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Chapter 201: Whisper of Secrets (3)
“Your Highness, it’s Ressimus.”
With a knock and the revelation of her identity, there was no response.
Carefully, Ressimus opened the door and stepped inside.
Princess Arin was seated at the desk in the center of the room, attending to her paperwork.
Neatly arranged before her were dozens of docunts that needed organizing.
“I’ve just sent out official notices from the palace to each city and territory of the empire. By tomorrow, news should start spreading, beginning with the nearby areas.”
“Thank you, Ressimus. You’ve worked hard.”
Arin replied with a casual remark before refocusing on her work.
Ressimus seed to hesitate as if she had sothing else to say, but then she simply nodded and withdrew.
About ten minutes passed.
“Princess Violet has arrived.”
At the announcent from outside the door, the attention of the two won turned towards it.
Arin rose silently from her seat, preparing to greet her guest.
Soon the door opened, and Princess Violet entered with a bright smile.
“You’ve been working hard, Arin.”
“Welco. Sister.”
Arin greeted her with a polite gesture, clasping her hands together neatly.
“I apologize for coming in the midst of your busy schedule. I feel like you have taken over the responsibility in many ways, and as your older sister, I feel bad for you.”
“I’m just doing what I can. You don’t have to worry about .”
“This situation must not be easy for you, Arin. It must bring back painful mories unnecessarily.”
“…!”
Arin’s gaze, lowered montarily, subtly flickered with resentnt and anger.
“Don’t misunderstand. I just spoke out of concern that this situation might trouble you again in the future.”
As if she didn’t want to reveal her emotions, Arin raised her face with a bright smile.
“It’s all in the past. We need to focus on the present.”
“Well said. Especially now that Father isn’t feeling well, we must strive harder as mbers of the royal family. That’s the only way to be worthy of the royal legacy.”
“I will do my best.”
With encouraging words, Violet left the room.
Arin resud her work as if nothing had happened.
To others, she might seem unchanged from before,
“….”
But Ressimus, who had been by her side for nearly ten years, saw her differently.
In Arin’s indifferent gaze, there was a newfound emotion of hatred and anger that hadn’t been there before.
Whether it was directed towards Princess Violet or towards the person she ntioned, it was still unknown.
* * *
Two days had passed since the second eting with the retired knight commander.
People crowded around the bulletin board in the city center to read the palace’s official notices.
Their gazes were clouded with suspicion and doubt.
The death of Neophrodite Iris, the saint of the Order of Light who conveyed the voice of the gods.
If only news of her death had been the extent of it, it would’ve been better.
“Hah! My god, is this all true?”
“She was a madwoman, not a saint! I’m so ashad of all the praise I’ve given until now while not even knowing what they were doing.”
“So what happens to the Knights of Light now?”
But the notices contained not only that but also detailed accounts of personal misconduct and abuses of power by the Order of Light, using the knightly order for various personal agendas.
It seed embellished and exaggerated to so extent.
But that wasn’t important.
What mattered was how people perceived it.
Shock, self-bla, followed by anxiety.
More people seed to tremble with anxiety than rage.
It must have been shocking.
In an instant, the reputation of the saint and the Order of Light, built over decades, plumted.
To ordinary people who knew nothing, that might be understandable, but from my perspective, knowing so of the truth, it was absurd.
The cause of death?
Suicide due to guilt and despair?
It did shock ntally.
But if she was so fragile as to decide on suicide to that extent, she wouldn’t have ruled as a saint for sixty years.
Suicide when sharpening one’s sword is not enough?
It’s so absurd it’s not even funny.
My long-honed sense of assassination strongly suggested that she was not killed by suicide, but by soone else.
Elsewhere in the city, monks from the monastery I had seen the day before were engaged in preaching activities.
It felt like more people were gathering than the day before.
The backlash against the saint must have had so influence.
This won’t end with just exposing the saint’s misdeeds.
It goes beyond her and the Order of Light to undermine the reputation of the Ushif Empire itself.
Why would the palace proudly announce this?
It couldn’t be Emperor Dionne’s intention.
The Emperor, who suffered from heart disease two years ago and has not properly conducted state affairs since then.
If it’s not the Emperor, then it should be considered the actions of other mbers of the royal family,
The first prince, Louisnel, has long lost power and left the palace, while Fabian and Nerobian, the sons of the current Empress Cassandra, live quietly in the palace without much influence.
So, there are only two left.
The most influential is Princess Violet, the second princess, or the last mber of the royal family who follows her like a shadow.
The possibility of it being Princess Arin’s doing is currently the highest.
If you had told the current situation seven years ago, I would probably have said it was too pathetic even for a novel.
Even though I gave her advice to move forward, I feel like I really can’t predict where she will go.
I turned my steps back to the tavern where I t the old man three days ago.
Then I sat in the sa spot as before, silently waiting for soone to co.
Sure enough, the familiar old man climbed up the stairs and sat down in front of .
“Sorry for being late.”
This is already the third ti.
If the sa scene repeats so often, it becos as familiar as if it had always happened.
But today is a little different.
The previous genial appearance disappeared completely, leaving only the solemn gaze of a knight.
“We don’t have much ti, so let’s get straight to the point. I just reached an agreent with my subordinates. I intend to go to the palace.”
“Weren’t you a retired knight who didn’t care about worldly affairs?”
“Didn’t I say? As you get older, you beco more sensitive to the truth. That big-eared woman is not the type to commit suicide out of guilt. I can bet my 60-year knight life on that.”
His thoughts are similar to mine.
This old man also thinks that the palace is lying now.
Having been a knight commander for so long, he might have a more accurate view.
“Don’t misunderstand . I don’t particularly like that woman. I have no intention of defending her cris. She tried to manipulate several tis, claiming she would convert . Each ti, she managed to escape using so sche, but she was still a woman with firm beliefs. She firmly believed that her existence contributed to the peace of the continent.”
Suddenly, the image of her crying out that no evil presence could bring despair to her ca vividly to mind.
“The palace is turning that woman into a villain. Then soon, the reputation of the Order of Light, to which she belonged, will also decline. I don’t even want to silently watch it like that, no matter how much she tried to manipulate .”
In short, he was saying that he would go and see everything with his own eyes.
“Unfortunately, our deal will have to be postponed a little longer.”
“Can you guarantee that we will et again?”
“We will et.”
His eyes were full of certainty.
“I don’t know why, but I have a feeling that I’ll see you again soon in the palace.”
“I’ve never said I’m going to the palace.”
“Call it an old man’s intuition. It’s just a feeling! Whether it will actually happen, well, we’ll see.”
With those words, Jereon stood up.
“Then see you next ti. Cyan Vert…”
It was quite grandiose, seeing his enthusiastic departure after revealing my na was quite comical.
Considering that he would have naturally learned my na at the point when it was revealed that I was the owner of the Demonic Sword.
Since he is not the kind of old man who will go around spreading rumors, I don’t really care.
But unlike him, who has a predetermined destination, I have no plans for the future.
Just as I was wondering if it would be better to go ho and take a walk with Nana,
-Thud
Another unexpected visitor ca to see .
He silently bowed to and took a seat.
It was the mber of the Mist who had first delivered the docunt regarding the false followers of the mist.
Unlike before, there was a subtle expression of unease in his eyes.
“The leader urgently requested this to be delivered to you.”
He handed a sealed letter from his pocket.
I imdiately recognized it as an order.
At this point, a new target for purification.
Just when I thought it might be so nobility who was getting on soone’s nerves in the palace,
“….?”
I handed the received order back to the mber, as if asking him to explain.
“What does this an?”
There was nothing written in the order.
Not a hidden ssage either.
Just a blank paper.
I never had no idea what this blank order ant.
“I’m just in a position to deliver what I received….”
The mber remained ignorant, but his inner thoughts were clearly visible in his anxious gaze.
I pressed further on that point.
“Is the order you received the sa as mine?”
“No, it’s not.”
The mber said, closing his eyes helplessly.
“Who is the target of the operation?”
“….”
“Don’t act all exhausted and just spit it out. Whether you die by my hand or the Leader’s, it’s all the sa to you.”
The mber sighed deeply out of frustration.
His discontent about why he was tasked with delivering the order was also clearly visible.
-Swish
Instead of answering, he handed another order.
From the context, it seed to be his own order, not mine.
“The, the leader also requested this to be delivered along with the ssage.”
“What ssage?”
“This ti, it’s your turn to watch, so don’t do anything….”
As I read the order, my eyes froze like a stone.
The aning of the blank order was simple indeed.
Do nothing.
It ant to observe without intervening in the operational activities of any other mber except for yourself.
“….”
Are they kidding?
Wouldn’t it be better if I didn’t know at all?
Are you telling to just ignore this?
At the bottom of the order, in red letters, was the target of this purification operation.
For a mont, my mind, which had been relaxed for a mont, was being tightened by negative emotions.
[Arin Sevellerus]
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