Editor: bodyinthefreezer

“Tancinol began to spread in mid-508.”

“What? But I thought Tancinol occurred after the Zelcan Empire had collapsed.”

“That's what they said. But it's definitely Tancinol.”

I read the inscriptions on the stone tablets. Countless Emperors, princes and princesses continued to lose their lives. The year changed, but the epidemic only worsened and not even the New Year's ball was held.

– January 509, the Empress died.

The seventh Prince caught the disease.

The plague spread across the Knights causing a disruption in the security of the Empire.

The plague was getting worse and spread to the extended royal family and knights. More and more people died. The stone plates became filled with obituaries.

And following the whirlpool of death, the year 510 approached, ushering in the gradual fall of the Zelcan Empire along with it.

I was tired of reading the obituaries. And as soon as I moved on to the next stone plate, I saw a shocking sentence, and sucked in my breath.

– February, 510, the Crown Prince passed away.

Rakshul died?

“Your Highness?”

Eunhan asked worriedly when he saw my surprised expression.

“Rakshul died.”

“What? Before the Zelcan Empire collapsed?”

“Yes.”

“Then who headed the Zelcan revival movement? Did someone impersonate the Crown Prince?”

“……”

As Eunhan said, it would be true to say that someone impersonated the Crown Prince of the Empire. But for some reason, I had a hunch that that was not the case.

– February, 510, the plague spread throughout the Capital, leaving dead bodies in every house in its wake.

– March, 510, a black spot appeared on the Emperor's body. He was treated by a doctor, but there was no improvement.

– In April, 510, the Emperor died.

The Crown Prince and the Emperor were all dead. Phillip still hadn't appeared on the pages of history.

Phillip and Laontel Bellacian were known to have destroyed the Zelcan Empire, which had been corrupted by the power of light, and established the Asteric Empire as the whole nation cheered for them.

But the Zelcan Empire had already collapsed. The infectious disease had spread throughout the Capital, and the people had no time to care about who the Emperor was.

I went to the next stone plate.

– May, 510, Phillip, a blood relative of the Emperor, suddenly appeared. When he blessed people using power given to him by the Goddess of Light, the black spots disappeared and their fever went down.

– June 510, Phillip was crowned Emperor, the plague disappeared, and the whole nation bowed to him.

Phillip finally appeared. However, it was completely different from the history books of the Asteric Empire.

He did not destroy the Zelcan Empire and establish a new one.

When the plague killed the Emperor, the Crown Prince, and all the other members of the royal family, he alone rose up. He became the Emperor because he treated the plague with the power of light he received from the Goddess.

The founding myth of the Asteric Empire and Phillip’s heroism were all lies. Did the Goddess of Light lead me here to tell me this?Even after Philip took the throne, the records continued.

He was not an Emperor who founded a new Empire. He inherited the throne as the son of Emperor Zelcan.

It was not known whether he was the real son of the Emperor or if he impersonated him, but he was not the official prince that was recorded in history.

– July, 510, the Emperor changed the name of the country to ‘Asteric' according to the Goddess's command. In addition, the Palace was renamed Tenlarn, abandoning the name Altar, which was stained by the ominous aura of the plague.

The renaming of the country and the Imperial Palace was only to quell the atmosphere that had been ruined by the plague.

Phillip’s image of being the hero and first founding monarch who destroyed the rotten Imperial family for the people and founded a new country, was nowhere to be found.

Eunhan agreed with my words.

“But it's suspicious that it was all lies from the beginning to the end.”

I kept rereading the stone plate. The days passed by peacefully with Phillip treating the plague and there were songs and statues made to praise him.

There was no mention of the Zelcan revival movement or the Roums protesting. The Zelcan Empire was not destroyed, but only renamed, so the revival movement itself did not make sense.

I went to the last stone plate. It was probably the last stone that had been erected before the fire.

– October, 513, the Emperor appointed Laontel Bellacian, chosen by the Goddess of Light, as the Empress.

At the end, Laontel Bellacian’s name appeared again.

Phillip married Laontel Bellacian, Prince Rakshul's fiancee? So he betrayed the Goddess of Light because of her, thus causing the beginning of the curse?

Phillip betrayed the Goddess and chose another woman, but there was no record of her.

Emperor Phillip had three sons. One of them became the next Emperor, and the youngest son was cursed.

But there was little record of this woman. I couldn't even tell who the Empress was. Some even argued that he had never had an Empress in his entire life.

But the stone plate said that it was Laontel Bellacian?

As Phillip betrayed the Goddess of Light, Laontel Bellacian was welcomed as Empress, and a fire broke out in Tenlarn Palace. The land of the Imperial Palace and the Capital was also contaminated, and in the end, it was necessary to make a transition.

Phillip set up a huge stone plate as a record of Rakshul’s doings.

But there was no Zelcan revival movement, and Prince Rakshul, who was declared to be the ‘Prince of All Tragedies’ was a dead man.

Even after the fall of the Zelcan Empire, the Roums did not reflect on themselves and continued to commit many sins, so the Goddess of Light was angered and cursed them with the disease called “Tancinol”. However, the disease had already spread before.

The records of history and what really happened were different.

I looked around. This was the last of the stone plates. There was no other record of the data in sight. There were luxurious treasures, but they didn't seem like they’d have any relation to the curse.

But…

‘Is that it?’

It was interesting that the records of actual facts and history had been recorded so clearly, but I didn't come all the way to Tenlarn Palace to study history.

Besides, I knew from the beginning that Phillip was a bad guy. Maybe he had done something far more suspicious and worse than what was written.

I was here to lift Blake's curse. However, none of these stone plates could help me do that.

Then why did the memories of the past appear? Why did Macul lead me here?

I looked out the door. But the Macul were already gone. Where did they go?

I went outside the door to where the Macul were, and at that moment, the necklace broke. The mana stone of light broke because it failed to withstand the force of the dark magic.

Eunhan hurriedly handed over the mana stone bracelet of the light that he was wearing.

“Your Highness, take it.”

“Eunhan, you shouldn’t.”“I'll be fine. It’s just for a second. Please wear it until we return to the Imperial Palace at least.”

Eunhan put the bracelet on my wrist and then held my hands. He did not hesitate this time, perhaps because of the urgency of the situation.

We were going to go back to the Imperial Palace anyway, so I didn’t keep being stubborn either. The Macul were gone, and no more scenes from the past unfolded. There was no more information to find out here.

“Your Highness, close your eyes.”

I followed his words, and moist fog swirled around my whole body before becoming light as we soared into the sky.

***

When I opened my eyes, I saw a familiar stone plate before me. We had returned to the secret room on the third floor of the Phillion Palace.

“Ancia!”

“Father…”

As soon as I saw Tenstheon's worried expression, my head naturally bent low.

“I’m sorry.”

“What's wrong? What happened to you?”

“…the necklace that you gave me broke.”

Tenstheon hugged me with a smile.

“What is that? Are you hurt?”

“No. Eunhan protected me. He gave me his bracelet. But…”

As I was embraced by the big Tenstheon, I really felt like a child.

The moment I felt the warm pat on my back, the disappointment, sense of futility, and guilt that I I felt in the Tenlarn Palace all burst out at once.

“I'm sorry. I couldn't find anything after all.”

“It's alright. There's nothing to be sorry about.”

“I was so stubborn about going there…”

Tenstheon hugged me tightly as I cried.

“I'm sorry. I must’ve put too much pressure on you. Don't cry. There's nothing to cry about. It's okay. It's okay Ancia.”

The past of a thousand years ago unfolded in front of me as the Macul guided me. When I went into the room, I thought I could finally find a way to lift Blake’s curse. But in the end, I found nothing.

My expectations were too high, so the disappointment was also great. Tenstheon was fine with it, but I felt very emotional.

Blake and Tenstheon were the ones having a hard time right now. Not me. I tried to stop crying, but I couldn’t.

Then, the door of the secret space opened.

“Your Majesty!”

Collin shouted, as he rushed in hurriedly. Collin’s normally expressionless face was now white as sheet. Tenstheon’s expression also hardened.

“What's going on?”

“His Highness the Crown Prince has fallen!”

***

Blake remained unconscious for three days.

“Your Highness, don't worry.”

Melissa and Hans had served him for a long time, so they were rather calm, because it used to happen a lot before I got here.

Blake had once said that this was his inevitable fate since he was the heir to the curse and that it was a miracle that the curse had not spread in three years.

They comforted me by saying that they expected Blake to pass out recently as his mild fever continued.

But I couldn't take it calmly.

Of course, they were also just pretending to be calm on the surface to reassure me. Truthfully, they were panicking too.