36 – The Stars, the Moon, and the Night Garden

“The force behind the ‘Explorers’ is the Church.”

“what…?”

At my bombshell remark, the jaws of everyone in the audience dropped open.

Well, when it comes to listening, it was all Lucy and Anna, Aaron and Milliam.

I looked at the imperial suns with their mouths open.

In the midst of everyone’s dumbfounded silence, Anna was the first to speak.

At my words, she shouted incredulously.

“Muh, what nonsense…! The Church controlled the ‘Explorers’ from behind…!!”

Yeah, I thought you’d be the first to shout.

The claim that ‘the church is in the dark’ that I said is,

For Anna, who has a saintess as her friend,

‘Your friend tried to rip you off the head’ is all I can hear.

As she shouted nonsense, Aaron, who was standing next to the emperor, also helped.

“The church is in darkness… You’re suddenly making strange noises, Gongja.”

After hearing my words, Aaron and Anna’s answers were negative.

“……”

Lucy didn’t say anything, but it seemed like they were thinking the same thing.

Except for one person, everyone was in an atmosphere of disbelief.

Yes, except for one person.

I slightly raised my head and cast my gaze at that one person.

“……”

Milliam’s hardened blue eyes and my gaze intersect in the air.

Milliam’s face was filled with surprise and astonishment.

However, there were no feelings of disbelief or doubt.

I thought to him, smiling slightly to the inside.

Also, this gentleman. You knew it to some extent at this point.

‘Yes, this is Millium…’

In the history of the empire, the emperor called the wisest.

Milliam von Lietro.

If he has the insight to see the world clearly,

Even at the present time, before the identity of the church was revealed on the surface,

I thought that maybe he was noticing the identity of the cult, but it must have been bingo.

“You knew that, Your Majesty.”

“…I’ve never decided, I just had my doubts.”

Milliam answered with a slightly confused expression.

“father…?”

“father…?”

When Milliam reacted like that, Anna and Aaron, who had been denying my words until just now, looked at him.

Because Milliam’s answer was nuanced, as if to some extent affirming my argument.

Milliam let out a deep sigh and opened his mouth, perhaps feeling the eyes of his children heading towards him.

“Haa… Yes. I was suspecting the cult as the mastermind behind this raid.”

“Really, Father…?”

“Uh, why…?”

“It’s because the movement of the church has been unusual lately… There is no clear evidence, so we can’t come forward…”

Milliam let out a small moan and turned his gaze toward me.

He stared at me for a moment, then asked me.

“Why do you think so?”

“Yes?”

“Just as I had reasons to doubt the Church, you also have reasons to doubt the Church…”

“It’s not a doubt. I’m sure.”

I interrupted Milliam and corrected him.

To interrupt the emperor’s words…

It may look like a crazy bastard to someone who doesn’t know it, but

Milliam rather likes people who speak confidently and with ambition.

look at that expression

The corners of your mouth are going up.

“Yes, I am sure… Then what is the basis for that certainty?

Milliam asked, sweeping his beard, if he was interested in my confident demeanor.

And, I clearly answered that question.

“I heard it firsthand from a senior officer of the ‘Seekers’ whom I met during the raid.”

“What…? You heard it yourself…?”

Milium is slightly surprised.

I nodded and continued to explain.

“Did you hear that I brutally tortured one of the men I subdued during the raid?”

“Well, I heard it. They said it was dismembered, burned, and it wasn’t a fuss.”

“The man I burned at that time was a high-ranking executive of the ‘Explorers’.”

“Ohhh… So you’re saying that you were trying to find out information through torture…?

“Yes, that’s right. I burned it and cut off the limbs, so it swelled up.”

Of course it’s a dog.

The only conversation I had with him was, ‘I’m going to burn your body from now on, so hold on well’.

The reason I know that the Church is in the dark is because it is purely from the original story.

Well, it’s true that the church is in the dark, so wouldn’t it matter?

Originally, if you put one truth and one lie together, it becomes two truths.

“If what you say is true… Sooner or later, there will be blood in the empire…”

At my words, Milium muttered with her eyes narrowed.

I just slightly closed my eyes that had been wide open, but that alone overflows with force.

Even if he usually has a bit of a clumsy image because of his eight-fold image, it seems that the emperor is the emperor after all.

“Ha, but father… It’s a bit hard to believe words without proof…”

“That’s right! How can you believe the words of that idiot!?”

“Ah, Anna… to be devastated in front of the person concerned…”

“Why! That’s right! My brother honestly thought that too!”

Even though I and Milliam had such a conversation, Anna and Aaron still didn’t believe it.

Milliam nodded and said as if there was some truth in their words.

“That’s right. I have similar suspicions to you… but that doesn’t support the claim that the Cult is the dark side.”

“That’s right.”

“Isn’t there anyone but you who can prove that you tortured that high-ranking official to find out?”

“That’s right.”

As Milliam said, the fact that I found out the facts by torturing the assailants,

There is no proof of the claim that the church is black.

It was just an effective card to get them to listen to what I had to say.

However, this is enough.

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Just by showing this card, Millium’s wariness towards the church would rise even higher.

And… proof, you can collect as much as you want.

My father is the duke of the Lisitt family, the ‘Imperial Sword’, which is said to be the best of the three ducal families.

If you only borrow the power of your father, who is a duke, you may not be able to dig up all the shadows of the church, but you will be able to dig up some suspicious parts.

Of course, the imperial family should be able to follow the church, but

At a time like now, when the church is raising its guard against the imperial family,

It would be difficult for the imperial family to move directly…

“Give me a little time, and I’ll try to find the evidence.”

I said with a confident smile.

“You’re going to find the evidence yourself, huh… You must be quite serious about this matter, right?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

—-The seekers, and the church,

“Aren’t you my mother’s enemy?”

Milliam put on a blank expression for a moment at my calm reply,

As if he had remembered it, he let out a belated cough.

“A lot… that’s right, it was…”

“So, I want you to trust and follow this matter. Even for the sake of my mother, who passed away.”

When I said that and lowered my head, Milliam was silent for a moment and then nodded.

“Yeah. Seeing you talk like this, I can trust you.”

“thank you.”

“No, I’m more grateful. Isn’t that what the imperial family should do instead?”

Milliam smiled broadly and said.

“I’ll trust you for once. I hear, they say they’re done with that awkward mess.”

“Yes that’s right.”

“How is it? The feeling of throwing off the mask.”

“……It’s not as refreshing as I thought. It seems that I get quite a lot of hate…”

I said that and looked at Lucy and Anna standing next to the emperor.

From the middle of my conversation with Milliam, the two people were staring blankly at me with a bewildered expression.

When Lucy made eye contact with me, she quietly averted her eyes,

Anna frowned and said, ‘What are you looking at, bastard?’ had the same expression.

I winked at them with a wink and shrugged my shoulders toward Hwangjae.

At that, the emperor said with a bitter smile.

“Take care… You know, they’re good kids…”

“Yes.”

“Do you know how sad Lucy was when you disappeared?”

“Yes…?”

I tilted my head at those words.

You said you were sad…? Lucy…?

Seeing my reaction like that, Milliam chuckled and laughed.

“It wasn’t even a fuss… I locked myself in a bare room and cried…”

“Ah, Dad!! You suddenly said something strange…!!”

When Milliam’s words continued, Lucy cut off his words in a hurry.

As she flapped her arms, she lashed out at his father.

“Why are you suddenly saying something like that…!!”

“Hehe… you’re shy.”

“no!!”

Lucy groaned and groaned.

Her pure white face was dyed red before she knew it.

I felt a bit confused when I saw it.

what? Is it true…?

oh please…

Raiden didn’t care about Lucy, but Lucy shouldn’t worry about Raiden.

It must have been Milliam’s joke…?

As I rolled my eyes, questioning Milliam’s words and Lucy’s attitude,

Milliam, who was looking at me like that, opened his mouth again with a chuckle.

“Chuck… Well, let’s talk about this later… We went to the mountain while talking, but originally we were talking about compensation.”

“Oh yes, it was.”

We were talking about compensation, yea.

I almost forgot because I was talking about the church.

Milliam looked at me and drool for a while.

“Hmm… what kind of reward do you want to receive? I wonder if the eldest son of the 3rd duchy lacks something… but if you need something, tell me.”

I nodded at him and said.

“I had something in mind beforehand.”

“Whoa, what is it?”

“I want the right to import ‘Shimmacho’ legally.”

“Stressed out…? Are you talking about emotional cigarettes…?”

Milliam shook his head slightly as something unexpected came out of my mouth.

I guess so. Mind you, it’s like a very powerful… antidepressant.

Simmacho.

In other words, emotional tobacco.

As the word ‘tobacco’ implies, it is made in the form of cigarettes by combining various herbs.

Inhaling the smoke has the effect of relieving negative emotions.

Because of its effectiveness, it has become popular with people who are aware of symptoms such as depression and lethargy.

Due to severe side effects such as hallucinations and hallucinations, it is said to have been banned from use in the Empire.

Milliam frowned for a moment, then said,

He immediately gave me a sad look and told me.

“…You can’t believe it, are you still not completely healed?”

what. Did you even know that this man, Raiden’s mental state was unstable?

Well, this is a quick talk.

I answered Milliam’s question with a calm expression.

“It’s better. I don’t know if it’s more messed up.”

“this……”

“Ah, don’t worry about the side effects of simmacho. There is a way to deal with them all.”

The side effects of psychotherapy are hallucinations and hallucinations.

Auditory hallucinations and hallucinations that could not be endured with moderate mental strength.

Ordinary people wouldn’t put their hands on it because they couldn’t stand these things, but…

Don’t I have an amazing SSS grade skill, ‘Spirit of Iron’?

It means that the level of hallucinations or hallucinations can be offset.

When I said it so confidently, Milliam seemed to be thinking about it for a while, but then nodded.

“Okay. I’ll allow it.”

“thank you.”

I cheered inwardly and bowed my head.

With this, I was able to erase the feelings of depression and helplessness that the ‘iron spirit’ could not prevent.

As I thought about that and smiled softly, Milliam checked the time and said.

“Hmm… It’s been quite a while. Let’s talk about it here.”

“Ah, yes. Then I’ll go away.”

“Yes, until tomorrow, when I’m staying at the palace, I’ll spend it comfortably.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

“What, let’s go.”

With Milliam’s order to celebrate, I turned around and left the audience room.

.

.

.

And that night.

“I can’t sleep…”

Because I couldn’t sleep for some reason, I tossed and turned in bed for a long time,

In the end, he raised his sulky body.

I’m sure my body is tired, my head is tired, but I can’t sleep.

Perhaps, the insomnia that had been wriggling before has flared up again.

“Haa… I’m going crazy, I want to sleep…”

I nervously scratched the back of my head and sighed.

I’m sleepy but I feel like I can’t sleep. It’s like a dog.

I looked at the large window located in front of the bed, holding my brow throbbing.

The blue moonlight broke through the glass window and illuminated the interior of the room as a dreamy light.

I looked at it with blank eyes.

The moonlight is so beautiful.

Obviously, the moonlight in my previous life that I remember was close to yellow, but this world is unusually blue.

Is that so?

There’s something mysterious, but it feels like a thrill.

I got out of bed and walked towards the window to take a closer look at the moonlight.

When you reach the window, the scenery beyond the window comes in at a glance.

I involuntarily admired the scenery.

“Wow……”

Beyond the terrace by the window, a beautiful garden was laid out.

The garden where red and blue flowers are harmoniously intertwined,

It was shining softly in the blue moonlight.

I carefully opened the window and stepped over the terrace.

The touch of the soft grass touches my bare feet, which I had taken off my shoes while lying in bed.

I trembled slightly at him and took a step forward.

ㅡJabak… Jabak…

Every time the blades of grass brush my feet, they make a tickling sound and fall away.

The wind, full of the smell of autumn, playfully messes with my hair.

It’s peaceful.

I thought so and slightly closed my eyes.

How long does it take to think of peace?

Because in the past life and in the present life, it was eventful…

My head, messed up from fatigue and insomnia,

The fragrant flower scent and the smell of grass gradually cleared things up.

I walked through the garden for a while, then looked up at the sky.

A million stars embroidering the sky illuminate the black night sky with a million lights.

Is that why?

Although the night sky was black, it was not dark.

I stood in the middle of the garden and looked at the sky for a while.

By the time that time had passed and the unpleasant feeling of fatigue was gone.

I turned around to go back to my room.

The moment I was about to step onto the terrace-

“Raiden…?”

—-A familiar voice called me from behind.