Chapter 120
“U-Um… our lady will be all right… won’t she…?”
Arianne asked in a violently trembling voice.
Barkville couldn’t answer easily. Honestly, it would have been better if it were an injury from poison like Diasi’s.
This kind of illness was completely beyond anything he could treat.
All he could do was rely on Ella’s own resilience and pray that she would wake up safely.
Still, seeing Arianne and Rosé trembling, Barkville forced the corners of his mouth upward.
They couldn’t afford to collapse before Ella did.
“Of course.”
As if his words were an oracle, Arianne and Rosé broke into wide smiles through tear-filled eyes.
A few days later.
Across the entire Lasierra Empire, praise spread endlessly for the imperial family, Diasi, and Ella, who had protected the empire from the ancient magical beast.
There was hardly anyone who didn’t know their heroic tale—how they defeated the ancient beast and even safely subdued the golem.
Not only in the capital and major cities, but even in the smallest rural villages, people praised their bravery.
“Hey, did you hear that story?”
“Of course I did!”
Young maids washing laundry by the stream stopped their hands and began chatting excitedly.
“They say Duke Meyers and the Duchess protected the empire!”
“That’s what I’m saying! I heard the Duchess’s magic was incredible!”
“Magic.”
For people who had been taught since birth that magic was evil, the word itself usually stirred negative emotions.
It was a taboo one couldn’t dare speak lightly.
Yet somehow, there was no negativity on the faces of those talking about magic now.
Their flushed cheeks almost made it seem as if they regarded magic as something sacred.
After all, the magic they had called the power of demons all their lives had saved their lives and the future of the empire.
And at this point, they couldn’t help voicing the question filling their minds.
“Maybe… magic wasn’t actually an evil power like we were taught?”
It was a question to be careful about. The maid who spoke glanced nervously at her friend, afraid she might be scolded.
But the response she heard was completely unexpected.
“That’s what I think too. We were told it was an evil force that would wipe us all out, but when you think about it… maybe that’s not true.”
“Right?”
“Yeah. Honestly, I…”
The maid looked around and motioned for her friend to come closer.
When the other leaned in curiously, she whispered very softly.
“I’m disappointed in His Holiness the Pope and the Grand Temple.”
“You too?! Ah—!”
Realizing her voice had grown louder in surprise, the maid quickly covered her mouth, then lowered her voice again.
“Me too. Hey, have you heard the rumors going around lately?”
“Huh? Rumors?”
“Yeah.”
In truth, the rumors stirring the Lasierra Empire weren’t only praise for the imperial family and the Meyers household who defeated the ancient magical beast.
There was also criticism of Pope Anacheto and the Grand Temple, who had done nothing while others fought.
The people of the empire had once held absolute trust and loyalty toward the Pope and the Grand Temple.
Naturally, they hadn’t believed the rumors at first.
But when someone raised a single doubt, suspicion spread—what if the rumors were true?
“So then—did anyone actually see His Holiness the Pope or the holy knights fighting the ancient magical beast?”
No one had.
No one had witnessed the Pope or the holy knights fighting, nor had anyone seen them protecting civilians.
That wasn’t all.
While a fierce battle with the ancient beast raged elsewhere, news spread nationwide that the Pope had irresponsibly remained in the prayer hall of the Grand Temple, doing nothing but praying.
Even worse, during those prayers, subordinates of the ancient beast had slaughtered civilians who burst in—yet the Pope and the holy knights merely watched, neither protecting the civilians nor intervening.
And all these rumors began with a woman who had knelt before the Pope, begging him to save her villagers.
A holy knight, ordered to eliminate all witnesses, swung his sword at her back as she sat on the ground laughing madly.
Though she was gravely injured in the process, she did not die.
When Emperor Alaiser received reports of the horrific massacre, he immediately sent reinforcements and medical personnel.
Though the imperial family lacked the luxury of abundant resources, the Emperor even sent his personal physician.
Discovered by the imperial forces, the woman showed astonishingly rapid recovery—and ground her teeth in hatred at the Pope’s actions.
She then took it upon herself to spread everything she had seen and experienced throughout the empire.
Bad rumors travel faster than good ones—and rumors of evil deeds by the righteous spread fastest of all.
Thus, Pope Anacheto’s atrocities swept across the empire in an instant.
At first, the people didn’t believe it.
But as time passed, they were persuaded.
And as more time passed, their shock gradually turned into rage against the Pope and the Grand Temple.
“How could His Holiness do such a thing? Abandon us? Say that prayer would solve everything?”
“What utter nonsense! Don’t even call him ‘His Holiness’ anymore—it’s a waste of a title on someone like that!”
“Exactly! While His Majesty the Emperor was risking his life fighting, he stayed in a prayer room praying? How does that make sense?!”
Those who had once been powerless rose up. They were no longer ignorant.
As the image of the Pope and the Grand Temple plummeted day by day, the image of the Emperor and the imperial family soared ever higher.
“Long live His Majesty the Emperor!”
“As expected, the only one who truly thinks of and saves the empire is His Majesty!”
The ideology rejecting magic didn’t disappear entirely—but it certainly weakened.
“Magic wasn’t an evil power!”
“If anything, isn’t holy power the useless one? They could have healed the injured with it.”
“Exactly. Who would’ve thought magic would protect us and the empire?”
“But then… what does that make the Pope who killed Duke and Duchess Meyers?”
“What else? A villain who killed innocent people because he feared losing his position.”
“How tragic. The Duke and Duchess Meyers were executed for ‘giving birth to demons,’ even though they gave birth to heroes who saved the empire.”
The people of the empire reflected on their own ignorance in rejecting magic.
They condemned the heartless Pope and Grand Temple, and poured boundless affection onto the Emperor and imperial family, who had been ignored yet sacrificed their lives to save the nation.
And that goodwill wasn’t directed only at the imperial family.
Ella, who had been despised simply for being a mage, and Diasi, who had protected her—
All the criticism once hurled at them turned into praise and admiration.
Most of the empire prayed.
Please let Duke Meyers and the Duchess awaken safely.
Though the two fighting illness had no idea, the entire empire wished for their recovery.
In an instant, they had gone from traitors of the empire to heroes.
And naturally, all these rumors reached the ears of Pope Anacheto.
Bang—!
“Damn it!”
Pope Anacheto began sweeping everything off the desk in his office with his arm, hurling it to the floor.
Ink bottles crashed down with sharp clattering sounds.
Fountain pens, documents, and even a vase holding a single flower followed, shattering loudly.
Liam, standing silently by the door at a distance, merely watched the scene.
“Useless fools! I told them not to leave anyone alive—and they still failed to confirm the kills…!”
The Pope’s furious voice echoed through the office.
He had never imagined a civilian would survive.
He ground his teeth at his own past carelessness.
That wasn’t all.
He had been certain the imperial family would lose against the ancient magical beast—not just lose, but be utterly annihilated.
He had imagined Emperor Alaiser dying on the battlefield countless times, waking from dreams with a satisfied smile.
He had endlessly envisioned the summoned golem running out of control and causing even greater devastation than 300 years ago.
His imaginings had always become reality.
It was rare—almost unheard of—for them to end as mere fantasies, as they had this time.
“This… should never have happened…!”
Still unable to calm himself, the Pope stomped on a shattered ink bottle.
He had lost his gamble with Emperor Alaiser.
A man who had never known defeat, this was his first taste of loss.
And that the one who defeated him was the Emperor he had always looked down on made his rage unbearable.
The Emperor, the imperial family, Diasi, and Ella were supposed to be utterly crushed by the ancient magical beast.
When despair bloomed in the hearts of all the people of the empire, he was supposed to appear like the sun.
He would care for the wounded, heal them—and even slay the ancient magical beast.
He had planned to inflict a humiliation greater than that of 300 years ago upon the Emperor and the imperial family.
“I was supposed to be the hero… I was supposed to be the hero!”
Ella had ruined everything.
That rootless woman who suddenly appeared as a grand mage—not only did she release the imperial family’s mana seal, she single-handedly subdued the ancient magical beast.
As if that weren’t enough, she perfectly controlled the golem and sealed it again, despite supposedly never having used magic before.
All the trust and reverence of the people—meant to be his—had turned toward her instead.
Everything Ella was receiving now—every gaze of admiration and respect—should have belonged to him.
As blinding rage washed over his vision, his reflection appeared in the glass window.
His neatly combed hair was disheveled, his expression beyond repair.
“Hoo…”
He took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair to calm himself.
He could not collapse like this.
Never.
