182

-Before Arriving at the Venue-

“If he doesn’t offer a sincere apology, provoke him at the ceremony. He’ll take the bait very easily. In fact, he may even provoke you first, Elise.”

“What? Why would he do that? There’s no need to go that far….”

“Because he’s an idiot.”

Before heading to the venue, I stopped by the temple to meet Elise. I asked for her cooperation with a few things. Apparently, Lawrence had sent the Saintess a treasure along with a letter of apology. No doubt one of his trusted retainers had written the apology on his behalf.

‘If he were capable of making an apology like this, none of this would have happened in the first place.’

When I read it, the contents were so polite that I couldn’t possibly believe Lawrence had written it. Naturally, Elise hadn’t even replied to the letter. After confirming once again that she had no intention of reconciling with Lawrence, I made my proposal.

“By the Emperor’s order, Lawrence has to reconcile with ‘Saintess Elise.’ By now, he’s probably not only on edge but thoroughly irritated. He’s an arrogant man who doesn’t care about other people’s feelings. He’ll definitely want to somehow show the Emperor and the people of the Empire at the ceremony that he has reconciled with you. He’ll make another attempt at reconciliation.”

“An apology with not even the slightest bit of sincerity.”

Not a single crease appeared between Elise’s brows, but the depth of her displeasure came across clearly through her icy gaze alone. I enclosed her hand in mine.

“That’s right. You don’t need to accept it, Elise. All you have to do is say one thing containing an honest refusal or provocation. And press this to activate it.”

I took a small artifact from inside my clothes and handed it to her.

“This is….”

“It’s a voice-amplifying artifact commonly used at ceremonies. Since it’s usually placed on the podium, there’s normally no chance for a private conversation between two people to be heard outside, but now… I think it’s time everyone learned what he’s really like. If this feels like too much for you, Elise, you don’t have to do it. We can think of another way.”

Of course, I had come to Elise first because this method would be the most effective. She shook her head with a resolute expression. Was she refusing after all? I understood that it could easily feel like too much of a burden.

“It’s something I should be doing, yet you’re stepping forward on my behalf, Chancellor. If anything, I’m grateful that you’ve given me this opportunity.”

“Are you really sure?”

“I hope this can ease, even a little, the hearts of the many sisters who have suffered the same thing.”

She clenched the artifact I had given her in her hand and nodded as if making a firm resolution.

And now.

Elise activated the artifact at exactly the right moment. Unaware of this, Lawrence was freely spouting words without any filter.

“You should be grateful that a member of the Imperial family like me was the one who took your first time, yet just because you luckily became a Saintess, you dare try to put yourself on equal footing with me?”

The people who had been murmuring over what was happening froze at his subsequent words.

“I wouldn’t be doing this if Father hadn’t ordered me to reconcile with you! Aren’t I the more pitiful one, having to apologize even to a lowborn bitch like you just to ascend the Imperial throne? Why are you acting so high and mighty over having slept with me for just one night?”

I turned my head slightly and saw the Emperor’s face turn deathly pale. The same was true of Lawrence’s faction. Someone hurriedly moved about, ordering them to deal with the situation, but who could find the amplification artifact in the Saintess’s possession?

“I dedicated everything to the Divine God Lemer. You were the one who forced yourself on me despite my refusal. After that, my life was no different from hell.”

“Don’t you think you became a Saintess thanks to me? You received this honor because a noble member of the Imperial family chose you.”

“How can a member of the Imperial family who uses the temple’s offerings as political funds, forces young priests into sexual servitude, and mobilizes the Imperial Knights for illegal activities be called noble? The reason Lemer bestowed the Saintess’s blessing upon me must surely be to tell me not to yield to such injustice, but to press forward.”

“Ah….”

For a moment, I nearly choked up. Elise was parrying Lawrence’s attacks, which tore open her wounds, without wavering in the slightest. The people behind the incidents that had until now been concealed behind anonymity or metaphor were being exposed by her own lips. Lawrence’s answer was even more appalling.

“To become Emperor, you have to engage in this level of illegality. Ha, if that idiot High Priest hadn’t been caught by the Duke and the Chancellor back then, this damned mess never would have happened. Thanks to him, we ended up giving that Raven bastard wings.”

Even I was left speechless and nearly forgot that the plan was underway. I gave Ren a signal and tried to quietly rise from my seat.

“I’ll do it.”

“No. This is something I really want to do myself.”

“Come with me.”

“If both of us leave our seats, people will get suspicious. So stay here.”

After carefully smoothing out the deep furrow between Ren’s brows with my hand, I quietly slipped behind the stage. I used the invisibility artifact I had worn when going to work at Those Who Can’t Resign and concealed myself completely. Even as I did so, Lawrence’s one-man show continued.

‘Has this bastard forgotten that he’s in the middle of a ceremony?’

He looked as though he were pouring out a year’s worth of pent-up resentment on Elise. After saying this much, he should have realized that his voice was much louder than usual. Apparently, he felt so wronged by this matter that he had forgotten even that. The more I listened, the more disgusted I became.

“So just keep quiet and reconcile as I tell you. At least force a smile in front of the people! Then, once I become Emperor, I’ll spare your position and your life.”

“The Saintess is appointed by the Divine God Lemer. It isn’t a position granted by someone else.”

“The Divine God Lemer… Judging by the fact that he gave the position of Saintess to a vulgar bitch like you, it seems even he has lost his mind.”

People around us gasped. Perhaps only then did Lawrence notice that something was strange, because his voice could no longer be heard for a moment. It was such a shame to miss his idiotic expression from behind the stage.

“Why is everyone… making those faces?”

I barely managed to hold back my laughter. I climbed the ladder placed behind the stage, as I had instructed the event staff beforehand. It wasn’t easy to climb while carrying a bucket with a fairly heavy lid, but driven solely by my determination to see the next scene, I reached my destination.

That bastard Lawrence had said such insane things to our Elise and still felt no remorse.

‘Have a taste of this.’

I opened the bucket’s lid and poured its contents without hesitation over the crown of his head. A moment later, a bewildered scream rang through the venue.

“Argh! What is this?!”

What I had prepared was cockroaches. They were my secret weapon, specially collected for today by offering the servants a set amount for every one they caught throughout the mansion. When I told them they were for that bastard Lawrence, the servants hunted them down with fire in their eyes and brought them to me.

‘This is your grand finale for today!’

Looking down from above, I could see nothing but the crown of his head, but black cockroaches were covering him. They crawled into his ears, his pockets, and his clothes, making him flail around in filthy, frantic motions without a moment’s rest.

“Eeeek!”

On top of that, some of the cockroaches made their way down from the stage toward the distinguished guests seated below. The great nobles, their ladies, and their daughters screamed and leaped to their feet. Everyone was too busy calling servants to clear away the pests. Amid all this, I saw Ren sitting perfectly still. Even though he couldn’t see me, he subtly gave me a thumbs-up in my direction.

“What in the world is this commotion? Who is in charge of this ceremony?!”

The Emperor’s face flushed red and purple as his furious shout rang out. Just then, I saw Raven whispering as he rushed to protect the Emperor from the cockroaches. He probably said something like this.

‘It’s His Highness Lawrence, Your Majesty.’

The Emperor looked extremely angry, but he clamped his mouth shut. As expected of a man who favored his eldest son.

The ceremony I had been certain would be a disaster even before it began had become a complete madhouse with just a little extra seasoning. It was ruined. Lawrence, the person in charge of the ceremony, was flailing about as though cockroaches had gotten inside his body, displaying such embarrassing movements that he hardly looked like an Imperial prince.

“Gaaah! Somebody do something! Is no one there?!”

At Lawrence’s screams, the servants who had been hesitant to approach finally began moving toward him cautiously. At that moment, Elise slowly stepped in front of the podium, paying no attention to the cockroaches crawling across the floor. Her composure stood in stark contrast to Lawrence’s state.

“The Divine God Lemer has given us an answer.”

She looked down once at Lawrence, who was half-lying on the floor and brushing cockroaches off himself with a pathetic air, then lifted her head toward the people of the Empire.

“I will say this here and now. I, Elise, the Saintess called by Lemer, will never support Prince Lawrence as the next ruler of the Empire, even at the cost of my life. I believe the temple’s will is the same as mine.”

This was not part of the plan.

It meant that the odds of Raven becoming the next Emperor had suddenly shifted sharply in his favor.