What are the Chaos Serpents?
Valentina’s tea party was held again the following day. At the previous day’s tea party, Citrina had been completely out of control, but today, she made a complete turnaround and decided to go on the offensive.
“If you don’t know how to crush them, then at least tell what the Chaos Serpents are.”
Staring up at her, Citrina quietly took a sip of tea. It didn’t taste like poison. She was fairly confident they wouldn’t try to use poison on her from this point on.
“Oh, what would you do if you knew?”
Valentina asked with a smile playing on her lips, and Citrina responded with a determined smile.
“That’s obvious. I’d think of a way to crush them. Once we understand the true identity of our opponent, we can deal with them.”
“Like your special poison, I suppose? You must know a lot about it, right? Enough to even kill a dear friend.”
Valentina replied, gazing at Citrina as if she were a troubled child.
“Yes. Enough to protect the people I care about.”
Valentina seed a little surprised by the response.
“Oh, so you’re not haunted by that anymore. Hehe, well, never mind. If you want to know, I’ll tell you.”
She regained her composure and took a sip of tea.
“But your father knows too, doesn’t he?”
“What?”
As Citrina blinked in confusion, the Serpent Priestess smiled radiantly.
“I am saying that Duke Lorenz Etoile Yellowmoon knew what the Chaos Serpents were.”
“You’re lying… I an, Father didn’t say anything…”
As Citrina’s eyes widened in confusion, Valentina spoke in a teasing tone.
“Oh dear? Perhaps he never told you that?”
From a teasing laugh, she quickly switched to a gentle smile.
“Hehehe. How adorable. You really love your father, don’t you?”
“What! That’s not true…”
Citrina felt her cheeks heat up. Once again, she was being toyed with, and she instinctively bit her lip. She had intended to take control, but once again, it was the Serpent Priestess who held the reins. As Citrina bowed her head in frustration, she heard an unexpectedly gentle voice calling out to her.
“Hehe, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s truly a wonderful thing. I’m quite jealous.”
The subtle warmth in her voice only deepened Citrina’s confusion. It sounded almost as if she were genuinely envious.
“Jealous? Over sothing so trivial…”
“Oh? It’s true. You have sothing I don’t. It’s not strange for to feel jealous.”
Valentina let out a self-deprecating laugh and shrugged her shoulders.
“After all, I was almost killed by my father—or at least soone very close to him.”
“Huh?”
Citrina was taken aback by the sudden confession, but Valentina quickly shook her head.
“Well, enough about . Let’s get back to the point. Although I might have tried to tease you, I did not lie. Duke Lorenz Etoile Yellowmoon does know the reason for the existence of the Chaos Serpents. At the very least, Barabara-san seed to think so. Hehehe.”
Then Valentina laughed.
“Please don’t look so displeased. I’m sure she was quite cruel to you, but she had her own reasons. She had a reason to hate nobles. You’re probably wondering what I am trying to make you listen to. You’re thinking that the Serpent Priestess is just trying to confuse you. But if you knew that even Serpents have reasons for becoming Serpents, you’d probably feel sympathy, and perhaps your emotions might be swayed…”
Even if Citrina had never thought of it that way, once she was made aware of it, it would be impossible to erase it from her mory.
The very idea of the Priestess speaking to her was an attempt to gain control over her heart and mind. Even though Citrina realised that, she couldn’t close her ears to the conversation.
“Well, setting that aside, I don’t think it’s strange if Duke Lorenz realised the true identity of the Chaos Serpents.”
Valentina quietly inford Citrina with a aningful smile.
“That is because the weakest Yellowmoon is indeed a being created based on the logic of the Serpents.”
“What do you an by that?”
Valentina ignored the faint murmur and continued speaking.
“Why didn’t Duke Lorenz tell you—or Mia Luna Tearmoon for that matter? The answer is very simple: because he knew that if he told you, you would fall into despair. He asked you to defeat the Serpents, but Duke Lorenz knew very well that it was impossible.”
Citrina glanced sideways at the Serpent Priestess, who spoke with great eloquence, and focussed on sipping the tea in front of her.
Citrina savoured the infuriatingly delicious tea and tried to recall sothing. That’s right—Mia never missed an opportunity to enjoy tea and sweets. The image of Mia’s carefree face, as if she weren’t thinking about anything, popped into Citrina’s mind, and she decided to confront Valentina once again.
“Even if Father made that decision, it doesn’t necessarily an it was the right one. That’s why I’d really like to hear it from you. Will you finally tell ? Do you really intend to?”
Citrina said, deliberately putting on an expression of having given up.
“Or perhaps you have no intention of telling …”
“The Chaos Serpents could be considered heretics, but they are not truly heretics. They are a discarded clan, but not really a discarded clan. Fallen nobles, but not entirely fallen nobles. A banished princess, but not quite a princess…”
Valentina closed her eyes and spoke as if reciting the words from mory.
“But in reality, what is their true form?”
Valentina gracefully brought the teacup to her lips, deliberately prolonging the suspense. She moistened her lips with the wonderful herbal tea before speaking quietly.
“The Chaos Serpents are an ideology that infects a certain group of people.”
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