326 - "Sacrifice"
"I… I hereby declare the session open. Please remain silent, everyone."
With a trembling voice, Baron Zachary announced the start of the fifth ergency policy eting in the council hall.
Lena, who had dutifully attended once again, found the whole situation to be a complete disaster.
Five days had passed since the incident erupted, and the nobles were in a state of disarray.
The king was absent, and Duke Ruppert Tertan, who should have been the central pillar holding everything together, had taken the stand as a suspect during the second eting.
Despite the objections of many, the duke stood on the platform and confessed.
He admitted that all this turmoil began about fifteen years ago when his daughter, Nedostia Yeriel, vanished. He claid that King Eric de Yeriel had sacrificed her to awaken an evil god and confessed that he, knowing of this, failed to prevent it.
The nobles were thrown into shock.
After the duke vacated his position, promising to accept any punishnt, they began cautiously discussing counterasures. However, their discussions were largely self-serving, focusing on protecting their own interests and evading responsibility. Lena, who once held a certain admiration for the nobility, was bitterly disappointed.
To start, they emphasized the duke's status as a victim, declaring that he would face no punishnt whatsoever.
Any bla placed on him would implicate those who had joined him thirteen years ago in the exile of Prince Lean. The primary concern for these nobles wasn't calming the turbulent public sentint, but preventing the restoration of power for the nobles exiled to the provinces after opposing Eric's rule.
If those exiled nobles returned to power with Prince Lean de Yeriel, there could very well be a bloody purge.
So, before the provincial nobles could mobilize, they quickly declared the duke innocent, pinned all responsibility on Eric, and formally deposed him.
Eric de Yeriel.
This was now the only na left to the dethroned king, stripped of his royal succession rights—a maneuver that had consud three full days.
Baron Zachary then spoke.
"To… Today, we gather to discuss who shall be the next king and how to proceed with this transition. P-Please, keep quiet! First, we shall determine who among those eligible for succession shall be considered. Prince Lean de Yeriel and Princess Lerialia de Yeriel are indeed next in line, but, ahem, since they are currently absent, we will first review other mbers of the royal family..."
"Cut the nonsense! Prince Lean is the legitimate heir—what sort of twisted sche is this?!"
"P-Please, calm down! A fair vote will determine the matter. Additionally, it has been confird that Eric de Yeriel, the deposed king, sent knights to assassinate Prince Lean de Yeriel and Princess Lerialia de Yeriel. Given the urgency of the situation, searching for them to ensure their safety is currently unfeasible. This decision was approved in the previous council eting."
"This is illegal! You all sit here calling this a council… We’ll see about this, you bastards! Baron Zachary! You too!"
One noble from the capital vicinity, his anger boiling over, stord out. Baron Zachary, drenched in sweat, looked anxiously around at the other stiff-faced nobles in the hall.
Truth be told, this council… had long been a re ceremonial institution.
For ages, only the capital’s nobles had taken turns presiding over the council as a formality, but with the king’s authority absent, they had hastily revived it to address the crisis. Baron Zachary, once content to enjoy the council position’s petty stipends, now found himself embroiled in disaster.
This situation could easily spark a civil war.
However, they all seed to have one person to rely on… Cardinal Verke stood up. He spoke, his voice carrying to ensure everyone heard him.
"The throne ought to go to soone with experience and maturity. If you’ll excuse , I have pressing matters to attend to."
After hinting at his preference for the heir, he tossed his silver hair and left the hall. Lea felt a chill.
Theocracy.
A regi led by divine authority was now brewing. As both citizens and nobles of Lutina were engulfed in chaos, Cardinal Verke, the head of the Cross Church and archbishop to all of Conrad’s followers, moved swiftly.
Almost as if he had been waiting for this mont.
He beca a steadfast pillar for the central nobles—facing ruin and even the threat of execution with the downfall of Duke Tertan—and he poured his efforts into calming the disturbed public sentint.
Many citizens had co face-to-face with Orias.
As it happened, during the evening, when most citizens were returning ho, tens of thousands ended up with Orias’s mark imprinted on their foreheads. In the aftermath, these people sought aid, their pain unbearable.
Cardinal Verke sent priests from the Lutina Church to heal the citizens free of charge.
Those who had charged toward the palace bearing that cursed mark (having seen the archbishop's impressive stature) were deeply moved, praising him. They claid that without Cardinal Verke, they might all have died. In Lutina, the winds blew in Verk's favor.
With full sails—fore, mizzen, and mainmast—Cardinal Verke rode the favorable wind, steering toward his long-held ambition.
The establishnt of the Grania Sacred Kingdom, under a puppet king… was now imminent.
Observing the turn of events, Lea was certain that things would unfold precisely as the archbishop desired. She stayed to witness the nobles decide the fate of the dazed Princess Elika de Isadora before finally leaving that avaricious marketplace.
---
“Rev, I’m back. Huh? Where did Uncle Bart and the others go?”
anwhile, Rev had been spending a leisurely ti at the Lutina ChurChapter He had only attended the council eting once to give a statent, after which he handed over all authority to the archbishop.
It seed he thought he’d done his part, given how he was lazing around now. Although, being Rev, he was still busy with training and going on strolls, as diligent as ever.
"They left."
"Where to?"
Rev, in the middle of a sit-up, gave a short answer. When Lea prodded him for more, he wiped his sweat-drenched face and replied again.
"Bart went to his family, and the others? I have no idea. They’ll sort themselves out."
"Really? But how co you only call Uncle Bart by his na? You use titles with the other n.”
"...Was everything calm today?"
Rev, apparently unwilling to answer, got up with a grunt and changed the subject. Lea let it go and shifted topics accordingly.
"Not much happened, really. Oh! Wait! Do you know that King Eric sent knights after the prince?"
"Eric, after Lean? Yeah, I know."
"Huh? Then isn’t that dangerous? I heard he sent Sir Hazen, or sothing, along with the knights. Everyone seed worried about the prince, though… I an, they all say Sir Hazen is loyal to King Eric."
"Haha! Interesting."
Rev laughed quietly to himself and left it at that. Normally, he wasn’t this withdrawn…
Compared to before, he was indeed more taciturn. Perhaps the recent events, including his mother’s passing, had left their mark. Lea, patient as ever, probed gently.
"What’s so interesting? Tell ."
"Hmm? Oh, it’s… like this…"
Sir Hazen, the second knight commander, was known for his taciturn and ticulous nature, which sotis led to misunderstandings about his loyalties.
Unlike other knights who often mumbled criticisms questioning Prince Eric's legitimacy, Hazen never expressed his political stance. This reticence had once caused considerable worry when Prince Lean attempted to persuade Hazen to his side.
They feared Hazen might be a loyal follower of Prince Eric.
“That’s probably why Eric… well, back then, when Lean and I were in the kingdom facing a rebellion, he sent Sir Hazen as reinforcents. I think it’s the sa this ti. Eric likely didn’t trust the other knights enough.”
“Ah! Then there’s no need to worry, right?”
“Right. Both Lean and Lerialia are safe for now. Since Sir Hazen’s movents align with theirs, he’s likely with them.”
“Got it.”
As Lea nodded, Rev took her hand and pulled her along.
“You’ve been busy at the council, so you haven’t had a chance to look around here, right? Co on, I’ll show you. There’s so amazing stuff.”
“It sounds fun, but… aren’t you a bit too relaxed?”
“Why?”
The two strolled through the marble church, a rarity in the Conrad Kingdom.
With nearly no mountains, Conrad was scarce in stone resources, making the church, crafted ticulously by countless artisans, all the more valuable.
Even in Demos Village, the churches were built of stone, but as natives of the Orhen Kingdom, Lea and Rev hadn’t paid much attention to this before…
“This isn’t the end, though. They still have to capture that Astaroth or whoever.”
“Oh… but I don’t think they’re planning to do that this ti around.”
“Why not?”
“How should I know?”
Rev shrugged, leaving Lea sowhat baffled.
“What do you an, you don’t know?”
“Lean and Minseo probably have a plan. They usually do. They’re both a lot sharper than I am… If there’s sothing I need to do, they’ll let know.”
“…”
Lea sighed inwardly.
She had finally grasped what kind of role Rev played among those Leos.
What a fool. A complete fool.
A lovable fool.
Oblivious to Lea’s silent grumbling, Rev cheerfully pointed ahead.
In a white corridor, there were…
“Look at this. Isn’t it amazing? Statues of the Seven Saints.”
The statues lined up in sequence: starting with the First Saint, Azra, followed by Constrino Laono, Lazar Laono, Udean, Tigrof, Willard Bothman, and lastly, the only one to co from the ranks of the crusaders, the Seventh Saint, Gaiden.
Since not everything had been revealed in dreams, Lea couldn’t help but gasp in awe.
“Maybe one day, you’ll have a statue here too… Lea, I’ve been thinking about how we should live in the future.”
“Wow! Look here. There’s even an inscription on Saint Azra’s statue… written in gold! Let’s see…”
“Lea! I have sothing important to say.”
“What is it?”
“I’ve been thinking about our future. You could go to the central church, beco an ordained priest, and maybe even be canonized as a saint… Or we could simply go back ho…”
Rev took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he spoke.
“W-We could get married and live together.”
“Sure.”
“Huh?”
“I was already thinking the sa thing. Becoming a saint sounds great, but… it even says here to ‘follow your heart’.”
“Really?”
“Yep.”
“Then… in that case…”
“That’s not allowed.”
Lea leaned over and planted a quick kiss on Rev’s cheek, making him blush.
As if I wouldn’t want to?
Only, sohow… it felt even better than I’d imagined. Whether it was because you’re naturally good at this or if it’s always like this, I don’t know. Then suddenly, I thought of sothing.
“...Wait a second.”
“What?”
“...You guys said you shared mories. So… does that an… you rember everything from that round?”
“Mm… pretty muChapter Though sotis, if the thoughts aren’t organized, they’re hard to read. People think in different ways. Lean’s mind, in particular, tends to jump around quickly, so he’s harder to follow… Huh? What’s wrong?”
“Ahh!!”
Lea’s face turned beet-red as she slapped Rev’s cheek with a loud smack, then quickly ran off, leaving Rev standing there, completely flustered.
---
Not long after that, they finally made contact with Lean.
Returning to Orville after wrapping up his tasks, Lean declared, as he had previously hinted, that he intended to renounce the throne.
Cardinal Verke seed pleased, and Rev asked:
/ So it’s all over now? There’s nothing left for to do, right? I heard you’re marrying Xenia. After seeing your wedding, Lea and I plan to head back ho. /
For so reason, Lea doesn’t seem too eager to see you, though… Soon, a response ca back.
/ Sorry. I need to ask sothing of you. Could we et in person if possible? /
/ What is it? Just tell briefly so I can prepare myself. /
After a long delay, Lean finally replied, his words hesitating.
/ My little brother seems to want to play war gas. I’d like you… to be his opponent. /
He was asking for a sacrifice.
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