The Saint’s Manual for Redemption - Chapter 105

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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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Chapter 105
“Does the Saint trust the Archbishop?”
The unexpected question sent an alarm bell ringing through my mind.
I couldn’t answer honestly. I couldn’t let the Emperor know that I’d been betrayed by that old man and was seething about it.
I smiled softly without a moment’s hesitation.
“Of course I do.”
The Emperor stared at me without speaking, his gaze not merely listening to my answer but trying to pierce through to whether my words were genuine, where performance ended and truth began.
But I, too, was someone who had negotiated with emperors countless times.
I composedly adjusted the handle of my teacup.
“The Archbishop has guided the Religious Order for many long years. What reason could I possibly have not to trust him?”
Reasons not to trust him were abundant, but there was absolutely no reason to share them with the Emperor.
The Emperor studied my face for a while longer, then slowly leaned back against his chair.
I couldn’t tell whether he’d obtained the answer he wanted or had concluded that I was concealing my true feelings.
But the way he so quickly regained his composure—unlike someone who’d been trembling with evidence in hand just moments before—suggested that this man was no ordinary schemer himself.
“This time, I have a proposal for you.”
“I’m listening.”
“The Imperial Palace has no intention of making the Saint an enemy.”
At the formal tone that had returned, I let out a silent snort.
Coming from a household that had planted an eavesdropping magical device in the Saint’s quarters, the words rang hollow, but I waited quietly for what came next.
“And I am aware that you have entered into an engagement contract with my brother.”
My hand stilled ever so slightly as I reached for my teacup.
The engagement contract with the Grand Duke had not yet been officially announced.
Only a handful of people in the Grand Duke’s domain knew, and after returning to the Holy Sanctuary, I had deliberately avoided discussing it in my quarters, mindful of the eavesdropping device.
Above all, Prakti, the Second Prince’s man who had been attached to my side, was already in custody.
Yet the Emperor knew?
It was possible that a report had been sent before Prakti was captured, but the timing between when the contract was made and when Prakti was separated seemed tight.
Alternatively, the Emperor might have his own eyes watching around the Grand Duke, or the Imperial Palace could have been surveilling the interior of the Grand Duke’s domain all along.
Even as my mind rapidly calculated the possibilities, my expression remained composed and gentle.
“The Imperial Palace does seem to be well-informed.”
“You’re not denying it.”
“Would it be wise to attempt an awkward lie before someone who already knows the truth?”
A faint smile appeared at the corner of the Emperor’s mouth.
“So it was to avoid an engagement with the Second Prince?”
I let out a light sigh.
“Your son has been so persistent. He speaks of giving me a cheap engagement ring without shame, and every letter pressing for an answer is filled with words I can’t tell are threats or courtship. Surely I had to find another way?”
I simply needed to appear as a young Saint tired of a foolish prince’s relentless pursuit, someone who’d made a contract with the Grand Duke to escape it.
The Emperor didn’t laugh at my witty response.
“The Second Prince may be excommunicated without concern.”
This time, maintaining my expression required some effort.
What? Hadn’t he come to me just moments ago asking me to cooperate so his son wouldn’t be excommunicated?
A man who’d offered up the Swallen Plains and was willing to buy indulgences to avoid it—had he truly switched to abandoning his son the moment a Violation of Sacred Authority was added to the charges? The shift was too clean, even for a calculating ruler.
The Emperor continued without emotion, as if reading my doubts.
“A man who wastes talented members of the Imperial Secret Order so carelessly, who can’t even properly plant a listening device, who bungled the whole scheme so badly that he tried to manipulate the Temple only to end up being manipulated himself—how could such a man ever lead the Empire well?”
With that single statement, the Second Prince’s fate was sealed.
The Emperor was not a father come to save his son.
He was a sovereign calculating whether a prince who threatened the succession hierarchy was worth preserving.
He had judged the assassination attempt on the Saint alone to be worth covering up at the cost of the Swallen Plains, but now that a Violation of Sacred Authority had been exposed and the risk of conflict with the entire Religious Order had emerged, he concluded the investment held no value.
He hadn’t protected the boy because he was his son, but only because he was a counterweight that might prevent the First Prince from dominating unchallenged.
And now he could no longer be used.
“Then you mean to withdraw your offer regarding the Swallen Plains?”
“No.”
It was an unexpected answer.
“That land will be ceded to the Temple Territory as promised. However, it will not be the price for absolution of the Second Prince’s sins.”
The Emperor paused and looked directly at me.
“It will be the price for your acceptance of my proposal.”
He abandons his son and still offers the Swallen Plains. If so, the proposal he was about to make must be worth to him as much as that land.
I straightened my back naturally.
“What is it that you want?”
“You must become the watchers of my brother.”
“A watcher of the Grand Duke?”
“Precisely so.”
The Emperor tapped his fingers slowly against the table.
“You’ve entered into an engagement contract with my brother, and you’ve even gained the pretext that he rescued the Saint from an assassination attempt. From now on, no one will find it strange if the two of you maintain close contact.”
Instead of answering, I narrowed my eyes.
“Tell me what people he meets, which nobles he exchanges letters with, and what thoughts he harbors regarding the Imperial Palace.”
The Emperor was afraid of the Grand Duke.
If he were merely a distant branch of the imperial house ruling the Northern Region, there would be no reason to willingly surrender the Swallen Plains to the Temple and request surveillance.
The Second Prince had been excommunicated for violating Sacred Authority and lost his claim to the succession.
And because of that, the First Prince, who became the sole heir, is now colluding with the Archbishop in a marriage of Church and State to borrow the Temple’s power for his ascension.
Now, even if the First Prince tries to cast off the Archbishop’s hand once his succession is secure, that cunning old man would never content himself with merely doing someone else a favor—he’d surely already secured leverage to make it impossible for the First Prince to cast him aside. The First Prince cannot shake him off.
With the succession hierarchy trembling now, the Grand Duke’s political weight was far greater than I had estimated.
With both his sons tainted, if the Grand Duke—son of the Late Empress and bearer of the Imperial bloodline’s legitimacy—were to move, a faction could emerge seeking to elevate him as the new heir.
The Emperor was moving to cut off that possibility before it took root.
And the moment he learned that I had grown close to the Grand Duke, he saw an opportunity to exploit that relationship and peer inside.
For me, it was less a threat than a bargaining chip.
I had already formed an alliance with the Grand Duke. Accepting the Emperor’s demand didn’t mean I had any intention of betraying him. Rather, the very fact that the Emperor was so wary of the Grand Duke was itself invaluable information.
The Grand Duke’s value as a card to play against the Imperial Palace was far higher than I had assessed.
I could pretend to accept the role of spy, then align my story with the Grand Duke beforehand and feed the Emperor only what we wanted him to see.
Depending on the situation, I could make it appear that the Grand Duke had no ambitions and was content to remain locked away in the North, or, when pressure on the Emperor was needed, I could exaggerate his subtle movements in my reports.
The moment the Emperor proposed that I become the Grand Duke’s eyes and ears, he had opened a new intelligence channel to the Imperial Palace with his own hands.
I didn’t answer immediately; instead, I asked a question.
“Does Your Majesty believe the Grand Duke is coveting the throne?”
“That is precisely what I wish you to discover.”
The Emperor evaded the answer with practiced ease.
“Tell me what ambitions my brother harbors. Does he content himself with protecting the North, or does he set his gaze elsewhere?”
It was a way of probing without explicitly mentioning the succession hierarchy. But the very fact that he would resort to such surveillance was answer enough.
I slowly traced the rim of my teacup with my fingertip.
“If I accept Your Majesty’s proposal, what do I gain beyond the Swallen Plains being ceded to the Temple as sacred territory?”
The Emperor’s eyebrows rose slightly. This is just the Temple doing favors, and if you’re asking me to do something this difficult, then naturally there should be something in it for me too.

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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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