Chapter 71

Here I am, and there I am too. A person who resembles me in voice, face, posture, and tone. Even that person just came out of the bedroom, and the guards and maids are all by their side. Moreover, that person is wearing the emperor's uniform neatly, while I am just wearing a noble's cloak over my clothes after going out. Latil found it difficult to understand what was going on. But one thing was certain...

“Who are you? What are you doing there, pretending to be me?”

Someone was imitating Latil, even down to the face. When Latil muttered in a low, chilling voice, the person standing opposite him flinched slightly. But only Latil, who was facing him, noticed. The maids and guards standing around them, instead, formed a protective circle around the fake Latil, becoming even more vigilant.

“Keris. Erendel. Ruida. Claude, Julli.”

Latil, increasingly irritated, ignored the ranks of the maids and knights and dryly listed their names. A few eyes wavered at his angry voice, but they soon glared at Latil with even sterner expressions.

“You’re all really crazy.”

Latil asked in a voice so cold it seemed to drip with ice.

“Where are the others? Leen? Bring them both here.”

The fake Latil, hidden behind the maids and guards, responded to Latil’s command with another command.

“What are you doing? Quickly, grab him and put him in prison!”

As the order was given, two knights drew their swords from their scabbards. As the swords slid out with a 'swish,' the maids pushed the fake Latil back, trying to protect him.

“Please go inside, Your Majesty, while the knights capture him.”

“I’m worried he might cast a curse. Please get out of here quickly.”

Latil was so flabbergasted he felt his head might explode. Did the world turn upside down while he was in the cave getting the mask? If not, does this even make sense? It would be more believable if Leen had staged a rebellion in the meantime, or if Tlaga had returned and overthrown the palace in a short time. Or if the concubine Anakcha had escaped the tower, gathered Tlaga’s forces, and raised a rebellion in a few days. But for someone who looked exactly like him to be impersonating him and ordering his subordinates to capture him... What is this...?

‘No, this isn’t the time for that.’

No matter how absurd the situation, he couldn’t just stand there. One thing was clear: this was a critical situation. The knights weren’t confused between the fake and the real Latil; they believed the fake was the real one and the real one was the fake. He needed to respond before they attacked. As soon as Latil made up his mind, he drew his sword from its scabbard.

“Capture him!”

As the fake Latil shouted, the two knights rushed at Latil. Latil quickly dodged to the side and slashed at their ankles. He was very angry, but the knights were his guards and people he often saw. It was infuriating that they believed the fake was the real one, but since they weren’t doing it on purpose, he decided to go easy on them. The knights, not realizing this, tried to attack Latil even with their ankles cut, but Latil quickly moved inside their guard and headbutted one of them. He then kicked the other one unconscious. By the time he did this, the fake had already gone into the room with the maids.

“Come out!”

As Latil shouted and kicked the door, terrified screams echoed from inside. As Latil clicked his tongue and kicked the door again, the fake Latil really came out.

“No, Your Majesty!”

“It’s dangerous!”

“You must wait until Sir Seunut arrives!”

The maids shouted, but the fake Latil, holding Latil’s sword, quickly charged at him.

“!”

Latil cursed inwardly and kneed the approaching opponent in the jaw. A 'thud' sounded as the opponent staggered, and the maids' screams grew louder. But the fake, undeterred, jumped off the wall and swung his sword at Latil. Although Latil didn’t know where this fake had come from, he seemed as skilled with a sword as Latil. However, more people started to gather soon.

‘This won’t do. If I keep this up, I’ll be treated as the real intruder.’

Latil swung his sword threateningly at the fake’s neck to create some distance, then turned and went down the stairs. Taking advantage of the momentary confusion of those coming up the stairs, Latil stepped on the railing and quickly slid down, warning his subordinates.

“If you find out what’s going on, you’ll all be in trouble, so be prepared.”

Latil, who quickly hid, put on the mask he had kept in his coat and hid the cloak under a rock. After slipping out of the palace, Latil returned to the capital and booked a room at the inn where he and the guard had stayed together. The guard, who had been with him the whole time, would surely notice that something was amiss and would come to this place, the last place they had visited together, to look for Latil. While waiting for the knight, Latil took off the mask and sat on the windowsill, thinking. What is going on here?

‘If two identical people appear, everyone would be confused, but they wouldn’t be so sure as to call one a fake.’

Yet, the courtiers who saw Latil all naturally supported the fake, as if they had been prepared for such a situation. There must be a reason. * * * After a couple of hours, as expected, the guard who had gone to Carisen with Latil appeared.

“Your Majesty!”

The guard, upon seeing Latil, called out with a sob, then lowered his voice in surprise and quickly closed the door before asking.

“What is going on here?”

Latil shook his head.

“I don’t know. I went to my room, and there was a kid who looked exactly like me, impersonating me. Everyone was treating him like the emperor. What about you?”

“I went to report that I had finished my leave, but Sir Seunut wasn’t there. They said he’s in the territory now.”

“He’s not here?”

“Yes. So, while waiting to inform the deputy, another colleague came and said that chaos had erupted while I was away...”

The knight hesitated and couldn’t continue.

“It’s okay.”

Latil, who had just experienced it all, sighed. The knight, with a face that looked like he was about to cry, continued.

“Prince Leen warned that a black magician had really appeared, and that he acted, spoke, and looked exactly like Your Majesty, so we need to be careful...”

Latil, patting the knight’s shoulder to comfort him, stopped at the name 'Leen.'

“Who? Leen?”

When Latil quietly asked, the knight, after telling the story he had heard, closed his mouth and looked at Latil’s reaction. His face said 'Oops.'

“Tell me again. Who warned about it?”

However, Latil didn’t have the energy to comfort the knight as before. While it was absurd to be chased as a fake by someone who looked exactly like him, the story he just heard made him feel as if he couldn’t breathe. Why is my brother’s name coming up here?

“That’s...”

“Tell me. Is my brother involved in this?”

“I don’t know exactly, Your Majesty. I just heard that...”

“So, how did you hear it?”

As Latil asked again in a lower voice, the knight swallowed hard. Then, he carefully recounted the story he had heard.

“After Your Majesty left the palace, everyone thought you were unwell that day. But the next day, Prince Leen went to your room to talk to you about an urgent matter. After he came out, he said that Your Majesty’s illness was due to a black magician... who had stolen Your Majesty’s appearance.”

Latil, sitting on the bed, clenched his fists and repeated each word of the knight’s story. Curses came out involuntarily. It was already hard to believe that his brother was involved, but even more so that the fake didn’t claim to be the real one; instead, his brother had brought up the fake story first...

“Did people believe that? Suddenly talking about a black magician?”

“There were previously cursed corpses, and also...”

Latil bit his lip. The high priest Hira, the fake confessor, the order to capture the black magicians, the concubine who became a high priest, and the holy knights who gathered to protect her. Since his ascension, various incidents related to black magic had occurred. Of course, these were mostly unknown outside his close circle. The problem was that these close circle members were the ones who decided whether to believe the fake black magician story when they heard it from Leen.

“Still, even if that’s the case, how could they immediately believe the other one was the real one?”

Latil burst out laughing, finding it too much. The knight cautiously added:

“Actually, the White Flower of the White Wolf Order went to a village with a few holy knights, and the village had strangely changed.”

“Changed?”

“No one was alive, and all the corpses had been torn apart...”

“!”

“I mentioned earlier that Prince Leen went to your bedroom to see you. That incident is related. The White Flower reported this around the time Prince Leen mentioned the fake emperor, so people believed the prince’s words immediately.”

“...”

“Two days later, the fake, who looked like Your Majesty, appeared and warned everyone to be careful, as a fake who looked like Your Majesty might appear. He said it was the black magician’s trick.”

Latil covered his face with both hands.

“How could my brother...”

It was hard to believe that his brother had betrayed him, even more so than the fake impersonating him.

“Your Majesty...”

“It was my brother who advised against forming a diplomatic delegation to go to Carisen.”

“So, from the beginning...?”

“Yes. It seems so.”

Latil clenched his teeth and fists. The knight, looking at him with concern, hastily suggested:

“Your Majesty, should I be a witness? If I tell people I was with you the whole time...”

“What witness? You’re in danger too.”

“Pardon?”

“My brother, or rather, not my brother. Leen seems to have prepared thoroughly for this. Do you think he’ll let you be? He knows you went to Carisen with me.”

“Yes, I see.”

The knight’s eyes trembled, not having thought that far.

“Since you reported that you heard the situation and went, my brother will likely try to capture both you and me. He probably considers you the only witness.”

“!”

Latil clenched his hands tightly and glared at the palace outside the window, filled with anger.

“But my brother didn’t know. That Hyacinth secretly came to the palace and returned to Carisen with me.”

“Ah! Then we should ask Hyacinth for help!”

“Yes, but we need to be careful. If we’re not, it might look like the ‘fake black magician’ is teaming up with the Carisen emperor to take over Tarium.”

Latil jumped up and paced the room. Anger surged to the top of his head, and his eyes throbbed. He was so angry at his brother’s unexpected betrayal that he couldn’t bear it. It was hard to understand how he had found such a perfect fake, where his brother’s plan began, and why he had done this.

‘My brother couldn’t have teamed up with Tlaga. He hated Tlaga too. No, no. If that’s the case, it doesn’t make sense for my brother to betray me. Right now, I can’t be sure of anything.’

After thinking for a moment, Latil instructed the knight.

“Go to the Melos territory and meet Sir Seunut.”

“Alone?”

“Now that he knows I’m back, my brother will try to kill or capture you. He might even send people to say you’re in league with the black magician. Leave quickly. Right now.”

“Your Majesty, then what about you...”

“I need to do something else.”

The mask in his coat. Now was the time to use it. With this mask, even if Leen or the fake sent people to find Latil, he wouldn’t be discovered.

“Go. Quickly. Hurry!”

‘I need to meet my damn brother and find out what’s going on.’