Chapter 27

Someone falls, someone rises. It was a sensual temptation, but I had no intention whatsoever of giving in to Iris.

"Please leave. I have no plans to join hands with you. Don't ruin your life any more than this."

At my words, Iris began to laugh.

"My life is ruined? You don't get it, Great Sage. With what happened today, my life is already half-destroyed."

"It doesn't have to get any worse from here. Ms. Iris, change your mind now. If you quietly leave through that door and do the right thing, things can still get a little better."

Iris pressed her body even closer to mine in response, until our chests were touching. She brought her lips to my ear and whispered seductively.

"Come on, let's join hands. Great Sage. It's good for you, good for me. No downside for either of us, right?"

I didn't move a muscle, just shook ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my head.

"I won't."

"Why?"

"I don't want to be used by you. Listen to me. If you leave quietly now, it won't reach the worst. But if you cross the line any further, you'll definitely be destroyed."

At my words, Iris pulled away from my body. Gone was the sensual expression from moments ago; now she stared at me with a cold, rigid face.

"You... you read my past and future too, didn't you?"

I nodded. Seeing that, she let out a snicker.

"Then you must know this too? That I'm the daughter of the Black Cardinal, born from him raping an innocent nun? That's why he had no choice but to pose as my guardian?"

I said nothing, just looked at Iris. A smile crept across her face—a desperate, fear-filled one.

"Since you don't even flinch, you already knew. How could I just let someone who knows my biggest secret walk away? Cooperation. Or mutual destruction. That's all there is. What'll it be, Great Sage? Live together? Or die together?"

I gazed at her with eyes full of pity.

"It's not me—you're the one bringing misfortune on yourself, Ms. Iris."

At my words and expression, something inside Iris seemed to snap. She started giggling.

"I hate that look in your eyes. I really... hate that look the most."

Suddenly, she began tearing at her own clothes, messing up her hair, and ripping holes in her stockings. I just watched her quietly.

After her tantrum, Iris looked at me in her disheveled state.

"If you refuse my offer, I'll run out like this and tell all those reporters outside that you raped me. A few hotel staff will back me up—they're already in on it. What a great era, huh? One word on TV, and men get buried just for having a dick between their legs."

Iris laughed.

"So choose. Join hands? Or fall together like this? Hmm?"

A person's fate is sometimes fixed, sometimes changeable. I'd given Iris a chance to alter her own future. But in the end, she chose ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the worst one I'd foreseen.

"Answer me! Great Sage! What are you—"

She couldn't finish her sentence. As the shadow spirit dispersed, people who had been silently waiting in the corner of the living room from the start revealed themselves. They held cameras and mics.

The cameras, broadcasting live, captured even the shock twisting Iris's face perfectly.

The news crew and cameramen said nothing. The cameras silently lit up me and Iris.

I carefully stood from my seat. Iris, on the other hand, collapsed as her legs gave out.

"I can read pasts and futures. Did you think I wouldn't take precautions like this? Remember—I gave you a chance. This situation is your choice, not mine."

Iris couldn't respond. In her torn, ruined clothes, she stared blankly at the camera.

I walked past her toward the door. Before leaving her for good:

"As promised, I didn't reveal your past."

I tossed those final words at Iris and left the room. The hotel living room was filled only with the sound of the indifferent camera whirring and Iris, left alone.

To cut to the chase: Iris and her gang fell into utter ruin. Pitiful to watch.

Iris was a woman with exceptional prophetic ability. The problem? She craved status and honor beyond her talents.

So she exploited Cassias—a criminal awakener and thief who'd committed countless frauds and robbed the Holy Kingdom's treasures and vaults.

Cassias, thrown into Taltas Prison, spilled everything before a day passed.

Cassias needed a hideout from his wanted status; Iris used his powers to eliminate rivals and forge elite ties. Boosted by her real prophetic skill and his dirt-fed exaggerations, Iris claimed the grand title of Great Prophetess.

Everything Cassias confessed in Taltas Prison hit the media in a flash, toppling Great Prophetess Iris.

And with her fell her greatest backer: Black Cardinal Rudolph Finigan.

The Holy Kingdom erupted. The moment they learned the Inquisition Chief had committed such an atrocity, the Council of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Cardinals convened. Cardinals and Pontiff immediately arrested the Black Cardinal and shipped him to Taltas Prison, where everything Iris had blurted out unknowingly on camera proved true.

"Prepare a press conference. I'll apologize personally. Audit the Inquisition from top to bottom and report back. Slack on this, and the Imperial Family won't let us off."

The Inquisition got burned unexpectedly too. Dozens of inquisitors and holy knights were hauled before the Council, revealing rampant corruption under the Black Cardinal.

Pontiff and cardinals transparently disclosed it all and issued a national apology.

"Before the Goddess, humanity, and our own consciences, we admit our grave sins."

The holy knights, bishops, priests who'd committed and covered crimes, and cardinals who'd outsourced dirty work to the Black Cardinal were arrested en masse and sent to Taltas Prison.

"Your Holiness, declare execution instead. Why the extreme of Taltas Prison...?"

"This shows our sincerity to imperial citizens and faithful."

"Even for grave sins, they've served the Holy Kingdom long. Show mercy—end it with execution."

"We must set precedent: no mercy for wrongdoing, whoever you are. No compromise here."

In an unprecedented spectacle, three cardinals including the Black one, dozens of bishops and priests, and hundreds of holy knights were dragged to Taltas Prison. Their desperate pleas—"Kill us instead!"—amid tears were live-broadcast empire-wide, quelling outrage over the Holy Kingdom's hidden corruption.

"The Holy Kingdom will compensate and care for all victims of our errors. Our minimal atonement for shaming the Goddess and humanity."

The Pontiff worked tirelessly via press conferences and broadcasts to soothe public sentiment. Having harshly punished most involved without mercy, he had no kind words for Iris, the root cause.

"What of Iris?"

"Strip her Great Prophetess title. Seize all assets. Send to Taltas Prison's deepest level."

"...The deepest level?"

"Deepest. Harboring wanted Cassias wasn't enough—she actively exploited him for gain, a grave crime. But unforgivable: wielding the Black Cardinal's filthy secret to hijack his power. Privatizing authority—unacceptable."

The Pontiff gazed at Iris's photo with mingled pity and fury.

"If only she'd confessed everything right after the debate with the Great Sage and turned herself in. But she tried blackmailing and manipulating to the bitter end. Heinous crime, no remorse or redemption. Lock her in the depths."

Thus Iris met her absolute worst end. Once the Holy Kingdom's pride, she vanished from the earth without a trace, never seen again.

But her actions' ripples shook the empire long after.

"Sue every media outlet and broadcaster that attacked us per Iris's orders. Money's no object. Show them what happens when they mess with us."

Furious Count Yurtel struck at Iris-aligned press. With the Black Cardinal gone and no fears left, Great Sage backers' full support forced shutdowns, mass executive purges, retractions, apologies—sweeping overhauls.

The Inquisition got a total staff purge, refilled with new blood. To prevent another Black Cardinal fiasco, the Holy Kingdom convened the Council repeatedly, overhauling laws and rules.

As chaos settled, the ultimate winner of it all became crystal clear.

"Yurtel's Great Sage is that good, huh?"

"Didn't watch the broadcast? Exposed a wanted man the Holy Kingdom and Empire couldn't touch."

"Spotting the double fate and catching on instantly? Insane. Cassias's disguise fooled kingdom mages and priests for years."

"Gotta hit Yurtel and visit that fortune shop. For sure!"

From common folk...

...to elites who'd stayed silent till now.

Literally the entire empire now wanted to meet Yurtel's Great Sage.