Chapter 154
Silence fell.
Cheshire froze in place.
It took her a moment to process what Aran had said.
“…A rebellion?”
She had heard it clearly, yet Cheshire asked again.
It was that unbelievable.
Aran responded with an expression that said she fully understood her feelings.
“Yes, a rebellion.”
She hopped into the seat across from Cheshire.
With a solemn look on her youthful face, she continued.
“The rebel of the Holy Empire, Hailon, declared that the Holy King had committed acts against God’s will.”
Hailon’s accusation shocked not only the Holy Empire but all nations across the continent.
Because it was that ‘Hailon.’
He was like the central figure among the holy knights.
The vast majority of holy knights respected and admired Hailon.
There were quite a few knights who had chosen the path of holiness because of him.
Hailon, who had enjoyed overwhelming support from the holy knights, publicly revealed during the latter part of the Little Saints’ Prayer Assembly that he was an Inquisitor.
For the crime of disclosing the position of Inquisitor, which was meant to be kept secret, Hailon was put on holy trial and subsequently disappeared for a time.
His whereabouts were unknown for a while, until one day he suddenly reappeared and raised arms against the Holy Empire.
All the Inquisitors, along with the majority of the holy knights, supported Hailon and left Hilderd.
The priests alone could never sustain Hilderd’s history.
To spread God’s name, physical means were absolutely necessary as well.
The Holy Empire hurriedly tried to recruit new knights, but compared to before, they were a ragtag bunch.
Hailon, having built a new force, did not immediately turn his sword toward Hilderd.
Instead, he began to tighten the noose around the Holy Empire little by little.
He gradually exposed the ugly facets of Holy King Cyanor and unearthed one by one the immoral acts Hilderd had committed over the years.
Thanks to that, the Holy Empire was plunging into complete chaos.
“He’s a terrifying man.”
Aran concluded slowly.
After hearing the explanation, it felt even more unreal to Cheshire.
It was hard enough to believe that a full year had passed while she was trapped in the fairy kingdom.
The news that Hailon had staged a rebellion felt truly like a dream.
“….”
As Cheshire remained speechless, Aran rolled her eyes.
She belatedly realized Cheshire had been in the middle of eating and made an ‘oops’ face.
“Finish your meal first! I was too inconsiderate.”
Her appetite had completely vanished, but seeing Samid, who had been diligently attending to her, and Aran fretting in front of her, she felt she should eat a bit more.
Cheshire brought her utensils back to the steamed fish she had only sampled a little.
Aran propped her chin on both hands and watched Cheshire chew with a contented expression.
And the moment Cheshire set down her fork, she shouted sharply.
“Samid! Bring desserts and tea. They must be so delicious that Cheshire will be amazed.”
Samid promptly obeyed the princess’s command.
Once he left, Aran dismissed all the other maids and attendants as well.
Now, only Cheshire and Aran remained.
Aran speared a prettily sliced fig from the fruit plate with a fork and held it out to Cheshire.
Cheshire accepted the fig she offered and ate it while waiting for her next words.
There must be a reason she had gone out of her way to send Samid and the attendants away.
It was probably a serious conversation meant for children only, without the adults.
“And what you’re probably most curious about, the Basilian County…. I have something to say about that anyway…. Eat first.”
Aran coaxed Cheshire into eating the sweet fruit to calm her mind.
Only after Cheshire had obediently munched on the fig did Aran get to the point.
“The Basilian County is now at the center of power in the Palen Empire.”
“…?”
What is this now?
Cheshire’s eyes widened, nearly dropping the fig she was eating.
After Cheshire was dragged to the fairy kingdom, the Basilian County remained silent for about a month.
They quietly struggled to find the missing child.
And after that month passed.
Suddenly, the Basilian County entered the capital’s political scene.
The nobles of Palen were utterly flustered when the county, which had shown no interest in power until then, actively involved itself in politics.
Regardless, the Emperor unconditionally accepted whatever the Count Basilian said.
To the point of appearing utterly brainless.
“Naturally, the opposition was fierce. It was serious enough to make one wonder if civil war might break out.”
Yet, astonishingly, the nobles who opposed the Basilian County began disappearing from the political scene one by one.
Unignorable corruption was exposed, fatal scandals erupted, or they suffered severe injuries or deaths that forced retirement.
After these ‘coincidences’ repeated several times, the nobles who had opposed the Basilian County’s actions eventually fell silent as mice.
“There are even rumors that the Master of the Backworld is backing the Basilian County. It’s pretty much taken as fact.”
Otherwise, there was no explaining the countless ‘coincidences’ surrounding the Basilian County.
“How they managed to gain the Master’s cooperation…. A man who won’t even meet anyone.”
Unaware that the Master was Kierne, Aran blinked slowly.
Her radiant golden eyes disappeared and reappeared behind her eyelids repeatedly.
“Anyway, as a result, the Basilian County now holds what you might call bird-dropping power in the great Palen Empire….”
Suddenly, Aran trailed off sharply.
As if embarrassed to even say it, Aran touched her forehead with her hand.
With a faintly flushed face, she confessed.
“Our relations with Skaya are not good.”
Kierne had always been the type to lazily lounge in his bedroom, only reading a few documents late in the day.
For him to become the center of power.
Unable to imagine a diligent Kierne, Cheshire had been creaking in thought but snapped back to reality belatedly.
“…Why?”
At the childlike innocent question, Aran’s cheeks flushed even redder.
“It’s because…. Of my brother.”
“….”
Now she understood why she had sent everyone away.
It was because a royal was personally exposing and criticizing the royal family’s shame.
Itar Skaya.
Aran’s brother, the crown prince of Skaya, the one who had followed the witch Lichesia obsessively and ended up captured by Hailon and imprisoned in the heresy interrogation room.
It seemed Itar had been released when Hailon left the Holy Empire.
With no knights left to guard the prison, they must have released him after receiving bail.
“The reason Samid rushed to the palace earlier is connected to that.”
And as soon as he was freed, Itar seemed to have caused a major incident.
Cheshire barely suppressed the pitiful expression that naturally formed on her face.
“Before discussing my brother’s mistakes, I wanted to say first that because of it, it’s difficult to send you to the Palen Empire right away. Exchanges with the empire are completely blocked now.”
Any letters sent would be neatly ignored, Aran mumbled with a thoroughly reddened face.
What fault did the princess have?
She was just caught in the middle, suffering.
Cheshire, in a childlike manner, extended her slightly longer arms and patted Aran’s hands, neatly folded on the table, tap tap.
At Cheshire’s comfort, Aran was about to smile faintly.
Bang!
The same explosive noise as when Aran had flung the door open earlier erupted.
The man who burst through the door shouted in a resounding voice.
“Cheshire Basilian is here?”
His face flushed red from rushing over in a panic, a tall, muscular man.
‘He hasn’t changed a bit either.’
From head to toe, the unchanged Itar—Cheshire inwardly clicked her tongue.
Striding straight to the table in one go, Itar abruptly scooped up Cheshire from her chair.
“For the witch’s daughter to come to Skaya on her own feet…! This must be my chance to marry Lichesia at last!”
And lifting Cheshire high into the air, he exclaimed.
“From today, you are my daughter!”
