Chapter 37
“…….”
Whoooooosh.
The fierce northern wind slammed against the windows of the corridor as it passed through.
The roaring wind and the rattling windows filled the silence between the two.
How much time had passed?
Basilian let out a small sigh and, as if bothered, ran a hand over his forehead.
“Did you know from the beginning that I was the Crown Prince?”
“At first, I wasn’t certain… but soon, I realized it when I saw the sword you carried.”
Basilian recalled the sword he had left in his own room.
The sword passed down to the Crown Prince of the Empire was a holy sword that adjusted its size to fit its master.
“I never heard news that you had gone missing… so why were you entrusting yourself to a mercenary group?”
“To survive, of course.”
Even thinking about his parents made Basilian shudder with disgust.
“As long as I cannot wield a sword properly, I cannot return to the royal family. You are Lucifer, so you understand this well, don’t you?”
At that, Athanas closed his mouth tightly and nodded.
The curse placed upon him after killing the Great Demon Mors began from the royal family itself.
“To avoid going mad from this madness, I must grow strong. To survive. That is why I leave the castle and wander.”
And the curse had descended even upon the young boy standing before him.
The day the Great Demon Mors was erased from the world.
The Black Castle crumbled, and the fog and magic that surrounded the forest were pushed to the edges of the continent and vanished.
People realized that the heroes had defeated the evil threatening the world, and held grand celebrations to honor the heroes who saved humanity.
The four heroes, led by Sir Philinawood, who had plunged his sword into the demon’s heart, raised their swords toward the heavens before the crowd. Beshart, the deity, filled the skies of the continent with sacred, blessed light, as if blessing humanity for vanquishing evil.
Under the deity’s blessing, the Empire named after Sir Philinawood was founded—a blessed empire.
The proud founding emperor of the Philinawood Empire, supported by brave ducal families of hero lineage, symbolized hope for a peaceful and beautiful future.
Yet the fate of the heroes who defeated evil did not end in a happy ending.
〈You will live a life of torment and dreadful visions. All of you, and all your descendants, will bear a terrible fate! Struggling in a life that refuses death, you will die in misery!〉
The curse Mors placed before dying manifested slowly, unnoticed by the heroes.
At some point, the five heroes began to experience nightmares whose origins they could not remember, suffering from hallucinations and auditory illusions.
They gradually lost their vitality, only realizing too late that their suffering was caused by Mors’ lingering curse.
As they lost their peaceful daily life, madness began to creep in, and the kind, diligent heroes crumbled under its weight.
They prayed daily, morning and night, begging Beshart to take pity on them and erase the curse flowing through their blood.
The demons under Mors’ command scattered, establishing forests at the edges of the empire, and the first dukes personally tried to eradicate monsters and demons.
Perhaps due to these heroic efforts, after several generations, the curse upon the four ducal families vanished—but the royal family alone could not fully shake it off.
No one knew why only the royal family could not escape the curse, yet it persisted.
Then, one day, a wandering priest claiming to have received a divine revelation from Beshart appeared before them.
Holding the sacred sword offered by Philinawood, he claimed that keeping objects blessed by the deity nearby would lift the curse, then disappeared without a trace.
The royal family revered him as a saint, following his guidance by appointing a saintly woman as empress and keeping the sacred sword as a royal treasure, hoping to dilute the curse with divine love.
It worked. Generations later, the temple’s saint became the empress, and only those chosen by the royal sword could become Crown Prince and ascend to the throne.
Thus, it seemed the royal family’s curse had ended.
Until a Crown Prince was born who did not inherit the blood of a saint.
It all began with the current emperor’s night of indulgence.
He spent a night with a palace musician during a royal banquet. That night produced Basilian Philinawood, the emperor’s sole child.
Basilian, born without the blood of a saint, began to awaken the curse within him, and madness slowly started to appear even in his young body.
The palace musician was expelled from the court, falling ill and dying far away, leaving the half-born prince to die without anyone’s care.
Until the age of seven, before receiving the choice of the royal sword, he was alone.
“His Majesty intended to kill me.”
The abandoned prince survived, received the choice of the sacred sword, and became Crown Prince.
To the court, the empress’ relatives, and the temple, Basilian was a thorn in their side. They did everything in their power to eliminate him.
Death constantly threatened him, and ultimately, to survive, Basilian hid in a carriage and escaped the royal palace.
In his hands were the royal sword, adjusted to fit him, an identification stone proving he was Crown Prince, and the fine clothing he had received on the day of his coronation.
“I escaped, sold my clothes, and began a life as a wanderer. The royal family sought me because I took the sword, so I had no choice but to hide from everyone.”
“Even so, you are the only royal bloodline. I cannot believe His Majesty made such a decision.”
Basilian fell silent for a moment before letting out a bitter laugh.
“Yes, the only heir. That alone was the reason I lived. But now, that is over.”
“…No way.”
Though his words trailed off, Athanas seemed to understand Basilian’s thoughts and was visibly unsettled.
“The empress is carrying a new heir.”
The news Basilian had hoped was false escaped his lips.
Athanas could only listen silently, unable to respond.
“Though I was born of humble origins, I am still the Crown Prince chosen by the sacred sword. As long as I live, this child born to the empress will not receive the sword’s choice, nor will he ascend to the throne through the Crown Prince’s position.”
Upon hearing of the empress’ pregnancy, Basilian foresaw his own end.
It was only natural that the useless, humble child meant to sit in the Crown Prince’s place would be discarded.
“Above all, I possess the cursed power of madness.”
As he spoke, Basilian conjured a small flame in his hand.
Unlike the mystical power seen in temples or administrative offices, the black flame held a strange, captivating light—it contained magic.
Athanas’ expression darkened at the magic-infused flame.
“The emperor and empress are impressive. To sit a Crown Prince who can wield such power simply because he holds the sacred sword…”
The dreadful power that could destroy an empire was both a weakness and a shame for him.
“The more I use this power, the more my head aches and my reason fades. Sometimes I fear going to sleep because of nightmares whose memory disappears upon waking. Other times, I wake in strange places like a sleepwalker. Surely, this shows that the madness inherited from the royal family is worsening.”
Those few who understood this despised Basilian.
Yet, perhaps because of this constant vigilance, he survived and escaped the capital safely.
“People said I was abandoned by the gods. My mother died from a curse. The emperor had no more children for the same reason. But now it seems the emperor’s curse has ended—seeing as I will have a sibling.”
The reality that awaited him, who had fled the royal family to avoid death, was cruel.
He had nearly been kidnapped, beaten for no reason, and attacked by monsters while hiding on a mountainside. At those moments, he felt the world had forsaken him.
Curses bring misfortune, both internally and externally.
“Perhaps I am destined never to be happy.”
“Your Highness.”
It had been a long time since someone addressed him with such concern.
Despite belittling himself, a faint smile appeared on Basilian’s lips.
“But I have no intention of yielding to such fate. No matter what anyone says, I am the Crown Prince of Philinawood, the one served by the sacred sword. I am destined to become the next emperor of Philinawood.”
