There was no sign of anger. She was just smiling broadly, as if…
‘What is she imagining?’
Brantley and I instinctively moved slightly away from each other. Aite furrowed her brows and vines wrapped around Brantley and me tightly.
We had no choice but to huddle back together.
Suddenly, a large flower bloomed above the vines. A happy smile appeared on Aite’s face as well.
Apparently, this god was writing a romance centered around Brantley and I.
“Is she being delusional again…,” Brantley muttered in a low voice.
But the order had a different reaction.
“Sir Knight was the lady’s mate after all!”
“I knew it!”
It was surreal. We had become the protagonists of a romance against our will. My wishes were completely disregarded in the casting.
‘Brantley disliked Aite. Is he offended?’
I looked at him cautiously. My eyes locked with Brantley, who happened to be staring at me.
“I’m sorry, Hanelope. Are you upset?”
Somehow, he apologised first.
“No, it’s fine.”
I smiled awkwardly and shook my head. Brantley’s cheeks were flushed.
“Thank goodness,” He bit his lower lip and looked away.
He didn’t look displeased but shy and embarrassed.
‘Cute!’
Just as I thought that the vines surrounding us suddenly disappeared. Aite also hid herself.
“What happened?”
That’s when I heard the sound of countless footsteps coming from the cave’s entrance.
“Capture all the members of the demonic cult!”
A familiar voice rang. Along with it, armed knights marched into the cave.
I was surprised to see the owner of the voice.
‘Isn’t he the Lord of Cran Viscount McTarn?’
He was ordering the knights to capture the so-called cultists. People scrambled to flee from the sudden attack.
“Hanelope, be careful,” Brantley whispered to me.
I was about to reply when I heard a scream from somewhere.
“Kyaa!”
It was Marina.
She was a woman who had recently married a man with a significant difference in status thanks to the cult’s help.
The knights dragged Marina to Viscount McTarn.
“Marina, I knew you would be here. You must have conspired with the demonic cult to seduce my son!”
“N-no, Viscount…” Marina stammered in fear.
Apparently, the man who married Marina was the son of Viscount McTarn.
“Capture all the cultists and bring them to the gallows with her!”
“Father, no! Please stop!”
In a fit of rage, Viscount McTarn’s son rushed forward. He gazed with despair at the fleeing crowd and those already captured.
“Father, please release Marina and the people. Please!”
“Release the cultists? What nonsense are you spouting”
“If these people are demonic cultists, then I am one too! Take me as well.”
“You’ve just been deceived by these evildoers. Return home!”
“I won’t go alone without Marina. Marina is my wife…”
“Shut up! If not for someone informing me, you would have got away with this! A lowly girl like her cannot become McTarn’s daughter-in-law! You will marry as planned, to the daughter of Earl Patton.”
“Marina is the one I truly love. I approached these people first! So if you’re going to execute them, kill me first!”
“This crazy ***…!”
Enraged, Viscount McTarn drew his sword.
Clang!
But the sword he drew clashed with another and flew far away.
Viscount McTarn looked at Brantley while grabbing his wrist, he was the one who knocked the sword away, with astonishment.
“Capture him too!”
All the knights aimed their swords at Brantley.
Brantley, however, smiled ironically. It was a less concerning situation to him, who faced multiple at the borders.
‘I can’t let him fight alone. I have to help Brantley.’
I tapped the shoulder of Viscount McTarn, who was only focusing on Brantley.
“Who’s capturing whom??”
“Who are you to interrupt?! I’ll go to the…”
Viscount McTarn, who was bursting with anger, was taken aback and stumbled upon realizing my presence.
“Hanelope Von Reinhardt…??” His face subtly changed as he realized who I was, “How can the Princess really be here?”
His reaction was surprising, the Viscount seemed to know that I would be here.
“The informant said that Princess Hanelope was a part of the Demonic Cult, but I didn’t believe him.”
“That’s what the informant said?” I smirked, trying to guess who the informant might be, “Then you must know this, too…”
“?”
“That this is not a Cult, but the Cran branch of my charitable foundation.”
“Charitable foundation?” Viscount McTarn repeated, “I’ve heard that the Princess runs a scholarship foundation, but I’ve never heard that you also run a charitable foundation.”
“I recently expanded my scholarship foundation into a charity foundation.”
Viscount McTarn frowned as he listened to me.
“I haven’t heard of such! Princess are you being forced to make up stories for them? Unless you have proof, I find it hard to believe.”
These were the words I had been waiting for.
I immediately pulled out the ‘authorization’ I had received today.
Viscount McTaren went white as a sheet when he saw it.
It read, ‘Princess Hanelope’s Scholarship Foundation is to be extended as a Charitable Foundation,’ and it was stamped with the Emperor’s seal.
‘The organisation chart included the Cran branch.’
I had this planned.
‘Apart from Brantley, Aite was another concern for me. I couldn’t let a sealed one slip away.’
If I was going to stand up to Prache, who would one day reappear, I needed to get Ait on my side.
“I-Is this true?” Viscount McTarn asked the crouching men.
They hesitated, and no one answered. Then a golden vine slithered down from the darkness, twitching as if nodding in affirmation.
The elderly who spotted it spoke up, “Yes, yes, sir, it is true.”
“We bring together couples that need help. The Princess noticed our work and decided to help.”
Viscount MacTaren was terribly puzzled.
“But the informant told us there were worshippers of the demons…”
“Who is the informant?” I asked.
Viscount McTarn replied blankly, “A man named Thomas Purple, of the Purple family.”
That’s how it is!
Apparently, Thomas has been holding grudges.
“Thomas was recently punished for giving the student council president sleeping pills and breaking Barbetz’s rules. How can you rely on his words?”
“I- I was not aware of that,” Viscount McTarn said despondently.
“Then I suppose it’s time for me to ask you, Viscount, what you think I should do about you?”
“What?”
“What do you think is a suitable punishment for trespassing on a foundation authorised by His Majesty the Emperor?”
Viscount McTarn’s face paled at my words.
***
Two notices had been posted on the notice board in Barbetz since morning.
< Expulsion of Thomas Purple >
Reason: Indiscipline and defamation of the school.
Although discipline was strict at Barbetz’s, the emphasis was more on discipline than on punishment. Expulsions were rare.
But the students weren’t surprised. They were expecting it. But what caught their attention was another announcement.
< Announcement of Early Graduation Candidates>
……
Hanelope von Reinhardt
……
……
Kathrine Spigent
Fritzka Spigent
‘The Spiegent twins made it.’
But I couldn’t help smiling.
‘Brantley hasn’t told me his decision yet.’
Aite and the order have already agreed. There were conditions, of course.
“I know how to break seals,” said Aite, weaving golden vines into the shape of a slender woman.
After the Viscount apologized and left, we were on our way to the dorm, and that’s when Aite appeared.
The sparrows were in a frenzy of excitement.
“Peep, peep, peep!”
“Peep, peep, peep!”
– “Only the power of the unsealed god can release us…”
But at the next words, the sparrows lost their morale.
– “It’s impossible…”
Todd and Natu groaned in unison.
There was only one unsealed God in the world right now, and that was Prache.
‘The one who sealed the gods would never unseal them.’
I looked pitifully at the two sparrows squawking on the floor. Aite looked at them disdainfully.
– “You idiots..”
– “What is it?”
– “Did I finish my sentence?”
Aite shrugged her shoulders.
– “You forgot about Grouser.”
Of the four gods sealed by Prache, the last one I never met. He was Grouser.
– “Did YOU forget Grouser was sealed too?” Todd sneered.
– “But he made one last attempt before he was sealed.”
– “You mean the last shred of power he used to scribe the book of Kochs?” Natu asked, amused.
Then Ait said in frustration.
– “What Grouser left behind wasn’t just a shard of power, it was an incarnation of himself.”
Note: Hi guys! Aite will be addressed as a ‘she’, as she is seen taking a woman like form. I’ve fixed the previous chapters. LMK if you notice any mistakes.
