I Became the Villain’s Wife - Chapter 70

~ 70 ~

Translator: Lioness

They exchanged glanced at each other and masked themselves insensitive about the topic before responding to Ikshid,

“The chief is on the heavy duty of assisting the national treasure…”

“…The entire Black Cathedral is an important task of assisting the treasure of that country, isn’t it? Thus, if skilled and accurate people were to be recruited, the chief will have the time to leave his post for a while…”

Ikshid twisted his lips as if their words were all absurd.

“How many people do you think should stick to protecting a piece of treasure? I didn’t expect you, who are from the White Cathedral, which is the highest educational institution of the Empire, to be so weak.”

After a brief silence, he added meaningfully.

“… Or is it that the priests are busy picking up the claws of the chief and do not have time to take care of the precious thing yourselves?”

(TN: Picking up claws means controlling someone.)

The senate’s faces at Ikshid words became as white as oatmeal porridge after eating.

The Black Cathedral was not paid a separate budget from the Empire. However, the reason that such a cathedral was able to become the largest structure in Hellasium was because of the offerings that had been crushing the spines of commoners and colonial nations for centuries ago.

The budget, which was not set apart from the denomination, would change with every change of time at every successor’s change.

Now, Ikshid was to condemn donations implemented indiscriminately at Black St. Mary’s Church after the current heir took the throne.

It was just a plausible donation, but in fact it was money that was nothing more than a tax from the hard-earned money of the commoners. The amount was so high that the imperial family had no choice but to impose sanctions.

The Senate, which heard the prince’s words, who had exposed the evils of the Black Cathedral before them, jumped up and frantically protested.

“Your Highness, that’s complete absurdity…! Please don’t say such words!”

“If you say it like that, the deed of the heir undermines the reputation of the church! Please correct your words right away..!”

After they have expressed their resentment, they become silent and even their blood stands on their neck. At one point, after hearing that, the silent Duke, Tashian, struck the table with a clenched fist and it made a thud sound.

“…. No matter how much you say that you are one group of statesmen, you must not forget the dignity of the status of the person in front of you. Isn’t being impolite and shouting against the proper etiquette, what’s more, to a Crown Prince? Moreover, if you invited a member of the Royal Family into the sanctuary, you should have been prepared for this kind of insult.”

Glancing into the duke’s brooding eyes, who gave no room for refutation, the members of the statesmen chatted among themselves.

Seeing this, Tashian twisted his facial muscles and swept his eyes coldly.

“… Or should I cut off the ears that had heard the words of His Highness right here and remove the evidence easily?”

As soon as those words were spoken, the group of elders closed their mouths, froze on their spot, and adjusted their posture.

Tashian looked at those old men with no pity.

The inside of the Black Cathedral was a completely quarantined and inviolable area that even the emperor’s officers could not enter. Although it was free from sanctions or interference from the imperial family, it meant that a safe zone could not be guaranteed.

The elders flushed from anger as if trembling at the warning of Tashian. The disgrace was doubled because he was the half-brother of the heir, who was well aware of Tashian’s humble origins.

However, even after the sword was confiscated at the entrance of the cathedral, they could not resist the duke wearing the empty scabbard around his waist.

In the end, the members of the elders stopped urging Ikshid to apologize and moved the topic.

“Your Highness……! I would like to inform you that the royal family still has a duty to obey the reasonable orders of the heirs. The Duke Verk’s participation in the Knights Competition is not a recommendation, but a direct order from the chief.”

In the end, the problem is back at hand. The issue that a group of elders brought with them was the participation of Tashian Verk, the Duke and the Knight Commander of the Hellasium Imperial Knights, in the Knights’ Competition.

Ikshid kicked the table as if frustrated and jumped to his feet. The gatekeeper of the temple, who was waiting in front of the door, took a step forward at his sudden action, but was blocked by the cold gaze from the duke.

“Then why don’t you tell me…! How many times are you going to make me repeat the same words…!”

The Crown Prince wheezes in anger and paces back and forth.

“We are not the subject of orders. All of this is part of what the Chief has told us to tell us directly, and we are merely representatives of him……”

The senate stopped and he groaned.

“You would have understood me if your head was already hanging!”

Ikshid hurriedly approached the round table, screaming to the point of breaking his throat. At his anger-filled momentum, several members of the Senate shuddered and could only stare back at him.

The Crown Prince spread his hands and touched the round table as if slamming it down, making eye contact with the elders, one person at a time. He sharpened his teeth, lavishly expressing his fiery fury.

“The original purpose of the Knights Competition is to boost the morale of the knights, to strengthen the unity within the Knights Templar, and to gain public opinion by revealing all these processes. Any ordinary man would understand that the meaning would be useless if the commander-in-chief, Duke Verk, participated in such a competition…! Alright then, so let’s talk about what happens after he becomes the winner and defeats the young knights who have never even thrown a ballot before and saw how things turned out to be only a laughingstock to the whole world! Still, isn’t there one or two cases that are truly suspicious?”

He pointed to the goal as if suppressing the involuntary fire.

“Do you know how many knights are currently resident in Hellasium? Just three, three! Even though Cremons’ knight battle has a deep history and produced countless famous knights, it is not a prestigious competition that suddenly leads to a fierce duel between knights from all over the continent within a year, I admit this! But two weeks ago, Karzxion Ubera of the Mezzolin Central Knights led a large number of his men to visit here as if they were intruding. A few days ago, after hearing the news, the three-stoned Redyuk Kursval and the knights of the Iron Cross, who are active from Miremba, suddenly appeared and announced their participation! Do you think these are all mere coincidences…?”

Ikshid glared with his glistening golden eyes as if he could see through the group of elders.

“I don’t think this is a coincidence, do you? But, you hear me say that I should throw the duke into the boiling pot where the knights who live and die are gathering together like a lawless land…? Whose business it is, it is like filling an anthill with urine!”

The Crown Prince, who had poured out all his anger, pulled his chair roughly and sat back down.

Then he threatened with an infinitely softer voice, as if he had ever screamed in a frenzy.

“… I don’t care if you guys say that I favor Duke Verk. You all think I haven’t noticed that the chief has been throwing the Duke every time he has a chance to fight on every battlefield, every knight, every time? No! I was rather watching. And with my two eyes, I saw this man in front of me, coming out of the trap set by his half-brother for many years.”

“Your Highness, that is an obvious misunderstanding…!”

“I’m not done talking yet!”

The Crown Prince raised his head in the direction of one of the members of the elders and declared.

“You’re lucky that I’m in the sanctuary in front of you all as I openly say what’s on my mind. I can’t give you the duke. This face-to-face meeting is to be passed to the chief. There’s no second time!”

At the conclusion given by the Crown Prince, the group of elders stood up, opening their mouths to say their disapproval.

But before they could persuade the prince to sit down again, the gatekeeper of the sanctuary, who was watching them, dared to bow his head and tell Ikshid.

“Your… Your Highness, the Crown Prince. I have something to tell you.”

The air in the meeting room, which seemed to be choked by the heat of anger that had been burning a while ago, subsided in an instant. Some elder members frowned at the obstruction of the gatekeeper.

However, Ikshid ignored them and gave an order to the gatekeeper who knelt before him.

As if it was a troublesome thing again, he frowned in arrogance.

“What is it? Don’t waste my time and speak quickly.”

“It, it is… there is an urgent visitor in search of the Crown Prince and His Excellency, the Duke Verk.”

“Visitor? To the Black Cathedral?”

Who knew they were here and came to visit?

It was customary for the heir to have a meeting face-to-face, no matter how High-ranking he is, to proceed in strict secrecy. Unless they witnessed the scene of commanding on the spot, the royal secretary would not know that they were even inside the black cathedral.

The gatekeeper, who knew this well, was helpless and shook his head.

“Yes… I know it’s against the doctrinal law, but the person who requested the visit. He also identified himself and said that he had an urgent emergency that occurred while carrying out the duties directly assigned by the Duke and the Crown Prince. He cites a relatively specific reason, and that …… I…”

“Saying that, me, what are you trying to say? Don’t make me frustrated!”

It was only when the crown prince called out that the gatekeeper broke into a cold sweat and continued to answer.

“He made a riot at the entrance of the cathedral saying he would use force to enter if he couldn’t see the Crown Prince and the Duke inside.

“Who is it?”

Then the Duke got up with a sound of dragging the legs of the chair and asked the gatekeeper.

“Yes?”

“The name of the person who requested the visit. Didn’t you say that he identified himself?”

At the duke’s frown, the gatekeeper replied, bowing his head in embarrassment.

“Ye, yes! That’s when he showed himself to be a knight, saying that he was Lord Gerald Ouns, vice-leader of the Imperial Knights Templar…”

As soon as the gatekeeper’s words fell, Tashian and Ikshid’s eyes met each other.

It wasn’t long after that the knight Gerald Ouns’s gray hair bowed his head and knelt in front of them.

They were still in the same conference room. However, it was after all the members of the Senate, who were face-to-face with them as a substitute for the heir, moved to another room for a while.

As soon as two large gatekeepers appeared, with a daunting attitude, tying Sir Ouns to either side of him, Ikshid approached him in a single step.

Gerald Ouns’s body was still drenched in sweat, and his clothes and face were full of dust. Friction during the protests in front of the cathedral had caused new scratches on the face and under his rolled-up sleeves.

“No, what is this…!”

Ikshid threw an ecstatic look at Sir Ouns. Tashian also made Gerald raise his head, who was hurriedly bowing his head in front of them with an urgent expression.

The first words that came to his mind were brought out of his mouth.

“The Young Misses? Where are the two and you’re alone here?”

Gerald hardened his expression and was different to the Crown Prince and the Duke, who were waiting for him to answer.

Ikshid felt annoyed at him when Sir Ouns was reluctant to answer.

“I am sure you know what is happening here to me and to the duke, right? Now why can’t you talk and tell what exactly happened?”

“Your Highness… I have nothing to tell you. It was unexpected for me too, so even though I was ordered to escort the two Young Misses to the duke’s residence myself, I could not cope well with the sudden situation that occurred.”

Upon hearing Ouns’s ambiguous answer, Tashian’s face became as pale as that of a sailor who immediately sensed a shipwreck.

He gnawed at his teeth and grabbed Gerald’s by the neck as if terrified.

“Tell me now! Where is Eleanor…!”