Chapter 70
“…Is Lady Sonnet in Nostrie?”
Marc couldn’t close his mouth. The former saint, Lady Sonnet. He had never dreamed that the saint, who had been disgracefully expelled yet still regarded as one of the empire’s heroes, would be hiding in Nostrie.
Charlotte was just as surprised as Marc. Only now could she understand Cassandra’s prophetic abilities. She was a Manifestor.
From what she had heard from her father—though she didn’t know the details—she was aware that the Agent Empire had only ever produced five such Manifestors. While holy powers were said to be granted by God, the abilities of a Manifestor were considered near-divine. Their identities were top secret, known only to a select few, including the high priest.
Sonnet was one of that select few—a Manifestor with the gift of prophecy. Come to think of it, Sonnet had devoted herself to God from a very young age and had been favored by the divine throughout her life. Although expelled, her service to the empire was undeniable. Her abilities could fully manifest.
Charlotte had entertained similar thoughts when first meeting her but had dismissed them, thinking that no one would expel a Manifestor. Yet here she was—truly a Manifestor, and one with prophetic powers… But why had the temple expelled Sonnet?
Sonnet had been manipulated by a dark mage, which tainted her honor and forced her to relinquish her saintly title. It wasn’t her fault. And to think she was a Manifestor, yet cast out like a rag. Had they not known about her abilities? If her powers only manifested after her expulsion, that would explain it.
“Why didn’t you inform me?”
While Charlotte fell into thought, Marc quietly whispered to Ash, glancing around. Even as a fellow paladin and direct subordinate, he was cautious when it came to anything related to Sonnet.
“The High Priest has been searching for Lady Sonnet all this time.”
“……”
“I doubt Duke Valian was unaware of this. Then why…!”
Ash said nothing for a moment before taking a deliberate step closer and whispering just loud enough for them to hear.
“It was the High Priest who gave Sonnet the name Cassandra Laverte and helped her hide in Nostrie.”
“!”
“Lady Sonnet is a public enemy to the dark mage. Therefore, the fate awaiting a saint deprived of the temple’s blessing was inevitable.”
Marc’s reddish-brown eyes wavered. Only then did he seem to understand the actions of the High Priest and Ash, and he recoiled slightly.
“Where is she now?”
Though he omitted the subject, Ash knew exactly whom he meant.
“If you climb the snowy mountain, you’ll come across a massive tower. With so much snow, it’s hard to distinguish the mountain from the tower unless you reach the mid-slope. She is there.”
Marc nodded. Once Nostrie was sealed off, the residents would have to leave—some back to their hometowns, some to the capital, some to places suited for rest. Everyone had somewhere to go—but not Sonnet.
Those devoted to the temple had abandoned their namesakes and were mostly unknown at the time, but she was an orphan of humble origins. She had no home or family to return to. Wherever she went had to be safe.
Marc realized why Ash had revealed Sonnet’s existence to him. Places like Nostrie, where few came and went, or locations guarded by high-ranking nobles like Ash, were hard to find. If she had to stay somewhere immediately, the temple was the only answer.
Ash intended to take Sonnet to the temple. Since she had already prophesied the appearance of monsters five times, she would be allowed to stay there while arrangements for another residence were made. Marc easily understood this.
Marc prepared a small retinue to personally escort the former saint down the mountain.
At that moment, Ash stopped him.
“Wait.”
“Why?”
Ash pointed to the Kenis couple, bound with rope and almost being dragged along. They were barely alive, looking in no shape for life. It seemed the monsters had toyed with them rather than killing them outright; there wasn’t a single uninjured spot on their bodies from head to toe.
“I have business with these two.”
Ash’s tone was calm, but her gaze and expression were lethal. Charlotte’s face in particular was striking. Holding Aria, she said nothing, but her rage was palpable, barely contained. …Marc thought she resembled Lady Blanche, but in this moment, she looked more like Lord Ronan. He answered succinctly:
“Just keep them alive.”
“Good.”
There was no obligation to protect criminals guilty of nearly ten different offenses. As soon as Marc departed for the snowy mountain without looking back, Charlotte was the first to take action. She handed Aria to Ash. When Aria whimpered, Charlotte lightly kissed her forehead. When she looked back at the Kenis couple, a chilling frost seemed to emanate from her face.
The paladin escorting the Kenis couple stepped aside on instinct. When the couple tried the same, Charlotte kicked them forward. Marc didn’t intervene, signaling that he would watch from afar regardless of how much they were beaten or kicked. Of course, Charlotte didn’t use physical violence by nature.
She didn’t want to touch these filthy people and intended only to give them a punishment equal to the suffering they caused Aria.
The moment Charlotte parted her lips, Tulla and Vess crawled forward on their knees, desperately apologizing.
“We—we were wrong!”
“Wrong?”
“Yes! Everything was our fault! Please, spare our lives! We didn’t mean to harm Aria!”
Charlotte looked down coldly at the kneeling couple.
“Yes, you’ve done many wrongs. Listing all your crimes would take five bundles of parchment and ten quills. By the time I finish, your lips will be split and bleeding, and your knees soaked in blood.”
Her words were calm, not shouted or emphasized, yet each one was oppressive, rough as a rusted blade, heavy as a plumb line.
They say extreme anger brings calmness—it was precisely that. Despite her rage, her mind was calm and composed, clearer than ever.
Charlotte glanced at Aria, who smiled sweetly and waved. Under the slightly slipping sleeve, the rope marks on her swollen skin were visible. Ash’s face contorted at the sight of Aria’s injuries.
“I intend to adopt Aria as my daughter.”
“!”
“Then you two will also bear the crime of abducting Lady Blanche’s daughter.”
Customarily, it would have been impossible.
“Do you think I can’t do it?”
Charlotte no longer intended to be hindered by tradition or law in expressing her love for Aria. If she had to marry someone, she would willingly do so.
“Hold onto hope while you can. You have no idea yet what price you will pay for touching my daughter.”
“P-please forgive us…!”
“I will return to you exactly as much suffering as you caused Aria.”
Charlotte allowed them no room to speak. Whenever they tried to apologize, she cut them off. Her ruthless stance said that further explanation was neither needed nor worthy.
“I heard from the paladins inspecting the carriage. You bound Aria with rope and locked her inside the carriage seat. Then you traveled for hours.”
Charlotte gritted her teeth.
“I will bind your wrists in the air and shackle your ankles. From the moment you reach the prison until your punishment is decided, you will remain bound, unable to move.”
Aria was watching, so Charlotte deliberately spoke carefully.
“Think slowly about what I mean.”
Surely the Kenis couple would think this was a lenient punishment. Charlotte hoped that opinion would remain until they were locked in the underground prison.
Watching Charlotte recite the punishments as if passing a death sentence, Ash knew there was no need to intervene.
The punishment she described was harsher than flogging. It was the method used to interrogate captured spies. Binding the wrists with rope and the ankles with heavy shackles until official judgment meant their shoulders and ankles would be permanently incapacitated. If they could leave prison on their own feet, it would be a miracle.
“Take them away.”
Charlotte turned as if she had nothing more to say.
She wished she could make them pay for the children they had sold, but that was not her role. It was for the royal family and the temple to decide. Still, she would not remain idle. As a party involved in the incident, she had the right to speak and intended to use it actively.
‘W-what? She’s just leaving?’
Tulla and Vess were gripped by anxiety. There was no way she would leave so easily.
They had prepared for flogging, but she left only with words sharp as a knife beneath the tongue. She had not granted mercy—it meant the punishment she announced would be far harsher than anticipated.
The clever minds that had kidnapped the child began considering why Charlotte left without physical punishment. Soon, Tulla and Vess felt immense fear. Yet they could not utter a word begging for mercy; their mouths were sealed the moment Charlotte turned away.
Struggling was useless. Like when they had grabbed Aria’s hair, the paladins’ firm grip held their hair as they were dragged, tied with rope. Their hell had only just begun.
They could no longer stay in Nostrie. As soon as the five monster appearances were reported, Marc and his subordinates thoroughly sealed off the area.
The lord’s subjects, learning this too late, hastily packed their belongings and left the north with heavy hearts. Charlotte wanted to show Aria’s face to Baroness Verbel and Countess Roshi, who would be worried, but it was impossible. She only sent letters promising a future meeting.
“Mother, where are we going? We can’t live in the castle anymore?”
Wrapped in a white fur cloak, Aria was nestled in Charlotte’s arms, gazing toward Steria Castle. She seemed regretful about leaving. Charlotte smiled warmly and shook her head.
“Not for now, but with time, we can always return to live here again.”
The warmth in her arms was precious. She carefully adjusted Aria’s hat, though the weather oddly seemed warm for a departure day. Perhaps she had simply grown accustomed to Nostrie’s cold.
Just before boarding the carriage, Charlotte looked up at the sky. When she first arrived, the sky had been dark and gray; today, sunlight filtered through the clouds. A faint smile spread across her lips. At that moment, she sensed movement behind her—it was Ash.
“Milady, we are about to depart. Take my hand.”
Charlotte smiled, took Ash’s hand, and stepped into the carriage. It was time to return to the capital.
