Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: The Viper's Revival
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"It was a pleasure, as always."
"Same here."
The Saintess and Duke exchanged greetings across the go board.
However, there was one difference from usual.
"Your Excellency, we still have some time. How about a walk today, as well?"
Ever since the day Duke had dealt with the Captain of the Holy Knights, the Saintess had been going out more often.
Duke saw this as a positive sign.
It meant the bird in the cage was finally starting to savor the freedom outside.
"I'll be your escort. You set the schedule, and I'll just follow along."
"Oh dear, I misspoke. Hehe, you're right."
The Saintess covered her mouth with a faint smile.
"Then, the plaza today..."
"No plaza. Absolutely not."
"...How about the library, then?"
"Let's head there today."
Before Duke could even stand, the Saintess jumped up from her seat.
Her flushed face resembled that of an innocent child preparing for a picnic.
"Hm~ Hm-hmm~"
She hummed a little tune as she headed to her room to prepare for the outing.
Duke, waiting by her door, felt everything was going smoothly.
'For now, the Saintess is targeting me, not Rex. So, no sisterly feud like in the original story.'
For some reason, the Holy Kingdom had the Saintess seducing Duke instead of Rex.
Thinking about it, the Holy Kingdom's goal was to bid early on the future empire, before it was even established.
In that context, seducing the reclusive King of Providence, whose face no one knew, was less practical than targeting the active second-in-command.
'So, no worries about the Tower of the Moon being built, right?'
In the original story, the Tower of the Moon was built because of the Holy Knights' assassination attempts.
In the original, Rex and Rosalyn met at the library and grew to admire each other.
Grace supported the two while carrying out her mission.
The problem came next.
- "Uh... Sister? Why are you seducing Rick?"
There was something the two didn't know.
The Rick that Rosalyn admired and the Rex that Grace was supposed to seduce were the same person.
The moment Rosalyn discovered this, she entered self-destructive mode and locked herself in her room.
Luckily, the story didn't drag on.
Grace and Rex talked things out, sharing their circumstances, and dragged Rosalyn out of her room.
- "What's all the commotion outside... Huh?"
- "Pardon the intrusion, Lady Rosalyn!"
They staged a fake festival outside her room. Curious, Rosalyn peeked out, and Grace and Rex pulled her out.
(By the way, Ari crushed the lock when she tried to close the door again.)
- "Rosa. Let me explain everything, Sister."
- "Lady Rosalyn, it's not like that..."
Somehow, they cleared up the misunderstanding, and the incident ended as a mere commotion.
Rosalyn became Rex's lover, and Grace pretended to carry out her mission while giving her sister and Rex time alone.
The plan seemed to proceed smoothly for a month.
But like all secrets, this one reached the Holy King's ears through the escort captain.
- "That witch becomes the Empress? That must never happen!"
From the Holy Kingdom's perspective, it was the worst-case scenario.
If the witch they'd persecuted became the Emperor's consort?
Then it wouldn't be about bidding anymore—it would be about fearing extermination.
Upon receiving the report, the Holy Kingdom ordered extreme measures.
Assassinate the witch and have the Saintess take her place.
Since they were twins with similar looks, and Rex would surely accept the Saintess as a consort right away—this was the psychopathic logic.
'Of course, that was never going to work.'
The Holy Knight failed the assassination, Rosalyn awakened as a witch,
and the Holy Knight in front of the Tower of the Moon when it was built melted away, covered in curses.
Thus, the Tower of the Moon was built in the capital.
Grace built the Tower of the Sun atop it, and Rex led the army to rescue Rosalyn.
That incident made Providence Kingdom officially hostile to the Holy Kingdom.
'Rex is cowardly, but not a pushover.'
Rex was basically a pacifist opportunist.
Ambitious in greed but not in ambition, content with realistic abundance.
But he wasn't such a pushover as to cling to pacifism after his capital was attacked.
'He loses it when someone touches his people.'
He was the guy who turned the count's territory upside down after learning his first commanded experimental legion—annihilated—had been captured by the count.
And by then, Rosalyn was already his person.
'But the Holy Kingdom wasn't an easy opponent objectively.'
The Holy Kingdom was powerful enough to spread its religion across the entire continent.
Providence Kingdom wasn't weak, but it was a tough matchup.
In that situation, Grace took extreme measures.
- "I'm glad I found someone to entrust Rosalyn to."
In the Holy Kingdom's capital, she built the Tower of the Sun.
She even severed her own life inside the tower to make it unstoppable.
That one suicide attack was so devastating that afterward, Providence gained the upper hand against the Holy Kingdom.
Providence then absorbed the Holy Kingdom and created its own independent state religion.
Rosalyn officially became the second Saintess of that religion, and Grace the martyred first.
That was the Holy Kingdom episode.
'So if the Saintess just seduces me, no sisterly fight, right?'
Plus, he'd already eliminated the captain tasked with the assassination as soon as a pretext arose, so the original plot wouldn't unfold.
Of course, this meant no pretext for invading the Holy Kingdom, but Duke wasn't worried.
He trusted Rex's Authority of Delusion to handle it somehow.
'A happy ending is always best.'
As Duke organized his original knowledge,
the Saintess emerged from her room, draped in a light purple veil and cloak.
"Shall we go, Your Excellency?"
She sidled up close to Duke.
Duke turned his head slightly left at her action.
'Holy Knights are watching, as expected.'
The captain was dealt with, but ordinary Holy Knights remained.
Duke muttered in a voice only the Saintess could hear.
"You've been through a lot."
"No, I'm sorry if I'm causing you any burden."
"Protecting a princess is the honor every knight dreams of."
"..."
The Saintess bowed her head at Duke's response.
Duke tilted his head curiously as he escorted her to the library.
And there...
"Your Majesty?"
"Duke?"
"Saintess?"
"Sis~ter~"
Rex's identity was revealed in a way even Duke hadn't anticipated.
*
The four moved from the library to the audience chamber in the palace.
Rex sat on the throne as Rosalyn gaped, pointing at it with a trembling hand.
"S-So, Rick is the king?"
"S-Sorry. I didn't mean to deceive you."
Rex's identity had been exposed by chance.
"Ahaha. Disappointed that your king is such a guy?"
He scratched his cheek, sweating profusely.
The lonely king on the throne feared losing a friend he'd made after so long.
Fortunately, Rosalyn didn't distance herself, making Rex's worries unfounded.
"Not at all. This kingdom is so wonderful because Rick is the king. It's like a fairy tale."
"Fairy tale?"
"Cinderella. Since we're on the topic, can you show me around the other places too?"
Rosalyn grabbed Rex's hands tightly.
Rex, relieved not to lose his book friend, smiled brightly.
"Sure!"
Duke and Grace watched the two from a slight distance.
To help Duke understand, Grace whispered.
"The fairy tale Rosalyn's been obsessed with lately is Cinderella."
"I see."
"Do you know it?"
"I learned it while patrolling and overhearing kids playing house."
"I see."
Grace and Duke whispered, their eyes fixed on Rosalyn.
At a glance, it was a touching scene of a gloomy woman in black nun robes befriending a noble young master over books.
But Duke and Grace, looking into Rosalyn's eyes, thought differently.
- "Lady Rosalyn. Your... saliva..."
- "Slurp. S-Sorry. Was it unsightly?"
- "No."
'She's all over him like she wants to devour him.'
'Our little sister is more of a beast than she looks.'
Violence hidden beneath gloominess.
There was no other way to describe Rosalyn's state.
As Rosalyn developed a new relationship with Rex,
Grace glanced at Duke and began appealing her competence, like she was trying to score points.
"Your Excellency, thank you. I've been in your debt constantly since arriving. It feels too apologetic like this, so could you give me a chance to repay the favor?"
Duke turned toward the Saintess.
She took it as approval and continued.
"Originally, the Holy King of the Holy Kingdom receives oracles from the dragon vein with the aid of high priests."
"I see."
It wasn't surprising.
Duke knew from original knowledge, and the kingdom's upper echelons already knew this Holy Kingdom secret.
"Normally, only the Holy King knows the oracle, but I can intercept and eavesdrop on it."
"Is that so?"
"You're not surprised."
"If the Holy King can do it, I assumed you could too."
"Thank you. There's an oracle coming up soon. If you gather cryptographers who can decode it, I'll repay the favor."
She smiled faintly at Duke.
Duke couldn't tear his eyes from her face.
Grace recalled a novel scene at Duke's expression and calmed her burning cheeks.
'What do I do? What do I do! I hope my face isn't red?'
And in Duke's mind meanwhile...
'What? They haven't received the oracle yet? Then why are you here now???'
...A blue screen error flashed.