For the heart - Chapter 63

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 63

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After holding the Saint’s funeral, Nina spent most of her time in the Imperial Library.

‘Where on earth should I look for the Former Emperor?’

Finding the Former Emperor who had disappeared 20 years ago seemed hopeless.

It was fortunate that she had seen the portrait in Hamer, otherwise she would have had to search for him without even knowing his face.

“Princess, is there a particular book you’re looking for?”

A stern-looking librarian with a shortly trimmed white beard approached Nina, who had been scanning the bookshelves for quite some time.

He was someone who had managed the Imperial Library for a very long time, and knew exactly where every single book in this vast collection was located.

“Are these all the Arsed Empire Chronicles?”

“Is there a specific Empire Chronicle you’re looking for?”

“Only the Empire Chronicles from 1303 to 1307, those five years are missing.”

“…They were lost 20 years ago.”

The Arsed Empire Chronicles recorded all events that occurred in the empire over the course of a year and were compiled into books every March.

This tradition had lasted over 700 years, yet only the chronicles from the five years when Magnus Arsed ruled were missing.

No particular emotion could be read from his wrinkled, aged face.

The librarian who managed the books spoke of losing not just any books, but the Empire Chronicles, without showing any sign of remorse.

There was no embarrassment or regret either.

However, Nina quietly exhaled and nodded her head.

Whether he had deliberately lost them or whether there had been orders from Rainer, such things held no meaning.

Even if she reproached him now, he wouldn’t confess the truth.

“I understand.”

With a brief answer, Nina pulled out the closest chronicle from 1302 and turned her head again.

Though she had said she understood, the librarian was somehow just staring intently at Nina.

“Do you have something to say to me?”

“…My son was a Healer. He died in the 1322 Grinaato conquest war.”

Thud.

The chronicle Nina was holding fell to the floor.

Age fourteen, Nina’s first war deployment.

She had been deployed as part of the rear guard for the Grinaato conquest, which was expected to be less intense, alongside knights who had just finished their training.

But the situation unfolded differently than expected.

Grinaato’s attack, aimed at annihilating the supporting knights, was brutal and fierce.

The knights who had just graduated from training fell helplessly, and it was Nina who blocked it all with her entire body.

Nina experienced the most horrific pain on her first battlefield.

It was also the moment she painfully realized how devastating the ‘price of immortality’ truly was.

Her body was so mangled it was unbearable to look at, and the life of the Healer who treated her then was extinguished for the first time.

Nina could not forget those pale green eyes that looked at her as his life was fading away.

And now.

Those same pale green eyes, identical to that Healer’s, were quietly gazing at her.

* * *

The empire’s citizens were in an uproar over the story of the Saint who appeared at Nina’s public trial and Nina who held the Saint’s funeral.

Among the people of Arsed, the saying ‘God sleeps in Arsed’ had emerged 20 years ago.

It was a phrase expressing dissatisfaction with Rainer, who had executed all the temples, Grand Steward, Saint, and priests.

Desmorak, who had gone to the town square on the Emperor’s orders to observe the people’s reaction to the Saint’s resurrection and death, returned to the Imperial Palace pale-faced.

Two weeks since the Saint’s death.

In the town square, every other house was selling Nina’s portraits.

The most popular among them was the painting of Nina holding the dead Saint.

From that painting alone, Desmorak could sense that Nina’s presence among the people had changed significantly from before.

Though it was unpleasant, it wasn’t shocking.

Nina was the greatest contributor to the unification of the entire continent.

As it was Arsed’s most significant achievement, he had expected that perceptions of her would change.

But the story he heard today was something that should never have emerged.

“The one who killed Count Puaco’s daughter was Princess Lillien? And they tried to pin that crime on Princess Nina.”

“Oh my, that’s why God was angry. How furious must He have been to resurrect the already dead Saint?”

“Honestly, has Princess Lillien ever shown the ability to inherit Arsed’s throne?”

“Princess Nina is the hero who unified the entire continent.”

“Do you know this? Princess Nina has been going to battlefields since she was fourteen.”

“Fourteen? She threw herself into war at such a young age? Even if the divine oracle said so, how could they!”

Comparisons between Nina and Lillien could be heard everywhere.

Moreover, just the talk questioning the validity of Lillien’s succession to the throne was shocking enough, but rumors were even circulating that Lillien was the one who killed Count Puaco’s daughter.

‘Where did the information leak from?!’

No matter how much he thought about it, there was nowhere it could have leaked from.

Because this matter was something he had handled personally.

“I’m going to make Nina Arsed rot in prison for life.”

“…I will find a way, Princess.”

“The method already exists. Tonight, cut off Michelle Puaco’s head.”

“Count Puaco’s daughter?”

“You don’t know what humiliation I suffered today because of that. Her head must be cut off. Now, sprinkle these strands of hair on Michelle’s bed.”

The initial plan had come from Lillien.

She had pressed dozens of blonde strands similar to Nina’s hair into his hands, obtained from who knows where.

Though he had tried to dissuade her, saying it was reckless, Lillien had declared she would carry out the deed alone if he didn’t handle it that very day.

Having no choice, he entrusted the job to the underworld, and killed the man with poison at the location where he was supposed to receive the completion report.

And that night, he observed the people coming and going from the pawn shop for quite some time.

Desmorak finally spotted the prey he had been waiting for.

It was a young man who had pawned the old shoes he was wearing and was coming out with money.

“Young man, do you need money?”

“Why do you ask…?”

“If you’re selling even your shoes, you must be quite destitute.”

“…Actually, my mother is ill. She’s sick and receiving treatment at a healing center on the outskirts, but I can no longer afford the medical expenses.”

Satisfied with the circumstances, Desmorak removed the hood he was wearing and revealed his face.

He was known to people as the Emperor’s sorcerer.

“Y-you are…!”

“If you do me a favor, I’ll give you enough money so you won’t have to worry about your mother’s medical expenses. Though you’ll have to leave the capital for a while.”

“What kind of favor?”

“Tonight you saw Princess Nina Arsed jumping from a window at Count Puaco’s mansion. You just need to tell Count Puaco this.”

“Wh-what do you mean…?”

“This isn’t my will. It’s practically His Majesty the Emperor’s command. It’s for Arsed’s sake, and it’s also to save your mother’s life. What will you do?”

It was a matter of framing Nina Arsed, who was both a war hero of Arsed and a Princess.

Even if they gave him a fortune, if the lie was discovered, his head would surely roll.

This was why Desmorak had risked danger to reveal his face.

He believed that if the Emperor was behind framing the Princess, anyone would have no choice but to kneel before him.

The young man’s fingertips trembled slightly.

Above all, at the words that he could save his mother, his last hesitation quietly crumbled.

Thus the young man lied to Count Puaco in exchange for money and disappeared without a trace.

But problems began when Count Puaco, completely blinded by greed, tracked down that young man, Craven Dalk.

When Lillien learned that the fake witness had been caught by Count Puaco and thrown into prison, she threw a fit.

Desmorak immediately gave the prison wardens alcohol laced with a drug that would make them fall into deep sleep.

Then he forced Craven Dalk to drink as well, and carried him to Maryeonso.

It was to solve the matter in the only way he alone could.

He unhesitatingly removed Craven’s heart and cast sorcery on it, then secretly brought Craven back to the prison.

After that, it went as it had during the public trial.

Thus all the people used to kill Michelle were dead.

But how had such rumors spread?

‘If these rumors were to reach Count Puaco’s ears!’

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