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“Do you have the original scripture?”
“…Yes.” She swallowed hard, feeling stiffness in her tongue and throat. “I have the original scripture, Your Majesty.”
Silence followed once again. In that quiet, Dana became increasingly confused. Not knowing the emperor’s location heightened her unease.Where is the emperor now? Still behind me?
“I will ask you once again.”
Dana gripped her hands tightly, bracing myself for another shock.
This time, the emperor was standing right in front of her. At the edge of her vision, she saw a robe that reached the floor. Its pure white hem, utterly unadorned, actually drew more attention because of its simplicity.
“Is it true that you have the original scripture?”
“Yes,” Dana answered firmly. “Your Majesty, I know it’s hard to believe, but I have found the original scripture.”
He didn’t respond. It seemed like he doubted her. It was natural. The original scripture had been lost for over a thousand years, existing only in legend.
Please say something…Gradually, her breath became short. Just as she thought she might suffocate, the emperor finally spoke.
“Raise your head, Danae Windsor.”
She had been waiting for those words, yet why did she so hate to obey them? Still, it was an order she couldn’t avoid. Slowly raising her head, Dana met the emperor’s gaze. She steeled her eyes to keep from frowning.
The emperor was like the sun at midday. His brilliantly shining golden hair and face, sculpted like the Sun God himself, were so beautiful they almost hurt to look at.
“It would be wise not to lie.”
But one must not be fooled by his godly appearance.
Emperor Yustio was once one of the seven cardinals and the infamous head inquisitor of the Holy See.The most feared human by barbarians…The rumors about him killing nearly a thousand demon worshippers during barbarian hunts were not mere rumors.
Yustio had ascended to the throne unwillingly, upon receiving a divine oracle. Perhaps because he was an emperor chosen by the heavens, she couldn’t possibly think of him as her own kind. The thought of having to deal again with such a person was truly exhausting.
“Your Majesty, do you remember when I purified the rotten land?” Dana started the conversation calmly.
As if to tell her to continue, he tilted his chin slightly.
Encouraged, Dana went on. “At the time, while purifying that land, I felt something peculiar. Even after the purification was complete, it appeared in my dreams again and again for years.”
“Just in case, I had my secretary excavate that place this time, and there I discovered the scripture.”
To others, it might sound like a ridiculous tale. But not when she said it. Because she was Danae Windsor, the one who had purified the great calamity known as ‘rotten land’. Even if she possessed another ability, it would sound plausible.
And what Dana had just said was very close to the truth. It was a fact that she had located the original scripture through the memories held within the land itself.
That’s right. So there’s no way he can just ignore it.After all, it was about the scripture.
The scripture contained the words of God. No one has ever seen the original scripture. The scriptures of the present age were nothing more than a collection of copied fragments transcribed from the real one. Hence, rumors that it had been tampered with were rampant. In fact…
“10 years ago, Demian Windsor brought back a copy of the scripture as well.”
The scripture’s content has changed several times since then.
“Didn’t Demian Windsor’s discovery open an era embracing the Moon Goddess, Danae Windsor?”
Dana didn’t respond. It was because the emperor probably wasn’t expecting an answer.
Originally, the Moon Goddess was considered a demon. A demon worshiped by barbarians. That interpretation had been dominant.But that changed after Danae’s father discovered fragments of a copied scripture.
What Demian Windsor found on the treasure island wasn’t merely immense wealth. He also discovered a copy of the scripture. In truth, the Moon Goddess wasn’t a demon. Like the Sun God, she was a benevolent and great deity.
When Demian revealed a copied scripture contained such content, the entire continent was thrown into upheaval. And from that day on, the religious force began to split. Those who acknowledged the Moon Goddess became the Protestants, and those who denied her became the Catholics.In other words, those who believed the copied scripture Demian brought back were the Protestant, and those who didn’t were the Catholics.
Yustio belonged to Catholic. He was on the side that believed the copied scripture Demian Windsor had found was a fake.
“And now Demian’s daughter brings the original scripture. One could call it a discovery spanning generations.”
The emperor’s voice was calm, devoid of any humor, but Dana knew. He was being sarcastic.
“As you know, I believe Demian Windsor to be a fraud and a blasphemer who will be remembered throughout history.”
“By acknowledging the Moon Goddess, the Windsor family was able to begin business with the Southern Continent. Thanks to that, you rose to the position of the continent’s greatest tycoons in a very short time.”
A prime example was the Moonlight Flower. A flower that bloomed only in the Southern Continent, a heretical land where trade had once been forbidden. A flower symbolizing the Moon Goddess, one that the Windsor family monopolized the import of.
I once proposed a coercive deal using that as leverage. No wonder he’d want to strangle me.Just as she thought that, her throat seemed to ache again.
The emperor reached out again.
Don’t tell me he’s going to choke me again!
However, his elegant fingers instead grasped her chin and lifted it.
“Where is this so-called original?”
“It is too precious, so I didn’t bring it with me.”
“There must be another reason besides that…” The emperor muttered to himself, the corners of his mouth lifting. Then he withdrew his hand and asked directly, “What do you want this time?”
At last, they had reached the topic she had been waiting for. Dana answered at once. “I want to break off my engagement with Raios.”
“If what you have brought is truly the original scripture, then yes, I shall grant it.” The emperor accepted it with surprising ease, then stepped back. “But if it is determined that it is not the original…”
I guess he would threaten to kill me again.That’s what Dana thought. But instead,
“I will annihilate the Windsor family.”
What?Dana stared at him blankly. The emperor’s face was utterly composed. It wasn’t a threat or intimidation. He was merely stating his genuine plan.
“To dare mock the era across generations. There would be more than sufficient grounds to charge you with imperial and sacred blasphemy.”
The emperor turned away. His white robe fluttered as if it couldn’t even gather dust. “Send the original. After it has been verified, we will speak again.” Walking toward the throne, he added, “Danae Windsor, I heard you cherish your family.”
“It seems you are desperate enough to wager their lives for the sake of breaking off your engagement with the crown prince.”