NOVEL NEXT Chapter 167
Chapter 167. The Beggar Siblings – Insight into Divine Power
“I asked, ‘What are you?'”
Count Forte stood up from his seat. His expression, as he towered even over Leo Dexter, was cautious as he probed. The senior guard stepped in to mediate.
“I apologize, Your Highness. This newcomer just joined and doesn’t know anything yet…”
‘Apologize quickly!’ ─ the senior nudged him.
Sweating, Leo bowed his head. “I apologize.” He tried to subtly step back, but the Swordmaster seemed unwilling to let him go so easily.
“Wait. Stop right there. Just because you are new doesn’t mean you can come and go from the prince’s quarters without cause. I need to know what kind of trick you’re trying to pull. State your name and post.”
The senior guard’s face hardened. Glancing at the prince’s demeanor, he spoke in an unpleasant tone.
“…Trickery? Count Forte, you go too far. And even if you are the head of the knights, you don’t have the authority to investigate a guard’s background.”
“Sir, your words are also too harsh,”
The atmosphere was about to turn ugly when Marquis Bernard Tatian interrupted, twirling a wine glass as if he found the situation amusing, although his eyes were fixed on Leo.
“The count speaks out of concern for the prince. Surely the count would not overstep his bounds in front of the prince? Especially since His Highness has not said a word yet.”
These words seemed meant to provoke the prince. Prince Clyaan de Tatalia looked at Leo for a moment before speaking.
“Withdraw.”
The prince’s command ended the matter. Count Herman Forte still looked wary but raised no further objections.
Leo hesitantly backed out of the prince’s office. Through the closing door, he saw Marquis Bernard Tatian smirk.
‘Why is that man…?’
As soon as the door shut, the senior guard glared daggers at Leo and scolded him harshly, but it fell on deaf ears.
‘They shouldn’t recognize me yet.’ ─ Despite successfully securing the prince’s achievements, Leo’s breath was still irregular.
* * *
The Orange Theater was bustling with preparations for the play . Based on the life of Saint Azra, Lena had been assigned the role of ‘Saint Reina.’
The first saint.
Just hearing it made it seem incredibly important, but it wasn’t necessarily so.
< Demonios >’s protagonist was Saint Azra. The main premise of the play was about the great saint eradicating evil across the continent counter-clockwise. The rustic girl Reina, who appeared in the middle of the play, was a subsidiary character who helped retain Azra’s humanity.
In fact, there was no historical evidence that Saint Reina had accompanied Saint Azra.
The play was a result of the playwright’s imagination, hoping that the saint, who was honored for eradicating all evil, was not a stranger to Azra but a companion who shared joy and sorrow.
Therefore, to avoid distorting history too much, Reina had few lines in the play.
Meeting Azra for the first time, advising him at the southern seaside not to shoulder everything alone and to train priests and paladins, and then, when chosen by the main deity at the ‘Badobona Castle’ during the seventh and final evil.
She had only three short lines but was primarily a figurehead of the play.
Lena learned acting by receiving advice from other actors.
Exaggerated movements for the distant audience, a clear voice, small gestures and expressions responding to other actors, entrances, and exits.
Additionally, as she needed to know the entire story of , she received a lot of help from Xenia…
“Sis, did you… fight with my brother?”
Xenia’s mood hadn’t been good lately.
While reading lines from with her, Xenia occasionally stared blankly into space. She had been that way sometimes since her brother visited last time.
Xenia simply said, “We didn’t fight… I just don’t understand your brother these days.” and said no more.
Gloom spreads easily. Sharing a room with a depressed Xenia made Lena gloomy too.
And the person who bore the brunt of it was none other than Santian Rauno. He came early as usual today, and Lena asked,
“Do you like me?”
“Huh? W-w-why are you suddenly asking that?”
“Don’t dodge the question. Do you like me?”
Flustered, Santian rubbed his round nose. Though scared, he couldn’t help but confess with a heart racing with excitement.
“Y-yes. I-I like you.”
“Why? Why do you like me?”
A sharp voice.
But Santian, with no romantic experience, did not understand the importance of this question and answered straightforwardly.
“…Because you’re pretty.”
Lena crossed her arms.
She couldn’t help but feel disappointed in Tian, who was delighted with himself after giving such an answer.
I know I’m pretty now.
Everyone in the theater praised her beauty, and the women on the third floor didn’t hold back from giving practical advice.
Generally, the advice was to meet a good man, but some women cursed that all men were the same. They spoke about men as animals driven by their genitalia, trying to satisfy their lust; stories that were a bit too mature for Lena’s ears.
Although she didn’t fully believe them, it was shocking.
She realized how much her brother had sacrificed for her, and if Santian liked her purely for her looks…
It was disappointing.
“Is that all?”
“Oh, um, no. When I’m with you, it’s fun, comfortable… everything is good.”
Unbelievable words. They sounded like things he just picked up, indistinguishable from truth or lies, to win her favor.
Lena sighed sadly as she turned her back. Suppressing her rising emotions, she let out, “From now on, call me ‘noona.'”
She returned to the stage and resumed practicing, but she noticed that Tian was lingering in the audience.
Did she do the right thing?
Lena muttered to herself like her sister Xenia, “I don’t know.” Her brother did not come today either.
* * *
Leo was disciplined.
He was summoned by the stern Captain of the Royal Guard, reprimanded, had his pay docked, and was assigned extra duty.
He wasn’t particularly concerned about the deduction of his first salary, which he hadn’t even received yet.
But being assigned to learn the secret passages beneath the royal palace, a task that anyone would find tedious, and being barred from going out for a week—this was a heavy blow.
He had already accomplished meeting the prince and earning favor with the nobles serving the Tatalia royal family. He needed to find and persuade Count Gustav Peter quickly, but tasks remained at the royal palace.
He had to stop Gilbert Forte and the princess from kissing.
Once these two tasks were resolved, Leo planned to leave Orville immediately. He would rush to the Conrad Kingdom and oust Prince Eric, who served Oriax.
That’s why, even though he worried upon hearing that his sister was performing in a play, he allowed it. Xenia assured him everything would be fine, and the owner of the Orange Theatre, ‘Bretin,’ was a trustworthy person.
In fact… strictly speaking, he trusted Cassia more than Bretin.
He learned about it through Ober.
The Orange Theatre was a brothel ten years ago. Bretin was the manager of that brothel, but when Cassia, then a prostitute, left her job, she somehow persuaded him to transform the brothel into a theatre.
“She’s a smart girl. A pitiful one. I saw her father hang himself. That poor child must have suffered immensely. Honestly, I thought Cassia would follow suit and commit suicide. But…”
Ober would talk incessantly, spitting whenever he spoke about Cassia.
“I heard this from the theatre owner. Right after the funeral, she announced that she was quitting. When they tried to give her a retirement settlement, do you know what she said?”
– “I’m going to live my own life now. You shouldn’t be too tied to the past either.”
“Haha! Not the kind of words you’d expect from a kid who hasn’t even reached adulthood. After that, she couldn’t continue her work. So, she shut down the brothel and built the theatre. Even now, she’s steadily helping the former prostitutes achieve independence. All thanks to Cassia.”
The Bridle Quest did not change Cassia alone. Significant changes had already occurred in her past life, affecting others’ lives as well.
Leo felt that the Orange Theatre was safe. With such significant changes, if it turned out to all be a trap— that would be going too far.
At least, if there is any meaning to this ‘Lena Raising’ game…
That shouldn’t be the case.
Leo performed his duties diligently. He cut back on sleep to explore the secret passages beneath the royal palace and was finally allowed to go out a week before the prince of the Astin Kingdom arrived.
Leo, wearing the best clothes borrowed from a squire (junior knight), immediately headed for ‘Eraline Avenue.’
Eraline Avenue was where the nobility gathered. It was the most well-kept and bustling place in all of Orville, filled with mansions of high-ranking nobles like Marquis Tatian. Although this was Leo’s first visit, he gazed at the familiar street with bitterness.
‘Yes. I ran through that alley…’
He vividly remembered entering the mansion of Marquis Tatian on a contract, waiting to assassinate the marquis’s son, getting off a carriage with Lena in a pretty dress, and being chased by the female knight Irene.
It felt like he had come full circle. He brushed aside his lingering thoughts and quickened his pace.
The mansion of Count Gustav Peter was located somewhat away.
Still on Eraline Avenue but distanced from the central area, where the houses of influential barons or declining viscounts stood.
Leo stood in front of Count Peter’s mansion. After taking a deep breath before the rather large but stark mansion without any decorations, he showed his Royal Guard badge to the guard.
“The Count is busy with other appointments. Please wait a moment. I will go and inform him.”
The butler courteously attended to Leo, certain of his status as the king’s messenger.
Steaming tea and refreshments were served. Sipping tea and glancing around the reception room, Leo reconsidered his initial thoughts.
Going to extremes in frugality, he seemed unlikely to decorate the mansion. While there were few decorations inside as well, unlike the dreary exterior, the interior had some colors.
Bold wallpaper. The reception room, with curtains and carpets in seemingly mismatched colors, had an intriguing charm rather than being boring.
‘…It doesn’t match?’
It was hard to believe this was the mansion of Count Peter, who always wore dark clothes and rode in a black carriage drawn by a black horse.
Perhaps it might be the taste of Count Peter’s wife ─ at that moment, Count Gustav Peter appeared in a hurry, his silver hair fluttering.
Being a royal guard has its perks.
But Leo soon grit his teeth. It wasn’t because he was reminded of the Count, who wore no adornment, reporting him and his sister’s identity to the Marquis.
“Nice to meet you. What brings you from the royal family?” It wasn’t because he was disgusted at the way the Count pretended not to recognize him, just like Bishop Berg had done before.
Simply put,
[Award: Baptism of the Saint – Leo is granted the ability {Divine Insight}]
‘Damn it.’
Count Gustav Peter’s body was imbued with a white divine power, like a priest. An individual endowed with the divine power of the main deity could never be enchanted.
The bracelet was rendered useless. Leo swallowed his rising curse and said,
“…It seems the Count does not recognize me.”
Count Gustav Peter said nothing. He simply stared, as if saying “What are you talking about?”