Chapter 100 - The Holy Kingdom (3)

She couldn't breathe.

The thought drifted through Katya's mind.

'Not literally, of course.'

That went without saying for someone who couldn't feel anything.

... No, in truth, it had been a long time since she could even tell whether she was breathing.

Still.

'I can't breathe.'

Ever since setting foot in the Holy Kingdom, those were the only words that came naturally to her.

She hadn't sensed any overt hostility toward her yet. But her memories of this place seemed to have weight, pressing down on her head and heart.

She remembered all those times she'd been alone. All those times when no one had even treated her as human.

"..."

Strange.

She'd thought she was numb to all that by now, that it couldn't bother her anymore.

She'd never felt this way when she was with Aiden Kellermain.

Her behavior hadn't changed much between living in the Holy Kingdom and living in the Empire.

She simply lived with relentless honesty toward herself. She did what she wanted and refused to do what she didn't.

The people around her reacted much the same way no matter what she did, too. They hardly paid her actions any mind—

'... Oh.'

So that was it.

That was when realization struck.

People ignored her both here and in the Empire.

But understanding and accepting that this was simply who she was was entirely different from giving up on her because she wouldn't understand anything they said anyway.

And she knew where that difference came from.

'My friend.'

There was someone who had stood between her and other people and built a bridge.

Someone who had made a point of taking her around with him, showing everyone that she wasn't dangerous so their perception of her wouldn't turn into the latter.

Just one person setting that example made a world of difference to how she felt.

... And strangely, now that she understood the distinction, it hurt far more than it had before.

Now that she knew warmth, the cold felt so much colder.

She didn't want to go through that again.

'Where are you?'

Katya timidly searched the hall.

Suddenly, she wanted to see him.

She wanted him beside her so very badly.

"...?"

Then something changed in her eyes.

There was nothing wrong with her vision, but something about the way things looked was different.

"..."

Katya blinked blankly.

An ordinary person would have realized the problem immediately. They had senses that let them notice when something touched their body.

But her problem was that she couldn't feel anything at all.

Even her vision was affected by her divinity, leaving her world black and white.

Unless Aiden restored her senses, either by erasing her divinity with Purifier or killing her in spectacular fashion, she couldn't feel a thing.

Blinking, she looked around, searching for the cause.

That was when someone entered her field of view, and she finally realized someone was pouring something over her head.

It was a person she'd never seen before.

"..."

Katya stared blankly at the sight.

More precisely, at the people behind the man pouring something over her head.

He had a group with him. Probably people who had banded together for mutual advantage in the coming succession ceremony.

Every one of them wore what looked like a mocking smile.

Even when subjected to humiliation like this, she was slow to notice. Because she couldn't feel anything.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to notice. Had to pour out the whole bottle."

The man who appeared to lead the group spoke with a particularly nasty smirk.

"Still can't feel a thing, can you? Your Highness, Second Princess Katya?"

As she watched him in silence, something suddenly occurred to her.

'Oh, right.'

Of course.

This was normal for her in the Holy Kingdom.

These were the sort of people she had dealt with.

"..."

Her heart rapidly grew cold.

That is, until Aiden appeared out of nowhere, grabbed the man's head, and slammed it into a table.

▣

Get famous first. Clean up your reputation later.

Everyone knew the saying, but few could actually put it into practice.

Alex Belmore Craven, a peripheral royal whose place in the succession had slipped into triple digits, where counting hardly mattered anymore, prided himself on his natural talent in that regard.

His affability, social instincts, and eye for gossip were all above average. The fact that a fringe royal with no support base had assembled a group this large was proof enough.

Of course, he had no intention of becoming the ultimate victor in the succession ceremony. The three-way dominance of Alester, Mylène, and Julius was far too firmly established.

But it was entirely possible to gain attention and recognition during the ceremony and use that as a foundation for a more comfortable life afterward.

Best of all would be getting lucky enough to establish a connection to the Pontiff's circle.

In that respect...

'There's no easier prey than this.'

He looked at Katya, who stared blankly back at him, looking like a drowned rat.

As a sacrificial lamb to draw attention to his group, she was an absolute treasure.

She might be holed up in the Empire now, with no news of her reaching home, but while Princess Katya had lived in the Holy Kingdom, she'd done whatever she pleased wherever she went. Not a single person thought well of her.

She had no supporters, no faction, and no one who would complain if he stirred up a scene at her expense. Low risk, with a fantastic payoff in publicity.

As for his reason for targeting her, he could tack on any suitable excuse. She had so many flaws that inventing one would be easy.

'Come on. Pick a fight.'

He would never beat her in a fight, but even that monstrous princess couldn't actually burn a fellow royal alive. The Holy Kingdom's rules would compel the Pontiff to stop her.

Fighting between the Holy Kingdom's royals was permitted only during the succession ceremony. The sole exception was the Pontiff, who had the authority to pass judgment even on other royals.

That left her with no recourse but to humiliate him, just as Alex had done to her.

And that sort of social attack was something a person like Katya could never pull off.

She was everyone's punching bag, with no backing to support such a move.

"Why didn't you stay in the Empire? What did you come back to the Holy Kingdom for? So many people breathed a sigh of relief when you left."

"..."

Katya simply stared at him without answering his taunt.

Exactly. She was keeping quiet because she knew she couldn't respond to this sort of attack.

Alex glanced around.

Alester, Mylène, Julius, and almost everyone else in the hall were watching him.

'Good, good, good... '

This alone meant he was already halfway to success. By tomorrow, almost everyone in the Holy Kingdom would probably know their names.

What Alex had perhaps overlooked was that among the participants in this succession ceremony, there was one man to whom the Holy Kingdom's rules did not apply.

"Huh?"

The sound escaped Alex as he suddenly felt someone grab the back of his head.

The next instant, Aiden slammed Alex's head into the bar counter with terrifying force.

"Ghk—!"

The impact was so tremendous that the entire plywood counter seemed to shake. The man writhed, letting out a strangled cry.

Then Aiden took it further.

"I watched a movie a little while ago. It had a pretty good line."

He spoke calmly, then casually lifted the man's head from the counter.

"Manners."

CRUNCH!

Alex's head struck the counter again, and the plywood split with a crack.

"Maketh."

He slammed it down again.

"Man."

Once more.

CRACK!

The plywood broke, and Alex tumbled to the floor.

His forehead felt warm. His face had to be a mangled, bloody mess.

'This bastard, what the—?!'

Agonizing pain coursed through his body, forcing involuntary screams out of him, but his bewilderment was even greater.

Sprawled on the floor, Alex laboriously raised his head to look up at his attacker.

Divinity wielders could recognize one another. This bastard definitely wielded that supernatural power. His companions had noticed it too, and were hesitating to subdue the man.

If they clashed directly before the ceremony began, they would be stripped of their right to participate. None of them wanted to take that risk.

In other words, he couldn't understand what gave this bastard the confidence to assault him like this.

The place was crawling with the Pontiff's guards. Anyone doing this should have been subdued at once—

'What the hell?!'

And yet, no one moved.

Of all the people around them, not one was stopping this man.

Cold sweat trickled down Alex's spine.

This was the Pontiff's residence. Everyone here was under her control.

The fact that this was being allowed to continue was a powerful declaration that she had no intention of intervening.

Realizing that everyone had noticed this and turned their eyes toward her, the Pontiff waved a hand dismissively.

"Oh, he's not royalty. Not yet."

... Not yet?

What on earth was she talking about? The thought flashed through everyone's minds.

Was she saying he wasn't royalty today, but could be tomorrow?

"He could face legal punishment, but this won't cause any problems with the succession ceremony. Rest assured, everyone!"

... Assured of what?

As everyone pondered that question, watching the oddly excited Pontiff, Aiden spoke softly to Alex.

"There are plenty of ways to get famous. Why do you have to pull that shit on my friend?"

"... Friend?"

Alex looked toward Katya in disbelief.

"You're calling that thing your friend and taking its—"

Before he could finish, Aiden stomped on his leg as he lay on the floor.

It was such a forceful stomp that anyone could tell the leg was broken without even looking.

"Aaaaaaagh—!"

This time, however, even his scream was cut short. Aiden hauled his head up until their eyes met.

"If you're that desperate for fame, I'll make sure this is preserved forever."

His eyes blazing like dark flames, Aiden growled,

"I don't care what tomorrow's preliminary round involves. Bring your whole gang."

Aiden swept his gaze across the people there, counting them.

This bastard Alex had quite a sizable gang with him.

There seemed to be more than fifteen at the very least. Considering that every one of them was Holy Kingdom royalty, that was a fairly formidable force. No wonder the bastard swaggered around like this.

He found himself lamenting the caliber of the Holy Kingdom's royals all over again. How had someone like this been allowed to form a gang?

But in a way, that made it all the better.

"I'll split every last one of your skulls."

The more formidable their force, the more humiliating it would be when he smashed it all to pieces.