Frédérique Riester had seen something similar to this in the history books before.

“How entertaining.”

“Yeah.” Aurélie Boutier gently responded to her mumbling. No details were necessary between two people with their souls connected.

A beautiful priest wearing Julite’s headdress was standing in front of them. Next to his side were two, no, three Holy Knights. There was also something else that was different from the woman who brought catastrophe in the past. None of them were holding weapons to attack the Empire and the Imperial family. The group consisted of weak individuals with no fighting powers, the Captain of the Imperial Guard, as well as his brother, a Pair de Riester who was a collateral line of the Imperial family.

There was also her precious son.

“These punks will follow in our footsteps in the future.”

“Are you disappointed?” Aurélie joked. The Empress chuckled and walked toward the stage. Purple tulips bloomed and waved their petals every time the two women walked.

It was a cold winter where they could see their breaths, but an act of the Almighty God like this was something that happened only once every couple hundred years. Naturally, a miracle like this did not happen during Julite Statia’s attack. There was no pirate ship by the side of the round moon at that time either. That incident was just a terrible tragedy.

– Step.

“I greet the sun that has descended to the ground and your noble Eminence.” Prince Jesse respectfully greeted them once they got on the stage.

The phoenix in his arm rolled its eyes to look at them. For some reason, it looked familiar. The Empress snorted.

“You were lucky. You barely managed to not be late.”

“Thank you very much, your Majesty.”

“Frédérique also is not very patient.” The Cardinal placed a hand on the Imperial Crown Prince’s cheek as she warmly added on. She could feel her soulmate glaring at her, but she had only told the truth. It was none other than Frédérique who said that she would personally come here when she could have sent the Imperial Capital Garrison or the Imperial Guard.

The reason Aurélie put a coat on and came with her despite it being cold and late at night was also clear. She did not hesitate.

– Paaaaat!

A blissfully bright and large Cardinal’s Holy Ground was opened.

“Oh, my goodness!”

“Ah, ah, ah……!”

The unexpected explosion of Divine Power made some of the crowd faint. The touch of the Almighty God and the Cardinal’s power was not much different for the common folks. ‘Chhhh……!’ Golden ether vines shot up like water and danced.

As her soulmate, Frédérique’s soul intensely resonated. Aurélie smiled at her before looking back at her disciple. Golden light fluttered in his pure and clear purple eyes. A firm yet warm voice echoed out.

[I will ask you.]

“I will earnestly answer anything you have to ask, your Eminence.”

The lovable child answered. The Cardinal’s beige-colored eyes warmly curled up.

[Did you lead the Marquis’ House of Duhem and the Baron’s House of Bellang to plot a rebellion?]

Her gaze showed not an ounce of suspicion. In fact, all of this felt extremely silly. She felt like she was putting on a show with her beloved disciple. Even the heavy silence that made the world feel as if it stood still didn’t seem that heavy. The prince’s eyes gently closed. It meant that he felt the same way.

Aurélie had tested her disciple many times until now. The first time was when she asked the prince about his powers. She wanted to know whether this child had stolen the divine item from the Temple of Boundaries. She believed Jesse’s pureness after that, but, regardless of knowing that, fully trusting someone from the Royal family of an enemy kingdom, one who was with them as a Diplomatic hostage, took some time.

Even after treating him as a part of the Imperial family, she had to ask again whether the child was telling the truth. It was around the time the holy stones and sun halo weed were found in the Empire’s territories.

‘I’m sorry, my little prince. I had to confirm it.’

‘It’s okay, your Eminence. I understand.’

She had truly been sad at that time. She had been worried that she hurt someone so pure. But this time, it was different.

“No, your Eminence. Neither I nor any of my friends have plotted such a thing.”

This was not a Confession to differentiate between the truth and lies.

“We truly love the Riester Empire. We love the people here as well. We are happy here.”

[I see.]

She was not doing this to her disciple out of suspicion.

[Oh Almighty God, please forgive this one for his deceptions.]

She was just reconfirming something she was certain about.

“……”

[…….]

The middle-aged woman then smiled brightly. The prince looked at her and smiled brightly as well. The Holy Ground showed no reaction at all. The silence was very welcomed. She was grateful for it as well. Everybody had expected this outcome.

“Come here.”

She opened up her arms. Jesse Venetiaan did not hesitate at all as he jumped into his teacher’s arms. Then, as if they had been waiting…

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

“Woooooooooooo!”

Claire Plaza filled with excited shouts.

People who were out in their pajamas all cheered They jumped up, undid their scarves and waved them in the air as they whistled. Hundreds of fur hats and sleep bonnets were thrown into the air. The crowd, which had been a couple thousand at the start of the Beanstalk Cleanse, was now almost ten thousand. The celebration was so loud and holy that nobody would be able to sleep.

“Long live the Riester! Hooray! Hooray!”

“Long live her Majesty! Three cheers for his Royal Highness, our Imperial Crown prince!”

“Long live her Eminence!”

“Cheers for Prince Jesse!”

Christelle hugged the prince and the Cardinal. Isabelle and Ellen then hugged Christelle while the three Duhem siblings joined in on the hug as well. Aurélie motioned to Johann who joined in as if he had no choice.

As for the Empress, who clicked her tongue while watching this, just patted Cédric on the shoulder and back. She scoffed while seeing the peacefully sunken eyes of her son. His face looked completely different from before he left the Imperial Palace.

“Good job.”

“Thank you.”

“You need to get used to this kind of chaos. It looks like even life in the Palace won’t be easy after this.”

The Empress grumbled. The crown prince’s lips curled up ever so slightly. He silently stood next to his mother, looking at the man who was shining even brighter than the moon. When the two of them finally made eye contact……

“Huh? It’s snow! It’s snowing, your highness!” Christelle’s clear voice distracted the prince.

The crowd went ‘aaaaaah!’ As they gasped at this romantic sight. Cédric scowled and raised his head. Snow that shone like stars was falling from the dark sky. A small snowflake landed on his nose. He could hear the prince laughing while looking at him.

It was cold and wet, but it did not feel bad. It was the first snow of winter.

– Screeeech!

– Aaarf!

The divine beasts flailed their tiny limbs and jumped off the pirate ship.

“Tsk.”

– Kii!

– Squee

– Whimper.

– Oo.

Tap, tap, tap, tap! The crown prince moved swiftly to gently catch all four troublemakers. The divine beasts quickly twisted their tails to dangle on him and act cute. His mother clapped as if to make fun of him, but the crown prince pretended not to hear it. He avoided her gaze and turned to see that all of the people looked happy. A bunch of the people were clapping or clutching at their chests while looking at the divine beasts. Not a single person was frowning.

Only a single person in the crowd was wearing a mask.

“No, no……”

Simon de Sarnez, who had watched everything, shook his head as if he had gone crazy. He did not feel cold despite the frigid weather. His hands and feet were shaking while he was sweating profusely. It felt so hot that he would melt. It was not fear but despair that was opening up his jaws like a crocodile to swallow him. He was getting swept up with anxiety at knowing that his plan had gone awry. The conspiracy was no longer in his hands. Something that should not have happened had happened.

‘Where did things go wrong?’

“No, no. This is not it.”

He did his best to calm down. He couldn’t do anything about the thing that had gone wrong, so what happened next was important. His face squirmed nonstop underneath the drenched mask. Although the half of his face that had not been burnt had looked elegant, all of it looked grotesque now. The plans he had prepared just in case he failed popped up in his mind one after another. But none of them were useful in this sort of situation.

That the Prince and his people would fly on a pirate ship to get to the Imperial Capital, that they would have an audience with the Empress and the Cardinal in Claire Plaza…… Who the hell could have expected something like this? What about purple tulips blooming from the tiles and the snow starting to fall as if on cue? Their unexpected meeting up with the crown prince? Isabelle and Christelle?

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

“Ugh.”

The crowd cheered loudly once more. The Duke tightly held onto the mask and turned around. His burned right side screamed whenever someone brushed against it, but he clenched his teeth to deal with the pain. He did not manage to get his beloved wife and daughter back. He could not laugh while watching them laugh. There was nothing more painful or hurtful than that.

“Trying to get by. Ugh!”

“Hey mister, don’t push!”

“Oh dear, you should just stay and watch the rest! This is such a rare sight!”

The crowd grumbled as he pushed in the opposite direction. Simon did not care. The thought of quickly cutting off the tail filled his brain. It was not hard to modify his own memories. He would send someone right away to make an appointment with Archbishop Eugénie Kessié and have her use a Divine Oracle to turn him stupid. Then he should not easily confess to his sins even if the Cardinal interrogated him. Probably…… His old body would probably run out of strength before that happened . He should be able to die an honorable death.

“And, and.”

He also needed someone to take the fall. Christelle and Isabelle had heard too much before they left, but there were still lots of holes there. Even if it was impossible for him to be completely innocent, as long as he could blame it on someone…

“…The Chief of Staff.”

It felt like a light turned on in his dark heart.

Simon thought about his butler who had been serving four different Dukes during his life. The old man was someone who had received quite a bit of grace from the House of Sarnez. He had been especially loyal to his great grandmother and then served the next three patriarchs. He had been more active in this conspiracy than anybody else. It might be possible if it was him. Even without Simon doing anything, that man might be willing to offer his life for this family…

“Long live her Majesty! Hooray! Hooray!”

“We remember his Royal Highness, the late Prince Consort! We remember! We remember!”

“Ugh.”

The Duke staggered at the intense shouting. He had no choice but to bend down and push through the crowd. He was getting closer to the clear air thanks to his continuous movements. He urgently raised his head as if he had been holding his breath underwater. He then flinched.

“……”

Cecil Blanquer. If he had not seen wrong, the Duchess, who was wearing black, was looking right at him. As expected, her husband and the young Duchess were standing next to her, also clad in black. All of their stoic faces gave him the chills. They were the family members of the deceased Robert Blanquer.

Simon instantly took a step back. He bent down even lower, held his mask down, and pushed through the crowd. He must have been wrong. There was no way that she was looking at him. No way she was looking at him as if she was here to capture the man who murdered her son.

“Coming through! Please move!” His voice cracked.

“Where are you going? You’re going to regret not seeing this!”

“Leave him alone! He probably needs to piss!”

“Ahaha! Just piss your pants and watch!”

All sorts of disgraceful things were said above the Duke. He kept his mouth shut and scoped out the direction. The original plan was to meet up with his old subordinate at the clock tower. If he mentioned just a few things in the carriage back to the Lord’s Castle, the smart old man should understand what he wanted. He would receive the order without any complaints, and……

– Click.

A clean pair of boots appeared in front of the Duke at that moment. He got chills. He raised his head extremely slowly. The noises of the plaza felt distant. The cold sweat dripping down his back felt extremely uncomfortable.

“……”

The grey eyes he looked into were sparkling sharply like swords. Élisabeth Moutet and the Imperial Guard were surrounding the Duke who had left the crowd. He heard her solemn voice.

“Duke Simon de Sarnez. As an agent of her Majesty’s untouchable authority and eternal honor, you are under arrest. Please take off your mask.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about, Vice Captain Moutet. I have not done anything wrong.” Simon answered as calmly as possible and looked around. He could see a tightly bound old man a few steps away. The Duke’s mouth slowly opened. This man was the Chief of Staff that Simon had been thinking about. His wrinkled hands had the documents he had given to him yesterday, as well as a business card.

‘Victoire D’Andresy.’

This cursed old man was smiling benignly while looking at him. The dagger of shock stabbed through the man’s back a beat late.

“Your Chief of Staff, Gerard Sorio has asked for immunity in return for revealing your crimes of treason.”

“Ah, ah……”

The Duke slowly closed his eyes. He could no longer hear the hallucinations of his great grandmother that had felt like a revelation.

—
Translator’s Comments

How does it feel to be betrayed you little scheming bastard!

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