Chapter 73

In the face of Edelis’s relentless questioning, the Saintess’s lips were sealed. It was clear she was struggling to come up with an answer. It seemed she hadn’t given much thought to the consequences after the kidnapping and taking the book.

‘And after kidnapping me, she probably would have killed me without any repercussions?’

Edelis felt a renewed sense of relief that she had escaped. With a much calmer mind, she waited for the Saintess’s response.

“Saintess? Was my question too difficult?”

“…”

“Then, I’ll change the question. Why did you ask to see my book back then?”

She said she was changing the question, but the underlying meaning was not very different. She wished the Saintess would just speak up, but she just kept her mouth shut. Still, Edelis was relaxed. She had plenty of time.

‘Though from the Saintess’s perspective, every second must feel like an eternity.’

Edelis forced her lips to remain straight, but couldn’t quite hide her triumphant expression. Lehan stroked her face and smiled, which allowed Edelis to return a natural, bright smile.

“That, that book…”

“That book?”

“Isn’t it because it’s a book that shows the future?”

“That book shows the future?”

Oh my, how did she know that? The big fish had finally taken the bait Edelis had cast. But she wasn’t going to let her guard down yet. The fish had only bitten, not been reeled in. She had to take it out of the water without being impatient. Edelis, without showing any anxiety, was trying to bring the truth of the kidnapping to the surface. Edelis feigned a look of surprise and stared at the Saintess. The Saintess stared back with an expression that said, “Why don’t you know?” Lehan was the one who broke the momentary silence.

“Was that the book the Saintess mentioned before?”

It was only then that the Saintess realized her mistake, but she couldn’t take back what she had said. She might have wanted to turn back time, but the Saintess had no such ability.

“O-oh, no, that!”

“If that book truly can show the future, I can understand why the Saintess would be so interested in it.”

“…”

It was amusing to see her try to keep her mouth shut, hoping no one would notice her slip-up. But Edelis was not so foolish as to miss it. She had thrown that bait for a reason.

“But how did you know that book could see the future?”

“The… the title of the book was visible. The title was the same as the book that shows the future.”

“That’s even stranger. Didn’t you say the title of the book wasn’t passed down?”

-What is the title of that book?

-Unfortunately, the title wasn’t passed down. If it had been, I might have looked for it myself.

Edelis remembered everything about the book. She couldn’t forget it because her life depended on it. So, it would be best for the Saintess to stop trying to use absurd excuses, but given the severity of the crime, she wouldn’t give up easily.

“I was there at the time and I remember it, too.”

Since Lehan, who was also present, was on Edelis’s side, the Saintess couldn’t deny it anymore.

“Would you care to explain?”

“An oracle, I heard an oracle! I didn’t know at the time, but I heard an oracle later.”

“Then why didn’t you say anything?”

“Is there any reason why I must tell you the contents of an oracle?”

The Saintess, thinking she had overcome the crisis, spoke with confidence again. In fact, she seemed to think the atmosphere had shifted and even tried to pressure Edelis.

“Besides, Your Majesty the Empress, why did you have a book that sees the future and not tell me? Shouldn’t you have told the temple?”

“I didn’t know that book could see the future.”

“That’s a lie! I already explained everything about the book before!”

“I only thought there were a lot of similarities. I didn’t think it was that book.”

“Didn’t the contents you saw in the book actually happen? Are you still going to deny it?”

The Saintess kept shouting for her to admit it, but Edelis didn’t even flinch.

“Enough. I will not overlook any more rudeness, Saintess.”

“But is it okay for the Empress to lie like this?!”

“Whether that book can actually see the future or not is not important.”

“How is that not important?! It’s so important!”

“Do you remember why the book was brought up in the first place?”

“The client, who took the book…”

Lehan nodded. In the end, what mattered wasn’t what kind of book it was, but whether the Saintess knew there was a reason to take it. Because the person who knew why the client had to take the book would be the suspect.

“That’s right. The Cronad Empire now considers the person who knew the value of the book and was after it to be the culprit.”

“You’ve said that a few times, I know!”

“But what others would just see as a book, you declared to be ‘the book,’ and even said it was the one you had been looking for.”

What Lehan had seen was a stack of papers with no content, only a title. So, it was unreasonable to call it a ‘book.’ But the Saintess had not only referred to it as ‘the book’ but had also proven its value herself.

“I could have noticed it from the title…”

“Didn’t you say you found out the book’s title through an oracle? In that case, unless you’ve conveyed the oracle’s contents to others, no one else would have a reason to think that book was one that could see the future just by its title.”

That was true. The Saintess had previously stated the conditions for relaying an oracle. She could only tell people who were related to it.

“If it wasn’t you, then you must have already relayed the oracle’s contents to someone related to the book… Is that the case?”

“I-I don’t remember. I can’t easily tell others the contents of an oracle!”

“If that’s not the case, then the culprit of the Empress’s kidnapping is you, so you’d better speak up.”

“…T-that can’t be.”

The Saintess’s hands, which were holding her teacup, trembled.

“I-I remember. I did tell someone, but I don’t remember who it was because I saw them for the first time.”

“If they’re related to the book, they must be a key figure, right? Me, Lehan, the Saintess, and even Sir Frache.”

“Frache?”

“Am I wrong?”

Lehan couldn’t hide his surprise when Sir Frache’s name was mentioned. Edelis couldn’t answer Lehan’s question right now. She was pouring all her focus into the Saintess. The Saintess’s brows were furrowed, and her expression was one of extreme anger.

“So it was you…”

“That’s too much to say. Anyway, let’s put that aside. If the kidnapping was my own doing, I wouldn’t be looking for the book like this, and Pasis wouldn’t be in prison.”

“It’s not me, obviously.”

“I know, Lehan. Then all that’s left is Sir Frache… did you tell Sir Frache?”

Edelis asked the Saintess, but she already knew the answer. From the character introduction alone, it was unbelievable that Sir Frache, who was said to be completely loyal to the Imperial Family, would commit a treasonous act. Moreover, why would Sir Frache, the Emperor’s right-hand man and next Grand Duke, risk kidnapping the Empress? In the end, the most likely person was the Saintess.

“…”

“We’ll know if we just call Sir Frache here.”

“Wait! Just because someone knows the value of the book doesn’t mean they’re definitely the culprit, does it?”

“If the client didn’t know the value of the book, they would have quickly taken the Empress and left the Imperial Palace instead of picking up a book that had fallen to the ground unnecessarily.”

If they had delayed even a little, they would have been massacred.

“…Even if it’s not a book that sees the future, the client might have thought that there was a book of such value among the books you had.”

“Of course, there are many valuable books. Even if they were in the forbidden library, I would have them moved to her study if I thought Edelis would be interested.”

“What?!”

Edelis, who had just thought there were many slightly old books, was so surprised that she shouted without thinking, but Lehan continued as if nothing had happened.

“But even a forbidden book isn’t as valuable as a book that can see the future. So let’s end this unnecessary debate that’s just dragging on.”

“…”

“The person who would have taken the book that Edelis had with her at the time is someone who knows exactly what kind of book it is, isn’t it? And that’s only you, who heard the story through an oracle.”

Lehan raised his hand, and the knights who were waiting nearby rushed over and surrounded them.

“W-what is the meaning of this…”

“I think we have all the conditions necessary to detain you now, don’t we?”

“Your Majesty!”

“We will treat you as a suspect in the Empress’s kidnapping case, Elaine Ryned.”

Lehan gestured with his chin, and the knights immediately grabbed the Saintess by both arms and pulled her up from her seat. No matter how much of a Saintess she was, in the Empire, she was still beneath the Emperor. And it wasn’t a simple case, but the kidnapping of the Empress. Generally, if there was only one person suspected of being the culprit in the Empire, summary judgment was possible, so being dragged away by the knights was a polite way of doing things.

“Do you think you can do this to me?! Do you think the Holy Empire will just stand by and do nothing?!”

“I’ve given you unnecessary explanations because you are called the Saintess. Do you need more explanations? It would have been very different if you weren’t a Saintess.”

“Y-Your Majesty, how could you do this to me…”

The Saintess was confused by the unexpected situation and kept muttering, “How could you do this to me?” over and over again.

“Your Majesty!”

“What is it, Edelis?”

Lehan answered Edelis in a warm tone that was completely different from the cold tone he had used with the Saintess, so warm it was as if a spring breeze was blowing.

“Are you going to detain the Saintess?”

“She is a strong suspect, and I don’t believe there is another culprit. But given the situation, I can’t carry out a summary execution.”

“No summary execution!”

There are so many things I want to ask her! Why did she take my book, did she get any results, and how much does she know?!

“Honestly, Edelis. How can you live in this harsh Imperial Palace being so kind…”

“Who says I’m just kind?”

“It’s okay. I’ll get rid of all the thorny paths for you.”

Lehan smiled softly and stroked Edelis’s cheek. Edelis was flustered because it was the first time she had ever been called “just kind.”

“Don’t worry, Edelis. We are just detaining her because there’s a risk of her fleeing.”

“In the dungeon?”

“Hmm, shall we do that?”

Lehan had even considered making a spot for her next to Pasis if Edelis just said the word. It was better to make her beg for death rather than killing her cleanly. If something had happened to Edelis… Lehan would have thought that he would rather die, too. So, he thought it was right to inflict the same pain on them.

“No! Send her to the palace where I was confined, no, where I was kidnapped.”

“Understood.”

“That’s absurd! Why would I go there?!”

When Lehan frowned, the knights quickly dragged the Saintess away. She kept screaming even as she was being dragged away. Lehan comforted Edelis, telling her she had been through a lot, but Edelis knew. This wasn’t the end of it, just detaining the Saintess.

‘I should go to the Saintess right away.’