Chapter 168
She was none other than Alice Dearrut.
Indeed, Alice was now at Brissie, a salon-style café known to be frequented by the most noblewomen in the capital, not at the Duke’s residence. Alone.
In truth, Sienna had offered to come along, but Alice had declined her company, saying that today’s weather somehow felt like one for solitary contemplation.
Of course, what she told Sienna was a lie.
The sky was gloomy, threatening to pour rain at any moment—hardly suitable for solitary contemplation.
Alice despised going out on rainy days the most.
But today, she had no choice but to venture out.
Yesterday morning’s newspaper had headlined the news of the First Prince’s awakening.
Today was perfect for gauging reactions to the First Prince’s news article.
Just as freshly baked bread tastes best, the most entertaining gossip is the most recent. Interest naturally fades as time passes.
And the noblewomen’s reactions were quite satisfying.
‘It was indeed a good decision to gather not only the Emperor but also other nobles and court physicians when proving that the poison the First Prince ingested was lolopora.’
Originally, they had planned to gather only the Emperor and court physicians, but Alice had suggested changing the plan to include a larger audience, feeling it would be better to expand the scope.
And as if confirming her choice was correct, news about lolopora was spreading rapidly along with the news of the First Prince’s awakening.
What exactly was the lolopora poison, and how did the First Prince come to ingest it, and so on.
It seemed the story that the poison had been on the First Prince’s hands would spread completely even before the article about Count Latrang beginning his reinvestigation was published in two days.
Then people would become even more curious.
How exactly did poison get on the Prince’s hands?
When that curiosity reached its peak, producing the book given by the Empress would be perfect.
Alice smiled as she left Brissie.
“You seem to be in a good mood, my lady.”
Ruyd, who followed behind, remarked. Despite the gloomy sky, Alice smiled and replied.
“Yes. It was quite enjoyable to contemplate alone after so long.”
“Are we returning to the mansion now?”
“No, we’re going to the temple. Isn’t prayer the final step of contemplation?”
Alice smiled at Ruyd, who wore a wry expression, and boarded the carriage.
Soon, the Duke’s carriage departed for the temple.
Upon arriving at the temple, Alice headed toward the chapel, now so naturally.
And of course, there were no strange looks directed at her.
It was already well-known throughout the temple that the Duchess of Dearrut frequently offered prayers in the chapel.
Thus, Alice walked into the chapel through the door that Ruyd had opened for her.
Thud—
The sound of the heavy door closing echoed, but Alice approached the Chief Deity’s statue almost at a run, her face wearing a bright smile.
And she clasped her hands together in prayer.
“Lord Helios, come down quickly. I’ve brought good news.”
Alice spoke rapidly without even taking a breath.
It was quite unusual for a prayer, more like calling a friend, but within seconds, a familiar voice was heard.
[Breathe while you speak. I was about to call for you, but you came first.]
Alice opened her eyes wide.
When she lowered her gaze slightly, she saw the Chief Deity, Helios, in his childlike form.
He had grown much since the first time she had summoned him.
He was now more like a boy.
It meant the connection between Alice and the Chief Deity had strengthened that much. Her holy power had also stabilized.
That’s why she had recovered quickly, unlike other times, despite pouring tremendous power into the First Prince.
But that wasn’t what mattered right now.
As Alice looked at Helios with excessively sparkling golden eyes, Helios’s expression turned slightly uncomfortable.
[…What kind of good news are you looking at me with such burdensome eyes for?]
“It’s tremendously good news. Because the Empress will soon be driven out of the Empress’s Palace.”
[The Empress?]
“Yes! This was quite a surprising coincidence, but it’s true that good deeds bring blessings.”
Alice answered with an excited face.
“As soon as I saved the First Prince, evidence that could catch the Empress appeared right before us. It was the Empress who tried to poison the First Prince. Oh, perhaps you already knew this.”
Alice, who had been explaining excitedly, paused abruptly.
For good reason—the one before her was the deity who created this world.
Of course, Helios wouldn’t know everything about human affairs in this land, but he probably knew more about the imperial family than she did.
Plus, having caused a regression, he probably knew everything that had happened in the past.
Then the deity spoke slowly.
[…So you saved the First Prince. That child wasn’t destined to live either, but he survived in the end, I see.]
His expression wasn’t exactly pleased. It seemed more like he had a lot on his mind.
In response, the corners of Alice’s mouth, which had been raised high, slowly dropped.
‘Was I not supposed to save the First Prince as I pleased?’
At the time, she had pushed forward thinking it was the right thing to do, but…
Come to think of it, she had changed the First Prince’s destiny. Just like Kylus.
Kylus had done so unknowingly, but the First Prince…
Hmm, should I have consulted with Lord Helios beforehand?
Alice asked in a much more subdued voice than before.
“Did my saving the First Prince… perhaps have a major impact on this world…?”
The deity lifted his head, setting aside his contemplation.
[Well, nothing major will happen just because you saved the First Prince. That child wasn’t born with any significant destiny anyway.]
The deity continued in an indifferent voice.
[Occasionally there are those who break free from their destiny… but that’s something I can check myself, so don’t worry too much about it.]
“That’s a relief. I was worried I might have been using holy power too freely…”
Just as Alice exhaled in relief, Helios looked at her intently and spoke.
[As long as you’re not trying to destroy the world, it’s up to you to decide how to use your holy power.]
The deity, uncharacteristically, looked at Alice with gentle eyes as he spoke.
[After all, I bestowed holy power upon priests with the intention that they would save poor souls in my stead.]
Alice paused. The deity seemed strangely kind to her today.
He always scolded her, calling her stupid, acting prickly. Looking at her as if she were an inadequate child…
Today he truly seemed like a deity addressing a priestess.
As Alice tilted her head in puzzlement at the deity’s changed demeanor, he added more words.
[Of course… because your holy power is strong, the scale of your salvation is not ordinary. But you’re not saving those with evil in their hearts.]
The deity scrutinized Alice with skeptical eyes.
[…Surely you can at least distinguish that much?]
At this, Alice thought, ‘That’s more like it.’
And this familiar behavior actually made her more comfortable. It would be hard to adapt if he suddenly became too nice.
Alice pouted her lips at the deity’s characteristically acerbic expression and answered.
“Don’t worry. I’ve been through all sorts of ups and downs in my past life, so I can spot con artists right away.”
The deity chuckled as he watched Alice pretend to poke the eyes of an imaginary con artist right in front of her.
[Yes, I’m sure you can spot them quite well. More importantly, is the Empress really about to be driven out of the palace soon?]
As the deity returned to the main topic first, Alice lowered her hands and nodded.
“Yes. Not right away, but probably in about… ten days? Two weeks? In any case, within a month, she’ll be driven out of the Empress’s Palace.”
[Hmm.]
“The evidence that she tried to poison the First Prince remains too clearly. Once she’s driven out, she probably won’t be able to return to the Empress’s Palace.”
[Less than a month… This is somewhat problematic. I’ve been focusing too much on one side.]
The deity muttered something quietly, but Alice didn’t quite catch it.
“So, in the end, the Dark Specter will lose its host. The Emperor won’t be able to bring in a new Empress for the time being, so the Empress’s Palace might remain empty for years.”
She continued with a proud face.
“During that time, the specter won’t receive any sacrifices from its host, so it naturally won’t be able to break the seal right away! Thanks to this, we have quite ample time.”
[Hmm…]
“In the meantime, I’ll completely take care of the Empress, so during the time I’ve bought, Lord Helios, you can find someone to house your spirit slowly, at your leisure.”
Alice added with a voice full of confidence.
“Or, during this extended time, you could even raise a strong human…”
As Alice was proudly boasting about herself while pretending not to, the deity cut her off.
[I’ve already found someone who can handle my spirit.]
“Yes. Someone who can handle your spirit… What did you say?”
Just as she was about to say “please find,” Alice snapped to attention.
The words Helios had just spoken were not the answer she had expected.
[I said I’ve found someone who can handle my spirit. So I was about to call you to tell you not to worry since I’d found a human… but you came first today.]
The deity was calm, but Alice was quite bewildered.
“No, but that’s supposed to be really difficult… There was no summons from you for so long that I thought it must be a challenging task, so I did my best to buy time… If you’ve found someone, there’s no need to buy time…”
[Indeed. Rather, we need to advance the time when the seal will be broken.]
