Children of the Holy Emperor

To conclude, Madame Justine was a decent designer, deserving of his reputation.

Seongjin, who had tried on the tailored outfit after a bit of alteration following the size measurement, was a little surprised. The completed dress looked quite plausible.

With the material scattering rainbow-colored lights, large butterfly patterns, and the embroidered extravagant gemstones, all the strange elements were gathered, but instead of looking like a space shaman as Seongjin had anticipated, the finished product appeared surprisingly elegant, causing him to stand agape.

Madame Justine covered his mouth with a folding fan and chuckled softly.

“Ho ho ho. Because your highness has a face that it can fully support such a bold design.”

Is the completion of fashion ultimately the face?

While Seongjin was marveling anew, Madame stealthily approached, fumbling with the pins stuck here and there in the dress, and continued speaking.

“Perhaps it’s indeed fortunate that your highness hasn’t ordered the party dress yet. It would have had to be entirely recut anyway.”

“… Party dress?”

There’s already a bunch of clothes in Morres’ room, yet another order?

“Yes. You’ll need at least 5 new outfits for the birthday celebration. Some prestigious household members order over 10. They sweep away all the latest seasonal designs.”

“10 outfits….”

“That’s still modest compared to the royal events of other countries. The imperial family usually prefers elegant and neat designs, so there’s not much overlap, and they don’t order too many.”

If one were to wear something similar to the imperial party dress, they would be accused of ignorance and finger-pointed for a long time.

“That’s why some places prepare dozens of preliminary designs. In case the reserved dress overlaps with the imperial family’s design, all the dresses under production get discarded.”

So it is considered virtuous for the imperial family, who are hosts of the party, to decide on their party dresses as soon as possible.

“The birthday celebration is less than a month and a half away. It’s already quite late, so it would be best to get all the party dresses tailored while you’re here.”

Thump, thump. Madame Justine forcefully straightened the lapel of the dress, then scanned Seongjin from top to bottom, his nostrils flaring with satisfaction.

“Hmm, doesn’t the dress look different now that I’ve personally tailored it? No matter how well the staff at the Pearl Palace are good at their job, they can’t do a satisfactory job like this.”

“If it’s so bad, why don’t you come to the Pearl Palace?”

“I can’t enter the Imperial Palace, that’s why.”

“…?”

Before he could ask anything further, Madame Justine placed his hand on Seongjin’s shoulder and smiled. “Now, shall we take a look at the tailoring on the back?” Then, he lightly pushed him to turn him towards the mirror.

“…!”

A chill ran through Seongjin’s body.

What’s this?

Why does it feel so unpleasant?

It’s like touching something void, something he shouldn’t have touched.

Suddenly stiffening, Seongjin’s unease was detected by Madame, who immediately withdrew his hand with a shock. His previously ingratiating smile was gone.

“…”

Seongjin, too, remained silent, glaring at Madame Justine. He had a strong feeling that something was wrong, but couldn’t figure out what.

But looking into the dim eyes of the Madame, he was certain that the man knew why.

A chilling silence.

Dame Claudia, standing at the door, was disturbed by the heavy air and called out to him.

“…Your Highness?”

How long had they been glaring at each other?

Finally, Madame Justine broke the silence with his voice, now weak and somewhat hollow.

“…Your senses… are extremely keen.”

“…”

“Indeed, the imperial bloodline is different in every way…” He seemed to want to say more but bit his lip, holding back. “…I will bring the design sketches.”

With a cold look, Madame turned his eyes from Seongjin and gave a slight bow. Then he turned and left the special chamber, still with his light gait.

“Your Highness? What suddenly happened?”

Dame Claudia asked again, confused, but Seongjin was deep in conversation with the Demon King in his mind, leaving no time to answer her.

‘…Hey.’

[Huh?]

“Didn’t you say that guy was peculiar earlier? What’s so peculiar about him, exactly?”

At Seongjin’s question, the Demon King hesitated for a moment, then said,

[Hmm, I’m not quite sure how to put it. Uh… it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is, but his body seems a bit off somehow? Like it’s not moving properly. A feeling like it doesn’t quite match with his soul? Like it’s lacking in vitality?]

‘…What’s that supposed to mean?’

[I told you it’s hard to explain. Anyway, he feels very different from the people of this world.]

‘Different from the people of this world?’

[Yeah. I don’t know why, but he smells of another world. Like, where is it… Ah, that’s right!]

The Demon King, who had been mumbling, suddenly exclaimed with a bright expression as if he had realized something.

[Regular World! It feels exactly like a human from Regular World!]

Seongjin was taken aback by the unexpected answer.

Regular World.

A place referred to as a dimension higher than Sigurt-34 or Gehenna, known as the Imaginary World.

Following a giant flow that transcends dimensions, it maintains extreme stability.

According to the Demon King, these regular worlds often show a stereotyped appearance. It’s because all the laws of the world are constrained by the same flow.

Thus, these worlds have a narrow range of change, and their stability is incomparable to the imaginary worlds. It’s almost impossible to forcibly open a gate and invade from another dimension.

In other words, things belonging to the regular worlds cannot easily appear in the imaginary worlds or the main worlds.

But how can a person from such a dimension be here in Delcross?

“It’s not like he’s entirely a human from the regular world either. Souls from regular worlds are a bit unique and can be recognized at a glance. But that guy’s soul doesn’t differ much from the souls of Delcross.”

That’s why the Demon King found it hard to explain.

“But his body is different. Like other things from the regular worlds, I feel a single giant flow governing that body. That’s why it doesn’t blend well with this world, and I keep feeling a sense of discomfort.”

On the surface, there may be no significant difference.

But since the substances that make up the body and the laws governing them are different, some differences are bound to manifest.

For example, the mass might be different.

He might be slightly heavier or lighter than other humans.

“Ah, so that’s why……!”

Seongjin finally understood the nature of the discomfort he felt.

The unpleasant feeling he sensed earlier was nothing else but his well-developed senses picking up on an oddly inappropriate load applied to his body with a slight exertion of force.

A human from the main world with a body from the regular world. In that case…

“Could that guy be undergoing possession like me?”

Seongjin, a human from imaginary world, became Morres of a main world.

Although it was a slightly different case, they shared the commonality of being souls who have entered the bodies of people from other worlds.

Could investigating Madame Justine reveal clues about Seongjin’s current state?

“It makes sense to think so, but……”

But why does he feel so reluctant?

He feels like just covering it up.

[So, what are you going to do now? Want to confront that guy while we’re at it?]

The Demon King asked, but Seongjin shook his head after some thought.

There were escort knights beside Seongjin now. It’s not the time to suddenly apprehend the Madame and question him about other dimensions and whatnot.

Furthermore, it was the twins who first introduced Salon de Merci. It’s highly likely they already knew about Madame.

If the twins know, then doesn’t the Holy Emperor likely know as well? Is there a need for him to intervene and create confusion?

More than anything, Seongjin was caught in a strange feeling, not wanting to delve too deeply into his current state. Perhaps it was some sort of intuition, an unexplainable sensation.

[Really? If you say so, whatever.]

The Demon King trembled his soul once, like stretching, and then spoke once again.

[But you know, you seem to think a lot more now that you’ve become the Holy Emperor’s son. If you had been as usual, you would have just turned everything upside down without pondering.]

‘…Huh?’

[You can’t resist your curiosity, can you?]

‘……’

Exactly, that’s how it is.

Ah, it’s uncomfortable. I want to go back to the Pearl Palace and swing around Nutcracker.

Madam Justine, who had left his seat as if to avoid him, returned to the special room a moment later, his face expressionless, carrying an enormous number of design books.

He then spread them out everywhere and passionately began to explain the design concepts, of course, maintaining an appropriate distance from Seongjin.

“Now, Your Highness. What do you think of this design? The sharp descending lines blending with the angular traditional patterns, doesn’t it look very dignified? I named it ‘Blade’s Sovereign!'”

“Look here, Your Highness. This design is ‘Moonlight’s Glory.’ It’s motivated by the fairy tale of the moon fairy who announced the improvement of the first emperor. The shining silver jewels are beautiful, aren’t they?”

To Seongjin, they were doodles, and he had no idea what to appreciate about them.

With a blank face, he was giving half-hearted responses when, unexpectedly, someone began to engage passionately.

“A design with improvement as the theme for hosting foreign guests might be…”

“Ah, here the shade needs to be a bit darker…”

“This is good! The restraint in mise-en-scène radiates dignity…”

Dame Claudia. Did she like this sort of thing?

“Dame Claudia, you say? Finally, someone who understands me! How can there be such a fashionable person among knights?”

“Hehe! Even though I look like this, I studied Brittanian culture when I planned to study abroad as a child.”

“Oh, really! That explains it.”

“Hehe.”

After a heated discussion that went perfectly, five banquet outfits were quickly decided. Seongjin had no chance to intervene.

Lastly, waving his hands in a manner that meant they should do as they like, Seongjin left it to them.

Clothes are clothes; what’s there to choose?

Thanks to Dame Claudia, time is saved, so let’s hurry back and train.

Thinking this, Seongjin got up from his seat without delay.

“Your Highness.”

Madam Justine, who had followed him to the entrance of Salon de Merci to see him off, cautiously approached and spoke, “It is difficult to explain in detail here, but I can assure you of this.” Lowering himself slightly, Madam Justine whispered softly into Seongjin’s ear, “Your Highness, I have been working for His Majesty for a long time. You can at least trust me on that.”

“……”

Seongjin stared at Madam Justine.

[His heartbeat is steady? It doesn’t seem like he’s lying.]

The Demon King quietly hinted at his side. True to his words, to Seongjin’s eyes, Madam Justine’s more serious than usual demeanor appeared sincere.

However……

“Do you take it that my father’s wish is the reason you cannot enter the Imperial Palace?”

“……”

“Yes. I’ll at least believe that you are in my father’s hands.”

Crack. A crack appeared on Madam Justine’s robust smile that had been covering his face.

After briefly staring at the man’s stern face, Seongjin snorted inwardly and climbed into the carriage.

Right. It wasn’t as simple as believing just because he acted obediently.

Seongjin’s intuition, which had been alert since he first saw Madam Justine, was still sounding a warning against him.

***

Claudia Bowling was thrilled to bits.

Indeed, it had been a long time since she had left the palace and come into the city. With the recent increase in training and strengthening of the palace’s defenses, she had been busy even on her days off.

Moreover, the high-quality designs she saw at Salon de Merci perfectly satisfied her lustful desires that she had been ignoring.

Dresses reflecting her tastes for the banquet. How splendid it would be if Prince Mores wore them!

Maria, a knight by her side, subtly signaled her, but Claudia couldn’t help but let out a frivolous laugh now and then.

“Hehehe.”

Had other seniors knights heard it, they might have been shocked, but Claudia, who had not been a resident knight for long, did not dislike the third prince she was serving.

Regardless of previous rumors, the prince she saw was a rare genius in swordsmanship and diligent to boot. He lost weight in no time and became as handsome as a prince from a fairy tale.

‘Sometimes he exudes an odd atmosphere not matching his age….’

The young prince, unaware of her thoughts, merely stared out of the window with his usual plump expression.

Meanwhile, the carriage seemed to make no progress, stopping and starting repeatedly. The crowds on the street had increased because it was late in the afternoon.

“It seems it will take quite some time to reach Pearl Palace. It looks like it will only get a little quieter after dinner,” said Maria, looking outside worriedly.

Then the prince unexpectedly suggested, “Then, since we’ll be late anyway, shall we just eat and then go home?”

“Eh?”

“If we have our meal first and go back after it gets quieter, we’ll save a lot of time. What do you two want to eat?”

Images of famous restaurants flashed in Claudia’s mind, even high-end ones she couldn’t normally afford on a lower knight’s salary.

“Will… expensive ones be alright, Your Highness?”

The prince nodded obediently, “Go anywhere you want to eat. I’ll pay for anything.”

Wow! The prince is the best!

But Claudia’s excitement didn’t last long.

The problem was a group of people from Brittany who came into the restaurant where they were sitting. They began to speak loudly in Brittania, uttering very unpleasant words.

“… Imperial family … piglets … fools …”

“… shame … Delcross … ridiculous …”

Claudia, who had once prepared to study in Brittany, understood some of it. They were clearly slandering Prince Morres, known as the fool!

Claudia glanced nervously, but the prince seemed undisturbed, just nibbling on a small piece of grilled meat.

‘Well, His Highness wouldn’t know the Brittania language anyway….’

Fortunately, or unfortunately, Claudia was uncomfortably nibbling her meal alone when it happened.

“… woman … lowly origin …”

“… vulgar … low-class …”

“… prostitute …”

Those scoundrels were now targeting even Princess Amelia!

Claudia’s face turned pale with these outrageous slanders when—

Swoosh.

Suddenly, Prince Morres pushed back his chair and stood up. Looking up at his face in astonishment, Claudia was taken aback.

The prince was smiling with his teeth bared, his face more ferocious than ever!

Then, striding over to the group of Briattanian citizens, Prince Morres said, in fluent Brittania,

“Come on. Bark your nonsense again, you bastards.”