“Linus, what’s needed to become a wise ruler isn’t how powerful a supporting family you have. It’s the determination and ability to carry out your will to the end.”

What she should have taught her son long ago, she had delayed too much while secluding herself to fight illness.

Linus, quietly listening to and absorbing his mother’s teachings with a shameful face, slowly opened his mouth.

“……Mother.”

His voice was quite resolute. His golden eyes looked at the empress with a different light.

“When this matter is concluded, I want to decide on a crown princess.”

“Do so.”

The empress’s lips curved in an arc. Whoever he brought, she intended to respect her son’s will.

***

To reopen the heretic trial that had been suspended a hundred years ago, I diligently studied the related documents that the head priest brought to the prison.

First, the reason the heretic trial was suddenly suspended was because the emperor at that time had doubts about its discernment ability, just like me.

He unofficially researched the Chalice of the Sun and concluded that it could not distinguish heretics.

Thus, despite various opposition, heretic trials were banned and never held again since then.

Having confirmed that heretic trials had no discernment ability whatsoever, I made a plan.

‘I must arrange in advance for the water to definitely turn blue. And……’

After roughly organizing my thoughts, I closed the documents.

When I turned my head, I saw the head priest sitting beside me, examining the documents together.

“I’m sorry for making you suffer because of me, Raviel.”

Bringing Emma for me, gathering information about heretic trials too.

I felt sorry for him who had taken on so many troublesome tasks.

The head priest, taking his gaze off the paper, looked at me and smiled brightly.

“Are you very sorry?”

“Of course. If things go wrong, you could be punished too.”

Especially if it was discovered that he helped me by providing conveniences in prison like this, the head priest would also suffer considerable damage.

Of course, if I succeeded in clearing myself of treason charges, things would be different, but for now, neither side could be certain of what would happen.

The head priest, looking at me quietly, leaned closer and gently requested.

“If you’re that sorry, please call me like when we were young.”

Like when we were young?

“……Brother?”

“Yes, Shailyn.”

The head priest smiled brightly, his eyes crinkling, as if I had gotten the right answer.

Ugh, that beauty is harmful to the heart.

While I secretly clutched my chest and took deep breaths, he asked with a grin.

“Have you thought about what to do if the heretic trial ends in failure?”

“No, I didn’t think about what comes after because I might hesitate when running forward.”

Since there’s no time, I might lose both if I act ambiguously like ‘if this doesn’t work, I’ll do that.’

After hearing my answer, the head priest lowered his voice softly and secretly.

“You remember the promise we made when we were young, right? We decided to run away together to a distant place.”

“We did.”

“If, um, the heretic trial fails…… would you like to do that?”

He hesitantly grabbed my fingertips lightly. I opened my eyes wide at the unexpected proposal and looked at the head priest.

If I lose the trial, I’ll likely be convicted of treason, so to run away together like our childhood promise…….

It’s essentially no different from smuggling out a traitor. Wondering if he was serious, I carefully examined the head priest’s face.

I felt sincerity from him as he calmly met my gaze without avoiding it.

‘If he really ran away with me, he would also be implicated as an accomplice……’

I was very grateful that he would risk danger for me, but.

“I can’t do that. I’d be escaping alone while leaving my family behind. How could I do that?”

I refused because I had no intention of abandoning the Diart ducal family and living alone.

The head priest, gazing at me with a mysterious expression, smiled faintly.

“You’ve changed a lot from when you were young.”

I felt a bit stung. The soul of Shailyn then and me now are different…….

“In the past, you acted lonely like an orphan and held onto me, but now it seems like my existence isn’t precious to you at all.”

“What? That’s not true.”

Not precious at all! You’re precious because you’re the male lead!

His words were somewhat irritating, but thinking of how he had helped me all along, I explained so he wouldn’t be hurt.

“If we run away like that, not only I but you would also be in trouble. I hate for things to go wrong because of me.”

“That’s true.”

The head priest nodded, seeming to know well what punishment he would receive if he smuggled out a traitor.

However, he soon moved closer to me and smiled with his eyes.

“But…… if I have only you, I think I’d be fine no matter what happens.”

Saying such things with a face like a gift from God is no joke.

After staring at him blankly, I resolutely grasped both hands.

“I’ll definitely succeed in the heretic trial so nothing happens to me.”

That way I can protect myself, protect the Diart ducal family, and protect the male lead too.

I explained my plan to the head priest with burning motivation.

After he left, I sat alone in the prison, lost in thought.

‘What is Carl doing right now?’

From the circumstances, he seems to be the only one who wasn’t caught, but I wondered if he was in a safe place and doing well.

‘I think I miss him a little too……’

I wish I could quickly resolve all these incidents and return to my original life.

Back to when Mandy and Carl were by my sides, and I lived happily with the Diart family at the ducal residence.

***

The next day, Raviel went outside the temple instead of the prison for the first time in a while.

His steps headed toward the magic tower. He visited without any notice and requested a meeting with Chester.

After a while, a mage who received permission from above led him to the tower master’s office.

When he entered, Chester wasn’t alone there. Raviel’s eyes narrowed as he confirmed the other person.

“Our tough knight managed not to get captured, I see?”

Carl didn’t respond and just looked at him quietly. Chester cleared his throat at the strange atmosphere flowing between the two.

“Why did you come to see me, Head Priest?”

“Ah, Shailyn asked me to.”

Carl reacted faster than Chester to those words.

“Are you in contact with master now?”

“Yes.”

“Then—”

“No.”

When a cold rejection came back before he could even finish speaking, Carl frowned.

“How do you know what I’m going to say to refuse?”

“It’s obvious. You’ll ask me to let you contact Shailyn or to show you her face.”

“……Can’t I?”

Carl, getting the exact right answer, clenched his fist and lowered his head.

He tried to take a humble attitude in his own way, but Raviel wasn’t someone whose heart would be swayed by such things, unlike Chester.

“You can’t. Instead, I won’t chase you away from this place, so feel free to eavesdrop.”

“……”

Carl, suppressing his surging emotions, walked to the window.

While he cooled his mood by getting some air, Raviel conveyed Shailyn’s request to Chester.

“Shailyn decided to hold a heretic trial to prove her innocence and that of the Diart ducal family. For this, she asked if the tower master could prepare a device that turns blood blue when it touches water.”

“There’s such a thing as a heretic trial in the world?”

“It was suspended a hundred years ago, but she says she’ll revive it. Can you help, Tower Master?”

“Of course. When do you need it completed?”

“She plans to return to the imperial palace’s underground prison the day after tomorrow to request the trial, so you must give it to us within three days at the latest.”

“Understood.”

“Oh, and there was another request too.”

Chester nodded, saying that was also possible after hearing the continuing words.

When the conversation was roughly finished, Raviel organized himself and stood up.

Carl, listening with his ears wide open, looked back at him. The two men’s gazes intertwined in the air, and Raviel casually threw out a question.

“Are you just playing around doing nothing for your master?”

“Would I do that?”

Carl replied curtly, crossing his arms and leaning against the window.

“Then I think I can give you one good piece of advice.”

Raviel, slowly approaching him, grinned and whispered.

“Young master, the retainer your uncle drove away is living in seclusion in Lasia Forest in the northwest of the empire.”