Chapter 104.1

In other words, Arnold was one of the descendants of the Maiden Priestess.

Bishop Schneider's warning stirred in Rishe's mind.

[――You must not marry Arnold Hein.]

If the reason the church wanted to kill Myria was because she has the blood of the Maiden Priestess...

Then the Order must be aiming to prevent the birth of a new child with the Maiden Priestess's blood.

That's why His Highness told the bishop that he would make me his nominal wife...!

He said that in order to show that he had no intention of producing an "heir with the qualifications of a Maiden Priestess" with Rishe.

In short, it was a way to prevent the Order from harming Rishe, Arnold's future wife.

So, it was all to protect me.

Right from the start, Arnold accompanied her to the Grand Shrine might have been because he was wary of the Order.

But Arnold never once mentioned that to her.

"It's probably because of Father Emperor that they're about to kill the Maiden Priestess."

"...!"

Arnold blandly spoke about Myria, his cousin.

Then he turned his back on Rishe and started walking to the stairs leading to the upper floor. There was no sign of Myria and the rest on this floor, and Arnold must have surmised that.

"You think your father is involved in the assassination of Myria-sama?"

"He's not involved, but that guy is the cause."

Rishe followed Arnold up the stairs.

He did not look back, but continued to speak.

"Twenty-two years ago, Garkhain made them sign several treaties in exchange for stopping the invasion of the Holy Kingdom of Domana."

"Treaties..."

Emperor Garkhain did not invade the Holy Kingdom of Domana, the home of the Order, wasn't because he was a devout believer.

Using force as a shield, he signed a pact with them.

The Holy Kingdom, the Maiden Priestess married to Garkhain, and Arnold, whose precious blood were being held hostage.

"One of them states that for the next twenty years, any girl born with the qualifications of a Maiden Priestess will be presented to Garkhain."

"Then, the main reason for the concealment of Myria-sama's existence is..."

"I suppose it's to protect the Maiden Priestess against our kingdom, not the world."

They passed the entrance to the eighth floor and approached the stairs to the ninth floor. She felt out of breath, but she didn't want Arnold to notice it.

"Father Emperor decreed that if the treaty is breached, he will annihilate the Order. The very existence of this Maiden Priestess violates this treaty."

"So that's why Leo said that Garkhain will destroy the Order..."

Arnold turned around at Rishe's remark.

"So, Leo is on the side of the guards, not on the assassins of the Priestess?"

Arnold muttered without showing any significant emotion.

He quickly looked forward and dismissed it as nonsense.

"The Order is not monolithic, either. It seems that the Order is divided between those who want to keep the Priestess alive and those who want to kill her before Garkhain finds out about her existence."

"...Is the Archbishop trying to kill Myria-sama in order to eliminate the trigger for Garkhain to invade?"

"Kill her before anyone knows it is too shallow a rationale, though."

Arnold told Rishe, insinuating something.

"The reason they resumed the festival was probably to use the ritual as an excuse to summon the priestess and put her out of the reach of her guards."

"..."

Her heart raced, giving rise to an unpleasant dizziness.

The anemia-like symptoms were worse than before.

It was partly due to the increased physical activity, but there were other obvious reasons.

How murderous...

The murderous air surrounding Arnold stimulated her instinctive fear.

This was dangerous, and if they didn't leave as soon as possible, their lives would be in danger.

Her body was giving off such warning bells, and she slowly broke out in cold sweat.

"The traps in the forest were set to see if they could kill her and make it look like the work of a neighboring hunter. Only a young priestess would dare to enter the forbidden forest."

Arnold paused at the entrance to the ninth floor.

"――But thanks to you, I almost died, too."

"...!"

A chill ran down her spine at the sound of Arnold's low voice.