Chapter 109
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Chapter 109
The Fairy Queen's crown first sang twenty years ago.
The crown, which had slumbered peacefully beneath the Grand Temple for centuries, suddenly began to sing one day.
The song, composed in a language unknown to mankind, was so wondrous that it overflowed from the depths below and spilled into the Grand Temple itself.
At that time, the Holy King was conducting a small mass in the Grand Temple, accompanied by several high priests and knights.
Everyone present heard the crown's song.
The Holy King raged at the heretical melody echoing through the most sacred of spaces.
He sealed the crown before its song could spread any further.
Crushed beneath holy power, the crown fell silent once more.
The Holy King quietly concealed that day's commotion, and so the crown's song seemed to fade into oblivion.
But a few years ago, the crown suddenly began singing again.
The Holy King raged and resealed the crown, yet it defiantly shattered his seal each time and sang.
The song that broke through the seal grew ever clearer and spread more widely.
The joyful melody was like a flower that could never be broken, no matter how much one tried to crush it.
Whenever the crown poured forth its overflowing happiness, the Holy Priests and knights who should have maintained composure found themselves unconsciously humming along and laughing with delight.
The uncontrollable crown of the Fairy Queen nearly drove the Holy King to madness.
After the Holy King lost his holy power and Hailon was granted the sacred relic "Chain of Condemnation,"
the task of sealing the crown fell to Hailon.
"Try sealing the crown yourself."
Following the Holy King's command, Hailon sealed the Fairy Queen's crown.
Unlike the Holy King's seals, which had been broken repeatedly, the seal Hailon created using the Chain of Condemnation did not break easily.
Peace was barely restored.
But the Holy King resolved to send the Fairy Queen's crown beyond the borders of the Holy Empire.
"Never again shall heretical song echo through the lands ruled by the Divine."
Thus began the absurd undertaking known as the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony.
But now, suspecting that experiments using fairies might be underway within the Holy Empire,
I suspected there must be other hidden reasons.
In any case, thanks to the Fairy Queen's crown singing once more this time, I was able to escape "education" far sooner than scheduled.
Without the crown, I would likely have remained imprisoned until just before the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony began.
As a member of the Holy Empire, I should be wary of the Fairy Queen's crown, which keeps causing peculiar incidents.
Yet I found myself delighted whenever I saw it.
I even felt reluctant to overlay my holy power upon it to seal it.
Breathing in the fresh floral fragrance emanating from the crown, I thought to myself:
I truly did not wish to hand the crown over to anyone else.
No matter what price I had to pay.
"It seems the Holy King desires Prince Remil of Hebaton to emerge victorious. The Cardinals also appear to be aligning their intentions in that direction."
Daren, my adjutant, muttered with a deeply dissatisfied expression.
"Of course, Prince Remil was born with holy power, so he is certainly devout, but I don't believe he deserves to receive the crown. I suspect it's because of Cardinal Milliod."
Prince Remil lived as a foster son beneath Cardinal Milliod and learned how to wield holy power.
Therefore, Cardinal Milliod was naturally pushing for Prince Remil.
"Even the Holy King seems to support Prince Remil.... Are the Holy Knights nothing but dogs to be worked to death?"
Hailon thought he understood the Holy King's true intentions.
Holy King Sianor loved the divine power that Hailon possessed.
He wanted to keep Hailon close to him, yet not at his side.
The Holy King needed to keep Hailon beneath his feet.
He always wanted to confirm that he stood above.
In this Pure Child Prayer Ceremony, he wished to see the child Hailon had chosen fall to defeat.
"If it weren't for you, Hailon, we couldn't have stopped the song the crown calls! It would be best if we just gave it to our young master...."
The more Daren chewed over it, the more his frustration boiled over, his voice growing increasingly bitter.
A Holy Knight arrived urgently with a report.
"Cardinal Milliod has met privately with Prince Remil and the children of House Basilian."
Hailon's eyes narrowed to slits.
The Holy Knight continued, gauging Hailon's reaction carefully.
"We cannot determine what transpired within, but it appears the eldest son of House Basilian left in indignation."
"The child?"
"Chesa appears to be unharmed."
Hailon lowered his gaze and fell into thought for a moment.
Cardinal Milliod seemed quite desperate as well.
Judging by how he was resorting to such base tactics with children.
Hailon, stroking the bracelet at his wrist, organized his priorities.
"Contact Count Basilian."
That man was unpredictable in what he might do.
Cunning as a serpent, yet when the child was involved, he committed mad acts without hesitation.
The incident where Count Basilian wielded black magic before the Holy Knights and Holy Priests remained deeply etched in Hailon's memory.
He had to contain him before he caused further trouble.
There was also the matter of not wanting to see someone like the Master of the Underworld operating freely within the Holy Empire.
Upon contact, Count Basilian arrived as if he had been waiting.
And immediately spouted nonsense.
"Let us kill one Cardinal."
Hailon intended to awaken him to harsh reality with a cold response to his cheerful words.
A Cardinal was the head of the Heresy Inquisitor—a being even he could not approach carelessly, and now, with the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony approaching, caution was paramount. He meant to point this out.
"That man nearly killed Chesa."
The moment Kieran spoke those words, Hailon found he no longer cared about such considerations.
His lips moved of their own accord.
"...Killing him immediately is difficult."
He answered slowly, several methods forming in his mind.
"It will require time."
At that, Kieran smiled wickedly.
"I thought you might see reason. But Hailon."
Kieran's eyebrows drooped downward.
Though feigning pity, the words spilling from his lips dripped with murderous intent and malice.
"Killing him is one thing... but before that, I'd like to humiliate him thoroughly."
As always, Kieran presented a proposal that was difficult to refuse.
"Will you cooperate with that as well?"
***
Karha suddenly thrust his face forward and asked.
"Did you kill the Cardinal?"
Kieran, cradling Chesa in his arms, furrowed his brows.
"Why would I kill the Cardinal?"
He protested as though deeply wronged, then immediately turned to explain himself to Chesa.
"Your father isn't the kind of person who goes around killing people carelessly. People might think I'm a bad person if they see this...."
Not merely a bad person, but one who held command among the worst of them—that was Kieran.
Chesa and the Twins arrived at the same thought simultaneously.
'He hasn't killed him yet.'
Kieran laughed, running his hand over the Twins' head as they wore an exasperated expression.
"I'll go out with Chesa and be back, so behave yourself."
"Have a good trip!"
Chesa waved goodbye to the Twins.
Kieran carried Chesa directly toward the Grand Temple.
Throughout the journey cradled in his arms, Kieran behaved no differently than usual.
If anything, he seemed to be in a slightly better mood.
Chesa felt relieved inwardly.
I had worried he was still furious, but fortunately, his heart seemed to have softened in the meantime.
The first prayer day of the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony.
The children gathered in the Grand Temple would recite the answers to the assignment they had been given beforehand and receive consecration from the Holy King.
Both children and guardians wore expressions of barely contained excitement.
To receive the Holy King's consecration—that alone made the effort of attending the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony worthwhile beyond measure.
Cradled in Kieran's arms, Chesa gazed upon the Holy King seated at the innermost part of the Grand Temple.
With a mural of divine praise at his back and a benevolent smile upon his face, the Holy King appeared as sacred as a holy icon itself.
The Holy Priests and Holy Knights arrayed on either side of the Holy King, their appearance immaculate and pure.
It was a sight that could inspire reverence even in those who harbored no faith.
The ceremonial procedures concluded, and the moment arrived for the children to recite their answers directly to the Holy King.
Among ninety-nine children, the first to step forward was Prince Remil of the Hebaton Kingdom.
As Prince Remil carefully walked forward, Cardinal Milliod, seated beside the Holy King, smiled with satisfaction.
All eyes converged upon him.
Prince Remil, stepping forward with diminished confidence, forced his voice louder as he spoke.
"If... the Divine would accept me... I wish to offer all the sacred power I possess."
Watching Prince Remil cautiously extend his hand forward, Chesa's brow furrowed.
It seemed a strategy to dazzle with sacred power from the start, rendering the other children who came next invisible to all eyes.
'It was just recently that I was causing a commotion because I couldn't control my Holy Power!'
Since there were plenty of people who could stop me even if I went berserk, I had resolved to truly pretend I didn't know this time.
"Chesa."
Kieran whispered with a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Dad's going to show you something fun, okay?"
Chesa watched.
His eyes gleaming with bright crimson malice, radiating pure delight.
Then the boy's murmur spread through the quiet Assembly Hall.
"...Ah, uh, why..."
Prince Remil, who had been grasping at empty air, went pale with confusion.
"Why, why is this happening..."
No Holy Power flowed from Prince Remil.
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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