Chapter 78 – Guests

Imperial palace reception room.

The high ceiling and straight pillars pulled the field of vision upward, and the marble floor left only a heavy luster, excluding unnecessary decorations.

A place where not only hospitality, but authority and judgment resided.

It was Yennifer, another master of the imperial family, who welcomed those who came on behalf of the Emperor.

Those who came to find her had a firm purpose.

The Magic Tower was the same.

“Our Dharma Mage Division will capture the representative of the Golden Age Party.”

Dharma Officer Aren.

Dressed in pure white robes, he came representing the Dharma Mage Division.

“Instead, there is a condition. Please hand over the Immortal Heart, the treasure of the imperial family, to us.”

The demanded condition was excessive.

It was a treasure that had been with the imperial family for a thousand years of history.

“Dharma Officer Aren…… you are asking for a difficult favor.”

Just like the Holy Order.

The Magic Tower also never shrank back against the imperial family.

“We came knowing that the imperial family is not in a position to choose this or that. Do you want Kaiser’s life? If so, our Dharma Mage Division will be the answer.”

“Would something else not do? If possible, I will pay the price with monetary compensation.”

Aren showed a smile of suspicion.

“Monetary compensation? Does the imperial family still have that level of capacity left?”

“It is the master of the Empire that has continued for a thousand years. That much leeway still remains.”

“If you are thinking of giving national bonds instead, I will politely decline. Furthermore, our Dharma Mage Division is not a mercenary group that moves simply by being enticed by gold.”

Her expression hardened.

“May I ask why you are so obsessed with the Immortal Heart?”

“It is simple. That person wants it.”

Who could “that person” he spoke of be?

“If you say that person, does the Grand Dharma Officer want it?”

Aren lightly shook his head.

He was not a figure to be compared to a mere Grand Dharma Officer.

An out-of-spec being who transcended the non-human.

Even he, as a Dharma Officer, would not dare to fathom.

“Even the title of Archmage is a word insufficient to contain his status.”

“Did such a great person exist in the Magic Tower?”

“Yes, and that person strongly desires the Immortal Heart. Although the reason cannot be known, it is true that he strongly desires it.”

He did not have a face that could be persuaded.

She asked for understanding.

“I will think about it for now.”

The next Magic Tower person who came was the same.

The princess broached the subject to the doll-like girl sitting across the tea table.

“I did not know a member of the Purgatory Witches would come to visit.”

The witch sitting across from the princess.

She felt like a doll that had been placed in that spot since long ago.

Although she breathed, there was no feeling of being alive at all.

In her expressionless face, no trace of emotion remained, and her eyes were clear like glass yet harbored an unfathomable darkness.

Her slender and small frame was fragile as if it would break even in the wind, and a stillness as if a heartbeat did not exist was nested.

The heartless Hell Girl.

It was the witch Gehenna.

“I heard there is a still-beating heart in the imperial family.”

The witch, who was continuing her words quietly, gently placed her hand on her chest.

“I want that heart.”

Why was what they wanted all the same?

The princess wore a somewhat troubled expression.

“I met with the Magic Tower’s Dharma Officer earlier too. He wanted the same thing. If the two who came from the Magic Tower want the same thing, what should I do? Should I tear it and divide it for you?”

Gehenna still had an expressionless face.

“Did the Dharma Officer want that too?”

“Yes, he wanted the same thing as you.”

She had a casual face, but a fierce murderous intent was rising in her eyes.

“Whoever interferes with my work, their heart won’t be in that spot.”

The princess narrowed her brows.

There were bad rumors she had heard regarding her.

Although the rumors related to witches were often bad, the ones about her were particularly gory.

‘They say everyone loses their heart, right?’

Those who met her, without exception, reportedly lost their heart.

Whether it was extracted was unclear, but the corpses she left behind, without exception, had no heart.

“Even if it is the Magic Tower, not everyone was on the same side. I understand well. I will think about it a little more.”

She had intended to send her back like that.

If they were to negotiate using the Immortal Heart, the Dharma Mage Division was better, not the witch.

She had that bad of a reputation and could not be trusted.

However, there was one thing she overlooked.

That she was a ‘witch’.

The princess began to feel an unfamiliar stuffiness in her chest.

The feeling as if her heart was tightening.

Before she knew it, Gehenna’s mana was grasping the princess’s heart in an invisible form.

The witch’s expression cooled freezing.

“Princess, I did not come to ask for a favor.”

Witches were originally those who did not choose any means and methods if it was to achieve their goal.

“If you do not hand over the Immortal Heart……”

The witch who trailed off her words was overwhelmed by the princess’s fierce gaze.

The manifestation of authority.

“Where do you dare think this place is?”

Embarrassment arose on Gehenna’s face.

She reflexively tried to deploy a magic barrier, but it could not block her authority.

To think the authority, which was said not to be possessed by the Emperor, would actually be possessed by her.

It was completely unexpected, and there was no separately prepared device.

The Dominion of Blood began.

Overwhelmed by the irreversible power, the Hell Girl solemnly showed respect before the princess.

At the unexpected situation, the princess suppressed her anger inside.

“Fearing that this power I possess would become a detriment to His Majesty, and that the rumor would spread, I have always been anxious and careful. But I absolutely cannot tolerate you.”

The princess continued, harboring contempt.

“I will issue only a single command to you. Go bring Kaiser’s head and commit suicide. You must not choose means and methods. I do not care even if you die together.”

Under the irreversible Dominion of Blood.

The Hell Girl bowed her head.

“Vestra Maiestas.”

As the Hell Girl left after showing polite respects, the princess let out a deep sigh.

Although it was such a convenient power, it was a power that could not be easily shown.

If she abused it, the surroundings would notice or suspect, and if so, it would be a detriment to His Majesty the Emperor.

For her beloved brother to howl in pain was indeed something that didn’t just wrench her heart but tore it apart.

As the Hell Girl left like that, the one who visited this time was the Inquisitor of the Holy Order.

“I did not know an Inquisitor would come to find us.”

Before she knew it, the Imperial Guard knights were guarding their positions next to the princess.

It was the measure she took after the private meeting with the witch.

“You came together with that Inquisitor back then, didn’t you?”

She recalled her who had visited together with Rashid previously.

Since she was the subordinate of the person whom the imperial family was most wary of, it was extremely natural for her to be on guard.

“Yes, he was my superior back then. But not anymore. I have also become a Chief Inquisitor, and although we have not split yet, we will split soon.”

Surprisingly, the princess was not ignorant about her.

It was not that she knew because she was the subordinate of the Inquisitor she was on guard against.

She was the very person who had captured the member belonging to the same club as herself.

“I am sorry about your brother.”

“Do you know my brother?”

“Yes, I was a member of the same club as him.”

“A club?”

“It is a social club that is not well known. More than that, what is an Inquisitor doing here?”

She was calm without a change in expression.

“It is to support the imperial family. I am telling you in advance in case you misunderstand, but my thoughts differ from Inquisitor Rashid. He is of commoner origin and publicly supports the Golden Age Party, but I am originally of noble origin and cannot agree with that thought, which is also part of why I came here.”

The princess seemed not to believe.

Well, if she were to believe those words as they were since she was the enemy’s subordinate, that was something only a fool would do.

“I feel suspicion first rather than gratitude.”

Aria was not shaken.

“Probably. I understand Your Highness’s judgment. I would have done the same.”

Even so, the reason she did not cast her out was that the princess had something she had thought of in her own way.

“Do you also want something?”

The Magic Tower people who visited previously had all wanted the Immortal Heart.

Therefore, when she asked, she was slightly different from them.

“No. It is simply a declaration of support. I have no intention of particularly wanting or claiming anything just because I help the imperial family.”

The answer was satisfactory, but the suspicion was still the same.

The princess went a bit straightforward.

“Honestly speaking, I suspect the intention behind your visit. Even if you give me trust, I won’t believe it, nor do I intend to believe it.”

Although the princess drew a clear line, Aria still had a blank face, and the princess continued speaking, testing her intentions.

“However, I think I can give you another opportunity.”

“An opportunity?”

“Yes, an opportunity. Your relationship with the Dharma Mage Division is not good, is it?”

“Yes, there is no way it would be good. There was a bad event recently too.”

Among the Dharma Officer and the witch who visited previously, the witch was no longer a concern.

Because she had executed the Dominion of Blood.

But the Dharma Officer was not.

He was desiring the Immortal Heart, and the princess had no intention of handing it over if possible.

But the Dharma Mage Division’s strength was necessary, so she devised a trick.

“The Dharma Mage Division made a proposal to me. That they would capture the representative of the Golden Age Party. Honestly, I am attracted to that proposal. But there is something they demanded.”

The princess continued speaking.

“The Immortal Heart.”

Aria was slightly shaken.

Since the target item came out before she even brought it up, she couldn’t help but be.

But seen outwardly, it was a small shake that did not show much.

The Immortal Heart was the royal family’s treasure; it was natural to be surprised upon hearing it.

“The Immortal Heart…… I have heard that there is such a treasure in the imperial family. The Dharma Mage Division wanted such a thing.”

“But I do not want to give it. It is not a treasure to be given for merely capturing a political party representative.”

“So what do you want to say to me?”

“Capture the Dharma Officer. If they capture the representative and return, they will surely demand the Immortal Heart from us.”

Aria understood.

What she wanted.

“Is it enough if I capture the Dharma Officer?”

“Yes, doesn’t a grudge relationship exist between you anyway? If you capture the Dharma Officer, no one will suspect. In addition, we will have no one to hand over the Immortal Heart to.”

“A mutual benefit.”

The princess thought.

Even if the purpose of her visit was monitoring or targeting herself.

If she did not give that opening and rather used her in another way, that wouldn’t be bad either.

Also, it was something to be welcomed from their perspective too.

Since they did not have a good relationship with the Magic Tower from the start.

“Will you do it?”

“It is possible, but a pretext is necessary. If I kill the Dharma Officer out of nowhere, the Magic Tower will surely say something.”

“A pretext……”

Aria recalled his special order.

“Let’s do it this way. That I also wanted the Immortal Heart. If we do that, it is an incident due to a private relationship, so the Magic Tower will also say less. However, since we must show it clearly, I think a process where the Immortal Heart is publicly handed over to me is necessary. Even if I do not want it, a packaging is necessary, isn’t it?”

To lessen the princess’s suspicion.

She spoke words she did not mean in her heart.

“Your Highness does not need to worry. I am not a person of the Magic Tower, so I have no interest in the imperial family’s treasures.”