CH 50

Chapter - 50 || Please Pray For Me

"Your Majesty, are you all right?"

When I looked at it, I saw that the palm of my right hand had been cut clean off with some kind of blade.

A trickle of blood dripped down.

I hurried to check, but there was no blade anywhere on the door, which was made of sturdy wood and an iron handle.

"Touch it."

"...Yes."

Alexander ordered the soldier who had probably touched the door a lot. It was the same thing. They all touched the door.

"Ow!"

"What the hell is this?"

He got the same result.

"No, it won't open... anymore."

Everyone present tried, including Roberto, but to no avail.

The door itself, even though it was unlocked, did not budge.

A puddle of blood formed on the floor.

"What shall we do, Your Majesty?"

Alexander shouted when he was asked a question he didn't know the answer to.

"Roberto!"

"Yes."

It was Roberto, not Jacek, who was standing by Alexander's side these days.

Alexander ordered, with a look of irritation and lethargy combined.

"All of you here, listen to me, in the basement... Take your time."

"Underground? Yes, sir. Come on, everybody."

Roberto moved on, taking the people with him who looked uneasy.

Of course, the story was a lie, it meant that those who knew the secret were to be locked up underground for the time being and dealt with if necessary.

Roberto was not afraid to do the dirty work that Jacek was hesitant to do. That's what made him so useful.

"But what can I do?"

Now that he was alone, Alexander was annoyed at the thought of Elvira right there.

"I've paid the High Priestess so much for this."

The cause of Elvira's fall was the candle that the high priest had replaced.

The wick was soaked in an extract of a certain plant.

The system was designed to heat it up so that anything very close to it would inhale its ingredients.

The location of the wick was also thought out, so that when Natalia was praying, there was nothing, and when Elvira started praying, it would spread.

The ancient prayer that Natalia had practiced so hard was just to buy time.

And just to be sure, the High Priestess pretended to wipe the sweat off the floor and pressed more of the extract with a cloth.

I was familiar with Elvira's prayer posture.

Her kneeling part was all that was needed.

That was when Elvira would sleep, and she would wake up in time.

"This should have worked by now."

Alexander took out a small bottle he had in his pocket and looked at it.

There was a thick liquid in it. It was given to him by the High Priestess.

—'When Lady Elvira wakes up, please give her this medicine.'

The High Priestess said so.

After taking the medicine, she was supposed to be at his mercy for a while.

—'This medicine is not effective by itself. It is necessary to put her to sleep with the ingredients imbued in the candle.'

That was why he had gone through all that trouble.

They said the drug worked for a certain amount of time, but that was enough.

With this potion, Alexander intended to have Elvira herself declare that she would not return to the Empire.

In front of the people.

Even if the Empire protested later, many of them would be witnesses.

He was going to take their word for it and insist that they would not return her.

Roberto had arranged for more mercenaries.

And yet, Alexander thought in front of the door that he could not touch.

What would happen if I can't get to Elvira?

—What if this plan fails?

Alexander had a cold sweat run down his back.

"She'll wake up in no time."

And then he left.

Soon, an unknown soldier was chosen to be the new guardian of the tower.

——

In the Zomer Empire, word had not yet reached them that Elvira had fallen.

All of Elvira's attendants were anxiously awaiting the return of their mistress, but that was all.

And yet.

One day, Rosemarie suddenly felt like she needed to go to the temple right now.

"Rosemarie, what's the matter?"

Rosemarie, who had been embroidering with her, suddenly stood up, which startled the Countess of Klassen.

"Countess Klassen, let's go to the temple."

"The temple? What do you want to do there?"

Rosemarie told her frustratedly,

"Of course we need to pray!"

"Now? Why?"

"I don't know why, but I really feel like I need to pray for Lady Elvira now! Let's go! Countess!"

She didn't know why at all, but when her mistress' name was mentioned, Countess Klassen couldn't stop her.

Rosemarie went to the temple with the least possible accompaniment.

When Eric heard the story, he listened to Rosemary's wishes, neither angry at the sudden visit nor laughing at the outlandish story.

"Pray until you are satisfied. No one has the right to stop that urge."

"Thank you very much!"

As he saw Rosemarie off, Eric thought of the pot of Maiden's Lilies and muttered to himself,

"...That prayer may be just what our country's Saint needs."

The Maiden Lilies in the greenhouse of the temple withered all together yesterday.

Of course, no one but Eric knew about it yet.

——

Rudolf learned from a quick note from Eric that the Empire's Maiden Lilies had withered.

—Saint, I hope you are well.

I didn't know what to say to this letter, which was still unaware of our situation.

Rudolf clutched the letter unconsciously on his desk.

"Wait for me..."

"I agree."

Christopher nodded darkly at Rudolf's murmur.

It wasn't just Christopher. All of the people from the Zomer Empire in this country had lost their facial expressions and had become like dead people with only their bodies moving.

And then another piece of news came through again.

Christopher checked it and said,

"The Duchy of Kien has informed us that they are ready as well."

Rudolf nodded.

"It's time."

Rudolf left the room, sword in hand.