Chapter 249

Heath stood beneath the shadows cast by the gilded colonnades, silently watching the man seated upon the throne.

Her father. 

The moment she learned the truth behind the dragon bones, shock had left her completely numb. The secrets this man concealed ran deeper and were far more horrifying than she had ever imagined.

He was far more terrifying than the Aberrant Realms themselves, and the devastation he brought knew no end.

Heath had a growing premonition.

Even if this nation escaped destruction at the hands of the Aberrant Realms, sooner or later, it would be destroyed by the monstrous ruler who sat upon its throne.

By now, Heath had already regained her composure. She obeyed the Emperor's orders without objection, even as her own thoughts quietly spun behind the calm facade.

At times, even Heath found herself startled by the depth of her own ruthlessness.

Once, she had believed she truly respected and loved her "father." Yet ever since making certain choices, she'd realized she had accepted the truth that her father was a monster without the slightest burden. There was no grief, no reluctance, not even a trace of sorrow. It was only then that Heath vaguely came to understand the kind of person she truly was.

“…You are the princess of the empire. The glory of the Astons has granted you noble status and a life free from hardship. Heath, I trust that you'll work harder than anyone else to protect the honor we struggled so dearly to obtain.”

The Emperor spoke with a solemn expression.

Heath stepped out from the shadows, answered with a formal salute, and quietly departed the palace.

It's hopeless. No matter how desperately they struggle, there's no overturning this game once it's fallen into Ye Zheng's hands, Heath thought.

As she walked through the palace corridors, the passing maids lowered their heads and bowed respectfully to the princess. Heath returned each greeting with a shy, restrained smile, yet not the faintest trace of warmth touched the seemingly innocent blue eyes behind it.

Ye Zheng had turned the Emperor's carefully laid trap against him. There was no way she hadn't prepared the next move as well, one that would drive the final nail into their coffin. That was the Ye Zheng Heath knew.

The Emperor... no, the entire Aston Imperial Family had already lost. If they now wished to win back the people's trust and support, it was simply impossible.

The Emperor's words were reasonable. Given the current state of affairs, the situation was undoubtedly unfavorable for an imperial princess who bore the Aston bloodline.

And yet, Heath felt that the opportunity she'd been waiting for had finally arrived.

“Your Highness, Princess.”

In the secluded rear garden, a mild-mannered young man wearing glasses inclined his waist in a slight bow before lifting his eyes to the princess standing atop the steps.

Yu Tianming sneered inwardly. A powerless, insignificant princess. The only way she could project any semblance of noble authority was by putting herself a little higher than everyone else.

“The recent situation has been far too turbulent. I'd like to know more about His Majesty's plans, as well as that person's movements. We must ensure the true heir's safety, lest the Papess…”

“The true heir.”

Heath spoke each word deliberately. In an instant, the meek, almost timid composure everyone had grown accustomed to disappeared completely. Her gaze sharpened like a drawn blade.

Yu Tianming was cut off mid-sentence. Slightly taken aback, he looked up and found himself staring directly into Heath's eyes.

“The true heir is standing right in front of you,” she said.

Yu Tianming's mouth slowly fell open, as though he'd just heard the most absurd joke imaginable. A moment later, he let out a muffled “Pff,” darted a glance around him, quickly covered his mouth to suppress the laugh, and coughed several times.

“Heath, you're unusually funny today.”

Yu Tianming had no patience to spare. He was just about to make himself perfectly clear when Heath interrupted him once again.

“You all want to depose the current Emperor to quell the anger that ninety percent of this nation's people harbor toward the Upper District.”

“Then you'll place an obedient puppet on the throne, someone easy to control. That way, you can exploit this upheaval to secure even greater benefits for yourselves.”

With calm precision, Heath laid bare the schemes of the nobles and powerful ministers. Yu Tianming slowly adjusted his glasses. The eyes behind the lenses froze.

“Compared to that illegitimate son, Roy, I'm the better choice. I have no authority, no supporters, no formidable ability…”

Yu Tianming asked in a low, measured voice, “You can serve as an obedient puppet. Beyond that, what value do you actually have?”

“I have Papess Ye Zheng's support.”

Without the slightest change in expression, Heath looked at him calmly.

Yu Tianming's eyes widened in surprise. His brows drew together as he sank into thought.

“More importantly, Roy has no personal ties to you whatsoever. He may even resent the contempt you showed him and his friends during the Ability Tournament.”

“Roy ascending the throne might benefit the Yu family, but that Yu family won't necessarily be your branch of the Yu family…”

Yu Tianming's head snapped up. He already understood the meaning behind Heath's unfinished sentence.

“If I inherit the throne, then the Yu family will be your Yu family.”

Yu Tianming's expression remained perfectly composed, yet the hand hanging at his side instinctively brushed against the place where his missing finger had once been.

That scar was the humiliation Sykes had inflicted upon him. He had sacrificed so much and endured for so many years, only for Sykes's death to strip it all of meaning. For a prime minister's family consumed by ruthless internal rivalry, that loss was especially devastating.

“Heath, I truly underestimated you.”

A slow smile spread across Yu Tianming's face.

“I rarely misjudge people. You're the first… the second. Please accept my apologies for my earlier discourtesy.”

Yu Tianming lowered himself into a deep bow.

Heath watched the newly respectful Yu Tianming with icy detachment, the fist at her side clenched so tightly her knuckles nearly whitened.

When Yu Tianming straightened again, he found Heath looking back at him with a knowing smile, one that conveyed everything without a single word.

In the span of a heartbeat, the two had forged an agreement that could overturn the empire itself. Yu Tianming departed in high spirits, while Heath remained seated upon the steps, silently gazing up at the sky.

Long ago, she had dreamed of escaping this magnificent cage and walking the path of her ideals with courage and freedom, just as Ye Zheng had.

But the seventeen-year-old Heath no longer entertained such dreams.

She had been born into the Aston Imperial Family, with greed and sin flowing through her veins. It was a curse she would never escape for as long as she lived.

If she couldn't escape this cage, then she'd become its master.

✧✧✧✧✧

A full week had passed since Ye Zheng's speech.

Not only had the turmoil it unleashed failed to subside, it had swelled into something even more overwhelming.

Mass demonstrations erupted across both the Lower District and the Middle District. Every day, people tore down and destroyed the royal flags flying above government buildings. Relics left behind by the great Aston XIV were deliberately vandalized in acts of protest.

News that Duke Bai had attempted to assassinate the Papess spread from the Papal Palace, igniting an even greater uproar. Workers launched strikes, students boycotted classes, and countless people openly resisted the immense authority embodied by the Imperial Family and the great noble houses.

Pei Xi squeezed through the crowd to the edge of the street, watching a speaker whose voice rang out with unrestrained fury. Beside the speaker stood another person, vigorously waving a flag overhead.

The blue banner bore neither the Church's emblem representing the God of Hope nor any sacred insignia.

Instead, it displayed the crown that symbolized Papess Ye Zheng.

The crowd stood united, condemning the centuries of injustice inflicted upon the Lower District. The cold-blooded, self-serving nobility had sacrificed countless commoners to preserve their own comfort and security, while Papess Ye Zheng, who had always cherished the ordinary people, had willingly faced death itself.

“These past few days, some people have been deliberately stirring up resentment, claiming that Her Holiness the Papess is just another Upper District noble who's spent her life enjoying privilege atop our bones and blood. I can hardly believe that, at a moment like this, there are still people willing to turn their blades against her.”

“That’s utterly despicable. Whoever spread that nonsense is definitely not one of us!”

“Never mind everything the Saintess has done for us. There's also that lady who was born in the Lower District. All these past days, she's stood beside us without a moment's hesitation, carrying the Saintess's will in her place…”

Pei Xi listened in silence for a while before finally walking away. He couldn't bring himself to share in their almost fanatical fervor, even though the truth about the dragon bones had filled him with the same shock and outrage.

He was no longer the innocent, ignorant student he had been a year ago. Now, he could clearly discern the traces of Ye Zheng's hand at work.

Ye Zheng had revealed the truth to everyone, then used that very truth to unite the people's hearts and advance her political ambitions. What Pei Xi couldn't determine was which of those had been her true objective all along.

His gaze drifted to the sword sheath at his waist, and a profound sense of uncertainty settled over him.

Whether the Divine Sword in Ye Zheng's possession was genuine or counterfeit no longer seemed to matter, because Ye Zheng herself had already become someone people believed in more than the Divine Sword.

Perhaps it wouldn't be long before Ye Zheng replaced the Aston Imperial Family and became the nation's true guardian.

Pei Xi even found himself questioning whether the prophecy of the coming apocalypse had ever been real. A power capable of effortlessly cleaving apart high-danger monsters had proven utterly powerless against the tide Ye Zheng had set into motion. Even the Divine Sword itself seemed to have lost its purpose.

“We can't just sit here and watch General Bai be executed by the Church. He's one of the very few people capable of standing against Ye Zheng.”

The three of them sat together in their familiar little tavern. Roy spoke first, his voice carrying an unmistakable edge of anxiety.

“I'm deeply grateful for General Bai's guidance, but he attacked the Papess. That's not the kind of accusation we can interfere with…” Kyle replied hesitantly.

Pei Xi, meanwhile, carefully studied Roy's expression without saying a single word.

Roy clenched his teeth. “Are you really going to stand by and watch him be put to death?”

Kyle stared at him in alarm. “How could that happen? He's the Duke His Majesty depends on more than anyone else. The Church wouldn't actually execute him... right?”

Even as he spoke, uncertainty crept into his voice, because matters of law and authority were never something he truly understood.

“You actually think Ye Zheng's going to let him walk away unscathed?” Roy sneered.

Pei Xi's expression darkened. Bai Yi was the Emperor's most trusted confidant. There was no way Ye Zheng would spare him.

General Bai had shown him genuine kindness. If not for the general's guidance, Pei Xi would've never mastered the Divine Sword or advanced his abilities so rapidly.

Yet if he chose to help him now, it would unquestionably place him in direct opposition to the overwhelming majority of the people. Even so, in Pei Xi's eyes, General Bai was nothing like the parasites of the Upper District. Bai Yi was a man of strength and integrity.

Just as Pei Xi found himself trapped in this dilemma, a commotion suddenly erupted outside the tavern.

“The Church's judgment on Duke Bai has been announced!”

In an instant, even the patrons who'd been passed out drunk staggered to their feet and rushed outside on unsteady legs. The little tavern was left empty and silent.

Pei Xi lifted the curtain to the private room and stepped out of the tavern. Standing at the very edge of the gathering crowd, he heard every word with perfect clarity.

“The Papess has spared Bai Yi's life!”

The crowd immediately erupted into a chorus of gasps before breaking into sighs of admiration over Ye Zheng's restraint and magnanimity. Pei Xi quietly released the breath he'd been holding.

“She has sentenced Bai Yi to ‘Anathema’!”

“Anathema? What's Anathema?”

The crowd exchanged bewildered looks.

“Anathema deprives the condemned of the right to receive divine protection, expels them from the Church, and forever forbids them from taking part in any affairs concerning the gods.”

Without anyone realizing it, the crowd had fallen completely silent. The voice that had appeared out of nowhere was icy and emotionless, carrying an almost merciless chill.

“One abandoned by the gods. The gods permit no one to follow such a person. The lands once under their rule will no longer remain loyal to them. The people who live upon those lands are no longer bound to swear allegiance.”

“One who receives Anathema is someone cast out by all.”

The voice sounded strangely familiar. Pei Xi looked toward the center of the crowd, but all he could make out was the solitary figure of someone dressed in white, seen only from behind.

As Pei Xi turned over the meaning of Anathema in his mind, a chill slowly crept into his heart.

If there was anything more terrifying than death, it was continuing to live after losing absolutely everything.

Ye Zheng didn't care in the slightest about the threat posed by Bai Yi's dual S-class abilities. She wanted him to remain alive, allowing his complete downfall to stand as a constant warning to every great noble still harboring restless ambitions.

Even the Emperor's most trusted confidant had been reduced to such a fate. They no longer had any reason to continue supporting the Emperor.