Chapter 1. Kill the Empress
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***
One was that holy relics could be destroyed, and the other was that divine intervention could be extracted from holy relics.
They both sound absurd.
But if it was possible, there was no condition more solid than this.
She wanted to get rid of that very ability that inhabits a human body.
Roselyn’s fingers tapped the book again.
The ancient books said that when holy relics were gathered in one place, they created a special vibration. In the temples, it was written that the power of the gods resonated.
The gods that the Empire worshipped were not like ordinary gods.
Rockman of chaos that shakes everything.
Hylia of hope, who never loses her smile until the end.
Grish of joy that dances and sings.
Kakaro of sorrow, the master of mature tears.
Renia of anger who destroys everything.
Eros of love that embraces life.
(*all these gods’ names might be wrong due to variations of translation)
They were all Gods derived from primal, essential forces.
They were gods of a different dimension than the gods of sun and war, sea and earth, who claimed to exist beyond the continents.
This huge continent of Pantheon, including Tanatos, all worshipped these six Gods.
“Do the Gods really exist?”
The primordial question came first.
When born, they naturally accept diplomatic relations. It was the same for all Imperials.
Just about every country, not just this continent, had a religion and a God to follow.
There were temples, priests, and archbishops, but no one ever claimed to have seen God.
Some people say they heard God’s voice………….
‘How can I believe that when I didn’t hear it?’
Roselyn tapped her forehead with a cynical laugh.
“I have to collect them all. But if the holy relics are not the answer…”
Then she would need to find a way to cut off Gillotti’s limbs to offset his power.
Roselyn glanced away, and saw the gossip magazine on the table.
In that gossip magazine, which was published twice a month, there was an article about the collapse of Emperor Tanatos.
The article made a fuss about an illness of unknown cause and unknown reason. It also said that it was the curse of Empress Tanatos, who died unfairly.
Roselyn burst into laughter.
“….. The curse hasn’t even started yet. What curse?”
Roselyn clenched her fists as she muttered coldly.
Unfortunately, that gossip magazine didn’t do much with the Tanatos story.
It devoted about half a page to the fall of the Emperor of the Empire, but everything else was about Amor’s noblemen, or an outrageous scandal, or a fad.
She was about to ask Asrell to check out the other gossip papers when Asrell, who had gone on an errand, came back.
***
“I have contacted the postman who will be able to reach Tanatos and Mach in the shortest possible time via an unknown sender as you said.”
Roselyn asked Asrell to find her a particularly fast and credible post office.
It was not a domestic post office, but a post office that had to go to Mach and Tanatos.
She had to send a letter as a secret, so she asked Asrell to find a trustworthy place no matter how much it would cost.
“And this is the amount after it was spent.”
And Roselyn also asked Asrell to attract her deposit which is deposited in the Lebes Bank.
It was the account of the virtual person ‘Karen Turasia’ and could only be withdrawn with a special code and specified method, so anyone could withdraw the money if they knew the code and method, not just Roselyn.
Roselyn had about three such accounts.
They all had different names and different codes, but she remembered them all without forgetting a single one.
It was possible because the names were taken from a role-playing game that she and her grandfather had often played since she was a child. The cipher was also related to that.
“This is for Asrell.”
After checking the checkbook and gold coins, Roselyn handed the entire bag of gold coins to Asrell. Surprised, Asrell waved her hand.
“No, Miss Asha. It’s my duty to do the errands for the one I serve. I’m not looking for any other compensation.”
As if she knew Asrell would say so, Roselyn replied with a wry smile.
“This means that I want Asrel to be committed not only to today’s work, but to other work as well. And if there are any funds needed for the work that needs to be done in the future, make sure to use this.”
“…Is there such a need for that much money?”
“We won’t know that until we are there. And one more thing, these gold coins have a series of numbers written on them. It’s the number I gave you so you can track when these gold coins were used.”
At Roseline’s words, Asrell had to try not to look surprised.
Her methods were too brilliant to be a slave’s.
No, for now, the amount of money in the account she was asked to keep was also too much for a slave to have.
The gold in the pocket was enough for a year’s worth of living expenses for a small family, but to come up with that much money was astonishing in itself. And she gave her that much without hesitation.
“Lady Asha…….”
“This is a sum to buy Asrell’s hard work and trust. Not my trust, but Asrell’s trust. I know it’s not the most pleasant way to do it, but since you and I haven’t spent much time together, this is the only way I can think of.”
Asrell saw “Tamon” from Roselyn’s face as she slowly chuckled at that.
That was the face of a monarch.
Not the face of someone who was controlled by someone else.
It was the face of someone who commanded, who directed, who controlled the situation.
It was the face of a person who, only a few days ago, cried incessantly in her arms, but now it looked so different that Asrell wondered if Roselyn was the same person.
‘Who on earth is this person………?’
Asrell hesitated for a moment, then took the gold coin Roselyn offered.
It wasn’t like there were many options anyway.
Asrell was from the Krasis family. Her entire family depended on the Krasis family.
Among them, Asrell was Tamon’s person. She was one of the people who had taken care of him since he was a child, and she was one of the people who supported him in everything he did.
The loyalty of an Athesian was eternal.
Until the ice melts a hundred times, and the sun burns a hundred times.
So it was clear that this unidentified, beautiful and noble slave brought by her master was also someone she should serve.
Also, Asrell could not forget the way Roselyn sobbed while calling “Kanya” under her strong purple eyes.
It meant that she was one of the people who truly loved this foolish Athesian.
That alone was enough for Asrell to gladly take it upon herself to be the messenger for this beautiful noblewoman in the mask of a slave.
“The money will be spent wherever you like, Lady Aranrosia. The twins are either quick to act and have excellent mastery but they have a somewhat goofy habit, so please leave important errands to me or Satin only.”
Roselyn laughed, relieved at Asrell’s polite acceptance.
Asrell smiled, then left to prepare lunch with the twins.
After Asrell left, Roselyn looked for a moment at the checkbook.
“KarenTurasia, she was a small and beautiful tropical island lady. She went into exile in the neighboring country of Neuton with ambitions. Neuton was a very strong and authoritative country with developed commerce. Do you know what was the first thing she did when she swallowed the country’s social circles with her unique atmosphere and refreshing way of speaking?”
“No. What is it, Grandfather?”
“She distributed her country’s poisonous herbs to Neuton. The deadly poison called the colorless, odorless, silent killer, had completely infiltrated society’s noblewomen. That year, the society in Neuton was in an uproar.”
“…… Did the noblewomen kill someone?”
“Of course they did. But who did they murder?”
“No way! You don’t mean they murdered their husbands, do you?”
“Clever Rosie, you guessed right away. At this time, a third of the nobles were dead, and the ladies took over the titles. Of course, the poisonous herbs brought in by Karen Turasia were immediately banned, but she was not punished. Rather, she became the monarch of the society and received absolute support.”
“So the women who inherited the title were on Karen’s side?”
“That’s right. So the poisonous herb was named after her. A poisonous herb that can sneak in anywhere and somehow triumph. Today we’re going to paint a picture of exactly what happened when Karen Turasia seeped into Tanatos.”
“Yes, very interesting. Hurry up and give me your card, grandfather!”
Roselyn raised her hazy eyes and stared out across the sea.
Her grandfather left her a very large inheritance.
As much as the pain in her heart.
***
“Hmmm. Hmm.”
“…………..!
Roselyn, who had been resting for a while after an early dinner, looked at the twins, who were coughing unnaturally, as if their throats were sore.
“Kek! Kek!”
“Kek, kek!”
The pecking at each other’s arm as they looked at each other seemed to indicate that they had something to say to Roselyn.
Roselyn, who was waiting for them to speak, spoke first.
“Tasha, Louie have anything to say to me, you can say it.”
“Lady Asha!”
“Oh! I guess we were obvious.”
The twins were embarrassed and their faces turned red as they stomped on the ground.
The reaction was immediate, and Roselyn burst out laughing.
One day, the twins called Roselyn “Lady Asha” when Tamon was not around.
Tamon told his servants that Roselyn was “Aranrosia Asha”.
Satin and Asrell always called her by her full name in a polite tone, but only the twins were different.
“If you don’t feel comfortable to be called like this, please let me know!”
It was not uncomfortable.
In fact, Aranrosia wasn’t even her original name, because she was known as a slave.
But somehow, no one, not even the soldiers of Tamon, not to mention Satin, Asrell, and the twins, looked down on her as if they were her subordinates.
Either their master’s discipline was strong, or else Tamon chose his men carefully.
Either way, she felt that the system was well organized.
Of course, the brave twins secretly and continuously called Roselyn by her nickname when Tamon was not around.
As for Roselyn, Tasha and Louie, who secretly glance at Tamon’s eyes, were cute.
Of course, Tamon, who always glanced at her, was not cute at all.