Chapter 4: 3

Eternal sleep. Sonidor heard that it usually occurred as an aftereffect of an accident, such as a drug addiction or suffering a major blow to the head. She opened her mouth slowly, searching her memory. 

“Ah… I’ve heard of people showing symptoms like that.” 

“Yes. The doctor said he was in a coma.” 

‘I’ve never helped anyone like that before.’ Sonidor sipped her tea and thought.

But if that was the case, there wouldn’t be any risk of retaliation later, and Sonidor thought she would be able to draw up a hefty price. It seemed like the client had a lot of money, so maybe he’d call on her help dozens of times.

The tempting prospect of money made Sonidor waver greatly.

“If he was directly diagnosed by the doctor, did you also hear the cause of his collapse?” 

“Why do you need to know that?” 

“If it was traumatic, my intervention wouldn’t have much effect.” 

“Then it’s fine. Because one day, he suddenly fell asleep and never woke up.” 

If that was the case, this must have been Sonidor’s domain. 

At the man’s words, Sonidor pondered for a moment. If he collapsed for no reason, there must have been something he was shocked by or some sort of dream he didn’t want to wake up from. Then, it was just a matter of connecting the consciousness of the patient who had collapsed with her own, infiltrating their dream, and instilling hope. But she couldn’t guarantee the odds of success, either. There must be a reason why he never woke up. ‘It might not be easy trying to wake him – it could take months or even years’, Sonidor thought.

“Hmm, that’ll be difficult.” 

“I have heard of your reputation. I heard that you also cured Countess Vizutier’s insomnia. Since you can cure diseases that prevent sleep, wouldn’t it be possible to wake someone up from eternal sleep?” 

‘When did that become a rumour….’. She rubbed the back of her neck, her cheeks blushing in embarrassment. 

“I will pay any amount you ask for.” 

“I will work hard… ugh!” 

“There is no guarantee of success. Are you okay with that though?,” Terry asked suspiciously, covering Sonidor’s light mouth.

“That does not matter.” 

‘Look! He said it doesn’t matter!’. Sonidor removed Terry’s hand and rolled her eyes. 

“You are our last hope. I’ll grasp at straws if I have too.” 

Even if he had low expectations, Sonidor’s ability level was not that bad for her to be his last remaining hope.

‘Still, I’m confident that I’ll do well, rather than be like the last straw.’ Sonidor sipped her tea with a sullen face when her ability was underestimated. 

“And since the situation has come to this, I will use the straws until the moment they are worn out and tattered, and eventually torn to shreds.”

Sonidor almost spurted tea at the man’s words. 

‘Wasn’t I the last hope left?’

‘But what did I just hear? That if I don’t work properly, you’ll use me until I collapse and die from overworking? Then, does that mean that the money he will give me is the price of my life?‘

‘This crazy…‘

Terry patted her on the back as she coughed violently.

Seemingly satisfied with Sonidor’s reaction, the man took off his hood, which he had been wearing all this time. Then, she saw a middle-aged man who looked familiar, smiling with his eyes narrowed. It was the gaze of a hawk looking for prey, and it sent chills down her spine. 

Sonidor and Terry held their breath at the same time, their bodies stiffening. The man’s face wasn’t exactly familiar, but his silhouette somehow was. She’d seen, many times, a man with slightly faded blonde hair with a perfect updo that had not a strand out of place, a much more refined appearance than others his age, and chillingly blue eyes that were slightly terrifying. Where did she see it? Maybe on the day of the founding day, the day of the harvest festival, or the day of the martial arts competition, where he sat on a throne at a distance. 

The Emperor put down his teacup and said, 

“I want you to wake up my son, the Crown Prince.”

‘Wow, the Emperor is here. Really? His Majesty the real Emperor?’ 

Sonidor couldn’t believe it and kept glancing at the weather outside the window. It couldn’t have been her dream, since she was in her own office in the first place. She wanted to cover her eyes and say, ‘I can’t see anything!’ For a short moment, she pondered. Why did His Majesty come to such a shabby place by himself? Rumours spread that he killed all but the mild- tempered crown prince because he couldn’t trust his wife and children.

Sonidor was muttering to herself, knowing that she would have nothing to say in her defence even if she was immediately dragged away for contempt of the Emperor and put to death.

“Hmm… ” 

“I-I didn’t say anything!” 

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“It’s the first time I’ve ever tasted tea with such a subtle taste.” 

The Emperor sipped the tea while crinkling his brow as if it was strange. 

‘Terry, did you spit in the tea like you did to me that one time?‘

When Sonidor turned around and gave him a suspicious look, he shook his head wildly as if he was crazy. 

Tea with a subtle taste was right. An astringent yet sweet, sweet yet bitter and bitter yet sour taste. It was a cheap tea that had tea leaves of all kinds. It was priced cheaply, and bought in bulk. Sonidor wasn’t the type to enjoy tea time talking about the scent of tea, like the aristocrats. Furthermore, there was no way that kind of cheap tea would suit the tastes of a member of the Imperial family. However, the Emperor was steadily drinking the tea, as if he liked it. 

“Can you do it?” 

The emperor asked again. Since he had already revealed himself, if she didn’t accept his request, her neck and body would be completely separated in two and roll on the floor. Sonidor couldn’t see what expression she was making now, but she could guess. Her face was probably pale with fright. 

He only had one son. Sonidor’s hand holding the teacup began to tremble. Tea brewed from cheap tea leaves. ‘Is this my last meal in this world?‘ Her throat was parched, so she drank the tea in one gulp and set it down on her plate again with her trembling hands. The sound of rattling was loud. 

“I can’t believe His Highness, the Crown Prince, has fallen into a coma.” 

‘When did His Highness the Crown Prince fall into a coma?! It’s my first time hearing about this!‘

“Perhaps the curse of the Descencian tribesmen is starting again.” 

The emperor raised the corners of his mouth in a threatening manner, referring to an incident from 500 years ago. 

It wasn’t that the artisans were despised by the people of the empire for no reason. As to why they were resentful – this had all started 500 years ago, when the Emperor invaded the island of the Descencians. At that time, the emperor of the Arche Empire, Lucan V, learned that the southernmost island of the continent was a landfill for mana. And when he found out, he gathered all the wizards of the empire and invaded the island. 

They found mana that was in the best condition, and used it to their advantage to use their magic and slaughter the natives. The dense forests were completely destroyed and burned by falling meteorites, and trees rotted or crumbled into powder. The blood of the natives stained the ground red and their desperate screams floated in the air. The head sorcerer of the Descencian tribe gazed at the island that looked as if it were hell itself, and cursed the Imperial family with a murderous voice. 

‘Your descendants will be born but will not be blessed by the heavens, and when they die, they will not be embraced by the land and will instead wander the world for the rest of eternity.‘

King Lucan V saw it as their last resort and dismissed her words, but the empire was soon thrown into chaos. All of the newly born members of the royal family in the Imperial family were born with weak bodies, and on the day they became adults, they fell asleep and would not wake up. This continued until years passed and they became old, and until the day their breath stopped.

In the end, the Imperial family of the Arche Empire could no longer expect to see descendants, and their line was soon cut off. Inevitably, from then on, once a year, the nobility took turns selecting an emperor by a recommendation system, but the people who worshiped the previous Emperor had many complaints. Those who had taken for granted the absolute kingship and the hereditary monarchy for thousands of years rebelled, saying that if there was no royal family, they would rather establish a new one. 

At that time, the most trusted Duke of Pylon had his surname changed to ‘Arche’ and inherited the Ache Empire, whose lineage had continued to this day. The Emperor who currently ruled the kingdom of Arche was also a descendant of the Pylon Dukedom. Even though they are now members of the royal family. 

The emperor was saying that the curse, which was thought to have been completely cut off, might have reappeared now, after 500 years. Sonidor wasn’t stupid enough not to know what that meant. 

“My son has been both physically and mentally weak since he was young. And the day he became an adult, he fell into an eternal sleep and could not be woken up. What do you think, as a Descencian tribesman?” 

She flinched. 

It was also Sonidor’s first time knowing that the prince’s body was weak. Surely this was a top secret? ‘Are you telling me because you’re going to kill me anyway? Every time I am told these things carelessly, I feel like my lifeline is getting shorter and shorter for some reason.’ She began to grow visibly pale the longer the emperor waited for her to speak. 

“I am a stranger to curses…” 

Sonidor thought while trailing out her sentence. Could it be that the curse had started again? If this was found out, perhaps the artisans would lose their place in the empire even more. Perhaps, they would end up being used as a sacrifice to calm the people’s grievances. After all, artisans in the Arche Empire were always in a precarious position. 

‘Despite stepping in a landmine, maybe I could escape outside the empire?‘

All of a sudden, the rest of the hooded men who had put the weird client in his place came back into the office. If they were protecting the emperor, then they must have been knights. The Emperor’s escort knights. Then it was clear that it was the ‘Raizel Guards’. It contained only the most talented people in the empire, and each of them were equivalent to one army. 

‘It’s really the Raizel Guards!‘ Terry’s eyes, which had been frightened, sparkled now in a different way. He looked like he was in the mood to get an autograph. Sonidor herself was tired of his obsession with the Raizel Guards that jumped out regardless of the time or place.

‘Stop it, you crazy bastard…‘

“I will ask you one last time. Can you take this request?”

Sonidor interpreted it like this – the emperor had given her two choices. ‘Do you want to die from hanging, or do you want to die from being overworked?’

If she said no, she would of course die, and if she said yes, she could die from overworking – but there was at least a small chance of survival.

Sonidor made an expression as if she had been forced to swallow food she really didn’t want to eat. If there was a client she didn’t like, it would have been easy enough to kick them out, but if she kicked out His Majesty, she would be kicking herself out of this world.

“I can give you a title if you want.”

Giving a title to an artisan was a very unconventional proposal, but she shook her head. She did not want to take such a cumbersome and life-threatening position even if it was offered to her for free.

“Oh, no, that’s fine.”

“Think carefully. Is there anything else you want?”

“Keep my head attached to my neck… ?”

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