Chapter 148 - North Rabbit

Episode 148

Overnight, news of this incident spread in all directions.

First to the imperial palace, and then to the nobles and influential commoners.

By the time dawn broke, this terrible and ominous situation was known throughout the imperial capital.

The most serious problem was that no bodies or personal effects of the Crown Prince and his Consort had been found at the scene at all.

This, of course, led to intense debate.

"We cannot conclude that they have passed away! Their bodies have not yet been found, have they?"

"No, but wasn't it reported that His Highness the Crown Prince's bloodstains were discovered? The Emperor himself confirmed it was the trace of dragon's blood."

"Moreover, you saw the state the temple was in!"

The collapse and fire had left the scene in utter chaos.

"That alone is not enough to be certain! This is a matter concerning the imperial line, of all things!"

Looking down at those who seemed ready to grab each other by the collar and fight right there in the State Council meeting, the Emperor merely sat on the throne with a shadowed face, keeping his mouth shut.

Amidst this, another rumor began to spread.

It started circulating through the few survivors from the temple's side.

"They say a miracle rain fell, preventing the fire from spreading?"

"If the fire had accidentally spread to the entire plain, this year's harvest would have been ruined, wasn't that it?"

"That truly is a miracle. Something to be grateful for. To Lord Artanus..."

"Tsk! You, it seems you didn't hear it properly. Why are you suddenly bringing up Lord Artanus?"

"Well, because he is the master of the plains..."

"Have you ever heard of a dragon making it rain? On the contrary... there's even a rumor that this fire was the dragon's wrath."

"You don't say..."

"A dragon's breath is said to be an inextinguishable fire, isn't it?"

"If that were the case, it shouldn't have been extinguished by rain either."

"They say it was a special rain that prevented the disaster?"

"A special rain?"

"They say a noble lady prayed with tears, and the god of the heavens sent down rain to save us!"

This rumor began spreading from the ground up, spreading like wildfire.

* * *

Wilhelm Filerermo, his face haggard, gave Evangeline a brief report.

"The rumors are spreading smoothly. There are already those calling you the blessed Rain Saintess, Lady Evangeline."

At those words, a satisfied smile spread across Evangeline's lips.

But the next moment, she erupted with venomous anger as if switching masks.

It was directed at Archbishop Bio of the Celestial God, who stood beside her.

Evangeline flipped back the black veil covering her face.

"When exactly will my face be completely healed?"

The wounds inflicted by Arpad's attack had healed quite rapidly.

It was the result of the Archbishop and other priests of the Celestial God doing their utmost.

Of course, such severe wounds couldn't possibly heal in just a few days.

But Evangeline was not satisfied in the least.

The initial terrible pain was gone, but the skin still felt tight, and the scabs had fallen off, revealing new skin growth that was unbearably itchy.

Told that touching it would leave a significant scar, she couldn't even scratch it.

She was simply irritated.

Evangeline picked up a vase and threw it right next to the Archbishop.

Crash!

"The priest with the most powerful divine power in history? And you can't even properly heal a wound like this?"

"...We are doing our best. This is truly fast for..."

"Shut up! My flawless skin is left with this hideous thing!"

She also threw and shattered the mirror handed to her by a priest she treated like a maid.

Over the past few days, dozens of mirrors in the Celestial God's temple, the Rus Marquisate residence, and various places in the Empress's Palace had been smashed.

Evangeline stamped her foot in anger.

"Like this, I can't properly show my face as a saintess, nor as the Crown Princess!"

It was the Empress who pointed out Evangeline's presumptuous words in a cold voice.

"You can't call yourself the Crown Princess, can you? You have never married Arpad."

Evangeline's eyes narrowed sharply.

"Anyway, I will bear Arpad's child, and I will put that child on the throne, so I am the Crown Princess and the future Empress."

Evangeline made a strong demand again.

"Since it was you, Mother, who ruined things, you must properly help me this time. Wasn't it I who got the Platinum Key back for you?"

"No. It was you who interfered with my affairs."

The atmosphere between mother and daughter grew even more hostile.

The conflict between the two had begun after the incident at the temple.

After piecing together the circumstances, the two had discovered that each had secretly plotted a scheme against Arpad.

The Empress had plotted to drive Arpad's madness into a rampage.

Evangeline had plotted to seduce Arpad and bear his child.

And as a result of the Empress's actions, Arpad had run amok in his madness, ruining Evangeline's plot.

'And on top of that, this scar is left on my face! How dare she hold her head up so shamelessly...'

Evangeline's resentment over the facial wound caused by Arpad's rampage was intense.

On the other hand, the Empress also believed her daughter's meddling had hindered her own plans.

'If only Evangeline hadn't meddled unnecessarily, I could have seen Arpad and that wretched thing's corpses together.'

Amidst the confusion, a question that felt almost absurdly calm burst forth.

"But is it really true that the Crown Prince and Crown Princess are dead?"

Negative gazes gathered from all sides.

The tactless speaker was none other than Tower Lord Gaspard.

"We've searched the collapsed temple and the surrounding area several times, but no bodies were found. Unlike the priests."

The priests of the Earth Mother Goddess and the Celestial God, whom Archbishop Bio had abandoned and fled, were found as corpses.

But no trace of Hilia or Arpad was found anywhere.

This was also a concern for those gathered here.

'What if the two are alive? And what if they return and try to publicly expose our conspiracy?'

It was a chilling assumption.

Evangeline retorted.

"If that were the case, why haven't they appeared by now? From their perspective, revealing themselves immediately would be more advantageous!"

This was a valid point.

It was precisely because the two had disappeared and not reappeared that they could continue their plans.

With the Crown Prince missing, Evangeline gained the opportunity to claim she was carrying his child.

Also, with the Crown Princess missing, the Platinum Key naturally returned to the Empress. The confinement was also lifted.

The Emperor was barely holding on, but he was greatly shocked and wavering.

The Archbishop asked the Empress and the Tower Lord.

"If we drive the Emperor into a mad rampage using that secret method you two know of, wouldn't the throne become completely vacant?"

The Empress reacted sharply.

"That won't do!"

The Empress, who had unconsciously raised her voice, soon erased the expression that revealed her emotions and replied calmly.

"He must live to lose everything."

It was a statement steeped in icy resentment.

The Archbishop was displeased with the Empress prioritizing personal vengeance.

But the Empress's help was absolutely necessary, and it was impossible to persuade her separately, so he merely took a step back.

The Tower Lord shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't care either way."

He had no interest whatsoever in political matters or personal grudges.

"By the way, when are you starting 'that'? Shouldn't we do it as soon as possible? That way we can announce it sooner too."

Fingers crackling with magical circuits moved restlessly, as if impatient.

"Keep your promise quickly. Otherwise, I might just run to the Emperor right now and expose the truth."

It was an outright threat.

Ultimately, the Archbishop had to cooperate with the Tower Lord.

Because Evangeline had promised.

"Don't you want to experiment with a homunculus, a mixture of dragon and human, created using both divine and magical power?"

This statement was based on the original work the possessor had read.

Later than now, there was a plot where the temple, with the help of the Magical Tower, tried to create a fake imperial family member to put forward.

Both the Magical Tower and the temple had researched the imperial bloodline for different reasons, and during that process, cooperation led by the temple's side had occurred.

'A homunculus created by mixing imperial flesh and blood, dragon's body, and ordinary human flesh and blood.'

The Magical Tower had consistently tried to create such experimental subjects using imperial flesh and blood, but they failed as the bodies couldn't be maintained and collapsed.

There was a part where the Tower Lord himself said they barely succeeded by mixing divine power to stabilize it.

Evangeline presented this as if it were her own idea.

Of course, it was clear that stabilizing it would be difficult since magical and divine power repelled each other.

'But it's not a bad idea to try utilizing divine power. All living beings possess both magical and divine power.'

From Gaspard's perspective, this was a means to take one step closer to his goal of recreating a dragon.

All sorts of materials were gathered. The most important was imperial blood and flesh.

Ludwig's had been secured sufficiently in the past, and Arpad's blood had also been obtained from this incident.

And then the dragon's body parts passed down in the imperial family. Heart, bones, scales, and so on.

"A high-purity dragon heart is needed."

"Mother. There was a dragon heart in the Empress's custody, wasn't there?"

When it was mentioned that it was in the Tower Lord's possession, gazes focused on Gaspard. Pressure to hand it over immediately.

But Gaspard chuckled softly and shrugged his shoulders.

"I used it all up."

"What?!"

"That powerful dragon heart?!"

"Isn't it strange to expect a dragon heart that came into my hands to still remain by now?"

No one could refute this statement.

In the end, the dragon heart was replaced with a smaller, lower-purity one.

Delighted by the new experiment, Gaspard thought.

'Hmm. Had I known this would happen, maybe I shouldn't have sold it...'

* * *

For the first time, I learned that being too shocked could actually make one calm.

"Surely not... Arta...nus?"

A head larger than my entire body drew near.

The sight was so unreal that I even forgot my fear.

-Thou art not mistaken. My bride.

The voice ringing in my head was too loud. But something came before that.

Now that I was conscious, I had to find Arpad first.

Fortunately, he was lying collapsed right next to me.

Pretending to check his condition, I tried to wake him.

"Arpad! Wake up!"

"......"

But he did not open his eyes. Worried something might be wrong, I checked, but his life was not in danger.

He simply would not wake up.

It was an unfamiliar sight.

Because he was always sensitive and sharp, I had never seen him lose consciousness like this.

Even when deeply asleep, he would wake if I called or touched him.

'Why is he like this? Ah, could it be a side effect of the madness?'

That's when it happened. An answer, willful and to a question I alone held, came to me.

-It is not due to the madness, so worry not. My bride.

I raised my head and looked up at the enormous dragon's golden head.

My neck felt like it would break.

"Can you read my thoughts?"

-Indeed I can. My bride.

This was the first I knew a dragon could do such a thing.

I couldn't help but flinch at the words that followed.

-No matter how much thou tryst to wake him, it shall be in vain. For I have put that child to sleep.

Fear like a thunderbolt struck my mind.

'Bride of the Dragon.'

Was my existence something that applied only to Arpad?

What if I were also a 'bride' to another dragon?

"He might try to eat me... or perhaps try to merge with my body."