Chapter 203: And trigger a civil war over a tutor?

The whispers in the hall were no longer mere gossip; they were a storm.

The mention of the Holy Empire—the theocratic powerhouse that had been at a cold-war standstill with the Viremount Empire for decades—sent a chill through the room that surpassed the Duke’s icy aura.

"The Holy Empire?" Alaric’s voice was low, a dangerous growl that seemed to vibrate the very stone Julian sat upon. "You would invite our enemies into our sanctuary? You would let their ’Purifiers’ lay hands on a citizen of Viremount just to satisfy your paranoia?"

Aurelian stood tall, the sunlight from the high windows catching the gold embroidery of his robes. He looked down at his brother with a cold, detached pity.

"Paranoia, Lucien? My wife is a cold corpse. A thief has stripped my treasury. And a man with no magical training suddenly blinks across a ballroom with the grace of a high sorcerer," Aurelian countered, his voice smooth and unyielding. "If the Sanctum’s healers cannot find the source of the rot, then we must look to those who make a profession of hunting shadows. The Holy Empire, which specializes in seeing demons for demons, will do just fine. If I have to sign a peace treaty in order to get their inquisitors to act, then I shall do so."

He turned his gaze back to Julian, his golden eyes unblinking.

"Four days, Master Astrea. You shall be kept in the High Sanctum’s isolation ward—not as a prisoner, but as a ’guest’ under holy observation. If the Inquisitors from the Holy Empire find your soul clean, you walk free with my personal apology. If not..."

Aurelian didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t need to. The penalty for demonic possession in the Holy Empire was well-known: The Pyre. An execution structure in the guise of purification by fire.1

In any case, it was dangerous for Julian.

"I do not consent to this," Alaric hissed. "I will take Julian to the North now. If you want his soul searched, send your priests to my lands."

"And trigger a civil war over a tutor?" Aurelian challenged, raising a brow. "Look at the faces of the Council, brother. Do you think they will let a potential regicide walk out of these doors because the Duke of the North is ’smitten’?"

Julian looked around the room. The Marquis, the counts, even the lower barony—they were all nodding. The fear of the ’Demon’ was more powerful than their respect for the Duke.

They wanted Julian contained.

"Lucien," Julian whispered, reaching out to touch the fabric of Alaric’s sleeve.

Alaric looked down at him, his expression a mask of agonized fury.

"It’s only four days," Julian said, though his heart was hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. "And you shall be able to see me. So we will not be apart."

Alarix turned his head, his eyes fixed on his brother with a cold, absolute hatred that had already severed their blood bond.

If Aurelian dared to keep them apart even now...

Aurelian narrowed his eyes, his gaze flicking to where Julian’s hand touched Alaric’s sleeve.

"Isolation means exactly that, Lucien. He is to be kept in the High Sanctum’s ward, purged of all worldly distractions until the Inquisitors arrive." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"Don’t even think about it," Alaric hissed, his voice dropping to a tectonic growl. He stepped closer to Julian, his presence a physical shield. "You want to ’monitor’ him? Fine. But I will be in that room. I will eat what he eats and sleep where he sleeps. If you try to bar the door against me, I will take it as an admission that you intend to murder him in the dark."

The two brothers stared each other down—one a Sun reaching its zenith of tyranny, the other a Winter that refused to break.

Aurelian’s jaw tightened. He looked at the Council, then back at the Duke’s glacial glare. He knew Alaric was no longer bluffing; the threat of lost brotherhood was already a reality.

"Very well," Aurelian whispered, the word tasting like poison. "The Duke shall stay. But the ward remains under Sanctum guard."

The trial was immediately dismissed, and Aurelian marched out with his guards. Afterwards, the nobles filed out in a flurry of hushed whispers, leaving Julian sitting in the stone chair.

Julian felt a hollow pit in his stomach. He was thinking about the inquisitors who would come to ’search his soul’. He knew he wasn’t a demon, but he also knew he wasn’t Julian Von Astrea. If the Inquisitors searched for a ’foreign entity,’ would they see Kim Jowoon?

Was there a way to bypass the inspection? Just like he did with the serum?

He waited for the System to chime, for a prompt or a shop item to appear, but the purple screen remained silent.

Maybe it’s not such a big issue if the system is not giving me answers.

Julian thought and decided to go with the flow.

He had wished to check the plot of ’The Chronicles Of Astrea’ after the trial, but the trial had just been prolonged, and he still had another four days from now.

So until then, he was at the mercy of the Sanctum.

Four days. He was going to be confined for four days.

But at least... he looked at Alaric waiting for him, and he got up with a small smile on his lips... he wasn’t alone this time.

The next morning, the Capital woke up in white.

The Empress’s death was officially announced, and the vibrant colors of the Empire were stripped away. Long, white banners were draped from every balcony and watchtower.

The sound of bells tolled every hour, a heavy, rhythmic mourning that seemed to vibrate through the stones of the High Sanctum.

Julian spent the first three days watching from the narrow, arched window of his tower room.

From this height, the city looked like a graveyard of white silk. He watched the grand carriages of foreign royalty and distant nobility roll through the palace gates to pay their respects.

The air was thick with the scent of lilies and incense, a cloying sweetness that made the isolation feel more like a funeral.

Julian felt a pang of genuine sadness for the Empress. She had been a frail, quiet woman, a victim of Aurelian’s cold heart, and plagued with an unknown illness that drained her of her life long before Seraphina’s blade found her.

If he had had the chance to meet her under normal circumstances, maybe he might’ve gotten a quest to actually help her with her illness.

Maybe...

"Don’t stare out there too much," Alaric’s voice broke the silence.

So, its similar to burning Julian on the stake in the name of purifying his soul of the demons clutches. so its like a ’burn the witch’ scenerio