Chapter 151 - Live to Sienna Pt.151

Even though Carl and Bluebell’s wedding was just a few weeks away, it was the Holy Knights coming from the Holy Empire that drew more attention than that. It was partly due to the fact that the spirit of martial arts did not die down since not long after the Mutu competition, but also the characteristics of the Knights of the Holy Empire were of great interest.

If ordinary knights’ operation of the oracle was in the form of emitting oracle with the energy of nature in his body, the oracle of the Holy Empire used the oracle based on the divine power thoroughly.

Due to the different sources of power, their methods of fighting were also unique—they were better at fighting as a group than the one-on-one battle. This is because the more people, the more energy they had.

In particular, each knighthood included at least one priest, who continued to charge the knights with his prayers. Because of this, it took longer to come and go than regular knights.

In addition, depending on the priest’s ability, each knighthood can use different abilities, so the priest entering the Leipsden Empire this time was also drawing attention to what kind of abilities he had.

Since last year’s relief work, there have been many aristocrats who were concerned about the increasing influence of the Goddess of the Land Church within the empire. In particular, the aristocrats, led by Empress Arya, raised their voices, saying, “If this is the case, the Leipsden Empire may have to serve the Holy Empire as a superior country.”

Not all the nobles were instigated by their words. There were those who wanted to wrap up this case and leave the empire, and there were those who were already trying to line up for the Holy Empire. As a result, many aristocrats visited the temple to be registered in the Holy Empire like Sienna.

This has made Sienna mentioned more often in connection to the Holy Empire. Neither Carl nor Sienna were pleased.

Meanwhile, there was one who reacted more violently than anyone else, and it was Empress Arya.

“How did you manage things like this? This is beyond stupidity!”

She fiddled with the scarf around her neck, even as she called and yelled at her people. It was Sienna who strangled her to the point where she could hardly breathe, but it was Carl who instilled more fear.

How can she forget his voice that he was going to cut off her neck on the spot if there was a little evidence found?

When Empress Sienna came to kill her, Arya was startled but she thought it was better that way. She was going to make an issue out of this to bring Sienna down and set up her leash on Bluebell.

But Carl came forward and made the matter not just an affair between Sienna and herself, but a small quarrel between him and herself, making it impossible for Arya to do anything.

Rather, she was restricted from leaving her palace because of the scar on her throat. In front of her residence, there were not only her knights but also Carl’s knights. Carl said it was to protect Arya herself, but she knew that surveillance was the true purpose, not protection.

“So how far do you think they’ll find out?”

She spoke to a middle-aged man who had his head down in front of her. He was the head merchant of Bitray business society.

“The temple trusts the child’s testimony. The sketch based on the testimony is quite similar to the real one. Moreover, there is a saying that the head of the Knights of the Holy Knights is a woman. In the Holy Empire, there are three women who participate in the Order of the Knights, and the one named Emblo Lillian is not only powerful but also known for her swordsmanship, so she serves as the head of the Order of the Knights. She says she can use the power of tracing.”

“The power of tracing?”

“It’s the power you use to find a specific object or person. You can easily find a place if it’s within 500 meters of where you are.”

Arya couldn’t contain her anger at his words and threw a vase at him. The vase fell at the foot of the head merchant and broke with a loud noise, leaving a shrapnel.

“Then it’s only a matter of time before the Bitray Society comes to light! You should have left it to the outside world when you were dealing with such a thing. There’s a lot of those who would poke around kids or shrines as long as you pay!”

“It was because of security issues. If you work with those people, you’ll get attention. Besides, the Dark Merchants have a lot of information…”

The sound of the empress grinding her teeth sounded creepy.

“If their trace reveals any of our people, how big do you expect the exposure to be?”

He spoke in a somber voice.

“We’ve hidden the people who were mobilized for this in a faraway city, but if the investigation continues, we’re sure there’ll be people who’ve seen them go in and out of our business.”

“Then it’ll reveal you as well.”

At Arya’s words, he nodded with a pale face.

At first, they thought it was no big deal to kill some orphans, but as the Holy Empire intervened, things got out of control. In the meantime, the Leipsden Empire overlooked the power of the Holy Empire because it had not given special religion preferential treatment. It was because they had never imagined that the Holy Empire would care so much about the deaths of only a few orphans.

“Last year your firm also suffered losses from promissory notes, didn’t it?”

Her question panicked the head merchant. It was Arya, who always called the Bitray Society “My firm” and emphasized that she was the actual owner of the firm. But now she was emphasizing that she was not the owner of the company, calling it “your firm.”

The quick-witted man realized that Arya was trying to cover this up by sacrificing him.

“Your Majesty the Empress, please spare me.”

“What are you talking about? Do you think I’m going to kill you?”

She said in a merciful voice. The more she did so, the paler the head merchant’s face became like a corpse.

“You had a son, didn’t you? You want him to be a knight? As you know, knights from aristocrat class and commoners are clearly treated differently. If you want, I’ll adopt your son into the Panacio family. I’ll look after all your family.”

“Your Majesty the Empress!”

The head merchant shouted her name in a despairing voice. Arya frowned and told him coldly.

“How dare you raise your voice in my presence? If you don’t want my favor, just refuse. Just make sure you do this one thing—make it clear that I have nothing to do with your mess. If my name goes up and down the gossip because of this, it won’t end with just your life.”

The head merchant kneeled in despair realizing that there was nowhere else to reach out.

It was him who had been cleaning up messes for a long time by Arya’s side. That’s why he knew better than anyone how cold Arya was. He escaped from her palace with a somber expression.

“They’re all dead? With no one survivor?”

Sienna asked back in surprise at the news from Carl. It was only a week before Carl and Bluebell’s wedding.

“The Knight Commander of Kissinger found it. The body was found in a bar on the estate a little away from the palace. They said it was a place that had been left untouched for a long time.”

“Was it really them?”

“The bodies were found before decomposition began, so they could check the faces of the dead. The same person in the portrait that the little boy told me.”

Sienna asked back to Carl in a somber voice.

“Who were they sided with? Why have they harmed the children?”

“There have been testimonies that they were seen at the Bitray Merchants society. When I went to the store, the head merchant had already hanged himself. He left a suicide note, and it said that he was depressed last year because he lost a lot of money due to the grain bill issue, and he got angry with the children of the temple who were making a bad rumor about the company.”

“That can’t be true! I don’t think he did it alone. That’s why he killed them? It must have something to do with Empress Arya.”

“In fact, there was a record of this head merchant visiting the palace frequently to meet with Empress Arya, so I questioned her…”

Sienna focused on Carl’s words hoping that he discovered something.

“I heard that she borrowed money from Empress Arya because of the grain problem. She had a record of lending him a large amount of money. I know your frustration, but right now there’s no evidence to further question her.”

Sienna pounded her chest with her fist in frustration. But she couldn’t blame Carl anymore.

She knew she could no longer accuse Arya. No, it would still have been difficult even if there was more evidence than this. Many were still on Arya’s side in the palace. Even now she had been holding hands with the Ferrer family.

It was frustrating and unfair that there was no immediate way to exact revenge against Arya, who took the children’s lives. Tears formed around Sienna’s eyes, and Carl embraced her and comforted her.

“I will not give up on this. Even if it takes time, I’ll catch the real perpetrator of this incident.”

Knowing that he was not talking nonsense, Sienna felt some of her sorrow was going away. She knew that Arya was not an easy counterpart. But if it’s Carl, he’ll surely find a way and hold Arya accountable.

Sienna calmed her furious mind. It was upsetting that she couldn’t tear Arya apart right now, but she will pay for everything she did even if it takes time. Sienna would never sit idly and let Arya go free from her sins.