The Former Empress Roughly Hides Her Abilities - Chapter 131

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

【Chapter 131】

Yuna did not attend the Emperor’s birthday celebration.

However, she didn’t want to return to the Temple either, so she holed up in the room assigned to her within the Imperial Palace.

Since the banquet had only recently ended, the Imperial Palace was bustling with the aftermath of the festival, and the lively noise pushed its way into the room where Yuna was staying.

Trying hard to ignore that noise that reminded her of being alone, Yuna was mulling over her situation.

‘Should I hand over the sacred relic to the Emperor?’

While weighing whether that would be the right choice, or if it would become an irreversible mistake.

Even for a Saint, taking a sacred relic outside the Temple was taboo.

Since even temporary use was only permitted within the Temple, it made her worry even more.

‘No. What if I go that far and still get abandoned by the Emperor?’

Yuna agonized while gripping the edge of her blanket.

‘But if not now, there might never be another chance to become Empress…’

While she was repeating such worries.

A request for an audience from the Pope came up.

Yuna briefly closed her eyes, then opened them and gave permission.

“Let him in for now.”

It wasn’t yet time to completely turn her back on the Temple.

A moment later. The Pope appeared.

He stood properly observing etiquette, considering this was the Imperial Palace, but as soon as the door closed and only the two remained, he immediately dropped his facade.

“Saint.”

The Pope’s voice was sharp to the point of being desperate.

“Are you truly in your right mind.”

“…”

“To inform the Emperor about the existence of counterfeit gold.”

Even the Pope, the one who had brought Yuna into this world, had come here to reprimand her.

‘When I left the Temple, he didn’t even try to stop me, but now that his own interests are at stake, he’s frantic.’

As expected. This person was not on her side either.

Yuna let out a sneer filled with contempt.

“I would like to ask Your Holiness the same question.”

Recently, the Temple had been receiving continuous criticism and its influence was waning.

The number of believers had decreased, and donations had as well.

But they couldn’t reduce the Temple’s ceremonies just because they lacked money.

If they did that, even the remaining believers would obviously turn their backs.

Of course, the Temple had been releasing counterfeit gold little by little, on a small scale, even before.

“To release so much gold that the price of gold would fall. Your Holiness, are you the one whose mind is truly intact?”

Weren’t you the one who broke the principle of releasing counterfeit gold secretly and carefully to profit from it for a long time.

“Without being able to organize the distribution channels of the gold released into the market, to make this public to the Imperial Family. If the Saint had remained silent, we could have cleanly erased the Temple’s traces.”

The Pope glared at Yuna.

“If the Imperial Family investigates this matter and problems arise, we will have no choice but to make a decision on our end as well.”

That decision meant sending Yuna back to her original world.

Yuna did not avoid his gaze.

She roughly threw off the bedcover and came down to the floor.

“Don’t threaten me.”

Her twisted lips rose crookedly.

“You were the one who wanted me to come to this world more than anyone.”

Yuna laughed with a twisted expression.

The Pope, Malon, was merely an extra character in the original story.

[I bless your union and pray that only a path of flowers lies ahead.]

His part was barely one line.

Without any significant role, just congratulating the protagonists’ marriage and exiting.

Malon was aware of this, but being bound to the story, he could do nothing.

Therefore, he used an alien existence that didn’t belong to this world.

[You make a contract with ‘that thing.’]

Since it wasn’t something Malon, whose role was fixed as an honest and good character, could do directly, he used Oben, who didn’t appear in the original story.

And thus summoned Yuna.

‘Because I didn’t want my life to end up as just an accessory decorating someone else’s narrative.’

Only after a being that didn’t belong to this world entered and created cracks.

Could Malon break free from his fixed role.

He had essentially gained freedom by punching holes in the world.

“You cannot send me back.”

Thanks to leaving the Temple, Yuna could observe Malon more objectively than before.

Thanks to that, she had gained courage she didn’t have before.

“You also don’t want to return to your original place.”

“…”

Malon did not remain silent.

Yuna smiled sharply.

“You don’t need to worry. If Your Holiness doesn’t open your mouth, no one will know the truth. Therefore, it means the Temple won’t be in danger either.”

The incident of creating counterfeit gold wasn’t in the original story.

“Besides, it’s not humans who make the counterfeit gold, but ‘that thing,’ isn’t it?”

That thing was an existence that twisted causality just by existing.

Naturally, it didn’t even appear in the original story and couldn’t exist.

“If that thing has thoughts, it will take care of itself.”

This world was being maintained precariously despite cracks everywhere.

As if performing a self-correcting function, struggling desperately to return to the original story.

Since the power of the original story still remained, that thing had to hide from the world’s eyes.

‘Otherwise it would be pushed out of the story.’

Even now, ‘that thing’ would be hiding in a place where the protagonists of the original story would never set foot.

“So it’s a story that ends if only you stay quiet.”

Other than that, there was no one who would rashly open their mouth to reveal the secret.

“Do you understand?”

Malon glared at Yuna for a while before standing up first.

“I shall take my leave for today.”

His attitude had become polite again, as if addressing the Emperor’s fiancée.

However, his retreating figure was that of someone who had admitted defeat.

After the Pope returned.

Yuna softened the momentum with which she had roughly driven him away.

As the tension left her, she became listless and threw herself onto the bed as if collapsing.

‘Did I do the right thing?’

Belated regret and doubt arose.

Yuna had manipulated the Temple’s wrongdoing to appear as the Princess’s in order to bring down the Princess.

Since it was a choice made in anger to survive, she wasn’t confident about it.

If things went wrong, the Temple that served as her backing could collapse.

‘But there’s no choice.’

The Temple was a place she would have to leave someday anyway.

Yuna bit her lower lip hard.

There’s a saying that seizing power is like riding on a tiger’s back.

‘Now I understand why such a saying came about.’

Once you’ve mounted the tiger of power, it’s impossible to get down of your own will.

If you did that, you’d be devoured by the tiger.

‘That’s how it originally is. All that remains for former power holders is political retaliation.’

The same thing would happen when the Emperor loses his real power.

‘Would the Princess, who will become the next ruler, let me live?’

There was no way she would leave alone someone who had tried to kill her, someone who would become a source of trouble.

“So I can’t stop.”

I can’t get off the tiger’s back.

“There’s no choice….”

The words spoken to strengthen her resolve gradually became clouded with growing anxiety.

Yuna curled up under the blanket and buried her face.

“….”

Just then.

“I’ve brought the meal-.”

A young maid tried to enter carrying a tray filled with food.

“Shh, be quiet.”

Elder Maid Linda quickly grabbed the maid’s arm and pulled her back.

“Our honored guest seems tired right now, so it would be better not to go in.”

With her superior’s mood fluctuating like this, approaching carelessly might result in unpredictable consequences.

Instead of explaining further, Elder Maid Linda drew the curtains to hide Yuna from view.

Inside the room that had become quiet and dark.

Only the sound of Yuna dwelling on her anxiety continued at length.

* * *

“So what I bought was counterfeit gold?”

Til had come to work at the Special Tax Bureau, but his soul was elsewhere.

He had picked up his pen to work, but no strength entered his fingertips. Even as documents slipped down under his desk, he didn’t pick them up and muttered blankly.

“B-but the weight and density were identical to real gold.”

“As a result of investigating the counterfeit gold in question, we confirmed that a metal called tungsten was used inside.”

Gold is an expensive metal.

As such, attempts to deceive by mixing other metals with gold or covering the surface of cheap metals with gold had existed since long ago. Naturally, methods to detect this also existed.

Among them, the most common method was measuring density using water, but existing methods didn’t work on this counterfeit gold.

“Then there’s no way to distinguish it?”

“You can use classical identification methods. If you cut it and check the cross-section, you can confirm that other metals are mixed inside.”

Til looked down at the foreign substance filling the cut gold bar, then clutched his head.

Four out of the ten gold bars he had bought were in this state.

“What bastard, really.”

Til felt even more bitter because he had purchased a large quantity of gold this time.

‘If I had known this would happen, I should have just stolen some formal attire instead.’

When rumors spread that counterfeit gold was circulating in the market, gold prices fluctuated greatly. Some merchants even declared they wouldn’t trade gold for the time being.

“Is there no way to find out who the real culprit is?”

Til didn’t think the Princess was the culprit as rumored.

‘She may be young, but she’s not inexperienced.’

Unless she was a fool, there was no way she would continue circulating counterfeit gold while being suspected as the mastermind.

“It’s difficult to reverse-track the exact distribution route.”

This was because anyone could melt gold and change it into any desired form.

However, if there was one peculiarity.

“A special metal was used in this counterfeit gold.”

The metal called tungsten had a high melting point, making it difficult to handle. There wouldn’t be many people purchasing it either.

“We plan to track it focusing on the transportation routes of that metal.”

* * *

And so.

Rianel went to find Martan.

“Why, why are you here again!”

“Your name appeared in the records of the transportation company that carried tungsten.”

“Damn it!”

Martan, who had once been a crime organization boss and had become an underground businessman who diligently paid taxes, wailed.

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