The expressions of the dazed people, lips unable to hide their admiration, the frozen air…
I knew it would be like this.
Everything was vividly visible and felt by me. Faces dyed with ecstasy, making the curses they had been spouting seem meaningless. But more than that. What is he thinking?
Redian’s appearance, facing the world, was intriguing. When did he, who used to ask for hugs when nervous… The blue eyes that appeared between his silver hair held no fear or tension. Instead, the predatory aura that had been hidden behind the mask became even clearer.
“Grand Prince will have to take responsibility for your words.”
That was enough.
I stepped in front of Redian, shielding him from the pouring gazes. It wasn’t the time yet.
“Where on my knights’ faces do you see any brand?”
“…How?”
Ash’s face turned cold in disbelief.
“If the goddess guarding the empire was angered by my knights.”
On the contrary, my gaze looking at him now could afford to be very relaxed.
“Why then did the wizard Stony die, not my knights?”
“…”
“Isn’t it proof directly from the goddess about who should be the target of punishment?”
My argument was indisputable. Why Stony’s family fled in fear, who was distorting the will of the goddess would soon be revealed.
“Ha, so now.”
Ash spoke again after a long pause. He and I, who once were close friends and fiancés, were now facing each other in front of everyone. People watched us in silent anticipation.
“Are you claiming that the goddess protected them?” He laughed low as if it was ridiculous. “Just a moment ago, you said these Norma were knights trained for the Meteora Empire…”
But I knew too well that the end of his lips was trembling.
“You’re exaggerating too much for someone in the presence of His Majesty.”
Ash Benio’s and my gazes clashed sharply in the air.
“Since when has Felicite been so loyal to the empire and the imperial family?”
I recognized that look. The eyes of someone driven mad by inferiority and haste. Ash was destroying his own reputation.
“For the past 20 years, what has the Felicite ducal family done for the prosperity of the empire and the imperial family!”
But the more he ranted, the more it played into my favor.
Memories from the past surfaced as we were doing this again. When I was put on trial carrying the protagonist’s sins, and when I was put on the stake for being a fallen princess.
“As everyone knows.”
I began to speak, hiding my hands behind my back. It was a habit I had developed back in those days. I didn’t want anyone to see my trembling, unremarkable hands.
“During her lifetime, the late royal princess had a close relationship with my mother.”
But then, at that moment.
“…”
I almost trailed off as I felt a faint touch on my fingertips. Redian’s hand and mine were secretly intertwined behind my back. He slowly, yet quite firmly, interlocked our fingers as if to affirm his presence to me.
He’s being cute. I knew what Redian was trying to say to me.
“So, I grew up reciting the prayers left by the late royal princess since I was young.”
Knowing someone was backing me up.
Even in the midst of the chilly air, that presence seemed to strengthen me more than any anger could.
“May the light of the goddess reach even those abandoned in darkness. May her love spread even to those who were meant to be erased.”
“…”
“Our Felicite ducal family’s underground castle was built to honor that prayer.”
Perhaps that’s why my hand, which had been only cold until now, was slowly warming in his warmth.
“You’re recklessly speaking without proof.” Ash countered without missing a beat. “The underground castle of Felicite has been rumored to raise murderous weapons for its own benefit.”
There was no one who didn’t know of the full-hearted love the late royal princess had extended. Thus, she remained an object of nostalgia for the empire’s citizens even now.
“How could such a place uphold the late royal princess’s will and be loyal to the Rixon royal family?”
Public opinion, fueled by nostalgia for the late royal princess, was bound to be in my favor.
“No matter how much you want to protect your knights, using the names of the Rixon imperial family and the late royal princess so lightly—” Ash, too, was frantic because he knew this.
“I will prove Felicite’s loyalty myself.”
At that moment, as if waiting, the curtains were drawn aside…
“Yo-Your Majesty the Empress!”
It was an unbelievable entrance. The hall buzzed again at the sight of the empress, who had not appeared in public for several months.
“I was planning to just watch from behind the curtain, as I haven’t fully recovered yet.”
There had been numerous rumors about the empress’s disappearance, claiming she was rotting away or had contracted a mysterious disease.
“Seeing my benefactor, the princess, being misunderstood, my heart ached.”
But now, her appearance was only slightly pale, with no trace of the rumors to be found.
“For several months, I suffered from an inexplicable skin disease, failing in my duty as an empress.” The empress continued, placing her hand over her heart. “Every night, I felt as if my flesh was being torn apart.”
This soulful act of survival.
“The princess spent long nights with me, searching for a cure that neither the imperial doctors nor magicians could find.”
Those adept lines.
“She would research it in the underground castle until dawn and then come to apply ointment to me as the day broke.”
I wasn’t Lee Juyong, but why did I see myself in her?
“Thanks to her, I was able to return to this place.”
No one dared to object to her heartfelt appeal.
“Just because it wasn’t visible doesn’t mean Felicite’s loyalty to the imperial family and the empire can be denied.”
My bag of tricks is the best. It’s always thrilling.
The atmosphere was heightened even further by the empress’s appearance.
“…”
But Redian seemed uninterested in anything other than my hand. I wonder if he’ll still be like this even when he becomes the crown prince. His hand, entangling with mine as if tickling, was interfering with my immersion.
“Your Majesty, even Her Majesty suffered greatly from an inexplicable skin disease.” I pushed Redian’s hand away and bowed to the emperor. “How can ordinary citizens, who cannot even use magic stones, endure such pain?”
With the empress setting the stage, it was now my turn.
“Please allow me, with my humble skills, to alleviate their suffering.”
The sanctity monopolized by the Benio family is the unattainable level of mercy.
“I intend to establish a foundation to distribute the grace bestowed upon us by the goddess to all.”
It was my turn to take all that away.
“Also, in honor of the late royal princess’s will and to show loyalty to the Rixon royal family…”
My voice resonated in the silence.
“I will name that foundation’ Minerva.’”
The guardian of wisdom leading heroes. With that, the game was over.
* * *
At the same time, High Priest Kailus was looking down at the scene in the banquet hall through a glass window.
“What a curious event.”
At the same time, a senior priest standing behind him spoke up.
“How can this be the resolve of a lady who has just come of age…”
However, the high priest’s gaze was fixed on a boy the entire time. Those silver hair, the blue eyes beneath… A face so beautiful it made the carefully crafted mask seem pathetic. Above all, there was an irresistible sense of déjà vu. It felt like he had once brushed past him…
“At last!”
At that moment.
“Your Holiness! Are you alright?!” The senior priest asked urgently, having noticed something. The white glove Kailus was wearing was suddenly stained with purple blood.
“…What is this?”
The senior priest’s expression twisted at the sight.
“Why has this started happening suddenly?”
It had been since the last monster hunting competition that Kailus occasionally bled inexplicably. The senior priest could not even begin to guess what it meant. However, Kailus simply looked down at his hand calmly.
“Remember, my Ananke. Your blood is the tears I shed.”
At the same time, a line from a prophecy crossed his mind.
The tears shed by the goddess. Those tears of blood were pooling in his hand.
Kailus turned his gaze back down to the stage in the banquet hall. The woman who appeared like a beam of light one day and the boy who escaped the darkness with that light…
“There must be a reason.” Musing to himself, Kailus murmured softly. “The goddess must want to tell me something.”
Redian is adorableeeeeeeeee