After Bitterness Comes Sweetness(3)
"What? The new Saint candidate is from that Eshua family? Are you serious?!"
"No way! I'm a fan! That's one of the top noble houses!"
The Central Eastern Temple of the Holy Empire, Hella.
Unlike usual, the monastery was buzzing with excitement.
The priests, who were supposed to maintain solemnity and discipline, couldn't contain themselves like giddy children.
But honestly, who could blame them?
A being chosen by the gods had appeared. After the Saintess from centuries ago — now, a Saint candidate.
Even if this divine child was only staying here briefly, it was no wonder this rural monastery was in an uproar.
Because of this, the bishop didn't harshly reprimand the priests for their uncharacteristic excitement and minor mistakes.
But this — this was something he simply couldn't accept.
Frrrrshhh!
"Oh my, that's the Imperial Crest…!"
"Your Majesty!"
…Seriously? What the hell was that damn Emperor doing here?
The bishop's brow twitched imperceptibly as he watched the man enter the temple — the Emperor himself, cradling a young boy of about five.
Feigning a respectful smile, the bishop bowed his head deeply.
"To be graced by the Sun of the Empire — it is the highest honor for us humble priests."
The Emperor regarded the old man with mild surprise.
Which wasn't surprising — after all, the Imperial Family and the Papacy were notoriously at odds.
"Never thought I'd see someone from the Papal main branch in a place like this," the Emperor remarked. "To think I'd meet you here, away from the capital."
"Well, it is about the precious Saint candidate. I myself am surprised, Your Majesty. May I ask what brings one so esteemed to such a humble place?"
"Isn't it obvious? This temple was built by me. And besides—"
The Emperor smiled — not warmly, but like someone politely warning a snake to keep its distance.
"This concerns the Saint. I had to come myself. If I left this matter to the Papacy and the Empire's treasure met with some misfortune… well, that would be a disaster. We can't afford to lose another candidate."
"…!"
The bishop scowled internally.
'So he really is obsessed with the Saint…'
Not that it mattered.
The bishop sneered inwardly.
He wasn't here to care for the child.
He was here to bury it.
By order of the Cardinal himself.
— "Isaac Eshua." They say a Saint candidate has appeared from the Eshua family.
— "What? From that Eshua? That's… disastrous. That child will be a huge obstacle to our family's candidate."
— "Measures have already been taken. By the time you arrive, the child should be on the brink of death. Just confirm the body."
That was why he had come — to preside over a funeral.
'By now, that little Eshua brat should've drunk the poison.'
Neither the Imperial Knights nor the Emperor himself would have any idea.
They had no clue that their precious baby had been fed poison — by their own people.
In fact, the very knight who had slipped the poison into the child's food was one of the Imperial Knights — quietly bought out by the Cardinal.
'That's probably why His Eminence chose this place.'
All knights of the Holy Empire had ties to the Papacy. Recruiting one of the Imperial Knights was child's play for the Cardinal.
Granted, the bishop hadn't expected the Emperor himself to personally show up just to see a mere baby — but he was sure the Cardinal had accounted for even that possibility.
There was no way they'd have chosen this place for the assassination otherwise.
This was, after all, a temple personally owned by the Emperor. If anything went wrong here, the Imperial Family would take the blame.
The bishop hadn't even bothered to check the child's face.
There was no need.
That baby was nothing but a hindrance to the Pope's chosen candidate.
'I heard they were feeding him when I arrived… by now the poison should be—'
"Kyaaa! Young Master!"
Just then, a sharp scream echoed from within the temple.
The bishop smiled to himself.
Finally — the signal.
The Emperor's expression hardened at the rare sound of a priest screaming.
"What's going on?"
The bishop turned toward the noise.
"It seems to be over there."
The Emperor quickened his pace.
Following slowly behind with a feigned look of concern, the bishop smiled.
And when they arrived at the room where the baby was…
The bishop was delighted.
The priests were unnaturally clustered around the child — as if every priest in the temple had gathered.
Unless someone had just coughed up blood, this crowd was absurd.
And judging from their deathly pale faces…
"Kyaaah! Our precious Young Master!"
"…"
Kyaaah. Our precious Young Master?
"Oh heavens, even the way he drools green juice is absolutely adorable!"
"…?"
Green… juice? Adorable???
The gathered priests were indeed screaming.
But their faces weren't those of people looking at a corpse.
The bewildered bishop pushed through the crowd to see the child for himself.
And what he saw made him question his own eyes.
"Look! The baby has downed fifteen bottles of this awful green juice!"
"I mean, even the high-ranking priests don't drink this stuff anymore…"
There he was — a baby, surrounded by empty bottles — happily drinking more.
With a look of utter bliss on his tiny face.
Next to him was a Holy Knight — who, upon spotting the bishop, looked inexplicably panicked.
The bishop stared at the baby like he was looking at some kind of monster.
What…?
Why is this thing still alive?
***
'Holy crap. This is insane value for money.'
The Skeleton King's empty eye sockets glinted with a wicked grin as he continued to chug the poisoned green juice.
Excellent.
This was excellent.
If he kept repeating this, he could reach the next level in no time.
His mana reserves were skyrocketing.
Well, if there was one thing to be disappointed about…
It was that his limit seemed to be fifteen bottles at once.
The surrounding priests looked like they were about to faint from shock, but the Skeleton King himself merely smacked his lips in regret.
Understandable — this was the taste of food he hadn't experienced in centuries.
'Honestly, I thought I could probably chew through a mountain if I wanted to.'
Sure, the bottles were baby-sized, so that played a part…
But even so, he was fully aware that this was a quantity of food that would send a normal adult straight to the infirmary.
Not that his stomach was anywhere near normal.
'Maybe this too is thanks to that ⸢Survival⸥ Origin blessing.'
He'd been lucky to obtain the Origin blessing — but as a skeleton, he'd barely been able to use its power.
After all, what meaning did "survival" have for something already dead?
In some ways, it was ironic. Contradictory, even.
It had been a miracle he could use the power at all.
But now, things were different.
In this living body — unlike before — he could wield the full potential of ⸢Survival⸥ Origin… No, perhaps even beyond 100%.
Eating, for example.
His expanded stomach. His ability to absorb mana from food.
All of it was surely the result of the Origin blessing unleashing its true power.
And even then — this might just be a fraction of its full capability.
'It was impressive enough when I couldn't use it properly… But if I can use its original power now, I can't even begin to imagine its true scale.'
Thinking about it… Were those damned gods intentionally avoiding reincarnating him as a human just so he couldn't access this strength?
Wouldn't put it past them.
Although, unexpectedly, the priests' reactions were…
"Kyaa! The baby is just too beautiful! He's going to break so many noble ladies' hearts when he grows up!"
"Did he take after the Duke? Or maybe his mother?"
"…"
As the priests fussed over him, the Skeleton King twitched an eyebrow and silently drank from his bottle.
"He's easily the best-looking among the candidates for Saint!"
"Don't you think he'll grow up to be absolutely stunning?"
…It was probably fortunate they couldn't sense his mana — otherwise, they'd know he was seriously considering incinerating them on the spot.
What the hell are they saying to a baby?
But whatever.
Later, when the priests took him over to clean his face and brought him before a mirror — the Skeleton King almost burst a vein.
'Damn it. Even my face was born with a silver spoon in its mouth!'
He understood immediately.
This was not a face destined for hardship.
Sure, his appearance back when he was Kim Isaac wasn't bad — but this? This was on a whole different level.
'So that whole "born different" thing actually exists, huh.'
Just what kind of monsters were his ancestors?
Honestly, he'd thought all babies looked more or less the same…
But more than anything else —
'Platinum blonde?'
In the Holy Empire, even golden hair was rare enough to warrant reverence.
The brighter the gold, the more one was treated like a noble or divine being.
And platinum blonde? That was on a whole other level.
It probably had ties to the Empire's founding emperor or some divine lineage.
And yet — this wasn't just gold hair.
It was so bright, it looked like someone had sprinkled ivory powder over pure white silk.
"Oh my… The more I look at the baby, the more he reminds me of the First Generation Saints."
"You're right. He might even surpass the current Pope someday…"
"Shh!"
"In any case — I just can't wait to see how he grows up."
The Skeleton King raised a brow and kept drinking from his bottle.
'So that's why these fake nannies have been fawning over me so much.'
'It wasn't that they couldn't kill me because they were holy knights… It's that they couldn't kill me because I'm too cute?'
But amidst the crowd gushing over him, there was one person looking at him like he was a monster.
'…Who's that old bastard?'
An old man.
Judging by his white robes, he wasn't a regular priest — he was likely high-ranking clergy.
A bishop, maybe?
But why was a bishop glaring at him like that — pale-faced, trembling with disgust?
'Ah… Was drinking fifteen bottles a bit too much?'
Even he had to admit — it wasn't exactly baby-like behavior.
'Right. I should act more like a baby.'
In an effort to lower the bishop's guard, the Skeleton King decided to try smiling cutely.
Granted, he hadn't used his facial muscles in centuries, so he wasn't sure how well this would go…
But when he forced his lips into what he hoped was an adorable grin — the corner of his mouth twisted up in an eerie, almost skeletal leer.
Far from being reassured, the bishop flinched violently and took a step back.
The Skeleton King furrowed his brow.
…Huh. Is my smile really that bad?
But regardless of what he thought, the bishop was now staring at him with utter disbelief.
'What the hell… this kid…'
A smile?
After drinking fifteen bottles of poison — he's smiling??
The knight bribed by the Cardinal had added poison to every single bottle the Skeleton King drank.
Apparently, since the baby showed no reaction no matter how much poison was added, the knight had kept increasing the dosage — to the point where the final bottle had ten times the amount of deadly toxin.
And now?
This baby is smiling?
At a time when he should be writhing in agony, vomiting blood, and dying a miserable death… he's laughing even harder?
The bishop felt like he was going insane at the sight of that smile — a smile so twisted, so devilish, it was almost demonic.
What in the world is this thing?
He had thought his mission was simple — confirm the corpse and return. Clearly, it was not going to be that easy.
The bishop glanced at the holy knight he had bribed, but the knight shook his head subtly, signaling that there was no poison left.
Watching this, the Skull King gave a sly, foxlike grin — as if he had figured something out.
Oh… could it be that?
There was another kind of deadly poison besides the holy toxin they'd laced the food with.
But it was so weak — practically irrelevant — that he hadn't even bothered to consider it. Still, he had eaten it like a snack without hesitation.
Could they have used that poison?
And just then—
"So the final Saint Candidate has quite a unique hair color, I see."
"!"
For some reason, the Emperor was watching the Skull King's hair with a pleased expression.
The Skull King squinted, wondering who this ridiculously regal, annoying bastard was — only for his expression to shift immediately.
"Your Majesty!"
"The clergy of the Empire bow before the sun of the Holy Empire."
The priests hastily bowed in shock.
But no one was more shocked than the Skull King.
What? Your Majesty?
If it's the Emperor of the Holy Empire… then one of the three Great Overlords of the human faction?
The fact that the Emperor himself had appeared here was astonishing enough — but that wasn't the only reason the Skull King was rattled.
Boom! Boom!
His mana core was ringing — like a drum being pounded.
It was the response of his engraved Origin.
And he couldn't help but find it fascinating.
If this is reacting… it means that guy holds enough value to be directly tied to my survival.
His Origin didn't just help him avoid death — depending on the situation, it could even bring him fortune.
In his skeleton days, it rarely triggered — something he had always regretted.
But now it was reacting positively to the Emperor?
Well… of course it was.
An Emperor of that caliber is basically the strongest… no, no — the most excellent person on the continent!
Granted, the detection ability was so broad that he couldn't tell if it was the Emperor himself, something the Emperor possessed, or the Imperial family's background in general.
But one thing was certain.
Cash cow.
His eyes, still tainted with the instincts of a destitute skeleton and a Demon King, changed instantly.
A figure of that level appearing?
It wasn't just about being on good terms — he had to secure this connection no matter what.
Soon, the Emperor looked at the Skull King and spoke.
"Most of all, I'm glad to see you looking healthy. When do you think Esua will come to retrieve you?"
"I've sent word. They should be on their way."
"Good. Since you're of Esua bloodline, treat him with utmost care and return him to his family."
The Emperor, satisfied after confirming the child's face, turned to leave.
The Skull King clicked his tongue inwardly.
Ah, my Origin is reacting… it'd be such a waste to just let him go. But in this situation, I can't even speak — there's no way to catch his attention.
But then — the bishop bit his lip.
If that brat returns to the Esua family, everything will be over.
Worse, this could bring the Imperial Family and Esua closer together.
There was only one thing he could say.
"Your Majesty. That child should not be sent to his family — but rather to the Inquisition first."
"!"
The Emperor, about to leave, stopped in his tracks.
The priests stirred in surprise, the knights looked at the bishop with alarm.
"Depending on the circumstances, he may even need to be disposed of here. Please do not grow attached."
Even the Imperial Knights who had escorted the Skull King here were flustered and protested.
"Dispose of him? Why would you say that about the young lord!"
The Emperor frowned slightly, displeased.
Instead of backing down, the bishop smirked.
"You need not worry about that matter, Your Majesty. The next Saint has already been confirmed — and this child is certainly not it."
"!"
"We treated and interrogated the kidnappers who had taken him. They claimed the child used magic.
He may even be a demon's offspring — we cannot simply let that go unchecked."
His eyes clearly said: This child must be eliminated.
The knights' expressions froze.
And in the midst of all this — the only one laughing like they were having fun…
Was the very infant at the center of the storm.
Oh? Look at this little brat…
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