“The Pavelo Temple is stripped of its Imperial Temple qualification! Furthermore, all financial support received from the Imperial family must be repaid over ten years, with interest calculated at the Imperial official rate.”
“What, what do you mean by that! I will formally protest through the Vatican!”
“You haven’t even been punished yet for deceiving the Imperial family and the nobility.”
Hearing Anais’s cold and threatening voice, everyone, including John, became curious about the reason behind this decision.
At that moment, it was Abel who stepped forward to support Anais.
“When that demon was inside me, he realized that the urn in the temple was not that of Lancer Aquinal. Lancer Aquinal was a great wizard who possessed the magical core of a dragon, and if it was his remains after his death, then magical power should be felt there as well. Most wizards would probably know that there is no magical power felt from the urn.”
At those words, John’s face turned pale.
“Your Highness was under the demon’s influence! How can you spread such malicious rumors?!”
“If you’re so confident, you can take out the urn and have wizards examine it.”
“We cannot just take out the most sacred relic of our temple!”
Anais smirked at John’s protest.
“Setting all that aside, didn’t Black Dragon Rabes return in the end? Rabes, who was said to be an evil dragon, defeated the real evil dragon and restored the ruined palace before quietly leaving. Meanwhile, what exactly were the High Priest and Pavelo Temple doing with their divine power all this time? Or rather, did they even use it?”
“T–That’s….”
“And yet, the supposedly pure and righteous High Priest has built a rather large villa in Akatera. I might have been able to overlook the bribes flowing there, but I didn’t know that you were also accepting young women as bribes.”
John couldn’t say anything.
Judging from Anais’s definitive statement, it seemed like she had already done all the research.
The wealth and power he had only just begun to grasp were now vanishing like a mirage before his eyes.
* * *
The capital would be in turmoil for some time with Anais’s coronation, the ensuing distribution of rewards, and the massive purge of corruption by Sasha.
The atmosphere at Count Newt’s—no, now Viscount Newt’s—mansion was gloomy.
But it wasn’t just because of Sasha’s downfall.
“Elaine Riel… A Baron, huh? Hah, haha!”
Lark burst into laughter as he recalled Elaine receiving the title of Baron and a castle from the new Emperor.
Elaine, who had disappeared from Sasha’s villa, reappeared far more composed than before.
She was granted a barony for her “decisive contributions in exposing Sasha Hebron’s schemes,” though the details remained vague.
“Elaine! What the hell is going on?”
“Ah, Viscount Newt. I’m afraid I cannot tell you the details as there was an imperial order to keep quiet. Well then, I will go now.”
Elaine, whom he met at the palace, passed by with unblinking eyes, as if Lark was a stranger.
Beside her, Sergey’s gaze was equally unforgettable.
It was a clear look of caution towards a man who was trying to touch his woman.
“There must be a way. A way to bring Elaine…”
“Lark! Please, just stop already!”
Lark, who had been lost in thought, suddenly came to his senses at the sound he heard.
“Lorina…?”
He had thought he was alone in his office, but there stood Lorina, her face filled with frustration as she tried to hold back tears.
“Elaine is a stranger now. She’s not your cousin!”
“A different last name doesn’t erase a blood relationship.”
“No! She was never related to you in the first place!”
Lorina, who had always acted cautious in front of Lark, shouted.
“What do you mean?”
“I had someone do some background check on that woman named Mariel. She wasn’t the illegitimate daughter of the previous Count Newt, but a witch from a village where witches gathered!”
“She must have been the daughter of one of those witches and my grandfather. Why else would he take her in as his illegitimate child?”
“I think it has something to do with the dragon stone that was missing from this house. They say he used magic to run the family business using that woman.”
Lorina waved several documents confirming Mariel’s family relations in front of Lark’s eyes.
“Mariel’s father was just a blacksmith from a nearby town. Your grandfather simply went to that witch village and bought a girl he could easily control.”
“That can’t be.…”
It was the first time Lark had heard of it.
But Lorina insisted it was true, handing him a thick report she had paid a fortune to obtain from an intelligence guild staffed with mages.
“Since the former Count personally declared her his daughter, you and your father never questioned it. But this information wasn’t hard to uncover if you had the money. If you doubt it, hire another investigator yourself.”
As Lark carefully examined the documents, he had to admit they were credible.
But rather than feeling betrayed or angry, a different emotion surged within him.
“So…. Elaine and I… are not related by blood…?”
His heart was pounding strangely.
It felt as though a long-locked gate had suddenly burst open.
One by one, memories of Elaine surfaced—memories he had always dismissed as childish.
Her wheat-colored hair fluttered in the wind, her graceful posture, her light-green eyes that always carried an unreadable emotion when she looked at him, her shy smile that disappeared in an instant, her slender yet upright back and shoulders…
“Elaine and I, we’re not cousins…? We’re not related by blood at all…?”
His mouth opened slightly.
“Then… what was I holding back for?”
The strange heat that surfaced from time to time.
The impulse to touch Elaine’s cheek or the crown of her head.
The satisfaction he felt whenever she leaned against him.
Each time, he had told himself it was wrong. And he had convinced himself that the reason was because they were cousins.
He knew that the law permitted cousins to marry, so he needed that excuse—any excuse—to suppress his urges.
“I need to find Elaine… I can’t accept it ending like this!”
As Lark stood up, looking ready to rush out of the door, Lorina caught her.
“Elaine is engaged to Sergey Lindell! Stop it, please! What more can I do to get you to look at me!”
Only then did Lark look at Lorina as if he recognized her presence. He turned to her, as if noticing her for the first time.
“Come to think of it, weren’t you the one who tormented Elaine the most? You tried to have her killed by a monster, you ostracized her at the temple… Oh, and you were also the one who got her expelled.”
“N-No! That’s not true!”
“As you said, there’s not much that money can’t buy.”
Lorina collapsed in front of him and cried, begging.
“I just wanted you to see me! If Elaine was gone, if that girl wasn’t there—I thought you would finally notice me! Why are you so obsessed with someone who doesn’t even suit you?”
“Obsession…?”
Lark thought carefully about Lorina’s words.
Lorina had been saying for a long time that he was obsessed with Elaine. And now, she was saying she thought he would finally see her if Elaine disappeared.
Lark asked as if trying to confirm something.
“Did you know what feelings I had for Elaine?”
Lorina’s wet eyes looking up at him were filled with resentment.
“Even if others didn’t know, I couldn’t not know. Because I love you.”
She had tried to ignore it.
She had wanted to believe Lark only saw Elaine as a family asset or a cousin in need of protection.
But Lorina had always been watching him—she had always been focused on him. And so, she knew exactly where his gaze was always drawn.
It wasn’t even a simple lust.
Every time Lark looked at Elaine, the cold face he always wore would subtly soften.
“I need you to say it out loud. What kind of feelings did I have for Elaine?”
“Do I really… have to say it?”
“Yes. I need to hear it.”
Lorina thought Lark was too cruel. No, he was always cruel.
She wanted to resent him, but what she resented most was her own fate of loving such a cruel person.
“You liked her. You’ve always liked her. Ever since we were seven….”
His gaze was only directed at the skinny girl in shabby clothes standing in the corner, not at herself.
And that was why Lorina had hated Elaine from the very beginning.
Because she was the only girl who got Lark’s attention, which she never got at all.
“Ah…. I see….”
Lark murmured blankly.
Only now was he realizing it.
Why everyone had tried to take Elaine away from him.
Why he had gone so far as to push his own father down the stairs to get her back.
And he realized something else.
‘I was the one who made Elaine, who loved me, leave.’
The memory of Elaine’s cold expression surfaced in his mind—the way she had shaken off his hand in disgust.
The cold Elaine who had once loved him, but had been so hurt and disappointed that she had said she no longer loved him.
“It’s too late to turn back.”
That truth finally pierced through his heart like an icy blade.
“Lady Lorina Dardill.”
“Lark….”
Lorina looked up at Lark, who was calling her, with a glimmer of anticipation.
‘Maybe, just maybe Lark had finally given up on Elaine, or rather, had no choice but to give up on her, so now he would let her go.’
But Lark was cruel to the end.
“I will be sending an official request for engagement annulment soon.”
“W–What.…?”
“We seem too mismatched to be together.”
“What, what are you talking about? This is ridiculous! An annulment?!”
“Please leave.”
Lark opened the door to the office expressionlessly and looked at Lorina.
It was a sign that she should leave immediately.
* * *
Well, Lark is as delusional as ever. How does he think this will turn out?
I thought bro was finally getting less dense when Elaine ignored him but ig not 🤦🏻♀️ hopefully he does something with the “it’s too late to turn back”