Chapter 91 - Before the trial

Words : 1051 Updated : Oct 5th, 2025

Chapter 91: Chapter 91 - Before the trial "What do you mean he refused to be arrested? Can anyone just refuse the law like that? It was a royal order!" Grandpa is angry. We are in his office, and the guards he sent yesterday came back empty-handed. After yesterday’s talk we went to bed, except for Lovelace, who got guard duty. Two hours ago I swapped with her so she could sleep as well. That’s when this guy arrived, sent by Daniel, whom I learned is the captain of the guard. "He was surrounded by priests in his office, Your Majesty. There was nothing we could do." In a world with a system granted by a goddess, the mere idea of incurring the wrath of said goddess and losing access to said system is unthinkable. A normal guard would never lay a finger on a priest, just like a normal mage would never think of learning all the incantations by heart and casting without a skill. "If he doesn’t want to come by his own volition, then just lock him inside. Let his office be his jail cell until we get this unwrapped with the Church." "Yes, Your Majesty." The guard gets on his feet and leaves. He almost bumps into Shalia, who was coming in at that moment. "I’m sorry, Lady Shalia." "It’s okay." Shalia has a serious expression that screams ’bad news,’ so I brace myself for what’s coming. Grandpa Halinard is sitting on a comfortable chair at his desk, while Mother, Uncle Jyllian, and I are sitting on sofas around a tea table. Without tea, of course. "Your Majesty, Your Highnesses. Pontifex De Laurens is on his way to the palace. From what I gathered, he is set on excommunicating Princess Lillian." "Excommunicate? On what basis?" "Probably on the basis of the accusation against Duke Addlington. He sent missives for the Church priests to deliver rallying speeches against her in the midday mass." Ugh, this is bad. Did we underestimate the Duke’s political power? The Church tried to intervene in the Duke’s favor yesterday, and grandpa stopped them. But now they’re back, not as one priest, but as the whole institution. "What happens if Mom is excommunicated?" "I will lose access to the system, Aurea. I’ll lose all my levels, skills, and titles. But that’s okay. I saw this coming even before my capture." "You did...?" "Yes. That was the whole reason I started learning how to use magic without the use of skills in the first place." "It doesn’t matter, my daughter. You have done nothing wrong. You are the victim here. Why would the Church side with a criminal?" Ohh, my young, naïve grandpa. It’s the Church we’re talking about. No matter the world, every place in which there is an institution called "The Church," without the need of specifying which one, you may bet that it’s rotten to the core. "Father, the Duke has been in cahoots with the Pontifex for some time now. In the last few months there have been several meetings between the two of them and a third person." "A third person...?" "We know nothing about that person except that he is called Martius and that we only saw him being active at night." Wait, wait, wait, what? Is that a Vampire flag?? He must be a vampire, right? He cannot not be! And he might be the one behind the king’s ’illness.’ A friend of the Duke and the Pontifex... Tell me who you hang out with, and I’ll tell you who you are, huh? "Right. What matters is the Holy Pontifex allying with Duke Addlington to attack the royal family. This is unacceptable. In all the history of this kingdom, this never happened." Grandpa is really angry. "Good morning, everyone." "Huh? Lovelace? Weren’t you asleep?" "I just woke up and happened to listen to your chat. Lady Lillian, you have the title of being a runaway slave of Duke Addlington, right?" "Yes..." "Ahem... please refer to my sister as ’Your Highness.’" "Brother! Lovelace and I are friends; she doesn’t need to comply with such formalities with me." Lovelace ignores uncle Jyllian and continues. "The goal of the excommunication is to erase that title so it can be used as proof against the Duke. We need..." "Your Majesty. Holy Pontifex De Laurens is requesting an urgent appointment. He is in the throne room and refuses to leave until you attend to him." "Ugh... fine. Tell him that in twenty minutes I’ll be there. Call Gundmund for me, please." I’m sorry for the old man, who keeps being called over and over since yesterday. He deserves some repose. Isn’t it time for the king to appoint a successor to the title? "Yes, Your Majesty." "It seems that we are left with little time, Lovelace. You were saying?" "If you have a way to display publicly Lillian’s stats so the title can be seen by everyone, then we might break the legitimacy of the excommunication." "There might be a way... But it’s been ages since the last time it was used; I don’t even know if the artifact still exists." "Would Gundmund know, grandpa?" I’m feeling very anxious, a deep contrast to my mother’s serenity. She looks too nonchalant about all this! Aren’t you worried, mother? "If he excommunicates me, I couldn’t care less." She says, as if she heard my silent question. "I’m just worried that the Duke might escape his deserved punishment. But, even if he does in the judgment hall, he won’t escape in the dead of night." My mother raises her blouse, revealing her abdomen and torso. It’s full of scars, some very nasty. "He will pay for every single one of these, and I don’t care about not following the legal procedures if needed." Yessss. That’s my mother. I mean, seeing those scars makes my blood boil, but it’s not time to dwell on that. We have another person to boil... on a slow fire. Uncle Jyllian’s face is livid, but grandpa Halinard’s eyes are on fire. "You are right, my daughter. We will bring him to justice, no matter what. No Church will stay between him and his deserved fate." I was born in the right family. I’m so proud right now.

Chapter 91 - Before the trial

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