Chapter 92
Chapter 92. Who Dared to Judge a Miracle
Although the mistress of the Empress’s Palace was absent, the servants, unaware of this fact, were going about their usual daily routines.
Except for Lineue, who was the only one aware of the Empress’s absence.
Lineue paced anxiously alone inside the Empress’s office.
“I should have gone with her after all. The temple is actively looking for ways to bring down Her Majesty, and I let her enter such hostile territory alone…”
She had just returned from delivering tasks that Vinea had prepared in advance to various departments, intending to conceal the Empress’s absence. Although Vinea had promised to return before sunset, it was merely a verbal agreement, and Lineue was filled with worry about what might happen if she didn’t come back.
Just then, someone urgently pounded on the office door.
Startled, Lineue cleared her throat, composed her expression, and opened the door.
“I’m sorry, but Her Majesty the Empress cannot receive anyone today as she is fully devoted to caring for His Majesty.”
As soon as she opened the door and blurted out her prepared statement, Lineue was met with a bewildered face.
“I am Terma, the chief physician of the Imperial Palace. I’ve just come from seeing His Majesty, but…”
“Ah…”
Unable to continue her excuse, Lineue’s lips quivered as the doctor noticed the empty office behind her and wore a troubled expression.
“It’s an urgent matter. I must see her, please. It’s about His Majesty.”
“Well, Her Majesty is currently away, so it’s not possible at the moment.”
“Oh dear…”
The doctor’s face showed dismay at Lineue’s response. She lowered her voice and addressed the doctor.
“I can contact her later today. May I ask what this is about?”
“Actually, His Majesty—”
As Lineue was about to hear the doctor’s reply, she noticed a group of people appearing at the end of the corridor and hurriedly closed the door behind her.
As soon as she closed the office door, the nobles who had arrived in front of her spoke.
“We’ve come to see Her Majesty the Empress. She’s inside, isn’t she?”
Lineue’s ivory-colored eyes shook greatly. She knew that yesterday, the nobles who harbored suspicions had gathered forces to check the Empress and had delivered a parchment with their intentions written on it, but she never expected them to suddenly barge in like this.
The nobles, reading Lineue’s flustered expression, began to whisper among themselves. Marquis Gendal, who was at the front of the group, settled the commotion.
Lineue’s eyes hardened slightly. Marquis Gendal, who was he again? He was part of the former emperor’s faction imprisoned in the western tower. Known for his cunning and vile nature, he didn’t have a good reputation in social circles.
She knew he had been clinging to a frayed rope, recently giving up his seat in the Grand Council and leaving the capital to avoid His Majesty’s repeated purges, but it seemed he had somehow heard about the situation in the palace.
“You’re the young lady of the Diament Marquis family.”
“…This is the Empress’s Palace. How dare you barge in so rudely without the permission of its mistress?”
“I hope you understand, young lady. As loyal subjects close to His Majesty, we cannot ignore these suspicions forever. We delivered our intentions to Her Majesty last night, so we naturally assumed it was arranged.”
“How can you say that now…!”
Just as Lineue was about to snap back, someone blocked Marquis Gendal with their arm.
It was Marquis Marche Vintero, the head of the Finance Department and the regent currently handling major affairs on behalf of the Emperor.
“It’s been a while, Lineue. I too am uncomfortable greeting you like this. But even your father has agreed to this matter.”
Unable to raise her voice against Marquis Marche, her father’s close friend, Lineue tightly closed her mouth. Reading the disturbance on Lineue’s face, Marquis Marche let out a small sigh.
“I know that coming here like this is not proper. However, it’s been a week since I took on the regency. This is not a position I can substitute indefinitely, and in my position of serving His Majesty, do you really think it’s right that I can’t even confirm whether he’s alive or dead?”
Marquis Marche spoke with a deep sigh.
“Let us see His Majesty. That is the will of the majority of Tessibanian nobles.”
* * *
The Empress’s bedroom was a place where no one, except for the servants attending to her, should dare to set foot. However, since the person lying inside was human, there was no choice this time.
Saying that he would maintain minimum courtesy towards Her Majesty the Empress, Marquis Marche separated the clamoring nobles and entered the bedroom alone.
Lineue, with a dark expression, tied back one side of the white screen surrounding the bed.
Someone was lying on the revealed bed. Marquis Marche, with a shocked face, uttered in disbelief.
“Is it really His Majesty…”
The doctor who had entered the bedroom together quickly bowed his head towards him.
“Your Excellency, if you’ll excuse my impertinence, I have something to say.”
“What is it?”
“His Majesty is indeed alive.”
Marquis Marche’s face crumpled. He angrily addressed the doctor in a suppressed voice.
“Are you making a fool of me? How can you say a person who’s not breathing is alive!”
“Your Excellency, does His Majesty’s body look like a corpse that has been dead for a week to you?”
At the doctor’s words, Marquis Marche’s head turned back towards the bed.
There was no movement at all, and as if to show that he wasn’t breathing, there was no rise and fall of his chest. However, there was no putrid smell of decay characteristic of a corpse. The visible skin was clean, too clean to be attributed to the herbal scent filling the room.
“A week has passed, but nothing has changed since then. Even the wound on the inside of his forehead has healed. It’s difficult to consider him alive, but at the same time, we can’t pronounce him dead either.”
“How can this be…”
Marquis Marche, who had been looking at Tetar’s quietly closed eyes, turned around with a confused face.
“Then, can you assert Her Majesty’s innocence based on His Majesty’s condition?”
“That is…”
There were cases where a human heart stopped and started beating again, so there was still the possibility that someone might have intervened to put His Majesty in this state.
As they hadn’t yet identified the cause of the illness, they couldn’t say that it wasn’t Her Majesty the Empress who had done this to His Majesty.
As the doctor trailed off, unable to answer, Marquis Marche rubbed his throbbing temples and spoke to Lineue.
“Since His Majesty hasn’t woken up, we can’t easily be certain of Her Majesty’s innocence. Other nobles will likely feel the same. Some might even try to proceed with an autopsy or funeral for His Majesty.”
Lineue’s face turned pale, having been ordered by Vinea to prevent any harm to His Majesty’s body while she was away.
“That’s unacceptable! How can you talk about an autopsy or funeral for someone who’s alive!”
“I’m saying that’s how they might push. He may not have passed away, but there’s no evidence that it wasn’t Her Majesty who put His Majesty in this state. It wouldn’t be strange to open an imperial trial right now using the authority of the council seats, Lineue.”
Marquis Marche continued speaking to Lineue, who had tightly closed her eyes.
“As the regent, I have no choice but to tell the other nobles what I’ve learned. There might even be movements to reinstate His Majesty the Emperor Emeritus in the outer tower.”
“Surely you don’t mean to depose Her Majesty the Empress…?”
“As long as we can’t erase the suspicion that she might have attempted to assassinate His Majesty, there’s always that risk.”
“Goodness… That can’t happen!”
“Moreover, Her Majesty the Empress was the only one who didn’t deny His Majesty’s death. It can only be explained that she knew something and acted this way. Am I wrong?”
Lineue couldn’t bring herself to say no.
The only person who had denied His Majesty’s death, which even she had acknowledged, was Her Majesty the Empress. Didn’t she herself think, as soon as she heard the doctor’s words, that all of this might be Her Majesty’s plan, whether with good intentions or not?
“Tell me where Her Majesty is. This isn’t a matter we can conclude like this, nor can we postpone Her Majesty meeting the nobles any longer. We need to at least hear what she’s thinking so we can either persuade the nobles or start an investigation.”
Lineue clenched her trembling hands tightly. Looking at the still unconscious Emperor with resentful eyes, she finally lowered her head.
* * *
A place where everyone could pray to God equally.
Although there were no restrictions on entry for this reason, unsavory incidents rarely occurred thanks to the holy knights guarding various spots.
Vinea was able to reach the temple without much difficulty. Before entering the temple, she paid to leave her horse at the stable, then pulled her hood down low and walked inside.
She had ridden a horse intending to finish her confirmation as quickly as possible and return, so it hadn’t taken too long to arrive. However, given the person she was about to seek, she didn’t know how much time she would spend inside.
In the worst case, she had even considered the possibility of the temple detaining her for various reasons, but she thought it was worth the risk to resolve her questions.
Thanks to moving the central temple, which was in the north of the land owned by the temple called the sacred territory where Sefitiana was buried, to this location, the exterior was extremely splendid and clean.
When she visited right after her wedding, it had been quiet all around as civilian entry was completely controlled for the Emperor and Empress, but now countless people brushed past her.
Vinea’s steps headed deep into the temple.
After passing two large buildings, she finally reached the innermost part, where civilians were noticeably fewer and instead many priests were coming and going.
As few people walked this far inside, the priests’ subtle gazes fell on Vinea. However, they couldn’t forcibly chase away someone who had come to pray, so they just watched. Thanks to this, there was no major difficulty in reaching her desired location.
The place where the Grand Priest and high priests offered prayers. In reality, it was a building similar to an office for handling unavoidable administrative tasks.
Two holy knights blocked Vinea as she arrived in front of it.
“If all things are equal under God’s care, shouldn’t there be no place one cannot go on His land?”
“Haven’t you heard that the Grand Priest recently received a divine revelation? As he’s carrying out God’s will, we cannot allow someone of unclear identity into where he is.”
“You seem to have forgotten that you’re here to serve God, not the Grand Priest.”
“How insolent!”
She had no intention of causing any more disturbance. Vinea pulled out a gold token stamped with the imperial seal from her bosom.
“I have an urgent message for the Chief Priest, sent on orders from the detached palace.”
The two holy knights exchanged glances.
The detached palace was a place that had been in contact with the Grand Priest until recently. Although there had only been correspondence by letter until now, if they had directly sent a person like this, it might be a more important matter.
The holy knight who received the token from Vinea went inside and reappeared shortly after.
“Follow me.”
She followed the holy knight into the building. After passing through several long rooms, they reached the end and entered a room where the Chief Priest rose from his seat.
“I heard you came from the detached palace. Have you come with other news to deliver?”
Vinea pushed back the hood she had been wearing low. Her magnificent platinum blonde hair cascaded down in waves.
Raising her blue eyes, Vinea spoke to the Chief Priest.
“I went to the trouble of drinking the confession potion right in front of you, yet you still insist on judging me, so I’ve come here directly.”
Sitting down heavily on the sofa in front of the frozen Chief Priest, Vinea crossed her legs and smiled faintly.
“This time, I’ll ask. Did God really determine the necessity of Sefitiana?”
