Chapter 150
Linder’s face went ashen. The Maws were still opening without end. Even with every door shut, the screams coming from outside were loud enough to make one’s ears ring. And now he was being told to return to the temple alone in such a situation. It was no different from shoving him outside to die.
“P-Please assign at least one escort……”
Sylaria looked at Linder with a blank expression. Then, as if finished with her business, she rose to her feet.
Standing straight, she signaled to Morris to withdraw his blade. The steel that had been touching the High Priest’s neck vanished, but Linder turned even paler, like a man who had just received a death sentence.
“You must not do this to me! You cannot do this!”
“What are you doing, Morris. Hurry and see the High Priest out. If he stays any longer, he might even start answering questions I didn’t ask. In that case, you’ll have to personally escort him all the way back to the temple. So before this becomes troublesome, hurry…”
“I’ll talk!”
Hearing Sylaria’s words to Morris, Linder shouted as if struck by lightning. Clutching her hem, he trembled violently and pleaded.
“W, what is it you wish to know? Please, let me be of help to His Highness the Crown Prince! Allow me to become His Highness’s man!”
“Cooperation that’s forced isn’t welcome. Who knows what you’ll say later.”
“I swear to the divine. On my position as High Priest, I swear that until the day I draw my last breath, I will serve His Highness the Crown Prince. So please! Please give me a chance!”
“…The Maws.”
Sylaria lowered her gaze to Linder and moved her lips. At the single word that slipped out, he flinched.
“I want to know about the Maws.”
“W-What exactly……”
“Can a person control them?”
Linder’s complexion drained instantly. His throat bobbed as he opened his mouth slightly. As though he had never imagined that question, his hand clutching her skirt trembled violently.
“T-That is…”
“So they can be controlled.”
From his reaction alone, Sylaria read the answer. As she spoke with certainty, he jerked his head up. His expression was that of a man who had just been condemned.
“You must not learn any more. Stop here. I say this for your own sake.”
“When did the imperial family’s holy power first appear? Before the Maws existed, it wouldn’t have been of much use, would it?”
Ignoring his warning, Sylaria pressed on. She had to extract as much as she could from the High Priest. Every question she had gathered until now spilled out.
“I heard the Maws first opened in the reign of this Emperor. So did the previous generation’s imperial family have no holy power?”
“O, dear God…”
Linder trembled as if in seizure and prayed. Eyes squeezed shut, he seemed to weigh the burden of the secret he knew against the value of his life.
“I’ll guarantee the High Priest’s safety. The Empress and His Majesty will never know how I learned the truth. As long as you are aligned with me, you’ll be safe. I give you my word.”
At her calm assurance, Linder slowly raised his eyelids. He exhaled deeply, as one who had made a decision, then spoke.
“Ronillo Baltazar. His Majesty holds all the answers.”
“His Majesty? But he’s unconscious right n…!”
Sylaria’s body lurched violently. A pain as if her living flesh were being ripped apart swallowed her whole.
“Urk…!”
She doubled over, gasping. And then.
“Cough……!”
Sylaria vomited a great mouthful of bright blood. A crushing pain seized her heart, enough to blur her consciousness.
“My lady!”
“The physician, get the physician! Quickly!”
Morris and the attendants’ shouts sounded distant. Sylaria tried to steady herself, but it was useless.
‘Why is this happening? Don’t tell me… Euclid?’
There was only one reason for such sudden agony reaching her. Even as her body convulsed, her first thought was of him.
What state was he in?
Euclid normally consumed potent anesthetics. Yet for such pain to reach her regardless, what in the world had happened to him?
‘No. He can’t die… he can’t. Euclid……’
Blood she had coughed up spread across the floor. Her vision dimmed with every blink, fading little by little.
And then, at last, everything went dark.
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