“…Just as I thought.” Roel sighed as he realized the rationale behind Alicia’s question.
The Black Moon used to be the Mother Goddess’ trump card. It was a powerful ability that nullified practically all powers and dragged its target into it.
Carolyn’s powers were likely to originate from the ancient gods, so they were bound to be high up the hierarchy of powers. However, not even the ancient gods had the power to escape from the absolute might of the Black Moon.
Theoretically, it was possible for Alicia to nullify the malevolent energy inside Roel’s wounds using the Black Moon, but it required a leap of faith. For him to bare himself to the Black Moon meant to entrust his life to her.
“…”
“…”
Unbearable silence loomed in the quiet palace. Roel and Alicia looked at each other wordlessly.
It wasn’t so long ago that they were still enemies, and Alicia hadn’t fully regained her memories yet. Treating him with the power of the Black Moon was also very risky, as it required precise control, so he would have preferred a safer method instead.
But looking at her tearstained cheeks, Roel’s eyes mellowed. He grabbed her hands, which had turned cold from her loss of blood, and smiled at her, saying, “I’ve told you, Alicia. Regardless of how much you remember, our relationship will never change. Your question is unnecessary.”
“Lord Brother…”
“I trust you, and this will never change. Don’t worry about me and do whatever you need to.”
“…Mm!” Alicia nodded determinedly upon hearing Roel’s encouragement.
Tremendous mana gathered around her as she unleashed her Divine Domain.
The next moment, Roel found himself floating above a vast ocean, with the Twin Moons in the sky. Under Alicia’s control, the Black Moon slowly descended and loomed over him.
…
While Alicia started her treatment attempt after receiving Roel’s affirmation, in the capital of the Austine Empire, Paul Ackermann found himself at a critical turning point.
It was twilight. Paul sat before his table in his bedroom, staring at a letter under the moonlight. Liz stood beside him with a rare solemn expression.
This letter was Paul’s only way to break out of the current impasse, but he knew that following the instructions on the letter would result in severe repercussions to the Austine Empire that he couldn’t even imagine.
“Your Highness, can you tell me the content of that letter?” Liz asked, stepping forward.
Paul pondered for a moment before he nodded and said, “My imperial sister plans to draw Emperor Lukas’ attention so as to buy time for us to escape from this place.”
“I see. That sounds like a decent plan,” Liz evaluated with a nod.
Emperor Lukas was Paul’s greatest hurdle to freedom. If they could lure him out of the secondary palace, their chances of escaping at least doubled.
Liz could see the merit of this plan, but Paul’s expression remained heavy. This prompted her to ask, “Your Highness, is something wrong?”
“…My imperial sister has a backup plan too, for in case we fail to escape.”
“A backup plan? Yes, even the most well-thought-out plan could have loopholes. What is the backup plan?”
“An invasion.”
“What?” Liz was startled.
Paul revealed a bitter smile as he further elaborated, “In the worst-case scenario, if we fail to escape, the armies inside the city that support my imperial sister will raise their arms and support the soldiers from Noyce Fortress to invade the secondary palace so as to secure us to safety.”
“B-but… that’s no different from raising a rebellion!” Liz exclaimed in horror.
.
Paul also fell silent.
There was a difference between escaping from the secondary palace and starting a rebellion. Escaping from the secondary palace was a crime, but raising a rebellion would warrant capital punishment.
Emperor Lukas wouldn’t let him off for that.
The volatile political circumstances of the Austine Empire didn’t help, either.
As soon as this rescue turned into an invasion, Lilian would be branded a traitor, and the other two imperial princes would make their moves too. They would fan the flames, knowing that this was their greatest chance to get rid of their biggest rival.
All of these would culminate in an internal war, and the trigger would be none other than Paul.
Thinking about the consequences of escape left Paul with a heavy heart, though he was also perplexed as to why Lilian would go this far for him.
He was on good terms with Lilian due to their common connection with Roel, but that was all there was to it. It was one thing for her to aid his escape, but it was another thing for her to incite an internal war in order to rescue him.
It sounded implausible no matter how he looked at it.
He had a feeling that Lilian had other aims, and Liz felt the same way.
“Your Highness, I suspect that Her Highness Lilian isn’t just doing this to help us…”
“Yes, I know that.”
“But it’s true that we’ll be saved if everything goes smoothly too,” Liz added.
Paul was conflicted as to whether he should trust Lilian and accept her helping hand.
As an imperial prince, he knew that it went against better judgment to trust someone in the race for the throne, as there was no lack of precedents of siblings killing each other to reinforce their position. However, there were also several reasons that compelled him to trust Lilian.
It was just a gut feeling, but he sensed that Emperor Lukas carried malicious intent toward him. He was probably just biding his time for an ideal opportunity to strike.
On top of that, he had been wanting to leave the secondary palace too.
The persistent dreams he had been having every night had changed him without his knowledge. If the events that had happened in the dreams were real, there was something he had to do right now.
After some contemplation, he turned to Liz and said, “I think we can trust my imperial sister.”
“You’re going to trust Her Highness Lilian?”
“Yes, she might be a member of the imperial family too, but she's different from my imperial brothers. Most importantly of all, there’s big brother Roel,” Paul said with gleaming eyes as he remembered the time they had spent together in the academy. “It’s thanks to big brother Roel that I was able to come this far. There’s no way he would harm me. I believe that my imperial sister, who likes big brother Roel, wouldn’t do it either.”
“Isn’t it too rash to come to this conclusion solely on that?”
“Not at all. I have no idea what imperial sister Lilian is planning, but I know for certain that she wouldn’t do anything contrary to big brother Roel’s will. I did contribute a lot to their relationship, after all,” Paul replied with a smile.
He then turned to Liz and ordered, “Begin making preparations for our escape.”