Chapter 555.2: Sheltering Him (2)
Chapter 555.2: Sheltering Him (2)
The Mother Goddess stared at Roel in a daze. Micher frowned in confusion, not knowing what Roel was up to.
“Mother Goddess, is there a problem?” Roel asked.
“No, there isn’t a problem, but… are you certain you want Me to use that spell?” the Mother Goddess asked in unease.
Roel answered with a determined nod. Seeing that, the Mother Goddess’ eyes slowly became firm.
Micher was at a loss. He was confident in his research and didn’t believe that Roel could pass the Lie Detection Spell, but the other party’s confident demeanor unnerved him. In any case, his opinion no longer mattered since Roel and the Mother Goddess had decided to go through with this.
Mana began to surge from the Mother Goddess, as Her black hair turned silver and Her golden eyes glowed crimson. She slowly floated into the air, taking Her place as the ruler of the moon. A cold silver light shone from Her body as the atmosphere seemed to turn a little chilly.
She gazed upon Roel with authoritative eyes.
“Answer Me, Roel. Were you the one who wrote the letters Micher spoke of?”
“No, I wasn’t the one who wrote those letters, and neither was I aware of their content.”
“!”
The Mother Goddess was astounded. Her body trembled ever so slightly from sheer agitation. Her mana was telling Her that those words that had just been spoken were the absolute truth. Not only that, Roel’s follow-up statement also eliminated all other possibilities.
She had only asked Roel whether he was the one who wrote the letters, but Roel further added that he was oblivious to the content of the letters. This meant that he couldn’t have had others write those letters in his stead, which implied that the correspondence was falsified!
“It’s the truth,” the floating Mother Goddess replied with a rare smile.
The guests were first taken aback before confusion took over.
Who else could have written the letter if it wasn’t from the Kingmaker? Was it falsified?
This prompted the crowd to turn their gazes to Micher, the head of the intelligence department. The tables were suddenly turned on him.
“Impossible! We have compared the handwriting and confirmed that it belonged to the Kingmaker! Everyone from the intelligence department can vouch for that! I’m willing to swear on my Loyal Origin Attribute!” Micher exclaimed with a reddened face, his arms flailing about as he agitatedly insisted on his innocence.
His willingness to swear on his Origin Attribute dispelled the doubts of the others present.
The crowd was left confused as to who was the liar here.
Either Roel and Micher had to be lying here. Upon careful thought, this was theoretically possible, too. For instance, Micher could have steeled his determination to abandon his Loyal Origin Attribute to fulfill his lie, whereas Roel might have uncovered a special means to circumvent the Lie Detection Spell.
The crowd held its breath as everyone awaited the Mother Goddess’ judgment.
The silver-haired, crimson-eyed woman floating above the center seat fell into a dilemma. Having to choose between Her long-time loyal subordinate and Her most favored child anguished Her. This was a heavy blow to Her regardless of who was lying…
… But from precedents, She had no choice but to admit that it was more likely for Roel to deceive Her.
She looked at Roel with complicated emotions rippling in Her crimson eyes, but She eventually chose to say nothing at all. She quietly drifted back into Her seat, as Her hair and eyes reverted to their normal colors.
“Mother Goddess?”
“Settle down. We shan’t talk about this anymore.”
The Mother Goddess sounded fatigued.
Roel and Micher had no choice but to return to their seats under Her orders, but their hearts were still unable to calm down.
Micher clenched his fists tightly, feeling indignant at the verdict.
Roel didn’t feel any relief at having escaped from his predicament. Instead, he felt a pang of guilt when he saw the heavy expression on the Mother Goddess’ face. He didn’t think that he had done wrong, refuting those accusations, but the way the Mother Goddess looked at him before She finally came to a verdict left him feeling a little uncomfortable.
It felt like She had realized something but had chosen not to investigate the matter in order to protect him… and indeed, it was unbelievable how She had concluded a matter as important as this in such a sloppy manner.
The Mother Goddess picked up her cutlery and continued dining. The other officials did the same. Conversations sprouted once more amidst the crowd, but no one was really getting into it. It felt like they were trying to cover the stifling silence instead.
Neither Roel nor Micher spoke a word in the latter half of the banquet, knowing that attacking each other at this juncture would only incur the Mother Goddess’ displeasure. In the end, the banquet ended under this peaceful façade.
The other guests quickly slipped away right after the banquet ended. Micher shot a cold glance at Roel before taking his leave. Roel ignored his gaze and gracefully made his way out too, but a servant suddenly walked up to him and whispered into his ear.
“Please hold on for a moment, Lord Roel. The Mother Goddess wishes to speak with you.”
…
The servant brought Roel into the audience room, where he found the Mother Goddess gazing at the city outside the window. Roel walked over and stopped a few steps behind Her, but She didn’t respond. Still suffering from the inexplicable pang of guilt, he didn’t know how to initiate the conversation, so he could only foolishly stand behind Her and watch the scenery too.
It was fortunate that many of the races under the Mother Goddess’ command were nocturnal, so the city remained lively despite it being the middle of the night. That helped to distract Roel’s attention a little, or else the silence would have been too much to handle.
Slowly, he found his heart calming down amidst this peacefulness.
Some time later, the Mother Goddess finally spoke up.
“I’ll be leaving this place tomorrow.”
“Ah?”
Roel was still admiring the scenery when the abrupt announcement startled him. He turned to look at the Mother Goddess.
“Mother Goddess, does this mean that…”
“You should have seen it yesterday. War has begun.”
“…”
Roel’s eyes widened as he fell silent.
The commencement of war was not good news to him. As the fight between the Savior and the Mother Goddess intensified, the Kingmaker, who possessed the power to tip the scales, would only grow more important. This might have been the reason the Mother Goddess had called him here.
Is this a subtle reminder for me to choose a side? Is She going to force me to join Her faction, or… eliminate the random variable known as the Kingmaker once and for all?
Roel grimly stared at the Mother Goddess’ back as he waited for Her to continue Her statement. If the situation was truly proceeding in that direction, he would have no choice but to fight back. While it would be difficult for him to resist the Mother Goddess’ seal, it was not impossible if he made full use of Sia’s blessing, Being Toward Death.
After a long moment of silence, the Mother Goddess let out a deep sigh before turning around to face him. Her golden eyes showed no signs of disingenuity, just the reluctance of separation. The words She spoke right after that surprised him to no end.
“…I have made up my mind. You should stay here.”