A Snake's Bargain
Cardo stormed out of the council chamber, seething with fury and humiliation, and headed straight for the Church. His footsteps were far heavier and faster than usual, driven by rage.
The Saintess's Private Prayer Room.
"Saintess, just what in the world is going on!?"
The servile, fawning posture he had maintained all this time was nowhere to be found. Sera frowned at the way Cardo demanded answers in such an agitated voice, interrogating her as if she were a criminal.
"Duke Lindemarck, please calm yourself first. As I explained in the chamber, the Holy Sword became unstable due to the Demon King Subjugation, and..."
Sera repeated what she had said in the council chamber, trying to soothe him.
But who was going to believe that the Holy Sword had become unstable?
And even if that were true, the one responsible for destabilizing it was, to anyone's eyes, Rian.
"So you're telling me the Holy Sword in the Hero's own hands has become unstable? Does that even make sense!?"
CRASH!
Cardo slammed his fist down hard on the table, unleashing his fury in full.
He had expected, at long last, to strike a blow against that detestable Imperial Princess.
Instead, he was the one who had taken the bigger hit.
His pride deeply wounded, Cardo raged on, having completely lost his reason.
'Those Church bastards... I've only heard rumors, but did they truly defy the Goddess's oracle!?'
Cardo, one of the Empire's most powerful high nobles, had heard something from his informants in passing—that an Artificial Hero Creation was theoretically possible.
But the cost was said to be so astronomically vast it defied imagination, and there were grave doubts about whether such a manufactured Hero could actually fulfill the role.
As far as he knew, it had never once been carried out.
Besides, the Hero was appointed through a separate oracle from the Goddess herself, so there had never been any need to create one.
It was a method that would only ever be considered if the true Hero was somehow incapacitated by dire circumstances or proved utterly unfit for the role.
Cardo was now pressing the Saintess on exactly that point—and Sera's stomach was churning.
'Tsk... the pretentious Duke has figured out quite a bit, hasn't he...'
If it came to light that the Church—duty-bound above all to carry out the Goddess's will and perform her sacred work—had ignored her oracle, the consequences would be disastrous.
That stupid Rian's reckless outburst had now drawn Cardo's suspicion.
And yet Sera was barely rattled.
Because even if Cardo had figured it out, he would never dare say it out loud.
'We're already in the same boat, after all...'
At this point, exposing the Church's corruption would earn him nothing at all.
It would only lend strength to the Imperial Princess.
Since that would hurt him most of all, he wouldn't dare probe into the Hero's true origins.
It was nothing more than a veiled warning to manage his people carefully and stay vigilant in the future. He was simply lashing out more violently because he'd been thoroughly humiliated in the council chamber.
So Sera decided to bow her head for the moment—though it grated terribly on her pride.
"Duke, I apologize. With the Demon King's sudden resurrection, our focus was solely on raising the Hero's combat strength, and I fear that countless oversights led to today's grave mistake. I offer you my sincerest apologies."
"Ahem..! N-no, the fault is mine for speaking so harshly. I was so enraged by the Princess's arrogant display in the chamber that I lost my temper. I apologize."
"Thank you very much for your understanding."
"Ahem! Ahem!"
'Tsk... what a filthy old lecher...'
Sera bit her tongue inwardly at the sight of Cardo clearing his throat while his eyes roamed over the exposed valley of her chest as she bowed in apology.
'Why should I have to grovel like this because of that idiot?'
Sera couldn't help cursing Rian for the disaster he'd caused in the council chamber.
Why did he have to stick his neck out and blow everything up?
If he'd had nothing to say in his argument with Logan, he could have simply sat there quietly and things would have resolved themselves.
Why on earth did he suddenly have to draw the Holy Sword and start his ridiculous theatrics?
'Of course... I suppose it's because he genuinely believes himself to be the true Hero... tsk... what an imbecile...'
Sera regretted bringing him to the council at all, without properly considering Rian's character—he was now being treated separately in the infirmary.
She had intended to use his stubborn obstinacy to get under the Princess's skin.
She never dreamed he'd go this far off the rails.
In any case, regretting what had already happened was pointless.
For now...
"What's done is done. More importantly, Saintess—if I may ask, do you have a moment? The Prin..."
She had to shut this old man's mouth before he could use today's events as leverage to make some outrageous demand of her.
"Ah! Duke, I must remain at the Church to tend to the Hero's treatment, but there is someone who has been idling away her hours with nothing to do!"
"Pardon...?"
Cardo's brow creased faintly at Sera's audacity in cutting him off.
'The wretched woman made the mistake, so the least she could do is accept quietly and keep her mouth shut...'
Thinking of the humiliation he'd suffered in today's council chamber, his blood still hadn't cooled—but in a way, he thought, this might actually work out well.
- Ah, Uncle! Hurry up and bring me the Saintess! The Demon King Subjugation is over, so you can bring her now, can't you!
His idiotic nephew—the Prince confined to the Detached Annex Palace—had been endlessly begging him to arrange an introduction to Sera.
But there was no way this shrewd, calculating Saintess would simply grant an audience to a Prince who had been stripped of his position as Crown Prince and was living under house arrest.
All the more so because she knew exactly how lecherous he was with women.
He had intended to leverage today's events to make the request naturally... and yet she dared to cut him off.
As Cardo fumed over this, Sera flashed him a gentle smile and made her proposal.
"You mean Irene. Irene. She not only made an enormous contribution to the Demon King Subjugation—she's also a woman of remarkable beauty..."
Sera, of course, knew perfectly well what Cardo had been about to ask of her.
Meet the Prince? A man even more pathetic than his uncle? Absolutely not. And so she had decided to pass the responsibility onto someone else.
Onto a complete fool, no less.
"The Prince is certain to take a liking to Irene. What do you say?"
"...Ahem..."
Cardo cleared his throat and considered her proposal for a moment. Judging by Sera's attitude now, it was clear she would refuse outright if he asked to meet her directly.
'Well, the mage isn't a bad choice. Apart from her lowly birth...'
Her looks were decent enough, so even if his dimwitted nephew couldn't be fully convinced, he would surely be satisfied to some degree.
Having made his judgment, Cardo nodded and accepted her proposal.
"Very well. Though, will the mage consent...?"
"Oh, don't worry about that. I'll speak with her myself."
"Hahaha... My gratitude. The Prince has been desperate to meet a member of the Hero's Party—bearers of the great achievement of the Demon King Subjugation—and now, in some small way, his wish can be granted!"
"Fufufu... I'm so very glad to hear it..."
On the surface, Sera and Cardo exchanged courtesies in perfect harmony, the very picture of warmth.
But in their hearts—
'Tsk... it's not the Hero's Party he wants to see. Just a pretty woman, plain and simple.'
'Next time, you wretched woman, you'll be the one paying respects to my nephew. Detestable creature.'
The two of them cursed and despised each other in equal measure.
'Why do I have to go to the Imperial Palace again?'
Irene's blood was boiling.
Her mood was already filthy from everything that had happened in the council chamber today, and now they wanted her to go back to the Imperial Palace?
Technically the Detached Annex Palace, but it grated on her all the same.
First, there was Rian—wounded when the Holy Sword had suddenly exploded—and she couldn't be at his side.
Then there was Logan, the man who had betrayed her and now fawned at Anastasia's side.
And finally, there was shameless Sera, insisting that since the Princess's predicament required Cardo's cooperation, Irene should accompany him to the Annex, however inconvenient it might be.
'Ah... I want to burn it all to ashes...'
Irene found herself desperately longing to unleash, right now, the highest-tier magic she had been unable to cast during the Demon King Subjugation—its preparation too complex and time-consuming for the battlefield.
If she simply burned the Imperial Palace to the ground, that detestable Princess's life would end on the spot.
As for Logan—even if he was hurt rather badly, he would somehow manage to survive.
And if she nursed him back to health, wouldn't he finally realize his mistake and come back to her?
She was lost in that delusion as she settled into the carriage when—
"Mage, we've arrived."
Cardo stepped down from the carriage first and opened the door, extending his hand with elaborate courtesy.
"Ah, yes..."
Though Cardo held out his hand for her to take, Irene politely declined it and stepped down on her own.
Cardo's eyebrows twitched so visibly that his irritation was plain for all to see, but Irene paid it no mind whatsoever.
She had no desire to touch the hand of a lecherous, greedy old man—not even for a moment.
Carrying that disgust and irritation with her, she followed Cardo's guidance into the Detached Annex Palace.
'Why do I have to go meet the Prince? And a fool who lost his throne because that Princess outmaneuvered him, no less...'
Irene grumbled silently to herself the entire way there.
But then, when they arrived at the Prince's inner chamber and the doors swung open—
"Wow..."
She found herself gaping in awe.
At the center of the chamber, a breathtakingly beautiful man was lounging against an opulent, luxurious sofa in a seductively languid pose.
