Morning arrived cold and heavy over the imperial capital.

Dark clouds covered the sky, blocking most of the sunlight, making the palace feel dim even during daylight.

Inside the grand imperial court hall, rows of officials stood silently in formal robes.

But unlike ordinary court sessions—

Today’s atmosphere was tense.

Uneasy.

Fear lingered in the air.

Even the ministers looked pale.

At the center of the golden throne platform sat the Emperor.

His expression remained calm and unreadable as always.

Beside the lower steps stood Prince Liang, dressed in dark blue robes, his sharp eyes scanning the officials quietly.

The court session had only just begun when an elderly minister stepped forward trembling slightly.

"Your Majesty..."

His voice echoed through the hall.

"...there have been more reports from the villages."

The Emperor’s gaze sharpened slightly.

"Speak."

The minister swallowed hard.

"People are frightened."

"Entire villages are reporting... unusual activity."

Murmurs spread across the court immediately.

Another official stepped forward quickly.

"In the western province, villagers claim dead livestock began moving again during the night."

"And in the northern region..."

His voice lowered.

"...children disappeared for three nights before returning with no memory of where they went."

Silence spread heavily.

Even experienced ministers looked disturbed.

Prince Liang’s brows slowly furrowed.

Another official added nervously,

"Some villagers claim shadows appear outside windows at night."

"And several people suddenly became violent without reason."

The hall grew colder.

A younger minister spoke shakily,

"The common people are terrified, Your Majesty."

"Many believe evil spirits have cursed the kingdom."

Murmurs spread again.

Some ministers exchanged uneasy glances.

Others lowered their heads, unwilling to speak further.

The Emperor remained silent for several moments.

Then finally—

"We will send additional guards and investigators to the affected villages."

His voice was calm.

Steady.

"The imperial court will not abandon its people."

The ministers bowed immediately.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

But even then—

The fear inside the hall did not disappear.

Because everyone could feel it.

Something strange was truly happening.

Prince Liang slowly looked toward the Emperor.

And for one brief moment—

Their eyes met.

A silent understanding passed between them.

Because both remembered.

The merchant girl suicide.

The strange sleepwalking incidents.

Princess Zhi losing her child.

The Empress nearly dying.

Lady Chen’s strange behavior.

None of it felt normal anymore.

After the court session ended, the ministers slowly began leaving the hall.

Their whispers filled the air.

"Something evil is happening..."

"The heavens are angry..."

"Could this kingdom be cursed?"

Prince Liang walked beside the Emperor as they exited the court hall together.

The cold wind moved through the palace corridors.

For a while, neither spoke.

Then Prince Liang finally broke the silence.

"Your Majesty."

The Emperor glanced at him.

Prince Liang’s voice lowered.

"Do you think this is related?"

The Emperor already knew what he meant.

"The merchant girl suicide."

"The Empress."

"Princess Zhi."

"...Lady Chen’s incident."

The Emperor’s expression darkened slightly.

After a moment, he answered honestly.

"...I don’t know."

Prince Liang looked ahead thoughtfully.

"But all these strange incidents began appearing around the same time."

The Emperor nodded slowly.

"Yes."

Prince Liang’s gaze sharpened.

"And now the villages are affected too."

A heavy silence followed.

The Emperor exhaled slowly.

"The people are still quiet because fear confuses them."

Prince Liang nodded.

"But that won’t last."

His tone became serious.

"If more incidents happen..."

"The common people will panic."

"Then protest."

"Then chaos."

The Emperor stopped walking briefly.

Because he knew Prince Liang was right.

Fear spreads faster than war.

Especially fear of the unknown.

The Emperor looked toward the cloudy sky.

"...I know."

Prince Liang studied him carefully.

"You don’t have a solution yet."

It wasn’t disrespect.

Just truth.

The Emperor answered quietly,

"No."

And that truth weighed heavier than either of them wanted to admit.

Prince Liang folded his arms.

"If this truly involves forbidden things..."

"...then ordinary soldiers won’t solve it."

The Emperor’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Forbidden things.

Black arts.

Dark cultivation.

Things officially erased from history long ago.

Yet now—

Every strange event pointed back toward them.

The Emperor finally spoke again.

"I will continue investigating."

Prince Liang nodded slowly.

Then after a brief silence—

"Be careful."

The Emperor looked at him slightly surprised.

Prince Liang’s expression remained serious.

"If someone inside the palace is involved..."

"...then they are already watching all of us."

The Emperor understood immediately.

And for the first time in a long while—

He felt genuine danger approaching.

Not from armies.

Not from rebellion.

But from something hidden.

Something unseen.

The two parted ways silently.

Prince Liang returned toward his residence.

While the Emperor walked alone through the palace corridors toward the imperial study.

The palace seemed strangely quiet today.

Even the servants looked nervous.

Whispers followed through the halls.

Stories.

Rumors.

Fear.

The Emperor entered his study.

The doors closed heavily behind him.

Immediately he walked toward the hidden shelves at the far side of the room.

Ancient records were stored there.

Most untouched for years.

Dust covered many of the scrolls.

The Emperor lit another candle.

Then began searching.

One scroll.

Then another.

Finally—

He found it.

A dark red scroll sealed with the old imperial mark.

His expression sharpened.

Slowly—

He opened it.

Inside were records from centuries ago.

Records officially banned.

The title alone made the room feel colder.

Forbidden Black Arts and Spirit Manipulation.

The Emperor’s fingers tightened slightly.

As he read further—

His expression gradually darkened.

Soul control.

Spirit feeding.

Blood rituals.

Human sacrifice.

Ghost breeding.

The same phrases appeared again and again throughout the records.

His heartbeat slowed heavily.

Because many descriptions matched the strange events happening now.

People sleepwalking.

Sudden madness.

Abnormal strength.

Spiritual influence.

Even resurrection-like incidents.

The Emperor continued reading deeper into the night.

And the more he read—

The colder his expression became.

Because one thing became painfully clear.

These practices had once nearly destroyed the kingdom.

That was why they were banned.

That was why all knowledge regarding them had been erased.

But now—

Someone had brought them back.

And somewhere within the palace walls—

Darkness was growing silently again.

The imperial study was silent except for the soft crackling of candle flames.

Outside, the palace slept beneath the dark sky.

But inside—

The Emperor remained awake.

Alone.

Ancient scrolls covered the long wooden table before him.

Some were torn with age.

Others carried seals so old that the ink had nearly faded away.

The air itself felt heavy.

Dust and old parchment mixed together with the faint scent of burning incense.

At the center of the table lay the opened scroll titled:

Forbidden Black Arts and Spirit Manipulation.

The Emperor’s eyes slowly moved across the ancient text.

And with every sentence he read—

His expression darkened further.

—

"Spirit feeding allows practitioners to strengthen themselves using fear, resentment, and unstable souls..."

—

"Repeated rituals may influence human consciousness..."

—

"Victims may lose awareness and move against their own will..."

—

"Powerful rituals may temporarily separate soul from body..."

—

The Emperor’s fingers slowly tightened around the edge of the scroll.

His breathing became heavier.

Because now—

Too many things matched.

Too many incidents.

Too many impossible events.

The merchant girl who walked into the river smiling before dying.

The strange suicides reported across villages.

Princess Zhi feeling her body moving against her will before losing her child.

The Empress sleepwalking toward the lake.

The unnatural strength shown by attackers.

The growing paranormal incidents across the kingdom.

And worst of all—

The Empress dying.

Then returning.

The Emperor closed his eyes briefly.

Even now, remembering that moment still made his chest tighten painfully.

The mourning banners.

Her cold hand.

Everyone crying.

While he sat beside her body refusing to believe she was gone.

He still remembered whispering to her—

"Wake up."

And then—

She did.

His eyes slowly opened again.

The candlelight flickered against his face.

"...This is real."

He whispered the words quietly into the empty room.

Not superstition.

Not rumors.

Not fear-driven stories.

Real.

Someone inside his kingdom was using forbidden arts.

The Emperor leaned back slowly against the chair.

For the first time in years—

He felt uncertain.

Not because he lacked authority.

Not because he feared war.

But because the enemy he faced—

Was invisible.

Unknown.

He had no idea who was behind it.

No clear suspect.

No proof.

Only fragments.

Pieces scattered everywhere.

His gaze slowly drifted toward another scroll.

This one older than the others.

The seal of an ancient emperor marked its surface.

Carefully, he opened it.

Inside were records from centuries ago.

Records about the final purge of dark practitioners.

The Emperor began reading silently.

—

"During the reign of Emperor Jian..."

"...black practitioners infiltrated noble families and the palace itself..."

"...many disguised themselves as healers, monks, servants, or advisors..."

"...their goal was influence through fear and soul manipulation..."

—

The Emperor’s eyes narrowed.

Infiltrated noble families.

The palace.

A cold feeling spread slowly through him.

Because if history was repeating—

Then the enemy was not outside the kingdom.

They were already inside.

Watching.

Waiting.

Moving carefully beneath everyone’s eyes.

The Emperor stood slowly and walked toward the open window.

Cold night air brushed against him.

The palace stretched below.

Beautiful.

Silent.

But now—

It no longer felt safe.

Every shadow suddenly felt suspicious.

Every quiet corridor unsettling.

His mind moved rapidly.

Who?

Who could do something like this?

A noble?

A servant?

A healer?

Someone from the palace?

Someone close to him?

His expression hardened slightly.

Then another memory surfaced.

Shin Gu.

The strange healer.

The one the Empress and Duke family suspected.

The woman connected to Lady Chen.

The same woman present during several strange incidents.

The Emperor’s eyes darkened.

"...No."

He immediately stopped himself.

Suspicion alone meant nothing.

And yet—

He couldn’t ignore it anymore.

Especially after reading the records.

Another line from the scroll echoed inside his mind:

—

"Dark practitioners often attach themselves emotionally to powerful individuals and become violently possessive."

—

The Emperor’s fingers tightened slightly.

Possessive.

Obsessive.

Protective.

His thoughts drifted briefly toward Prince Liang.

Then toward Shin Gu again.

He frowned deeply.

Could it really be her?

Or was someone manipulating events from behind the scenes?

He still lacked proof.

And without proof—

He couldn’t move carelessly.

The Emperor returned to the table and continued reading.

Hours passed silently.

The deeper he went into the forbidden records—

The worse the truth became.

There were rituals involving ghosts.

Methods of controlling weakened souls.

Techniques for creating spiritual bonds.

Methods to spread fear across large populations.

And one section—

Made his blood run cold.

—

"Ghost Breeding."

—

The Emperor stared at the title.

Then slowly continued reading.

—

"Practitioners may nurture unstable spirits using resentment and death..."

"...allowing the spirits to grow stronger over time..."

"...the stronger the emotional attachment, the stronger the spirit becomes..."

"...eventually capable of influencing reality itself..."

—

The Emperor immediately remembered the monk’s warning.

Ghost breeding.

The exact same words.

His heartbeat slowed heavily.

Which meant—

The monk knew.

Someone else had already discovered this.

Perhaps even investigated it.

The Emperor suddenly realized something else.

If these arts required resentment, fear, death, and emotional instability—

Then the kingdom’s current chaos was feeding it.

Every frightened villager.

Every strange death.

Every grieving soul.

It all strengthened whoever was behind this.

The Emperor pressed his fingers against his forehead.

A headache slowly formed.

Because now he understood the true danger.

This wasn’t random destruction.

This was preparation.

Someone was building something.

Slowly.

Carefully.

Inside his kingdom.

And he had no idea how far it had already spread.

The candle flames flickered violently for a brief second.

The Emperor looked up sharply.

The room fell strangely cold.

For a moment—

He felt as though someone was watching him.

His eyes narrowed immediately.

"...Who’s there?"

Silence.

Nothing answered.

Only the soft sound of the wind outside.

After several moments, the feeling disappeared.

But the unease remained.

The Emperor slowly sat back down.

Then reached for another scroll.

This one discussed signs of corrupted spiritual influence.

As he read—

His expression slowly shifted again.

Because several listed symptoms matched people inside the palace.

Sudden personality shifts.

Extreme emotional obsession.

Sleepwalking.

Memory gaps.

Violent impulses.

Spirit attraction.

The Emperor’s thoughts immediately moved toward Lady Chen.

Her emotional instability lately.

Her growing obsession with replacing the Empress.

And Shin Gu constantly guiding her.

He looked down at the records again.

"...No..."

But deep down—

His instincts were already warning him.

The palace was no longer simply dangerous politically.

Something darker had rooted itself inside.

And if he acted wrongly—

He could destroy innocent people.

Or allow the real enemy to continue hiding.

The Emperor leaned back heavily.

For the first time since becoming ruler—

He felt trapped.

Because an emperor could command armies.

Punish traitors.

Crush rebellions.

But how was he supposed to fight an enemy he couldn’t even see?

The candles had nearly burned down completely when he finally stopped reading.

Outside—

The first faint light of dawn was beginning to appear.

Yet the Emperor remained motionless.

His eyes cold.

Thoughtful.

Heavy with realization.

Now he was certain.

Everything happening in the kingdom was connected to forbidden black arts.

The villages.

The palace incidents.

The attacks.

The ghosts.

The strange deaths.

All of it.

But one terrifying truth remained—

He still didn’t know who was behind it.

And that uncertainty frightened him more than anything else.