"......"
"......"
The silence was understandable. After all, what Alice and I had just said was utterly absurd.
Charlotte, who had been staring intently at my face for some time, finally placed a hand on her forehead.
“So, let me get this straight. You’re asking me, a princess of Belvur, to help you destroy one of the nation’s proud cultural heritages?”
“To be more precise, we’re asking you to help us sneak inside, not destroy it,” I corrected.
“......”
Alice, standing beside me, buried her face in her hands.
What? Why?
R𝑒ad lat𝒆st chapt𝒆rs at free𝑤ebnovel.com Only.
Seriously, what?
If I don’t explain things clearly from the start, how would I respond later if someone accused me of lying? Better to lay it all out now.
“So, let me summarize what you just said, Sylvia...” Charlotte began, carefully reiterating my words.
“You suspect the Holy Nation is up to something suspicious.”
“Yes.”
“So, you want to meet with one of their higher-ups to have a discussion.”
“That’s correct.”
“And to gain access to St. Latina Cathedral, where you believe this person might be, you’ve prepared an arsenal of weapons.”
“Exactly.”
“But then you thought it might not be the best idea to act on this plan, so you came to me for help?”
“Precisely.”
“Sylvia, do you want me to hit you?”
Charlotte’s final remark made me stare at her blankly. Realizing she might have gone too far, she cleared her throat and covered her mouth with a fist, looking somewhat embarrassed.
“While the cathedral may have been built during a time when relations between Belvur and the Holy Nation were strained, it’s now one of Lutetia’s most iconic landmarks. Moreover, most of those ‘higher-ups’ you’re talking about aren’t just citizens of Belvur but also hold dual citizenship with the Holy Nation.”
Charlotte’s serious gaze bore into me as she spoke.
“And yet, you’re asking me, the only princess of Belvur, to assist in something that could spark a conflict between our nations?”
Hmm...
“So, would it be better if I just acted alone?”
Charlotte’s argument was valid. That’s why I had initially planned to handle everything on my own. Asking Charlotte for help hadn’t been my first choice. After all, she was in a similar position to Alice—though Charlotte had always paid more attention to her relations with the nobles, whereas Alice had only me as a true friend before joining the academy.
Naturally, if Charlotte acted alone, it would bring severe political consequences for her.
“Do you even hear yourself?”
Then again, knowing Charlotte’s personality, she wasn’t the type to let me act alone after hearing all this.
Next to me, Alice clutched her head with both hands, clearly distressed, but I resisted the urge to look in her direction.
"......"
Charlotte fell silent, seemingly deep in thought.
It wouldn’t have been surprising if she got up and started pacing the room, but instead, she remained seated with her legs crossed, arms folded, and eyes closed—a picture of royal composure.
“First of all... let’s not resort to violence,” she said after a long pause. When she opened her eyes, they were fixed on me with the same intensity as before.
“If an incident like this actually occurred, it could be interpreted as an act of war. Even if the royal family doesn’t want war, if the nobles and the people demand it, we won’t be able to stop it.”
“So, wouldn’t it be better if I—”
“Sylvia.”
Alice’s voice cut through my words. She still had her head in her hands, so I couldn’t see her expression, but the tone of her voice made it clear that continuing in this direction would be dangerous.
Even if I could rewind time and navigate through any situation, the process sounded exhausting, so I decided to keep my mouth shut.
“Is there a way to resolve this?” Alice finally raised her head, looking slightly less distressed.
“I’d rather tell you to abandon the plan altogether...” Charlotte sighed, glancing at me before letting out a deep breath.
“But even if I say that, Sylvia would go ahead and execute it anyway.”
That’s not entirely true.
If that were the case, I wouldn’t have come this far, having been convinced by Charlotte to discuss the matter. Sure, I hadn’t told her everything, and I had brought weapons without her knowledge, but here I was, seeking her cooperation after hearing her out. I could be considered quite considerate, all things considered.
Of course, I’d still go through with it if she refused.
“...Honestly, we’ve been contemplating the Holy Nation’s actions ourselves,” Charlotte muttered, rubbing her chin.
“Last year, we seriously deliberated over several ‘treaties,’ but when the Empire intervened and the negotiations fell apart, we discovered several suspicious details during the review process.”
Though Charlotte didn’t describe it explicitly, those treaties were about a full military alliance between the two nations. In the original story, Sophia had fought alongside Belvur’s soldiers, so this made sense.
“What kind of suspicious details?” I asked.
“...I can’t go into specifics. It’s classified.”
Charlotte’s cautious tone made her reluctance clear, and truthfully, she might not even know all the details herself. After all, she still believed Sophia was a native of Belvur.
The Holy Nation had already infiltrated Belvur long before this. They hadn’t just planted people under the guise of “Holy Nation citizens”—they had fully embedded operatives by rewriting their identities to appear as Belvur citizens.
My antics during last year’s conference might have been just to provoke the Holy Nation, but it seemed my actions had inadvertently tipped off Belvur about the infiltration.
“So, if we can leverage these suspicions well enough, it might not be impossible to persuade my father—the king.”
Charlotte glanced at me as she spoke, her expression suggesting she expected some kind of additional information.
"......"
Well.
I could sell Sophia out if necessary. Her cover was definitely a false identity.
But...
Sophia, while not as close to me as Charlotte, was still a friend. Besides, seeing her interactions with Leo was genuinely entertaining. In the original story, she was one of the romanceable heroines, but her current personality differed significantly from what I remembered.
So, while I could throw her under the bus, I didn’t want to.
And frankly, there was an even bigger card to play.
“Beneath St. Latina Cathedral lies a massive base,” I said.
"..."
Charlotte’s expression froze, her mouth slightly open as she stared at me in disbelief.
“The cathedral serves as a foothold for the Holy Nation’s expansion westward. Back when it was being built, Belvur hadn’t fully accepted the Goddess’ faith, and the church had been in active opposition to the kingdom. The underground beneath Lutetia hides an extensive and intricate network of Goddess-worship catacombs. The cathedral was constructed over it to conceal the entrance.”
The underground catacombs were also a pivotal dungeon in the original story, hosting numerous significant events.
Lutetia, modeled after Paris, naturally included this elaborate underground labyrinth. The developers clearly couldn’t resist drawing inspiration from the real-life Paris Catacombs.
Given the dungeon’s complexity and history, it was a treasure trove of secrets and key characters.
Charlotte blinked, her gaze darting as she processed the information.
“So, you’re saying that the Goddess’ church has been plotting something in Lutetia for hundreds of years?”
“More like their grudge from back then has yet to end. The Holy Nation’s mission is to bring the entire world under the Goddess’ will. Their persistent influence over Belvur aims to ultimately make the Goddess’ faith our state religion.”
It also explained why they couldn’t entirely dismiss my remarks about the Empire’s state religion, even if they thought I was bluffing.
“Is this enough to persuade His Majesty the King?” I asked.
Charlotte rubbed her face with her hand, clearly overwhelmed. Though she didn’t say it out loud, I was sure she wouldn’t be able to ignore this.