I Captured the Enemy Who Tried to Kill Me - Chapter 9
[You have magnificently demonstrated your qualities as an S-class Guide.
The branches of fate’s choices are sprouting in a different direction.
Unlocked.
You can now check the list of Espers who have imprinted on you.
Would you like to check?
List of Imprinted Espers (click)]
I was at a loss for words.
“……”
Imprint. That word finally appeared.
“Hey, what the hell?”
My eyelids trembled.
Even without checking in a mirror, I knew my face had turned pale blue.
Imprint? You’re saying imprint?
And why is it Esper”s” – plural – which is so concerning?
But the torment wasn’t over.
[Sudden Quest!
Stop the Emperor’s rampage.
Emperor Kaisis has imprinted on you, but you have not imprinted on him.
You have become the only Guide who can calm him.
To prevent everyone’s death, stop his rampage and calm him down!
Choice 1) Break the incomplete imprint and find his original Guide to match them together. However, until then, you must guide him.
Choice 2) Become his perfect Guide without revealing your identity until the imprint becomes complete.
Success: Safe ending
Failure: Hastening death]
“Ha, this is insane.”
I was utterly dumbfounded.
Especially choice 2 – what, are you telling me to do this or not to do this?
“Hey, status window.”
You want me to guide him without revealing that I’m Duke Ariel?
And a perfect Guide?
No matter how I looked at it, this was nothing but telling me to take the female protagonist’s place.
That means my peaceful retirement would fly away.
“Give me a normal quest right now.”
Anger rose within me. You’re presenting this as a choice? Are you crazy?
“I can’t do this. No, I won’t do it!”
As expected, the status window, which clearly read my mind, immediately gave an answer.
[Character Kaisis’s dislike toward you is extremely high.
He dislikes you so much that he refuses even to think about you.
Moreover, in this world, there is still no accurate concept of imprinting, so the Emperor cannot recognize his imprint partner even when face to face.
However, since even a half-imprint is still an imprint, he can instinctively figure it out.
Be careful not to directly touch him as Duke Ariel!]
Ah, so because of his intense hatred, he doesn’t recognize his imprinted Guide even when face to face.
I smiled gently.
But one thing was certain.
I’m screwed.
“Do you think imprinting is some pet’s name?”
If breaking an imprint were that easy, all those Espers and Guides in South Korea wouldn’t have gone mad after losing their partners.
That meant I absolutely had to choose option 1.
But it felt overwhelming.
What if my assistant couldn’t find anything?
Then the status window flashed once more.
[Don’t be discouraged.
I’ll give you an appropriate reward to help you achieve your quest more easily.
Reward: Disguised Identity (click)]
My face contorted.
I seemed to know what it was.
But I was already backed into a corner.
With trembling hands, I slowly clicked on the reward, and fireworks exploded before my eyes.
[To guide the Esper, you can appear as someone else once a day.
In everyone’s eyes, you will appear and be recognized as a maid with an ordinary appearance.
Use your reward well to hold the Esper’s leash!
Wishing you a comfortable playthrough.]
***
A secretive rumor spread through the imperial palace.
The Emperor was quietly looking for someone.
During the Founding Festival banquet, young ladies who were humble B and C-class Guides were detained.
But the next day, the Emperor appeared perfectly fine.
Based on this sequence of events, nobles who had drawn their own conclusions gleamed with excitement.
“It’s obvious. The Emperor’s proper match has appeared!”
The content of the rumor was that the Emperor’s Indoja had appeared.
“If the magicians find out, they’ll try to find that person first to gain leverage over His Majesty.”
“Ah, just thinking about it is ecstatic. The footsteps His Majesty will show after properly meeting his Indoja with that powerful strength.”
“Won’t he be able to handle even the S-class Gates that couldn’t be conquered until now? The tragedy from six years ago might never happen again.”
“Shh, look here. How can you speak so freely about that in the palace?”
While nobles were generally welcoming of the atmosphere, not everyone felt the same.
“I was going to be His Majesty’s match!”
“You foolish thing. Don’t you know about the bloodbath that hit the Baron’s house a few days ago? Haven’t you heard how Indojas, who took on guiding His Majesty, collapsed?”
“But he’s so young and handsome… They say destined matches can calm each other regardless of rank.”
There were noble-born Indojas who stomped their feet in frustration, crying snot and tears at the thought of losing their unrequited love.
“We must never let him find them.”
And there were those who steeled their resolve with determination – the magicians.
“Family Head, we are the fastest at finding people, aren’t we? If you command us now, we will find that Indoja before the Emperor’s sword does!”
T/N: The magicians and subordinates address Duke Ariel as “Family Head” as a sign of respect, acknowledging her position as the leader of their faction. It’s similar to how someone might be called “Boss” or “Chief” in addition to their actual title.
The magicians protested with angry voices.
Originally, the truth of power lay in magic.
Magicians demonstrated miracles and reigned at the center of power.
But one day, their authority was suddenly taken away by the appearance of Gates.
This was because magicians couldn’t withstand the air inside the Gates.
Only Awakened Ones and the Indojas who could save them could endure inside.
However, that didn’t mean the value and necessity of magicians disappeared.
People still lived outside the Gates.
It was the magicians who achieved the development of civilization using the byproducts of Gates.
They found a balance between inside and outside.
Awakened Ones couldn’t ignore magicians, and magicians needed Awakened Ones.
However, the magicians’ anger remained.
If only they could conquer that world inside the Gates!
That’s why they couldn’t simply hand over the Emperor’s match.
They had barely maintained this tug-of-war balance by holding the Emperor’s brother hostage, but now a suitable match appears!
Despite the magicians’ desperate attitude, their leader, Duke Ariel, still wore an indifferent face.
No, rather, her cold gaze seemed to chastise their rash attitude.
Indeed, that was the case.
The Tower Master, who had quelled the magicians’ commotion with just a glance and silence, opened his mouth.
“So, what do you intend to do if we find this Indoja first?”
“W-well…”
“Speak properly.”
The eyes that seemed to pierce through made the subordinates with small livers shrink their shoulders.
Indeed, the Family Head seemed to be in quite a bad mood. But he’s telling us not to disgrace ourselves by acting rashly first!
The magicians felt ashamed.
“B-but the Emperor hasn’t found that Indoja yet, so isn’t that why it’s been quiet until now?”
The youngest magician, who cautiously voiced his opinion,n nearly lost his breath at the charismatic gaze of the Family Head, who was clearly looking at him.
Gasp, the Tower Master is looking at me! The magician was elated.
“If he had found them early, he would have already shown them off to everyone. So the Emperor might reach out to the group that can find people best in the world…”
The Family Head’s eyes narrowed more and more, looking just like a predator eyeing its prey.
“Us magicians! This means the Emperor will have to bow his head and expose his weakness to the Family Head!”
The magicians who swallowed their respect for the Tower Master, who looked especially white today, were triumphant as they waited for that moment.
Ariel, who was receiving those adoring gazes, felt her heart pounding with such intensity it seemed ready to burst.
***
I’m doomed.
Already several days.
I had calculated that this wouldn’t pass quietly, but all humans were looking for me.
And by now, the Emperor’s condition, having received no guiding at all, would be at its worst.
‘What should I do about this?’
I absolutely must not be discovered by either the magicians around me or the Emperor’s people.
The difficulty of the quest was increasing.
About an hour later.
“Family Head!”
Suddenly, the door burst open and my assistant rushed in with an urgent expression.
What now? I’m going to have a heart attack!
“Family Head! A letter has arrived from the imperial palace. That is, the Emperor…”
My assistant, a magician with not a shred of loyalty to the Emperor, held something out to me.
What is this?
Raising my eyebrows and looking at him expectantly for an answer, he said while sweating profusely:
“The Emperor has invited the Family Head to the audience chamber in secret.”
Ah, so it’s finally come.
I thought I could hear it from somewhere.
The sound of my heart stopping.
***
“I didn’t know my swords were this incompetent.”
The displeased voice sounded quite cold even to his own ears.
The Awakened Ones who had been more excited about their lord’s match than their own affairs and had been fiercely searching around soon declared defeat.
It was nowhere to be found.
Any trace of the unkind match that had appeared like a mirage that night calmed Kaisis and left.
It was also a moment of defeat for the Emperor, who had always been confident in hunting.
“We apologize, Your Majesty.”
“We thoroughly searched the palace inside and out, not letting even an ant escape. But there was no Indoja who touched Your Majesty anywhere.”
A sharp sound rang from the chair’s armrest.
“But to be in the palace corridor where Your Majesty was at that time and place, it must have been either a noble who attended the banquet or someone who worked in the imperial palace.”
They had checked all the Indojas among them.
Then there was only one possibility left.
“Perhaps, among the magicians…”
There might be the person they’re looking for.
The Emperor’s subordinate, who spoke those word,s looked on the verge of fainting, his face deathly pale.
An eerie silence flowed.
The relationship between magicians and Awakened Ones was so terrible that it wouldn’t be strange if they stabbed each other in the heart while smiling.
And now, the Emperor’s match might be among such magicians.
The knights’ faces turned white.
Isn’t this no different from entrusting one’s life to an enemy general!
Among them, the Emperor’s knight commander spoke with a resolute expression.
“Just give the order, Your Majesty. Any magician, once they become Your Majesty’s match, will have to devote everything to fulfill their role!”
“So. Would you do that even if it were the Tower Master?”
“…P-please don’t make such a terrible assumption, Your Majesty! Even as a joke, it makes my flesh tremble!”
“Ha.”
Kaisis sneered.
One of the magicians.
If such a thing happened, the empire would be split in two.
As much as he hated to admit it, one of the reasons the current stability and peace of the imperial palace was maintained was also partly due to Duke Ariel’s role in maintaining a precarious balance.
If those two were to split, internal strife would naturally occur.
Just then, the awaited presence was felt.
“Your Majesty, Duke Ariel has arrived.”
His enemy was outside.
Perhaps already fully aware of what he was looking for.
Is this giving the reins to the enemy’s hands, or could it be an unexpected solution?
He quietly decided.
“Everyone withdraw, and let the Duke enter.”
Perhaps his political opponent already knew and was hiding many things.
If so, he would expose everything and use it.
A chilling intent flowed through the previously languid blue eyes.
