Turning

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Chapter 109

"Why should I watch you? Didn't I clearly say that I would only help you this one time?"

Despite his words, Enon was not as cruel or indifferent as he pretended to be. Yuder, who had received his help on several occasions, knew this fact better than anyone.

‘The ones I am trying to save are not only Kishiar La Orr. You are also included. And so are the many others who have been lost due to ignorance in the past.’

Swallowing the words he couldn't say to Enon, Yuder reached out his hand.

"Are you not giving it to me?"

"You... You're not really planning a rebellion, are you?"

Despite his numerous assurances to the contrary, Enon repeated the same question before handing over the paper, clearly still uneasy.

"..."

Even after hearing the firm answer, Enon hesitated a bit before slowly handing the paper to Yuder. As Yuder unfolded and began to read the document, Enon couldn't hide his suspicious gaze and opened his mouth.

"By the way, you must read and leave it here. It's absolutely forbidden to take it outside."

"Understood."

Since highly classified information was often read and disposed of quickly on the spot, Yuder wasn't surprised and simply nodded.

Enon's eyes grew perplexed as he watched Yuder, a mere soldier from commoner background, reading the document filled with difficult terms and seeming comfortable handling confidential information.

It was far too early for such a look. What exactly was this familiar sight?

Regardless of Enon's thoughts, Yuder remained focused on the document in his hands. The paper contained detailed information about the imperial family, a topic he had never been curious about in his previous life.

'Most of it is information I already roughly knew...'

There were a total of ten people who had become dukes with the imperial family's surname 'La Orr,' including the current Duke Peletta, Kishiar La Orr.

Considering the empire's thousand-year history, it seemed a small number. However, on the flip side, it was astonishing that these ten had largely been forgotten, with their names barely recorded in history.

There was hardly any official information about them. Only the years of their birth and death, and the names of the territories they had ruled as dukes, were known.

Rumor had it that the dukes who bore the surname La Orr all had significant defects that made it difficult for them to live normally as princes. They received the nominal title of duke, thereby permanently losing their rights to the throne, but in return, their lives and safety were guaranteed until death.

Yuder was about to skip over the sections containing information he already knew when a particular part caught his eye. It was the section transcribing the birth and death years engraved on the tombstones of the previous dukes who had held the surname La Or before Kishiar.

'Come to think of it... they all died quite early.'

According to the records, all nine of them died before they turned 30. It was too soon. Even peasants, struggling to live day by day, mostly lived past 50. This made it even more surprising.

'I wonder if the major defects... included physical aspects as well as mental.'

"They share quite a few common traits. They all died young, never married, had no children, and severely restricted their external activities. Considering they even died within their own territories, it's almost like they were imprisoned."

Enon opened his mouth with a grim face as if he realized where Yuder's gaze had stopped.

"You know, apart from Kishiar La Orr, whom you said you'd protect, there isn't anyone else who showed their faces in the Capital's high society. Very few remaining portraits, and there were six who were isolated in remote areas and raised from the time they were born. But do you know what's more interesting?"

"What is it?"

"Out of ten, six were born in the last 300 years."

Hearing that, he looked down at the paper once again, and indeed, it was as Enon said. Yuder realized that including Kishiar, a total of six people were born within the past 300 years and his eyes widened.

"It's really strange considering that the duke with the surname of La Orr first appeared 200 years after the empire was established. Even I found out while researching this time."

"So is it... a problem related to the imperial bloodline?"

As Yuder opened his mouth, thinking about a certain hypothesis that crossed his mind, Enon nodded.

"It's plausible to think so."

The imperial family of the Orr Empire has long been revered, being referred to as having inherited the blood of the Sun God. Although the geopolitical situation of the continent has changed a lot now, with countries that were once vassal states gaining independence or increasing their power, and the Orr Empire no longer occupying the absolute position it once did, people living on the continent still held a degree of reverence for the imperial family.

Having superior abilities and overwhelming appearance befitting the inherited blood backed up such reverence, but what if there was a problem with the so-called perfect bloodline?

Just imagining it felt like blasphemy, denying the god. However, Yuder had long realized that the imperial family was ultimately just human, like him.

'They are humans, after all.'

And many people who face insurmountable problems tend to avoid them and just hide them well enough to not attract attention, like the mere title of Duke given to the ten royals including Kishiar...

"The remaining records are extremely scarce, so it's not clear exactly what the problem was with the Dukes bearing the surname of La Orr. But it's likely not physical. There hasn't been a case where someone was deprived of their succession rights because they had a minor physical disability, right? Like Tilar who had difficulty with his legs since birth, or Crown Prince Zekeim who returned half-paralyzed after a war."

"Indeed..."

Yuder agreed with Enon's assumption, nodding. Among the past emperors, there were those who had physical disabilities from birth, or those who had acquired physical problems. However, he had never heard anyone questioning their abilities as royals.

'So is it mental? But Kishiar seems perfectly fine.'

There must have been some common defect between the nine previous Dukes and Kishiar to have maintained the title of Duke of 'La Orr'... yet he had no clue what it could be.

Yuder flipped through the bundle of papers, lost in thought. The next page contained rumors and remaining records related to the nine deceased Dukes. Most of it was nonsense, near groundless rumors, but Yuder focused on a certain common point that appeared among them.

• Before death, they had rapidly weakened over several months, and their appearance was like a corpse drained of all blood by a monster.

• Those who had witnessed the Dukes before their death were all reportedly shocked at their appearances, as they had become as shriveled and dark as a corpse, their former visage nowhere to be seen.

The most detailed story among similar ones was the information about the ninth Duke, Laflamme La Orr, who died 33 years ago.

• He is said to be getting weaker day by day. Now he can't even walk by himself and is suffering, but no more painkillers seem to have any effect. Following his wishes, I've decided to dismiss everyone working in the castle, except those brought from the palace. I wish only for his comfort until the day he departs, but sadly, given past cases, it is highly likely that this will not be the case...

"Whose account is this?"

"That? A letter sent by the Duke's adjutant to his brother."

Although I was very curious as to how a letter sent by someone as close to the Duke as his adjutant to his kin ended up as a reference, it didn't seem like Enon was going to give me any answers.

'If this is information left by the Duke's adjutant, then the 'previous cases' mentioned are likely referring to former Dukes who were in the same condition.'

So, does this mean that while the information was strictly classified externally, within the imperial family everyone knew these facts?

Yuder recalled the image of Kishiar from his past life just before his death. He hadn't drastically withered like a corpse or become too weak to walk on his own in the months leading up to his death as described in these accounts. However...

'The fact is, Kishiar looked more and more tired and thin as time went on, unlike how he is now.'

Kishiar had been in such a state even before stepping down from his position as Commander of the Cavalry. While this might not necessarily point to commonalities with the Dukes mentioned in this information, Yuder was somehow continuously bothered by it.

"The part about Kishiar La Orr you were looking for is in the last chapter."

As Yuder was carelessly flipping through the pages filled with various rumors, Enon pointed out where the section he was looking for was. Hearing this, he brought the last chapter forward, and saw information written rather succinctly compared to other chapters.

"Is this it?"

"I left out common knowledge since he's still alive. Only things not widely known are left, and that's about it."

Enon was correct, but there was one problem. Since Yuder had been fairly close to Kishiar in his past life, he already knew most of the information provided.

'The rumor that he became the new owner of the divine sword. That's true... And the fact that he can use divine power. That's true as well. The rumor that he learned magic from the senior court mages in his childhood... I'm not sure about that. He might have been misunderstood because he carries around a lot of magic tools...'

In his past life, Yuder had seen Kishiar freely changing his appearance and wandering outside his quarters using a special magic tool. These days, he doesn't use it much, but if someone who didn't know it was due to a magic tool saw this, it could have been misunderstood.

'It is said that the private soldiers he raises in the Peletta territory are actually a powerful force, and at the Emperor's command, they can rush to the capital and execute any rebels... Is this just a baseless rumor?'

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