Chapter 163 – 163. Sentence Negotiation (3)
“…”
“And I have one more reason why I must interrogate them.”
“… What is that?”
“Because the Princess Eleanor they kidnapped is my successor.”
“After… Lim? Ah!”
Queen Diane, realizing what Agies’ successor meant, looked at Eleanor in horror.
It’s the same with other nobles, and they realize that being Agnes’s successor means that they will be the archbishop of the temple of Vesta in the future, or the next saintess.
“Oh, this can’t be…”
“Princess Eleanor is the next saint… ?”
“How come all of a sudden, one after another, these absurd facts…”
It was an unbelievable fact that broke out so quickly and suddenly, but because it was the words spoken by the current saintess, Agnes, no one could dismiss it as a lie or find anything to refute.
Looking at Queen Diane, who was just as agitated as the nobles in the center of the tumultuous meeting room, Agies continued her words.
“At least this much, I think you won’t object to us taking those two in for interrogation.”
“Keugh…”
They are none other than high treason criminals who plotted to kidnap the next generation of saints.
Queen Diane, who could not find anything more to refute, could not overcome her anger and only trembled her fists, and she could not open her mouth any longer.
“Then, we will interrogate those two criminals at the temple. Ardennes.”
“Yes.”
“Move.”
“All right.”
Arden, who had been ordered by Agnes, gave instructions to one of his fellow paladins and left the conference room, taking the staggering Ashton and the fainting Bark into custody.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the Queen Mama for her thoughtful concessions.”
“…”
Looking at Agnes, who dared to bow her head in greeting, Queen Diane said nothing.
Queen Diane, who couldn’t manage her expression with her insect-bitten face, eventually opened her mouth.
“Since both agendas have been finalized, we will end this court meeting here.”
Without being greeted by the other nobles and without hiding her bad mood, Queen Diane left the conference room behind her, and the atmosphere inside the conference room immediately became noisy after the meeting.
There are two causes of the uproar: resentment over the fact that the crime of embezzlement and breach of trust that was laid on the entire Armitas duke family was cleared away through Eun-hyeon’s platinum coin.
The sudden appearance of the archbishop of the Temple of Vesta and the shock of her designation of Eleanor as the next saintess.
In addition, a large number of nobles who committed corruption and had to pay fines if their crimes were revealed through an investigation sooner or later.
Various emotions were swirling around, making the conference hall chaotic.
“Can you get up?”
“Don’t treat me like an old man anymore. You are still healthy.”
“Ashton’s job…”
“Done. Now… You’ll have to give up… Are you going to conduct the interrogation at the temple?
“Yes.”
“Right… I get it.”
Abros put on a complicated expression, but he understood very simply that the situation had to be this way.
Rather, it’s hard to stay sane in the fact that Eleanor’s life was almost ruined by his own complacency.
“I’ll take you straight to the mansion.”
“Are you already acting like a son-in-law?”
“… It wasn’t my intention.”
Eunhyeon smiled bitterly and responded while receiving Abros’ glaring gaze.
“For the Duke, Alex, and Eleanor, it’s probably the first priority right now to give the Duchess peace of mind.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
Avros nodded and walked slowly with Alex to Eleanor.
Inside the tumultuous conference hall, many aristocrats noticed, glancing at Avros’ actions.
“Father…”
Avros stared calmly at Eleanor, who approached him.
“The Holy Sword… It must have been a conclusion that was reached after careful thought and consideration, right?”
“Of course. I’ll go home and explain everything. I’m sure you can understand…”
“Okay. That was it.”
Avros hugged Eleanor tightly and gave her a pat on the back.
“Good come back. She came back safely In the end, because of my complacency, I almost ruined your life. Sorry. I’m really sorry.”
“Ah…”
As Eleanor, who was embraced with her strong strength, felt her father’s warm embrace, she shed tears without realizing it.
From her relief that it was all over, to her tears as she relaxed, Eleanor let out a small sigh that kept her speechless.
Soon after, Eleanor hugged Avros tightly and began to sob.
“Thanks. For bringing her brother.”
“I will receive a thank you. Than that…”
Eunhyun narrowed her eyes and asked Alex, who was smiling in relief.
“Because I have so many things to say. I’ll see you at the mansion soon.”
“Of course. Give a warm welcome Should I call you mother-in-law now?”
“Just call me by name, you son of a bitch. Because it’s creepy.”
Eunhyun frowned and responded to Alex’s mockery.
◆ ◆ ◆
“I’m here?”
“Hyunah! Are you here?!”
Illyana and Erin greeted Eunhyun as she entered the house.
She must have been having dinner. She stared at Eun-hyeon at the food on her table, and she asked curiously.
“… Who made it?”
“Together.”
“Together?”
“Hehe, Miss Illyana. You said you wanted to learn to cook, so I let you know!”
Erin seemed very happy that she could tell something about her and be of help to the distant existence that seemed to exist in a higher dimension than her.
The fact that Erin, who lost her mother early and took care of the housework, helped Illyana with her own cooking skills, which she persevered through and grew up in a harsh environment where her father’s abuse existed. I was very proud of this.
“Hmm…”
“Hey, try it.”
Perhaps Illyana’s attitude of offering the stew she made to Eun-hyeon with her slightly nervous face was funny, so Eun-hyeon smiled.
Eun-hyeon, who brought a plate, spoon, and fork and sat down, scooped the stew into her bowl using a ladle and scooped it up, then put the ingredients into her mouth and savored the taste.
“Good job.”
“… Really?”
“Huh. Are you okay. The liver isn’t too strong, and it’s not too bad for a beginner.”
“Whoops.”
Illyana nodded and smiled, as if she was happy to say that.
After joining her late and having dinner together and washing the dishes, Eun-hyeon entered her room and hugged Illyana who was lying on her bed and buried her face in the nape of her neck.
“Sueuuu.”
“Why is this all of a sudden? What happened?”
“Just… I like your smell.”
Even though she was confused by Eun-hyeon’s behavior of sniffing her as she hugged her own body tightly, Illyana responded with a smile on her face, responding to Eun-hyeon’s hug, and she hugged him.
“What were you talking about with the duke’s family behind my back?”
“Huh? Oh~.”
She suddenly wanted to talk about something, but Illyana remembered a memory of her and opened her mouth.
“It was nothing. Just… The duke asked for it.”
“Ask?”
“If Eleanor comes to a situation where she conveys her feelings to you, I ask that she at least not accept it.”
“… Did you know Eleanor’s heart?”
“Seeing that you don’t call her by her title, ‘Princess’, but by her first name, that’s how it ended up, right?”
Even though Illyana had roughly guessed it, she put on a bitter expression that it didn’t turn out the way she expected.
“I know, it’s been a while. The way Eleanor looked at you was really different. Even so, she wasn’t able to properly realize the feelings she had for you. She wondered if the day would come when she would wake up and tell you how she felt. Perhaps the duke had similar thoughts to me, so I thought she might have asked for my understanding in advance.”
“Whenever?”
“When you restored the holy sword and fell straight, I laid you down and came out into the living room, and the three of you, the duke, the little duke, and Leo were drinking tea at the table. I was asked there.”
“… Are you okay? Even if there is another woman between us?”
“Would you like to come now? If I said no, did she intend to cut ties with Eleanor?”
“… No. Would have persuaded Eleanor… It is also my responsibility.”
“So you gave up. This lump of responsibility. And to what extent did my words play a role in your decision? As long as I return safely, I will forgive you even if I make another woman.”
“… That’s right.”
In fact, when Eun-hyeon was at the crossroads of whether to hug Eleanor or not, she remembered Illyana’s words, and through that, compromised and hugged Eleanor.
Illyana smiled and hugged Eunhyun tightly.
“I don’t particularly hate Eleanor either. Besides, he has a stronger will to help you and to repay the help he received from you purely than to use you and take advantage of it. I knew that at least as much as I thought of you was real. I even thought that if we were to get along, we would be able to get along just fine.”
“You… What a woman she is.”
If she thinks that another man is intervening between her and Illyana, will Eun-hyeon be able to stand it?
Eunhyeon wasn’t sure.
Even if Illyana had been trying to convince herself, she would have accepted it, but she did not stand up for herself.
It’s like a trashy mindset of someone else’s mind that she did it herself, but Illiana couldn’t do it.
That’s why she willingly realized how amazing Illyana’s mind was in accepting Avros’ proposal after preparing her mind to some extent even before she committed the task herself.
“Yeah, didn’t he say anything too?”
“He understood because he knew the situation.”
“Then I can’t even raise any complaints on my side.”
When I answered Illyana’s question about Belldandi’s intentions, Illyana smiled bitterly.
“A wedding, unintentionally, the three of us had it.”
“That’s really unexpected.”
Illyana giggled and responded to Eunhyun’s words.
“Ah, Illyana. There is one thing I want to check.”
“Check? What?”
“In fact…”
Eun-hyeon reveals that she had a relationship with Eleanor, and since then she has been able to recognize Belldandi’s existence.
For a moment she wriggled her eyebrows at the fact that the two had already had a relationship, but the fact that she was now able to recognize the ‘goddess being’ didn’t bother her much.
“So? Do you think the reason Eleanor was able to see your goddess was because she had a relationship with you?”
“The hypothesis is yes.”
“Huh…”
Deep in her thoughts, Illyana immediately got herself up from her bed and threw off her negligee.
“Let’s do it right now. Then.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“How are you feeling?”
“Nothing different from usual. In the first place, she wasn’t subjected to severe torture or anything like that, she was just tired from her exhaustion.”
“I’m glad.”
Eunhyun nodded her head and looked at Abros and Alex with a serious expression.
“Let’s get to the point soon.”
“Hmm.”
“It’s about the first thing I donated the holy sword.”
“I already heard that from Eleanor. It was a pretty vicious method.”
“Really… It’s okay to think like that…”
The reason Eunhyeon obediently offered Durandal to Queen Diane was because of the characteristics of her holy sword.
The Holy Sword is a sword with will, and the owner who will use it is chosen by the Holy Sword itself.
In other words, no matter how much the ducal family presented Durandal to the royal family, it was a different matter from Durandal recognizing Prince Damian as his master.
From the royal family’s point of view, who took on the holy sword that was not even used, it became an extremely common sword with fancy decorations, like a decorative sword that was just decorated on the wall.
“Didn’t you think of the worst case of the Holy Sword recognizing Prince Damian as its master?”
“That is nonsense. The rumors about the personality of the prince that Queen Diane circulates are heard even by me, a stranger. Besides, if he was a wise prince with the lumber to lead the country normally, there is no way the duke would oppose it like this and push his second prince, Prince Evan, as the crown prince as hope.”
Eun-hyun shows a sad expression as if she is worrying for nothing.
“…”
“And imagine. In a situation where Prince Damian is not recognized by the Holy Sword with the best-dedicated Durandal right in front of him, Prince Evan is recognized by the Holy Sword and becomes the owner, and inevitably, Durandal is forcibly stolen.”
As expected by Eun-hyeon, in the end Prince Damian is not recognized by the holy sword.
Even if the duke’s family dared to donate the holy sword, it was an obvious conclusion that if it turned out that it could not be used properly, it would be treated as a nuisance.
“But even so, I don’t think the queen will give her holy sword to the duke’s family or Prince Evan again?”
Alex also asked Eun-hyeon for his opinion with obvious predictions in his mouth.
“From there, you two have to work hard. Did you say I am not interested in who is the owner of the Holy Sword, and if the Holy Sword itself recognizes it as its owner, then I have no major complaints. Personally… I’m very curious about Prince Evan’s next move.”
“Under.”
Abros noticed Eunhyeon’s intentions and laughed in vain.
In conclusion, this is like a test.
He deliberately handed over the Holy Sword to the royal party faction, hoping that someone who would win the Holy Sword’s recognition would appear.
It could be Prince Evan, or he thought that it could be Alex, the next heir to the ducal family right in front of Eunhyun.
Or he might be a completely different third person.
“I really hope that in the near future, the situation I imagined will unfold, where Queen Diane and other nobles from the Royal Party faction are fed a big taffy.”
At a scene that would be exhilarating just by imagining it, Alex laughs as if it is absurd.
