Chapter 106

It was so absurd, and so impressive, that a dry laugh nearly slipped out of her — she caught herself and quickly shielded the girl from everyone else's view.

Going by the high priest's reaction, the part about the bones seemed to be true.

"Aagh, aagh!"

The high priest was still screaming, and the other priests didn't know what to do, panicking around him.

Victory ceremony or not, the whole thing had fallen apart.

---

The more the crowd's confusion deepened, the more eyes turned toward Lecashe.

Sensing it, Lyssel positioned his whole body as a screen, shielding Iberin and Rozelia, and quickly got them out of there.

But nobody dared point out that Lecashe had left without paying his respects to the emperor.

They slipped away from public eyes and made it back to Nais's townhouse.

On the way, Rozelia didn't open her eyes, which sent everyone into a brief panic.

"Mm…"

It turned out she'd just fallen asleep.

Then again, she'd been through so much — of course she was exhausted.

When they laid the child down on the bed, Ether, who'd trailed along, naturally claimed the spot next to her.

"She's not sick, is she?"

"They said she's just sleeping."

"She looks sick."

"A little rest, and she'll be better."

"Her lips are bleeding too… She must have had a really hard time. But Mommy, big sis was at the temple? What's confinement?"

There was no way little Ether had followed that whole conversation.

But from the mood alone, he'd have picked up that something wasn't good.

"It must have been awful for her. When Rozel wakes up, you make sure to take really good care of her."

"Of course I will. But did big sis Rozel miss me too?"

"Of course she did!"

Ether lay down next to Rozelia after that, glued to her side like a barnacle.

Kal didn't say anything, but he was clearly just as worried — he stayed where he was, quiet.

Iberin smiled, a soft ache in her chest, and gently brushed Rozelia's pink hair back from her face.

How had the child even thought of stepping into the middle of a victory ceremony?

Thanks to her, the temple and the emperor had both gotten knocked flat in one stroke — but Iberin couldn't bring herself to feel any real joy. She was too worried about Rozelia.

She'd expected confinement, more or less. She hadn't imagined the girl had actually been bound.

"My lady, you look terrible. Are you all right?"

"…I'm fine."

"Really?"

Only then did Iberin notice Lyssel, standing right beside her.

"Oh!"

She'd been so out of it that she hadn't even registered him there.

A small sigh escaped her, and she pulled Lyssel into a tight hug.

"Iberin?"

His voice came back a little startled at the sudden move.

"Are you all right? You're not hurt? I'm sorry — I didn't even check on you first."

When her voice followed, Lyssel just wrapped an arm around her shoulder and patted it gently, as if to say it's fine.

"Rozelia and you worry me more than I worry me."

"I'm okay."

When Iberin let her weight fall fully against him, the room went quiet around them.

She didn't know how long they stayed like that, neither of them moving.

"Iberin?"

After a while, something felt off, and Lyssel called her name softly. No response.

He pulled back, alarmed, to check on her — but her face was peaceful, her eyes simply shut.

She'd fallen asleep, just like that, in the space of a moment.

"She must've been exhausted. There's been so much on her mind lately."

Rotte gazed at Iberin with a look of quiet sympathy.

"Let's move her to the bedroom. Your Highness must be tired too — please get some rest."

"…All right."

He still remembered the shock of getting the second letter in the west.

The part about Rozelia being kidnapped by the temple, and Iberin being in the capital.

The gap between when the letter was sent and when it arrived had been so long that Lyssel had nearly lost his composure and torn off for the capital on the spot.

If she'd dropped off this completely, she'd really been pushing herself.

He was just grateful she'd held on.

---

The capital was in an uproar.

With the truth coming out — the temple had locked up the Saintess and tried to force holy power out of her — their authority crashed straight to the ground.

A full-scale investigation got underway into the bones in the basement the Saintess had spoken of.

It happened before the temple could so much as move. When the remains turned up in massive quantities, the scandal exploded.

"It was actually true."

"Then those remains are all…"

People couldn't bring themselves to finish the thought.

"But why?"

Of course, nobody understood the deeper reason behind it.

The temple had always wielded holy power freely.

Nobody had even imagined any of that could be a lie.

This wasn't something that was going to die down quickly.

The Pope was sticking to I know nothing, and the high priest was a wanted man.

He'd watched the situation and slipped out.

That he'd managed to vanish in the moment was something — but with every set of eyes hunting him, it was only a matter of time before he turned up.

---

Lyssel had come home, and Rozelia was safe. Everything had gone quiet.

"My lady…?"

"Rozel — you're awake?!"

After collapsing, Rozelia had slept a full day before her eyes opened again.

"Where am I?"

"In the capital. We're at someone I know's place. You've never met him, but Nais — a pretty well-known lawyer."

While Iberin was explaining, Rozelia pressed her lips together and kept her eyes darting from face to face.

It hurt to watch, and Iberin reached out and stroked her hair gently.

After a few more blinks, Rozelia asked,

"I'm back now?"

"…Yeah."

"Really?"

"Yeah. For real."

Rotte, Kal, Ether — they all came into her line of sight.

And the last person she'd seen before collapsing — Lyssel.

Only then did Rozelia burst into open sobs.

The child who'd held it together in front of all those people was finally crying.

Ether, whose eyes had been welling since Rozelia opened hers, bawled too.

Kal, just as quietly, swiped his sleeve across his face, hiding the tears.

Somehow, in a heartbeat, the bedroom turned into a flood.

The only one not crying was Lyssel, but his expression was just as pained.

---

Rozelia was up and about quickly.

She hadn't actually been sick — stress and exhaustion had just piled up and knocked her out.

What worried Iberin more was the mental damage Rozelia must have taken.

She'd been bound and locked away, and she'd seen bodies stacked like a mountain.

"…Rozel, you're really okay?"

"I told you I'm okay!"

Rozelia put on a bright smile, but it still nagged at her.

It was the kind of thing no child should have had to look at.

"If anything's hard, you have to tell me."

"Yes. Look, I don't like being sick either. I'm seriously fine."

Despite everyone's worry, Rozelia just kept smiling, bright as ever.

"To be honest, I think it's amazing too. It was awful, and I really felt like I'd die if I couldn't get out of there. But all the people I love are here — and just like that, everything feels good, like a lie!"

"Really?"

"Oh, do I just lie to you all the time?"

"Pft. Fine. All right, I won't ask anymore."

That was when a real laugh finally came.

She'd still keep an eye on her, of course, but she decided to stop fretting over every breath.

"Anyway — so Ether and Kal aren't going to be glued to Mommy anymore? Just Rozel?"

Iberin pretended to pout.

Ether and Kal hadn't peeled themselves off Rozelia since she'd woken up.

"Huh?"

Ether looked at her, thrown.

"Ether, so you like Rozel more than Mommy now…"

"No!"

He bolted upright and flung himself into Iberin's arms.

Rozelia, who'd been calmly blinking through this, said,

"You don't like Rozel?"

The round back of Ether's head, buried in Iberin's chest, twitched.

"Oh… I didn't know…"

Her voice came out small, and Ether visibly wavered.

"Noooo. Big sis Rozel is great."

"Oh. But you yelled no so fast, my heart hurts a little."

"Sorry. But…"

"So who do you like more, Rozel or Lady Iberin?"

Every head turned to Ether.

His eyes shook violently.

"Huh?"

"Who do you like more."

"I gotta pick? Ether likes both…"

"My heart hurts…"

Rozelia immediately clutched at her chest, grimacing.

Ether looked up at Iberin, pleading for help.

"Ether, who is it?"

But Iberin was clearly in on it with Rozelia.

"Hngh."

He scrunched up his face, on the verge of tears.

"So who is it."

"Is it me?"

"It's me, right?"

Ether couldn't answer.

He liked them both — how was he supposed to pick just one?

He wasn't old enough to put any of that into words, so he just stammered helplessly.

Knock, knock—

Then a knock came at the door, and Lyssel appeared.

"Your Highness!"

His face lit up like he'd spotted a savior, and Ether ran over and threw himself into Lyssel's arms.

Lyssel caught the boy mid-flight on reflex and blinked slowly down at him.

Back in the day he'd have frozen up, holding Ether at the worst possible angle — but he'd gotten a lot better at holding him.

"Lyssel, didn't you go to rest?"

"I rested enough."

"What do you mean, enough? Your face is still half-dead!"

"Is it?"

"You look haggard."

Iberin's gaze landed on him, worried.

After Rozelia had woken up, Iberin had sent Lyssel straight off to rest.

He was a man who didn't even know how to rest properly, so she'd deliberately forced him to stop doing anything before he'd finally laid down.

Even then, he couldn't fall asleep — he'd tossed and turned forever, until Iberin sat with him to keep him company. She'd come to see Rozelia the second he'd nodded off, and now here he was, already up.

"I checked you were asleep before I left."

"I woke up."

"…I'll put you back to sleep."

"Yes."

A faint smile played at the corner of Lyssel's mouth.