CH 105

“You can’t kill them, you can’t kill……!”

The High Priest staggered to his feet.

But he stretched his arms anyway.

“If we kill them, there will be a greater tragedy…….”

The High Priest begged desperately, still not quite awake.

“We must find Miss Roselina, now!”

“I am here, calm down, High Priest.”

And there she was, right in front of him.

Moving faster than ever, the High Priest dropped to his knees.

“Please help me. Please……!”

“…….”

But there was no sound of Roselina’s voice.

Just as the High Priest was about to despair, he suddenly felt a cloth wrapped around his shoulders.

“This is…….”

“The High Priest must have had a terrible nightmare, but you’re all right now.”

Roselina wrapped a blanket around him.

The High Priest, now back in reality, slowly opened his eyes.

“Look. No one died.”

Hearing her words, the High Priest hesitantly turned his head.

The scene in the grand hall before him was devastating.

The floor was cracked and the walls were broken.

Injured people were breathing raggedly.

Yet, no one was dead.

Soon, the High Priest’s gaze fell on the fallen.

“Those are…….”

They were the ones he had seen in the prophecy.

The High Priest spoke in a trembling voice.

“They turned human.”

“H, how long has it been?”

The High Priest asked urgently after hearing Roselina’s answer.

“Well, I don’t know the exact time, but it must have been at least half an hour.”

“Aaah…….”

In the prophecy, they had become human and turned back into a demon within minutes.

But there was no sign of that until now.

‘Truly, the prophecy of the future has changed.’

Tears filled the High Priest’s aging eyes.

“High Priest, are you all right? Are you in pain?”

“No, no. It’s nothing like that, Miss Roselina. Thank you, thank you…….”

The High Priest bowed his head and saluted Roselina.

“Miss Roselina. I don’t know if you realize it yet, but you’ve changed the prophecy…….”

“High Priest, now is not the time to talk about that.”

The High Priest was a little surprised by Roselina’s reply, but then he was convinced.

“Very well, I must do something about the situation first. I’m afraid I’ve been too hasty.”

“No, High Priest. What I want to say is something else. Can you answer my question?”

Roselina’s voice dropped to a whisper, barely audible to each other.

“Of course. Feel free to ask.”

“Is the reason I can’t kill demons because…… they come back to life?”

The High Priest’s eyes widened at Roselina’s simple question that hit the truth at once.

“How do you know that…….”

“From the way you’re reacting, I’m guessing I’m right.”

“Then what are you planning to do with them? You can never kill them.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”

Roselina pushed herself up.

The chandelier had already fallen to the floor and shattered, but somehow a halo seemed to shine from Roselina.

“Just a moment, please. It won’t take long.”

With those words, Roselina spun around to face the center of the hall, looking like a jack-of-all-trades.

‘She’s changed, like she’s been born again.’

The High Priest was overcome with a strange emotion.

Once, people in the capital would have jumped at the sight of Brighton’s carriage in the distance.

Roselina was so obsessed with horse manure that he was often baptized in it when she spotted him.

The High Priest was Roselina’s main target.

The High Priest stares off into the distance as he reminisces about his time with Roselina.

One day, a furious Roselina burst into his presence.

“Is it true that nothing is born on this earth for young Palesdon? Tell me!”

“Miss Roselina. How did you…….”

“It doesn’t matter how I found out about the prophecy, just tell me!”

Roselina, who had figured out the part of the prophecy that was only told to members of Palesdon, had come to him to listen for the rest of the verse.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you that.”

“Why?”

“I merely deliver the word of the gods to those who are entitled to. And the prophecies concerning them are only for the party and their families to…….”

Puck!

The next moment, the smell of horse manure was in the High Priest’s face.

Through his blurred vision, he could see Roselina running wild.

“This is ridiculous. Where is such a thing?”

“I’m afraid I can’t help it.”

“What kind of nonsense is that, old man? You’re just lying!”

Roselina, resentful of this, often threw horse manure at the High Priest.

“Miss Roselina, what are you doing?”

“Shut up, old man.”

Not only that, but she also called him an old man, implying that he was unworthy of his title.

This explains why, in the prophecy, when Roselina called the High Priest ‘Old man’, he didn’t find it strange.

Roselina, who would have been imprisoned if not for being a Brighton, was transformed.

‘I was short-sighted. As she grows and changes, Miss Roselina changes her own destiny…….’

The High Priest shuddered with an emotion he had never felt before.

Then.

“We can’t let this remain unpunished! Those criminals showed up at the palace, destroyed the grand hall, and threatened the lives of nobles and royalty!”

“That’s right, that’s my daughter-in-law, so she knows what she’s talking about!”

Roselina’s loud voice echoed through the Grand Hall.

Catalina’s voice echoed back as if she’d been waiting for it.

“Above all, they!”

“They……?”

The Emperor repeated cautiously, a little weary of Roselina and Catalina’s eagerness.

“They nearly put me, and no one else, in harm’s way! I will never let them get away with it, not even if they repay me many, many times over!”

“That’s right, they dared to touch a Palesdon, so they can’t get away with it!”

The High Priest was silent for a moment as he watched Roselina storm off with Catalina at her back.

‘Perhaps I am mistaken.’

The High Priest clouded his eyes, knowing that human nature was not easily changed.

“Then what is it that the Duchess of Palesdon wants?”

“That they be imprisoned in Aphoris at once!”

The Emperor finally asked for Roselina’s wishes.

“Aphoris, you mean that prison at the end of the world?”

“The Duchess of Palesdon has her mind set firmly on it.”

“The place they call the graveyard of criminals because it’s impossible to escape?”

Aphoris.

It was the only prison that had been supervised by all the nations of the continent.

It housed the most heinous criminals that the laws of the land could not handle.

Those imprisoned in Aphoris were condemned to an eternity of torment worse than death.

Aphoris was also notorious for being in the middle of the ocean, making it difficult to get in or out.

“Well, considering their crimes, they deserve to be in Aphoris.”

“They should not be in Aphoris, not by a long shot. I think they’re just trying to show the Duchess of Palesdon that if she touches them, they’ll put her in hell.”

“I’ve heard rumors that they can never die so that’s really scary.”

As he listened to the nobles chattering away, something clicked in the High Priest’s mind.

‘They can’t die or live forever……. Could it be that Miss Roselina has made this choice to save their lives?’

He stared at Roselina with trembling eyes.

Just then, she turned her head slightly to look at the High Priest.

‘Yes. That’s right.’

She seemed to say.

In retrospect, it couldn’t have been better.

Count Molzigat and his companions had smashed the palace and nearly killed the royal family.

They would have been executed immediately without trial.

‘But if they did…….’

If they were put to death, they would rise again and again as demons to destroy the world.

That was no excuse for letting Count Molzigat and his companions go free, whose crimes were so grave and evil.

So Roselina mentioned Aphoris.

In Aphoris, all nations had equal power, and even the emperor could not arbitrarily punish imprisoned criminals.

‘How far-sighted was Miss Roselina to make such a judgment in such a short time?’

The High Priest swept a hand down the goosebumps in his arm.

‘Perhaps Miss Roselina is the one I’ve been looking for.’

The High Priest’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.

***

[Quest ﹤Discover the secret behind the demon that attacked the Imperial Palace﹥ has been confirmed].

[Quest ﹤Progress through the Scenario ﹤Hero of the Empire!﹥ (4)﹥ has been completed].

[You will receive 50 Fate Energy as a reward].

Based on the information I obtained from my conversation with the High Priest, I made a strong argument to the Emperor about the demons being imprisoned in Aphoris.

“I understand the Duchess of Palesdon’s wishes, but this is not a matter for me to decide on my own, so I will withhold my decision.”

“But, Your Majesty!”

“If the Duchess of Palesdon’s assertion becomes the official position of Palesdon, and not your own opinion…….”

My plan was flawless, but the Emperor intervened.

‘It cannot be helped, I will give you a taste of the truth in your soul.’

I grit my teeth and try again to plead my case, but someone else is one step ahead of me.

“Of course, it’s the official position of Palesdon.”

“Of course it is! Our daughter-in-law says so!”

It was Argention and Catalina.

And

“Winfrote agrees with the Duchess of Palesdon’s wishes.”

“And there is nothing legally wrong with that.”

Margrave Winfrote and Baron Edward chimed in.

“The same holds true for the Magic Tower.”

“Of course!”

The Master of the Magic Tower, who had come to his senses in the meantime, took Countess Maria’s hand.

“It’s not just Palesdon’s, it’s also Brighton’s official position.”

And finally, my father.

“What does ……the High Priest think?”

Finally, the Emperor asked the High Priest.

“I dare not oppose what God has no reason to oppose.”

The Emperor’s face contorted slightly as the High Priest agreed.

But with so many of the Empire’s leading figures present, there was no reason for him to refuse.

“I see. We’ll imprison them in Aphoris.”

Finally, the Emperor raised the white flag.

And with that, the chaotic presentation of the Rose of Harmony Research seemed to end, until—

A few days later.

“What? The sinners being transported to Aphoris have disappeared?”

The shocking news rocked the Empire.