Chapter 86
Chapter 86
Rattle, rattle.
The capital's night streets lay shrouded in deep darkness.
A golden carriage emblazoned with the imperial crest was rolling smoothly over the cobblestones.
"Haa……."
From between Iveline's red lips, as she leaned deeply against the carriage's plush velvet cushions, a very long, heavy sigh finally escaped.
It had been quite some time since she had left through the academy's main gate and climbed into the carriage.
'My fingertips are all numb.'
Iveline silently looked down at both hands resting on her lap.
Her finger joints, pale from how shaken they were, were trembling faintly.
It was because every muscle in her body had stiffened like stone under the extreme tension.
Of course, in front of others, she'd made desperate, grueling efforts to hide even a tenth of that pressure.
'I was insane. To think I dared go up against Your Holiness.'
Iveline pressed down on her throbbing temple.
Politics was always the art of clearly recognizing the intangible standards and lines permitted to oneself, and elegantly displaying one's authority only within that range.
Moreover, that was the absolute rule of the imperial family that ruled the empire.
For the same reason, the imperial court chamberlain and the head steward of the inner palace had rigorously and swiftly controlled the movements and schedules of Iveline and her older brother, Crown Prince Louis.
They had intentionally arranged things so that, as much as possible, their schedules would consist mainly of meetings with the younger generation of heirs, where the political burden was lighter.
'If imperial authority is to be truly absolute.'
Paradoxically, imperial authority should never force crude obedience upon those beneath it.
The moment it is crushed down by force and made to kneel, authority turns into violence, and the resentment of the oppressed inevitably grows blackly in unseen places.
So the imperial family had always adhered to the method of drawing its unseen sword only at the most crucial moments.
'And yet I...'
She was merely a princess who was neither as overwhelmingly powerful as His Majesty the Emperor nor a legitimate heir like the Crown Prince.
Had brazenly shouted at the Pope, who presided over the faith of the entire continent.
And had openly asserted herself as the highest authority capable of settling the situation by force.
If things had gone wrong, it could have been madness that left a terrible stain on the imperial family's spotless lineage, protected through long history by the blood and wisdom of countless generations.
'But... it couldn't be helped.'
It had been a dizzying situation in which that great being before her might erupt in anger and spew flames.
It was a hundred, a thousand times better to bear the disgrace of one princess behaving rudely than to let the whole capital turn to ashes just to protect the church's petty pride.
'But... in the end, he perfectly kept my honor from being tarnished.'
Cassian Del Farne.
If he hadn't suddenly butted in at the crucial moment as that sloppy, delinquent student and made room for her to speak.
she might have committed a horrific political blunder today, one impossible to fix.
Wasn't this the very definition of causing harm and then handing out the cure?
Even so, deep awe shimmered in Iveline's eyes.
Perhaps this was the gap between an absolute superior species and all other creatures, one that could look down on all of God's creations.
'Come to think of it, where on earth did my brother go?'
Iveline tilted her head slightly.
Surely her brother had also heard the news and headed to the academy.
But he hadn't appeared.
"Yelena."
"Yes, Your Highness."
The maid Yelena, who had been holding her breath in the corner of the carriage, immediately bowed her head.
Iveline asked in a calm, subdued voice.
"Are you certain my brother left in the imperial carriage before the disturbance at the main gate earlier, and before I did?"
"Yes. That's correct, Your Highness. I clearly confirmed that the carriage the two of you normally ride exclusively for commuting to and from the academy had been checked out and left the campus in advance."
"……."
'What on earth happened?'
Iveline frowned.
The perfect older brother she knew and admired was never the kind of weak, irresponsible person to tuck his tail and run away from such a grave situation.
Iveline's mind tangled even more confusingly, like an unsolvable skein of thread.
Swish...
Amid the carriage's swaying, Iveline slowly closed her eyes to clear away her tangled thoughts.
And naturally.
No, perhaps inevitably.
The only vivid image that surfaced in her mind last was of one person alone.
'Cassian Del Farne.'
That languid, indifferent face.
And.
'What on earth is his relationship with the saintess...?'
Even with her eyes closed, the astonishing scene she had seen in the conference hall earlier flashed clearly through her mind.
'How in the world was that proper etiquette?'
When Lily's brazen revelation neatly pinned all the blame on the church.
By common sense, Lily should have first rushed to the Pope and to the princess, who had paved the way for them to prove their innocence, and offered thanks and apologies.
That was the empire's basic etiquette.
But that saintly woman.
Treated the Pope and the princess as if they were completely invisible.
Hadn't she gone trotting off, tail practically wagging, straight toward Cassian Del Farne alone?
'D-did I do well?'
'You did well. Very well.'
Iveline gave a dry, incredulous laugh inwardly.
She even made it obvious all over her body that she'd received Cassian's blatant praise and instructions.
Only then did she trot over with a bright, innocent face and mechanically greet the Pope and then Iveline in turn.
'Rather than some run-of-the-mill tender relationship between a man and a woman...'
Iveline's red lips twisted ever so slightly.
'It looked more like a loyal pet dog being trained by its owner.'
To think she'd dare treat the saintess, symbol of the sacred church, like a little puppy.
This had to be an insane dynamic unprecedented in the empire's history.
Even the Pope's expression, barely hiding his embarrassment while watching the whole thing firsthand, had been quite a sight.
'Does the saintess... know?'
Iveline fidgeted with the hem of her dress.
At first, she had been certain that in this vast academy, no one besides herself knew Cassian Del Farne's great mythical identity.
Until then, the saintess had seemed to be trailing after Cassian and following him blindly, but she had thought it might still be explainable as nothing more than a human-to-human bond.
'But today was a completely different story.'
There was a limit to everything.
Even when the saintess stood before a huge crisis that could decide her life's fate and a dreadful choice that would force her to turn her back on the church.
Watching her obey Cassian Del Farne's words alone, perfectly and blindly, above any vow or faith.
A chilling thought that maybe she was wrong flashed through her mind for the first time.
'Could it be that the saintess had instinctively sensed that he was a great being too?'
If not, there would be no reason to throw herself away so thoroughly and offer absolute obedience to one man.
As her thoughts reached that point,
'...Something.'
A very strange, unfamiliar feeling began to creep up from one corner of Iveline's chest.
'Something feels really off.'
A very unpleasant, sharp sensation.
Who had stepped up as the linchpin for perfectly resolving today's crazed, dangerous situation?
It had been none other than Iveline herself, who had borne the blood-draining stress of carefully wielding imperial authority by a paper-thin margin and of taking the wind out of the Pope's sails.
But then.
That great being, Cassian Del Farne, was looking only at Lily.
Even in that dreary conference hall, wasn't he always focused solely on Saintess Lily's safety?
'A little.'
Iveline clenched the hem of her skirt tightly.
'No, I'm very, very disappointed and hurt.'
For that great being,
she, the princess, was nothing more than a clever, highly useful queen piece placed on the chessboard to control the situation to his advantage.
And did it mean that the precious human companion he truly cherished and doted on was that foolish-looking Lily?
"……Hm?"
The moment she reached that unpleasant thought, Iveline startled at her own idea and snapped her eyes open.
'Something is strange.'
She was a proud princess.
But now,
was she disappointed that, even if he was a great being, she ranked behind the pink-haired saintess in his priorities?
'Wait a second.'
Iveline's face began to burn hot.
'The fact that I think it'd be better for that woman to be adored while being treated like a pet dog than for me to be used as one of his cards...'
She had realized that the latter would be hundreds of times more humiliating and shameful.
'I'm crazy, Iveline de Leopold. Completely crazy.'
Iveline forced herself to steady her breathing, cooling the heat of shame.
* * *
Bang!
A thunderous crash rang through the office, as if the heavy solid-wood table might split in two.
"Hoo……."
Louis's breathing was ragged.
Fortunately, all the servants in this spacious, splendid room had withdrawn, leaving only his loyal knight Hector.
That meant this vulgar display of emotions from the noble position of crown prince would never leak beyond this solid door.
"Your Highness. You mustn't hurt yourself."
Hector, who had been watching the scene beside him with a grave expression, spoke heavily.
Instead of answering, Louis bit his lip tightly until it nearly bled.
Knock, knock.
Then, breaking the heavy silence, a cautious knock sounded from outside the office.
Hector lowered his head quickly and said.
"May I go out and get the rest of the report on the situation outside, Your Highness?"
"…Go ahead."