Chapter 44
The Beginning
Riyan couldn’t hold back and jabbed Deccan in the ribs.
“What did he say? Huh?”
“Ah… He said we should consult the Order of Saint Malik.”
“Hm? Does that even make sense?”
At first, Riyan blinked in disbelief.
“Those bastards are obviously behind it. If we consult them, you think they’ll come running and spill everything—… Actually, it might work.”
Deccan nodded.
“Yes. We might be able to use the consultation as a way to dig up evidence. Since they officially belong to the Temple, they have no valid reason to refuse the Emperor’s summons.”
“Right. Wow, and the Phoenix knew all this? That’s amazing.”
“Pii.”
To be precise, Pipi didn’t know anything that specific—he just said there might be people who knew ancient magic.
“Summon them immediately.”
At Rescal’s command, Riyan responded immediately.
“Yes, Your Majesty! If you permit it, I’ll go myself.”
“Do so. Take plenty of guards with you.”
“Understood.”
If Riyan went, there would be no lack of force. The Malik bastards would have no choice but to come along quietly.
Rescal took off the gemstone pendant symbolizing his name and tossed it to Riyan.
Riyan respectfully caught the pendant with both hands.
“Take that instead of a written letter.”
“Oh, I’ll return it with care. Then I’ll head out right now… Um, may I ask one quick question before I go?”
“Make it short.”
Riyan rolled his eyes once and quickly asked,
“What will you do with the royal chef?”
“Nothing.”
“Huh? Why not?”
“I heard the Empress said it was tasty at least once.”
“Ah… I suppose too much of a good thing can backfire. Then I’ll be off.”
With his curiosity satisfied, Riyan swiftly turned around.
Truth be told, ever since Rescal had the chef make various ginger dishes, he had been concerned.
No matter how excellent the chef’s skills were, if you obsessively used the same ingredient in everything, anyone’s palate would eventually grow tired of it.
‘Once I return, I’ll stop by the Empress’s palace and ask what food she truly likes.’
He intended to inform her. Riyan firmly believed the Empress had changed. After all, she had even prevented Serben’s punishment—it was hard to believe she was the same cruel and vicious Empress as before.
The snakes were being a nuisance for now, but once those minor problems were dealt with, the Emperor and Empress would make a perfect couple.
Rescal would fully subjugate the blood before his thirtieth birthday and remain a great Emperor of the Empire for years to come.
That was the ideal outcome—one he dearly hoped for.
“…?”
But it was still too early to be dreaming such dreams.
Suddenly, Deccan’s expression changed, and he brought his hands together, murmuring a spell.
Moments later, Deccan pulled out a letter from the wide sleeves of his robe.
“A message… has arrived, Your Majesty.”
The fact that the letter came from Deccan’s sleeve meant he had intercepted it using magic.
“That’s the Temple’s seal!”
Riyan shouted upon checking the envelope.
It meant that Deccan had intercepted a letter sent from the Temple to the palace using a pre-set enchantment.
Rescal grabbed the letter and ripped open the seal roughly.
“…What does it say?”
Riyan swallowed nervously.
He had a bad feeling. It felt as if the Temple knew exactly what was happening in the imperial office and had timed their move precisely.
“…Too late.”
“Sorry?”
Thud!
Rescal tossed the letter aside after reading it. A vein was bulging at his temple.
“It’s an accusation that the Empress has committed seventeen murders over the past four years while being confined—because her mark disappeared. The Temple demands to verify the mark.”
The accusation from the Temple of Harios wasn’t sent only to the Imperial Palace. It was also delivered to the five ducal families and all nobles in the High Council.
It was far too big to be handled quietly within the palace.
The formal accusation, signed by the High Priest, went through the High Council and the Chief Justice and was officially brought to trial.
It was like something out of a ghost story.
Before the Imperial family could react, everyone moved like mad—setting a trial date and appointing jurors.
There had never been such a swift transition from accusation to official trial in the history of the Eliahden Empire.
“Piiii! Piii!”
Pipi flapped his wings wildly and flew frantically around the room.
Eighty percent of his screeches were curses from Rescal, and the remaining twenty percent were directed at the Temple and those damned snakes.
Though his anger was understandable, it weighed heavy on the others to hear it nonstop.
After all, the accusation… was probably true.
“Pii! Pi!”
“Pipi, stop and come here.”
Lasilia held out her palm to Pipi, who flew over and buried his head into it, snorting furiously.
“Piii. Pii?”
“…I know you’re angry, but saying you want to kill all the priests is a bit much.”
“Pii!”
“There’s no such thing as someone it’s okay to kill. And besides, they’re already saying I’ve killed seventeen people—I can’t add more to that.”
“Piiit.”
“Whether you kill them or I do, it’s the same. And if we’re being technical, it wasn’t even me who killed the palace staff.”
“Pii…”
Pipi drooped his wings, deflated.
Yvette, who had been quietly nearby, cautiously opened her mouth.
“Your Majesty, are you not angry?”
“Should I be?”
“Yes. They’re accusing you over nonsense. Trying to hold you accountable for killing palace staff? Not even a noble would be charged for something like that. What kind of Temple accuses a noble of punishing their own servants? It’s absurd.”
Bitter as it was, that was the reality of social hierarchy.
Yvette wasn’t saying this because she’d become a noble and now thought lightly of servant lives—it was because inequality and injustice were just so commonplace.
“So here’s what I think—the issue isn’t the lives of the palace staff. It’s the disappearance of the mark.”
That was likely true.
The Temple wouldn’t launch a case without knowing the law.
The real issue was the mark.
The Temple wanted to reveal that Lasilia was a fake.
Things started to get complicated.
‘No matter how I think about it, the Temple’s target is the Empress.’
If the Empress was revealed to be a fake, the Emperor wouldn’t suffer much. It was the Empress who had hidden the truth, so the Emperor could simply punish her and find his true fated partner.
‘The Temple and the royal family aren’t exactly close, but… maybe their goal is to stop the Emperor from turning into a demon. If the Empress keeps her mouth shut, the one who suffers most is the Emperor. And the whole Empire would suffer if he transforms. Maybe the Temple is trying to protect the Empire in their own way.’
So the real problem was herself.
The one who wore the Empress’s face—but wasn’t the true Empress. The oracle of Delarta.
“If what the Temple says is true… then what happens to me?”
“Ah… Your Majesty…”
Yvette looked at her with a pitying expression and clenched her hands tightly.
“In my opinion… if you lose the trial, you’ll be deposed.”
“Deposed?”
That was unexpected.
Lasilia had assumed she’d be executed.
“Yes… In Eliahden, the Empress’s position is that of the Emperor’s fated mate.”
“What happens if I’m deposed?”
“Well… I’m not entirely sure, but… perhaps you’ll return to your ducal family. Though that depends on Duke Pielion. He might be punished too, if the mark has indeed vanished—since he might’ve helped cover it up.”
Yvette was subtly implying that the mark really might have disappeared.
And no wonder. Someone as clever as Yvette couldn’t have missed it. The Empress had refused to share a bed with the Emperor for four years and had taken great care to never be seen naked—not normal behavior without reason.
“Deposed, huh…”
It wasn’t execution.
If she was deposed and the Duke refused to take her in, she’d be left with nothing—but even that wasn’t such a terrible end for Lasilia.
‘Then I could go back.’
It felt like an answer had popped up out of nowhere.
‘Though I don’t know if it’s the right one.’
In the prophecy Lasilia had seen, she was dying while Rescal looked down at her. She confessed her love, and he rejected her coldly. In that vision, Rescal showed no emotion—just icy indifference.
‘Was it because he found out the mark had vanished? Was it just rage from being deceived?’
Was that why he tried to kill her?
But even that didn’t seem to add up.
‘If that were now… it wouldn’t quite make sense.’
She had grown less repulsed by the Emperor. That was true.
Still, if he tried to kill her now, she wouldn’t scream in betrayal and insist she was his true fate—that she loved him.
‘So the timing must not be now.’
It must happen much later.
After her emotions had fully matured. After she’d become so accustomed to the Empress’s life that she’d forgotten she was a fake. After she became convinced that he loved her with all his heart.
‘Fine. Then I’ll take a gamble.’
But before that—she would become a deposed Empress and leave the palace.
She needed certainty that the trial would end in deposition. If that was guaranteed, she could admit guilt and skip the mark verification process in front of the priests.
“Your Majesty… Is there anything I can do to help?”
Yvette watched Lasilia’s increasingly serious expression with concern.
She looked more anxious than the person actually on trial.
“Just tell me. I’ll do anything I can. I can even testify if you need me to.”
She was offering to give false testimony.
But lying under the Temple’s oath would be deadly. Lasilia hadn’t seen it happen in Eliahden, but in Delarta, it invoked a divine curse. It would likely be the same here.
“No. Just say what you saw and heard. But you won’t be asked to testify.”
“Why not? I’m the First Lady-in-Waiting of the Empress’s palace, Your Majesty.”
“You won’t be for long. …Ah, but there is one thing you can do.”
“Anything, Your Majesty.”
What Lasilia needed was someone who could deal with the priests, the judges, and the High Council.
And that person… was very close by.
“I need to meet Duke Pielion. What’s the fastest way to do that?”
