Chapter 157
“Duke? I believe you have no business today. What brings you here?”
The Holy Knight guarding the entrance to the temple asked.
Due to the recent major restructuring of the Order by him and Aiden, they were all respectful to Blake.
They were even more cautious with the Saint, known as the Marquis Flaubert’s sister, in his arms.
“I intend to use the upper archives.”
“Ah, I’ll guide you right away. Did you bring the keys?”
“Here.”
Blake took out two keys from his pocket.
Angelina’s eyes widened in surprise.
“How did you get His Majesty’s key?”
“His Majesty passed it to Aiden.”
Unlike the Grand Temple archives, the Imperial Temple archives required two keys.
One was kept by the High Priest and one by the Emperor.
The High Priest’s key was temporarily transferred to Angelina, the Saint, when he was removed from his position, but she had entrusted it to Aiden and Blake while they were cleaning up the Order.
But now Blake appeared with both keys.
“Then, I’ll wait outside.”
Since entry required permission from both the Emperor and the High Priest, the knight who guided them did not enter.
“Am I allowed to enter?”
“What place in the temple would be off-limits to the Saint?”
“I suppose so?”
She was still not used to being the Saint, so she was unnecessarily cautious.
Honestly, she was even more so because she didn’t plan to accept the position.
“This way.”
Blake led her deeper into the archives.
Amusingly, despite being temple archives, the lighting came from magical tools.
The abundant holy power of the temple helped the magical tools function properly.
“What’s here that you’re so excited about? Weren’t these all just fancy old books?”
The reason for securing the Imperial Temple archives this way was with the intention that it would be safe to store truly important confidential documents here.
But reality was different.
The Imperial family didn’t trust the Order enough to place important documents there, and the Order was wary of the Imperial family so they kept their secrets in the Grand Temple.
So as Angelina said, this place was full of documents that were as useful as a chicken’s ribs.
“Yes, that’s why I didn’t expect to find this here.”
However, Blake’s expression was so bright as he pulled her along that Angelina became curious.
“Here it is.”
He pointed to a book stand that stood like a lectern.
A thick book was already open on it.
Following him to stand in front of it, Angelina looked down at the book.
Perhaps because it was an ancient text, some characters were faded here and there, and the paper seemed so fragile it might crumble at any moment.
It reminded her of the book where she first found information about Zeplictus.
Angelina gently ran her fingertips over the old book and slowly read the visible text.
“The holy sickness varies in severity according to one’s holy power. The more unrefined the holy power, the more violent it is, and the younger the person, the more severe the illness…?”
Could this be…?
[Many Saints and Holy persons throughout history died prematurely because they could not overcome this holy sickness.]
[Perhaps during periods without Saints or Holy persons, it wasn’t that the Sun God abandoned the Empire, but that we failed to find the Saints and Holy persons in time?]
Angelina’s eyes wavered.
If this was true, then the absence of a Saint in the original story was because she, who was the Saint, had died early…?
“Then could my illness be…”
Below, the symptoms of the holy sickness were listed, and they matched her symptoms exactly.
[If one asks whether we must bid such sad farewells to Saints and Holy persons every time, the answer is ‘no’.]
[The method to cure the holy sickness is surprisingly simple.]
[One must fuse what we know as holy power with what we consider to be magical power. Then the holy power returns to its most primordial form, which can be said to be the closest form to the Sun God.]
The closest form.
“The Sun’s power…”
Angelina recalled the music box she had seen in Kuns Village.
Perhaps that object, which opened when it contained both holy power and magical power together, simply needed to contain the Sun’s power.
It seems it worked because the two powers fused could at least imitate the Sun’s power.
[If one asks how to mix magical power, which is like oil to water, with holy power.]
Angelina swallowed hard and turned the page.
[That, I do not know.]
“This crazy…”
Angelina barely managed to hold back the curse that almost escaped her throat.
After explaining all this, to say they don’t know the method?
Are they mocking people?
She continued reading with cold eyes.
Then her angry gaze gradually softened.
[But one thing is certain: if one succeeds in returning to the primordial form, the holy sickness can be considered cured.]
[This is merely a story I’ve heard, but there is said to be a group in the world that knows the causal relationship between magical power and holy power. Perhaps they could help.]
[So I will set out to find them. Hoping for good news, I end my lament here.]
The name written as the author at the end was that of a High Priest from several hundred years ago.
He was rumored to have disappeared after passing his position to his successor.
“The group mentioned here is probably Kuns Village, and if the primordial form refers to the Sun’s power…”
Angelina’s voice trailed off as she offered this simple interpretation.
Her throat was too constricted for words to come out.
Blake cupped her face as she struggled.
As he lifted it, he could see her expression, on the verge of tears.
Gently caressing her soft cheek, he spoke softly.
“Angelina. You don’t have a time limit.”
“…!”
Though she had been thinking the same thing herself, hearing it aloud felt different.
“So, Angelina.”
Blake closed the distance between them.
Since she was standing on the platform, he had to look up at her.
Moving close enough to feel each other’s breath, Blake held both her cheeks and smiled faintly.
In a voice as quiet as if it might fly away, he whispered.
“Now love me freely.”
As his words scattered, their lips pressed together.
***
The Empress was sentenced to death.
She lost the support of the nobles all at once when it was revealed that she was the one who released monsters at the ballroom, and she lost her backing when the Crown Prince began cutting out the corrupted forces of the Order.
When it was revealed that she had attempted to assassinate the Emperor, even the Crown Prince turned his back on her, leaving no one by her side.
It was a shabby end compared to her behavior when she seemed poised to rule the world by seizing control of the Order and imperial authority.
After three stormy months, all the commotion that had turned the Empire upside down gradually quieted down.
But the threshold of the Flaubert Marquis household never became quiet.
[…to discuss a good future through marriage with the Marquis family…]
“Rejected.”
[…wish to invite the Lady to a banquet…]
“Busy. Declined.”
[…the Lady’s presence would certainly brighten the occasion…]
“Yeah, just get lost.”
Ante tore up all the piled-up letters.
The elegant letter papers with stylish writing all became kindling.
“Hah, it would have been troublesome enough if she had just appeared normally in society, but now she’s even become the Saint.”
[…the proclamation ceremony for the Saint…]
“Such shameless bastards.”
After tearing up even the letter from the Order, Ante sighed deeply.
“Jacob. Why are there so many lecherous bastards targeting Rina in this world? Should I just destroy the world completely? It would be like exterminating vermin.”
“Then where would Miss live?”
“Sigh… Yes, that’s the problem. That Lina loves this world too much.”
Ante rested his chin on his folded hands and looked at the last letter.
Compared to the other fancy letters, it was very neat and tidy.
Just like the sender.
“What should I do about this bastard?”
Ante fell into thought, glaring at the Kadenhart emblem stamped on the letter.
“…I should have just killed him in the Dark Forest after all.”
It was a belated regret.
But Jacob showed no sign of surprise.
Because although his words were fierce, there was no actual killing intent emanating from him.
“Are you thinking of refusing?”
“If I did that, Lina would truly hate me, wouldn’t she?”
“Yes.”
“Should I pretend to hesitate?”
“That’s as obvious a question as asking whether you love Miss…”
“Damn it. Have you been getting bolder lately?”
“Ah, come to think of it, Miss asked me to do something. I’ll be going now.”
Jacob hastily retreated from the room.
Left alone, Ante clicked his tongue and glared at the letter again.
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