OHNIR – Chapter 106
Chapter 106: The Assignment
However, even if Kelusta's thinking was optimistic and her chain of logic was perfectly sound, things were rarely resolved so easily.
A change destined to happen in the shadows struck like a bolt of lightning on that overcast morning, violently shattering the surface calm—
This was the Silentdis family's prayer day, and also the day Kelusta and Gloria had agreed to completely sever their connection with the Goddess of Deceit.
Kelusta was anxiously waiting at home for news from Gloria, but unexpectedly, she did not receive word of Persedoro's demise. Instead, what came first was news of a mutiny within the Royal Palace.
"Ruth, His Majesty the King has died suddenly."
Isabella knocked on her granddaughter's door, her brow furrowed, and urgently relayed the shocking news to the stunned brown-haired girl. "Prince Satrick has been busy with matters in Seaside Town and hasn't been in the capital for the past few days... And just now, our informant inside the palace reported that His Majesty passed away last night. The cause is still unclear, but it's rumored to be—death by poisoning."
"...Poisoning?"
Isabella nodded, her expression grave. "The Second Princess seems to have been prepared. She seized this opportunity to rally all the factions that supported her and was enthroned as the new queen overnight."
Kelusta gasped. "Starangui has ascended the throne?!"
"The succession documents have been approved. No one knows how she managed it," Isabella said. "His Majesty's death was too sudden. The prince's faction was completely unprepared—as were we. There wasn't enough time to take any action to stop her."
As a Potion Master and the king's personally appointed caregiver, Starangui was responsible for his daily health examinations and the creation of his maintenance potions. She had countless opportunities to tamper with what he ingested.
She doesn't strike unless she means to kill... Kelusta had already suffered a great loss because of this. If not for Gloria's healing magic, she too might not have escaped the poison.
Let alone the former king, who had trusted his daughter implicitly.
She pinched her palm, and just as she was about to say something more to her grandmother, there were three heavy knocks on the study door. Oliver's urgent, tense voice followed. "Young Miss, Lady Gloria is here. She says she must see you at once."
Gloria?
Why at a time like this—
Kelusta's brow furrowed instantly, as if she had realized something. She barely had time to say a word to Isabella before turning and running out, a cold sweat soaking through her clothes.
The prayer day showdown... the king's death by poison... Starangui's ascension... Gloria's visit...
These seemingly unrelated events were all tightly connected by a single thread.
—The Goddess of Deceit, Persedoro.
When Kelusta reached the drawing room, she immediately saw the silver-haired girl standing in the center, her face etched with exhaustion.
"Lux!"
She cried out, rushing to the other girl's side in a few quick strides. Grasping Gloria's hand, she asked urgently, "Were you attacked? Are you hurt? And Wend... the Duke... did the Goddess of Deceit do anything to you?"
The girl's expression was panicked as she fired a barrage of questions at her lover. Her body was stiff, her fingertips white from the force of her grip, and her words were nearly incoherent.
"Relax... we're fine, Ruth." Gloria half-closed her eyes, gently patting Kelusta's anxious face.
But that gentle, reassuring warmth lasted only a moment before vanishing. In an instant, the silver-haired girl's expression turned cold and stern. She said to Kelusta in a low voice, "It seems you've already guessed. After we tore up all the prayers and swore to no longer believe in the Goddess of Deceit, Persedoro's soul did not dissipate as we expected..."
"Obviously, she found a new believer," Kelusta said through gritted teeth.
"Yes," the silver-haired girl pursed her lips and sighed. "It's just as Musen said—the power of faith is the source of a god's strength. Persedoro's power manifests in the dark magic she can command. After we shed our status as 'believers,' she attempted to retaliate, but she was unable to break through my light magic defenses."
"Therefore, she reclaimed the dark magic from our bodies, and upon discovering she couldn't harm us in the slightest, she left the Silentdis family at once."
Kelusta was silent for a moment before hearing her own dry voice. "But at the same time, a drastic change occurred within the Royal Palace."
Persedoro had likely already sensed something was amiss with the Silentdis family, so she secretly found a new partner in Starangui. In the past few days, she must have been stalling Gloria, giving the Second Princess ample time to poison the king and purge the palace—
—and then, on a night unknown to all, successfully seize the throne of Nobili's supreme ruler.
"I don't know when she established contact with Starangui, but the latter—at least on the surface—never bypassed me to contact the Goddess of Deceit directly," Gloria said coldly. "This was clearly a premeditated coup, carried out in secret."
Kelusta lowered her eyes, her voice tinged with regret. "Starangui chose to make her move on prayer day, likely banking on the fact that the well-informed Silentdis family would be confronting the Goddess of Deceit... Satrick has been completely preoccupied with the tasks I entrusted to him, and his forces were otherwise engaged. He clearly never expected Starangui to be so audacious—"
"Under these circumstances," the silver-haired girl said faintly, "she had the best opportunity to usurp the throne."
The sound of pouring rain began to patter against the window, and ink-black clouds approached like roaring monsters.
A flash of purple lightning split the dark clouds, and Gloria's voice was drowned out by a sudden clap of thunder. She turned to look quietly out the window toward the Royal Palace, her gem-like eyes filled with gloom and ice, like a churning sea in a storm.
"Starangui has no desire, nor any need, to become a queen who can win the people's support. She only needs to help Persedoro obtain the Holy Force Source. Once the latter becomes the supreme god, she can continue to rule Nobili with a clear conscience," Gloria said. "Therefore, unlike a typical usurper, her next move won't be to stabilize public sentiment, but rather..."
"To act with the utmost speed—" Kelusta's face darkened as she finished in a cold voice.
"To find the Holy Force Source."
The western coastline of the Nobili continent was not long, nor were there many towns.
The military power Starangui commanded as Second Princess had been enough to deploy forces for secret searches in various locations. Now that she was queen, her power was on a completely different level. Aside from the small faction firmly controlled by Satrick, which she couldn't touch, the Royal Knight Legion—which answered only to the monarch—was now entirely under her command.
On prayer day, Persedoro had witnessed Gloria using light magic for defense. Since Gloria had long resided in the capital and had almost never traveled far, Starangui effortlessly deduced the target for her troops: the true location where the Holy Force Source was hidden—
Kelusta's hometown, Seaside Town.
"...Her again."
The new queen wore a magnificent long gown, a heavy coronation robe with a white fur cape draped over her shoulders. A crown inlaid with brilliant jewels sat atop the young woman's head. Though incredibly heavy, it symbolized the one and only supreme status in the kingdom.
Starangui's pale violet eyes shifted to the side, landing on the beautiful goddess before her, whose form seemed to have grown more transparent. "So, Your Grace," she said faintly, "the item you're looking for is in this town, correct?"
"That's right, my queen. Clara was the first god to fall, and all her divine power of light was absorbed by the Holy Force Source," Persedoro said, lifting her head. She looked somewhat weary. "Therefore, the place where a light mage appears must be the true location of the Holy Force Source."
"Very well," Starangui said, withdrawing her gaze with a nonchalant air. "According to what you said before, 'using a sufficient amount of human blood as a catalyst, gathered into a magic circle,' is the method to summon the Holy Force Source?"
"In fact, my dear, that is the method of the Dark Goddess," Persedoro said, seemingly unbothered by her cold attitude. She shifted into a more graceful pose, leaning languidly against the half-dismantled statue of Clara and giving the queen an alluring smile. "I hear the Goddess of Light researched a more peaceful method long ago, but apparently, she wasn't willing to share it with us old friends."
"—And that is why I must resort to such cruel means to obtain what I desire. Oh, I don't wish for it, war is so bloody," the Goddess of Deceit sighed, her long, slightly curled lashes fluttering like soft feathers brushing the air. "But who can we blame but our dear Lady Clara for being so stingy... even her most beloved sister, Talebris, was never told of that more effective, and much cleaner, 'Condensation Spell'."
Cleaner...
Starangui's lips curled at the indifferent-sounding adjective.
She patiently listened to Persedoro's long string of complaints, casually adjusted the crown on her head, and offered a formulaic, polite smile. "Rest assured, Lady Persedoro. It's just one town. There's no need for you to dirty your hands. Leave it to me."
After receiving an approving and satisfied look from the Goddess of Dececeit, she lifted her skirt slightly, curtsied, and then turned and walked out of the church.
However, the moment she stepped through the great doors, the smile on Starangui's face vanished, her beautiful features reverting to a look of pure, noble indifference.
She walked straight ahead, her expression blank, her high heels making sharp, eerie clicks on the marble floor. The servants waiting outside kept their heads bowed, cautiously following behind the queen, watching as the blonde girl walked step by step back to the magnificent throne she had just claimed.
"Have Kevit Maity come see me."
She tilted her head slightly, giving the maid standing respectfully to the side a smile so gentle it was chilling. "I have an important task," she said calmly, "that I must entrust to him personally."
Guided by the maid, Kevit entered the Royal Palace, keeping his head down and his eyes forward the entire way.
Upon coming before Starangui, he maintained his respectful posture, cautiously dropping to one knee. Without raising his eyes, he said, "Congratulations on achieving your heart's desire, Your Majesty."
The seated queen raised an eyebrow, clearly pleased. She smiled at him and said slowly, "You are always so considerate, Kevit. Stand up. There's no need to be so formal. I can certainly grant you the privilege of speaking with me as an equal."
Her tone was utterly sincere, as if she were a magnanimous and kind ruler who truly didn't care for such tedious formalities.
—However, even though Starangui expressed such an attitude, Kevit remained in his previous position, not moving an inch.
He kept his head bowed and said in a gentle voice, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty, but I insist on observing the proper etiquette. After all, your status has changed, and you deserve greater respect."
These words were also spoken with genuine feeling, sounding even more earnest than Starangui's previous statement.
Starangui's eyes curved into a smile, carefully concealing the meaningful glint within them. "Oh," she said, her tone almost lyrical, "I must say, speaking with you is such a pleasant affair."
She offered an even more pronounced, gentle smile and placed her hands on her lap. Her long, slender white fingers intertwined, just covering an exquisite iris embroidered with deep purple thread on her golden skirt.
"I have a task for you," she said gently. "You are the most suitable candidate, Kevit... so suitable that I dare say if you don't agree, no one else will be able to handle it."
Hearing such a decisive assessment, Kevit was momentarily stunned.
He frowned under the cover of his hair, his fingertips hidden beneath his sleeves tightening slightly. A sense of foreboding crept into his heart, but his voice remained calm. "Yes, Your Majesty?"
"My diviner has told me that a town on the continent's coastline is about to become the source of a disaster. Unfortunately, in its destruction, it will endanger the entire kingdom."
Starangui lazily lifted her eyelids, her pale violet eyes fixing on Kevit's stiff form like a snake eyeing its trembling prey. "As the ruler of Nobili," she said, her voice soft and dangerous, "I have an obligation to eliminate this potential crisis..."
"Kevit, my loyal friend—I'm afraid I must ask you to lead an army to this town with the utmost speed..."
She paused, then smiled. "And destroy it in secret."
Kevit's fingertips dug fiercely into his palms.
His throat felt as if it were being scorched by a ball of fire, rendering him speechless. Yet the blood in his veins seemed to have frozen into a northern glacier, so cold it nearly ceased to flow.
"...Your Majesty," the young man beneath the throne asked in a low voice, his head bowed deep, "may I ask which town?"
Starangui gazed at him, the smile on her lips deepening.
"Of course. Of course, I should tell you."
Kevit slowly raised his eyes, his expression blank as he looked back at the blonde queen seated on high.
Starangui raised an eyebrow and winked at him, her smile beaming as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "'Seaside Town'—a rather familiar place, isn't it? That's why I said you were the perfect choice."
"You are my loyal friend, Kevit," she repeated meaningfully. "I hope you won't disappoint me this time, either."
In the vast, empty palace, the young man kneeling on one knee remained silent for a long time.
After a long silence, under Starangui's increasingly probing gaze, Kevit took a deep breath as if he had made a difficult decision. He bowed his head deeply to the girl on the throne, finally assuming a posture of submission—
"...I would be happy to serve you, Your Majesty."
The queen's eyes shifted, and the hint of suspicion and the oppressive aura around her vanished. She descended from the throne and, like the most benevolent of monarchs, grasped Kevit's hand, personally helping him to his feet. "Excellent," she praised in a melodious voice.
"For your loyalty and sacrifice, I have decided to give you supreme command of the Royal Knight Legion," Starangui said with a smile. "I will await news of your great victory here in the capital... I trust you won't keep me waiting too long, my dear friend."
Author's Notes
Starangui being responsible for the king's health was mentioned in Chapter 49.
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