Capturing the Male Lead: Red String System

ARC 3.9: CHILD OF LIGHT

"Did you have fun?"

Auris looked towards the owner of the voice and went stiff.

"Mother? Why are you here?" Zachariah asked without letting Auris go from his grip.

Empress Morrigan smiled at the two as she took a seat near the bed, "I felt a fluctuation from the book I gave you before. And you rarely take it out, so I thought that maybe something happened. Did you enter the royal library? There is a dark magician hidden there. But it looks like you two made it out without getting harmed."

"Well, some knights are really dumb." Zachariah said as he helped Auris to properly sit down.

Empress Morrigan chuckles as she turns her head to Auris, "Thank you for believing me."

Auris shook his head and smiled at her, "I'm the one who is supposed to thank you, Your Highness. If you didn't warn me, I'd probably be going to die without knowing why."

"Let's go to a different place. It's not safe to talk about this inside the main palace. There's a lot of eyes and ears here." Empress Morrigan said as she signaled the two to follow her.

The two nodded and silently followed Empress Morrigan out of the palace using the hidden path they used a while ago.

When they arrived at the bottom, Auris saw someone there waiting for them.

"Archbishop?" Zachariah asked as he took a second look at the Archbishop that was supposed to be in the temple.

"We meet again, your highness, your holiness." Archbishop Loyset greeted as he bowed slightly.

"What are you doing here?" Auris curiously asked.

Archbishop Loyset opened his mouth and was ready to answer when Empress Morrigan spoke first.

"Everyone, let's save the greetings later. We need to move or we will get caught." Empress Morrigan warned.

The three people nodded and Archbishop Loyset guided them out of the main palace.

After a while of walking, Archbishop Loyset stopped in the garden at the west palace. Following the archbishop, the other three also entered the garden. When they arrived at the heart of the garden, Auris saw a closed borehole. Archbishop Loyset opened it, and looked down.

"Let's go," Archbishop Loyset said as he climbed down the borehole.

"Wait! Are we going to enter the borehole?" Auris asked.

"Yes, your holiness." Archbishop Loyset answered.

"Why there?" Auris asked again as he took a peek inside the dark borehole.

"Don't worry, your holiness. It's more safe inside." Archbishop Loyset said.

Kuai, do you know what's in there?

[A hidden base, master. There's an illusion placed on the entrance of the borehole so you won't see it unless you enter.]

Really? I understand.

When Empress Morrigan and Archbishop Loyset entered the borehole, Zachariah and Auris were still in the garden.

"Let's go." Zachariah said.

Auris nodded and entered the borehole with Zachariah.

I didn't realize that I'm that cowardly.

[It's okay, master. Since the beginning the system knew that your cold face is just a facade.]

Auris flinched and tried not to curse his system.

The first time I entered space?

[Well not only that, but kinda.]

Well, Shan-ge died that day.

"We're here." Archbishop Loyset declared.

Auris looked around and saw a room filled with books and papers. The smell of ink is still lingering within the room.

"What is this?" Auris asked as they say on a round table in the middle.

"A secret place the real emperor made before he died." Archbishop Loyset said.

Auris furrowed his brows but didn't say anything.

"Did you two get the holy book?" Archbishop Loyset asked.

Zachariah nodded and took the book.

"What is that for?" Zachariah asked.

The empress and the archbishop looked at each other and started to explain what they knew.

"Let's start first about our identity. You all know that I'm a princess from the neighboring kingdom, but beside that I'm also a cleric who's following Goddess Idite when she was still in the human realm. I'm her fire mage guardian." Empress Morrigan started.

Auris and Zachariah listened carefully and waited for them to finish. Although Auris is curious about his biological parents, it's better to know some things than rushing everything.

"I'm originally the ice mage guardian of Goddess Idite, but when you got born, she ordered me to stay by your side and protect you. That's why I built the Temple of Souls and acquired the title of archbishop throughout the time." Archbishop Loyset explained as he looked at Auris thoughtfully..

"The book I gave Zachariah when he came of age is about my experience as the Goddess Idite's guardian. It also contains all the teachings from my teacher when he was still with us." Empress Morrigan uttered.

"The presence in the book, is it your teacher, your highness?" Auris asked.

"Yes. My teacher left his aura in the book to protect the bearer. It protected me before but when I learned about what will happen to my son, I passed it to him." Empress Morrigan said with a sigh. The book can only slow the process of Zachariah's soul being taken over, but it couldn't block the curse.

"That's why you got a curse. Because the book is not with you when that damned demon cursed you!" Zachariah said as he gritted his teeth. If he didn't accept the book, his mother would still be in her peak state!

Auris held Zachariah's hand to soothe him as he asked the archbishop, "Then what about the holy book? It has the same presence but is deeply hidden."

"It contains Goddess Idite aura and Morrigan's teacher's aura. The combination made it too strong that the power within it hid the aura of both of them." The archbishop answered.

Auris is curious. He is too curious about who is the empress teacher and why is he so powerful. Maybe if he was still alive, he'll try to convince him to join them. But he didn't know if the person was still alive or dead somewhere.

"Who is your teacher anyway, mother?" Zachariah curiously asked. They keep talking about the teacher of his mother but who is it anyway?

Empress Morrigan hesitated at answering so she looked towards Archbishop Loyset, asking if she could tell them. When she saw him nodding his head, the empress stared deeply at Auris and spoke, "It's Grand Duke Harduinus."

"The Grand Duke? Really? He never appeared in public though." Zachariah nonchalantly said.

Feeling the strange stare, Auris asked the empress, "Why?"

"Don't tell me my father is him?" Auris thoughtlessly said as he chuckled.

Seeing the archbishop and the empress gone stiff, Auris stopped laughing.

"W-What is it true?" Auris nervously asked.

"Well, he is." Empress Morrigan answered.

Auris stopped moving as his eyes blinked repeatedly.

After a few minutes of silence, Auris talked.

"I'll ask about it later. Let's talk about how to stop the demon first." Auris said with a sigh.

Empress Morrigan nodded as her face turned serious.

The four talked for a long time and went back to their original position to initiate the plan.