Translator: Wawaa
Editor: WilsonWilson
The first to be caught was the lady-in-waiting who wielded a dagger at Sonnet, followed by the black sorcerer who caused the explosion. It was Demian who caught the black sorcerer, but he handed him over to the royal guardian knight before he could even take off his helmet. He slipped out of the place just like that.
The King closed the banquet hall and investigated everyone, including Sonnet’s aides. In that process, the mercenaries in priest’s robes and spies pretending to be workers were also arrested.
But no one testified that the mastermind of the attack was Prince Sidhar.
“Lara!”
Isadora rushed to Sonnet’s bedroom. She sighed with a pale face when she saw Lara lying in bed.
“I’m fine.”
“You were just stabbed. How can you say that? Lara, what in the world are you…”
Lara, who was lying on her side on Sonnet’s bed, checked that no one was in the room except Isadora and gently got up.
“Look at this.”
Lara revealed the tear on the dress. It was covered in blood, fortunately, it was camouflaged with her red velvet dress.
Isadora’s worried gaze reached Lara. But there was no wound. Although she obviously said she was stabbed in place of the Princess, her body was fine. Only her dress was torn. Only dried-out blood clots were spread out here and there.
“I told you I’m a saintess.”
“The God… I mean…”
“He gave me healing powers only usable for me. I can’t heal others.”
Isadora stumbled and sank into the chair. With one hand on her forehead, she murmured to God, ‘Good job’.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be that reckless. Somehow, before I knew it, my body moved first.”
It was a lie. The moment Lara wrapped her arms around Sonnet, she clearly thought that it was better if she was the one getting stabbed because she could heal fast.
Isadora did not seem to believe Lara. she wanted to get angry and scold her not to do such a thing again, but it was difficult to say it recklessly because there were many people outside.
“Don’t do that again.”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
“Does the Princess know about this?”
“She knows. It could not be helped.”
“What about your friends?”
“They know too.”
Eunice and Ximena saw her getting stabbed, but as soon as they brought her to the room, her wound disappeared, so Lara had no choice but to tell them the truth.
Isadora sighed again.
“Demian managed to catch the black sorcerer. Even the lady-in-waiting who attacked Sonnet and a few others were caught but…”
“None would have named Prince Sidhar.”
Lara sighed. If not because of her dizziness, she wanted to quickly get up and go out to find out what happened. Nevertheless, she was still dizzy because she lost a lot of blood.
“What happened to the Prince?”
“He was acting like he was the angriest out of all of them while shouting that he must capture all the black sorcerers who are hiding in Hautean.”
“The fake saintesses?”
“The priests hid them and took them to the temple.”
That was for the better. Lara told Isadora.
“Mother.”
“Yeah.”
“Prince Sidhar will try to kill the fake saintesses. They know they are fake, but at the party held by the Prince, and at the table where the Prince asked them to sit, there was an explosion… If they don’t want to die, they will make an attempt to leave the Prince.”
“They will still die even if they leave.”
“Before the Prince makes his move, I need to meet them.”
It was told to the public that Lara was receiving treatment for her injuries at Princess Sonnet’s palace. However, she was sneaking out of the Princess Palace every night and trying to make secret contact with the fake saintesses in the temple.
The two fake saintesses were extremely frightened and initially refused to meet anyone. Unable to even trust the priests, they just screamed in their rooms.
“Go away! You’re trying to kill me again, right? Saintess or whatever, I won’t do that ever again!”
The farmer’s wife was especially frightened. Lara already told her several times that she was neither a priest nor was she the Prince’s follower, but it was no use. Fear had paralyzed her rationality, thus making her refuse to listen to anything.
After three days had passed, the farmer’s wife, who had been suffering from fear of death, took the bribes she had collected and ran away at night with her husband. For them, it was their struggle for survival.
But as soon as they fled, they were found dead in a secluded alley outside the capital. As if they had been robbed, all the valuables they had stolen had disappeared. It was the work of Prince Sidhar.
The only fake saintess left was unable to eat or sleep after hearing the news. She was scared to death. She was fine with being thrown away. She was fine with being kicked out far away. Everything was fine, as long as her life was spared. Now she did not know who to be wary of. There was no way to know who to trust.
Lara came to her, who was hiding in her room while sobbing and screaming. Then, Lara stood in front of the door and said.
“Your parents are being protected by my mother.”
“W-who are you?”
“The one that you insulted for not having a dad.”
Lara could not tell if she was crying or shaking, but she kept hearing voices from inside.
Lara said calmly.
“You must be thinking that you’re safe in the temple, but there are Prince Sidhar’s followers in here. I’m sure you have noticed that.”
“What… What do you want from me?”
“Tell the King everything.”
“If I do that I will die! Either die on the hand of the Prince or die at the scaffold, I will still die either way!”
“Promise me you will tell him everything honestly. Then, I will help you live away from Hautean with your parents.”
“Liar!”
The fake saintess did not believe Lara’s words. She seemed to think that Lara would grab her hair and lead her to the royal palace as soon as she opened the door and stepped outside her room.
“Oi.”
This was the last warning. If she refused again, Lara would bring Demian in and break the door.
“Think again who saved your life at the banquet, b!#$h. What would have happened if I hadn’t pulled your hair there?”
There was a limit in how many times Lara could bribe the priests. Her identity could be revealed if she came more. As Lara sounded frustrated and irritated, the fake saintess opened the door and came out. Her swollen face was a mess. Her hair was scattered like a ghost, and it was hollow under her eyes.
“Are you sure… my parents are safe?”
“Yeah.”
“A, am going to die?”
“No, just put forward the worst guy in front of you.”
Lara was able to take the fake saintess out of the temple to the royal palace. Even the fake saintess belatedly realized that was the only way she could live. They sneaked out of the temple, rode the carriage, and moved straight to the royal palace.
The fake saintess prostrated herself before the King while crying and begging.
“I’m a fake. It was also a lie that there was a black sorcerer who pointed me out as the saintess. It was a self-fabricated scenario plotted out by my father and Prince Sidhar.”
The King was in shock. He was a gentle and indecisive monarch. He hoped Sonnet would be the next King, but he did not want to believe Sidhar tried to kill his younger sister.
“Is that true? How dare you…posing as a fake?”
“I was wrong. Your Majesty, please forgive me. I could not help it because the Prince told me to do it!”
“The Prince told you to do it? Can you take responsibility for what you just said?”
If she wanted to cover up her own faults, she could accuse someone who has committed a bigger one. The fake saintess followed Lara’s advice.
“He told me not to worry because there was no such thing as a real saintess. He told me that if I did well, I could become the Princess Consort one day. He said he would make my father a duke. I just…did what I was told to do without knowing anything. I didn’t know the Prince would try to kill the Princess. I’m telling you the truth!”
“Is anybody there?”
“He said he would be the King, he didn’t say anything about the Princess. It’s either a little early or late. I thought I just had to pretend to be a saintess and support the Prince…”
“Bring the Prince now!”
The angry King screamed and gave orders to catch Prince Sidhar.
“It was the Prince who told me to sit at the table and hold on to the Princess when she came. I didn’t expect there would be an explosion. I beg for your forgiveness, Your Majesty. Please forgive me! Spare my life! I will do anything if you let me live!”
At that point, the mercenaries in the priests’ robe also told the truth one by one. They had no loyalty to their employer and they knew that the later they confessed the higher their chances of death would be.
“We have been ordered to help the black sorcerer approach the table where the fake saintesses would sit. We didn’t know the table would explode…”
They were all employed by the Prince’s aides. All the circumstances, all the testimony pointed to Prince Sidhar.
The royal guardian knights were ordered to catch the Prince. They surrounded the Prince’s Palace with a face stiffer than ever.
“Listen here, Prince Sidhar!”
The King ordered them to drag the Prince like a sinner. If the Prince rebelled, they were allowed to use their weapons.
“Come out here and kneel down to His Majesty!”
The Prince’s Palace was quiet. Even his knights and aides who were supposed to be protecting him were nowhere to be seen.
“Get in! I permit the execution of anyone who tries to protect the prince or aid in his escape!”
The knights pulled out their weapons. With the King’s knights trampling on the palace with muddy feet, they opened the door to the Prince’s room by force. The Prince’s followers ran out with torches in their hands and set the palace on fire. They were soon dragged out and decapitated by the knights.
“Find the Prince!”
The Prince’s palace was on fire. Sidhar’s house—one of the most beautiful buildings in Hautean—was engulfed in red flame.
Traitor, immoral son, demon worshipper, back-stabber, sacrilegious, crook, murderer, filthy swindler.
Now all these labels would be in front of Prince Sidhar’s name. When all the atrocities he had committed were revealed and exposed one by one, all the people in Hautean would spit on his trace and insult his name.
Lara was looking at the scene. Black smoke soared high into the sky. As she looked at his burning palace, she remembered the altar that had been set up to burn herself alive before she died.
Sidhar Hautean, the perfect Prince. I swallowed poison with my hands. Should I see what you will do?
