Chapter 154
The emperor’s gaze slowly lifted.
“Then… it would be right to send the child back.”
It was a brief yet weighty conclusion.
“Your Majesty!”
Allendo sprang to his feet.
“That cannot be allowed.”
His eyes gleamed sharply.
“This incident has already gone beyond a mere ‘family dispute.’ If the marquis’s daughter is sent back to the South, it will look as though the Empire itself is admitting its own incompetence.”
“Incompetence?”
The emperor frowned.
“Are you saying you intend to defy a decision made by the emperor?”
“No. However—”
Allendo stepped forward.
“If this had been nothing more than a problem between noble houses, it would have ended long ago. But now, across the Empire, there are increasing numbers of people holding prayer gatherings in the name of the ‘Saintess.’”
The emperor’s gaze turned cold.
“The Saintess herself remains silent, does she not?”
“That is precisely what makes it more dangerous.”
Allendo’s voice sank low.
“The fact that the Saintess of the Holy Kingdom is remaining quiet means she is watching us. If this matter is mishandled, the Empire will be branded a ‘heretical nation.’ Rumors are already spreading that the Empire is sheltering a noble house involved with black magic.”
The emperor slammed his hand down on the table.
Bang—!
“And that is exactly why I ordered the child removed from the marquis’s house. If she is sent temporarily to House Revan, the rumors will subside.”
“They will not.”
Allendo’s voice was resolute.
“Instead, only rumors will remain that the Empire sold its bloodline to compromise. Moreover, the Fragment of Abundance will soon arrive. At a time when the Holy Kingdom’s attention is fixed on the Empire, if we show even a hint of internal division—”
He drew in a deep breath.
“This is a matter of losing the Empire’s legitimacy.”
For a moment, a heavy silence pressed down on the council chamber. The emperor’s gaze wavered slowly.
His son was not wrong.
But for too many years now, he had been forced to preserve ‘balance.’
“Allendo, your reasoning is always correct.”
“……”
“But what sustains a nation is never the one who is right, but the one who endures the longest.”
With those words, the emperor rose from his seat.
“Lady René will be provisionally transferred to House Revan. As for the Fragment of Abundance, a judgment will be made on the day the Holy Kingdom’s delegation arrives.”
“Your Majesty!”
Allendo cried out, but the emperor raised a hand to stop him.
“That is enough. Allendo, if there is something you truly desire, you must also learn to wait for the proper time.”
“But—!”
“If we leave things as they are and House Revan, backed by the southern nobles, decides to move directly against House Arpedi, that will create another problem.”
The emperor’s eyes flashed sharply.
“We must never give the signal that the imperial family has lost its power. If you truly wish to support House Arpedi, then you must first lift both hands evenly.”
“Your Majesty—!”
“Enough. This discussion ends here. Be grateful that I have at least left the matter of House Arpedi’s eldest son in your hands.”
With that, the emperor left the room. Allendo remained behind, teeth clenched.
Perhaps even the emperor had fully sensed how dangerous the growing influence of those backed by strange heretical power had become.
In the end, it meant choosing neutrality.
And that meant—
“The Holy Kingdom is at a disadvantage.”
The short muttered sentence carried a strange undercurrent of anger. Calculations were already spinning rapidly in his mind.
The temple faction backed by heresy, the southern nobles allied with them, and the remnants of black magic within the Empire.
Even the emperor had felt their weight.
“Your Highness—.”
The aide’s cautious voice cut through his thoughts.
“What is it?”
Allendo turned sharply, loosening his bow tie.
His breathing quickened.
“Letters have arrived simultaneously—from House Arpedi and from the Holy Kingdom.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
Two letters lay on the table.
Allendo lowered his gaze for a moment, then broke the seal bearing the Holy Kingdom’s crest first.
Inside the thick parchment, a short message was written in neat handwriting.
**[To Your Highness—
Given the troubling state of affairs between the Empire and the Holy Kingdom, I cannot remain idle as a citizen of the Empire.
Therefore, I will return.
I wish to be of help to my dear friend Belia, and though my strength is small, I hope to be of use to Your Highness as well.
I inform you that I will be joining this delegation.
— Canaria]**
Allendo’s gaze wavered slightly.
“My dear friend Belia”—
That single phrase, not addressed to him, inexplicably stirred his chest.
The last day they had met—
Canaria’s smile had been unusually calm.
“Your Highness, the Empire will waver. But you will be able to do it. Whatever it is.”
Her words resurfaced vividly in his mind.
Allendo carefully folded the letter and slipped it into his coat.
Then he opened the second letter—bearing Belia’s seal.
It was brief. Yet that single line stole the breath from his lungs.
**[Your Highness,
Before the Fragment of Abundance arrives, you must move the heart of the Empire.
Bain appears to have already taken action in preparation for the day the delegation arrives.
There is no guarantee that his reach extends only within the Empire.]**
“…What?”
Allendo’s eyes widened.
His fingers clenched the envelope hard enough to tear it.
“We need to contact the Holy Kingdom.”
He leapt to his feet. When the aide moved to follow, Allendo stopped him with a hand.
“No. I will send the letter myself.”
His footsteps cut across the council chamber.
The hem of his cloak brushed the floor, casting sharp shadows.
A thin gust of wind slipped through the crack in the door.
* * *
Her body jolted awake as if falling from a dream.
Her breath caught in her throat. Her heart thrashed wildly.
In the pitch-dark room, something wavered faintly in the air.
‘A dream… no.’
René lifted her heavy head.
The curtains were half drawn. Moonlight stretched across the room, illuminating the foot of the bed. Within that light stood the shadow of a man.
A stranger, his robe pulled low over his face.
Slowly, he raised his hand. The sound of metal clinking echoed softly.
“…Who are you?”
René’s voice broke low.
Instead of answering, the man produced a vial.
A bottle filled with blue liquid. A faint energy slowly rose from within.
“Please proceed.”
An unfamiliar yet strangely familiar voice.
That cold tone—and that familiar liquid.
Someone sent by Bain.
“It is his command. He ordered that you perform this yourself.”
He drew out a syringe and approached the bed.
René’s gaze locked onto the silver needle. Cold sweat streamed down her back.
It was the very ritual Bain had called a ‘miracle’ when he first regained consciousness.
The pain—every sensation from the crown of her head to the tips of her toes felt as though pierced by needles.
She had once seen a description of that ritual in the cave by chance. A forbidden method that burned vitality to amplify mana.
How hastily she had closed the book when Bain returned.
She had told herself it was nothing—but then, what was it that she had felt at the time?
“Stop.”
René spat the warning toward the approaching man.
He did not listen.
“Delaying is an act of distrust. I was ordered to witness it directly and report back.”
One step, then another. His shadow crept closer.
René instinctively retreated.
“Leave.”
“I was told to see you perform it.”
“Get out—!”
“I was told to see—”
“I said I’ll do it myself! Can’t you hear me? Get out!”
Watching the man repeat the same mechanical words, René furrowed her brow.
“I said get out!”
The air twisted.
Electric sparks jumped from René’s fingertips. A thin membrane of air rippled, making the blankets flutter.
“…Do not defy his will.”
A brief standoff.
But etched into the man’s arm was a vivid oath of loyalty.
His gaze changed. In an instant, he lunged forward. In that split second, René twisted her body.
The needle sliced through empty air and struck the wall beside them.
At the same time, his shoulder slammed into her, pinning her down.
“Let go—!”
Strength surged into her arms. Her palms burned hot as blue light leaked out.
“Stop!”
Crack—!
A thin bolt of lightning split the space between them. But the man did not stop.
“As commanded—!”
He raised the needle again.
Cold metal pressed against her back. René’s breath hitched.
‘This… isn’t what I wanted.’
Voices tangled in her mind.
Bain’s words, Belia’s smile, Carlton’s eyes.
The images overlapped, bursting into a sharp, aching emotion.
And in that instant—
Bang!
The door flew open.
