Chapter 222: The Emperor’s Son

"What on earth is that appearance... Leonardo?"

Signut’s voice carried a rare edge of unease.

Leonardo stood before him, yet he looked nothing like the man he once knew.

Unlike the Demons they had encountered so far—twisted, grotesque creatures driven purely by instinct—Leonardo’s form was... refined. Controlled. Almost knightly.

His skin had darkened to a deep black, similar to the others, but over it lay something else—an armor-like layer that clung to his body like a second skin. It wasn’t metal, yet it gleamed faintly, pulsing with an eerie, unnatural energy.

Bleak. Heavy.

And beneath it... something deeper.

Something unsettlingly familiar.

Signut’s eyes narrowed.

I’ve felt this before.

A memory surfaced—Claris, Lisa... the strange power they had used.

The so-called "devil’s power."

Leonardo’s aura was almost identical.

No—worse.

Where Lisa’s power had been sharp and overwhelming, this... this felt murky. Contaminated. Like a pool of water left to rot.

"Ah, this?" Leonardo tilted his head slightly, as if amused. "I borrowed a bit of what you’d call... the devil’s power."

"Devil...?" Signut repeated, his tone laced with disbelief. "What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"

Devils didn’t exist.

Not in reality.

They were nothing more than figures from ancient scriptures—symbols of temptation and ruin, used to scare children or warn the faithful.

Stories. Myths.

Nothing more.

"That’s absurd," Signut said flatly. "There are no such things as devils in this world."

Leonardo smiled faintly.

"I used to think the same."

His eyes, once familiar, now held something foreign—something dark, yet unwavering.

"Until I saw one with my own eyes."

The air grew heavy.

For a brief moment, neither of them spoke.

A cold wind slipped through the broken walls around them, carrying with it the faint scent of ash and iron.

Signut studied him carefully.

There was no hesitation in Leonardo’s voice. No madness. No delusion.

Only certainty.

"...You expect me to believe that?" Signut asked quietly.

"I don’t expect anything," Leonardo replied with a small shrug. "Believe it or not—it doesn’t change what I’ve become."

As if to emphasize his point, the dark energy around him stirred.

It wasn’t explosive like mana.

It was... suffocating.

The ground beneath his feet cracked.

Not from force—no, it was something heavier than that.

It was as if the very space around him couldn’t withstand his presence.

A faint pressure filled the air, pressing down on my shoulders, making it harder to breathe.

And in the middle of it all—

His eyes were locked onto Lisa.

Unmoving. Unblinking.

"...So that’s it," I muttered under my breath.

Everything started to fall into place.

I had been wrong this whole time.

Lisa wasn’t just a demon.

She was something else entirely.

A devil.

The realization sent a chill down my spine.

Until now, I had only suspected it. There had been signs—the strange power she used, the unnatural aura, the way her abilities didn’t quite align with anything I knew. But I never had enough to be certain.

Now... I was.

The power Lisa used back then.

The Magan she possessed.

It all pointed to the same conclusion.

Devils exist.

And somehow, Lisa could wield their power.

My eyes flickered between her and Leonardo.

At first glance, their abilities felt similar—dark, overwhelming, unnatural. But the more I observed, the clearer the difference became.

Lisa’s power felt... whole.

Pure.

Like something that belonged to her.

But Leonardo?

There was something off about him.

His power felt forced—unstable, like it had been stitched together artificially.

A cheap imitation.

Like artificial sweetener compared to real sugar.

Similar on the surface, but fundamentally different.

"...So that’s why," I murmured.

That’s why they were targeting her.

If Lisa possessed the real thing, then people like Leonardo—no, whatever organization stood behind him—would naturally want it.

Or fear it.

"You’ve completely lost your mind. First the Imperial Palace, and now the Academy... what exactly do you want?"

For a moment, there was no answer.

Silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating.

Leonardo didn’t even spare me a glance. His eyes were locked onto Lisa, as if I wasn’t standing here at all.

Then—

"Her."

Just one word.

Simple. Absolute.

Lisa stiffened behind me. I felt it instantly—the slight hitch in her breath, the tension in the way she shifted her footing.

So that’s it.

Leonardo had already carried out one act of terror. Now he had the audacity to appear here, openly, as if nothing could touch him.

And Signut...

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. His expression had hardened, jaw clenched tight. The anger radiating from him was unmistakable.

This was a man who had once been hailed as the Empire’s strongest knight. A symbol of strength. Of loyalty.

So how did it come to this?

How did someone like him fall so far?

My gaze drifted back to Leonardo.

For a brief moment, his lips parted slightly, as if he was lost in thought. Then—

"But more importantly..."

His voice dropped, thick with something dark.

"Revenge. Against the father who abandoned me."

A chill ran down my spine.

There was no hesitation in his voice. No doubt. Just pure, seething hatred.

That wasn’t anger born overnight.

That was something that had been festering for years.

Even so...

This was too much.

A bomb in the Imperial Palace? Countless lives put at risk—just for revenge?

Signut took a step forward, his voice sharp and unforgiving.

"Even then, planting a bomb in the Imperial Palace...! His Majesty could have been injured!"

Leonardo didn’t flinch.

In fact, he smiled.

A cold, hollow smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

"That was the point," he said calmly. "The man sitting at the very top of the Empire... was my target."

For a second, no one spoke.

The words hung in the air like a blade, cutting through everything.

Shock. Disbelief.

No one could quite process what they had just heard.

An assassination attempt.

Not just any target—but the Emperor himself.

"You..." Signut’s voice trembled—not with fear, but with barely restrained anger. "Do you even understand what you’re saying?"

"I understand perfectly," Leonardo replied, his tone calm—too calm.

Just moments ago, he had been talking about taking revenge on his father.

But now... the Emperor?

Then that means—

"...What are you saying?"

The voice cut through the tension.

All eyes turned toward Anna.

She stepped forward slowly, her expression hardened in a way I had never seen before. The usual composure she carried was still there—but beneath it, something colder lingered.

Something dangerous.

"Your Highness," Signut interjected quickly, stepping in front of her, "there’s no need to entertain such baseless claims. I will handle this—"

"Silence, Sir Signut."

Anna’s voice was sharp—far sharper than anything I’d ever heard from her before.

Even Signut faltered, his mouth snapping shut as he stepped back, clearly taken aback.

Anna didn’t spare him another glance.

Her eyes were locked on Leonardo.

"...Answer me," she said quietly, though the weight behind her words was anything but soft. "Are you saying that you—Leonardo—are His Majesty’s son?"

It was the question no one dared to ask.

The thought had crossed everyone’s mind, but speaking it aloud? That was a different matter entirely.

And yet Anna asked it without hesitation.

For a brief moment, silence hung in the air.

Then—

"That’s right."

Leonardo’s answer came without the slightest pause.

Short. Clear. Absolute.

And just like that, speculation turned into certainty.

A ripple spread through the room.

Whispers broke out almost immediately, hushed but frantic. Shock, disbelief, fear—they all mixed together into a suffocating tension that filled the space.

I felt my own thoughts come to a halt.

I had heard rumors before.

That Leonardo was an illegitimate child. That he came from somewhere questionable. That his background was... unclear.

But no one—no one—knew the truth.

And now this?

The Emperor’s son?

"...You expect us to believe that?" Anna muttered under her breath.

Leonardo didn’t even bother to look at them. His gaze remained fixed forward, unwavering.

"I don’t need you to believe it," he said flatly. "The truth doesn’t change based on your opinions."

"Watch your tone!" Signut snapped, his earlier restraint cracking. "Do you have any idea who you’re speaking to?"

"Yes," Leonardo replied.

That single word landed like a stone.

His eyes shifted slightly—just enough to meet Anna’s gaze again.

"And I also know what kind of world this is," he continued. "A place where blood matters more than truth. Where legitimacy decides everything."

Anna’s expression didn’t change, but I noticed the slight tightening of her fingers at her side.

"So?" she asked. "Even if what you’re saying is true... what does that have to do with your so-called revenge?"

For the first time, something flickered in Leonardo’s eyes.

Not hesitation.

Not doubt.

Something darker.

"...Because," he said slowly, "the man you all call Emperor... is the reason my life was ruined."

No one spoke. No one moved.

Even breathing felt too loud.

I swallowed dryly, my mind struggling to keep up.

This wasn’t just some shocking reveal anymore.

This was dangerous territory.

Accusing the Emperor—publicly, no less—wasn’t something you walked away from.

And yet Leonardo stood there without the slightest fear, as if he had already accepted whatever consequences might come.

"...This is insane," I muttered under my breath.

Because it was.

Everything about this situation had gone completely off the rails.

And somehow, I had a feeling—

This was only the beginning.