Chapter 99
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Chapter 99
It was a question I had never once considered.
Lichesia was a fairy possessed of warped power, after all.
I had never entertained the assumption that she could blend in with other fairies.
A fairy wielding an axe and cultivating man-eating flowers among pacifist fairies—
Was she not utterly alien to them?
I had always believed such a thing would never come to pass, yet if her daughter had truly been born as the fairy queen...
Perhaps Lichesia too would depart for that kingdom.
Since it was a realm built to escape humanity, I could never enter such a place.
The longer Hailon's silence stretched, the deeper Kieran's smile became.
As though he already knew precisely what answer Hailon would offer.
He let out a low chuckle and whispered.
"We're alike, aren't we?"
Though infinitely different, Kieran and Hailon's essences converged at their core.
Even their mutual disdain bordered on kinship hatred.
"I don't want to send Chesa away. But it seems I lack the power to manage it alone."
Kieran raised himself slightly, then extended his hand to feel across the table.
He grasped a fresh wine glass and poured.
He filled it to the very brink of overflowing before offering it forward.
"Shall we help each other when the need arises?"
Hailon swallowed back a brief sneer.
I wondered why he would so readily share information with me.
It was because his own power alone could not possibly resolve this—he was drawing me in.
What dark magic cannot accomplish, holy power can.
And even should the child come to hate him for it...
He would not bear that hatred alone.
Hailon regarded the wine glass he offered.
The red wine swirling within the crystalline glass looked almost like blood in the darkness.
It was wine perfectly suited to a serpent's whisper tempting one to commit sin together.
What made Count Basilian's cunning so fearsome was not its malevolence.
It was that every hidden intention lay bare, and I grasped that he was dragging me into damnation—
Yet I could not refuse the serpent's invitation.
He always wielded his tongue with such subtlety, offering proposals I could never reject.
Hailon, who had been staring at the wine glass, furrowed his brow slightly and spoke.
"One who has devoted his flesh to God must abstain from drink."
Kieran laughed aloud and chuckled.
"So what? You won't abstain from other things anyway. A little wine won't hurt."
...
I was grateful I possessed the patience not to cleave this man in two with my holy blade.
Hailon snatched the wine glass he offered.
Instead of drinking, he burned away the wine in the glass using holy power.
The alcohol vanished in a pale white light.
Returning the empty glass to Count Basilian, I spoke without expression.
"I will cooperate. As long as we do not cross the line."
"A wise decision, Heresy Inquisitor."
The serpent smiled with satisfaction.
"Let us grow even closer in the days ahead."
***
The Holy Empire Hilderd did not actually possess territory befitting the title of empire.
At most, it was scarcely larger than a modest city.
Yet it was a nation founded under the name of God.
No one dared call Hilderd a minor kingdom.
For every Holy Temple erected across the continent belonged to Hilderd's domain.
The continent's faith in God was itself the strength of the Holy Empire.
Indeed, the Holy King wielded power more formidable than any other ruler on the continent.
The Holy Empire uniquely surrounded its entire border with a barrier.
Beyond the wall of white stone, a portion of the magnificent Grand Temple was visible, yet that was all.
Without entering, there was no way to glimpse the empire from outside.
Commoners who were neither priests nor knights of the Holy Empire could only enter officially three times a year.
New Year, Consecration Day, and the Grand Prayer Ceremony.
Three official opening dates were fixed, and beyond these, special openings occasionally occurred irregularly.
This Pure Child Prayer Ceremony could be called an unprecedented special opening.
Carriages of those gathered to participate in the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony stretched in a long line.
All were waiting to undergo entry inspection.
At the far end of the lengthy queue, where the white wall appeared diminished in the distance, the Basilian Estate's carriage also waited.
"Mm...."
At the carriage's halt, Kieran let out a small groan.
Chesa glanced at him sideways.
Clearly having slept poorly the night before, Kieran had been shut away in the carriage since departure, clinging to Chesa and dozing fitfully.
He had obviously drunk a considerable amount.
Ishuel rode on horseback outside in Kieran's stead.
And beside Kieran, Hata also slept curled up, breathing softly with gentle, rhythmic sounds.
In stark contrast to the peaceful atmosphere within the carriage.
As Chesa drew closer to the Holy Empire, despair washed over me.
'Oh no!'
For no matter how much I had prepared myself.
'I am truly entering the Holy Empire.'
The thought of praying in the Holy Temple, singing God's praises, and listening to sermons ahead made me want to flee already.
Especially since there were many people in the Holy Empire with whom I was not on good terms....
If Chesa lined up all the Holy Knights and priests who had tormented her, the chain would have wrapped around the entire empire.
'They wouldn't deliberately exclude me just because I resemble that enchantress, would they?'
My desperate longing to claim the crown and my simultaneous urge to flee this very moment swirled together in a dizzying haze.
Daren, Hailon's adjutant, approached near the carriage.
In place of Hailon, who had vanished claiming he needed to return to the country first after the fairy incident, Daren was now leading the Holy Knights.
When Daren's eyes met Chesa's, he smiled brightly.
Then he tapped twice on the carriage window.
Kieran's eyes slowly opened.
He let out a large yawn before planting a kiss on Chesa's forehead.
He lazily reached out and opened the carriage window.
"...What is it?"
His voice was drowsy and languid with sleep.
"I have something to report regarding our entry into the country. Please spare me a moment of your time."
Kieran's eyes narrowed slightly, then he gestured with his chin toward Belzeon standing behind Daren.
It was a signal to come take the child.
Belzeon took Chesa from Kieran's arms without hesitation.
Up close, Belzeon too seemed somewhat weary.
Cradling Chesa, he whispered softly.
"Stay with your older brother for a moment, little one."
His gruff voice carried unexpected tenderness, and Chesa smiled back at him.
At least the carriage procession was long, which was fortunate.
It seemed I could manage if I had time to prepare myself mentally while waiting.
I was taking deep breaths alone when it happened.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, the Basilian Estate's carriage broke from the line.
Chesa's eyes widened.
It pulled completely to the side and drove straight ahead, bypassing the long procession of carriages.
'What is this! Why are they doing this all of a sudden!'
Rattled, Belzeon pressed himself against the window so he could see outside.
The carriage, moving without obstruction, came to a halt before the Holy Knights conducting the entry inspection.
Daren and Kieran exchanged a few words with them without even dismounting from their horses.
Kieran looked down at them with eyes carrying a faint drowsiness and smiled.
The Holy Knights' pupils wavered slightly.
It seemed they were thinking something along the lines of whether such an ominous thing should really be allowed into the Holy Empire.
After the brief exchange.
The Basilian carriage entered through the gates.
There was no entry inspection whatsoever—not even a verification of identification documents.
They entered the Holy Empire directly without undergoing any procedures.
To anyone watching, it was extraordinary preferential treatment.
Belzeon murmured quietly.
"...So you're a Heretic Inquisitor."
Daren approached the carriage just then.
He stifled a laugh upon seeing Chesa, who had thrust her head out the window.
"You'll be able to rest comfortably soon. Please bear with it a little longer."
That wasn't the problem at all.
'I'm not mentally prepared for this yet!'
Chesa asked with a note of resentment in her voice.
"Why are we arriving so early...?"
Daren's eyes widened slightly before he responded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Because you've appointed Hailon as your escort knight, Miss Chesa."
He continued to murmur while glancing at the long procession of carriages stretching beyond the entrance.
"You'll need to grow accustomed to this. There will only be greater matters ahead."
Indeed, his words about greater matters to come were true.
But this was somewhat....
'This feels like too much.'
Chesa opened her lips with a bewildered expression.
The Holy King of the Holy Empire.
Sianor Hilderd had come in person to receive House Basilian.
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