episode_0102

“What do you mean by that?”

“I’m telling you, unni and oppa are trapped in there! We have to save them now!”

“I’m already aware. Given the uproar you caused, it’d be impossible not to notice—especially at this ungodly hour.”

Eliya’s room. In the unnervingly quiet chamber, where even the bare minimum of guards had been dismissed, Christine knelt with her head bowed before Eliya, who sat regally in her chair. For the heir of the Grave family, such an act bordered on humiliating—yet both Christine performing the apology and Eliya receiving it treated it as entirely natural.

“So, speak. Assuming you’ve thought this through, that is.”

“…And what exactly do you want to know?”

“I’m not asking about the current outcome. I’m asking why you pulled such an idiotic stunt in the first place. Search teams have already been dispatched to the church ruins. Your only task now is to explain to me, here and now, the full sequence of events from start to finish.”

“Well… it’s just…”

Christine bit her lip. She could explain why she had to take such drastic measures—but that wouldn’t change their current predicament. Even if she admitted that she and Cecilia had secretly dragged Eric into the church to eliminate Fairchild first, only to half-flee in defeat?

Fairchild had been eradicated—by result alone, it could be called a success. But that justification felt painfully hollow now. The only thing that mattered was Eric’s safety. After all, they had gathered and acted on their own precisely to prevent him from being forced into the same choice as in that world.

And yet, here Christine stood—nothing more than a runaway failure who hadn’t even achieved that goal. No wonder Eliya’s fury was justified.

Christine had not only misjudged priorities—she hadn’t even considered them. And Eliya wasn’t lenient enough to let that slide without comment.

“Speechless, are we? Too ashamed to admit, ‘Because of me, Eric faces death again’?”

“Tch…”

“Not that speaking would have changed much. The fact that even the Saintess went with you suggests your goal was to eliminate that thing in the church. I mean, you did storm the imperial palace with a horde of inquisitors in tow. So tell me—why the urgency? By my calculations, eliminating it now was premature. The fat pope still retains his divine power, and the fools who blindly follow him—or worse, those rotting scum who know what he is but serve him anyway—are still far too numerous.”

“…Because otherwise, it was obvious oppa would suffer again. I wanted to stop it before it happened.”

“Foolish. Do you honestly believe Eric would have wanted this? At its core, this mess exists because you dragged him into it.”

Eliya pressed a hand to her forehead. Between her empire’s intelligence, her foresight, and her own wisdom, she understood exactly how tangled this situation was.

“And let’s not forget—this isn’t just about Eric. You do realize your actions have consequences for me as well, don’t you?”

“Huh?”

“Thankfully, I dismissed the staff. But do you truly not grasp how much this private meeting between us will impact the imperial succession race? My siblings will wonder why the heiress of House Grave and I are on such personal terms. Why she brought inquisitors to the palace. And ultimately—why she knew the church would collapse. Or worse—was she the one who made it collapse?”

“Ah—”

“Not that our glorious heirs would stop at mere suspicion. They’ll twist it into outright condemnation. And once they do, my hands will be tied when it comes to rescue operations or damage control. The Saintess’s absence is another disadvantage. With Cecilia—the only one who could testify—gone, the pope’s word will hold absolute authority.”

“Then—then we can’t afford to just sit here! We have to save unni and oppa right n—”

“On what grounds?”

“What?”

“I’m sorry, but I can no longer trust you. I will send a rescue team—even if it’s just to recover their corpses. That much, I swear with everything I have. But cooperation? No. The same goes for Cecilia. My patience isn’t vast enough to forgive those who endangered Eric twice.”

“Patience?! This is an emergency! We need every hand we can get!”

“And this rescue operation doesn’t require a grand mage or House Grave’s influence. You know this, Chris. Officially, this is about securing, resealing, and redistributing the church’s relics. Plenty of upstarts would kill for a chance to flip their fortunes with a single artifact.”

“Then just refuse them!”

“On what grounds? If I do, they’ll just take their bribes to my siblings. Far better to lead the effort myself. In fact, even as we speak, reports on the situation are coming in.”

Eliya tapped her ear arrogantly.

“Understand? I neither need nor want your help. So your only task now is to return to your warm, comfortable mansion—filled with servants who exist solely to pamper you—and sleep. Preferably forever. The last thing we need is another rash move like this.”

“Another? So they are still alive?”

Christine’s question carried a note of suspicion. For a split second, Eliya faltered. Her original plan had been to keep Christine anxious—easier to control if she believed Eric and Cecilia’s rescue was uncertain. To break her just enough that she’d never defy orders again.

“……”

“Well?”

Eliya sighed as Christine confidently demanded an answer. She’d suppressed her guilt over scheming against a comrade who’d suffered alongside her—only to realize the real problem.

A magic trick loses all wonder once the audience knows the secret.

“Now I understand why tyrants fear clever subordinates. This feeling is… unpleasant.”

“I have reflected deeply on this. No matter what, I never should’ve taken oppa with us. So from now on, I’ll do things properly. Isn’t that what you want, unni?”

“Hm?”

“Once we save Cecilia unni and oppa, I’ll make a demand of her: from now on, you take full responsibility for Eric. I’ll back you up—say I agree, that we’ll follow your orders. As for Lucy unni… well, who knows what’s going on in her head.”

“Lucilla? Don’t bother. Her attachment to him was never as strong as ours to begin with.”

“True.”

“She contacted me the moment news of the church’s collapse broke. I assured her, so she won’t interfere. Right now, she’s more focused on perfecting her swordsmanship. Even if we formally cut ties, she won’t resist—not after I promised her a new blade. She won’t complain for a while.”

“Hey, unni… the moment you heard the church collapsed, you already planned all this, didn’t you? Assembling rescue teams, gathering the nouveau riche’s wealth, and—what, placing all of us under your heel?”

“Obviously. An opportunity like this doesn’t come twice.”

“…I’m terrible, but you? You’re impressive.”

“I’ll take that as praise. So—how will you help? Even if Eric and Cecilia are rescued, she won’t yield easily.”

“Hmm, unni… can you tell what condition oppa and unni are in right now?”

“Condition?”

“You know—health, if they’re in mortal danger… There’s probably no food or water down there.”

“Cecilia’s magic is muddled by the relics’ divine energy, but Eric’s is faint enough to stand out. Weak as it is, it’s especially noticeable in that place.”

“Perfect. If we could only sense unni’s magic, it’d be harder to stage things. This way, we can corner her even more.”

“Stage things?”

“I’m going to break Cecilia unni. And I’ll help you do it.”

Christine smiled faintly.