Chapter 31
Watching him, Elise slowly curled the corners of her lips upward.
“Why, Leon?”
Her violet eyes had turned cold.
“Don’t tell me…”
The smile disappeared completely from her lips.
“You’re not afraid, are you?”
At those words, Leonhardt’s pupils shook violently.
The ominous anger on Esit’s face had become impossible to conceal.
Elise calmly raised the corners of her lips again.
“You’ve probably seen plenty of other people’s blood. I thought it might hurt a little less if my fiancé were the one doing it.”
The silence filling the room was so tense it felt as though it could choke someone.
She looked at the three men one by one.
The Emperor was desperate to obtain her blood, the Master of the Magic Tower was watching with amusement, and the hero could not even bring himself to pick up a single knife.
Really, could there be a more ridiculous sight than this?
“Come on, Leon.”
Leonhardt stared at Elise’s wrist with trembling eyes.
Her wrist was so thin and pale that it looked as though even the slightest cut might truly damage her.
It was absurd.
He had always believed that sacrifice was only natural when it was for the sake of the Empire.
Yet the moment he imagined the tip of that blade touching Elise, his breath caught in his throat.
There was a world of difference between something you could not see and something vividly unfolding right before your eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
She was still smiling, but there was not the slightest warmth in that smile.
“Don’t tell me you can’t do it?”
Elise’s eyes narrowed slightly.
While believing that a Saint’s sacrifice for the Empire was only natural, he had probably never stopped to consider what holy water actually was—the blood drawn from her body like she were livestock.
Nor had he ever considered the pain inflicted upon her in the process.
It was nothing more than the utterly damned armchair theory of a hero sitting high above everyone else.
“…Lady Elise.”
He squeezed his eyes shut in anguish.
“If you can’t do it, it’s all right to say so.”
Still holding out her wrist, she took another step toward him.
“After all, spilling blood from the hand of someone you love isn’t easy. No matter how much it’s for the sake of the Empire.”
At her words, Leonhardt’s fingertips trembled faintly.
Frozen in place, unable either to accept the knife or push it away, he looked utterly miserable.
Watching him, Esit finally muttered in a cold voice,
“Useless fool.”
As though he could no longer bear watching, he pushed Leonhardt aside and picked up the knife from the silver tray himself.
“Move. If you can’t even do something like this, I’ll do it myself.”
“Your Majesty!”
At that moment, Leonhardt immediately grabbed his wrist.
Esit’s red eyes narrowed dangerously.
“How dare you.”
“…Your Majesty should not be doing this.”
“Then will you do it?”
“…”
For a long while, no answer came from him.
Elise stared at his pathetic figure for quite some time before finally letting out a small laugh.
“Hah.”
It was a low, mocking sound.
“Come to think of it, the three of you really are well matched.”
Her violet eyes slowly swept over the three men.
“The Emperor wants my blood, the commander of the guard can’t bring himself to draw blood from me, yet he can’t stop me either, and the Master of the Magic Tower is just standing there watching.”
“It’s entertaining.”
Ian replied with a crooked smile.
“Honestly, situations like this are pretty rare.”
“Shut up, Ian.”
“Am I wrong?”
He shrugged and looked at Elise.
“So, Elise. What are you really going to do?”
“Why should I explain that to you?”
“I’m not asking you to explain.”
Ian glanced down at Elise’s wrist and gave a low laugh.
“It just means that, in the end, you have to choose. Whether you’ll give up your blood right now, or let the people who came up from the north die.”
At those words, Seria drew a very quiet breath.
But Elise became even calmer.
It was a method she was already familiar with.
They put someone else’s death around her neck and then blamed her if she refused to sacrifice herself.
Hadn’t they said the exact same things while she stood upon the execution pyre?
Slowly sweeping her gaze over the three pairs of eyes watching her, Elise took a deep breath.
“All right.”
Her unexpectedly obedient answer caused Esit’s eyebrow to twitch slightly.
“I’ll give it to you.”
Seria’s eyes widened in surprise. Leonhardt seemed almost relieved by those words.
But without looking at either of them, Elise placed the tip of the knife not against her wrist, but with a sharp clack on the small table standing in the center of the room.
“On one condition.”
She looked straight at the red-eyed Emperor.
“You said there are thirteen wounded soldiers and twenty-seven civilians who came from the north, right? Bring every single one of them here.”
“…What?”
“Don’t put my blood into bottles and send it somewhere else. Bring those people directly here, right in front of me.”
Esit’s expression slowly hardened.
Elise continued, enunciating every word clearly.
“If the lives of the Empire’s citizens really are what you’re worried about, then there should be nothing more to discuss.”
“That would be difficult in terms of procedure…”
“Oh.”
She raised the corner of her mouth.
“Difficult because of procedure?”
Her smile deepened.
“Then was it a lie after all?”
“Elise.”
“If it were really so urgent, you would have brought them here already instead of wasting time trying to persuade me.”
The atmosphere in the room instantly turned cold.
Esit clenched his teeth.
She had struck precisely at the heart of the matter.
It was true that there were wounded soldiers from the north.
But the truth was that he had demanded holy water for the imperial reserves and the foreign delegation at the same time.
He had never expected Elise to confront him so directly.
She had always willingly given it to them before.
“Why aren’t you answering?”
Elise’s eyes curved.
“I suppose taking care of the Empress Consort’s skin is urgent, but the actual patients aren’t?”
“Elise!”
Esit shouted furiously.
But she did not even blink.
“Oh, why are you shouting like that, Esit?”
That single word caused Esit himself to stiffen.
Elise slowly approached him, walking with the graceful steps befitting a Saint.
But coiled within those elegant movements was a poisonous snake.
“If you’re the Emperor, shouldn’t you at least have some dignity along with your shamelessness?”
“…”
“If my blood is truly being used for the people of the Empire, why would I refuse?”
Her eyes narrowed coldly.
“Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”
“That’s…”
“The problem is that I don’t trust you anymore.”
It was something she once could never have dared say aloud.
But now Elise uttered those words without hesitation.
Esit was unable to react for a moment.
That simple statement—that she no longer trusted him—was strangely unpleasant.
It meant that the woman he had believed he had trained and controlled was now completely slipping from their grasp.
Then—
“Your Majesty.”
Leonhardt spoke in a low voice.
“Bring the patients here.”
“What?”
“If they are truly in critical condition, then the Saint should treat them herself. You said you would not give up the holy water without seeing the patients, did you not?”
Esit’s gaze shot toward him like lightning.
“Do you even understand what you’re saying?”
“I do.”
Leonhardt answered with an utterly resolute expression.
“At the very least, we can no longer draw the Saint’s blood without even knowing where it will be used.”
“Hah.”
Ian let out a quiet laugh.
“This is getting even more interesting.”
Esit’s face turned pale.
But he could not simply crush Leonhardt head-on here.
Above all, Seria and the priests had heard the entire conversation.
If he forcibly tried to draw Elise’s blood now, it would inevitably create an even bigger scandal.
“Fine.”
Esit finally spoke in a low voice.
“Let us do that.”
He immediately turned toward the priest standing behind him.
“Bring the wounded soldiers and poisoned patients from the north to the temple. Immediately.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“And one more thing.”
Esit’s red eyes gleamed as coldly as ice.
“If you dare speak carelessly…”
He did not finish the sentence, but the priest understood the threat immediately.
His face turned deathly pale as he bowed his head and hurried away.
Elise watched him leave and merely sneered inwardly.
