Chapter 98
The Holy Crown Kingdom
Among the rulers of powerful nations, the Pontiff was especially notorious for her arrogance, and this didn’t change much even when dealing with others who also bore the weight of an entire country on their shoulders.
The only rare exception would be the Emperor of the Empire—soone who had been by her side since before she was Pontiff, back when she was rely a mber of the royal family.
The way they talked to each other now was proof enough of that history.
"...So after causing that much chaos in our country, testing soone I had already marked as mine, now you're saying you’ll take him with you? Just to resolve your own personal issues?"
"Co on, give a break. Isn’t that what friends are for?"
"..."
"I really need him. I don’t think I can fix things without him."
...If shalessness grew hair, hers would be a full, thick coat by now.
The Emperor glared at the Pontiff with eyes like sharpened axes, but Abigail III simply whistled, pretending not to notice.
As he watched her antics, the Emperor finally spoke up.
"Gale. It’s already been ten years since we subjugated Orta together, huh?"
"Has it really been that long?"
"If you've aged that much, don’t you think it’s ti to stop being a pain in my ass?"
"..."
"Even back then, I was always cleaning up after you whenever you flew into one of your damn rampages—"
"That was a long ti ago, co on. A long ti ago."
Despite the Emperor’s increasingly fierce glare, the Pontiff’s poker face remained utterly unfazed as she continued whistling.
"...You’re shaving years off my life, you know that? You’re running a whole nation, and yet you act like—"
"Can’t hear you—"
"..."
With a sigh of exhaustion, the Emperor pulled out his pen and the state seal.
He used them on the docunts atop his desk, then tossed them straight into the Pontiff’s face.
"Take them."
His words ca with another weary sigh.
"This really shouldn’t be allowed, you know. Aiden Kellermain is soone I’ve always kept a close eye on. I'm only lending him because it’s you."
"If you're gonna do a favor, no guilt-tripping allowed~"
"I swear, I want to strangle you."
The Pontiff stuck her tongue out with a giggle.
"But I’m honestly surprised. You’ve clearly staked your claim on this guy too, haven’t you? So why hand him over to so easily?"
"I’m counting on you to return him in one piece. But more importantly..."
The Emperor set his pen down and looked at the Pontiff.
In his gaze—one forged through years of camaraderie—there was unmistakable concern.
"You... don’t have much ti left, do you?"
"……."
"I don't know what exactly you plan to do with him, but... do you really think you can pull it off?"
Instead of answering, the Pontiff lowered her head slightly.
Her eyes blinked vacantly at the air a few tis.
Countless years seed to condense into a single mont, and behind her gaze, a cascade of mories flickered like a lantern slideshow.
Eventually—
Her eyes returned to the Emperor.
"I’ve got enough left."
"......"
"Enough to do what I want to do, so don’t worry."
She grinned, rolled up the docunts bearing the Emperor's signature and seal, and tucked them into her robes.
With that, Aiden Kellermain had officially received permission to take part in the Holy Crown Kingdom’s succession process—from both the nation itself and the head of the Empire.
As she stood up cheerfully, the Emperor let out yet another sigh—who knew how many this made—and opened his mouth to speak.
"Just think of it as a gift for the sake of everything we’ve been through. When are you finally going to grow up?"
"Leo."
"What?"
"Screw you."
In response, the Emperor simply snorted and raised his middle finger.
"Anyway, thanks. Friends really are the best."
"Get lost. And don’t co back."
Then—
Just as the Pontiff was about to march out of the Emperor’s office, she suddenly paused and turned back, as if sothing had co to mind.
"By the way, what happened to that brat?"
"Which brat?"
"Your son. The Imperial heir causes a scandal like that and yet I haven’t heard anything? You haven’t executed him yet?"
"I have. Officially."
"......"
The Pontiff narrowed her eyes at the Emperor.
"And unofficially?"
"That’s classified. I can tell you this much—he’s in no condition to cause any more trouble. I couldn’t overlook everything."
"After all that bad blood between you two, and blustering about how you’d punish him severely, you still ended up protecting him?"
"Shut it."
The Emperor frowned, muttering irritably.
"You think killing your own blood is easy?"
"...I kill mine every day."
"Yours keeps coming back no matter how many tis you kill him."
At that, the Pontiff fell silent for a mont before letting out a faint laugh and nodding in agreent.
"That’s true."
Gale mumbled as she walked out of the Emperor’s office.
"That’s true."
There was sothing strangely sorrowful in her tone.
▣
"The buildings all look so interesting."
Fortunately, the gloomy atmosphere didn’t last long once they entered the Holy Crown Kingdom.
That was mostly thanks to Noel, who had never once traveled abroad in her life.
Though she’d seen her share of battlefields, it was apparently her first ti wandering through such a bustling city.
"Sir Aiden, look at this! It’s a glow-in-the-dark dinosaur!"
"Sir Aiden, they blend fruits and sell them chilled here!"
"Sir Aiden, the clothes here look so weird—"
"……."
How should I put this...
Normally, Katya was the one who rampaged around like a runaway locomotive, unable to contain her energy. But now, it was Noel running wild while Katya remained unusually quiet.
So then, what exactly was Katya's state right now?
"…Your Highness."
"…Yes."
"Please let know if it’s too much for you."
"…I'm fine."
…Since eting her, this was the least fine she had ever looked.
Though, it wasn’t hard to guess why.
With a reluctant expression, Aiden summoned a window in front of him.
---
-Quest Info
♣ Life is Beautiful (2) [Individual Quest]
* Katya Heinkel Craven holds nothing but overwhelmingly negative mories of her ti in the Holy Crown Kingdom. Please help her overco this trauma!
* Upon clearing the quest, the target’s ‘Remnant’ will be awarded as a reward.
---
When it's explicitly stated that soone has trauma, it would actually be stranger if they looked cheerful and energetic.
Aiden scanned the window and let out a heavy sigh inwardly.
‘Doesn’t seem like this’ll be easy.’
He didn’t know exactly what kind of help would allow her to overco it, but judging by the reward alone, it was clear this wasn’t going to be a simple task.
‘A Remnant, huh.’
The last one he received had belonged to Teresa. He obtained it after performing a soul rite for her, a soul that had been unable to find rest even in death.
…That had been rough.
Given what Remnants were capable of, it made sense they wouldn’t be handed out so lightly.
‘It’s practically a cheat code.’
Back then, when he used it, sothing that was likely Karva herself had erged. Since this was the sa type of skill, it was easy enough to assu it would produce a similarly powerful effect.
Still, setting aside the matter of rewards—
To be honest, he felt this quest was sothing that had to be cleared, if only for the sake of Katya’s recovery.
‘It’s always been like this.’
This person—
She had never once spoken positively about her holand or her family.
Even when the Pontiff ca to her in disguise, she had warned Aiden in advance not to get angry no matter what happened to her.
She had been hinting all along that she'd suffered terribly within the Holy Crown Kingdom.
"……"
To soone like Aiden, who believed ho and family were concepts everyone should have, the idea of holding such negative feelings toward those very things was nothing short of heartbreaking.
The reward mattered, sure, but more than that, he just wanted to help her.
Of course, there was sothing more pressing to deal with first.
"…If we want to stay on schedule, we should start moving."
After quietly checking the ti, Aiden finally spoke up.
Arriving early to explore the neighborhood was all well and good, but the Pontiff’s abdication ceremony was fast approaching. Dragging things out for too long wouldn’t do anyone any favors.
Noel looked a bit disappointed, but Katya’s face had grown pale to the point of looking deathly ill.
What could one even say about that?
She looked like soone suffering from PTSD, as if she were walking back into a space she had fought desperately to escape.
"……"
Aiden let out a deep sigh inwardly.
‘…For her condition to improve…’
It was probably going to take a long and gradual process.
▣
The succession ceremony, as obvious as it might sound, ant that the Pontiff herself would be stepping down.
That ant her abdication ceremony was a given. In fact, that was the whole reason the Pontiff had summoned Aiden to the Holy Crown Kingdom in such a rush—to attend this event.
The problem was—
"…Are all of these people royalty?"
"There’s… an absurd number of them…"
Aiden and Noel traded those bewildered comnts as they looked around.
The building that served as the Pontiff’s residence was now packed wall-to-wall with people, leaving no room to breathe.
In the Holy Crown Kingdom, anyone capable of wielding the ability known as "Holy Fla" could potentially earn the title of royalty.
Of course, they still had to go through various evaluations, but it wasn’t as strictly limited to direct bloodlines like in other nations.
…And even with just that system in place, the number of people who called themselves royalty was this high. There had to be at least a few hundred.
And that reality, frankly—
‘Isn’t good.’
For Aiden, this was about the worst possible situation.
Because in the high-pressure setting of Act II, every single encounter with soone was a potential event of imnse value.
‘I need to scout out the candidates ahead of ti…’
Thinking back to how the scenario played out, the majority of these royals would be weeded out through the "Preliminaries," a process tied directly to the succession ceremony. His current main quest was also tied to surviving that ordeal.
In other words—
Only a handful of individuals would shine in those preliminaries and go on to beco "main characters" who interacted with him throughout all of Act II.
Act II was a race against ti. He had to gather as much information as possible before deadly accidents started occurring.
‘…If this were the Empire, I could’ve at least weaseled my way in.’
Had they been in the Empire, he could’ve relied on Da Noel’s influence to establish so initial connections with people. But this was the Holy Crown Kingdom.
Sure, there was Katya, who was technically royalty—but she was off-limits from the start.
He couldn’t possibly ask soone for help with social networking when this entire place was a trauma minefield for them.
‘There’s got to be so way…’
Aiden groaned internally as he tried to work through his options.
He retraced the situation, step by step. Starting with the unique nature of the setting.
Naturally, at the abdication of a nation’s ruler, dignitaries from all over the world would gather.
Which ant—among the attendees, there just might be soone capable of helping him.
‘—There is.’
The mont the thought crossed his mind, Aiden felt a surge of excitent.
It wouldn’t even be hard to find that person. She wasn’t exactly soone with a forgettable appearance.
“—Huh.”
And then.
As soon as he spotted her in the distance, she lit up with a smile in return.
Clearly, he’d left enough of an impression to be rembered.
"Still alive, huh? Not bad."
Rania A‘Shan.
The pink-haired, one-eyed priestess smiled as she gently swirled her champagne glass.
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