105 — Qualifications Of The High Priest (2)

Ana Rosa took a step while looking at Eusebio’s face.

She remembered her teacher. She thought of the life her teacher should have honored with a natural, dignified span—only to have it stolen. Who had fed poison to her teacher? In the end, it was surely the Crown Prince. Who had placed the poison into the Crown Prince’s hand? It must have passed from hand to hand. Then who had ordered that poison be placed into the Crown Prince’s hand?

The one who most wanted her teacher dead was the Crown Prince. But there was clearly someone who had drawn the plan that led to the Crown Prince taking the throne.

It might have been Eusebio who gave the order to put poison in the Crown Prince’s hand. But Eusebio was not capable of planning. Ana Rosa had suspected Marquis Kodrit. He had the ability, and he was the sort of man who would do it without blinking.

But he had not touched her investiture as empress. More precisely, he had been unable to—or had not wished to. Perhaps because it turned his stomach. Unexpectedly, Marquis Kodrit had a weak stomach, and he was a man who chose his means. Would a man like that have supported smuggling Hwar-yeon into a foreign country in secret? And what about a son assassinating his father with poison in his hand?

The marquis was not someone who only did what was right. But he was also not someone who ignored right and wrong in his work. So then…

Ana Rosa met Eusebio’s eyes and smiled brightly, while thinking at the same time.

The person who had just told her, “The king is looking for you,” had been the marchioness. Naturally, it would have been at the marquis’s instruction. Which meant the marquis wanted his wife to approach Ana Rosa.

“Kodrit is straddling two boats.”

Of course, he was still putting more weight on one side.

Even if she excluded Kodrit, this party was overflowing with nobles. And someone among them had engineered this. If not Kodrit, then who?

No clue.

For now, she was moving forward across a foggy sea. She could not see the distant direction, but she had at least a compass. If she moved slowly, she would reach her destination.

“My poor little sister.”

It was the first thing Eusebio said the moment he saw Ana Rosa. His voice was ominous, like he was laying a mine. Ana Rosa kept her expression harmless, while guarding herself inside.

“The thanksgiving rite ended up like this—what am I to do? The Goddess does not accept you.”

Eusebio was surely the one who caused the accident at the thanksgiving rite. And now he was pushing it as the will of the Goddess?

Ana Rosa looked quietly at her brother. His features were similar, and even their hair—though not quite the same shade—was the same blond. Looking at a face that was unmistakably born of the same womb made her want to laugh. Of course, Ana Rosa did not laugh outwardly.

“I…”

Her hand trembled. A tear slid down from her pale green eyes.

“That I caused trouble for you, Brother…”

She tasted blood in her mouth. She had bitten her tongue to force herself to cry, and it had bled. But it worked. The pain made her jaw tremble on its own. Ana Rosa sorted her words rapidly in her head.

What would be the most effective line?

The most, effective, line.

Ah.

“I should have died in Mun instead…!”

In that instant, sparks flew in Eusebio’s eyes. This damned girl—was she really asking for it?!

Then—crash—something shattered on the floor. When he turned, the Grand Empress Dowager, Norma, was trembling, having thrown her glass. Eusebio cursed inwardly.

“Look at you.”

Norma ground her teeth. Eusebio stared at his mother as if he could not believe she was grinding her teeth at him. No matter what, he had never imagined his mother would scold him in front of all the nobles.

Even when he had not yet been king, she had said he was destined to be king and would not even let him lower his head carelessly. And now, with him as king, she was doing this.

Even as she watched Eusebio’s eyes widen, Norma could not stop. He knew why Ana Rosa had to return to Aussis, and yet he had dared to ruin the thanksgiving rite.

“The Goddess will not forgive one who pretends to be you.”

“……”

“Do you even realize you share the same blood as Ana?”

Norma was not telling them to be affectionate because they were siblings.

Ana Rosa’s legitimacy matched Eusebio’s legitimacy exactly. They had the same parents.

Norma looked straight at her son.

“Eusebio, every time you take a step, everyone will watch your footprints.”

Eusebio wanted to attack Ana Rosa. He wanted to erase her in Casus. He had done this out of that simple desire. But—

Ana Rosa had already recanted at the temple, so she was not a heretic. If he insisted that recantation meant nothing and “once a heretic, always a heretic,” then historically countless people would be denied—and above all, Eusebio would never be able to marry into the ruling bloodline. How could he unite with a heretic? If once a heretic, always a heretic?

“And they will decide their own course while watching those footprints.”

The accident at the thanksgiving rite was Eusebio’s work, but he had not coordinated it with Kodrit. Kodrit would never have done something that could stain Eusebio’s legitimacy. At the plaza, Kodrit had looked almost stunned. He had seen the limits of Eusebio’s competence.

Norma stepped slowly toward Eusebio and took his glass from him. Then she raised it into the air and looked around the gathered nobles.

“For our king.”

People sensed the air change. The Grand Empress Dowager was showing, publicly, that she could shift her line on the king she had supported with all her strength. People hesitated, unable to raise their glasses.

“Grand Empress Dowager, live long.”

Marquis Kodrit raised his glass.

What was this turning into? As people hesitated, a tear dropped from Ana Rosa’s eye. She could not hold it anymore—she turned and ran out.

Vicente was seen hurrying after her, leaving the party hall. Norma smiled as she watched.

A foolish son could be endured. An insolent son could be endured.

But a son who was both foolish and insolent could not be endured. One who was foolish yet believed himself clever, who acted on his own whim and scorned those who had backed him—did he not deserve to fall into hell?

In the end, the nobles began raising their glasses one after another. For Her Highness the Grand Empress Dowager’s long life. Everyone wished for Norma’s long life—pretending not to notice even as the king’s face went white with rage.

Vicente tried to hurry out the back door to catch Ana Rosa as she ran. But Ana Rosa had barely run a few steps before she stopped, clicked her tongue, and asked a royal attendant to call her carriage. It happened in an instant.

“Are you leaving?”

When he called from behind, Ana Rosa turned back. There was a hint of fatigue on her face—no tears, no sorrow, no storm.

“An actor who has fulfilled her role is supposed to leave the stage.”

“Role… you mean?”

“My role today was decided in advance, wasn’t it? A presumptuous widow who dared to be active outside—and got struck down by the Goddess’s hammer.”

Her tone was sharp. Vicente could not answer, and Ana Rosa unfolded her fan. Perhaps it was a little warm; she fanned herself and shook her head.

“It’s nothing.”

“If tomorrow’s papers print something unfavorable…”

Vicente was about to say she should contact him and he would try to handle it somehow, but Ana Rosa smiled.

“That’s me.”

“Yes?”

“More importantly—where is the place my friend is? Is it Casus?”

Her carriage could be seen approaching from afar. It would arrive soon.

A night breeze blew. The scent of flowers drifted in on the wind. The palace gardens must have held tens of thousands of flowers. Suddenly, Vicente remembered a single line from V’s diary.

【Because you’re my princess, I’ll offer you all the flowers in the world.】

He felt as if he understood what V had felt when he said that to this princess. If Vicente could, he wanted to lay all the flowers in the world beneath Ana Rosa’s feet.

“It isn’t Casus.”

Vicente answered more curtly than he meant, to hide what he was feeling. His own voice sounded too dry in his ears, and he disliked it, but Ana Rosa continued as if it did not matter.

“Good. I’ll probably be driven out of Casus around next month, so if possible, I’d like to stop by while moving. Is that possible?”

Vicente stared at her, startled that she used the phrase “driven out” without hesitation. It can’t be, he wanted to say—but the words would not come. The last time he had seen the king’s face before leaving the hall, it had been frighteningly rigid.

“It’s possible, but… wouldn’t it be better to strengthen security at your residence first?”

The carriage stopped in front of them. Ana Rosa did not look back at it. She looked at Vicente, then suddenly folded her fan, her face turning as if a thought had struck.

“Do you pity me?”

Only then did Vicente realize what this feeling was.

Absurdly, he was feeling compassion for a woman with the largest dowry on the continent.

“Is that insolent of me?”

At Vicente’s words, Ana Rosa looked up at him with fascinated eyes.