Chapter 97

“Why?”

“I know the reason you’ve kept me alive. You needed a witness. I can testify as much as you need.”

“Then,”

“But give me some time before I testify.”

“…For what reason?”

Berman Pasis smiled bitterly at Edelis’s question.

“I can’t give you a firm date, but in case things don’t go well, should I sign a document?”

“Wait a minute, Berman Pasis.”

Berman Pasis’s eyes were fierce, as if he were ready to kill someone right now. It wasn’t hard to understand his feelings, as he had been used and used, and the other person had no intention of fulfilling the dream he so desperately longed for.

“Why? Do you feel guilty that the person who tried to kill you might die?”

“But.”

“Knights think when they draw their swords. If I swing my sword and the opponent dies, I too can be struck by a sword.”

“…”

“So the Saintess, who demanded your life, must have been prepared for that much.”

While Edelis remained silent, it was Frache who broke the silence.

“First, based on your testimony, we will secure the Saintess’s person.”

“So you’re going to behead her?”

“…If His Majesty’s judgment is so, then yes.”

“But if she escapes again…”

“There will be no next time. Once it is clearly proven that she tried to murder the Empress, she will not be able to escape the death penalty.”

“Won’t the citizens rise up again?”

“That possibility is low. There will be many who are conflicted between their religion and their nation. But this time, it’s not ‘she was unjustly imprisoned,’ but ‘she tried to murder the Empress,’ isn’t it?”

Berman’s expression darkened as he listened to the conversation between Frache and Edelis. But he hid his expression as much as possible and continued.

“Whatever the case, I have to get out to do something.”

“That’s right.”

Edelis motioned to Frache, and he opened the dungeon door. The guards who had been waiting outside came in and moved Pasis, who looked like he was about to collapse, to the main building of the mansion.

“…I’ll call you when I’m ready. Recover until then.”

“Understood.”

Edelis now had to tell Lehan about the situation and prepare to arrest the Saintess. The time had come to put an end to her tiresome relationship with her.

***

The Saintess was in a very good mood. The long-awaited guest was finally arriving. If things had gone according to plan, the matter would have been settled when the Pope came to the temple last night, but for some reason, he had stayed at the Imperial Palace instead of the temple. But the plan was only delayed by one day.

“Lorenz.”

“Yes, Saintess.”

“I need to use the knights you have raised.”

“…There are almost none left.”

The knights Lorenz had raised in private, not the Holy Knights. They were children Lorenz had picked up when they were dying, to whom he gave his grace and raised as his private army. They were the ones he used to do his dirty work in the shadows to strengthen his power. Originally, there were many of them, but they had died in an ambush on the Empress before her marriage, as she was entering the Imperial Palace.

“It’s okay. This will be the last time.”

“…Didn’t you say you wouldn’t kill her and would just watch?”

The Saintess had originally planned to kill Edelis quickly. She didn’t want Lehan to marry anyone else, even for a moment. But Edelis lived and entered the Imperial Palace, the security was strict, and she had no one to use as her hands and feet. No matter how powerful the Assassin’s Guild was, there was no one who would dare to invade the Imperial Palace and kill the Empress. So the Saintess, out of frustration, changed her plan to seeing Edelis die by Lehan’s sword, just like in the book, after Edelis and Lehan had gotten married. But now, for Edelis to be stabbed by Lehan’s sword, an immense amount of divine power was needed. The time to collect that divine power was included in the time she had to turn back, and there was a limit to how much divine power she could take from the priests. The number of priests was limited.

“I can think about it after I kill her.”

The Saintess only considered Edelis to be a character in a book. It didn’t matter if she lived or died.

“…Understood.”

“So, when is the Pope coming?”

“In about 30 minutes.”

“Alright. You may leave. I need to get ready, don’t I?”

“…Yes.”

After Lorenz bowed and left, the Saintess took out the book with a light heart. And she made a plan in her head.

‘Once I get the divine power…’

First, kill the Empress. Second, overwrite Keirhan’s memory with the memory of him killing the Empress. Third, use the remaining divine power to implant memories of good times she and he spent together in his mind. And repeat the third step whenever her divine power recovered.

‘Then as time passes, it will become more and more like the book. It’s a perfect plan.’

As the first step, she needed to get divine power from the Pope. In the book, the Pope had monopolized all the power again after the Saintess, Elaine, left the Holy Empire and became the Empress of the Cronad Empire. So this time, she planned to let Lorenz, who was like her hands and feet, monopolize the power, and she would become the Empress of the Cronad Empire. The Saintess recalled the part in the book where Keirhan lovingly whispered to her, and she drank her tea with satisfaction. Soon after, the Pope arrived. The Saintess welcomed him with a face full of smiles.

“I must go soon, Saintess. What is the new oracle?”

“Where must you go?”

“…I have an audience with His Majesty the Emperor soon. So please tell me the contents of the oracle!”

“I will go meet His Majesty.”

“Pardon?”

The Saintess immediately reached out both arms toward the Pope’s neck. The Pope, surprised by the unexpected attack from the Saintess, tried to stop her, but she was already strangling him, so all he could do was grab her wrists.

“As I was doing this, I found out I can also take divine power. If I had known there was such an easy way, I wouldn’t have harassed the priests so much.”

“Cough! Ugh!”

The Emperor had told him to wait and not leave. He had also added that if he had to leave, he should be accompanied by knights. But the Pope couldn’t help but step up when he was told a new oracle had come. So he came with the knights. The knights were waiting outside, but they couldn’t sense the commotion inside. It was too late for the Pope to regret not listening to the Emperor’s words.

“Hah.”

The Saintess sighed with satisfaction, feeling a thrill as the divine power filled her body. The Pope was, as expected, incomparable to a low-ranking priest. She took the very last of the divine power from the Pope, who had fainted from lack of breath. And then, she calmly rang a bell to call a high-ranking priest who had been assisting her from the Imperial Palace. When he rushed over, thinking the Pope had called him, she took his divine power as well.

“Heh, hahaha!”

The Saintess couldn’t stop laughing. Tears even formed in her eyes from laughing so much.

“Yes, yes, this is great.”

Lorenz, who came to the Saintess’s room late, saw her laughing out loud. And he saw the Pope and the high-ranking priest collapsed at her feet.

“W-what is this…”

“Lorenz. Go back to the Holy Empire and prepare for the coronation.”

“…Understood. To carry out your will, my children will also be ready tonight.”

“That’s right. I will come here as soon as the coronation is over, so please take good care of the Holy Empire.”

“Yes!”

Only the laughter of the two people filled the room.

***

Lehan was waiting for the Pope, having heard that he had finally left the room. What made him even more anxious was Edelis, who had gone to the Duke’s mansion. He was so surprised when he later found the letter she had left behind. So when she finally returned, he had to heave a sigh of relief.

“Edelis!”

“Were you worried? I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s enough that you came back safe and sound. If I had my way, I’d want you to always be accompanied by the knights.”

This was the same Lehan who had told her to get rid of the guards she had before. But after Edelis told him about the numerous attacks she had endured the previous night, his worry had reached its peak. It was as if even this had returned to the way it was before.

“I had to go quietly, so I couldn’t. I’ll make sure to do that from now on.”

“So. So why did you go to the Duke’s mansion?”

Lehan’s eyes sharpened. It was even more so because he had heard that Sir Frache was her temporary guard and that she was close with his sister.

“Berman Pasis was there.”

“…Why was Berman Pasis there?”

“Because I was afraid you would forget about him. He’s an important witness, so I couldn’t just let him die, so I… for a little while…”

Edelis smiled awkwardly. She had taken a prisoner the Emperor had put in jail.

“So?”

“He has agreed to testify that the Saintess hired him to kill me.”

“…I see. I see. The Saintess.”

He seemed quite shocked by how different she was from the Saintess in his memories.

“So we have to hold a trial. We have to secure the testimony before the Saintess can do anything.”

“You wanted to save the Saintess’s life before, didn’t you? This time, I’ll be the one to pass judgment on her.”

“…I have no intention of saving the Saintess either. What if you lose your memory again? And then tell me not to sneak into your bedroom.”

“Let’s not talk about that. It won’t happen again.”

Lehan abruptly cut her off. But he thought that was the only thing he could have done at the time. He knew nothing about the Empress. Of course, the Empress knew about him, but if so, he wished she had told him sooner.

“Just try that again. Seriously, then I’ll have to ask for a divorce right away.”

“Edelis, please. I’ll have to prepare for the Saintess’s trial right away, if only to not get a divorce from you.”

Edelis agreed with him. The most important witness was Berman Pasis. And to prevent the Holy Empire from interfering, they had to win over the Pope. They had already spoken with the Pope, so a trial was necessary.

“After Berman Pasis is ready, I’d like to protect him in the Imperial Palace, just like the Pope.”

“…The problem is the Pope. He left a message for the servants saying he was going to the temple.”

“The temple, why on earth…”

“I don’t think there’s anything special, but I don’t understand why he went to the temple where the Saintess is.”

“…When did the Pope go to the temple?”

“The report came in around 9 AM…”

Edelis checked the time after hearing his story, and it was already almost 2 PM.

“And there’s been no news until now?”

“I’ll send someone right away.”

Just as Lehan was about to send someone, a knight burst through the door.

“Your Majesty!”

“What’s wrong!”

When the knight entered, it was the one Lehan had ordered to escort the Pope. Since he had rushed back, it was surely not good news. The knight said to the tense Lehan and Edelis: “His Holiness the Pope… has been excommunicated.”

“The Pope?!”

“Yes, he was thrown out of the temple while unconscious.”

“What in the…”

As they were flustered by the unexpected situation, the chamberlain’s voice was heard from outside again.

“Your, Your Majesty!”

The chamberlain’s voice continued even as Lehan, who was thinking about various situations, couldn’t answer.

“The, the Saintess has arrived!”