# 122
Charlotte opened her mouth as if she had made up her mind, her hands clenched tightly.
She didn't have time to calmly explain what happened.
Just as Sirius got to the point from the beginning, Charlotte did the same.
She said directly:
“I really didn’t know the identity of His Highness the First Prince! I wasn’t trying to trick or manipulate him.”
He replied:
“I know that.”
That sincerity would have been believed by anyone.
If she had captured the First Prince, the Second Prince's opponent in the struggle for the throne, with little protection, she would not have let him go alive.
“But, even if I had known, I wouldn’t have dared to hurt him.”
“Why?”
“Because I am not seeking to put Sybian on the throne.”
“So, what are you after?”
“I just… I want to see the fall of the Second Prince.”
This is what Ceres pointed out before. Charlotte never denied her statement that she did not seek the throne, but rather that she wanted to kill the second prince.
Before, he had not been asked why, but now it was time to hear it.
“Why?”
Sirius asked again.
Charlotte took a deep, slow breath.
It's time to talk about "that" thing you've been putting off for so long.
“Second Prince… I…”
Charlotte hesitated in her choice of words, before raising her head resolutely.
Tears welled in her eyes, and in her look when she said “Second Prince” a deep-rooted hatred emerged.
“I'm saying this because I have a request to make of you both.”
"Help yourself."
Sirius said with no emotion at Charlotte's tears.
His calm reaction brought Charlotte to her senses, and she straightened up and sat up straight.
This could cost her and Sybian's lives. It is not permissible to talk about him with emotion or complaining.
With a clearer look, Charlotte began again.
It is best to start with the most important fact, as some things are difficult to explain in detail.
“Sibian… is not the son of His Majesty the Emperor.”
With these words, Charlotte's heart fell hard.
She said it. The greatest secret in the palace, which no one outside the imperial family knew, came out of her mouth.
There's no turning back now.
What happens next is up to Sirius.
She looked at him, clenching her white fingertips with tension.
"Okay."
"…Yes?"
But Sirius' response was very simple.
It can't be like this!
He was supposed to be shocked or angry and accuse her of insulting the imperial family… but she didn't understand how to explain this calmness. She blinked in amazement.
Sirius shrugged lightly.
“If he is not the Emperor’s son, then he must be the Second Prince’s son. Not my son, anyway.”
“Why… aren’t you surprised?”
"never."
“…”
Charlotte's face was silent and confused.
But Sirius was completely calm, and didn't seem to pretend.
"how…?"
“The Emperor told me this indirectly.”
“Ah…”
Then Charlotte understood the situation.
As I expected, the Emperor made up his mind to support this side. Her decision to come to them now was a wise one.
“But, why did the second prince’s son become the official third prince?”
It was Diaren who pointed out this emptiness in Charlotte's speech.
If Sybian was the son of the Second Prince, it would make sense for the two to ally themselves.
Moreover, why does she have this hatred for him, even though he is the father of her son? This cannot be understood without knowing what happened between them.
Then Charlotte clenched her hands tightly again.
From here the story begins, not about the secrets of the imperial family, but about its personal wounds.
“Second Prince...”
She closed her eyes tightly and took a heavy breath, just thinking about it.
The old scar that she had been forced to bury so deep was starting to hurt again.
But after she calmed down a little and opened her eyes, she seemed steady and strong.
Now, you can tell everything without hesitation or emotion.
“First, I must tell you that I was a priestess.”
"We knew that. And we know you have holy powers too."
“…Ah, how?”
Charlotte's resolve crumbled again, if only slightly.
Sirius and Dearyn, both of them were acting as if the matter did not carry any weight, while only she was speaking with grim seriousness, as if they knew everything from the beginning.
“I remember we shook hands that day.”
Charlotte remembered when she visited the palace and held Dearyn's hand, but at that time she did not feel any trace of sacred power on her part.
“Did you feel my holy power then, Dearyn?”
“Yes, she was so strong that I thought: Who is this?”
“Ah...so...”
Holy power can be felt by someone with a higher power, but someone with a weaker power cannot feel someone stronger than him.
This meant something obvious.
Dearyn possesses a holy power far greater than Charlotte's.
“You two priestesses must really have great holy power.”
Charlotte looked at her with obvious admiration.
As for Dayaren, who had never thought of showing off her sacred power, she felt embarrassed. She had always thought that this power should remain hidden, and it never occurred to her that it would ever be admired.
“I really don't know… I don't know how strong I am yet.”
“How? Don’t you compare each other as priests?”
“I was hiding it because I don’t like my sacred power being taken advantage of.”
“Huh?”
Charlotte's eyes widened in surprise, not believing what she heard.
“You know, I don’t have a strong family behind me. If I were known for my strength, they would exploit me like a slave.”
“But, if your strength was stronger than mine, perhaps it wouldn’t have come to this.”
"…truly?"
Charlotte nodded seriously. There is no reason to lie about this kind of matter.
"I, too, was an ordinary priestess who had only recently opened my eyes to my holy power. However, after my return from the front, I was scheduled to be appointed Senior Priestess."
“Ah… Sorry, but when did you join the temple?”
“I was sent to the front in my first year.”
“…”
Only one year.
Weren't promotions supposed to not happen that quickly?
All the values that Deyarin believed in suddenly collapsed. She no longer sees the world as she used to.
“Ah… well, things might be different in the capital temples, but if you really wanted to be promoted, they could have transferred you to a regional temple and promoted you there.”
“…”
Seeing the world only in white makes you easy prey. Seeing it in black only makes you not believe anything, and you waste opportunities.
And Darren was exactly of the second type.
“Since divine power cannot be measured in numbers, sometimes these things happen. It is only known if those around you bear witness to it. That is why sometimes those who are thought to be the strongest turn out to be not so...”
“If I had known, I would have claimed that I was one of the children of the Seven Gods and settled the matter!”
“True… if you had said that, people might have actually believed you.”
Charlotte tried as hard as she could to comfort Diarin, even though her life was in danger. Which indicates that she has a good heart.
But what would drive such a good person to harbor a grudge so deep as to wish to kill the Second Prince?
Dearyn's gaze returned to Charlotte.
“But, you said you were going to be First Priestess, so how did you end up at the front?”
“Ah… the institute I was in was close to the front, and we had to send a lot of priests. In an emergency meeting, the first priest decided that sending one strong person was better than sending several weak ones, so I went alone.”
“Oh my God...”
Even if the promotion was easy, draining the sacred power was still the fate of the person who possessed it.
It seems that bragging about it is not a good idea, unless you are one of the so-called children of the seven gods.
“At first, my duties were like those of other priests – treating the wounded, helping the weary...”
“Yes.”
“But the day His Highness the Second Prince arrived at the front, he said he was tired and asked for a priest with holy power. As you know, members of the royal family are usually served by priests of high lineage, but on the battlefield, there was no one like him. So I was chosen because I was the strongest.”
The road to the well-known end was long, but if the end was terrifying, perhaps it was better to take the road longer.
Every word that came out of Charlotte's mouth was like a knife covered in glass and blood.
Deyarin unconsciously held her breath, listening with increasing anxiety.
“And there…”
Charlotte suddenly stopped talking.
Even just reliving the memory was painful.
The heaviness of the air was a reflection of their silence, filled with sympathy.
Charlotte continued speaking, her voice trembling, as if she was about to run out of breath.
“I was a priestess assigned to serve His Highness the Second Prince while he was at the front. I was unable to escape. And so, every night… it happened. I did not find out I was pregnant until long after he left.”
A priestess who is not allowed to marry becomes pregnant. This alone was enough to expel her from the temple.
Since she was even sent to the front, it was unlikely that she would have a family to protect her after that.
In a world that shames priestesses once they leave the temple, a priestess who is expelled because she is pregnant is considered a social outcast. Even her family might abandon her.
“I had the child under difficult circumstances...but his features clearly bore the symbols of the imperial family, so I tried to communicate with His Highness the Second Prince again and again.”
“Did he answer you?”
“…One time. Instead of replying with a letter, he sent a hitman.”
Deyarin exploded with insults that a priestess should never have uttered.
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