The Prophecy of Ruin and the Shimmering Jade

The Empire stood as the sole superpower, but it was surrounded by a considerable number of neighboring lands. Between three or four large nations and various small island territories, minor states, and principalities, there were twelve in total.

And then, there were organizations that were not nations at all.

‘The Dragon Priestesses.’

Among the crowd waiting for their turn, I spotted flashes of vivid, primary-colored fabric. The bright red and blue hems of their garments were striking enough to bring a macaw to mind.

After receiving greetings from several others, it was finally the turn of the women in red who had been catching my eye. There was an elderly woman, a middle-aged woman, and two younger women.

“We offer our greetings to the Emperor and Empress of the Empire, and to the Crown Prince.”

The middle-aged woman stepped forward and spoke, clasping her hands in front of her in a deep, respectful gesture. As she joined her hands, her fluttering sleeves bunched together; the other women followed suit, bowing their heads and bending their knees slightly. For them, it was an exceptionally polite greeting.

The Priestesses took immense pride in serving the Dragons. Even when facing the Imperial family—the descendants of God—they rarely bowed their waists. Their reasoning was that since they served living Dragons as gods, they could not treat a bloodline of God that had been diluted through generations with the same reverence they showed the Dragons.

Consequently, the Priestesses and the Imperial family didn’t usually get along.

‘They’re being more formal than I expected.’

Well, I didn’t think they’d come to a festival specifically to cause a scene, but it was true that I’d felt a lingering sense of unease. Seeing their polite conduct, the Emperor accepted the greeting, seemingly having no desire to pick a fight on such a day.

“The Empire welcomes our guests from the Great Forest.”

“Thank you. I am Mayril, and this is Elder Ita.”

The woman at the front introduced herself and the elderly woman beside her. The two younger women in the back were not introduced; I assumed they were attendants brought along to assist the frail Elder.

After the greeting, the Elder spoke to the Emperor in their native tongue. Mayril, the middle-aged woman, looked quite troubled as she listened. Whether the Elder noticed her distress or not, she continued to speak at length.

A flicker of interest crossed the Emperor’s face. It was understandable; the Elder was likely the first person to ever speak so freely and boldly in his presence in a language he didn’t understand, without a hint of hesitation.

After letting the Elder speak for a long while, the Emperor turned to Mayril as the old woman finished.

“Well? What is the Elder saying?”

“That is…”

Caught in the Emperor’s gaze, Mayril looked anxious. She scanned his face, uncertain if she should speak, but the person who had piqued the Emperor’s curiosity remained dignified, indifferent to Mayril’s inner turmoil.

Lacking the courage to lie to the Emperor, Mayril bowed her head and opened her lips.

“To be honest, the reason we have come to the Empire is because of a prophecy.”

At those words, my heart felt like it dropped into my stomach. I reflexively looked down at my feet and clenched my fists. I had a premonition that this prophecy was related to me.

Whether it concerned my life—or Chase’s.

“In the Great Forest, we serve the White Dragon.”

Every dragon is wise, but it is said they do not all possess the same abilities; each draconic race has different powers. The White Dragon served by these priestesses governed Time, and occasionally delivered prophecies concerning the future. At Mayril’s words, the room began to buzz with whispers.

There was only one reason for them to hesitate to deliver a prophecy on such an auspicious day.

“The prophecy the White Dragon spoke is this.”

As she continued, the music cut off. Everyone fell into a heavy silence, waiting for the words to fall from her lips.

“It is said that the one who will destroy the world is here.”

Mayril squeezed her eyes shut, as if she herself found the weight of her words hard to bear. I forgot to breathe, clutching the armrests of my chair so hard my body began to tremble.

‘Why?’

It made no sense for such a massive prophecy to be dropped now. Because the original novel was written from Chase’s perspective, there were gaps in the narrative, but I could usually infer what happened during those times.

In the original work, the Priestesses didn’t mention any prophecy; they simply enjoyed the Holy Festival and happened to meet Chase, Dhalia’s son. Recognizing him, a priestess revealed Dhalia’s sin, exposing to the world that he was not of the Emperor’s seed.

Chase faced death because of it, but the Crown Prince—believing that he couldn’t simply kill someone who was considered a disgrace to the Imperial family—spared him.

‘After that, a useless Chase was supposed to be sent down to the Count of Taranto’s estate.’

But if the “One Who Will Destroy the World” was added to that story, the problem became catastrophic.

Chase might survive not being a royal, but if he were the harbinger of the apocalypse, he would have no choice but to die. In the former case, his only enemy would be the Emperor; in the latter, the entire world would hunt him.

‘Besides, this world is full of… fanatics.’

With the proof of God’s existence right before their eyes, many were blindly devoted to the divine and anything related to it. Would such people ever leave Chase alone?

Merely keeping Chase in the Crown Prince’s palace for the duration of the festival wouldn’t be enough.

‘…During the Holy Festival, I can’t let so much as a hair on Chase’s head be seen.’

I would have to keep the windows shut and the curtains drawn tight to hide him. Since the important days of the festival were only the Ritual Day, the first Ball, and the final day—three days in total—I would attend only those and stay holed up in the Crown Prince’s palace for the rest.

If I hid him that thoroughly, surely no one would find out? Of course, the prophecy might not even refer to Chase.

But rather than living in a fool’s paradise only to be blindsided, it was better to assume the worst-case scenario. It was better than standing by helplessly later, unable to do anything.

‘Then there’s Chase’s biological father.’

He was truly a man capable of destroying the world; if anything happened to Chase, it was obvious where his arrow would be aimed. I masked my agitation and scanned the room. No one seemed to notice I knew something. Everyone was too busy whispering frantically to their companions about the shocking revelation.

The Emperor also appeared shaken, his face paler than usual, but he remained silent and deep in thought, determined not to lose his dignity. He acted lofty as a descendant of God, but in moments like this, he looked more human than divine.

“So, who is it?”

“That… we do not know.”

“What?”

“The White Dragon consumed so much power delivering this message that He fell into a deep slumber immediately. Because of that, we did not receive a full explanation. However…”

Mayril glanced at the Elder and spoke cautiously. Her eyes were fixed on the donut-shaped jade stone hanging from the Elder’s necklace.

“He gave us an artifact to identify the person. If the person stands before this necklace and it glows, then that person is the one from the prophecy.”

“Th-Then, does that mean this place is safe for now?”

“Since the necklace is not glowing…”

Sighs of relief and the sound of tension diffusing filled the room.

I glared at that necklace. It might not be glowing now, but that thing was essentially the most dangerous object in existence for Chase and me. In other words, if that thing didn’t exist, we would be safe, wouldn’t we?

‘I’ll have to find an opportunity to destroy it.’

If there were multiple copies, they likely would have handed one over to the Empire to help with the search. Since they hadn’t, it seemed there was no replacement. If it was damaged or broken, they’d probably have to go all the way back to the Great Forest to get another from that dragon—and since the dragon was asleep, getting a new one would be virtually impossible.

‘In the meantime, the crowds will have dispersed.’

Right now, the Empire was at its peak population due to the festival. Not just nobles, but commoners traveled from all over to see the divine light emanating from the temple on the mountainside.

As long as I kept Chase well-hidden, there shouldn’t be a problem with proximity.

“When you say ‘here,’ do you mean the Imperial Palace or the Capital? Surely you don’t mean the entire Empire?”

“We are not sure of that either.”

“Then, is the person a woman or a man?”

“…That, as well…”

“Then what exactly DO you know?!”

The Emperor flared up in anger. He was already furious that they had come to ruin a momentous day for the Empire with a grim prophecy, and now it turned out they knew nothing concrete.

He had barked out in a fit of temper, but realizing his lapse, the Emperor bit his lip and smoothed his expression.

“My apologies. So, what is your plan? Surely you don’t intend to wander around and inspect everyone.”

The Emperor scanned the room with cold eyes. Seeing several people flinch under his gaze, the Emperor curled his lip into a smirk.

“With the sheer number of people currently gathered in the Capital, you can’t truly mean that. You wouldn’t have come here without a plan, expecting us to block the Capital gates until you find the culprit. Right?”

At the Emperor’s mocking tone, Mayril bowed her head low. They were indeed the Priestesses of the Great Forest, but whether the prophecy was even true was uncertain; the Emperor couldn’t simply believe it blindly and seal the Capital until the culprit was found.

He was making a preemptive strike, framing it as an impossible request before they could even ask.