Holy Kingdom – Revelation

Rena got caught trying to assassinate His Holiness the Pope?

“Did I hear wrong?”

Jade’s mind refused to comprehend this bolt from the blue.

But Annie dragged Jade back to reality.

“No. You heard right. We don’t know the details yet, but they said Rena attempted to assassinate His Holiness in the papal chamber.”

“Hey Annie, stop joking around.”

Jade dismissed Annie’s words as a malicious prank.

How could something like this happen without any warning signs?

A sudden invasion by all the Demon King’s Legion Commanders seemed more plausible than this.

It was more reasonable to think Annie was messing with him.

“Is this some prank you prepared with Rena? Even as a joke, this is too extreme.”

There were plenty of other pranks to pull. Talking about assassinating the Pope was arrest-worthy even as a joke.

If Annie apologized now, Jade could generously let this slide.

But Annie betrayed Jade’s expectations once again.

“Sigh… I know you’re shocked, but do I look like I’m joking? I’m going crazy too. When I came out hearing the commotion, holy knights were searching Rena’s room. When I demanded to know what happened, they said Rena tried to assassinate His Holiness…”

“It’s true…?”

If Annie was being this insistent, it wasn’t a lie.

She wasn’t the type to joke like this.

‘…Assassination.’

Not just anything, but attempting to assassinate the Pope himself.

The Rena Jade knew would never do such a thing, nor would she know how.

Things had clearly gone terribly wrong.

“There’s no way Rena would do this. There must be some misunderstanding.”

“Of course I think so too. Rena trying to assassinate His Holiness? That’s absurd. How did things get so twisted…”

“What exactly happened?”

Jade desperately retraced yesterday’s events.

This was absolutely not normal.

Last night, the Pope summoned Rena privately. Then Rena headed to the papal chamber.

No issues up to that point.

‘So did Rena attempt assassination during her conversation with His Holiness?’

But Rena was unquestionably innocent.

That left only one possible scenario Jade could imagine.

“Could His Holiness have framed Rena?”

“I briefly thought that too… but it seems too dangerous to speculate.”

“If His Holiness did orchestrate this…”

If this speculation was true, the situation was far from simple.

Shortly after arriving in the Holy Kingdom, Rena had clearly been caught in a major incident.

One with deep, dark conspiracies lurking beneath.

Anxiety began corroding Jade’s mind.

What should I do? Defend Rena?

But if things were already beyond repair…

-Clap!

“!!”

The sharp clap snapped Jade back to attention.

“Jade, snap out of it.”

Annie had stretched her arm out and clapped loudly right before Jade’s eyes.

“This might still be solvable. But if we delay further, things could get worse. Sir Antonio went ahead to confront them, so let’s hurry to the papal chamber instead of standing here.”

“…Let’s go.”

Jade began running toward the papal chamber following Annie.

‘If I explain properly, everything will be fine.’

No.

It had to be.

**

When Jade arrived at the papal chamber, the doors stood wide open with many people already gathered inside, creating quite a commotion.

“So many people already…”

‘Sir Antonio, holy knights… The Saintess and Cardinal Cassios from last time too.’

An assassination attempt on the Pope naturally drew crowds.

Jade first approached a holy knight standing guard at the entrance.

The knights near the entrance appeared to be guarding against potential incidents.

“May I enter?”

“Ah, Hero-nim. Of course you may enter. Those inside have been waiting for you.”

“Thank you. Annie, let’s go in. We need to hear what’s being discussed.”

“Yeah. Lead the way as the Hero.”

Annie trailed closely behind Jade as he entered.

Upon entering, they found Antonio arguing with the Pope.

Antonio slammed his hand on the desk before the Pope.

-Thud!

“I cannot believe this! Are you saying Miss Rena truly attempted to assassinate Your Holiness?”

“Sigh… Sir Antonio, I’m the most shocked by this incident. I still can’t believe Miss Rena swung her sword at me.”

“…Then evidence. Do you have clear evidence that Miss Rena attempted assassination?”

“Evidence? Are you implying His Holiness is lying?”

When Antonio demanded evidence beyond the Pope’s testimony, Cardinal Cassios standing beside them shouted angrily.

“I’m not doubting His Holiness. But you can’t imprison someone based solely on testimony.”

“Ha! Multiple holy knights here witnessed Miss Rena attempting to assassinate His Holiness!”

“I can’t trust that testimony!”

“Are you insulting the holy knights of the Holy Kingdom?”

“Now now, let’s all calm down.”

The Pope mediated between the two who seemed ready to fight. Then he extended his hand toward the back.

The Pope’s gesture pointed toward Jade, who had been observing the situation.

“The Hero and Miss Annie have arrived.”

Only then did those in the room notice Jade and Annie’s presence.

Antonio’s face brightened slightly upon seeing them.

“You’ve finally come.”

“I dragged Jade here. Took some work since he wasn’t responding.”

“My apologies. I heard the news late, so my arrival was delayed.”

Jade quickly walked up to the Pope.

“Your Holiness, is what I heard… all true?”

Jade still held a sliver of hope this might be misinformation…

But seeing the Pope nod shattered that hope completely.

“It is true. You must have many questions. I’ll answer them all in order.”

“…Thank you.”

At least the Pope didn’t seem intent on controlling information about the incident.

“Where is Rena now?”

Jade’s first concern was Rena’s condition.

She might have been mistreated during arrest.

“Rena is currently imprisoned in the Grand Temple’s underground prison. It’s where we detain those who conspire with demons or dangerous individuals. Though rarely used since the Great War ended…”

“You’re keeping Rena in such a dangerous place?”

“No need for great concern. She remains exactly as when arrested. No interrogations have occurred yet.”

Jade had worried about torture disguised as interrogation.

‘Thank goodness. Really, thank goodness.’

Hearing Rena was unharmed let Jade breathe easier.

“Please delay Rena’s interrogation. I’ll prove her innocence somehow.”

“I’ll do my best regarding that matter.”

“I beg you.”

Truthfully, Jade wanted to confront the Pope immediately.

To declare Rena couldn’t have done this, that the situation was fabricated or misunderstood.

But reckless accusations might worsen things.

‘If the Pope orchestrated this… he’s no pushover.’

Ultimately, Jade chose to extract as much information as possible.

“May I hear exactly what happened?”

“Certainly.”

The Pope began explaining yesterday’s events methodically.

“Let me recount chronologically. Last evening, I summoned Miss Rena privately to the papal chamber. She arrived later, and we spoke alone. Then suddenly, she attempted to kill me.”

“Then were you seriously injured by Rena’s sword?”

Yet the Pope appeared completely unharmed despite the alleged assassination attempt.

“Fortunately not. A protective artifact I always carry prevented injury.”

“An artifact…”

Naturally the Pope would possess powerful artifacts.

Jade tried memorizing new information while questioning.

‘The situation matches my expectations.’

The Pope’s explanation aligned with Jade’s speculation.

Had the Pope summoned Rena intending to frame her?

But how was the frame-up executed?

The suspicious part was their private conversation.

The key to this mystery likely lay there.

“Why did Your Holiness summon Rena privately? Was yesterday’s conversation something only she could hear?”

“Hoho, I feel like I’m being interrogated by the Hero. But yes, it was extremely important.”

“Then could you tell Annie and me what you discussed?”

If this was withheld, Jade had ample reason for suspicion.

But the Pope showed no intention of hiding it.

“Very well. Given the circumstances, I’ll explain everything. First, could everyone except the cardinals and Hero’s party please leave?”

“Understood. Everyone out immediately.”

At the Pope’s command, holy knights and priests began filing out.

-Thud.

The papal chamber doors closed after the last holy knight exited.

Only the Hero’s party, Pope, cardinals, and Antonio remained.

“What I’m about to share is top secret. Before the Hero’s arrival, the Saintess received a revelation from the Goddess.”

The Pope’s opening statement was unexpectedly profound.

A Goddess’s revelation?

Jade sensed events taking an ominous turn.

“How does that relate to Rena?”

“Hearing the revelation’s contents will clarify things. Ah, Saintess, would you explain?”

“Yes. To summarize the revelation I received…”

The Saintess, who had remained silent until now, stepped forward at the Pope’s request.

“There is someone hiding their true identity within the Hero’s party.”