Chapter 88
"Stop!"
When the wagon reached the front gate of the Imperial Palace, the gatekeepers and the guards intercepted it.
"Luke de Rakan, the young Lord of Rakan Viscount. I have come here for a formal meet under the orders of the Emperor."
At the end of his words, a guard went closer to confirm the seal of Rakan Viscount which was in Luke's hands and said,
"From here, you need to come with me."
Philip had gone to the villa where the attendants were supposed to stay, and Luke began to walk in the extensive palace following the guard.
It was his first time at the Imperial Palace.
The palace of marble tiles was large enough to kill a man.
After around an hour of walk, Luke reached the throne room.
The door of the room had an engraving of a dragon swallowing the sun, Luke couldn't help but snort to himself.
‘Are you still deceiving people, saying that you are the descendant of a dragon?'
From ancient times, there were a few royal families and n.o.ble families who claimed themselves to be the descendants of the dragon.
It was their story that a dragon had transformed into a human, and a n.o.blewoman had given birth to the child of a dragon.
The story was told in order to increase the authority of the n.o.ble family by borrowing the majestic power of the dragon, as the ancient mythology claimed that the dragons were mighty beings.
‘Not a descendant of the dragon, but a whale. Or the descendants of the drunkards.'
Luke remembered how the ancestors of the Baroque family were like and smiled.
The guard who was accompanying Luke thought that Luke was having the ‘I feel glad to meet the Majesty' feels.
When Luke reached the door, the attendant announced the arrival of Luke with a loud voice,
"Emperor! The Lord of Rakan Viscount has arrived!"
"Yeah? Tell him to come in."
As the voice of the majesty was heard from the room, the huge doors were opened to the side.
Luke took big strides confidently.
There was no meeting in the throne room, the entire room was empty.
At the end of the room was a large chair carved out of white jade and a man with red hair falling down like a lion was sitting there.
‘Is he Rudolph?'
There were rumors that Lion king Rudolph was a genius swordsman.
That he trained more than eating, which was he had entered the Sword Master at late '20s and was one of two Sword Sages the continent had.
Luke stared at the emperor with a lot of concentration.
Seated in a rather mannerless position, yet tremendous waves could be felt from Rudolf's body.
And waves like the literal waves of water seemed to move from his body and wrapped themselves around Luke's body.
Luke's skin was tingling and he wanted to use his dark magic to get rid of that captured feeling, however, Luke decided to endure it.
‘It is okay.' Luke kept telling himself.
Rudolf who was seated on the throne nodded while looking at Luke who withstood the waves that he had shot.
If it was a fire wave, then the face of the person would have turned into a red hot
However, the opponent was able to shoulder it.
‘An Expert swordsman and magic of 3 circle? He is better than the rumor, once my preparation is done, you will die the death of a dog in my hands.' thought Rudolf.
Rudolf who was able to grasp the skills of Luke stopped the waves.
Luke exhaled a sigh of relief.
If he wouldn't have released the magic…
‘Phew… I almost showed my skills.'
Not long ago, he had the magic and new powers that he had taken from the demons along with his 5 circle magic, and with that, he could have easily pushed back Rudolf and changed the situation.
However, if Luke did that, his ident.i.ty would have been revealed.
And the emperor wouldn't think twice to strike the neck of Luke's with the power of a Sword Sage for turning on his king.
Luke had no intention to rush his revenge. Revenge was much better taken when the opponent was strong.
"It would have been troublesome coming all this way."
"Not at all, your Majesty."
Under Rudolf, Luke bowed his head and spoke,
"The reason that I have summoned you here is to formally provide you with a t.i.tle and to make you a member of the Imperial army. I have a lot to say, but we don't have the luxury of time, so let's start with the t.i.tle."
Rudolf glanced at Count Voltas, who immediately brought a sword that represented the power of the Emperor.
"Young Lord Luke, kneel!"
At the emperor's shout, Luke knelt in front of him.
Rudolf took the sword and placed it on the head and then both sides of the shoulders.
"Will you keep the law and the territory of the Baroque Empire and offer to provide unwavering allegiance to the Imperial family?"
"I will."
"Will you take care of the poor and the weak, act honestly, and justly?"
"I will."
"With the sacred right granted to you, from the very day I appoint you as the Lord of the Rakan territory!"
Under normal situations, numerous n.o.bles had to watch the ceremony.
However, as the Lord t.i.tle given to Luke was happening a year earlier than the proposed law, only the Emperor and Voltas were the guests.
Although it was informal, the ceremony ended quick, and the emperor talked about enlisting in the Imperial army.
"If you are a Destroyer, you can help greatly in defending the northern border. Please keep our empire from the invasion of the Volga Republic for the coming two years."
After receiving the letter of enlistment, Luke took the letter and exited the Throne room.
"What did you see?"
As Luke exited the room to enlist, Rudolf asked Count Voltas.
"Seeing him, he looks like a fine lad."
"He isn't just the extent of being called a fine one." Said by Rudolf
He looked at the door and continued.
"At the age of 17, an Expert knight with 3 circle magic and a Rune Knight. If he grows well for a decade, he will become a Sword Master and eat us. If it could have been, I would have given my daughter to him and keep him with me."
Count Voltas was surprised at the praises the Emperor was giving.
"Was he that much?"
"Yeah, he is. But the houses of Rakan and Baroque are incompatible."
The feelings of the ancestors had carried on into the later generations.
Although they didn't go against the other into wars, the Rakan Viscount and the Baroque family were like enemies.
"No need to send the a.s.sa.s.sin right away?" asked Voltas.
Rudolf laughed at the question of the Count.
"Huhuhu, no need to do it right away. It might be fun to see how the last descendant of the warrior Rakan dies."
After talking, Rudolf asked Count Voltas to exit.
There was no way even the closest of the person could see it.
"Come out."
At the command of the emperor, a man appeared from the veil behind the throne.
Since the face was covered it couldn't be identified, there was dark energy flowing from the black robes that were on his body.
"What about the curse on his body?" asked the emperor.
"It isn't possible to check it because of the thin power of his ancestor." Said the man.
‘However, it makes no sense for someone random to just find out about the curse which had been placed by a 9 circle monster.' Thought by Rudolf to himself.
Rudolf intended to call a.r.s.ene to check on the curse that was placed on Luke's body.
He wanted to know if the curse had loosed or weakened, he thought about making a.r.s.ene do it again.
But for a few days, a.r.s.ene hadn't come in contact with the emperor.
So the frustrated heart of the Emperor called a 7 circle warlock into the royal palace, however, with the skills that he had, he wasn't able to confirm the curse.
‘Can't do it. He needs to do something for me to kill him.'
Rudolf's eyes were full of anger.
The fat black warlock became nervous and s.h.i.+ver at the sight.
But he who was called as the Sword Sage, the skills he had shown Luke before were just a minute percentage of his skills.