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It was a thunderbolt-like sound. Lorence grabbed the Emperor’s pant leg and clung to him.

“Father! Please, not that. You can’t strip me of the Crown Prince position! Just once, please—just this once!”

“I’ve overlooked you many times simply because you’re my son. Did you really think I didn’t know? I let it go even though I knew. But I cannot tolerate letting the imperial honor fall like this! I thought you knew better than anyone what I despise most, but I’m greatly disappointed. Lorence, from today you are a prince just like Raven. The next Crown Prince will be chosen after closely observing your conduct!”

The Emperor let out a roar of rage and left, leaving the former Crown Prince behind. Of course, he took the <Book of Atonement> with him.

“What the hell is… going on!!!!!”

Lawrence tried to get up from where he had been prostrate but collapsed back down onto his butt. That brief exchange had changed everything for him. How could this happen?

‘How could the relic, sex trafficking, and embezzlement all be exposed at once!’

Now he understood why no one had shown up on the appointed day. It wasn’t that they didn’t come; they couldn’t come. They had chosen a sword-skilled paladin commander and even disguised the royal knight order to maintain strict security, but everything had been compromised.

“I can’t fall apart like this… I won’t rot away in the position of a prince!”

Only his embarrassing cries quietly filled the reception room.

A corruption that could no longer be buried was exposed to the world, and the empire’s citizens were stunned. Not wanting to incur the Emperor’s wrath, they couldn’t openly name Lorence, but the reporters wrote articles hinting at him metaphorically. With clues like noble status, imperial family, and the little sun, anyone could piece it together. When the temple’s related corruption was revealed as well, the shock quickly turned to anger.

“They act like they’re so clean, but they should at least wipe their own asses properly!”

The citizens hurled curses at the Crown Prince and the temple without hesitation. Punishments for those involved were carried out swiftly. Prince Raven, who had witnessed most of the process, was put in charge at the Emperor’s command.

“Arrest anyone who has even the slightest connection to this case!”

They searched out and arrested everyone who had followed the chief priest’s orders or taken bribes—anyone who had benefitted even a little. Urael, the paladin commander already captured, could not escape his crimes either. If the chief priest had been an administrative officer who forged internal documents, he had been the field commander—he concealed illegal activities and handled cleanup. Whether he had no great attachment to life or not, he confessed the involved parties easily after several tortures. Now they would be judged for the weight of their crimes through thorough interrogation.

[Crown Prince title revoked]

Alongside reports of Lawrence’s illegal acts, the article about the Crown Prince title being revoked also vied for front-page headlines.

‘Honestly, this still looks like favoritism to me.’

It was a strong measure compared to what I’d seen from the Emperor so far. But from my modern perspective, he had merely lost the Crown Prince position; he could still enjoy a luxurious palace life. And once things calmed down, he could regain the Crown Prince title…

Being of royal blood was such a scam.

‘I can’t leave it like that. What an opportunity to be had.’

I never expected the Crown Prince to be thrown in prison from the start. I had watched how the Emperor handled Lawrence’s corruption until now. So it was important that Raven wedge himself into the gap. By now the Emperor’s consideration for Raven would be growing. Entrusting him with cleaning up the temple was proof of that.

“Chancellor, give him all the help you can.”

“Of course. Please give the order.”

I, too, had many reasons to be angry, so I actively joined in.

Security for the relics was strengthened so they couldn’t be used without official approval. I also enacted laws requiring transparent disclosure of donation expenditures.

There were other urgent issues to resolve. The temple-wide purge had left manpower shortages. Surprisingly, the solution came from Olgard.

“Is there any place there where I could work? I want to be with you all in Rusera now. Actually, when I snuck in this time, I brought all kinds of documents as if I intended to settle. I even spoke to the chief priest beforehand.”

So that’s how it ended up such a mess and a fight….

As siblings reunited after a long time, there were still awkward moments, but after Rio’s recovery they had noticeably grown closer. I was secretly relieved. When I told Raven the news, he welcomed it with both hands raised.

“The chief priest fell from the sky—this is essentially that. It’s truly a relief!”

He was also taking care of the priest Nora. My neglected servant who worked so hard. He risked his life to help, so he deserved proper reward, right. He was about to debut as a fledgling chief priest. Strangely, his holy power had skyrocketed after the ‘infiltration.’ I guess Lermer put in some effort.

Oh, and surprisingly it turned out the Pope knew nothing. The Pope was actually closer to the Emperor’s faction. It seemed the area around him was so full of people planted by the Crown Prince that he had to shut his eyes and ears completely. The Emperor clicked his tongue so much when he heard that news. Rumor has it he scolded him to manage his own temple before worrying about overseas missions.

‘Did he pretend not to know because he was outnumbered and scared?’

It was suspicious, but there was so much to handle that we decided to let it go for now.

Besides that, the Minister of Finance and the Chancellery staff felt relieved, and now they’re staying late into the night drafting reports like this.

“There are three cases, so the work triples…”

Lukan muttered in a voice drenched in fatigue and picked up a fountain pen to scribble something on the document. He’d been leaving on time for a while, but now the rush was coming again.

“But it’s still better than there…”

“The Ministry of Justice… over there they just pull all-nighters.”

Right, it was the Ministry of Justice where Ren is.

Because the crimes had come out in a long chain, we had to revise the relevant laws. Illya was whining so much that you couldn’t say, ‘The Chancellery is suffering too…’

Prince Lawrence’s crimes were so crafty and bizarre that it was better to draft new laws than to try to amend existing ones.

‘As expected, a psychopath.’

Apparently he’s practically confined to the palace and can’t come out. This time they didn’t even set a return date, so no one knows when he’ll be back.

‘Confined in a vast palace. I’d be imprisoned for life.’

He even had a garden attached. The nobles talked as if it were some tremendous punishment, but having lived in a studio apartment, I couldn’t relate at all.

‘I’ll make sure he experiences what real hardship is.’

Thinking I should at least supply tasty snacks to the struggling Chancellery and Ministry of Justice, I reviewed two newly drafted reports. One proposed offering a month of free holy-power treatment for nobles and citizens harmed by Prince Lorence’s insane actions.

‘They all suffered under absurd orders, after all.’

Basically the temple priests would handle it, but imprisoned priests would also be put to use. They would be squeezed for holy power until they collapsed. If treatments were half-hearted, their sentences would only increase.

The other report was about providing psychological healing to priests who had been deeply wounded by the special baptisms. Since the concept of psychological therapy didn’t yet exist in the empire, I was assigned to oversee it.

‘My only experience is with Those Who Can’t Resign—will I be helpful?’

They might hate the place itself, so I planned to actively support anyone wanting to live abroad. It was essential work but by no means easy.

Knock knock.

At that moment, someone came to the Chancellery. It was Nicola.

“Chancellor, Prince Raven is asking for you.”

“At this hour?”

Calling during overtime made me wonder if we’d become too friendly. The closer you are, the more you should respect each other’s time to leave work. But we couldn’t send our Nicola back empty-handed.

“Let’s go.”

I slowly rose and headed to the prince’s palace with Nicola.

“Why did he call for me?”

With no one else around so I could speak freely, Nicola smiled as he answered.

“He said there’s something he must tell you. He’s been busy lately, but he seemed to have his thoughts sorted out.”

“He must be unsettled. The more the identity of the elder he respected is dug into, the worse it gets.”

Nicola frowned slightly and tilted his head.

“I don’t think that’s it. Actually, the prince’s respect for the Crown Prince—no, for Prince Lorence—disappeared a long time ago. It was after the plague incident, right?”

“Really?”

I thought it might be a new counseling topic and approached Prince Raven with the mindset of a night consulting service. I was used to Aidan lazing around in his palace now. Surprisingly, Aidan had never visited since I moved into the manor.

“I heard you called for me at a late hour.”

“Now that I’ve sorted my thoughts, I wanted to tell the Chancellor immediately. Please understand.”

My urge to give a lecture about a worker’s quitting time evaporated. He only spoke after I sat down and took a cookie.

“You said on the day you infiltrated the temple that once this was over you’d like to hear my thoughts.”

I brought the tea that was in front of me to my lips.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I’m going to give you an answer to that.”

“Please, say it.”

He clasped his hands together and placed them on his knees. Raven’s gaze was heavy and solemn.

“I… intend to become the Emperor.”

Finally… he fell into the trap!