Chapter 37
“If the Duke of Russell becomes the master of the imperial family through this opportunity, then there’ll be no more need for the existence of a priestess.”
So that was it. Only then did Aaron fully understand the sudden order given by the Duke of Russell.
Unlike his previously passive behavior, the Duke now intended to achieve his dream in the most aggressive and swift manner. Once he seized the throne, he planned to dispose of Amelia, who would no longer be of any use.
“Keeping secrets, running experiments, killing people… all that effort has become too troublesome. It’s time to put an end to it.”
He was right. If that happened, the secret of the priestess and her successors would no longer matter. The secret that had been kept for 200 years would quietly sink beneath the surface.
“And if the throne changes hands, wouldn’t that allow you to take revenge for your father?”
“…Yes.”
The Duke of Russell suddenly brought up Aaron’s father.
“If that happens, your poor father, who died so pitifully, might be dancing in the afterlife.”
Naturally, Aaron’s mind drifted back to the day he reached out and took the Duke’s hand.
In Aaron’s memory, his father was a very kind man to his only son, but at the same time, he was weak-hearted and severely anxious.
“Father!”
“I told you not to appear suddenly!”
He was so skittish that even someone suddenly appearing would startle him, and he couldn’t stand having someone walking behind him. Since Aaron’s mother had died from postpartum fever, he had no way of knowing the trauma his father carried, and was always puzzled by his overly sensitive reactions.
“They’re trying to kill me again!”
Aaron came to understand him when he was about ten. His father would have fits, claiming someone was trying to kill him. And not long after, he died in a carriage accident.
“Are you Aaron?”
Right after his father’s death, a man came to see Aaron, who had been left all alone. For some unknown reason, that man had tried to kill Aaron. It was the Duke of Russell who saved him from the assassin.
“Th-thank you.”
“Good thing I wasn’t too late.”
“……”
“I’m sorry about your father. Some might say he was just a particularly nervous man who suddenly died, but he wasn’t always like that.”
The Duke gently stroked Aaron’s head, as if pitying the orphaned child.
“Actually, this time as well…”
The Duke trailed off meaningfully.
“No, it’s not something to say to a child.”
“What do you mean?”
Aaron was the one who stopped him. As the Duke tried to pull his hand away, Aaron grabbed his sleeve and asked.
“…The Emperor killed your father.”
After a brief hesitation, the Duke gave his answer.
“How do you know that?”
“It was a letter your father showed me—one from the Emperor.”
Despite Aaron’s suspicion, the Duke continued calmly. Then he showed Aaron the evidence.
The contents of the letter were vicious. The Emperor had hurled vile insults and curses at Aaron’s father. He told him to flee to a remote rural area or go into exile in a foreign land with his child immediately. If he refused and remained a threat, he’d have both him and his son’s heads cut off.
But Aaron and his father neither went to the countryside nor fled abroad.
“Your father was completely sober that day. He hadn’t been drinking. But just three days after receiving this letter, he supposedly failed to dodge a speeding carriage and died. Does that make any sense?”
The Duke asked, but Aaron couldn’t answer. His small hand, clutching the letter, trembled violently.
“And the owner of that carriage was a former imperial coachman. Your father’s death came right after he was suddenly dismissed.”
“Why… What reason would the Emperor have? Why would he…”
Aaron stammered, unable to understand why his father had to die by the Emperor’s hand.
“Your father was the illegitimate son of the former Emperor. That’s why the current Emperor always saw him as a threat to his life.”
The Duke neatly cleared up Aaron’s last question. He said that the Emperor, fearing his half-brother might become a threat, had tried multiple times to kill him—as powerful men often do.
“And that coachman only got a minor fine. Even though he killed someone.”
It meant the Emperor had finally succeeded in murdering his half-brother.
“There are many of the Emperor’s eyes and ears even beyond the walls of this estate.”
Only then did Aaron understand how the Duke had been able to save him at such a crucial moment. Just as the Emperor had been watching Aaron, so had the Duke.
“That’s why I came to get you. An orphan like you, left all alone, would surely be finished off.”
“……”
“You need to survive, don’t you?”
The Duke offered his hand first. The frightened young boy nodded.
That night, a massive fire broke out in Aaron’s home. Everything was completely burned down—so much so that not even the bones of the orphaned boy who lived there could be found. It was another of the Emperor’s schemes. The imperial knights seen loitering near the burning estate and then vanishing were the proof.
For a boy who had lost his family and was left alone, it was an unbearable tragedy—and pure rage. Watching it all unfold, Aaron abandoned any remaining doubt and took the Duke’s hand.
“Please… help me take revenge.”
The Duke silently nodded. To protect Aaron’s life, he arranged for him to be adopted into the Skipper family, a branch line of nobility.
That was how he had survived.
The vision of the crimson flames licking the air and the burning memories of childhood remained vivid in Aaron’s mind. Thanks to the Duke’s help, he had managed to stay alive. So there was no reason to ignore the man’s goals, or the life he’d given Aaron in exchange for revenge.
“Don’t kill the girl the Emperor brought just yet. Keep her in the palace under the pretense of taking care of the priestess.”
“Understood.”
Amelia’s face came to mind—destined not to live even as long as her predetermined short life. But it was only a matter of time anyway. Whether sooner or later didn’t matter. That pitiful face was no longer Aaron’s concern.
“Who?”
Ivan asked. Rodan coldly repeated that Aaron, the High Priest, had come to the palace.
“For what reason?”
Ivan put down his pen and leaned deep into his chair. With his arms crossed, he looked rather arrogant.
“Well, to see the priestess, of course.”
He was someone who held the temple’s secret. No doubt, having brought Amelia into the palace, he feared something might’ve slipped out. It wasn’t hard to guess.
“Shall we assign someone to watch him?”
“Leave it be. They’ll just talk between the two of them anyway. Don’t make it obvious that we’re paying attention.”
Ivan lazily shook his head.
“But still, we should be prepared… just in case.”
“Prepared in what sense…?”
Rodan raised the end of his sentence slightly. It was clearly a question.
“There’s a diplomatic mission coming from Reed soon. Make sure the temple is told in advance to allow the priestess to appear before them.”
“You’re going to show the priestess at a diplomatic event?”
The imperial family of Escleif had always tried to keep political power out of the hands of the priestess. And Ivan, who had clearly opposed the temple, was known for his stance.
But now, suddenly? Rodan looked at him in confusion. Ivan chuckled at the expression.
“Whatever you’re imagining, it’s not to give her power.”
And he quickly dismissed Rodan’s assumption.
“Of course, tell the temple it’s to restore relations with Reed after that previous unfortunate incident.”
The temple probably wouldn’t object. They might even think the imperial family was now cautious of them, perhaps due to a past divine prophecy. On the surface, Ivan and Amelia appeared cold to each other, so they wouldn’t expect anything strange from her during the event.
“But the priestess will reveal the truth in that place.”
Amelia would declare in front of everyone that she was just a normal human—aging, mortal. She’d explain that the role of the priestess was merely passed down through generations, forced into bearing children for the sake of lineage.
He was curious to see how the temple members would react in such a public setting. They couldn’t simply claim their once-revered priestess had gone mad.
“The divine legend and the high noble factions supporting it will collapse, and the imperial family will take its place.”
Just thinking about it was exhilarating. Ivan looked completely satisfied, as if his ambitions had already been realized.
“Will the priestess agree to that?”
“She will. When we met recently, she said she would help.”
“Recently? When…”
“I used the underground tunnel to visit her.”
Rodan sighed quietly. Each palace had an underground passage for emergencies. He hadn’t imagined Ivan would go that far just to meet Amelia. It wasn’t as if they were secret lovers.
“So what will you do with the priestess afterward?”
Rodan asked. Ivan’s eyes briefly wandered aimlessly through the air. He recalled the gentle affection that had once clung to him.
