The Villainess Lives Twice - Chapter 192

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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 192

Cedric comforted her.

“Lisia is fine. Don’t worry. I only told you because I thought you should know. I didn’t tell you to worry about it.”

Cedric gently caressed Artizea’s cheek as he spoke.

“I’ll write a letter. That both you and the baby are healthy. She’ll be delighted.”

“Yes…”

“If Lisia bestowed a blessing without you knowing, it would have been because she wanted you to be healthy. You understand, don’t you?”

Artizea forced herself to nod.

And once she put aside thoughts of Lisia, this time practical concerns came to mind.

“Please find out where Father Colton is and let me know.”

“I’ve already contacted him. He has a relationship with you, and we received help from him last time too.”

To Cedric and Artizea herself, it was clear that the healing blessing had only acted to save Artizea who was in critical condition.

But what about others?

It wasn’t yet time for Lisia to receive an oracle and appear as a saint. The temple wouldn’t simply overlook a miracle that appeared after 200 years, especially one that occurred at the altar during the Harvest Festival.

Even the usually calm and neutral Archbishop had been blinking his eyes excitedly, hadn’t he?

Cedric had no intention of letting Artizea and the baby be exploited in any way.

“Don’t worry. It hasn’t been long since the Akim matter ended. The temple won’t be able to act too extremely either.”

They would try to use it for propaganda, but he deliberately didn’t mention such things.

Fortunately, Duke Loigar was in the south. The Emperor would certainly also view this as a political issue, but he didn’t mention that either.

They had been bearing risks from the moment an heir was born anyway. The Emperor already knew well that the child would be extremely effective as a hostage.

There was no need to think urgently about it.

“I will protect both you and our daughter. So just rest well and focus on recovering your health first.”

“Yes…”

Cedric lightly kissed Artizea’s dry lips.

* * *

The Grand Cathedral recorded in official documents that divine grace had descended upon the altar of the Harvest Festival, and sent messengers to temples and monasteries to inform them.

Word of mouth was even faster than that. Over a thousand people had witnessed it directly. It spread throughout the entire capital before even a day had passed.

And probably within a month it would spread throughout the entire central region and beyond.

Originally, the Grand Cathedral did not hold worship services on the day after major ceremonies like the Grain Festival or Harvest Festival ended.

But this year was different. From that evening onward, they continuously held small-scale ceremonies and worship services.

Other temples also held worship services giving thanks for the grace, and hymns continued without cease day and night at the monasteries.

Devout believers offered prayers at temples throughout the night.

Even believers who weren’t active non-believers but hadn’t been particularly fervent in their faith either, lit candles with reverent hearts.

Donations poured in continuously. Offerings surged, and treasures were. Hoping that the blessing bestowed at the Harvest Festival would descend upon their own lands, some even donated ten percent of their precious estates’ annual harvest.

At the same time, praise for the Evron Duchy continued as well.

“The child born receiving grace will be the next Duke of Evron, right?”

“Since Prince didn’t lose his upright and honest character even after losing his parents in childhood, God is blessing him too.”

“I heard that not only in the north, but in the western regions too, they serve Prince Evron like a pillar.”

“He’s a hero who protected humans from both Karam and monsters, so there’s probably no one more faithful to God’s will than him.”

“The Prince’s Consort is the same way. She the vast farmland she had in the west to the temple, asking them to use it to help the poor.”

“They say this year’s good harvest in the west and the prosperity there is thanks to that.”

As these stories were passed along and reproduced, excitement and anticipation spread together.

And the expectation at the end of it all was this:

“How remarkable a person will that baby born receiving such grace become?”

There were also people who couldn’t speak of it as if it were someone else’s business.

Gayan spoke worriedly to Amelie.

“It’s too early. Won’t His Majesty be on guard? Do you know how Evron will respond to this?”

“Only two days have passed at most.”

“But the temple is fanning the flames this much?”

“They can’t bury what actually happened. The temple won’t listen either.”

Amelie sighed.

“Besides, Her Highness is still unwell, isn’t she?”

“My wife was already perfectly alert by the second day after giving birth. Even during her first birth. Though she did stay in bed.”

“You speak so easily when it’s not your own body that’s in pain. Would your wife really say she could attend meetings on the second day?”

At Amelie’s words, Gayan flinched and closed his mouth. Amelie spoke again.

“Her Highness was originally weak in health, wasn’t she? And I heard she had surgical incision.”

Surgically removing a baby was never a common occurrence. It was only done when they judged that the mother would certainly face a life-threatening crisis if they didn’t do it that way.

She had been driven to such a situation. Even if the incision wound was well sutured and recovering, her body would have suffered serious damage.

Gayan said in surprise.

“I didn’t know that. Is Her Highness safe?”

“Her recovery is going smoothly, so that’s fortunate at least.”

Amelie answered.

They couldn’t get any more information than that. The Duke’s Residence was now guarded without any gaps.

Human entry was also strictly forbidden. Even the merchants who supplied ingredients were banned from entering, so servants had to go directly to trading companies in the morning.

There were more than a few people lurking around wanting to see the Prince’s Consort and Young Lady who had received grace.

To that extent, it would only be a bit noisy, not a big problem.

However, there was no guarantee that fanatical believers wouldn’t be mixed in among them.

It was an even bigger problem if someone appeared pretending to be a fanatic while trying to cause trouble.

“It’s become a burdensome matter for Duke Loigar.”

It wouldn’t have been strange if he had decided within a day that he needed to eliminate them.

Imperial succession rights aren’t determined by public opinion.

However, something like divine grace transcends customs and laws. What greater legitimacy could there be than being chosen by God?

Especially if one received a blessing as fruit at the time of birth.

Amelie said with a serious face.

“To be honest, I’m not worried about Duke Loigar. Duke Loigar is in the south, and even if someone from his faction decided to act, it would be difficult to break through the current defenses of the manor and harm the Young Lady.”

“Mm, that’s right.”

But the two didn’t speak about what they were really worried about.

Because they couldn’t dare voice suspicions about the Emperor.

Marquess Luden had thought that the appearance of a miracle at the altar of the Harvest Festival was nonsense.

「I know you want to think it’s fraud or theater. If I hadn’t seen it directly myself, I wouldn’t have believed it either.」

Countess Camellia wouldn’t have exaggerated minor mistakes or been swept up in mass hallucination.

But divine grace? It could only sound like crazy talk.

The last saint had appeared 200 years ago. Legendary colors had been overlaid on human memory. Enough time had passed for what was as evidence to lose credibility.

It was an era when atheism was rampant. Not a few people thought that serious faith was something only old people had.

Marquess Luden was the same. He wasn’t an active atheist. He didn’t think faith had enough value to be worth that much.

Now saying that divinity appeared at the Harvest Festival? It was incomprehensible and shouldn’t be allowed to happen.

‘How troublesome.’

But it had already happened. Marquess Luden had no intention of determining its authenticity.

That would only put the temple at the center of controversy and inflate the rumors even more.

Inflated rumors would give more power to the temple and make devout believers attack Marquess Luden.

Rather than doing such meaningless things, it was more productive to just reduce the aftermath and think about what came next.

“The pillar of Cratese, Emperor Gregor Aphanasy Nestor His Majesty, who received the scepter and orb from God to become the sun on earth, enters.”

Even knowing that Marquess Luden was alone, the audience chamber servant announced loudly.

Marquess Luden forced himself to smooth the wrinkles on his brow and stood up from his seat.

It went without saying that shouting the formal title used only at official events during such a simple audience was meant to seize the initiative.

The Emperor strode into the audience chamber. Marquess Luden knelt on one knee and bowed respectfully.

“Pavel of Luden greets the Sun of the Empire.”

“Rise. Are not both you and I in a precarious state with our knees?”

The Emperor spoke sluggishly.

Though it wasn’t particularly pleasant to hear, Marquess Luden immediately stood up. In fact, his knees really did hurt.

The Emperor offered him a seat. Marquess Luden sat down carefully and asked respectfully.

“What business have you summoned me for?”

It had been truly a long time since they had a private audience.

The Emperor lifted his teacup and took a sip, holding it in his mouth. Though there seemed to be almost no change in his outward expression, Marquess Luden could tell he was caught up in complex thoughts.

Finally, the Emperor spoke.

“About what happened at the Harvest Festival.”

“Yes.”

“Do nothing.”

Marquess Luden had to struggle not to furrow his brow.

“What am I supposed to do? It’s the temple side that’s doing something.”

“I witnessed the manifestation of a miracle right before my eyes that day.”

“Surely you’re not going to tell me that the daughter of Duke Evron has truly been chosen by the divine?”

“Your words are excessive, Marquess. I understand this concerns the future of your beloved youngest daughter, but there’s no need to be so guarded already.”

“Your Majesty.”

“I mean don’t deny what happened before my very eyes. At the altar of the Harvest Festival, while I was watching, divine grace descended upon the newly born member of the imperial family. Grace that had not been bestowed once in the past 200 years.”

Marquess Luden could not directly refute those words.

For the first time in 200 years, grace had descended at a ceremony where the Emperor offered sacrifices. To deny this could potentially mean denying the Emperor’s reign.

Of course, both the Emperor and Marquess Luden knew that the divine had not blessed the Emperor’s rule.

However, they could not openly say so.

Marquess Luden had no choice but to bow his head.

“Though I did not witness it directly and find it difficult to fully believe in the miracle, if grace has truly descended rather than the temple trying to deceive the people, it is indeed a blessing.”

That was all he could say.

“You look unwell, my lord Marquess.”

Luden’s Secretary, who had been waiting at the entrance of the Imperial Palace, asked with a cautious expression.

“Damn it.”

Marquess Luden muttered a curse under his breath as he walked out with quick steps.

There had to be another meaning behind the Emperor calling the one who received grace a ‘member of the imperial family.’ Marquess Luden smelled conspiracy.

But there was nothing he could do about it.

“That bastard?”

“He’s waiting.”

The secretary said this while opening the carriage door.

The waiting carriage was different from the one he had arrived in. Marquess Luden stepped on the footboard and climbed up with effort to the floor that was higher than ordinary carriages.

The secretary followed and closed the door.

Then he lifted the carpet laid on the carriage floor and inserted his fingers into a hole drilled in the planks, pulling with all his might.

“Mmph! Mmmmph!”

In the empty space created in the carriage floor, Ian Camellia was crammed in, bound tightly.

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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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