Bloodline is a Cheat Code - Chapter 47

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 47
“Excuse me.”
Serpina Rosena turned to me with a gentle smile that seemed to say not to worry, then followed Lai down the corridor.
How could I not worry?
My chest felt like it would burst. If only I had any magical ability, I would have found a way to follow her, but this helplessness was suffocating.
Serpina Rosena didn’t even bring along a single attendant like Elian.
‘In my previous life, after Rosena fell, I merely played the part of nobility without truly living as one for long. When someone is constantly by my side, I find myself suspecting them first. It’s unbearable.’
‘Still, it would be nice to have someone trustworthy nearby. What about hiring a knight?’
‘A knight… The people I can trust will only appear once exchanges with the Holy Kingdom resume. I need to hurry things along.’
I recalled what Serpina Rosena had said and made my resolve.
Yes, even if she said everything was fine, I wasn’t fine with it.
Whether it was Vincent or some greater force tightening the noose around us, I had to move faster than they could to give her the freedom to act.
“Elian, let’s go.”
“Yes, Miss.”
I personally dismissed every Palace servant who tried to guide me, then began walking on my own.
* * *
“Your Highness. Your face has grown more troubled since we last met.”
“There’s much to worry about.”
He joked that only Rosena would dare speak to the Imperial Family in such a manner, commenting on how worn his face had become.
Lucian Advein was smiling, but his face bore unmistakable signs of exhaustion.
Even we, who had merely received the letter and were discussing what to do, were tormented beyond measure—his suffering must have been far greater, caught in the very heart of the situation.
“I was somewhat worried whether Your Highness might also be present at that Main Hall.”
“There’s no reason to invite me to a gathering that divides people into factions—unless it’s to mock me openly. Besides, even if they wanted to mock me, since they don’t know what I might do there, confining me here is their best option.”
His tone was remarkably sharp.
He was cursing Vincent, the organizer, wasn’t he? These brothers truly were incomprehensible.
Lucian Advein let out a sigh, perhaps noticing my expression growing clouded.
“Of course, I trust the Duke will handle things well, but there are many cunning people there, so I can’t help but worry. Perhaps it would have been better if Rosena had simply made some ridiculous excuse and not attended.”
“What excuse would have made those people accept her absence?”
“No excuse would have made them accept it. That’s precisely why any excuse would have sufficed.”
If they would find fault regardless of what she did, then avoiding the confrontation altogether would be far better—that was the logic.
I thought the same, but Serpina Rosena was the type who believed it was far better to go and crash headlong into them, even if it meant breaking.
“If Your Highness speaks that way, then I, who can do nothing, have no choice but to worry about her. Please change the subject.”
I wouldn’t normally say something like this, yet I found myself whining in a pathetically childish tone.
“Hmm?”
Oh no. This wasn’t something I’d even do in front of family. I’m losing my mind. Lucian Advein’s expression became bewildered.
Without thinking, I lowered my head and covered my face with both hands.
“I apologize. It seems I’ve been overly fatigued lately. I’m being terribly rude…”
“…”
Soon his laughter filled the room for a long while, and I couldn’t lift my head for some time.
I never whined even as a child—what on earth was Flotie Rosena trying to do?
But Lucian Advein was being ridiculous. It was funny, sure, but wasn’t he laughing a bit too long?
Only after his ears and my hand flushed crimson did he finally stop laughing, continuing his words leisurely.
“If this also adds to your worries, it would be most regrettable for me.”
“Ah, Your Highness….”
He stifled another laugh. To think I’d be caught on such a trivial complaint like this.
“I found out where that delegation came from. They’re from the Holy Kingdom.”
“The Holy Kingdom?”
I dropped my hand from my face. Only then did my eyes meet his, which had been fixed on me all along.
“Apparently, the content was about resuming the exchanges that had been suspended between the Holy Kingdom and The Empire. Those on my brother’s side were upset, saying they arbitrarily cut off exchanges and now arbitrarily want to restart them. As if we hadn’t done anything.”
The Imperial Household had sufficient grounds to turn away the delegation simply for dispatching it without notice.
But it couldn’t have been done that way.
While The Empire was becoming hostile to sacred power and magic, growing increasingly closed off, the Holy Kingdom was instead opening its kingdom and brazenly accepting external influences.
As if someone had informed them that accepting such things would make their nation even stronger.
Now that I think about it, wasn’t it possible that Aden, recalling his past life, immediately sought asylum with the Holy Kingdom’s king and offered various counsel, thereby expanding their influence?
“But it seems they couldn’t simply turn away such a delegation.”
“Perhaps if it were His Majesty the Emperor, he might have done so immediately, but my brother couldn’t bring himself to do it.”
Even if the firm refusal to hand over the Empress’s remains wasn’t his own doing, the guilt over not actively searching for Aden might have left him anxious about their visit.
Then a sudden question came to mind.
“Does the Crown Prince perhaps not know much about Aden’s current circumstances?”
“Not at all. He probably believes my brother simply died somewhere as a guest, or perhaps trusts that Lye Rohaim disposed of him—that his corpse was scattered to pieces or that he became a slave.”
“Yet you still keep him by your side.”
My evaluation of Vincent dropped another notch.
Elian, don’t meet a man like that. A man like that is absolutely not it, no matter how I think about it. How could he ever be redeemed? He was broken from the start.
As I was churning through thoughts that would earn me immediate execution if spoken aloud, Lucian Advein gave a light shrug.
“How would I know my brother’s heart?”
“You say that with an expression that suggests you know far too well, so I’m hardly convinced. But if I’m to gain more of Your Highness’s trust, I suppose I’ll need to learn the circumstances related to this?”
“I already trust you greatly. But if we resolve the Holy Kingdom matter first, we’ll naturally be able to discuss this.”
Lucian Advein, who had urged me forward with feigned innocence, now served me tea with a gesture that had become quite familiar.
At first, he would serve me tea that others had prepared, but now he brews the tea I’ll drink with his own hands.
As if to demonstrate directly that it contains no poison.
“Hmm….”
I couldn’t tell if that urging was sincere or not.
It didn’t seem like Lucian Advein would deliberately hide information I needed to know right now.
Then perhaps it was closer to something he couldn’t speak of.
There might be a curse placed on him such that revealing secrets would cause the other party to learn of it, or a prohibition that would bring him extreme suffering or death if he spoke.
Now that he had reached the realm of a Sword Master, there were few who could easily touch him, but it was entirely possible such a thing had been placed on the young Lucian Advein.
As I weighed various possibilities in my mind, I silently accepted the teacup. What good would it do to speculate alone?
“So you accepted the delegation’s proposal? If The Empire suddenly begins exchanges with the Holy Kingdom now, it would be The Empire that faces difficulties.”
“Exactly. Naturally, my brother first verified whether they were truly Holy Kingdom people rather than immediately accepting their words. The purpose of the diplomatic request was a secondary matter.”
However, they demonstrated the use of sacred power directly and even showed the delegation’s credentials stamped with the Holy Kingdom king’s seal.
“Some of them must have been people from the Imperial Temple, so it’s rather surprising they went through with the verification despite such an insult.”
This hardly seemed like the moment to be marveling at such things. What did their patience matter when we faced a situation like this?
Truly, this man was utterly incomprehensible.
“However did you come to know of this matter?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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