Religious forces certainly existed in this world; there was even a specific nation known as the Papal State.
While this religion influenced many regions, it was generally considered a legitimate faith and did not engage in anything too outrageous.
However, where there is a mainstream religion, there are bound to be non-mainstream heretical sects.
Among these heretical sects, those that went too far were officially designated as evil cults by various governments.
A religion that worshipped dragons was one such cult recognized by all nations, and it was the one with the most influence.
They claimed that the mainstream religion of the Papal State consisted of liars disguised as demons, while they themselves were saints guiding the people. While proclaiming they were leading the world onto the righteous path, they had once attempted to assassinate the woman who was the Imperial Princess of the Empire at the time.
They had tried to assassinate the current Empress, who strictly regulated religion, in order to place a weak emperor on the throne who would tolerate their activities.
Naturally, they failed, and the Imperial nobles who supported them from the shadows were purged. However, the fact that the organization nearly toppled a country ensured that all governments remembered their existence.
Until now, the organization had operated in other countries and had not yet expanded into the Kingdom.
Now, appearing in the Kingdom on the same day Caine arrived naturally made it easy for people to associate the two.
Because they hid so deep, it was only today that Altina received intelligence about their activities in other cities and handed it over to Vanessa.
Vanessa, who already suspected Caine, naturally began to lean toward this theory.
…And this was Altina’s conspiracy.
The cult did indeed exist, but it had not actually appeared within the Kingdom’s borders.
This information was false intelligence fabricated by Altina herself. Her original goal was to use the opportunity of investigating the cult to suppress the legitimate Church.
But since Vanessa wanted to court death, Altina did not mind lending a hand.
“Could that man be a high-ranking member of the cult, which is why he possesses special magic to deceive Edwina?”
“…Currently, there is no evidence to suggest that Lord Caine has a direct connection to this cult. However, there is also no evidence proving they are definitely unrelated. If you wish to investigate, you could try looking in this direction.”
In response to Vanessa’s question, the clever—or rather, cunning—and cold-faced wicked woman Altina distanced herself completely.
Her neutral stance, which lacked any clear assertion, seemed very impartial. But giving Vanessa such information at this specific juncture was intended to guide Vanessa toward her own ruin.
This way, Vanessa might do something even more extreme and eventually go up in flames.
“…Thank you for the information, Lady Altina. I will go to the Royal Capital’s Church now to see if they have any other useful information.”
Vanessa, who trusted Altina, did not doubt her for a second.
She stated directly that she would visit the legitimate Church.
To this, Altina naturally replied that the Princess should do as she pleased, noting that she had other official duties and could not accompany her.
In the worst-case scenario, Vanessa would make a scene; Altina would then firmly side with Caine at the critical moment to show her stance and suppress Vanessa.
In the best-case scenario, Vanessa and the people from the Church would cause a major incident together, and Altina would take the opportunity to deal with them all at once.
In Altina’s view, neither the legitimate Church, the cult, nor Vanessa was necessary. It would be for the best if she could eliminate them all.
Every action she took was for the betterment of the Kingdom. She would do anything for that cause, even if it meant being called a cold-blooded and cruel woman.
“Oh, right, one more thing, Lady Altina. Could you help me talk some sense into my aunt? Walking around with a man dressed like that is simply too frivolous. I’ll take care of talking to Edwina.”
Just as Altina was solemnly considering matters of state, Vanessa, who she thought had left, suddenly stopped at the door and made a statement that far exceeded Altina’s expectations.
…What did she mean by Vita wearing clothes that required her advice? She knew that Vita and Edwina had gone to see Caine, but Vita’s outfit had been quite normal then, hadn’t it?
Could it be that after greeting her and obtaining Caine’s resting address, Vita had specifically gone back to change into an outfit Vanessa would describe as “too frivolous”?
After instinctively agreeing and seeing Vanessa leave completely…
Altina, alone once more, fell into silence as she looked at the documents on her desk.
Clearly, she should have returned to handling government affairs with all her heart, but Vanessa’s parting words made her feel somewhat restless.
Mainly, Vanessa hadn’t specified what the clothes were.
This led Altina’s imagination to run wild, flashing through many extremely exaggerated outfits.
It wasn’t really a big deal. If Vita wore it, she could wear it too.
She was confident she could prepare an even more exaggerated outfit than Vita’s.
…However, what was this sense of irritation? It didn’t seem to be just the worry that Caine would be won over by Vita, preventing the Kingdom from replacing its ruler with a more excellent and wise monarch.
Could it be that she wasn’t just worried about the future of the country, but was also bothered by the fact that the man himself was being snatched away by another woman?
The cold-blooded noble daughter was visibly stunned when she thought of this. Although her expression still didn’t show her agitation, her body, frozen in her seat, said everything.
She was only trying to win over Caine from the perspective of what was beneficial for the country.
Winning over Caine could be considered official business. Even offering her virginity and loyalty was merely part of the job.
As long as Caine could govern the country more diligently than Corellia, she could offer him everything. If Caine ordered her to fall in love with him, she would do so.
…But why did her heart flutter before Caine even made the request?
No, it was impossible. Although Caine was indeed an outstanding male, it was impossible for her to feel her heart race. Nothing special had happened between them.
It was just one night attack, and a failed one at that.
However, this feeling was very strange and could not be ignored.
To prove that she hadn’t developed personal feelings, perhaps she should take the initiative to do something as a test.
Staring at the internal affairs documents on her desk, the cold-blooded daughter’s face remained calm and solemn, looking as devoid of personal emotion as a perfect machine.
…However, the fact that she remained frozen in that same posture, delaying her work for a long time, revealed her abnormality.
The only stroke of luck was that no one else saw her in this abnormal state.
“…”
Except for the ice queen who was silently monitoring her through a magic mirror in her own office.
Corellia, who had seen the entire conversation between Vanessa and Altina, also had a cold expression, as if she were just observing her daughters’ actions on a whim.
However, because she hadn’t attacked Caine for several days, she was feeling somewhat unsatisfied.
Therefore, she also planned to take new action. As for what exactly she would do? That was naturally a secret that had to be kept from everyone, including her daughters and her childhood friend.
The only thing that could be said was that she intended to continue being as detestable as ever, making people believe she was a cold and eerie evil queen—especially Caine.
And since she was going to be an evil queen, there shouldn’t be a problem with being a little narcissistic and lecherous, right?
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.