The emperor’s funeral was grand yet simple. Around that time, Banessa began to hear strange rumors circulating in the capital of the Holy Empire.
“Banessa, have you heard the odd story going around?”
“Odd story? What do you mean?”
“You know how the emperor suddenly died? There’s talk that it wasn’t due to illness.”
“Not due to illness?”
It had been officially announced that the emperor’s sudden death was caused by a worsening of his chronic illness.
“They’re saying he was murdered.”
“What?”
Banessa looked at Martin in shock.
“Who would kill the emperor? I mean, is there even anyone who could? Both his children are wings, right? What kind of lunatic would kill a wing’s father?”
“They’re saying it was the princess.”
“…What?”
“The rumor is widespread that the princess killed the emperor. That she murdered her own father to claim the throne.”
—
Even after the funeral, the delegation stayed in the empire for a few more days.
The princess’s coronation was scheduled to take place soon.
Despite the upcoming coronation, the atmosphere in the imperial palace remained gloomy. The rumors that the princess had killed the emperor were the cause.
The principality’s delegation whispered among themselves.
“Did the princess really kill the emperor?”
“Who knows?”
“What could have driven her to kill the emperor?”
Banessa was curious about that too.
The princess was the heir to the empire. If she had waited, she would have become the emperor in due time.
So why would she go to the extreme of killing her own father to take the throne?
“They say you can know the depths of water, but not the depths of a person’s heart. They must have been talking about the princess.”
Most people thought that Dana, with her rationality, was a better choice than the ticking time bomb that was Callisto, but Banessa didn’t agree.
He could easily guess Callisto’s motives. He would never betray Leticia, the one who had saved him.
Banessa was certain because he had gone through a similar experience.
And besides, Callisto was the reincarnation of the High Priest.
“But the princess is different.”
The princess was not the reincarnation of the High Priest.
Despite being saved by Leticia, she couldn’t bring herself to abandon the empire.
“And now they say this princess killed her own father.”
Banessa clucked his tongue, recalling the fragile appearance of the princess he had seen a few days ago.
For a moment, he had felt pity for her precarious state, but now he thought it had been a needless concern.
“What could have driven her to commit such a heinous act? I can’t understand the minds of those in power.”
Not that it mattered to him.
It didn’t matter how the princess lived her life.
“After all, the empire is just plain unlucky.”
Banessa just wanted to return to the principality as soon as possible.
—
The day before the coronation arrived.
For the first time in a while, the gloomy atmosphere of the imperial palace lifted.
A small banquet was held in anticipation of the coronation.
While the black flags remained in place out of respect for the late emperor, colorful lanterns lit up the palace.
People dressed in elegant evening attire gathered under the high ceilings of the banquet hall.
The princess, as the star of the event, was fashionably late.
Draped in the red cape symbolizing the heir, she waited in a private room for the right moment to enter.
“My face is a mess.”
The princess glanced at herself in the mirror and smiled bitterly.
Despite the makeup, she looked worse than usual.
“I tried not to let it bother me, but I suppose I’m only human.”
The biggest issue weighing on the princess’s mind lately was the rumors spreading throughout the capital.
The rumor that she had killed the emperor to claim the throne.
Callisto had been furious when he heard it.
“I’ll deal with everyone spreading those rumors. Just give me a day, sister.”
“Let it be. In some ways, it’s true. There’s nothing to be done.”
“There were reasons you had no choice! The late emperor tried to harm the saintess!”
“Regardless of the reason, I did make the late emperor as good as dead.”
“No, sister. You actually saved the late emperor. If he had truly reached out to harm the saintess, I would never have forgiven him.”
“Which is why it must never come to light. The late emperor’s misdeeds would stain the imperial family. And the Zenos delegation is here right now. How do you think they would react if they learned the late emperor targeted the saintess?”
“Hmph.”
“To make new growth from rotten fruit, sacrifices are necessary. I just have to endure a little sacrifice. So, please be patient, Callisto.”
After Josephina’s death, the imperial family was already in shambles.
They had lost the saintess and, with her, the people’s trust.
If it became known that the emperor had targeted the saintess?
The imperial family’s authority would be completely destroyed.
“It’s better this way.”
The princess could bear the blame.
“In time, the finger-pointing will pass.”
The gossip of busybodies would eventually fade away.
“I just need to do better. Then, one day, the empire’s wrongs will be repaid. I can make new growth from this rotten apple.”
Even as she tried to convince herself, doubts kept gnawing at her heart.
“Is it really right to try to bring new life to a rotten empire?”
Should I just give up?
What would Lady Leticia have done?
What should I do?
As the princess wrestled with these thoughts, there was a knock on the door.
It was time for her entrance.
“Where is Callisto?”
“His Highness the Prince will likely be even later.”
“Later than this?”
“Yes.”
The princess looked at the attendant with a perplexed expression. Callisto wasn’t one to break a promise without a reason. He was usually meticulous about following the rules.
“Could he have gotten into some trouble?”
Having spent her life cleaning up after Callisto’s mishaps, she instinctively tensed up.
But the attendant seemed calm.
If there had been any trouble, the attendant wouldn’t have been so composed.
“Perhaps I’m just being overly sensitive. Even if he got into trouble in the past, he’s been better since he became the saintess’s wing. Everything should be fine.”
Shaking her head, she brushed off her worries.
“Let’s just focus on getting through tonight’s banquet.”
With that, the princess followed the attendant to the banquet hall.
“Let’s go.”
—
Though Callisto didn’t appear, the banquet proceeded smoothly as planned.
“Her Highness the Princess is entering. Please show your respect.”
The chamberlain’s announcement silenced the hall as the princess entered. The nobles bowed their heads in unison.
“Raise your heads, everyone.”
As the princess descended from the platform, the nobles eagerly crowded around her.
“Your Highness, you look especially radiant today.”
“Indeed. For a moment, I thought a goddess had descended when you entered.”
The princess deftly navigated through the crowd, gently signaling with her hands.
“I need to attend to the distinguished guests from foreign lands first. We’ll continue our conversations later.”
“Of course, Your Highness.”
The first group she approached was the Zenos delegation.
As the saintess’s homeland, they were to be treated with the utmost priority, more than any other nation.
The delegation was gathered in small groups, engaged in lively conversation.
Their expressions were unusually bright, as if something good had happened.
As the princess approached, she quickly understood why.
“I’m telling you, the rocking horse I bought yesterday is the best. The wood is said to be over five hundred years old. The little ones will surely love it.”
“You fool. You can get things like that even in Zenos. What we need to focus on is finding a swordsmanship tutor for the young prince.”
“How do you know it’s a prince and not a princess? Nothing’s certain yet.”
“Don’t assume only princes learn swordsmanship. How do you know our princess won’t be the greatest sword mage on the continent?”
“A swordsman is a swordsman. What’s a sword mage supposed to be?”
“Someone who’s skilled in both magic and swordsmanship, of course!”
The delegation was enthusiastically discussing the future of the royal offspring expected in a few months. Their excitement and joy brought a smile to the princess’s face.
Seeing others at ease made the ice around her heart thaw, if only for a moment.
The princess approached the delegation, greeting them with a warm smile.
“How are you finding the banquet? I hope the food suits your taste. If there’s anything you find uncomfortable during your stay at the palace, don’t hesitate to let me know.”
As Dana approached, the members of the delegation straightened up, their laughter fading. Banessa bowed his head with a respectful, yet reserved, demeanor.
“We’ll do that. Thank you for your consideration.”
The conversation didn’t continue much further.
The princess moved on to greet the other delegations.
“This feels strange.”
She found it hard to pull herself away.
She wanted to stay near the principality’s delegation.
“But why?”
It didn’t take long for her to realize the reason.
She envied the atmosphere of the principality’s delegation.
They seemed so happy, having been chosen by the saintess.
The princess smiled weakly.
—
As the banquet reached its peak, Banessa loosened his tie and commented,
“Isn’t it a bit warm in here?”
Because he controlled fire, Banessa was more sensitive to heat than others.
The banquet hall was kept at a constant temperature by magical stones placed around the room.
“I need to get some fresh air.”
“Hey.”
Banessa downed a glass of chilled wine in one go and headed toward the exit of the banquet hall.
“Oh! Sir Banessa, off for a stroll?”
But before he could take more than a few steps, something strange happened.
Imperial nobles, all wearing broad smiles, swarmed around him.
Banessa scowled and shot a cold glare at them. Already known for his sharp features, his piercing look made the nobles shrink back.
But they didn’t retreat.
They needed his purifying flames.
Most imperial nobles owned large estates across the empire. However, since Leticia’s departure to the principality, these estates were on the brink of ruin.
With the goddess’s protective power over the empire waning, desertification had begun. Monsters roamed the dry lands as if they owned them, making it impossible for the estates to thrive. Though the princess had forbidden monsters from attacking people, she turned a blind eye to the devastation of the great nobles’ estates.
The nobles had reached a conclusion.
“The saintess must return. Only then can we protect our wealth. We must bring her back by any means necessary!”
But the princess refused to heed their pleas.
In the state council meetings, whenever someone suggested bringing Leticia back, the princess would coldly issue a warning.
“It seems, Duke, that you must have a lot of wealth to be so eager for the saintess’s return.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m curious if all of your wealth was accumulated legally. Oh, don’t misunderstand me. I have no doubt about your integrity as a count.”
It was a thinly veiled threat that if they tried to use Leticia for their estates again, she would strip them of everything they had, even if she had to dig into their every secret. The not-so-virtuous nobles immediately backed down.
But they didn’t truly give up.
They devised a second plan.
They aimed to provoke the former emperor.
“Your Majesty, are you going to just step back like this? You must take action! We cannot lose the saintess. The great empire cannot bow to the principality!”
Unfortunately, their plan failed.
The emperor, who was even more obsessed with Leticia than they were, suddenly died.
Overnight, the nobles found themselves with no support, desperate enough to approach Banessa, even knowing how much he despised them.
They were grasping at straws, having not learned their lesson after being put in their place by Dana and Callisto time and time again.
To Banessa, their rotten intentions were all too clear.
“What to do? I can’t just crush them like I used to.”
In the past, he would have used the power of the wing to completely suppress anyone foolish enough to approach him like this. But this time, that didn’t seem like the right approach.
“Not while the banquet is still ongoing.”
Through the banquet hall’s glass windows, Banessa could see the princess still diligently attending to the nobles. Despite not liking the princess, he knew that ruining the banquet would only cause problems for her.
Even though Banessa disliked the princess, Leticia cared about her.
If Leticia found out that Banessa had ruined the banquet, she would likely feel indebted to the princess.
“But I certainly don’t want to keep these trash clinging to me either.”
After some thought, Banessa came up with a solution. He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and spoke.
“It seems you all are very interested in the goddess’s power.”
“Indeed.”
“Ha! Of course. It’s the power the goddess bestowed upon the empire. It’s only natural for us, as imperial nobles, to think about how to use that power properly!”
“Hmm. I see.”
Banessa nodded. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed that the best way to deal with these pests was with blunt honesty.
But it had to be done discreetly.
He mouthed the words quietly, without making a sound.
“Get lost.”
As the head of the delegation, he didn’t say it aloud.
“What?”
The nobles blinked in confusion. Banessa simply shrugged, pretending to know nothing.
Then he whispered again, this time a little more pointedly.
“If you don’t want to die, quietly disappear.”
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