Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 108

108. The Truth Behind the Closed Doors

I took a small, deep breath and slowly focused my mind on my surroundings. Just like before, a completely different space began to unfold before my eyes. As if following someone’s gaze, distinct scenes rapidly moved along a path.

Soon, the gaze passed through the mansion’s doors and scanned the intricate interior. There, I easily found the priest and butler who had entered the mansion earlier. Standing across from them in the hallway was a middle-aged man in luxurious attire, with a slightly pale complexion. The dark priest bowed respectfully to him.

“Lord Cwell, it’s a pleasure to see you again.”

Perhaps because I wasn’t hearing it directly, the reverberation of the voice sounded somewhat strange. But more important was the title the dark priest used for the man: Lord. He must be Duke Cwell, the man we were trying to meet.

The man nodded indifferently at the priest’s greeting. He was said to be Isana’s cousin, and with his blond hair and blue eyes, his overall appearance was quite similar to Isana’s. Because of this, it was hard to believe that he had betrayed Isana.

“You were looking for me?”

The Duke nodded again at the dark priest’s question. Unlike the priest, who wore a friendly expression, the Duke’s face was quite stern as he gazed at him.

“What on earth is the Cult of the Dark God thinking?”

“What do you mean?”

“Today marks the second year. I’m asking when you’ll finally end this seclusion.”

The dark priest clicked his tongue dismissively, as if it were nothing. It was an excessively disrespectful attitude to take toward the Duke of a duchy. Perhaps displeased by this, the Duke’s eyes sharpened. And his next words were quite shocking.

“The situation is getting worse! I’ve followed your instructions and started this seclusion, but I haven’t been able to prevent the Empire’s misfortune! I couldn’t even prevent the death of the late Emperor, and I remain in this mansion with a bleeding heart! There are even rumors spreading that the current Emperor is heading to Clamor. Do you think it makes sense that I, his subject, can’t go out to greet him? I can’t wait any longer, so I’m ending this seclusion now!”

“That won’t do! Why are you trying to ruin everything? It’s only thanks to your decision, Lord, that things have improved this much. Who knows what more terrible things will happen if you step out? Why don’t you understand that?”

“But!”

“You have nothing to worry about. Everything is going well. Don’t you know? The soul of Lady April, who resides in the basement, is weeping mournfully today, worrying about the Empire’s safety.”

“Kugh…!”

In the basement? A soul?

As if the dark priest’s words were some kind of weakness, the Duke stopped speaking and pressed his lips tightly together. Seeing this, a sinister smile appeared on the dark priest’s face.

“Surely you haven’t forgotten why Lady April was cursed and passed away?”

“…….”

“It’s almost over. If you endure just this period, the Empire will soon regain stability. So, please be patient. The Emperor’s safety depends on your decision, Lord.”

The whispering voice sounded like a spell. The Duke looked at the dark priest with wavering eyes, then nodded with a somber expression.

“…I understand. I will trust and wait once more.”

“You’ve made the right choice, Lord. With this, the Emperor will be safe.”

“…….”

“Don’t forget. We dark priests are always on the side of the Emperor, who has inherited the true lineage.”

With that scene as the last, I withdrew my gaze. The shock of breaking the connection made my vision spin, but I was too busy organizing the conversation I had just heard to pay attention to it. From beginning to end, it was a situation I had never even considered, and a groan escaped my lips involuntarily.

“…Ugh, this feels like something is going strangely wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

My mumbling in bewilderment caused Isana and the others to look at me. Even Lapis, who had seemed uninterested the whole time, had a curious look on his face this time.

“Did you see inside the mansion?”

“I saw it, but…”

“You, you saw it? How is my brother, El? Is he safe?”

As soon as the answer was about to come out, Isana asked me urgently. But seeing his desperate face, I couldn’t bring myself to speak easily. Perhaps taking it as the worst possible meaning, Isana’s face turned pale. Seeing that, I quickly comforted him and said.

“Your brother is safe, Isana. He looked a little pale, but generally healthy.”

“Th, then?”

“It seems that the Duke started the seclusion himself. However, something is a little strange.”

“Strange?”

Isana, who had been closing his eyes as if in resignation, looked at me with a puzzled expression at the words that followed. I scratched my cheek with a slightly uncomfortable feeling and replied.

“I don’t know why, but the Duke seems to think that closing the doors is for your sake.”

“For my sake…?”

Isana blinked blankly. The decision that had driven him into danger, that had not helped him in the slightest, was actually for his sake? Even I, who had seen it directly, was dumbfounded, so it would be even more incomprehensible from his perspective.

I calmly explained the scene I had seen inside the mansion earlier, from what the dark priest had said to the Duke’s reaction. As the explanation continued, the others all wore confused expressions.

“So… the Duke thinks that he needs to stay out of it for me to be safe?”

“Yeah.”

“The dark priest said that?”

At Lapis’s words, I nodded. Roughly guessing, the Cult of the Dark God must have predicted an unfortunate future for the Emperor. And they must have said that if the Duke got involved in the process, it would become even more dangerous. That’s why the Duke couldn’t dare to move, fearing that the Emperor would suffer even greater harm. Anyone who heard that conversation would have no choice but to think that way. And Lapis’s assessment that followed was merciless.

“Isn’t he an idiot? He didn’t receive a divine revelation, and how could some priest predict the ruin caused by one person’s intervention?”

“Uh, then is it not true?”

“Of course not! In the first place, the Grand Duke is from a family of high priests, so does it make sense that the Cult of the Dark God is on the Emperor’s side? Even in this situation where the Pope is openly issuing a warrant for him? The Duke believes those words?”

“But it seemed like there was a good reason for it.”

“What reason? Did he really receive a divine revelation?”

“Well, it’s not so much that as it is a different reason. According to what the dark priest said, the soul of a person named April is crying in the basement….”

“April?”

“Yeah, he said that the person named April was cursed and died. He said that the Duke should be careful because of that, but what on earth does that mean….”

Clang!

A sharp sound rang out from right next to us at that moment. Isana had dropped the teacup he was holding.

“Isana, are you okay?”

I hurriedly turned around and couldn’t help but be even more embarrassed when I saw his appearance. He was frozen, pale, in the same position as when he had been about to pick up the teacup.

“Isana?”

“…What, April… my sister… is dead?”

“Sister?”

When I asked in confusion, Isana nodded, trembling.

“Sh, she’s my brother’s only younger sister. The sister my brother cherishes and loves more than anyone else… But my sister died from a curse, what on earth is….”

Thud.

Thick tears instantly streamed down his golden eyes. Isana couldn’t finish his words and covered his mouth with one hand. He seemed to have been greatly shocked by the sudden news of his relative’s death.

I quickly wrapped one arm around his shoulder and looked around. I could feel the people nearby looking at us and whispering.

Lapis had cast a spell, so there was no fear of the conversation leaking out. Because we were such a noticeable group, we had been getting attention from the beginning, but if that hadn’t been the case, they wouldn’t have noticed that he was crying. But once we had attracted attention, we couldn’t stay here any longer. I could already see the women wanting to meddle in our affairs, their shoulders twitching.

“Let’s move to another place.”

The other members of the group nodded as if they had realized the situation. I carefully supported the sobbing Isana and got up from my seat.

Before leaving, I glanced back at the mansion’s door, which was still tightly locked. The exterior, which showed no signs of life, was faded as if it had been neglected for a long time. Because of that, even though it stood majestically in the sunlight, it looked as desolate as an abandoned building. That image overlapped with the Duke’s appearance in front of the dark priest, making my heart heavier.

* * *

Isana, who had been crying as if he were about to collapse, finally managed to calm down after a long time. After regaining his senses, the first thing he did was inquire about the death of his cousin, April.

She was the only younger sister of the lord who ruled the duchy, and even unmarried, so she was living with her brother in the mansion. He thought that her sudden death would have been a big rumor even within the duchy.

However, contrary to expectations, the people of the territory knew nothing about April. There was no mention of a funeral, or even a rumor that she had died. All they knew was that no one had seen her since two years ago.

“Two years ago….”

“Around the time Lord Cwell closed the mansion. Lady April hasn’t come out of the mansion even once since then.”

The merchant who explained shrugged and replied. At those words, I and the group couldn’t help but look at each other. No matter how urgent the seclusion was, there was no way the Duke wouldn’t have held a funeral for his only younger sister. Even if it was small-scale, there would have been one or two servants and maids preparing. It didn’t make sense that rumors hadn’t spread in the process.

After that, I went back and forth to the territory several times and asked, but the answers that came back were all the same. Moreover, they all didn’t seem to be thinking about April’s death at all. Especially the merchants who had direct contact with the mansion’s residents were even more adamant. They said that not even a coffin or funeral supplies had ever entered the mansion.

“Ugh, what on earth is going on? The dark priest clearly spoke as if his younger sister had died, but none of the townspeople know about her death.”

“They may not have held a funeral to avoid informing people. Or they may have entrusted the body to the Cult of the Dark God.”

“No, there’s no way Cwell would have entrusted April’s body to others. She’s the sister he really cherishes and loves.”

Isana strongly denied Lapis’s speculation. And I also thought the same as Isana on that point. I had only seen the gazes passing for a very short time, but the Duke seemed to dislike the dark priest very much. It didn’t seem likely that he would have entrusted the funeral of his only younger sister to them. Of course, things would be different if they had forcibly taken her away.

Then Lapis, who had been lost in thought, asked as if passing by.

“How old was his younger sister? If she’s older than you, she must be an adult.”

“Ah, yes, that’s right. If she were alive, she would be twenty-one this year.”

“Really? Hmm, then it doesn’t seem like she would have been a sacrifice….”

“A sacrifice?”

I was horrified by the ominous word and looked at him. Lapis, on the other hand, had a puzzled expression as if that reaction was strange.

“I’m talking about the burnt offering that the Grand Duke gives to the Dark God. It seems that it usually only applies to ages from infants to mid-teens, so that woman wouldn’t be relevant.”

“W, wait a minute! What are you talking about? The Grand Duke offers burnt offerings to the Dark God? Then the reason for gathering children is for sacrifices? Do you use people as sacrifices?”

“What, didn’t you know that?”

Of course I didn’t know. I just thought it was a perverted hobby, who would have thought that they were gathering children to offer them as sacrifices!

Looking at Isana, he was also making an expression as if he had never heard of it before. Kaitain, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, was also frozen.

In any cult, burnt offerings are an ancient custom that has disappeared. Recent rituals were closer to formal events with only formalities remaining, and they were replaced by donating to temples or praying. Aside from that, there are cases where individuals perform rituals, but these are mostly when there is a special purpose (for example, to be pardoned for heinous crimes or to cast strong curses on others), so the intention itself is not viewed favorably, according to Kaitain’s explanation. In particular, rituals that use blood were almost always considered to govern life and destiny.

Naturally, the greater the value of the sacrifice, the greater the influence. Moreover, rituals that sacrifice people were considered very evil in themselves and were commonly prohibited. Of course, even if that wasn’t the case, it goes without saying that it was an incredibly terrible act in itself. But the Grand Duke of a country is openly doing such a thing.

What’s even more shocking is that the place where the altar is located is the very bottom of the Imperial Palace, that is, the basement of the Imperial Family’s main palace. Children have been sacrificed there for several years already. The person who was most shocked by this fact was Isana.

“The basement of the Imperial Palace… Is there an altar in such a place?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“That can’t be. How could that be….”

“Hmm, judging by your reaction, you didn’t know either?”

“I didn’t know. I knew that there was only a waterway for emergency escape in the basement of the Imperial Palace. Of course, there shouldn’t be anything else besides that. But how on earth could such a thing….”

“But it’s a clear fact. Maybe most of the ministers know about it? I’ve heard that some of them even attend the rituals.”

“…Is that really true?”

“Of course it’s true. Why would I make up something that doesn’t exist?”