh has been shot.

While struggling with pain, he decided to focus on taking care of his lover, whose birth date was approaching. And in order to ascertain whether it was a situation where he had to intervene, he additionally commissioned a detailed investigation into the current situation of the other women and children to the guild.

However, aside from his complicated personal circumstances, the situation in the Holy Empire began to flow strangely.

It seemed that the battle between the First Prince and the First Princess for the succession was in full swing, but the Second Prince suddenly seized the market and knocked out the Princess.

Shortly thereafter, the Holy Emperor suddenly passed away, and a civil war between the First and Second Prince factions broke out, but surprisingly, the two princes died at the same time due to a small friction between the troops in the capital.

Nathaniel Klein, 21 years old.

The auspicious day when Melody finally held her beautiful daughter in her arms.

And the day when the three Holy Knights and five cardinals came to the village in groups and knelt at once in celebration of the birth of a new Holy Emperor.

The information guild announced that they had found another child, and he inherited the throne and officially became the father of five children.

* * *

“Are you still paying attention to what the princess said?”

Click. Nate raised his head at the sound of tea cups clinking. It was Louis, the chamberlain, who had been assisting him for the past several years.

He is a competent fellow who takes care of the tea that the Holy Emperor enjoys in the evening without even ordering it separately.

“Hmm……”

Nate moved his chin to the other hand and asked a question in passing.

“What do you think? How much can be believed from what Amelia said?”

Louis smiled softly.

The young Holy Emperor he served had occasions like this. It was only after he had finished his thoughts and reached a complete conclusion, that he asked for the opinion of the chief chamberlain, who would not even refer to it.

So the seasoned chief chamberlain gave a moderately common sense opinion.

“Wasn’t she originally a kind and imaginative person? She must have had a frightening dream.”

“That’s right.”

Nate nodded.

“How about the Pearl Palace?”

“I’ve been told that Prince Morres and Sir Marthain devoted themselves to swordsmanship lessons all day long. Both of them are more motivated than ever before, and I heard that he seems to be doing well.”

“Right.”

Nate gave a short answer and raised a cup of tea.

The chamberlain silently stayed by his side. It was because he knew empirically that the Holy Emperor would command him to do something soon.

After a while, Nate opened his mouth.

“… Louis.”

“Yes, by your command.”

“Get the necklace from Amelia’s room.”

Louise’s eyebrows rose slightly.

Among the many accessories possessed by the princess, there must be only one that the Holy Emperor specifically refers to.

As the chamberlain, who knew even a little about the jewel, it was impossible not to know that the Holy Emperor was taking this incident more seriously than he thought.

“Your Majesty, that necklace……”

As the chief chamberlain opened his mouth in confusion, the Holy Emperor suddenly raised his hand.

He was stunned speechless, but immediately shut his mouth when he realized that Nate was staring at the ceiling.

“……”

Soon, a dark figure falls from above. He was a man in a black outfit.

He was an agent of the Information Guild, who Louis was familiar with, but his skills were truly ghostly. Even when he appeared, he didn’t seem to be there, but he didn’t even hear the sound of him sitting on the floor.

How the hell does the Holy Emperor know in advance that this man is coming every time?

“Your Majesty the Holy Emperor.”

The man, who got down on one knee and bowed respectfully towards Nate, continued to report with a low voice as he kept his head bowed.

“There is a new progress in the long investigation, so I visited late.”

“……”

Louis was startled and looked at the Holy Emperor. It was because there was only one issue that this information guild had been hanging on to for a long time.

As expected, Nate’s face, which maintains a poker face for a while, is slightly wrinkled.

“… Say it.”

“Yes, we tracked down the woman Your Majesty met in the Eusenia Hot Spring Village. After she left the village, her activities were completely cut off and we have been walking in place until now, but while searching for her, there was someone who vaguely remembered that she was the daughter of a male writer in Rohan.”

It’s Eusenia. Perhaps it was in the middle of his wandering period.

Strangely, it turned out that she was a person of Rohan.

“It is said that she even gave birth in the hot spring village and was on her way home. However, there was no record of entering Rohan, so the investigation was disrupted. It turns out that before entering Rohan, they were attacked by bandits……”

Clack.

Hearing the sound of the teacup being set down on the table a little harshly, the informant glanced up at the Holy Emperor’s face and continued.

“Everyone in the party, including the woman, died, but after that, there were eyewitnesses who said they saw a boy from the bandits. The baby was probably raised by thieves, and was captured after the situation……”

Louis, the chief chamberlain, stared at the Holy Emperor’s clenched fist as if the blood would disappear, and then quietly closed his eyes.

It was the moment when the Holy Emperor’s eighth child was confirmed.