An Enlightenment Society graduate, from an unremarkable merchant family, as insignificant as a grain of dust compared to the illustrious Margaret Clan.
The royal family disliked such unions, and one night, a similar conversation occurred between father and grandfather, claiming it would contaminate the family’s pure noble bloodline.
The royal family prepared a marital candidate for him, while the girl from the merchant family could be a lover or bear him illegitimate children. In the imperial capital, this was not considered unusual. As the future heir of the Margaret Clan, he was supposed to follow the rules of high society in the Empire.
But every day of the subsequent decades, he paid the price for his initial choice.
Under Henry VI’s instructions, the church cast some ancient spell on her.
"It seemed like a suppression technique to prevent the birth of demons. They thought that as the sole heir of the Margaret Clan, if I couldn’t have offspring, I would have to compromise with the royal family. They believed the bloodline tainted by commoners couldn’t inherit that ancient knowledge."
The man said in a cold tone, "I studied this spell for six years and found a way to break it, but it wasn’t fully resolved. So, on the night you were born, the remnants of the spell were activated."
But this was only the beginning of paying the price.
"In the following decade, I had to prove to them that you had the talent to inherit the knowledge of the Margaret Clan."
The man said, "Ave, when you graduated as an outstanding graduate from the Enlightenment Society, your existence was recognized by the royal family, but some people still worried about your behavior, believing you inherited a portion of the tainted bloodline, planting seeds of instability."
Ave saw some familiar figures in those flickering fragments.
"Your teacher Gretchen was accused of being a follower of the Evil God, participating in the Commune for demons, defending a follower of demons."
She had already learned the truth. The Commune for demons referred to the Violet Commune, and the so-called devil’s rhetoric was merely pointing out the increasing power of the church and the negative impacts brought by many of the Empire’s decaying systems, which was the fundamental reason why followers of the Evil God were increasing.
"But that would confirm some people’s worries."
This time, Ave didn’t argue.
A sharp pain came from the back of her neck, extending into her brain, making her feel dazed. She seemed to sense something continuously being injected into her brain, something strange, familiar, yet terrifying.
She seemed to become the person standing before the altar, holding a scalpel, and dissecting Viola’s body.
She gradually understood the church’s reason for selecting these children—the average person couldn’t survive the surgery process, only those naturally adapted to the ancient magic of the Goddess of Life could endure the surgery under the blessing’s enhancement. Then, their bodies would be transformed into energy-generating devices used to provide power to those ancient and precise machines inside their bodies.
Before the surgery started, their self-consciousness would be eliminated by Holy Word Art to better fulfill their choir duties.
Then, Ave saw herself cutting open Viola’s body.
Viola recognized her, or more accurately, her father. It was a gaze of trust.
And this was only the first step of transformation.
On some future day, these sacred bodies combined with ancient technology will undergo an even holier baptism, serving as vessels for the Goddess Envoy’s arrival.
Following this was the construction of Daklimo’s Sword, a war weapon built by Margaret ancestors.
The heir’s bloodline was the key to unlocking it, both a gift and a curse left by the ancestors because, from that moment on, the Margaret Clan’s bloodline became the Empire’s public property.
They had to ensure Margaret’s loyalty and the "purity" of the bloodline at all costs.
In Ave’s view, the "bloodline purity" theory was nonsensical, and no one could explain why marrying outside the royal family would taint the bloodline, but since the Empire’s inception, it inexplicably became everyone’s consensus.
"Ave, you will become the key to welcoming the Goddess Envoy’s arrival."
The pain was fading, the spike withdrew from Ave’s neck, the man’s face was somewhat pale, and his voice was exhausted, seeming to have spent most of his energy in the ceremony, "But they won’t allow the Margaret Clan’s bloodline to be tainted again. Now, I will tell you what will happen next."
The man placed a cold hand on her shoulder, "They can’t take the knowledge belonging to you, so they will use those closest to you to force you to compromise with them, but this is the path you chose yourself. You must walk it bravely... go, let me witness how far you can go on this road."
Meanwhile, Ethan was giving an important speech in Lindong’s cave.
"Is there still royal law? Is there still law?"
His righteous words, while Lindong chuckled beside him.
Now they shared more common ground—they had all become major criminals wanted in the imperial capital.
Ethan merely wandered the banquet venue, on the way back he saw the Kingdom Army and the church’s priests posting his wanted notices on the streets of the imperial capital, charged with the not-at-all-surprising crime of following the Evil God.