Chapter - 52 || The Snow Had Melted Away
[ E/N - Sorry for the late update. I got busy and procrastinated a teensy bit. ]
"What's with the seven petals?"
An older soldier who was present asked.
Julius showed the overlapping seventh piece through the sun.
"See, it's darker here, isn't it? The Maiden Lily has six petals, but this fake one has seven."
The solder tilted his head.
"How do you know all this?"
Julius said nimbly,
"I found out from the guy who made this."
Alexander looked surprised at this.
Julius hid his bitterness and said,
"The man said that he was kidnapped by the Prime Minister and forced to make a fake one in the basement of this castle.
I don't think Lady Natalia is the only one who planned this."
Natalia, who had been restrained, let out a shrill scream,
"Yes! That's what His Majesty said! Natalia has nothing to do with this! So let me go!"
But the soldiers only looked puzzled and refused to move.
Alexander shouted further,
"Julius, you've been working with Natalia, haven't you?"
"No, I wasn't."
Julius's words were drowned out mid-sentence.
"Get Julius! Take Natalia and give him to them."
The soldiers hesitated, but held Julius back.
Julius still said,
"Your Majesty! Please give up now. There's no way I can keep doing this."
Natalia was restrained even tighter.
"No, let me go!"
"Your Majesty, please make the decision to save your people!"
Just when Julius was urging Alexander to reconsider,
"Hey, the enemy is here! Please run!"
Rudolf had arrived there.
"You keep them with you! The rest of you protect His Majesty!"
The soldiers readied their swords.
The brawl began immediately.
However, they were two groups with different enthusiasms to begin with.
Many of them were more than a little shaken by the exchange that had just taken place.
The soldiers of the Zomer Empire were overwhelmingly strong and held Julius and his men at bay.
Rudolf, who was ready to kill, pointed his sword straight at Alexander.
"I want my imperial treasure back."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Rudolf drew his sword closer.
"If you don't answer, I'll make you answer."
"Wait, wait, wait. We'll talk about this."
Zak!
Rudolf grazed his sword across Alexander's head. A few strands of his hair fell in a flutter.
"There will be no next time. Give me back my treasure."
"Okay, okay, but it's not here."
"Where is it?"
"Up in the tower."
Julius listened to the exchange on the floor where he was held down by the imperial soldiers.
'Oh, I knew it,' he thought.
I didn't want to admit it, but I was confronted with a fact that I knew.
—This country was finished.
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In the capital, the crowded reinforcements were in an uproar.
The rumour that Natalia was a fake saint was slowly spreading.
"What's going on?"
"They're saying that Lady Natalia was a fake saint."
"The Crown Princess of the Empire was the Saint."
"Oh, my God. And the Empire's so angry that they're doing this?"
While the royal capital was in an uproar, Youssef and Adrien were being transported to the Duke of Lustro in a carriage, and never ridden in this comfort before.
"You're valuable witnesses. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to stay here for a while."
Leon—Richard said.
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In the mountain temple of Gure, Wadnui was praying for Elvira today.
There,
"Wadnui-sama! Oh, my God."
"What is it?"
The panicked mountain people rushed into the room.
"The mountain! The mountain!"
Wadnui rushed outside to see the 'Sacred Heart.'
"This..."
"Something's wrong! Could something have happened to the Saint?"
The crowning snow of the Holy Grail had all melted.