Chapter 148: Becoming an Imperial Prisoner

Julian’s mind went blank at that moment. What is going on right now? He tried to push the Emperor off, but his strength was far too inferior, and the Emperor’s grip on him was firm, until he bit Julian’s lips.

The copper tang of blood filled Julian’s mouth as Aurelian’s teeth sank into his lip—a sharp, stinging reminder that this wasn’t a dream, but a violation. Julian’s hands began to tremble, dread filling him as his own blood slowly flowed down from his lips.

"Your Majesty!" Kaelen yelled, his voice echoing from behind the glass, followed by the screech of steel against steel as the Imperial guards crossed their halberds to block the doorway.

The Solvar, once a place of beauty, felt like a tomb. Liora had covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes brimming with a confused, terrifying realization, while Cassian had stood up so abruptly his chair clattered to the floor.

It was Lucius who broke the spell.

The boy, usually so silent and observant, had lunged forward. His small fists began to pound against the Emperor’s thigh—desperate, frantic thumps that carried the weight of a child trying to protect the only person who made him feel heard. He couldn’t scream, but the silent, jagged breaths hitching in his chest were louder than any cry. His boater fell off, but he didn’t stop.

Aurelian pulled back, his lips stained with a smear of Julian’s blood. He didn’t look at Julian; he looked down at the boy at his feet.

The Emperor’s expression shifted, the manic rage flickering into a complicated, painful shadow. Looking at Lucius was like looking at Alaric himself—the same stubborn chin, the same protective fire. Even in miniature, that bloodline was defying him.

"Always the same," Aurelian whispered, his voice hollow as he finally released his grip on Julian’s hair. "Even the smallest of you chooses him over me."

Julian stumbled back, his legs finally giving out, and he collapsed onto the marble floor, his chest heaving as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, staring at the red smudge on his skin.

This... this couldn’t be happening. No, right? It’s all a dream.

But the [Mental Stability] window that was pulsing a violent purple in his vision, the numbers plummeting toward a dangerous threshold, grounded him in reality. It was real. It was no dream.

> [Stability: 42% and falling...]

> [Warning: Sensory Corruption Imminent]

Lucius scrambled to Julian’s side, throwing his small arms around Julian’s neck, acting as a human shield between the tutor and the Emperor.

Aurelian smoothed his coat, his face returning to a mask of cold, Imperial indifference as if the assault had never happened. He looked at Rowan, who was standing frozen by the door, his face ashen with disbelief. What had the emperor just done? 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

The Empress was still in her sick bed, and he was kissing another, and a man on top of it, in the Solvar. If word gets out....

"The lesson is canceled," the Emperor announced, his voice devoid of the warmth he usually gave Lucius. "The Master is clearly... Unwell. Aide, see to it that they are escorted to the Jade Wing," he said, and Julian’s eyes widened. What? Why the Jade Wing? "Make sure he is looked after and that he does not needlessly move about."

This... this was no different from a house arrest, and in the palace grounds too. The Emperor planned to keep Julian under custody in the guise that he was worried for his health and didn’t want him to faint on the way, just so he could see how the Duke would react.

"I am well, Your Majesty," Julian quickly defended, and Aurelian narrowed his eyes.

The air in the Solvar thickened, the once-sweet scent of blooming jasmine now smelling of Julain’s blood.

Julian’s heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird. He could feel the cold marble through his trousers, but it was the Emperor’s gaze that truly froze his marrow as he spoke.

"Are you?" Aurelian asked, his voice deepening as he watched the blood on Julian’s lip with an unsettled intensity. "Well, fine. You can go, Master Astrea."

This made Julian feel a little relieved. He didn’t want to be near the Emperor, even by a hundred miles.

"Thank—"

"But be sure to watch your head on your way." Aurelian interrupted before he could send his thanks, and Julian flinched.

The silence that followed was heavy with unspoken violence. The relief that Julian had felt a moment ago folded into a sick, oily dread.

"What... what does that mean, Your Majesty?" Julian whispered, his voice cracking.

Aurelian looked down at him, an eerie smile playing on his blood-stained lips. "Who knows? You have a lot of enemies, don’t you, Master Astrea? Some say you’re a traitor, others say you’re a thief of hearts that don’t belong to you."

The first one, Julian could believe since he was in a silent war with his family, but the second?

"Who knows when one of them might plan to assassinate you again? You’d best watch out on your way back. The roads between here and the Duke’s manor are... notoriously treacherous."

The threat was as clear as the glass walls surrounding them. If Julian stepped foot outside the Palace gates now, he wouldn’t make it to the first crossroads.

The Emperor wasn’t letting him go; he was giving him a choice between a cage in the Jade Wing or a grave in the streets.

Julian’s vision blurred as a violent surge of purple light erupted in his mind. The System quest window, which had been silent for so long, suddenly screamed into existence with a chime that felt like a needle to the brain.

> [EMERGENCY QUEST TRIGGERED!]

> [Quest Title: The Golden Cage]

> [Objective: Survive the Emperor’s malice until the Masquerade Ball (7 Days).]

> [Context: Emperor Aurelian’s favorability has plummeted to -10%. He perceives you as a ’thief’ and a ’stain on his land.’ He intends to break you mentally and physically.]

> [Penalty for Failure: Death / Permanent Cognitive Desynchronization.]

> [Reward: ???]

It was as if even the system wasn’t sure Julian would survive the Emperor, so the reward was not calculated yet. The difficulty had skyrocketed due to his circumstances.

Julian trembled, a single bead of cold sweat rolling down his chin and hitting the marble with a silent plip. He was trapped. If he stayed, he was at Aurelian’s mercy. If he left, he was a dead man.

He had to live... He looked at Lucius, clutching him... He couldn’t let Lucius be trapped in such a dangerous situation, such as an ambush on their way back.

He gulped down his fears and finally spoke.

"Thank you for your... consideration, Your Majesty," Julian said, his forehead touching the cool floor in a deep, submissive bow. Every fiber of his being screamed to run, but his mind—the cold, calculating part of Teacher Kim—knew this was the only way to stay alive. There was no way to run. "We shall... stay in the Palace for the meantime. My health is indeed... failing."

"A wise choice," Aurelian mused. He turned his attention to the glass doors, where Kaelen was still straining against the guards, his hand white-knuckled on his sword hilt.

"Rowan," the Emperor commanded, not sparing the knight a second glance. "Pass on my message to the Duke’s men that the Master has suffered a relapse of his ’fever.’ He shall be resting in the Jade Wing under my personal care until further notice. They are to return to their Lord and deliver the news."

"Your Majesty!" Kaelen’s voice cracked through the glass, raw with fury. "The Duke’s orders were—"

"The Duke’s orders end where my shadow begins, Sir Knight," Aurelian snapped, his golden eyes flashing with a terrifying, absolute authority. "If you value your head—and the rest of your platoon’s—you will unhand that hilt. Grabbing your sword in the presence of the Emperor is no different from attempting to harm the royal bloodline. You will also be putting your Lord, my dear brother, in a questionable situation, so just do as you’re told."

Kaelen knew this, but he had sworn on his honor.

Julian looked at Sir Kaelen and then nodded.

Then, he looked down at Lucius, who was still clinging to his neck. The boy was shaking, his small face buried in Julian’s shoulder.

"It’s okay, Lucius," Julian whispered, though he knew it was a lie. "We’re just... staying for a little while."

As Rowan stepped forward to lead them away, Julian caught a glimpse of his reflection in the glass and then looked away, not catching the way his reflection grinned back at him in an absolutely menacing way.

The walk to the Jade Wing was a suffocating procession with the Imperial guards marching behind them as if Julian would flee the second he was out of sight.

Julian kept his head low, his chin tucked into the high collar of his coat to hide the throbbing, bloodied mess of his lip. His mind was frantic, trying to reconcile the [Emergency Quest] with the reality of being an Imperial hostage.

As they rounded a corner leading toward the inner gardens, the group came to an abrupt halt.

Standing in the center of the marble walkway was Princess Seraphina Viremount.