A Barbaric Proposal Chapter 109

※The Voice of God※

Her face turned pale with dismay.

[Liene] "I... I was just about to head back."

[Black] "......"

He remained silent. He simply stood there, rooted to the spot, staring at her.

[Liene] "Let’s go back. You came to fetch me, didn't you? Did you miss me that much in such a short time?"

Liene tugged at his arm, trying to change the subject. Her heart was pounding so hard she thought she might go deaf from the sound.

He couldn't have heard everything... No. He shouldn't have. Please.

[Black] "Manau has awakened."

He finally spoke after a long silence.

[Liene] "Ah... that’s a relief. Are you going to see him now? I’ll go with you."

[Black] "If you wish."

However, he did not move from his position, blocking the path.

[Liene] "...? You said we should go."

[Black] "......"

His brow became turbulent, mirroring the words his lips could not utter. Within those few seconds, his expression twisted several times. It was the look of someone who had so much to say but found himself unable to speak.

He heard it.

What should I do?

[Liene] "Let’s go."

She laced her fingers through his hand.

[Black] "...Why didn't you tell me?"

There was no way for her to move him by force.

[Liene] "It wasn't something that strictly needed to be said. It’s not as if it’s a certainty."

[Black] "Nine out of nineteen. That is half."

He heard that, too.

There was no way to avoid him now.

[Liene] "That means there is a half chance that nothing will happen to you. And those are just numbers recorded in the royal records. There wasn't a single mention in there that the Kings of Gainers had actually fallen ill."

[Black] "Princess... Liene."

Whenever he called her name like that, she felt as though someone were tenderly caressing her heart.

[Black] "What... what am I supposed to do?"

[Liene] "Nothing. Why do you feel you must do something?"

[Black] "If I... if I were to...?"

[Liene] "Stop."

She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his to silence him.

I know what you're trying to say.

But they are unnecessary words.

Nothing will change between us because of a 'half-chance' we don't even know yet.

Black did not pull her close to return the kiss as he usually did. He remained frozen in place.

Don't be like this.

If you do, I won't be able to do anything either.

You and I... we will both wither away, unable to move, doing nothing but watching each other in despair.

We don't want that.

[Liene] "If you keep acting this way, I’m going to the Great Temple alone."

She released his hand and issued a stern warning.

[Liene] "I am dying of curiosity to hear what the Cardinal has to say. Why are you being so sluggish and indifferent to my feelings? If you continue like this, I will be very upset. I might even get so angry that I’ll want to sleep alone tonight. And since that will only make my mood even worse, I’ll probably want to eat breakfast alone tomorrow morning, too. Is that what you want?"

[Black] "......"

[Liene] "Fine, then. Have it your way."

She turned around sharply. Just as she began to climb the stairs leading out of the dungeon, Black chased after her. He snatched her back from the step above and pulled her into his embrace.

Normally, he would never have done something so reckless. Normally, his heart would never have beaten with such raw violence.

[Black] "What must I do?"

He asked the same question again.

[Black] "Tell me. I will do exactly as you say."

She understood the weight of those words. It was a plea to hold onto her, to cast aside his pride and everything else, just to keep her by his side.

[Liene] "It’s simple."

She didn't need to think long. It truly was a simple matter.

[Liene] "You only need to think of one thing: which of the two would make me happier? You being gone, or you being here?"

[Black] "...Which is it?"

[Liene] "You aren't asking because you don't know."

Held in his arms, Liene leaned her body even closer to his.

Just as she could never go back to the time before she knew his touch, she could not imagine a life without him.

[Liene] "Stay by my side and do your absolute best to make me happy. So that no matter what happens in the future, I will feel that nothing was better than the happiness you gave me."

[Black] "Will that suffice?"

[Liene] "I don't imagine it will be an easy task. If something like those nail clippers ever turns up again, I’m going to be furious with you, whether I’ve misunderstood or not. Because it will be your fault."

Though her idea of "being furious" was merely staring at the ceiling, she said it with conviction.

[Black] "Then I shall do exactly that."

She didn't think his answer would be easy, either. They were discussing how they would live—and how they would die.

[Liene] "Once you’ve made your decision, don't you dare change your mind ever again. I will never forgive that."

[Black] "...Understood."

[Liene] "Promise me. Swear it."

[Black] "I swear."

The two of them stood there for a long time, holding each other tightly. Even when they finally moved to leave, their motions were incredibly slow.

[Liene] "Ah, by the way."

SheLiene stopped halfway up the stairs.

[Black] "Speak."

[Liene] "I’d like Sir Weroz to come with us."

[Black] "To the Great Temple?"

[Liene] "Yes. The Cardinal is going to speak of things from the past. I want Sir Weroz to hear that story for himself."

[Black] "The story you want to hear might not be the one that is told."

[Liene] "That doesn't matter. It is enough for me that he knows exactly what happened twenty years ago. If he still can't change his mind after that, then there is nothing more I can do."

Black nodded.

[Black] "As you wish."

Weroz joined the party heading to the Great Temple. His face was pale from several days of fasting, but he refused any assistance and walked steadfastly on his own feet.

---

[Manau] "You have come. I heard you have once again saved this old body of mine."

Manau was gaunt, but his mind was clear. It was a relief; there seemed to be no lasting effects from the Kabino.

Fermos shrugged, suggesting it was all thanks to the antidote he had crafted.

[Manau] "Please forgive the lack of order in receiving a secular King. The Temple is currently experiencing much turmoil."

It would have been stranger if there were no turmoil. The Temple had grown in power by acting as the mouthpiece for the Six Great Houses. The previous Cardinal, who had served as a loyal dog to the Kleinfelters, was dead, and Manau—long thought to have died twenty years ago—had reappeared.

However, most of the high-ranking priests were allied with the Six Houses. The younger priests were at a loss, unsure which side to take. Amidst this, Manau had collapsed from poison, and the Kleinfelters had once again been identified as the culprits.

The five houses that had distanced themselves from the Kleinfelters were now wary of the Royal Family and kept their distance from the Temple as well.

According to the newly drafted Treaty of Risebury, the Temple was to be entirely independent, and the five houses were barred from holding any events there.

While they could still offer sacrifices to God, they could no longer offer them to a specific priest. Management of the Temple’s assets had been transferred to the Royal Secretary.

In the midst of such drastic change, it was only natural for defectors to appear. The titles of 'Temple' or 'Priest' were no longer associated with worldly success. More than half the priests had left the Temple to return to secular professions. Those who remained were still adrift.

But order would soon be restored. Now that the Temple consisted only of priests who truly desired a life of devotion to God, it was time for it to return to being the pure Voice of God.

[Liene] "The turmoil will cease, now that the Cardinal has awakened."

At her kind words, Manau bowed his head slightly in gratitude.

[Manau] "Then, what is it you desire from this old man?"

Manau calmly looked over her group. A person was bound to change after facing death twice, but he looked like a true Cardinal.

[Liene] "I want to hear what happened twenty years ago. About the secrets of the Gainers Royal Family and the key that the Kleinfelters wanted to steal."

[Manau] "So you have discovered that much..."

Manau’s voice trailed off into a sigh. Yet, he felt this, too, might be the will of God. Just as the end of the Gainers line and the drought in Nauk had been, perhaps it was God’s will to bring this chapter to an end.

[Manau] "The Gainers Royal Family did not steal the power of God."

Manau began to speak slowly.

---

They did not steal God's power. Most likely, God had granted it to them.

[Manau] "If that were not the case, it would make no sense—the ability to manipulate water, I mean."

The foundation that had led Nauk to become the most prosperous kingdom on earth was the water management techniques possessed solely by the Gainers Royal Family.

[Manau] "That is why the Gainers line held such immense power."

But such great power was, in the end, a double-edged sword.

[Manau] "Whether as a price for that power, the Kings of Gainers often died young. There were also cases where their minds were not sound even at a young age."

The expressions of those listening shifted in various ways. Liene gripped Black’s hand tightly, and he stared wordlessly at her hand clutching his.

Fermos frowned deeply, urging the next words with a look, while Weroz fixed a hard gaze on Liene.

[Manau] "It was called the Curse of the Gainers Royal Family."

After a King died, problems with water management always arose. The techniques, the very foundation of the Royal Family’s power, were a secret that was to be passed only from King to King.

Twenty years ago, a gap appeared in the transmission of that secret. The young prince was too frail, and the King—whose mind was beginning to show signs of the so-called 'curse'—was skeptical about passing the secret to him. No one knew how well a young child could keep a secret. Furthermore, the Prince had spent far too much time at the Temple for his recovery.

The Kleinfelters exploited that gap. Ternan believed that if he could manipulate the weak, young prince, he too could enjoy the divine power that only a God could wield.

[Manau] "Foolishly... I worried about what would happen after the death of a King who was still very much alive."

He had feared that Nauk would lose the glory it had enjoyed thanks to the Gainers in a single moment. In truth, he had only been worried about the prosperity granted to him. He realized only later that it had all been his own greed.

That worry became the excuse to help Ternan. Manau had cleared the path for Ternan to secretly visit the Temple and meet the ailing Prince.

The Prince was not easily swayed, and the King eventually discovered what the Kleinfelters had done at the Temple. He prepared for a bloodbath.

The King made plans to purge the Kleinfelter house. Had King Pembrovin been of sound mind, the name Kleinfelter would have vanished then.

Regrettably, the King was losing his sanity.

In the end, it was not a purge that succeeded, but a rebellion.

Having succeeded in his treason, Kleinfelter took control of the Temple. What he wanted was the Voice of God.

He intended to spread the word that because the Gainers line had stolen and used God’s power, God had grown angry and cast a curse—and the evidence of that curse was the King’s death.

God has reclaimed the stolen power. The waters of Nauk will continue to dry up.

A new King is needed to appease God’s wrath. The name of the new King shall be Kleinfelter.

But it was all a lie.

Manau realized too late that Kleinfelter had not staged the rebellion for the noble cause of saving Nauk.

When Manau fell silent, torture followed. Kleinfelter assumed that the reason for Manau’s change of heart was that King Pembrovin had handed him the key just before his death.

Just as Manau’s body was broken and he was barely drawing breath, a miracle occurred. Ternan collapsed from a stroke. With an ominous timing that was more than mere coincidence, his eldest son also died.

A King could not emerge from such a cursed house—Kleinfelter. Since they had already branded the deaths of the Gainers royals as a curse, the next King had to be someone untainted by such a legacy.

Greater chaos descended upon Nauk. The houses that had participated in the rebellion chose someone who could serve as King.

The primary reason the Arsak family came to wear the crown was the infighting between the other houses. They put forward the house with the least power, the one most easily manipulated, as the new Royal Family.

Perhaps they viewed the Arsak family merely as a vessel to hold the crown until a new King, bearing the Kleinfelter name, could take it.

[Liene] "So that was it..."

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