After soothing my poor, empty stomach to the best of my ability, my mind finally started working again.
I didn’t want to seem like I was dwelling on the Grand Elder’s words, but there was an issue I needed to clarify.
“Who has the last key?”
In <Fate>, four Elders were prominently mentioned. I had already taken keys from three of them.
Since there were supposed to be five keys in total, that meant one more Elder existed. Yet I had no idea who it was.
Thinking about it, <Fate> was pretty useless for a so-called prophecy book.
It only detailed how Cruello would trample the world once he obtained Morion.
Not surprising—its author was Mamic, after all. She probably wasn’t inclined to include hidden information.
Still, I had assumed Cruello would know.
He had even figured out the existence of the key’s magic, something I hadn’t known.
But—
“I don’t know.”
“...What?”
“The people I investigated were all skilled dark magicians. But there’s no one else who stands out as suspicious.”
“Whaaaaat?”
Emergency! Emergency!
I had been too complacent.
How could I have blindly assumed Cruello would know everything?!
This was the most important issue, and I was only realizing it now.
I needed to do some serious self-reflection... which, honestly, I always said but never actually did.
No wonder the Grand Elder had been so overly confident.
“So the last Elder likely didn’t practice dark magic.”
“Great. That means it’s time to head to the duchy.”
“I doubt the Elder is in the territory. That place has no connections to the church.”
“Are you sure?”
“Ninety percent.”
...So, definitely.
That left only one option.
We needed to squeeze the Grand Elder for both the key and any other information he had.
Determined, I jumped up from my seat—only to freeze mid-motion.
“Darling?”
“A-Ah, it’s nothing.”
“Are you feeling unwell?”
“No, it’s just...”
I had only been startled by a butterfly outside the window.
Not even a white one.
Hesitating for a moment, I decided to speak.
“I don’t know if this is connected to the Elders, but there’s one person who seems suspicious.”
“Tell me.”
“Nigellia was the only one who supposedly received divine revelations, right? A white butterfly would deliver ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) messages, saying this or that.”
Even after I had demonstrated my own butterfly’s ability, she had insisted hers was different.
Which meant it had to be the same type of spell.
That meant—
“I think a Pebula priest infiltrated the church and was manipulating Nigellia.”
“...I see.”
“If it’s true that the church’s first leader was once a Saint of Pebula, then it’s possible that more people like that exist.”
“Do you believe that?”
“I think it’s worth considering.”
I didn’t have the blind faith I once did.
I had never been particularly devout, but now... I had little faith left at all.
I had seen Elin’s death.
She had lost control, consumed an excessive amount of Beatitudo, and self-destructed—even though she had already won the fight.
After witnessing that up close, I couldn’t dismiss it all as just another one of her lies.
At the very least, her death had seemed more honest than my god.
Cruello fell into thought before speaking again.
“Nigellia lived over two hundred years by consuming Beatitudo. Makes you wonder—was she really the first person to do that?”
“I was thinking the same thing. The so-called Saint himself might still be alive.”
I recalled the records I had gathered.
The old, faded scriptures that mentioned the Saint of Pebula and human sacrifices.
The fragile, brittle paper they had been written on.
“...I really hope not.”
A tight feeling settled in my chest, and I let out a heavy sigh.
***
A dimly lit room.
A man stood beneath the flickering light, waiting for the Grand Elder.
“The time has come to release Morion.”
The moment he stepped into the chamber, the Grand Elder got straight to the point.
“You’re abandoning the prophecy? Well, I did hear about the Second Elder’s death.”
“It only occurred to me after she died, but I have my doubts about whether those so-called revelations were even real.”
“Hm.”
The robed man let out a vague hum.
“The one we await is no god. Even if others call him divine, what we need is a devil—a force of absolute energy we can control.”
“Exactly. An existence that moves according to our will.”
“...You really have no sense of restraint.”
“I’ll be more careful. So, you’re saying you no longer trust the prophecy?”
“Just because the Second Elder lived for centuries doesn’t mean everything she said was true. The fact that she died proves she was just a human in the end.”
“Well, considering she shaped the church’s entire direction using those prophecies, it is possible.”
The man agreed easily.
His faith had always been flimsy, so it was no surprise he could discard it so readily.
But for once, the Grand Elder didn’t call him out on it.
Instead, he continued.
“That’s why waiting for a divine revelation before taking action is a ridiculous notion.”
“No need to explain further. What about the key? We’ve lost too many to outsiders already.”
“That’s not a concern. The head of the house will claim Morion soon enough.”
“...And my key?”
“For now, you’ll keep it.”
The Grand Elder’s lips curled into a thin smile.
“In the meantime, I’d like you to use your toy to buy us some time.”
At those words, the man’s grin widened.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
“This is quite an amusing order. Let’s go all out while we’re at it. The Crown Prince has been getting a little too bold lately.”
“You’re suggesting we eliminate the Crown Prince in this situation?”
“Yes. And I’ll make sure Siora Bonetti gets tangled up with the remnants of the fallen necromancer faction.”
The Grand Elder narrowed his eyes.
“That girl is a priestess. She was likely hidden and raised by the clergy before being swapped with a noble child. No one would believe she was ever Black Serpent.”
“Could she be connected to an ancient sect?”
“Hah. After seeing how the Second Elder wiped them out, you still ask that? Even Recanon was reduced to that state—no sect of that scale could still exist.”
“Well, it doesn’t really matter. If she was secretly switched at some point, then the temple won’t want to expose the truth either. They didn’t even publicly respond to the last set of accusations.”
“You...”
“Besides, barely anyone knows that Siora Bonetti was the one who dealt with the Second Elder. We are sure because we tracked the Elder’s movements, but the rest of the world is still uncertain.”
The man gave a sinister smile.
Ever since it had been revealed that Elin and Nigellia were the same person, Siora Bonetti’s claims had become ambiguous.
“All we have to do is brand her as an enemy of the church and prevent her from proving her divine power. While she’s on the run, Morion will be freed.”
“...Your logic is sound.”
“Then I’ll take that as approval.”
The Grand Elder nodded.
“I leave it to you, Fourth Elder.”
His business concluded, the old man exited the underground chamber.
The man—the Fourth Elder—turned back toward his workspace.
A massive corpse lay on the stone altar, eyes closed.
Apart from its unnaturally pale skin, it looked no different from when it was alive.
It was Ares.
“Tch. That old fool had to interfere right before I finished.”
The Fourth Elder muttered, opening a desk drawer and pulling out precisely measured portions of Beatitudo.
He stepped closer to the corpse, inspecting the intricate magic circle drawn on its chest.
“No issues.”
Carefully, he poured the Beatitudo onto the magic sigil.
The white granules quickly dissolved into the circle, glowing a deep purple-black as they merged into its design.
Thin, glowing lines wove together, forming a heart.
An artificial heart.
It sank into Ares’s chest.
The corpse’s limbs jerked, twitching violently as though struck by lightning.
Then, suddenly—
The dead man’s eyes snapped open.
“Perfect. It’s complete.”
The Fourth Elder murmured in sheer delight before moving on to the next step.
“Rise, Ares.”
Ares obeyed immediately, stepping down from the stone platform.
“Kneel.”
Without hesitation, he lowered himself before the Fourth Elder.
There was no sign of humiliation on his face. He followed the order as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Even when the Fourth Elder placed his feet atop Ares’s back, nothing changed.
Then he burst into laughter.
That same Ares, who used to glare at him with disdain whenever they crossed paths—now reduced to this.
What could possibly be more satisfying?
“Resurrection? Immortality? What nonsense. This is what a true necromancer does.”
Tsk.
Humans just didn’t appreciate the classics.
Humming in amusement, he playfully tapped Ares’s head.
But as the moment of enjoyment faded, another thought surfaced.
Nigellia was too far gone to revive.
Qudil had vanished without a trace.
And if Cruello died, he’d make a perfect puppet—but that seemed unlikely.
Then, a certain face flashed through his mind.
Now that he thought about it—
“Maybe it’s time to retrieve Julian’s corpse.”
The Fourth Elder’s lips curled into an eerie grin.
***
I left the White Desert estate and returned to the Bonetti manor.
And I was immediately summoned to the head’s office.
Straight-backed posture, neatly tied hair.
Calm green eyes beneath delicately curved lashes.
Even in her gaze, I could see the faint reflection of my own face.
It was probably just my imagination, but the mood made it feel that way.
I forced an awkward smile.
“Minuet, is that a new outfit? It looks amazing on you.”
“Does it?”
“Mhm. You seem more dignified than ever today. Actually, maybe it’s not the outfit—it’s your aura that’s changed.”
“Does it?”
“Yes! You look at least ten times more charismatic and incredible than usual! This must be the true majesty of a count. The former Elder Council must have been completely insane. How could they overlook someone like y—”
“Does it?”
“....”
Wait.
Why wasn’t this working?
My flattery had worked flawlessly during the tea party, so why wasn’t it landing now?
Cold sweat dripped down my back.
Minuet was just sitting there with a gentle smile, and yet—
Why?
What was it?
What was making me feel like this?
I was on the verge of falling into a full-blown existential crisis when—
“Is that all you wanted to say, Siora?”