Chapter 57
“If I send my younger sibling away, they say they’ll leave too, so how can I…….”
“Sigh, if we don’t receive the first blessing from the Saintess, I’ll think it’s because of those kids that we’re cursed and chase both of them out, so keep that in mind.”
“If you chase those kids away, the divine beast will get chased away too!”
“If those kids die, won’t the divine beast return to you or our son?”
At those words, the Skya Duke shut his mouth.
Currently, the Skya Ducal House had one secret.
It was the fact that the owner of the divine beast was not the duke.
According to imperial law, the owner of the divine beast and the family head had to be the same person. If not, both would be punished.
This was because there had been a case in the past where a family head hid the owner of the divine beast and wielded power, plunging the empire into chaos.
About a year ago from now.
The Skya Duke lost his authority over the divine beast.
The authority over the divine beast was passed down through blood in a family, and it would immediately transfer to a better owner than the current one if such a person appeared.
In short, it meant that a child with tremendous talent had appeared in the Skya Ducal House.
However, there was a problem with this.
The one who took the authority over the divine beast was not the successor of the Skya Ducal House.
Ding- dong-
It was then that the bell signaling someone’s arrival rang.
The duchess, who had been glaring sharply and ordering to kill the twin siblings, shut her mouth.
The duke, already twirling his upturned mustache even more stylishly, rose from his seat.
“I suppose we should prepare to go meet the Saintess.”
However.
What appeared before them was not the Saintess, but a holy knight.
“The Saintess has used all her power to bless one family, so visits will be difficult for the time being.”
The couple’s expressions turned as if they had been struck on the back of the head.
Not only had they lost the first blessing, but she had used up all her power?
It was unprecedented.
It was no different from openly declaring that she would favor only one family as long as she lived.
“Ahh……. As expected, if we take in the twins, three generations will…….”
The duchess, closing her eyes tightly, pressed her forehead.
Sensing his wife’s anger, the Skya Duke asked in a trembling voice.
“W-Which family did you bless so much?”
“It’s the Munrepe Ducal House.”
At those words, the couple fell silent once more.
If it had been the Starrafit Ducal House, they might have understood. Because it was a family with a legitimate divine beast.
But Munrepe, of all places.
Giving the first blessing to a fake divine beast that was summoned without the intervention of the High Priest?
As soon as they sent the holy knight away, the duchess shouted.
“To lose to Munrepe, of all places! Look, this is what happens when you bring the twins into the family! If Their Highnesses the Crown Prince and the Third Princess find out about this, how heartbroken they’ll be!?”
It was because the Empress who bore the Crown Prince and the Third Princess was the duchess’s sister.
She, who even brought up her niece and nephew, flew into a rage.
“The twins are a symbol of ill omen. You know that too, right? This is how it turned out—kill those kids and take back the authority over the divine beast. That’s the only way our family survives!”
“Shall I…….”
The weak-willed Skya Duke groaned.
If only one dies, there’s a chance the divine beast will go to the surviving child, so if they cleanly kill both kids at the same time…….
“Father.”
It was at that moment that he snapped out of his solitary thoughts.
The Skya Duke turned his gaze to his son and the current owner of the Skya divine beast, Briden Skya.
As if he had been rolling around in a dirt field, Briden was covered in dirt all over.
Seeing the carpet soiled with dirt, the duchess clutched her forehead again.
“What kind of state is that? Ahh, there’s a limit to disgracing the family!”
“I will make the Munrepe Ducal House beneath our family.”
“Don’t talk nonsense and get to your room right now, will you?!”
“Wait a moment. How, exactly?”
“I found this in the flower garden.”
What he held out was a small box. Inside it was a scrap of paper on the verge of tearing.
The box was covered in clumps of dirt that hadn’t been brushed off.
The duchess, whose anger had reached its peak, raised her voice.
“You dug up the land again! Ahhh, not even a beggar—why do you keep selling land?!”
“Hey, I told you to wait. Didn’t I say that Briden keeps digging up the land because he’s such an excellent owner of the divine beast?”
Since the divine beast and its owner were connected by soul, cases where high affinity with the divine beast led to mimicking its habits were common.
Turtles were animals that dug into the ground for hibernation.
And right now was winter, of all times.
In short, Briden had, slightly exaggeratedly, been digging up the entire flower garden.
Of course, it wasn’t all disadvantages.
Thanks to that, centuries-old items hidden here and there by the first Skya Duke, who loved treasure hunts, were coming out in droves.
Because of that usefulness, the duke was holding out as much as possible against his wife’s demands to kill the children.
“What on earth is this.”
The duke unfolded the tattered paper. And at the unexpected content, his eyes gleamed.
“Ho, this could work!”
* * *
Meanwhile, the Pope invited Asil and Edenber to a banquet.
“Hohoho, thanks to the duke protecting the Saintess so well, I can now face the ancestors without shame.”
In truth, the Pope didn’t particularly like the Monlepe Ducal House.
They had lost their divine beast and even summoned a fake one.
Of course, he didn’t show his displeasure outwardly, but he subtly neglected them by placing the Monlepe Ducal House at the very back during events at the Grand Temple.
But for Monlepe to be protecting the Saintess.
According to the records left by the priest Theodor, it seemed she had nearly been sold off to some low-ranking noble, and if it hadn’t been for the Monlepe Duke, it would have been a real disaster.
So, in the Pope’s eyes, the Monlepe Ducal House could only look favorable.
“The Grand Temple will always be the duke’s strength.”
‘My husband looks in a good mood.’
Listening to the Pope’s words with one ear and letting them flow out the other, Asil glanced at Edenber.
Ever since the day he received Selena’s blessing, Edenber had seemed in a good mood every single day.
Not that he was smiling broadly, but his downward-slanting eyebrows had flattened out just a bit.
In any case, if the husband is happy, Asil is happy too.
Asil giggled inwardly and munched on strawberries with her chopsticks.
Then, at the sound of a voice, she raised her head.
“It’s largely thanks to Asil that we found the Saintess.”
Edenber was looking at her with pride.
“Thanks to Asil, we were able to serve the Saintess.”
Asil smiled brightly and wagged her tail at the gentle touch stroking her hair.
“Pihya.”
Seeing Asil like that, a glint appeared in the Pope’s eyes.
“I see, the divine beast……. So that’s why the Saintess is putting so much effort into the divine beast as well.”
He had thought she wasn’t an ordinary being ever since she sorted out the Monlepe Ducal House’s internal strife and knocked down Pier of the Starrafit Ducal House…….
But Asil seemed to be far more of a big deal than he had thought.
“The Saintess’s benefactor is the Grand Temple’s benefactor. If you need anything, feel free to contact us anytime.”
He even directly asked Asil for a handshake.
For the Pope to permit contact meant recognizing Asil as an official divine beast of the empire.
Asil happily took that hand.
After spending such a harmonious time and leaving the banquet hall, they saw the high priests of Starrafit and Skya waiting outside, grinding their teeth.
“Kuuk…….”
“If the Saintess had been in our territory, we would have found her first.”
Asil had vaguely heard about the high priests’ circumstances from Arcian.
Due to this incident, the Monlepe High Priest’s prestige had skyrocketed, and in proportion, the other high priests had plummeted sharply.
The two high priests, wearing deeply uncomfortable expressions, approached and said.
“We congratulate you on receiving the Saintess’s blessing.”
“Of course, that doesn’t mean nonexistent legitimacy is created—”
“Who’s talking about legitimacy!”
Just as he was about to convey a message not to get too arrogant, a thunderous shout flew in at the perfect timing.
The Monlepe High Priest was approaching with a swagger.
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By Anna 💓
