The Former Empress Roughly Hides Her Abilities - Chapter 158

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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 158】

“What just happened?”

“I’m not sure either…”

The knights looked around at each other in bewilderment.

Malon was equally perplexed.

‘Wh-what nonsense is this.’

Why would a demon run away?

And after seeing a tax bill at that?

The incomprehensible situation left Malon feeling embarrassed.

‘Can you even call that thing a demon?’

Could this be some kind of demon-repelling charm or ancient sorcery I don’t know about?

Malon stared intently at the bill, but couldn’t find anything particularly unusual about it.

In any case, the current situation was clearly disadvantageous for him.

‘I have no choice.’

“I’ll have to use my secret weapon…!”

Malon reached into his coat again.

When the tense knights drew their swords and became wary of him.

Malon burst through the loosened encirclement.

“Uwaaaah!”

“???”

“What the?”

What he chose was escape.

Everyone just stared blankly in the stunned atmosphere.

“That old man really does all sorts of things.”

That attempt soon ended in failure.

Malon was dragged back with his collar grabbed by Martan.

“Let go of this-,”

“Let’s keep this reasonable so we don’t have to deal with troublesome things. You can’t even run properly, gasping like that.”

Malon’s face turned bright red, but he soon lost his energy and went limp.

Martan even showed the courtesy of personally binding him before handing him over.

“Anyway, this is the end of it, right?”

“Yes. Thank you for your help.”

“Get going quickly.”

And don’t come back.

“Let go of this! Can’t you hear me? Release this right now!”

Malon writhed in his bonds, but no one paid him any attention.

* * *

Afterward, Malon was transported to the Imperial Capital, and a trial was held to punish him.

“The charges applied to defendant Malon are as follows.”

The prosecutor recited the crimes that would be applied to him in order.

Fraud for deceiving believers and extorting money from them.

Embezzlement and breach of trust for siphoning off religious order funds.

And violation of criminal proceeds concealment regulations for hiding those funds in borrowed-name accounts.

Additionally, he was charged with kidnapping for luring victims with job offers and abducting them.

Unlawful confinement for imprisoning them.

And murder for causing victims’ deaths through human experimentation.

“Furthermore, corpse abandonment and concealment charges apply for using the bodies as fertilizer for sacred flowers and disposing of them.”

However, organized crime charges were excluded here.

While many high-ranking clergy were systematically involved in the crimes, there were those like Cardinal Janol who weren’t involved or didn’t know.

Most importantly, if designated as a criminal organization, the religious foundation’s corporate status could be revoked.

Emperor Tiren wanted the Old Faith to maintain at least its lifeline, so this charge was excluded, but even so, Malon received a heavy sentence.

“The defendant is sentenced to life imprisonment.”

Considering the time it takes from detention to final sentencing even for suspects, the verdict was delivered relatively quickly.

After the verdict.

Malon was loaded into a carriage to be transported outside the Imperial Capital.

At some point, he had become resigned to reality.

All that remained was the desire not to die.

He looked down at his bound torso, then asked the guards sitting on either side of him.

“Where are you taking me.”

“….”

“I say.”

“You’ll find out when we arrive.”

The guards only gave brief answers and didn’t satisfy his curiosity.

That said, they didn’t beat him or treat him harshly either.

But Malon noticed that they despised him.

During transport, he had seen more than once or twice people blocking the carriage, screaming to return their family members, or throwing stones.

Malon just kept his mouth shut.

‘At least I saved my life.’

However, when he was put on a boat and arrived at an island separated from civilization, Malon became anxious.

“S-surely you’re not going to an uninhabited island?”

“No.”

The island they arrived at had one building.

The ground floor was space for guards, and the basement was used as a prison.

‘Seeing traces of food preparation… they don’t seem to plan on starving me to death.’

“Please go in.”

Malon, who had been feeling relieved, hesitated.

The underground prison had only one room, and there was already someone who had arrived earlier.

The other person was a man.

A foul odor emanated from his body, unwashed for who knows how long.

The clothes he wore were dirty with filth, but you could tell they had originally been expensive garments.

The back of his bowed head looked familiar.

‘No way.’

The moment Malon’s lips twitched.

“Can you not hear what I’m saying?”

The man grabbed the iron bars.

“Come here and tell the Empress what I said.”

“….”

“I can go back. If I just have the books, I can start over as before…”

“….”

“Then she’ll come back. The Empress will return to my side again…”

Torbiyan, who had been muttering, suddenly turned around with bloodshot eyes.

His eyes flashed as he finally noticed Malon.

“You bastard…”

When Malon swallowed dry saliva at the gaze that could aptly be described as madness.

“This is all because of you.”

Suddenly his collar was grabbed.

“Why are you doing this…”

“You ruined everything. Because of you, the Empress left my side!”

“Let go of this,”

Malon barely escaped from the hand that had grabbed his collar, but it was meaningless.

“How dare you try to run away? No matter what you do, you’re still in the palm of my hand.”

Malon couldn’t argue back.

As he said, the two of them were trapped together in a narrow prison.

However, there was one person who could help him.

“Hey there! Hey there! Can’t you hear me? Let me out. I won’t run away, so please let me out even for a moment!”

Clank clank.

Malon grabbed the iron bars and called for the guard, but.

“Can’t you hear me begging for my life, ahhh!”

“You’ll be caught right away, you fool.”

His hair was grabbed and yanked before the guard could come.

The guard who had come down after finishing his meal looked back at the senior guard.

“Should I stop them?”

“What for.”

The senior shrugged his shoulders.

The Emperor had put both prisoners together on the uninhabited island, reasoning that operating separate prisons for two people was a waste of budget.

Since the Emperor harbored resentment toward the Pope, the possibility of the two joining forces was slim.

‘Even if they did join forces, there wouldn’t be much they could do anyway.’

Of course, this was the central authority’s reasoning.

The guards, who weren’t criminals but were trapped on the uninhabited island with them because of their job, weren’t pleased.

Though supplies came from the mainland, they were extremely limited, and being able to see their precious families was also restricted to once every few months, which was unpleasant.

“Just write up a report.”

The Emperor was curious whether the prisoners were faithfully serving their sentences.

Though those two were destined to live smelling the sea air until they died, the guards could be transferred to other prisons if they worked faithfully.

“If only you hadn’t brought just the Saint!”

Even amid this, the deposed Emperor’s voice was loud as he shifted blame.

The guard began writing the status report.

-Prisoner Torbiyan’s condition is good. As for Malon, who is imprisoned with him, hair loss on the crown and back of the head was confirmed, with scalp damage observed…

“Do we really need to write such useless details?”

The senior guard rolled his eyes.

“Compared to the crimes that bastard committed, that much is a trivial price to pay.”

Besides, seeing him dodge around in the narrow prison showed he was full of vitality, didn’t it.

“Please, just let me out!”

“That’s true too.”

He took out another piece of paper and began writing a new report.

-Both prisoners are confirmed to be in good condition with no health abnormalities.

This report was delivered to Emperor Tiren a month later.

* * *

Rianel and Asil had been spending unprecedentedly busy days recently.

They had decided to take a long vacation once their schedule was finished, but they had to hold their wedding first, so they were preparing for that in parallel.

Asil looked at Rianel while reviewing the minimal wedding budget proposal.

“Are you really sure it’s okay to proceed like this?”

Rianel responded as if asking what the problem was.

“As a ceremony to announce that we have established our relationship as husband and wife, all necessary procedures are included, so I judge there are no procedural problems.”

“Of course… you’re not wrong, but.”

Rianel wanted a simple ceremony.

Even the dress wouldn’t be much different from her usual style.

She also limited the number of invitees to the minimum.

“Are you really sure it’s okay?”

Still, wasn’t this a major event that happens only once in a lifetime.

“This is merely one of the ceremonies held before announcing that my surname has changed, and to me it’s nothing more than meaningless formality.”

Since the two were already in a common-law relationship, getting married wouldn’t change their lives much.

Above all.

“Didn’t we decide to take a long leave of absence.”

They had decided that both would take leave simultaneously once urgent matters were finished.

Rianel was looking forward to that time.

Rianel had never rested once during her time as Ensilen. Life as low-ranking civil servant Rianel was certainly more leisurely than before, but this would be her first time having a complete break.

“Come to think of it, you said you wanted to travel during your leave.”

“Yes. I want to try something I’ve never experienced before.”

The first time in her life having time to do nothing.

She wanted to leisurely tour various cities with Asil, doing nothing in particular.

“Do you have any travel destinations in mind?”

“I’m considering both revisiting the coastal region where the villa is located and visiting overseas destinations.”

“Both seem like good options.”

Actually, Asil would be happy even just walking around the house together with Rianel.

“Don’t you have any travel destinations you’re considering?”

“Well…”

Asil pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

“Not particularly. Let’s do whatever you want, Master.”

[When you get vacation, come down to the western region and visit your grandfather’s face.]

He felt like he was forgetting something, but decided not to try hard to remember it.

“By the way, will His Majesty be okay?”

Even if both of them were away, the State Minister would be in the Imperial Capital, so there wouldn’t be a major work gap, but they were still concerned.

They knew that Tiren was depending on both of them.

“She’ll adapt gradually.”

“Right. Roughly.”

The word used when handling work without putting in full effort had somehow become a word that symbolized Rianel.

Asil laughed.

“Then shall we roughly decide on travel destinations too?”

“There’s no rush, is there. I think it’s sufficient to just set a rough route.”

Rianel, who had always done her best in everything, gained the leisure to look back after going through one death.

It was like finally being able to grab something else with hands that had been clutching work with both hands before letting go.

Asil quickly grabbed those empty hands.

“Then let’s go.”

A world that would no longer repeat.

The complete story had reached its conclusion.

“Yes.”

This time, they were together.

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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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