Chapter 96
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From the moment the imperial decree arrived, meetings were held in the mansion.
The now-adult Lucas and Tristan also participated in the meetings with me. The opinions of the vassals who had urgently visited the mansion were split exactly in half.
“We should ignore it! Isn’t the oracle itself ambiguous?”
“Creating issues that could be seized upon by the imperial family at this point would not be wise.”
“Are you suggesting we allow His Grace the Grand Duke to be detained in the imperial palace?”
“There’s no good solution at present. Not unless the Saint personally retracts the oracle.”
Since the cause of this situation lay with the Saint, the solution proposed by the vassals had very little chance of success. I glanced sideways at the Grand Duke, who sat at the head seat, expressionlessly reading the imperial decree.
Despite his own safety being at stake, the Grand Duke remained unmoved.
At that moment, one of the vassals engaged in the argument asked for my opinion.
“Grand Princess, how do you think this situation should be resolved?”
At this, the Grand Duke, who had been fixated on the decree, turned his gaze toward me. With his chin resting on his hand, he waited for my answer with an utterly composed face.
My heart felt heavy, as all of this seemed to have originated from me.
‘I didn’t expect her to react like that.’
The Saint had ignored my request and boldly continued to issue the oracle just as in the original story.
Moreover, her justification in the letter was that she wanted to protect me. As I lowered my head with a face darkened by self-reproach, I heard the Grand Duke’s voice.
“Liat. You have nothing to do with this matter. So you don’t need to give your opinion.”
The Grand Duke summoned his magic power and burned the Emperor’s decree.
The vassals gasped in surprise at the Grand Duke’s action. He cleared away the ashes and picked up the handcuffs placed in a corner of the table.
They were items specially made by the Emperor to seal the magic power of the Grand Duke, who was a Sword Master.
“There’s no guarantee that what the Saint saw in her oracle is false.”
Unrest spread among some vassals who knew the Grand Duke was preparing a rebellion to overthrow the empire. Those words were as good as acknowledging the possibility that the oracle could become reality.
Clank!
The handcuffs collided in the Grand Duke’s grip, making a metallic sound. He languidly handled the handcuffs before extending his other hand.
As he ruffled my hair as usual, he whispered.
“This isn’t something that should make you wear such a gloomy face.”
“……”
“Everyone, there’s no need to make a fuss over nothing. If the decision is difficult, I’ll make the choice myself.”
“Father! Surely you don’t intend to comply with the imperial family’s request?”
Several vassals nodded in agreement with Lucas’s words.
Lucas was in favor of not giving in to the imperial family’s unreasonable demands. The Grand Duke, who had listened to Lucas’s words to the end with an indifferent expression, snickered.
Then, before anyone around could stop him, he put on the handcuffs.
Click.
Enormous magical power was sucked into the handcuffs. For a swordsman of his caliber, the sudden loss of magical power must be painful.
“Y-Your Grace!”
After putting handcuffs on his other wrist as well, the Grand Duke looked around at everyone present. His face, with its crooked smile, revealed his characteristic confidence.
“Is there anyone here who believes I will die in the imperial palace?”
In response to his leisurely question, no one could readily provide an answer. With a bored look in his eyes, the Grand Duke summoned magic power in his handcuffed hand.
Crackle! Sizzle!
The smell of burning flesh stung the nose.
Even as the handcuffs released an electric current, the Grand Duke silently emitted magical power. A symbol, like the emblem of the Grand Duke’s family, formed above his fingers.
“External pressure becomes a threat only when one cannot overcome it.”
It was a calm voice that was hard to believe came from someone enduring gut-wrenching pain. After dispelling the symbol, the Grand Duke placed his magic on his wrist, which had been burned by the handcuffs.
New flesh sprouted over the skin, covering the wound that had just formed.
Only the Grand Duke, who was born with the special attribute of life magic, could do something like this. The Grand Duke showed his now-pristine wrist.
“For me, this matter is not a threat. What do you all think?”
The vassals bowed their heads toward the Grand Duke, showing their amazement.
“We will follow your will.”
“I too will follow.”
“We will await your return.”
Afterward, discussions were held regarding policies to fill the void during the Grand Duke’s absence. After all agenda items were settled and the meeting was declared concluded, the Grand Duke finally called for Lucas and Gerard.
Lucas was clenching his fist with a face that couldn’t accept the situation.
“Lucas, take over as head of the family while I’m away. Gerard, you will temporarily return to the position of Knight Commander.”
“…Understood.”
“I will take charge of the knights.”
The corners of the Grand Duke’s mouth turned up slightly, forming a faint smile. Lucas’s eyes widened upon witnessing this expression. The voice that followed was unbelievably gentle for the Grand Duke.
“…I trust you.”
Lucas’s expression, which had been barely containing his anger, showed cracks.
I carefully covered Lucas’s hand. He was clenching his fist so tightly that his nails dug into his flesh.
Lucas, who had barely suppressed his emotions, spoke again.
“Father, I…”
“Brother. It’s already decided. You know that too, deep down.”
“…I will follow your will.”
At this time, when the empire’s religious fervor had heightened due to the Saint’s appearance, they couldn’t refuse the imperial order. The imperial family, knowing this, had seized the opportunity to detain the Grand Duke.
‘In the end, it happened just like in the original story.’
The imperial family will use this opportunity to clip the Grand Duke’s wings.
The Grand Duke departed for the imperial palace that very evening. Lucas remained silent as he watched the carriage disappear into the distance.
***
With the Grand Duke’s departure for the imperial palace, the atmosphere in the Grand Duke’s residence became subdued.
Lucas, who had to handle the Grand Duke’s duties as his successor, couldn’t leave the office. Tristan stopped going to the Magic Tower and instead spent time sitting in my room.
“Tristan, is it okay for you not to go to the Magic Tower?”
“I’m trying to spend a little more time with you. I think I’ll be away soon, too.”
“Do you have some important research?”
Tristan evaded the question and reached into a subspace. A moment later, what he pulled out was a magical item in the shape of a monkey playing a flute.
“Kid, doesn’t this look like your brother?”
“A little? But how long are you going to call me ‘kid’?”
“What else should I call someone as small and cute as you?”
“Ah, yes. Sure.”
Tristan took out other magical items in front of me, who had just casually agreed. For some time now, he had been showing off the magical items he made.
I activated one of the magical items Tristan had brought out and asked.
“By the way, is there a reason you make magical items in animal shapes?”
“Because you like them. You’re feeling down right now, aren’t you?”
Was I feeling down?
My mind was so full of thoughts about the Grand Duke that I couldn’t think of anything else. I stared blankly at Tristan’s face while holding the magical item.
Tristan, whose expression had darkened momentarily, grabbed my cheek.
He bumped his forehead against mine and grinned.
“Let’s go see your friend later. We need to hear why she screwed you over with such a prophecy.”
“You mean… go to the Saint?”
After the Grand Duke was escorted away, there had been no reply to the letter I sent to the Saint. As if her decision would never change.
Wanting to understand the Saint, I kept reading the reply I had received earlier.
The Saint claimed that the Grand Duke was a dangerous person. She also said that no matter what, the rebellion would definitely happen, so persuasion would be useless.
[Unnie. The original story has a compelling force. Don’t you understand that from how I became the Saint?]
If the original story couldn’t be changed, I wouldn’t be the Grand Princess. There were many flaws in the Saint’s logic. She seemed like a puppet who had been indoctrinated to believe the Grand Duke must be eliminated.
On the other hand, I also got the impression that the Saint wanted the rebellion to happen.
‘Could it be because of the oracle?’
Heishar had once mentioned in passing about oracles.
“An oracle is God’s curse that manipulates humans in some form to move toward a predetermined future.”
The Saint was the one who had received that oracle more directly than anyone else.
What if the oracle she received when appointed as the Saint was constraining her thinking? That might be why the Saint’s words defied logic.
“Tristan, is it possible to magically travel to the capital?”
“You really want to meet the Saint?”
“It’s not the Saint.”
The person I wanted to meet was the Crown Prince.
When I encountered the Grand Duke who had come to save Juno a week late, I realized the limitations of the original story. Even a villain-like main character like the Grand Duke could deviate from the flow of the original story ‘by his own will.’
‘The Saint should be able to do it too.’
Let’s try to persuade the Saint after finding materials about the influence of oracles.
“I want to meet the Crown Prince and ask him to let me into the imperial secret archives.”
“The archives that only direct imperial family members can enter? What’s in there?”
“The journals of previous Saints.”
According to the original story, journals left by previous Saints were stored by year in the imperial secret archives. At this point, those materials were my only hope.
It would be helpful if Heishar were here.
‘Heishar. I need your help.’
I only felt the sensation that my call hadn’t reached him. With him not by my side, I had no choice but to act on my own.
Considering the Grand Duke’s situation after being taken away, time was of the essence.
[The Grand Duke, who was barely released after being detained, was unable to properly use his magic. It took him a year to fully recover.]
And one year after that, the rebellion in the original story occurred. Tristan, who realized I was trying to go to the imperial palace by any means, sighed lightly.
“I’m not sure, but meeting that Crown Prince will help change this situation?”
Tristan handed me a mask-shaped magical item that he wore when going out. His red hair fluttered as he summoned his magic.
“I can’t go, but you should. It’s about time.”
He smiled, saying he was originally going to say goodbye.
The space behind Tristan tore open, and magicians appeared. They put handcuffs on Tristan similar to those placed on the Grand Duke.
‘Why Tristan?’
As I tried to stop the magicians, I was enveloped in light and closed my eyes. When I opened them, I was floating in midair.
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