Chapter 53 …
Evelyn lightly tapped the back of Lloyd’s hand. A captivating smile bloomed on her lips.
“Do you truly think… that I would dare to covet the position of Empress of the Empire?”
Evelyn met his gaze directly with jewel-like green eyes.
“Private emotions are unnecessary in royal marriages. Why would you think I wouldn’t understand?”
Lloyd reproached himself as he recalled what he had said five years ago. It had been foolish nonsense.
“…Then what is it that you desire?”
“My safety. My tomorrow without harm.”
At Evelyn’s unhesitating reply, Lloyd fell silent for a long while before barely continuing.
“I want you to stay by my side.”
“……”
“No matter what I become, I want you beside me.”
“……”
“If the crown is something that can only be worn by abandoning the one I love… then I have no need for such a thing.”
Evelyn smiled brightly, like a flower in full bloom.
“Can you abandon the Caledonia Empire—and the lives of its people—and come to me?”
Lloyd’s blue eyes trembled violently.
“Your Highness. Don’t make a choice you’ll come to resent.”
Though Evelyn’s red lips curved gently, her emerald-like eyes were moist.
“Protect Caledonia. Keep the person who will benefit you most by your side.”
Evelyn grasped Lloyd’s wrist and slowly pulled him closer.
“I don’t love you enough to stake my life on staying by your side. I don’t love you enough to spend my entire life holding my breath in your shadow.”
Evelyn briefly pressed her lips to the back of Lloyd’s hand.
Watching her lowered, long black eyelashes, Lloyd felt tears suddenly well up. Evelyn was comforting him—the man who would inevitably have to keep another woman at his side, the man who could not say he would abandon everything and go to her.
“In front of you, I always feel like a child.”
“That’s alright. I have a weakness for children who pout.”
Lloyd extended the hand Evelyn held and gently brushed her cheek.
“But… even for appearances’ sake, I will not take Carme as my lover.”
Lloyd spoke with quiet sadness, but firmly.
“I don’t want to.”
◇ ◆ ◇
Upon hearing that the Second Prince—who should have been in Achaia—had visited the temple, Cardinal Mikael secretly received him at the back gate, avoiding the eyes of the faithful and priests.
“Abel’s blessing. A servant of Abel greets the light of the Empire.”
“Abel’s blessing. Frey van der Lloyd greets the son of Abel.”
When Lloyd returned the same courtesy to the cardinal, Cardinal Mikael flinched in surprise and bowed deeply. Since the revolution of Emperor Henry II, the temple’s status had plummeted vertically. The Empire’s Second Prince bowing to a mere cardinal—not even the Pope—was enough to move him deeply.
‘Th-that person…!’
The moment Cardinal Mikael lifted his head and saw the woman standing behind the Second Prince, his surprise only deepened.
“Abel’s blessing. Evelyn of Periang greets the son of Abel.”
Pure white skin, beautiful green eyes, and black curly hair. The young viscountess who quietly visited the temple every week to honor the Periang family—Evelyn Periang.
‘The Second Prince and the young Viscountess Periang…’
Cardinal Mikael hurriedly returned Evelyn’s greeting.
“I have come to pray to God Abel for His Majesty’s recovery.”
“It is an honor that you have come. Moved by Your Highness’s sincerity, God Abel will surely watch over His Majesty. I will guide you to the prayer chamber.”
As Cardinal Mikael led the way, Evelyn and Lloyd headed toward the temple’s most private space—the prayer room—with only two guards accompanying them.
The prayer room was so small that just three or four pews from the chapel would fill it completely. The interior was dark, and pure white light streaming through a small window split the room in half. After ordering the guards to wait outside, only Cardinal Mikael, Lloyd, and Evelyn stepped inside the tiny chamber.
Once the door closed, Cardinal Mikael lowered his voice.
“It is an honor that you have come. Her Majesty Anais has shown us great grace. However… the temple is not truly a place for someone of Your Highness’s standing to visit under the pretext of prayer.”
Lloyd did not bother to deny it.
“Today’s matter…”
“I will keep it confidential.”
Thanks to the multiple outer walls, no voices from inside the prayer room could be heard outside.
Evelyn looked around the chamber.
‘Servants of a god… As if such things exist.’
She did not believe in the temple’s proclaimed holiness, nor in the oracle said to descend once every hundred years to deliver God Abel’s voice.
Lloyd asked the cardinal,
“I would like to hear the true contents of the oracle.”
“Since you have come all this way, I will answer directly. The oracle states: ‘The red bird shall sit upon the imperial throne.’ And…”
Cardinal Mikael hesitated briefly, then spoke as if resolved.
“…The Triia Constellation shall protect the red bird.”
At the cardinal’s whispered words, Evelyn and Lloyd exchanged glances.
“So there really was a hidden oracle!”
The Triia Constellation was the Empire’s most famous star formation—three bright stars forming a triangle that first appeared in the northern sky at sunset.
“Three stars…”
“That is correct. The oracle says the three stars will guard the red bird who sits upon the throne.”
Evelyn spoke with a troubled expression.
“Now that we know the hidden oracle… it’s even clearer that this is ominous for the imperial family.”
“Yes. The prophecy that the red bird sits on the throne can be interpreted in many ways. Red is an auspicious color—it could mean God Abel’s blessing upon the Empire, or that the red bird protects the imperial heir, or perhaps the red bird refers to the Frey imperial family’s red hair.”
Cardinal Mikael glanced quickly toward the door as he continued.
“But when you add the line that the three stars will protect the red bird…”
If the current heir were the red bird, there would be no particular need for protectors. In other words, saying that three stars guard the one who sits on the throne implies that the throne’s owner requires the stars’ protection. Was this not effectively a foretelling of the birth of the hero long awaited by the people?
“If we revealed the full oracle, we believed there would certainly be imperial repression. The priests here are ordinary citizens of Caledonia with families to protect. We sincerely apologize for not disclosing the oracle in full.”
As Cardinal Mikael bowed his head, Lloyd looked conflicted.
“Then why tell me? I am also a member of the imperial family.”
“…Because we already knew Your Highness would come here. Together with someone precious.”
Cardinal Mikael looked at Evelyn with wrinkled eyes.
‘Someone precious… how ridiculous.’
Evelyn inwardly scoffed, thinking the cardinal was no different from the fortune-telling gypsies at festivals. They would quickly examine well-kept nails, hair, jewelry, and clothes, then say:
“You are someone of noble standing. But I see worries in your near future.”
A prophecy with a low chance of being wrong.
‘Though in my case, it’s completely off.’
Though she wore expensive clothes and had glossy hair, Evelyn was not someone noble. She had been an orphan girl from the back alleys of Berdad.
“More precisely, there was a prophecy from Bishop Dromon, who received the oracle. He said that around today, distinguished guests would arrive.”
Cardinal Mikael guided them into an inner room connected to the prayer chamber. In the even narrower and darker room sat a black stone, and before it sat a single priest. The white-haired priest slowly rose with his eyes closed.
“Abel’s blessing. A servant of Abel greets the light of the Empire.”
“This is Bishop Dromon, who received the oracle.”
Bishop Dromon was blind. Cardinal Mikael supported him as he made the introduction.
“Abel’s blessing. Frey van der Lloyd greets the son of Abel.”
“Abel’s blessing. Evelyn of Periang greets the son of Abel.”
“You must have had a difficult journey. I have been waiting for you. Please look at this.”
Bishop Dromon pointed toward the black stone.
‘He cannot see, yet he knows exactly where the stone is.’
Evelyn found it extremely strange that the bishop pointed so precisely. On the surface of the stone, a painfully bright light shimmered as it engraved letters.
“Ah…!”
At the mysterious sight he had never seen before, Lloyd gasped.
—
The red bird shall sit upon the imperial throne.
The Triia Constellation shall protect the red bird.
