Chapter 106
Sethian claimed the emperor’s crown in a manner as swift as it was unprecedented. No sooner had the crown touched his head than he issued a warrant for Yi-Gyeol’s capture and dispatched soldiers across the empire. Messages were sent to the search parties already pursuing Eda, updating them with Yi-Gyeol’s appearance and attire. Simultaneously, Seth ordered checkpoints to be established in cities and even the smallest villages.
The cooperation notice regarding the checkpoints spread quickly, and with it came unrest. A number of disgruntled nobles from nearby provinces made their way to the Imperial Palace.
Their complaints were not merely about the sudden coronation, held without fanfare or tradition, on a day no one had anticipated. What truly stoked their discontent was the aggressive mobilization of imperial resources to search for a single unknown person. Even the nobles were being pressed into service. Many of them had been supporters of First Prince Mendel, not Sethian. Now, they saw an opportunity to exploit this chaos, to chip away at the new emperor’s authority.
“Is the task I assigned after my ascension dis-satisfactory to you?” Seth asked coldly, his gaze like a blade.
An older noble, unfazed by the frigid tone, replied evenly, “We would never presume to question your orders, Your Majesty. We only wish to suggest that another matter might have been more urgent to address upon your ascension.”
Setting up checkpoints was no small undertaking. It involved distributing descriptions, sketching likenesses, assigning reliable personnel, and ensuring round-the-clock surveillance. Every checkpoint required authorization, and reports had to be meticulously reviewed before being passed along to the palace. It was a burdensome, meticulous process.
“I see...” Seth said, as if turning the words over in his mind. “Something more urgent, you say…”
He paused, then turned to Renoc, standing at his side.
“Very well. Let me tend to that urgent matter now.”
His voice sharpened. “I’ll determine the fate of anyone who might target my position. After all, we can never know when those who once supported my rivals might turn their blades toward me.”
“P-Please, Your Majesty. What exactly are you implying?” one noble stammered, paling as his eyes darted to his fellow lords.
They all knew what he meant. History was littered with the blood of nobles and siblings who had opposed newly crowned emperors. Though the empire had long since moved away from such brutal transitions—most emperors having been appointed as crown princes from a young age—Sethian’s ascension had been anything but smooth. And the chilling calm in his demeanor made the possibility of a purge all too real.
Seth’s gaze swept over them like frost.
“The task I should have completed the moment I ascended will be carried out now.”
He strode toward them, slow and deliberate, looking down at them with disdain.
“Whether any of you fit the profile of someone who could challenge my reign depends entirely on your cooperation.”
He tapped one of the nobles on the shoulder with quiet menace.
“And let me be clear—if the person I’m searching for so much as passes through your domain, I may have to... re-prioritize.”
The warning was enough. Whatever resistance they had been nursing melted away in an instant. The nobles returned to their territories, moving quickly to establish the checkpoints Seth had ordered.
Not long after their departure, a report came from the gates: someone resembling the wanted description had been seen.
As soon as Seth heard the report, he was on the move.
“Your Majesty, where are you going?” Renoc asked, alarmed, reaching for the reins of Seth’s horse.
“I’ll go myself,” Seth said flatly.
“There’s no need,” Renoc urged. “The soldiers are already out. They’ll find him soon enough.”
Despite the speed of his coronation, Seth had more than enough state matters to keep him anchored to the palace. There were duties that still should have been handled before the ceremony had even taken place.
“We’ll find him. Please, Your Majesty—stay in the Imperial Palace and wait.”
“If it were that easy, I wouldn’t have gotten on the horse in the first place,” Seth snapped. His eyes burned with a restless intensity. “Yi-Gyeol is more cunning than you think. Once he senses we're on his trail, he’ll vanish—completely.”
Renoc struggled to understand his master’s urgency. Hundreds of soldiers had already been dispatched. What threat could one fragile man possibly pose?
But Renoc also knew Seth’s instincts were rarely wrong.
Before he could offer to accompany him, another voice interrupted.
“I’ll go with you.”
Kirsty had run up behind him, her expression grim.
“I failed to guard Yi-Gyeol properly. Please allow me to take responsibility by joining the search.”
From his saddle, Seth gestured to the stables. “Guarding the Imperial Palace is the Imperial Knights’ duty. You do not. Come with me..”
Kirsty and Renoc exchanged a glance, then nodded and mounted up. With Seth in the lead, they rode out, the red-armored knights forming ranks behind them.
* * *
At the gate, Seth was met by two anxious guards.
“It was dark, so I couldn’t say for certain, but he looked like a foreigner,” one said, stumbling over his words. “He seemed... like a well-kept slave. Clean clothes. Expensive-looking.”
The second guard added quickly, “There were two of them in the cart. They passed through just before the notice arrived.”
“Was he injured?” Seth asked sharply, cutting through their fumbling.
The guards looked stunned.
“I... I don’t think so,” one replied. “It was too dark to tell.”
“No signs of injury? He was in a slave trader’s cart. He wasn’t just sitting there, was he?”
“He was shackled,” the other answered, hesitating. “But... no, I didn’t see any wounds...”
Renoc stepped forward. “The cart passed through less than three hours ago. We can still catch them if we leave now.”
Seth nodded and turned to mount his horse. Then he stopped abruptly.
“But... it seems you have eyes and still lack vision.”
The two guards stiffened as Seth raised a hand, signaling to two knights.
“All gate guards are responsible for thorough inspections,” Seth said, his voice low and dangerous. “Have I misunderstood?”
The guards’ faces drained of color.
They had indeed failed in their duty.
“If you missed something that important,” Seth continued, voice like ice, “then there’s no point in keeping you here.”
Before they could speak, the knights moved.
They seized both men by the necks.
“Ugh—why...?!”
“Spare... me...!”
The guards choked on their screams as the knights tightened their grips. Then the knights’ fingertips went for their eyes.
“Argh—!”
“My eyes—!”
Even with the guards’ screams of pain ringing out, neither Seth nor any of his knights reacted. It was as though they had forgotten the guards even existed.
As he passed them, Seth gave a quiet order to the knights and said, “If there is even the tiniest scratch on his body, your heads will be the next to disappear.”
With Seth in the lead, the red-armored knights kicked up a cloud of dust and rode quickly out of the capital.
The cooperation notice regarding the checkpoints spread quickly, and with it came unrest. A number of disgruntled nobles from nearby provinces made their way to the Imperial Palace.
Their complaints were not merely about the sudden coronation, held without fanfare or tradition, on a day no one had anticipated. What truly stoked their discontent was the aggressive mobilization of imperial resources to search for a single unknown person. Even the nobles were being pressed into service. Many of them had been supporters of First Prince Mendel, not Sethian. Now, they saw an opportunity to exploit this chaos, to chip away at the new emperor’s authority.
“Is the task I assigned after my ascension dis-satisfactory to you?” Seth asked coldly, his gaze like a blade.
An older noble, unfazed by the frigid tone, replied evenly, “We would never presume to question your orders, Your Majesty. We only wish to suggest that another matter might have been more urgent to address upon your ascension.”
Setting up checkpoints was no small undertaking. It involved distributing descriptions, sketching likenesses, assigning reliable personnel, and ensuring round-the-clock surveillance. Every checkpoint required authorization, and reports had to be meticulously reviewed before being passed along to the palace. It was a burdensome, meticulous process.
“I see...” Seth said, as if turning the words over in his mind. “Something more urgent, you say…”
He paused, then turned to Renoc, standing at his side.
“Very well. Let me tend to that urgent matter now.”
His voice sharpened. “I’ll determine the fate of anyone who might target my position. After all, we can never know when those who once supported my rivals might turn their blades toward me.”
“P-Please, Your Majesty. What exactly are you implying?” one noble stammered, paling as his eyes darted to his fellow lords.
They all knew what he meant. History was littered with the blood of nobles and siblings who had opposed newly crowned emperors. Though the empire had long since moved away from such brutal transitions—most emperors having been appointed as crown princes from a young age—Sethian’s ascension had been anything but smooth. And the chilling calm in his demeanor made the possibility of a purge all too real.
Seth’s gaze swept over them like frost.
“The task I should have completed the moment I ascended will be carried out now.”
He strode toward them, slow and deliberate, looking down at them with disdain.
“Whether any of you fit the profile of someone who could challenge my reign depends entirely on your cooperation.”
He tapped one of the nobles on the shoulder with quiet menace.
“And let me be clear—if the person I’m searching for so much as passes through your domain, I may have to... re-prioritize.”
The warning was enough. Whatever resistance they had been nursing melted away in an instant. The nobles returned to their territories, moving quickly to establish the checkpoints Seth had ordered.
Not long after their departure, a report came from the gates: someone resembling the wanted description had been seen.
As soon as Seth heard the report, he was on the move.
“Your Majesty, where are you going?” Renoc asked, alarmed, reaching for the reins of Seth’s horse.
“I’ll go myself,” Seth said flatly.
“There’s no need,” Renoc urged. “The soldiers are already out. They’ll find him soon enough.”
Despite the speed of his coronation, Seth had more than enough state matters to keep him anchored to the palace. There were duties that still should have been handled before the ceremony had even taken place.
“We’ll find him. Please, Your Majesty—stay in the Imperial Palace and wait.”
“If it were that easy, I wouldn’t have gotten on the horse in the first place,” Seth snapped. His eyes burned with a restless intensity. “Yi-Gyeol is more cunning than you think. Once he senses we're on his trail, he’ll vanish—completely.”
Renoc struggled to understand his master’s urgency. Hundreds of soldiers had already been dispatched. What threat could one fragile man possibly pose?
But Renoc also knew Seth’s instincts were rarely wrong.
Before he could offer to accompany him, another voice interrupted.
“I’ll go with you.”
Kirsty had run up behind him, her expression grim.
“I failed to guard Yi-Gyeol properly. Please allow me to take responsibility by joining the search.”
From his saddle, Seth gestured to the stables. “Guarding the Imperial Palace is the Imperial Knights’ duty. You do not. Come with me..”
Kirsty and Renoc exchanged a glance, then nodded and mounted up. With Seth in the lead, they rode out, the red-armored knights forming ranks behind them.
* * *
At the gate, Seth was met by two anxious guards.
“It was dark, so I couldn’t say for certain, but he looked like a foreigner,” one said, stumbling over his words. “He seemed... like a well-kept slave. Clean clothes. Expensive-looking.”
The second guard added quickly, “There were two of them in the cart. They passed through just before the notice arrived.”
“Was he injured?” Seth asked sharply, cutting through their fumbling.
The guards looked stunned.
“I... I don’t think so,” one replied. “It was too dark to tell.”
“No signs of injury? He was in a slave trader’s cart. He wasn’t just sitting there, was he?”
“He was shackled,” the other answered, hesitating. “But... no, I didn’t see any wounds...”
Renoc stepped forward. “The cart passed through less than three hours ago. We can still catch them if we leave now.”
Seth nodded and turned to mount his horse. Then he stopped abruptly.
“But... it seems you have eyes and still lack vision.”
The two guards stiffened as Seth raised a hand, signaling to two knights.
“All gate guards are responsible for thorough inspections,” Seth said, his voice low and dangerous. “Have I misunderstood?”
The guards’ faces drained of color.
They had indeed failed in their duty.
“If you missed something that important,” Seth continued, voice like ice, “then there’s no point in keeping you here.”
Before they could speak, the knights moved.
They seized both men by the necks.
“Ugh—why...?!”
“Spare... me...!”
The guards choked on their screams as the knights tightened their grips. Then the knights’ fingertips went for their eyes.
“Argh—!”
“My eyes—!”
Even with the guards’ screams of pain ringing out, neither Seth nor any of his knights reacted. It was as though they had forgotten the guards even existed.
As he passed them, Seth gave a quiet order to the knights and said, “If there is even the tiniest scratch on his body, your heads will be the next to disappear.”
With Seth in the lead, the red-armored knights kicked up a cloud of dust and rode quickly out of the capital.
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