Children of the Holy Emperor
chapter-23

Seongjin, who lost most of the day’s training time because of an unexpected visit from his fiancée, tried to run to the training ground as soon as Chloe left. For him, who was gaining momentum from his recent training, every minute and every second was a waste.

But this time, too, there was an unexpected hindrance.

“Hi, Morres.”

“Hi, Morres.”

As he was running out of the lobby of the Pearl Palace, a small carriage stood blocking the entrance.

Children poking their heads out of the window are waving at him. They were pretty children like porcelain dolls that looked the same as if they were cut out of a mold.

Who are they?

He looked at Edith who was beside him with eyes asking for an explanation, but she just hung her head indifferently.

“I did not receive a separate message that they would visit. Your Highness.”

If the demon king was there, he would have proudfully and released the information. Suddenly, his absence is felt in a big way.

Fortunately, Marthain, who followed behind him, solved Seongjin’s curiosity. He placed his hand on his chest and made an angled bow toward the children.

“Greetings to the princess and the prince.”

“Hi, Older Brother Marthain.”

“Hi, Older Brother Marthain.”

So, they were Morres’ younger siblings.

Herna and Gades.

The two were twin princess and prince who had just turned 13 years old.

The two, who are said to be living with their mother in a mansion in the capital, visit the imperial palace by carriage once a week when it is time for an audience.

The two grumbled that today’s appointment had been canceled thanks to the Holy Emperor’s closing prayer, and although they were only two years younger than Morres, they had a strangely childlike side to them.

“Of course, it’s not that Father Holy Emperor deliberately avoided us. But it’s still regretful.”

Herna grumbled and crossed her arms around Seongjin’s right arm.

“I’ve been waiting for a week to meet His Majesty Father. So we came to the imperial palace to play.”

Gades pouted and grabbed Seongjin’s left arm.

“Well, Father Holy Emperor doesn’t like playing chess that much, though.”

“Well, I’m suggesting that we play chess because it’s fun to see His Majesty Father look troubled.”

Then, the two began to stare at Seongjin’s bewildered face.

“So will you play with us, Morres?”

“You’re not going to kick us out, are you, Morres?”

Two pairs of identical purple eyes twinkle mischievously.

Wow, what is this?

Seongjin broke out in a cold sweat, not knowing what to do.

In the previous world, Seongjin was hit by Gehenna Gate before he even got married. He never dreamed of having a normal family or having children.

Besides, the world was too harsh for children. As the superhuman unit was formed and the battle with the monsters continued, even the few children died one by one.

So he couldn’t figure out how to deal with innocent children who were just clinging to him. He looked at Marthain with his little brother and sister in his arms, but the man was feeling moved on his own without knowing Seongjin’s thoughts.

“To see Prince Morres getting along with his younger siblings like this……”

Guess they weren’t very friendly in the first place.

Why are you guys doing this to me all of a sudden?

“Because Morres is Morres?”

“Because Morres is none other than Morres.”

A sullen smile appeared on the faces looking at Sungjin.

It’s strange to appear out of nowhere and pretend to be close, but the twins didn’t seem to care about Seongjin’s sudden change in appearance. It’s been a while since they’ve seen him, so he must look completely different.

“Morres was originally a bit strange.”

“Morres wasn’t normally normal.”

What, these guys?

Anyway, the same voice answered one after another, so he was confused as to who said what.

With bobbed hair trimmed to the same length and the same face, there is only one thing that can tell them apart. It was just that one was wearing a dainty dress and the other was wearing cute shorts. Even the clothing designs are similar.

He doesn’t know who their mother is, but is it emotionally okay for the children to dress twins like like this?

Seongjin exclaimed urgently as he struggled to hold on from the little kids who grabbed his arms and pulled him into the wagon.

“Hey, hey. I have to go to the gymnasium now. I’ll play with you next time, so go see Amelia today. ‘Kay?”

Today, he promised himself that he would definitely come and build the third layer, but what kind of a hindrance is this!

The twins looked at each other for a moment.

“Isn’t Older Sister Amelia still confused?”

“Doesn’t Older Sister Amelia need a little more time?”

Then, the two nodded to each other as if they understood what they had understood, and then began to pull Seongjin’s arm again.

The pulling power of the little ones wasn’t very strong, but that doesn’t mean he can throw them out.

Seongjin, who had been dragged helplessly, looked back at Marthain with a face desperate for help.

“Hic, Your Highness being on good terms with your siblings like this……”

Marthain turned his head to the side and tried to hold back his tears.

That person is already messed up.

In the end, Seongjin had no choice but to get on the carriage with the twins. Most of all, it was because Sir Marthain was blatantly blazing with eyes asking what he was doing instead of spending time with his brothers right away, throwing away training.

In addition, the Knight Commander of the Imperial Guard even volunteered to escort them.

“If it’s Older Brother Marthain, it’s reliable.”

“If it’s Older Brother Marthain, no need to worry.”

But these guys.

Amelia is older sister and even Martha is older brother, but why am I just Morres?

“Because Morres is Morres?”

“Because Morres is none other than Morres.”

Herna and Gades smirked strangely.

The carriage they rode in soon left the imperial palace and ran down the huge avenue toward the main street. It seemed that the imperial palace road was connected to the road that penetrated the entire city in a straight line.

As soon as the manicured tree-lined avenue ended, a sparsely populated shopping street soon became a bustling plaza lined with tall buildings. A colorful crowd busily fills the streets, and colorful quad carriages and large wagons run through the streets in rows.

He feel that it is the capital of the most powerful empire on the continent.

While he was staring out the window blankly, the twins announced their future schedule.

“We’re going to the dressing room downtown.”

“I have to go to the Salon de Mercy now.”

“……?”

What is Salon de Mercy?

While he was blinking, Marthain, who was sitting next to him, tipped him off.

“It is the most famous high-end menswear store in the capital.”

Why do kids go there to play? Aren’t they only old enough to go to a children’s clothing store?

“Then let’s go see the new puppet show on Rue Bertrand!”

“It’s a puppet show featuring a cruel hero and a pitiful demon king!”

Now, that’s a good place for kids to go. But it seems that something was a bit twisted.

“Then go to the Monkey Watchtower in the fountain plaza and we’re done.”

“Yes, it can be said that we went around all the places we had to go to today.”

Monkey Watchtower?

His head automatically turns toward Marthain.

“It is a pub with a lot of regulars because the price of alcohol is cheap. It is also a place often used by the knights of the Imperial Guard.”

This time it’s a bar. Why do children go there again?

What are the standards for them to play? And why should he follow them?

“Yeah, well, what are the selection criteria?”

“Yeah, yeah, why do we have to go?”

The two just looked at each other and smiled mischievously.

The Salon de Mercy was located in the center of Rue d’Este, lined with famous dressing rooms. It is a street where you can best feel the latest trends of the Kingdom of Brittany, which is said to lead the fashion trend of the continent.

At the entrance of De Mercy, the latest Brittany-style costumes are hung. Seongjin, looking at the narrow sleeves with ruby buttons hanging from the narrow waistline, looked tired, but the twins shoved him into the entrance and said.

“Have a good time, Morres. We’ll come pick you up in a little while.”

“Speak slowly and come, Morres. We’ll come find you before it’s late.”

What? Didn’t you ask me to play with you?

Seongjin was making a puzzled expression, but the twins were getting farther away, buried in the crowd.

As he turned to follow them, a roaring clerk’s greeting caught him.

“Welcome, handsome young master! Is this your first time here? Come in!”

A woman in a flashy pink dress with heavy make-up approached him with an exaggerated smile on her face.

“Welcome. Salon de Mercy leads the latest fashion of Delcross! All the fine gentlemen of the capital are regulars here. Come on, this way……”

She tried to pull Seongjin’s arm violently, but was blocked by Sir Marthain, who had intervened between her and Seongjin, and opened her eyes wide. Marthain yelled at the clerk so loudly that the whole store rang.

“How dare you say such rudeness! This is the prince of the great Holy Empire, Lord Morres!”

The people in the dressing room all turned their heads toward them.

Soon, people’s eyes are filled with astonishment, and they start whispering among themselves. Seongjin felt embarrassed for nothing.

Fortunately, de Mercy’s clerk was a professional who had won against high-ranking people. She quickly cleared her bewildered expression and bowed respectfully to Seongjin.

“Forgive me for the rudeness. I made a mistake because I did not expect such a noble person to come personally.”

Soon after, the other clerks who ran out lined up in a line from the entrance and bowed their heads in unison. Seongjin realized that he had completely missed the timing to leave the store.

“God bless Delcross! Greetings to the wise Prince Morres!”

All of the clerks, male and female, wore dark pink uniforms. While he was in awe of that monstrous sense, a large man approached Seongjin with light steps from inside the store.

He was holding a colorful fan and wearing high heels, wearing a dark pink fur over a flamboyant black and light pink outfit. In an instant, he knew at once whose taste the pink clothes of the store clerks were.

“Oh my gosh, what is this? Oh my gosh, Your Highness Morres! How do you keep getting better and better? Oh my, how nice!”

Sir Marthain’s expression slowly hardened as he watched the approaching man, twisting his body in disdain. Fortunately, right before the knight commander exploded, the man gave Seongjin an appropriate example.

He was a seasoned person who knew well when a high-ranking person felt uncomfortable.

“Blessings to many generations of the Holy Imperial Family! Madame Justine of Salon de Mercy welcomes the noble Prince Morres.”

It is a cool gesture that looks like a theater actor in a way because the arm movement is big and old-fashioned.

On the other hand, the end of the words was also strangely stretched, and it seemed that he was acting cute or playing a joke.

Seongjin looked closely at the man for a moment with a subtle sense of difference.

If it weren’t for excessive makeup and flashy costumes, he was a man with excellent muscles and bones that could be called a good warrior. He has a massive build and well-developed muscles throughout, but he doesn’t feel his Aura activated around his body. That means he’s not an Aura user.

But why does Seongjin’s intuition sound an alarm at the man? Sir Marthain must have felt the same way, so he whispered to Seongjin.

“Madame Justine is the most famous designer in the capital. He has a great reputation even within the imperial palace, but I never thought he would be like this……”

“He’s not an Aura user, is he?”

“Yes, he is not. But strangely, prayer is wonderful. It’s hard to believe he’s just a designer.”

The man smiled while the two of them whispered. As the red-painted lips draw an arc, a beauty point the size of a little fingernail moves together.

Seongjin, realizing that he was standing quietly waiting for him to state his business, hesitantly opened his mouth.

“Hmm, that… I’m thinking of making some clothes……”

It was an obvious thing to take out of the dressing room.

Madame Justine covered his mouth with a fan and let out a hum of laughter. His two eyes, which look more beaky with excessive eyelash makeup, draw a crescent moon sullenly.

“Ohoho! Is this the first time you have personally visited the Salon de Mercy? Queen Lizabeth has been a regular here for a long time.”

“Is, is that so?”

“Yess. Aren’t our clerks visiting the Pearl Palace every month to make clothes for Your Highness? Today, it is an infinite honor that this Madame Justine will be able to serve Your Highness himself!”

Most of the clothes in Morres’ dressing room must have been made by this person.

“Now now, let’s go to the special room upstairs. We adjust the entire process from size to fitting so that the precious person is not uncomfortable.”

That’s right, once he could get out of this mess, he’ll go anywhere.

Seongjin left behind the shop assistants and some customers whispering in the corner, and followed Justine up the stairs.

Now that he had come to the dressing room, Seongjin thought about getting a pair of clothes that he could wear comfortably while training.

However, while looking at the fabrics, embroidery samples, and various designs that Madame Justine had brought, the direction of the conversation began to flow strangely.

“Oh my! You don’t like being too bright, and you don’t like being too dark because it’s gloomy, right? You definitely have an eye for the capital’s fashion these days! These days, fabrics that are dark yet bright when exposed to light are popular.”

He just said he didn’t like it because he thought it would get a lot of dust when wearing white or black while rolling around the gymnasium, but suddenly strange fabrics with a rainbow sheen popped out.

“Ohohoho! You say to cut down on cuffs and thread decorations as much as possible! It is indeed a bold choice that is ahead of its time! Then, even if it takes time, how about enhancing the dignity by inserting small hand embroidery in every corner? The hem of the cuffs and the hem of the trousers are embroidered with precious stones and pearls!”

He asked him to remove as much obstacles as possible so that he could do radical training, and he said he would sew jewelry into his clothes. Seongjin couldn’t even guess what the finished clothes would look like.

Madame Justine hummed as he scribbled something in his design notebook, wondering what was so exciting about it.

Soon after, the clerks who came in trembled once when they said they were taking Seongjin’s measurements. Seongjin, who thought it was all about height and waist circumference, learned for the first time why so many parts had to be measured when making human clothes.

His mind was completely tattered and he was sipping the juice that Justine had prepared for him in a daze.

“You look tired, Your Highness.”

Seongjin snorted without answering.

Sir Marthain, in the middle of an exciting argument with Madame Justine about whether to have a peacock pattern or a butterfly pattern.

Knock knock.

It was then that a cautious knock was heard.

When Marthain opened the door, a young man with a weak impression crept in and bowed toward Seongjin.

“Glory to Delcross. Greetings Prince Morres, a long-time supporter of the Golden Truth Society.”

Golden Truth… What?

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T/N:

Just in case anyone jumps on me, Madame Justine is referred to as 남자 (man) in the narration. I’m taking the term Madame as something that’s more like a title instead of a prefix, similar to how all knights are called Sir regardless of their gender.