Medea's green eyes crossed between Rachel and the bleeding statue of the goddess.
Hidden inside the eyes of the goddess statue were round pieces of wax mixed with red dye.
'If you mix honey with beeswax, the melting rate of the beeswax will slow down.'
The time it took for the mixed wax to melt at room temperature was calculated, and when all the participants had entered, the liquid flowed out, making it look like the goddess statue was shedding tears of blood.
So that those who came to today's proclamation ceremony can spread the news throughout the continent that the Goddess does not recognize Rachel as a Saintess.
However, Rachel showed up earlier than expected to help Claudio, creating more dramatic timing than Medea had planned.
Medea was afraid that she would incur the goddess's wrath by using such petty methods to corner the Saintess. But Medea was not afraid.
Because she had already prepared herself to go to hell a long time ago.
***
Rachel couldn't stand it any longer.
When Claudio tried to push gunpowder into Valdina, the other side just detonated a bomb.
'That girl is causing trouble between me and the priests!'
How hard I worked to regain the trust of the temple!
Countless sacrifices, made while enduring all sorts of abuse from the black magicians in an attempt to demonstrate absolute power, flashed before her eyes.
"I will show you!"
'There's definitely a number on that statue. Just show that it's a tampering. That's okay.'
Rachel strode toward the statue of the goddess.
The moment she reached out to the statue of the goddess-.
Oh my God.
The circular mirror behind the statue of the goddess was broken.
For no reason, just of its own accord. As if it were not allowing Rachel's hand to touch it.
'Rachel, I knew that if you fell into my trap, you would try to reveal the manipulation with your own hands.'
So, Medea placed a thin wooden board under the floor behind the statue of the goddess where the mirror was and installed a thin pedestal.
The moment Rachel stands right in front of the statue of the goddess, it causes vibrations and shatters the mirror.
"Wh... what..."
Rachel's bewildered face was shattered into pieces by the shards of the mirror.
"Alas, the mirror broke when the Saintess approached!"
"When she reached out to the statue of the goddess, the goddess was still angry."
"Oh my God, what is going on?"
The series of strange phenomena, far from revealing the manipulation, only made Medea's claim that Rachel had incurred the goddess's wrath more credible.
Rachel frowned. She had to stop the suspicions from spreading like wildfire.
"Someone broke it on purpose. To trap me, the Holy Nation-"
"A trap? Saintess, please be careful with your words. Are you saying that our Valdina deliberately tampered with the statue of the goddess to ruin this once-in-a-lifetime celebration in Valdina?"
Someone among the Valdinians asked sharply.
A few months ago, the Saintess who had framed their Princess was shameless in revealing the trap.
"Saintess, hold on tight. We will protect you and reveal the truth."
The commander of the Templar Knights interrupted the Saintess and calmed her down.
Aside from the confusion, he inwardly sighed at her clumsiness in bringing up traps so blatantly at an official event.
In the end, a heated debate ensued as to whether the series of strange phenomena that occurred were truly the will of the goddess or the trickery of humans.
Then, as the High Priest Paul joined the argument for the Saintess, the banquet hall quickly became noisy.
And out of sight of the noisy crowd, a man who had been watching the whole scene slowly got up.
The small pebble that had been rolling freely in the man's large hands rolled back into the flower pot on the windowsill without a sound.
"Everyone. Do not fall for the clever tricks aimed at our Saintess! You petty, ugh-!"
Paul, who was raising his voice, stumbled and couldn't finish speaking. Because something hard flew in and hit his calf hard.
"Your Eminence! Are you alright?"
Paul, who had fallen to the floor as if he were kneeling, was so confused that he did not even realize that someone had walked past him with a graceful gait.
"Wow, something just hit me..."
As Paul was feeling the floor, a sharp, cracking sound struck his ears.
People who turned their heads toward the sound were shocked.
"Hey, the statue of the goddess..."
The statue of the goddess that was shedding tears of blood at today's declaration ceremony was broken into pieces that were beyond recognition.
A cloud of marble dust rose above the white, shattered fragments.
And then, a man appeared through the distant smoke.
With a sword in one hand, he seemed not to even hide the fact that he had broken the statue of the goddess.
"My sword...!"
The knight standing near Paul let out a short breath. His face turned pale as he saw the empty scabbard and his sword in the man's hand.
He didn't even feel the man draw his sword.
"You dare to destroy the sacred statue of the goddess! You, bastard! What kind of monstrous deed is this!"
High Priest Paul spoke to the man.
The statue of the goddess symbolizes the presence of God.
The statues were evidence of the belief that the goddess was connected to them and were furthermore symbols of the faith offered by believers regardless of nationality.
So, it meant the goddess herself.
'But you broke it openly?!'
In Paul's sixty years of life, he had never met a madman who dared to openly destroy a statue.
"You dirty heretic! Don't you fear divine punishment? You will only know your sins when you stand at the stake!"
Paul ran wild for a long time.
But the Knights Templar and the Agemas straightened their backs with instinctive tension.
This was because none of them had noticed its presence until the man approached the statue.
At that moment, the man who had been standing still began to move. With each step he took, the dark silk cape hanging from his shoulders spread out like an evil shadow.
The light from the chandelier revealed the delicate movements of the muscles swaying on the steely back.
His long, smooth legs and perfect thigh muscles, which extended below his slim waist, seemed to tremble with intense energy ready to explode.
The slow yet graceful steps that did not stop made the surroundings hold their breath, like the footsteps of a wild beast chasing its prey.
Although the man was holding nothing in his hands, the air around him became tense with the threatening tension he exuded.
The man standing before the broken statue of the goddess stared at Rachel.
It seemed as if he, having destroyed the statue of the goddess, was now aiming for the Saintess.
Rachel froze without realizing it...
"Protect the Saintess!"
The Knights Templar surrounded Rachel quickly, then drew their swords at the man.
"How rude of you to draw your sword at a banquet!"
D'Angel frowned at the sight of the Knights Templar blazing in battle stance as if assassins had appeared.
'Are these people trying to ruin our Valdina banquet right now?!'
Even leaving aside the existence of men, who would be held responsible if those knights of the temple brandished blind swords to protect the Saintess?
But the man turned his head slightly as if he didn't feel the sharp aura of the Knights Templar directed at him.
The man glanced at Paul, Rachel, and the Knights Templar, then raised the corners of his mouth.
"Since all those who bear the name of God are so foolish, it will be a long time before the Holy Nation can regain its former glory."
The rich, mocking voice openly teased the most sensitive sore spot of the Holy Nation.
Even now, it is a holy country whose influence extends across the entire continent.
Old glory.
It once meant the golden age when the entire continent was in the hands of the Catholic Church.
The man didn't even care that the spirits of the Saintess who had been poked in a sore spot were exploding and becoming fierce.
"Yes, bastaaaaard!"
"High Priest."
The man cut off Paul's voice briefly.
"This is what trickery is all about. Breaking, destroying-"
The heels of his black shoes stepped on the fragments of the broken statue of the goddess.
"It is foolish human nature to be satisfied only by getting rid of something."
Crash.
The faint sound of the pieces being crushed beneath their feet sent goosebumps down everyone's spine.
"Don't you know better than anyone that tears, such trivial messages that don't kill or break anyone, are only suitable for that kind person?"
The man's outstretched index finger pointed to the sky and his blunt remark to the old High Priest seemed surprisingly natural.
Like a ruler who was born and raised with everyone under his feet from the beginning.
Among the astonished people's eyes, only the man's golden eyes shone clearly.
His gaze briefly passed over the broken spot on the statue of the goddess.
Looking at the pile of debris and the floor, the corners of his mouth seemed to go up slightly as if he knew something.
At that moment, the commander of the Templar Knights, who had been nervously watching the other knights, stopped. This was because he belatedly recognized the man's face.
"First Prince?"
Oh, hi, handsome 😍 finally you came 😍
Support Novellate!
About time he showed up!
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