~Chapter 03~
Afternoon sunlight seeped yellow into the top floor of a white stone tower.
A saintess with blonde hair flowing down to her waist knelt in the center of the room.
*Knock, knock, knock.*
A knocking sound came from outside just as she was reciting a prayer under her breath.
“Saintess Pavella, Elder Mateo is here.”
When the saintess opened her tightly closed eyes, mysterious emerald-green pupils were revealed.
“Come in.”
A moment later, Elder Mateo entered the room with careful footsteps.
He drew a specific symbol over his chest and bowed his head toward the saintess.
The saintess also bowed her head in return, following his lead.
“What brings you here so early in the morning?”
“We have succeeded in capturing the youngest daughter of the Kinzell Ducal family, Saintess.”
“Is that so.”
At the saintess’s subdued voice, the elder lowered his gaze even deeper, as if flustered.
“…This is not an opportunity easily obtained, so please proceed with extra care.”
“Understood, Saintess.”
***
“What is the defendant’s name?”
“Ivyn Kinzell.”
“Do you know what crimes your Kinzell family has committed?”
“…I’m not sure.”
At Ivyn’s answer, the holy knight’s brows furrowed slightly.
“The crimes committed by your Kinzell family are blasphemy and treason.”
Theodor said as he flipped up the first page from a thick stack of documents on the iron table.
“It is the business of the family you share blood with, so it is also your crime. Namely, familial collective responsibility.”
What, collective responsibility?
As the unexpected term jumped from the man’s mouth, Ivyn’s head tilted slightly sideways.
“First, the crime of making it their profession to defy the laws of nature and profane the cycle of life. Second, the crime of raising the dead for selfish desires, threatening the living, and disrupting social order. Third, the crime of brutally slaughtering innocent people to procure materials needed to summon the undead…”
Watching the man recite the charges without a hint of wavering, Ivyn began racking her brains.
‘How do I deal with this…’
No matter how hard she thought, the plan she had made earlier seemed like the best option for now.
Act harmless and somehow stall for time until the rescue team arrives!
Ivyn first relaxed the tension in her eyes.
*Please let playing innocent work!*
“Um… but, what is familial responsibility?”
At Ivyn’s question, Theodor frowned slightly.
He seemed puzzled as to why the daughter of a ducal family wouldn’t know such a basic thing.
“It is a system that holds people connected to the criminal jointly responsible and punishes them.”
“But?”
“What?”
“But why do *I* have to bear that responsibility…?”
“Because the Church’s law says so.”
“Why?”
“It’s a rule established by the Theocracy.”
“Who decided that?”
Theodor, who had been staring at her with a stiff face for a moment, slowly opened his mouth again.
“…The highest-ranking clergy and the great clergy before them.”
“Why?”
*Hah.*
Finally, the holy knight let out a faint sigh into the air.
It seemed something was starting to rise within him.
“It is a standard set for judgment, in relation to similar events and crimes that occurred in the past.”
“Why?”
“…”
For a moment, a terrible silence fell between them.
The anxious one was Ivyn.
She slightly moistened her parched lower lip with her tongue.
*Does this make me look harmless in character, or harmless in brains…?*
While she was watching Theodor’s expression, slightly frightened…
“Alright, let’s make this a bit easier.”
The sound of the man placing the thick stack of documents he was holding onto the table was heard.
“Ivyn Kinzell, is it true that you snuck out of the ducal territory at night with your servants?”
“Yes.”
“And that it was to contact a secret society called the ‘Dark Covenant,’ which studies forbidden magic?”
“Yes… Huh?”
Why is the Dark Covenant suddenly popping up here?
“A witness has come forward.”
The holy knight replied dryly to her questioning.
“A witness?”
“An eyewitness to prove your guilt.”
“Where… where is this witness?!”
“For their protection, I cannot reveal that.”
Ivyn felt speechless.
This was practically a frame-up.
Perhaps the Theocracy had gotten the wrong end of the stick.
Or maybe the so-called witness was a pawn of the Kinzell family’s enemies!
Otherwise, why would they keep pressuring her with testimony about things she didn’t even know?
*I’ve hit a wall.*
But even if caught in a tiger’s den, if you keep your wits about you, you can survive.
She steadied her breathing to play her last card.
In the original story, Holy Knight Theodor overcomes various adversities and hardships with Saintess Pavella, unfolding a moving romance.
But think about it for a moment.
The saintess is the heroine of a romance fantasy.
She must, of course, possess incredible beauty.
One only has to look at how many pages the original author devoted to describing the saintess’s looks and aura.
A whopping 4 pages.
For a full 4 pages of the total volume, various descriptions of her flow like a symphony.
The important point here was that Ivyn’s looks were just as beautiful.
—*What a waste of a face. Her looks are beautiful enough to rival our Saintess Pavella…*
*Rival our Saintess Pavella…*
*Rival her in beauty…*
The conclusion?
She’s pretty.
Though she hadn’t seen her own face yet after transmigrating, the description of Ivyn’s appearance from the original work remained vivid in her memory.
—*Lavender-colored hair resembling the flower in full bloom, light blue eyes like morning dew. Over her white, soft cheeks lay a faint pink blush as if cherry blossom petals had just scattered in the spring breeze… The few freckles dotted on her rosy cheeks cutely shook every time she scrunched her nose tip, a habit when she smiled… Those who had been hostile to her due to the Kinzell family’s infamous reputation would find themselves disarmed, helplessly and without recourse, when they actually stood before her.*
And if she added an emotional appeal?
Even a holy knight with the coldest heart might waver, right?
*’I don’t know how good my acting skills are, but I have to try.’*
Having caught the emotional thread, she suddenly let her head drop weakly.
*”Sniffle…”*
A small sob followed.
“…!”
At the sudden turn of events, Theodor looked down at her with a slightly startled expression.
Why wouldn’t he be?
Ivyn Kinzell was infamous for her terrible temper.
But she’s crying?
And so sorrowfully…?
“Daddy… I miss Daddy… I’m scared… *Sniffle*… Daddy…”
Pearl-like teardrops rolled down Ivyn’s pale cheeks.
How long did she sob like that?
In the quiet atmosphere, Ivyn slightly lifted her head to check Theodor’s reaction.
“…”
His pitch-black eyes, which had been stoic the whole time, were slightly wavering.
*’…Is the classic “woman’s tears” attack working?’*
Gaining a bit of confidence, Ivyn decided to push a little further.
“Um… I-I’m actually scared because it’s so dark… I feel like my knees are shaking… I’ll answer honestly without causing trouble… So please, at least untie these restraints first…”
“…”
The holy knight, who had been silent as if lost in thought with a slight frown, looked at her with a cautious gaze.
It was a look as if he was carefully examining whether this was a trick or not.
*’Holy Knight Theodor is a stubborn type, but he’s basically a just and morally strong character. An appeal to sympathy like this can’t fail.’*
Ivyn swallowed once and slowly opened her mouth.
“…I really don’t know what I did wrong to be brought here. I, I was just… curious about what the city was like… So sneaking out at night with my friends was all I did… My father said I absolutely couldn’t leave the ducal castle before my seventeenth coming-of-age ceremony…”
But then something strange happened.
The longer she spoke, the more intense her sobs became, and the corners of her mouth tensed and began to tremble.
“I… I really don’t know anything. My father and brothers always said outside the castle was dangerous… So I was always only inside the castle… That’s really all… My other friends even attended the Academy… Even then, I was always alone… Left all alone…”
The violently fluctuating emotions.
It seemed the fear, terror, and sense of injustice that the original character in the novel must have felt in this situation were oddly mixed in here.
*Hah.*
After watching Ivyn like that for a while, Theodor let out a low sigh into the air.
As he slightly relaxed his mouth and leaned back into the chair, a creaking sound of the wooden chair pushing back was heard.
“…”
The man stared intently at the woman hanging on the wall with her arms bound by cold chains.
His gaze seemed to be gauging what the little devil of the Kinzell family might be thinking now.
According to the information obtained by the Church, Ivyn Kinzell was nothing more than a corrupted soul using dark power. But looking at the woman crying like a child now, it was hard to conjure up such an evil image.
*’This kid is genuinely frightened.’*
There didn’t seem to be any sign of her forcing the emotions or squeezing out tears as an act.
As this realization reached him, the eyes of Theodor, which had been coldly frozen until now, tilted slightly.
