The moment the duke spoke, the atmosphere in the entire conference hall grew even heavier.
Ileil stopped questioning Gro and shifted her gaze onto Lokas and Emilia.
“…….I was simply following the teachings of the Dawn Goddess, Your Grace.”
Emilia replied softly. There was not the slightest wavering in her eyes, as if she had no regrets about her choices:
“You should know, Your Grace—keeping the secrets of those who confess is part of my duty as a nun.”
“……”
Emilia answered without any ripple in her expression. Looking at how calmly she could respond to his questioning, Duke Lokas’s clenched fists trembled slightly:
“But you should also know, Sister Emilia… that the Dawn Goddess does not permit shielding sin or allowing evil to grow unchecked.”
“This is my negligence, Your Grace.”
Emilia bowed and said sincerely:
“Saint Dorias should be present, yes?” She calmly shifted her gaze toward Dorias Angus, who was frowning deeply. “I am willing to accept judgment for my dereliction of duty.”
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
Duke Lokas shook his head and took a step closer to where Emilia stood. “Sister Emilia, what I truly want to ask is—why did you deliberately use the missing persons incident to lure Her Highness the Princess into the witch’s trap and collude with the heretics?”
“…….”
Emilia’s expression gradually darkened. Lokas’s words were no different from a direct accusation.
…….
“Lokas really can’t hold back, huh.”
On the side, Gro listened to the duke’s aggressive tone and couldn’t help but sigh while rubbing his forehead.
“What’s going on?” Ileil looked in confusion at the duke, whose attitude toward Emilia had completely changed from yesterday. “Yesterday he was strongly refuting my suspicions about Emilia, but now he’s suddenly suspicious of her? It’s like he’s a different person.”
“I did that,” Gro replied in a low voice. He looked at the confrontation between the duke and the nun and continued slowly:
“Before you arrived, I told him everything I knew. Including the abnormalities surrounding Miss Emilia.”
Gro’s words surprised Ileil slightly. Even though she hadn’t clearly told him about the oddities with Sister Emilia, had he still noticed something off about the nun?
If that was the case… did Gro sense the lingering presence of the witch on Emilia?
Ileil didn’t know the answer.
Keeping these thoughts to herself, she said expressionlessly:
“You’re pretty capable, managing to change his stubborn opinion.”
“Who do you think I am, kid?” Gro took Ileil’s sarcastic remark as a compliment. “It wasn’t for nothing that I’ve been running around the Aressto border these past few days. In the face of absolute truth, the scales of emotion will eventually tip.”
“So…… what exactly did you discover about Sister Emilia?”
Ileil asked tentatively. But Gro continued speaking as if he hadn’t heard her question:
“Just watch carefully, kid.” The corners of Gro’s mouth curved upward.
“Watch how Miss Emilia slips up and reveals herself.”
……..
After Lokas spoke, the two fell into several minutes of silence. Lokas’s face was filled with confusion and urgency as he desperately sought an answer, his eyes burning like an agitated lion.
“What do you mean by that, Your Grace?”
Finally, Emilia was the first to break the silence.
“Your words are quite a dangerous accusation. I admit that I failed to report the missing persons cases to you in time, which indirectly led to this irreparable situation. However, without any evidence, you are labeling me as an accomplice of the heretics. Please forgive my bluntness, but your accusation is utterly absurd.”
Sister Emilia responded sharply to Duke Lokas’s words. Her tone was solemn and serious, completely different from when she had apologized earlier.
“Emilia……”
Lokas’s throat moved as he changed how he addressed her, his voice hoarse. “From childhood to now, I have always respected you—in my heart, you have been a firm, sensible, and exemplary role model.”
Upon hearing the duke’s words, a subtle change appeared on Emilia’s face, but it quickly returned to normal.
“Mm…… I will never forget the days I spent with you when you were young. Those truly were precious memories. However, I don’t think this is the time to speak of such things.”
“You know that I have never been one to voice my opinions lightly—especially accusations against others.”
Lokas’s blue eyes narrowed slightly as he stared into Emilia’s eyes, speaking as if pleading:
“Sister Emilia……. It’s not too late yet.”
Looking at Emilia’s deliberately confused expression, Lokas said heavily:
“While there is still a chance to turn back……. tell us everything you know. I cannot bear to watch you walk into the abyss. Confess now—cooperate with Saint Dorias to purge the evil from Renn Town and atone for the sins you committed after being misled. I… will do everything in my power to share the burden with you—”
…….
“My god, this guy Lokas.”
After listening to Lokas’s speech, Gro nearly fainted.
“Looking at how hesitant he is, I should have expected this. Looks like I’ll have to be the villain here. This kid is still too kind-hearted.”
“I don’t understand what’s going on between them.”
Ileil didn’t mind watching this drama unfold as an outsider. The safety of Renn Town and the appearance of the witch had almost no impact on her revenge plan. Listening to Lokas’s ridiculous speech, she only felt confused.
But Gro didn’t give Ileil a chance to ask for clarification. Lokas’s incomprehensible words seemed to have touched Emilia, and her tone was no longer as composed as before:
“I’m sorry. Your words are truly difficult to understand. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
This was the answer Lokas ultimately received. Sister Emilia’s face darkened, but she continued to firmly deny the duke’s accusations.
“There is nothing left for us to discuss, Duke Lokas. I will accept any judgment from Saint Dorias, but I will never accept your baseless accusations.”
“……So that’s what you think?”
Lokas gritted his teeth and gave Dorias a meaningful look. The saint understood and walked over to the nun, placing shackles on Emilia.
“We don’t have concrete evidence yet. But we soon will—I have already sent people to search the basement of your church. At that time, I hope you can prove your innocence.”
Ileil watched as Emilia’s expression suddenly sank, her previously composed face turning deathly pale. It seemed Emilia could no longer keep up the act. Although Ileil didn’t know exactly what crimes the nun had committed, her intuition was never wrong—Emilia definitely had some unspeakable connection with the witch.
That witch didn’t want me to expose Emilia’s secret. But in the end, it still came out…….
Ileil thought to herself as she looked at Gro’s profile—this man seemed to control far more than she had imagined.
Sometimes even Ileil wondered… whether Gro truly didn’t know that the black-haired witch could observe the current situation through her body.
“Alright. Now that Sister Emilia’s matter is settled, next… it’s time to meet an old friend.”
Gro watched as Emilia was subdued, stretched lazily, and said:
“—The feeling of coming back from the dead isn’t very pleasant, is it, ‘Blood Axe’ Regnar.”