A Blend of Romance and Fantasy - Chapter 64

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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64.
“Brother….”
“That’s right! How could we possibly trust you!”
“…Historically, all alliances have begun only after overcoming such fears. Mere evasion accomplishes nothing. Please, I beg you to trust my husb—.”
I faltered for a moment, then drew a deep breath and continued.
“Please trust my husband. I am a Princess of the Holy Kingdom. I do not lie at times like these.”
At my words, Benjamin lifted his large, round eyes and regarded me with bewilderment.
“At times like these?”
Well, it would be rather awkward to admit I lie at other times.
I smiled with utmost grace.
“In any case, it means I’m not lying.”
Then I rose from my seat and looked toward the Princesses.
“Still, any transaction requires collateral, so I suppose I must demonstrate the greatest goodwill within my means.”
“What will you do?”
I withdrew the magical crystal I had received from Rosalian beforehand.
By exquisite timing, commotion erupted outside.
“The timing is perfect, Cedric.”
“Yes, it seems Hippolyte is indeed a magnificent steed.”
In truth, I had used a reserved teleportation scroll to send Hippolyte to the East Gate of Teia Castle.
From there, he would cause brief chaos before galloping away like the wind to the location I had designated, shaking off his pursuers—a magnificent steed with strength that transcended the human form.
I had judged it wise to send Hippolyte, who possessed such superhuman power, and by now he was surely raging at the East Gate.
“Can a Holy Knight praise a half-human, half-beast like Hippolyte?”
I laughed once, then showed the crystal to the four people staring blankly at us.
“I will now contact my Brother, the King of Sincester. Your Highnesses need only make a blood oath with our Brother, the Pope.”
“A blood oath….”
“You’ve heard of it, haven’t you? An oath made between a Pope and another, with their lives at stake.”
Before entering the castle, when I had contacted Erdan, he had graciously agreed to make the oath.
—It is so that the Sixth Prince you love becomes Emperor of Blake, and Benjamin Prince is a good man who will never break a promise.
—Moreover, I am a Pope who must keep my promises. There is nothing I cannot do, nothing I need fear, is there?
Erdan within the crystal whispered to me with a sorrowful smile.
—Above all, I cannot express how grateful I am that you are alive…. With that alone, I can do anything.
My heart swelled, but I could not afford to cry openly. The communication crystal could be detected by Count Pixis.
‘Since it has come to this…. I must absolutely succeed in this transaction.’
I drew slightly closer to Benjamin Prince.
“It is a promise made by the Pope of Sincester. Please trust it.”
“….”
Yet hesitation still filled Benjamin’s face as he looked down at his younger siblings.
“…Brother.”
Then the First Princess took Benjamin’s hand.
“I’m fine. I’ll do as you ask, Brother.”
“I’m fine too! I can do anything Brother likes!!”
“Yes! Me too!”
As my younger sisters spoke in succession, Benjamin’s eyes grew misty.
Soon after, he clenched his fists tightly.
“I…”
* * *
At the very top of the deepest tower in the Imperial Palace, a room where only a single ray of light filtered through—this prison for the imperial family was claustrophobic and humiliating.
Indeed, the face of the 3rd Empress, who had been confined there for a week, was beyond description.
It was when she, haggard and worn, was barely enduring the bitterly cold air.
At the sound of footsteps ascending the tower, the 3rd Empress turned her gaze.
There stood Leonard, the worst man she never wished to meet.
“Are you comfortable?”
“…That’s hardly something for the one who imprisoned me to say.”
“It is a just consequence. Though not Josephine’s Son, the Mage was indeed someone you sent, was he not? He confessed everything, so please acknowledge it.”
“I know nothing of it.”
Her face remained elegant and composed as she denied it to the end.
At that sight, Leonard smiled with ease.
“Well, it matters not. I have found my wife, and the Mage has identified you—so the result is what matters, is it not?”
“…You found the Princess? Not as a corpse found in some vile place?”
At the Empress Consort’s sneer, his face turned cold in an instant.
A chilling shadow of death descended upon his crimson eyes, and the prison air froze solid.
As Leonard moved forward with fierce momentum toward the iron bars, William hastily blocked him.
“Your Majesty, she is still the Empress Consort.”
“…”
“Empress Consort, do not needlessly provoke His Majesty. You wish to keep your son alive, do you not?”
At William’s words, the 3rd Empress clenched her teeth.
Then Leonard spoke coldly.
“I have persuaded Benjamin to renounce the throne and seek asylum in Sincester. Of course, the Princesses as well.”
“What…? What are you saying?”
“You have likely guessed by now that your father plans to wage war against me. To resolve this peacefully, I have done this. Once Benjamin publicly renounces the throne, Count Pixis cannot raise an army.”
The Empress Consort clung desperately to the iron bars and screamed.
“You wretch! Do not speak such nonsense! You sweet-talked them and now you intend to slaughter everyone in our family!”
Soon tears began streaming down her beautiful cheeks.
“My son’s head will hang from the city walls, and my daughters will be sold. The house of the knight who guarded me in my youth will be erased from history.”
“…”
“Do you think I do not know you? You never leave a threat alive.”
The Empress Consort wiped her tears and fixed Leonard with a sharp glare.
She looked as though she would kill him with her eyes if she could.
Looking down at the Empress Consort, Leonard spoke softly.
“That is certainly how it has always been. But I confess, I do not understand what you find so unjust.”
“What did you say?!”
The Empress Consort was about to shriek indignantly.
“You did the same thing to our Thanatos!!”
Leonard’s face was menacing as he growled, his words grinding like teeth.
Intense emotion churned within his eyes—a chain of hatred deeper than mere anger and sorrow.
It seemed as though blood-dark emotion was consuming him entirely.
“That abominable history of slaughter will never fade. Not as long as I draw breath…! And yet you dare condemn me?!”
His suppressed cry tore through the air. The tower grew molten with heat, and waves of fury rippled with terrifying intensity.
So violent and suffocating that no one dared part their lips.
Bodies trembled with instinctive terror.
“I… I…”
“…”
“I… yes. I know full well what our House has done to you and your companions.”
The Empress Consort, crushed beneath the oppressive weight, barely managed to continue.
“So I do not expect forgiveness.”
Yet she was a mother. The desperate desire to protect her children infused strength into her hands gripping the iron bars.
“But if my children can live… I can do anything. Tell me—you didn’t come here without something to say, did you?”
* * *
“Count Pixis, sir! A grave matter!”
“What is it?!”
“The Prince’s Consort’s beloved horse has appeared at the East Gate of Teia Castle!”
Count Pixis shot to his feet at the startling news.
“Send guards to the East Gate at once—”
But a strange premonition struck him like lightning, and he turned to Rosalian.
“Is this your doing?”
“…What do you mean, sir?”
“I thought it odd that Siren would accept our invitation. The timing is far too convenient.”
Count Pixis drew his sword and pressed it to Rosalian’s throat.
“What are you scheming?”
“I’m afraid I don’t understand what you’re saying, sir.”
Watching Rosalian calmly close her eyes, the Count’s jaw clenched.
“Send guards to the East Gate and check Benjamin’s chambers immediately! And bind this woman at once—throw her in the Prison!!”
“I am under the protection of Prince Servi. Is this truly wise?”
“Better than losing a lead on the Prince’s Consort!”
As the knights hastily bound Siren’s attendants, Count Pixis turned to leave—
The door burst open, and someone entered.
“Please spare me, Grandfather!”
“!?”
Benjamin, bound in steel chains and held at sword-point by Cedric Myers on his right.
And Charlotte, standing confidently before them all.
“…Surely not.”
Before Count Pixis could even place his hand on his sword hilt, she smiled softly.
“I would advise you to remove your hand from that blade. Unless you wish to watch your precious grandson’s head roll across the ground, Count Pixis.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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