Chapter 142
It was an out-of-the-blue remark.
“Why the Marquis of Nemeia?”
Theo was an innocent teddy bear, so that was fine, but the Marquis of Nemeia was someone she didn’t particularly want to deal with.
Just from the fact that he’d sent Theo to the Basilian County as an escort knight, it was obvious.
“He’s sly, isn’t he?”
The Marquis of Nemeia harbored hostility toward the Basilans.
There was no way anything good could come from meeting him, so she couldn’t understand why he was inviting her to the Nemeia Marquisate.
When Cheshire didn’t respond and just stared, Theo’s body seemed to shrink smaller and smaller.
In a moment, he might disappear altogether.
Sigh.
Cheshire let out a sigh inwardly.
Still, he probably wasn’t bringing her there with ill intentions…
“Alright.”
Theo’s face brightened up immediately.
He really was a teddy bear with a transparent heart.
With a strangely resolute expression, Theo said,
“Thank you! I’ll make sure to give you a lavish reception…”
“Cheshire!”
A loud shout cut Theo off mid-sentence.
From far away, Aran was running toward them.
She called out Cheshire’s name loudly while waving her hand vigorously.
In her other hand, she held a large bouquet of flowers, and as she ran energetically, petals were scattering flutteringly along the path.
The tomboy princess, sprinting at full speed, arrived in front of Cheshire in an instant.
Thanks to that, Theo couldn’t say another word.
While Aran’s attendant hurried after her in a fluster, Cheshire jumped down from the perch.
Then, she held out the cookie she had in her hand.
“Want some?”
“Thanks.”
Aran chomped down the cookie in one gulp.
The princess, who devoured it without leaving a single crumb, looked at Cheshire with eyes full of affection.
“You’re really kind and gentle.”
What did I even do…?
She’d just given her a cookie she was already eating.
Aran smiled shyly and held out the bouquet to Cheshire.
“A gift.”
As Cheshire accepted the bouquet, which had flowers sparsely missing here and there, she felt a twinge of unease.
It was because it kept reminding her of her brother, who had been a follower of that witch.
‘No, even so, comparing Aran to Ithar!’
It was an unfair thought toward Aran.
Cheshire briefly reflected inwardly and offered her thanks.
Aran puffed up with pride, boasting about her abilities.
“I did everything just as you asked! It went smoothly without any issues. You’ll achieve what you want.”
Saying she could handle that much easily, Aran burst into hearty laughter.
“Remi too?”
“Prince Remil? Of course, I took care of him. But…”
Aran paused mid-sentence and let out a short hum.
She glanced up at the sky for a moment, then at Cheshire, and finally turned to look at her attendant standing behind her.
“Samid.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The attendant, who had been sneaking curious glances at Cheshire from earlier, quickly straightened up.
“Was it a bit strange?”
It was a question out of nowhere.
But Samid answered promptly.
“It was strange.”
“I thought so…”
Aran scratched her cheek with her small finger.
After hesitating for a bit, she pointed to her own eyes.
“Cheshire. Do you know what Skaya’s golden eyes mean?”
Skaya was a kingdom founded by pirates who roamed the seas.
In Skaya, children born with golden eyes were highly valued.
It was because of the legend that they were ‘eyes that could see the truth.’
Those with golden eyes had exceptionally sharp intuition, sometimes making judgments that seemed like foresight.
It was even a proverb that on important sea voyages, you must bring a child with golden eyes.
“I’m pretty good with my intuition. Whenever I get a feeling, it’s never been wrong, not even once…”
Aran’s eyes narrowed slowly.
She remained silent for a while, as if choosing her words, then parted her lips.
“Prince Remil seemed a bit off. Like his personality had changed or something.”
Cheshire, who had been listening while hugging the bag of cookies, tilted her head to the side.
‘He seemed fine when I met him just a little while ago?’
Could it be that peeking into Hailon’s memories had caused a problem?
Cheshire was a fairy who had been through all sorts of things, but Remil was still young.
Indeed, seeing such horrific memories could cause mental distress.
“Anyway, the conversation wrapped up well… But be careful, Cheshire.”
After giving that vague warning, Aran grinned and changed the subject.
“By the way, what happened to Cardinal Milliord? Did he really get dragged to the heresy interrogation room?”
Asking if he was locked up in the room next to her brother’s, Aran burst into giggles.
Cheshire followed along, pretending not to know, and let out a chuckle.
‘Seems like Kierne is chewing him up, tearing him apart, and savoring him…’
The suggestions Cheshire had made to Kierne and Hailon were just two things.
Don’t kill the fake dad, Norman.
And let’s punish him by lying that Milliord brought a monster.
There were other schemes in mind, but explaining them in detail wouldn’t seem childlike, so she only mentioned the simplest and easiest ones.
With just that, Kierne had splendidly demolished Milliord beyond expectations.
Now that the shield of being a cardinal was gone.
There was no way Kierne would leave Milliord alone.
He’d probably torment him to the point where death would be a mercy.
Cheshire shivered briefly.
‘Good thing he’s my dad.’
If he were someone else’s dad, getting entangled with him would make life miserable.
Shaking her head inwardly, Cheshire soon turned her gaze toward the grand temple.
She stared at the towering white building and bit her lip.
It wouldn’t be long now.
‘He’ll be happy, right?’
She kept recalling Kierne’s eyes as he looked at the Fairy Queen’s crown.
Eyes that seemed on the verge of tears.
She wanted to see him smiling happily.
Even if it was the wrong path.
‘So what.’
Cheshire was an abnormal fairy anyway.
And after obtaining the crown…
‘I’ll have to decide whether to choose the life of Cheshire Basilian or the life of Lichesia.’
Thinking about the approaching moment of choice, Cheshire forced a bright smile.
Otherwise, her heart might feel a bit heavy.
The ninety-nine saints of Hilderd had gathered in one place.
It was the conference hall where major affairs of the Holy Empire were decided.
The conference hall was structured like a circular theater, with tiered seats surrounding the central area in a round formation.
In the center, a circular light shone down, designed so that speaking from there would resonate throughout the room.
Ninety-eight people were seated in the circular conference hall.
In the center stood the last one, Hailon.
Wearing the inquisitor’s uniform with his face exposed felt somewhat alien.
It was the first time an inquisitor had publicly shown his bare face.
Many had already suspected that Hailon might be the inquisitor.
But the vague speculation in their minds and facing the reality before their eyes carried distinctly different weights.
Those who had personally witnessed Hailon using the Chains of Condemnation couldn’t hide their fear and kept glancing at his wrists.
Despite receiving dozens of stares, Hailon stood silently.
In the lowest tier of the circular conference hall, the seat of honor directly opposite Hailon, Cyanor gazed at him with cold eyes.
Like a bird desperately trying to escape its cage.
If it were up to him, he’d want to throw Hailon into the education room right now.
However, the moment to realize his long-held dream was not far off.
If he endured just a little longer…
Cyanor could return everything to how it was and gain even more.
As the Holy King, he opened the proceedings.
“We have gathered here to determine the winner of the Little Saints’ Prayer Assembly.”
The circular conference hall fell silent.
An eerily oppressive quiet pressed down on the hall.
“But before that, along with the incident of Cardinal Milliord’s monster, we shall discuss Inquisitor Hailon’s violation of the precepts.”
Cyanor raised one hand.
“Sir Hailon, speak.”
Was it because of the light pouring down from above?
For a moment, it seemed like the corner of Hailon’s mouth lifted.
“I have not violated the precepts.”
The utterly shameless statement caused a momentary stir in the conference hall.
Some holy priests even shouted reprimands.
But Hailon, unperturbed, slowly uttered his words.
“Fairy.”
Before Cyanor could react to the short word that fell, the following words filled the circular conference hall.
“Where are you conducting the experiments?”
