OMLOW 89

Chapter 89

“Ka–Kai? What… what are you saying right now? The Bishop is telling the truth? Really?”

Kaien slowly nodded. Then, as if the pain surged through him again, his brows twisted into a painful frown. A moment later, his consciousness slipped away.

He collapsed, fainting weakly.

The way Kaien lay there made him look almost dead.

Yet no one could bring themselves to express concern. The words they had just heard were simply too shocking.

“The Empress…? The Empress, you say? My son promised to make you the Empress?”

Now that it was confirmed the puppet potion had worked properly on the First Prince, there was nothing left to fear.

Nicole was still kneeling, but she lifted her head and gazed calmly at the Empress.

“Yes. He did.”

“Why in the world would Kai—!”

The Empress was about to shout, but suddenly froze. Nicole’s earlier words flashed through her mind.

“I… have a revelation!”

“A revelation… you said you had a revelation.”

“Yes.”

“What does it say? What kind of revelation made the First Prince promise to make you the Empress?”

Nicole took a long breath before answering.

“Please visit Archbishop Sage of the Central Temple and ask to see the stone tablet. You will understand once you read it.”

“…Guards!”

The Empress immediately gave orders to the imperial knights. The two knights who had heard Nicole’s story hurried straight to the Central Temple.

Some time later—

Archbishop Sage entered the bedroom alongside the knights. She carried something wrapped tightly in black cloth in her arms.

“A servant of the gods greets Your Majesty the Empress.”

“Enough with the greeting, Archbishop Sage. Hand over what you are carrying.”

“…Yes.”

Sage deliberately avoided looking at Nicole. Nicole, too, lowered her head, unable to meet her gaze.

Archbishop…

Nicole hadn’t expected her to come here personally. Why hadn’t she simply sent the tablet instead of bringing it herself?

While Nicole fidgeted nervously, Sage stepped forward and presented the tablet to the Empress.

“Please confirm it.”

“Before that, answer me something. Why did you hide the existence of this tablet?”

The only way Sage could save herself now was to reveal the tablet’s true owner.

But instead of exposing Nicole, she lowered her gaze and spoke respectfully.

“…I wanted to keep that child by my side and raise her. That was all.”

“Why her of all children? Out of so many, why adopt the one with a divine revelation? Were you planning to use it someday?”

“No! Archbishop Sage would never—!”

“She is… my daughter.”

“What?”

“That child… is my biological daughter.”

Her daughter?

A clergyman—especially an archbishop—having a child was unthinkable. Clergy were forbidden to marry. This was a scandal of enormous magnitude, a crime worthy of expulsion from the temple.

Sage knew that better than anyone.

Yet she spoke that lie just to protect Nicole.

“A–Archbishop…! No, that’s not true. The Archbishop is my—!”

“Silence.”

Sage’s sharp command made Nicole flinch and close her mouth.

At the same time, realization struck her.

The words had already been spoken. Even denying them now would be considered insulting the imperial family.

Nicole realized too late.

The lie she had told to avoid harming Sage had dragged the Archbishop into this absurd scheme.

This… this isn’t what I wanted…!

At that moment, revenge against her parents’ enemies meant nothing.

The thing devouring Nicole now was overwhelming guilt.

If she could turn back time, she would return to just moments earlier and accept death at the Empress’s hands.

As Nicole lowered her head and silently cried, Sage continued speaking calmly.

“Because she is a child I carried in my own womb, I was able to carve her revelation into the tablet myself… and hide it.”

“…Ha! How ridiculous. Did you really think you could keep a child destined to become Empress by your side forever? And you call yourself a servant of the gods?”

“A mother’s heart… is like that, isn’t it?”

“A mother’s heart, coming from an Archbishop. What a thing to hear.”

The Empress unwrapped the black cloth.

Inside was a pure white stone tablet engraved with golden letters.

After confirming that the sentence formed by those letters matched exactly what Nicole had said, the Empress tightly shut her eyes.

“…Bring holy water!”

Soon, a servant brought holy water and poured it over the tablet.

But the tablet did not break.

Instead, it shone brilliantly in five radiant colors.

It was a true divine revelation.

Nicole truly possessed the destiny of becoming Empress.

That meant she could not be killed. Rather, she had to be kept alive and united with Kaien—to make Kaien the Emperor.

Wait. If this is the fate arranged by the gods…

Even better.

This gave them the perfect justification to place Kaien on the throne.

A revelation given to a temple bishop rather than someone of imperial blood. If presented properly, it could be framed as the gods themselves choosing Kaien as the next Emperor by granting him their servant as a partner.

“You hid the existence of a tablet so crucial to the fate of the Empire. Do you understand the crime you’ve committed?”

“I do. I will gladly accept my punishment.”

“Archbishop! No, that’s not true! You’ve done nothing wrong!”

“There’s no need to be so shocked. Surely we wouldn’t drive away the mother of the future Empress.”

The Empress stood.

Holding the tablet as if it were a newborn child, she gently traced the golden letters before approaching Nicole.

“Rise now. You will soon become someone precious. From now on, do not kneel anywhere so carelessly.”

“….”

“I also promise you this. I will make you the Empress.”

“…Thank you, Your Majesty.”

As Nicole took the Empress’s hand and stood, her eyes met Sage’s.

The sorrow and pity in her gaze stung more sharply than any reprimand.

How could Nicole possibly lift her head before her?

She had already crossed a river she could never return from.

All she could do now was keep moving forward—

Even knowing that at the end of the path lay a bottomless cliff.

* * *

On the day the Emperor’s death was announced,

I waited until late at night. Then I lay in bed pretending to sleep and shifted my consciousness to Luda.

Let’s see…

Even though it was late, Luda was still inside Lionel’s jacket pocket.

In the warm darkness of the pocket, I lightly tapped Lionel’s chest with my wings.

A moment later, after confirming no one was nearby, Lionel’s hand carefully slipped into the pocket and lifted me out.

“You’re still awake?”

“I did lie down to sleep. But what about you, Rio? Do you still have work left?”

Sitting on Lionel’s shoulder, I looked at the documents on the desk.

They were instructions left behind for the people who would remain after he departed.

So he heard about the Emperor’s death.

Wondering what I should say, I decided to pretend I didn’t know anything.

“You’re preparing to return to the capital, right?”

“Yes.”

“I see. I’m preparing to go back to the capital too. I think we’ll leave tomorrow. So I probably won’t be able to come again until we arrive.”

During the journey, I would most likely share a room with Mother.

If she discovered my body lying limp while my consciousness was inside Luda, it would cause a huge commotion.

“Then we’ll meet again in the capital.”

“Yes. Probably…?”

Unless something unexpected happened, the next place we would meet would likely be the Emperor’s funeral.

The Emperor’s funeral…

Even thinking about it again, it felt far too sudden.

In the novel, the Emperor had lived several more years. In fact, he only died because of the rebellion Lionel started.

So why had the Emperor died now?

Could it be the Empress couldn’t stand seeing Lionel become Crown Prince and secretly got rid of him…?

Nah… that can’t be it.

There was no point overthinking something I couldn’t figure out.

Shaking my head, I flew onto the desk and lifted my head to meet Lionel’s gaze.

“Liri? What is it?”

“Nothing.”

I casually flapped my wings and examined Lionel’s face.

The Emperor had died.

Which meant Lionel’s father had died.

Yet there was no trace of grief on his face. His eyes weren’t red either, as if he had secretly cried somewhere.

Isn’t he… sad?

Considering Lionel’s relationship with the Emperor, it wasn’t exactly strange.

Still, no matter how distant they were, the Emperor was his father. Surely Lionel must have felt some kind of emotional shock.

…Or maybe not?

Unable to find the answer on my own, I asked directly.

“Are you okay?”