Chapter 71: Chapter 73

As soon as they arrived at the Imperial palace, the two headed to the audience room. Adelia admired the imperial castle, which she had not seen in a long time.

It’s still fancy.

The atmosphere of the Grand Duchy and the Imperial Palace was opposite.

It’s like black and white.

“Please wait a moment.”

Adelia and Ivan stood in front of the audience room. In the short wait Adelia pondered.

How long has it been since I saw the emperor in person?

Yeah, the last time was definitely when we had a saint’s ceremony. It was a really unwanted situation then, but it was different now.

Meeting the emperor now was something that Adelia planned. Soon, the door of the audience room, which had been tightly closed, opened.

“Come in.”

Adelia and Ivan stepped into the room at the words of the chief. Adelia, who stood in front of the emperor, immediately bent her knees and bowed.

“I am honored to meet the sun of the empire.”

“Hmm, get up. I have a lot to say, I don’t want to waste my time.”

At the emperor’s words Adelia immediately rose.

“First of all, I wonder how my brother is doing.”

“There is no reason not to be well.”

Ivan’s monotonous answer made the emperor’s shoulders droop.

“You’re so cold-hearted. How can you change your attitude just because you’re dating?”

For a moment Adelia’s hand flinched. Her earlobes turned slightly red. Unlike Adelia, Ivan said with a calm face.

“Your Majesty, why don’t you stop talking about unnecessary things and get down to business?”

“What do you mean “unnecessary things”. It’s my brother’s love affair, so I can’t help but care. I heard you went to a masquerade for your lover”

“Your Majesty.”

“Yes, yes. I see. Well… I’m the one who’s actually in a hurry.”

The face of the emperor that was full of mischief, quickly turned cold in an instant. The emperor asked, looking earnestly at Adelia.

“Adelia Sorne. No, should I call you Viscount Yurpheon now?”

“Call me Viscount Yurpheon.”

The emperor bent his eyes at Adelia, who answered bluntly without panicking. He smiled inwardly, thinking that it was quite good.

“Haha. Yeah. Viscount of Yurpheon There’s one thing I want to ask the Viscount.”

“Go ahead. I’ll answer whatever I know.”

“I like that. All right. I’m going to ask. Are you the prophet?”

Adelia looked up calmly and looked at the emperor, the man sitting on the throne and looking down at everything with his lazy eyes.

In the original work, he is the male lead and won Hestine’s heart. But the original has already been turned on a lot.

Now, How will he react if he finds out that Hestine is a ‘fake’?

Adelia moved her lips slowly, feeling her mouth dry from tension.

“If you ask me if I am the prophet who guessed the second, the third and the fourth disaster….”

Adelia raised the emperor’s expectations by blurring the end of her words. Expectations filled the emperor’s eyes as she intended.

“That’s right. I predicted the disasters.”

“How did you know that?”

“I can interpret the oracle accurately.”

The emperor’s eyes brightened.

“The oracle? Huh…. That’s why you were able to make predictions. Wait. So where did you get the oracle?”

The oracles were solely the exclusive property of the Vishna religion. To have monopoly over the oracle, the evidence of communication with God, you need tremendous power.

Even the emperor could not get his hands over the oracle. It’s hard to interpret it in the first place, so it’s useless to find out. In any case, it was not understood that the temple would leak the oracle.

“The Cardinal told me.”

“The oracle?”

Adelia nodded and asked a question in a serious voice.

“Your Majesty, would you believe me if I say I am the true representative of God?”

At the end of Adelia’s words came a frightening silence. Adelia clenched her fist gently.

How will the emperor react?

“Hahaha! Viscount! You have a lot of fun with your jokes. Very witty.”

“It’s not a joke.”

The emperor’s eyes became sharp.

“Adelia Yurpheon. You shouldn’t go too far with your pranks.”

The emperor could hardly believe Adelia’s words. Hestine is a miracle-making saint, and the emperor knew this through reports. But a woman who suddenly appeared, and failed the sainthood test, called herself a saint. He couldn’t accept it even if he thought about it rationally.

However, it bothered him to see Ivan letting Adelia do whatever she wanted without saying anything.

… Ivan, if he stays still, there must be something.

The emperor decided to give Adelia a chance.

“Can you give me proof?”

“Of course.”

Adelia immediately placed her hand over her clavicle. A scorching pain revolved around the pattern engraved on her clavicle bone.

I always feel this, but I didn’t think I’d get used to this pain.

Soon after, time began to stop around the emperor, Adelia, and Ivan.

The fountain that was flowing throughout the audience room, and the clock pendulum that was moving with a constant sound.

Everything but the three stopped.

Adelia cheered inwardly.

I succeeded.

Adelia was able to control her abilities to a certain extent. It was the result of secretly honing her ability.

“This is…”

The emperor looked around with a shocked face. The emperor rose from the throne and wandered around the room.

“…amazing.”

The emperor’s hand turned toward the pendulum that had stopped. He tried moving the pendulum counterclockwise, but the pendulum did not move. The emperor turned his head and looked at Adelia.

“Is it the power of God?”

“It’s a gift from Vishna.”

Adelia untied her necklace and put it on her palm. Soon the necklace turned into dust and disappeared.

“I can adjust the time as well as simply stopping it.”

The emperor was once again surprised.

Adjusting the time.

He asked the question with the utmost composure.

“Side effects?”

“…nothing so far.”

“It sounds like you’re not sure.”

“There are no special side effects yet except for a little bit of fatigue after working hard.”

The emperor, who was listening to Adelia’s explanation, smiled with satisfaction but then suddenly hardened his expression.

“How dare the Duke of Valkyr tell me a lie. It was a great scam.”

There was a murderous intent in the eyes of the emperor. Adelia opened her mouth cautiously, swallowing dry saliva.

“Your Majesty is planning to use me to defeat the Duke of Valkyr.”

“No. The plan has changed. It’s not enough to demean the Valkyr. This is clear treason.”

The Duke of Valkyr made Hestine a saint and deceived everyone. If this is not deception and not a challenge to authority, what is it? Adelia said in a calm tone.

“I hope the destruction of Valkyr will be done. therefore… I would like to make a proposal to Your Majesty.”

The emperor stared at Adelia. There was no more doubt in his eyes.

“Tell me.”

“I’ll play the role of a prophet.”

“Without revealing that you’re a saint?”

Adelia answered with a nod.

“The power of the Duke of Valkyr alone could not have created a saint. The temple must have been involved.”

“That’s understandable. It’s hard to say that she isn’t a saint as long as the temple stands behind the Valkyr family.”

The emperor swept his hair as if he were in trouble.

“As your Majesty knows, the Vishna religion is divided into two forces. Right now, the powers that are in opposition to the Pope are dominant.”

“Maybe it’s only natural that the Pope is absent.”

“Yes, but what if the saint can’t stop the tenth disaster?”

The emperor’s eyes narrowed.  He answered Adelia’s question without hesitation.

“They’ll lose faith in the saint and the temple.”

Adelia nodded at his correct answer.

“That’s the right time to reveal my existence.”

“Hmm. Then why do you want to appear as a prophet?”

“The prophet’s presence is just the foundation for the day I will be identified as a saint.”

The scenario that the prophet was a saint is more likely than suddenly appearing and revealing that she was a saint.

“And the presence of the prophet will be a deterrent to suppress the power of Valkyr until the tenth disaster arrives.”

A satisfactory smile was formed around the emperor’s lips. Adelia somehow thought his face looked like Ivan.

Isn’t it natural since they are brothers?

The emperor, who was troubled for a while, smiled coolly and spoke.

“That’s a good development. All right, I’ll be glad to be on the stage you created.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Adelia bent her knees slightly and lowered her head.

“Tell me what you need. You’ll need someone to protect you first.”

Then Ivan’s mouth opened as he was silently watching Adelia and the emperor’s conversation.

“Your majesty, please allow me to be the escort of the Viscount Yurpheon.”

Adelia looked back at Ivan with her round eyes.

“Hmm, that’s not bad either.”

Adelia turned again and looked at the emperor.

“…but isn’t it too much work for the Grand Duke?”

In fact, Adelia has been worried about this all along.

He is already tired because he has a lot of responsibility as the Grand Duke, but if he also takes responsibility for her, wouldn’t it be too much of a burden?

That’s why she tried to live separately after she came to the capital.

But the emperor’s idea was different.

“If I leave it to Ivan, we can be at peace, isn’t that, right?”

The emperor asked Adelia.

“Well, wouldn’t it be too much for him?”

The emperor smiled strangely at Adelia’s answer.

“No way. Is it too much?”

“Not at all.”

Ivan denied without hesitation. Now that this happened, she couldn’t refuse.

“Then let the Grand Duke take care of the safety of the Viscount Yurpheon.”

[Thanks Amber for the kofi <3]