IYAMD: Episode 2

As soon as Marsilia stepped out through the back door of the prison and onto the ground, a blinding light hit him. He squinted slightly, then climbed into the carriage that arrived a little later than his entourage.

Inside the carriage, the Chief Aide, Serez Hastings, was sitting. He awkwardly raised himself from his seat as Marsilia set the bundle he was holding down beside him and sat in his chair. Serez’s’ gaze followed the object in Marsilia’s arms.

‘Is that them?’

Serez silently asked with his eyes, and when he tapped on the wall behind him, the carriage began moving. It wasn’t until the carriage had left Aricto Prison that Marsilia leisurely replied.

“Yes. I confirmed it.”

A brief flash of emotion appeared in Serez’ s eyes. He lowered his head and murmured his congratulations.

“Congratulations, Your Majesty.”

Hmm. Was it something to celebrate? Marsilia lowered the curtain, settling into the dark carriage, and frowned thoughtfully.

It had been exactly 10 years since the divine will came down shortly after the coronation. Back then, he was only 15, so there hadn’t been any rush to find his partner.

Besides, there had been a somewhat delicate and troublesome issue.

The problem was that the characters etched on Marsilia’s left chest were in the script used on the Eastern Continent.

The divine will had chosen someone from the Eastern Continent, but that fact, written in the characters from the Eastern Continent, was a complicated matter.

The two continents had little interaction. Occasionally, merchants traveled between them, and a letter might arrive every few years. It took nearly two months by sea, so such exchanges were rare.

Given this, finding a partner with the name from the Eastern Continent was like trying to pluck a star from the sky. Marsilia had kept quiet about the characters on his chest, interpreting them based on the belief that the goddess had chosen someone from the Western Continent.

However, it turned out that his assumption had been far too easy. It was incredibly difficult to find a match. Marsilia had looked through all the slaves sold from the Eastern Continent through merchants, but it was all in vain. There was no way he could search through the vast land of the Eastern Continent either.

So, after years of fruitless searching, he finally found them. But the discovery came so suddenly that it felt surreal. Marsilia gazed at the still figure wrapped in his cloak.

“Whether this is something to celebrate… we’ll have to wait and see,” he muttered. Serez, perhaps because of the smell, sniffed lightly and asked.

“Why is that, Your Majesty? Is it… because of the Viscount Setora incident?”

Marsilia lightly shook his head. It wasn’t a big deal that the man is a vicious criminal.The eyes of the man he had briefly see were more of a problem. The eyes of someone that have no will to live.

Marsilia saw those eyes in his father, the late emperor. He had those eyes ever since his mother passed away.

The thought of seeing that expression again made his head ache. He kept his eyes fixed on the unmoving figure and turned to his aide.

“Have you looked into the incident?”

After receiving word from Aricto, Marsilia had ridden out with a few knights. Before leaving, he had given instructions to Serez to prepare the carriage and investigate the case. Now that the carriage had arrived, it was time to look into the murder of the Setora family.

Ceres hesitated, glancing at the still figure, before cautiously replying.

“Can I speak about this here?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Marsilia was looking at the figure that was completely motionless. Serez, after some hesitation, began to speak.

“The incident occurred around the 13th, and the bodies were discovered five days later. It was found by a merchant who supplied the Setora family with food.”

The hot summer days caused the smell of the decaying body to linger. Serez paused for a moment, his face grim, before continuing.

“They say the killer was arrested right at the scene, standing among the rotting body. Even though the merchant screamed and ran, the killer remained there.”

“The motive?”

“We don’t know. We don’t know who they were, where they came from, or the motive for the murder. The slave registry of the Setora family didn’t list them either.”

Marsilia glanced at the man wrapped in the cloak, who remained as still as a statue. His vacant eyes stared into space, and Marsilia spoke again.

“Have you investigated further? If nothing can be found here, we may need to look toward the Eastern Continent.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I was thinking of starting with inquiries at the port and then possibly contacting the trading companies that travel between the continents.”

“Good. Do that.”

Marsilia did not take his eyes off the filthy man. He murmured the name he had found in an old dictionary from his childhood.

“Jaha.”

The faintest tremor passed through the man’s yellow eyes. Did he recognize his own name?

It was too weak a reaction for someone who had heard their name, so Marsilia held back a sigh.

“I think there may be some mental issues. I wonder if I can make him my partner.”

If the only thing needed was for him to bear a child, it wouldn’t matter how much. One child was enough, so maybe forcing the ritual would get him pregnant.

Ceres looked at Marsilia and hesitated before speaking.

“Would it be better to find another partner?”

Marsilia removed his cloak and finally looked at Serez.

“There are records of the divine will passing on to another if the partner dies before giving birth.”

Marsilia almost agreed with him, but then his thoughts shifted.

Even if the divine will passed to someone else, who knew when that would happen? The next partner might not be an adult. If the divine will passed to a younger person, he might end up waiting another 10 years.

And if that were the case, would he have to kill the child just to pass on the divine will again? That couldn’t be the way.

“No. Too much time has passed. I can’t wait any longer.”

“But, Your Majesty…”

“It doesn’t matter if he’s mentally unstable, as long as his body is healthy. We just need him to bear a child safely.” Marsilia had no time left. Since the moment of his birth, his life had been under constant threat.

From a young age, he had never been able to drink a single drop of water without fear. His late father, the former emperor, only allowed him to eat food that had been purified. When he was old enough to purify food himself, the first thing his father taught him was how to purify it.

After becoming emperor and living in a palace filled with trusted people, Marsilia continued his habit of purifying even the tea brought by his servants.

Since birth, Marsilia’s life had been under constant threat from Archduke Doton, his uncle.

Archduke Doton had tried to assassinate the former emperor before Marsilia was born, and when Marsilia arrived, the Archduke’s sights turned to him.

If Marsilia had died as a child, Archduke Doton would have continued to target the former emperor. After all, once all heirs were dead, the ArchDuke could inherit the throne.

But Marsilia had survived. Whether by luck or misfortune, he had successfully ascended to the throne.

But if Marsilia were to die now, with no heirs, Archduke Doton would be next in line to inherit the throne. The goddess would surely grant him the divine will.

Marsilia had many reasons to want to bring down Archduke Doton, but it was not an easy task.

Archduke Doton was also a bishop of the Goddess’s church and had divine power. He had left the palace to dedicate himself to the temple, making it difficult to attack him directly. He was heavily guarded by his own knights and temple soldiers, making an assassination nearly impossible.

But Marsilia didn’t have the luxury of time to worry about that.

As the carriage neared the palace, Marsilia made a decision.

“Once we arrive at the palace, prepare for the ceremony. Insist that the 100-day prayer be held at the palace for security reasons. The divine tree’s roots reach the palace, so they won’t be able to refuse.”

“But, Your Majesty, we’ll need to bring in temple priests…”

“Allow the priests. Even if they are from Archduke Doton’s side, it will be safer. If anything happens to my partner during the ceremony, it will be clear that the temple was involved.”

“But…”

But what else could he do? Release him because he is mentally unstable?