[Chapter 4: Make the Crumbling Empire Great Again]
[You have obtained the relic-grade artifact “Curse Devourer.”]
[You have obtained the relic-grade artifact “Guardian of the Oath.”]
[You have obtained the relic-grade artifact “Lake of Golden Mana.”]
[You have obtained the relic-grade artifact “Guardian of the Oath.”]
[You have obtained the relic-grade artifac…]
Kain lightly flicked his gaze to push aside the system messages appearing in the corner of his vision.
There was no need to view the additional information for the seven artifacts he had just acquired.
He already roughly knew what lay sleeping in this chest, and he could not afford to linger here longer than necessary.
The moment he had opened the safe room—the hidden chamber in the Crown Prince’s Palace—to come here, the alarm wards had activated.
Every knight and mage in the palace and inner citadel would have scrambled into action.
The trauma from the recent Founding Day catastrophe at the grand banquet still lingered.
If they discovered that the sole surviving imperial bloodline, Kain, was missing—even temporarily—it could cause massive chaos.
He had to return quickly and prove that the last royal of the Felberg Empire was safe.
“I must hurry.”
Muttering to himself once more, Kain picked up the ring bearing the Sigil and poured mana into it.
In Empire Heroic Legend, the infamous wastrel prince Kain Felberg naturally possessed a pitifully small mana pool.
Fortunately, the process of engraving a prepared Sigil onto someone of the Star Throne bloodline did not require a massive amount of mana.
As mana flowed in, a golden aura streamed from the ring and gathered in the air.
The light coalesced into the shape of the Sigil.
Kain brought the back of his left hand directly before it.
The engraving began.
[Engraving of the Sigil of the Baron of Protection, Vendelhaven, commencing.]
Compared to the grand power the Sigil possessed, the engraving process was short and simple.
This was because the Sigil of the Baron of Protection Vendelhaven stored in the mausoleum had been prepared in advance for the fall of the Felberg Empire; from the moment of its creation, complicated procedures had been intentionally omitted.
[Engraving of the Sigil of the Baron of Protection, Vendelhaven, successful.]
Naturally, the engraving did not fail.
If Kain—the only remaining bearer of the Felberg bloodline in this world—had failed, no one left alive could ever bear a Sigil again.
When the entire process ended, Kain felt the faint power of a Star Throne gently filling his body.
“Now it truly begins.”
Reaffirming his resolve for what lay ahead, Kain quietly began walking to leave the Mausoleum of the Star Thrones.
“Hah!”
A man bolted upright in bed, gasping roughly as if waking from a nightmare.
It was Count Steiner Landerck—commander of the White-Winged Charge Knight Order, also known as the Third Imperial Knight Order, and a sword-saint who had recently reached the realm of Meister.
“Damn it, what kind of dogshit nightmare was that?”
Discomfort washed over Count Landerck.
The horrific scenes from the nightmare—pulled from fragments of memory that were already blurring—had made his body react instinctively.
He could not clearly recall exactly what he had dreamed, but it had definitely been an unpleasant nightmare.
In the dream, he had been suffering in deep despair, screaming and wandering without end.
An inexplicable, ominous feeling lingered in his mind for a long while.
Eventually unable to bear the frustration, he grabbed a single sword, dressed lightly, and headed to the garden in front of his mansion.
He intended to ease his heavy heart by walking and letting the cold night air clear his head.
But just as he finished a short stroll along the outer edge of the garden and was about to return to his bedroom…
A problem arose.
“Damn it…”
The gem embedded in the bracelet linked to the Crown Prince’s Palace alarm wards began emitting a clearly dangerous red light.
This meant the alarm wards in the Crown Prince’s Palace had activated—either an unauthorized intruder had entered, or the secret passage connecting the bedroom to the safe room had been opened.
The moment Count Steiner Landerck recognized the activation, he moved on instinct.
Whether intruder or opened secret passage, both scenarios posed a grave threat to the safety of Kain—the only remaining royal of the Felberg Empire.
Landerck ran toward the Crown Prince’s Palace faster than anyone.
“The alarm wards have activated in the First Annex Palace! Mobilize every available Imperial Guard troop and put the Capital Legions on emergency alert—order full combat readiness!”
Other imperial knights and mages who detected the alarm also rushed toward the Crown Prince’s Palace.
Yet by the time Count Landerck arrived at the First Annex Palace with a large force, Baron Heinrich Denver—commander of Kain’s personal escort—had already been there for some time.
With a dark expression, Denver was leading the imperial knights in thoroughly searching not only the First Annex Palace but the adjacent annexes as well.
“Baron Denver. What is going on? Is His Highness the Prince safe?”
Count Landerck calmly asked Denver for the full story.
But Baron Heinrich Denver answered with a deeply flustered expression.
“Count Landerck. There appear to be no intruders, but we have not yet confirmed His Highness’s safety.”
“What the hell does that mean? You have not confirmed His Highness’s safety? Explain in detail.”
Even amid the confusion, Count Steiner Landerck did not easily lose composure.
When he calmly asked again, Baron Heinrich Denver slowly began explaining the situation in greater detail.
“Right after confirming the alarm activation, I deployed reserve escort forces and immediately entered the bedroom to check His Highness’s safety—but His Highness was nowhere to be found.
Furthermore, we discovered no traces of intrusion whatsoever.
I summoned imperial mages and requested analysis of the alarm ward details; just now we confirmed that the alarm was not triggered by external intrusion.”
Denver continued calmly.
“So, though it is only conjecture… at present, it seems the secret passage connected to the safe room in the First Annex Palace—currently used as the Crown Prince’s Palace—has been opened, causing the alarm wards to activate.
We cannot yet determine the exact reason the secret passage was opened.
His Highness is most likely inside the safe room.”
When his explanation ended, Count Steiner Landerck’s eyes turned ice-cold.
“Is that all?”
The single sentence carried many implications.
Baron Heinrich, instantly reading the hidden meaning, briefly narrowed his eyes in displeasure before regaining composure.
In any case, as escort commander, being unable to pinpoint the prince’s exact location was nothing to boast about.
He spoke slowly, his tone restrained.
“Count Landerck. There are no intruders.
I can guarantee that even without further analysis of the alarm wards.
I too recognize that Kain is the only hope left for the Felberg Empire, and I have not been negligent in my vigilance.
If there had been an external intrusion, I would have noticed.”
“Baron Denver, let us drop the complicated talk.
I am a knight as well, and I know the security around the Crown Prince’s Palace is not light enough for a Grand Chevalier to miss anything.
But right now His Highness is missing, and you do not know his whereabouts—is that not clear?
If you are correct, then who bears responsibility for this?”
At Count Steiner Landerck’s following sharp words, Baron Heinrich Denver’s face hardened.
“I am a knight who has sworn loyalty to the Felberg Empire and its imperial house, and a swordsman who has reached the realm of Grand Chevalier.”
Even facing Count Landerck, Baron Heinrich Denver proudly stated his position without retreating.
Though he had wandered for a time after his family fell and he lost them, he emphasized that he was still a Grand Chevalier and a loyal subject of the imperial house.
“I know that too, Baron Denver.
I am not doubting your loyalty.
I have heard the false rumors still circulating after the misfortune that befell your house.
But I swear I have never once lent an ear to such nonsense.
Doubting your loyalty would be an insult to Count Royce Horizon, who observed your promotion examination and vouched for your realm.”
Count Steiner Landerck acknowledged that his sharp words could be misinterpreted and clarified he had no such intent.
Yet he continued.
“But listen, Baron Denver. Let us be clear about one thing.”
“What… do you mean?”
“Have you already forgotten the Founding Day catastrophe?
Before transferring to the Fifth Imperial Knight Order, you were once a rising star of the Second Imperial Knight Order, the Golden Eagles.
You knew full well the barriers and security around the grand banquet hall.
Yet even there—guarded by countless knights and mages, as well as Meister-class swordsmen—such a massacre occurred.
After losing most of our Meisters in that disaster, how can you be so certain the current imperial palace is safe?”
He spoke quietly enough that those around could not hear, pointing out Denver’s mindset without further shaming him.
Baron Denver could only admit that his vigilance had been inadequate.