Since it took quite a long time to rebuild the burned-down Princess Palace, Epherna decided to stay in an annex within the Emperor’s Palace during this period.
“How is there even an annex within the palace? It’s really incredibly spacious.”
Inside the Emperor’s Palace annex, the bedroom was comparable in size to Epherna’s bedroom in the Princess Palace.
After examining the bedroom, I walked toward the office room that I would use in the future.
After inspecting the bedroom, Epherna walked toward the office that would be used in the future. As it was a room used by the Emperor for administrative tasks, the arrangement of the bookshelves and desks was quite different from that of the Princess Palace.
It was, in a way, the most ideal form of an administrative office Epherna had only imagined in her mind.
She moved all the documents from the Princess Palace’s administrative office to this place.
Fortunately, there were no damaged documents since Epherna’s bedroom and the office were on different floors.
Three hours later, the office was roughly organized enough to handle administrative work. Epherna mentioned that she should have been handling administrative tasks at this time.
“Mister.”
“Yes?”
“I think we need to start clearing out the trash properly.”
Ern’s face hardened, but he had a smile on his lips.
“Their current operation is targeting the Summer Sun within me. It means their goal has become clearer.”
The essence of the Mythical Era’s Divine Kings.
It was clear that Evergreen’s goal was that.
And.
“The ultimate goal must be to make a wish. I don’t know what that wish is, but it must be stopped.”
Whether Evergreen has a good purpose or not is not my concern.
Their atrocities have caused significant casualties throughout the Empire, and Epherna, as the Empire’s princess, recognized them as ‘enemies’ to be eradicated.
“I will issue an official document in the Emperor’s name. Those affiliated with the Evergreen cult will be considered enemies of the Empire. However, only the judges assigned to each territory have the authority to deal with them.”
“Wait, then you need to select judges, right? Even if you start now, it will take quite a while.”
“That’s why I stayed up for several days.”
There is always a reason why time-consuming tasks are necessary.
The judges Epherna selected, though not perfect, will serve as a wall to prevent the Empire’s citizens from being eroded by Evergreen.
“We can fabricate evidence that Evergreen is a cult. It’s not that there is no evidence at all, so it’s not difficult to maintain public sentiment.”
Evergreen had been active for less than half a year.
Even though they had built public sentiment by pretending to be a service-oriented cult, it wasn’t enough to captivate everyone in the Empire.
In the first place, for that to be possible, they would need assets sufficient to run a country, which a group that had been operating in the dark until six months ago wouldn’t have.
Epherna’s plan seemed flawless at first glance, but upon a cold assessment, it was not perfect.
There would surely be people who view Evergreen as a good organization, and to them, Epherna might appear as a tyrant who does not allow freedom of religion.
There would be plenty of cases where this would be exploited.
The so-called witch hunts.
It cannot be said with a clear conscience that there will be no cases of innocent citizens being branded as followers of Evergreen and burned to death.
Epherna decided to accept these flaws in her plan.
There is no such thing as a perfect plan in this world.
Even if there are flaws, Evergreen cannot be allowed to run rampant and ruin the country. Moreover, it’s unthinkable that Evergreen would gather the essence of the divine kings and make a good wish.
It’s a gut feeling but also a certainty. A certainty that a religious leader who sacrifices children’s organs to offer to the gods would not make a normal wish.
“And I will go to the Shaman Kingdom. I need to meet the Forest Elder, the owner of the Spring Leaf.”
It is necessary to check whether the divine essence possessed by the shamans is problematic.
Additionally, there is a need to identify the ‘cult leader’ who is perceived as Evergreen’s leader.
“The ones who attacked you and me. I think they were shamans.”
Ern’s eyebrows furrowed.
He agreed with the idea of going to the Shaman Kingdom, but he couldn’t agree that the men who caused the incident were shamans.
“They didn’t have jewels on their foreheads. I didn’t see any technology or magic unique to shamans either.”
“Still, I think they were shamans. The abilities they showed were all strange abilities I had never seen before.”
“…”
Ern agreed with this.
The men used unknown abilities to confine me and even blocked my mana with strange light.
The only similar abilities are those of the Absolute Secret Arts of the Eastern Principality.
“I heard from Merien that among the shamans, there is a group called the Force Shamans who gain power by giving up their jewels.”
It is said that the jewels shamans possess contain the power of their ancestors.
By destroying their jewels, they can gain even greater power, but shamans who destroy their jewels are forever exiled from the Shaman Kingdom for insulting their ancestors and abandoning their shaman identity.
“They covered their faces. One wore a cloak deeply, and the other’s face was so disfigured that it was unrecognizable. There must be a reason they didn’t show their bare faces.”
Epherna understood what Ern was trying to say.
“Did they cover their faces to hide the marks where the forehead jewels were missing?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“…”
It is not an entirely unreasonable guess.
In fact, the first race that came to mind upon seeing the men was the Force Shamans.
But wouldn’t there be a reason for suggesting that they might not be them?
“They all died during the war. The Force Shamans.”
The ones who killed them were none other than the Empire.
During the past war, the Shaman Kingdom conscripted the exiled Force Shamans as soldiers for the Empire.
The majority, regardless of age, were used as bait and killed, and the survivors were executed at the request of the Shaman Kingdom.
Such occurrences were common during the war.
Troops used as disposable pawns were utilized until their deaths and disposed of as needed.
In that sense, Force Shamans were the best cards that the Empire could use at will.
They are powerful, disposable at any time, and there’s justification for their execution if things go wrong.
“Not the Force Shamans. They can’t be.”
If their identity were to be shamans, the Empire would lose its justification to stop them.
The Force Shamans would then have legitimate revenge against the Empire that tormented them.
“All the corruption of the Empire could be exposed. All the inhumane acts committed during the war.”
The most important thing in running a country is public sentiment. The people’s approval becomes the power of the Emperor and the driving force behind moving talents.
Currently, Epherna has no family members who can take the blame for her.
“It doesn’t matter whether you were a victim of the war or had nothing to do with the Empire’s shortcomings. The mere fact that the royal family’s faults could be exposed during your reign is the problem.”
It is known to most of the Empire’s citizens that Epherna is the de facto head of the Grandeum family.
“You, just because you’re part of the royal family, will be held responsible. You will also be the one to take the blame.”
How hard she worked to prevent the Second Prince from becoming that way.
She had tried to die carrying the disgrace and evil deeds to prevent Epherna from shouldering the Empire’s faults.
“If they are indeed Force Shamans, it’s the same. They cannot be Force Shamans.”
Ern’s words were akin to saying he would handle them personally. It was brutal, but if it would cause chaos during Epherna’s reign, he would rather kill them all. Though he thought that way.
“I understand.”
“There will be problems.”
“It’s likely that one of their goals is something similar.”
Epherna’s thoughts seemed to differ greatly from his.
“So, I intend to let things unfold as they wish.”
“…You don’t need to do that.”
Epherna is a victim of the war.
Regardless of her royal status, she had been isolated in a confined space for ten years.
She has no reason to share in the late Emperor’s faults or face the wrath of the Force Shamans.
“I know. If the narrative flows as the Force Shamans want, even if I become Empress, there will be many difficulties.”
The absolute power of the royal family established by the late Emperor might be shaken.
No, it will definitely be shaken.
“I will accept it. If they want an explanation, I will give one. If there are sins committed, I will provide appropriate compensation, and if they want an apology, I will apologize.”
“So that my descendants can live in a clean country.”
“Even if Evergreen has no such intention, it’s the same. I will expose all the Empire’s faults committed during the war.”
Because that’s my royal path.
Saying this, Epherna turned her head and smiled.
“Mister, you’ll help me, right?”
“…”
It was foolish.
He wanted to say that.
This is a problem of a different dimension compared to the flaws of the clandestine activities led by the Second Prince.
It’s a page in history that cannot be covered up by achievements, vastly larger in scale. To say she won’t cover up such flaws is so foolish it’s speechless.
But.
“…Hah.”
A laugh escaped.
“Hahaha—!!”
A joyful laugh.
It continued without stopping.
Even though it’s painful to do something unnecessary, he was proud.
It genuinely seemed wonderful.
He was deeply moved.
To explain this complex emotion with his limited vocabulary.
Yes.
It’s truly captivating.
