As Liv stood silently without saying anything, Hildegard glanced at her with anxious eyes and asked:
"Sister, shall we continue?"
"...Yes, we must continue."
At Hildegard's urging, Liv began to move her feet towards the imperial palace again. Because she pretended to have a calm face, Hildegard looked a bit relieved after confirming it. Yes, what's important now is driving out August. The conversation with Emmett comes after that.
Liv tried hard to compose herself. However, distrust towards Emmett was sprouting in Liv's heart.
* * *
Smoke rose from everywhere, and crumbling ashes were stepped on wherever feet landed.
"Aaaagh!"
The front of the imperial palace was truly a living hell. The imperial soldiers who mechanically followed the Emperor's orders clashed with Lartman's soldiers who had the strongest desire above all.
Although they could easily push to the capital on the defensive, the imperial palace was a challenge. The imperial soldiers who sensed defeat had deserted early, but because there were so many existing soldiers, quite a few still remained. They were those who mindlessly followed their superiors' orders, so they continued fighting even in the unfavorable situation for the imperial family.
Boiling water and huge rocks fell on the heads of Lartman's soldiers trying to capture the gates of the imperial palace, and soldiers screamed with reddened skin underneath or lost their lives helplessly crushed by rocks. Of course, they also employed various tools to try to climb up the imperial palace or break through the gates, but it wasn't easy because the resistance was so fierce. Also, arrows and spears rained down from the castle walls. Because of that, even Emmett couldn't easily approach near the imperial palace.
Seeing this sight, Emmett fell into anguish. If they start to hold out like this, they will eventually win. Many soldiers would be sacrificed, but the gates would open when food and weapons run out. But...
"If we continue like this, we'll lose too many soldiers."
Emmett didn't want to drive his soldiers to death in that way. In the end, he sent a retreat signal to the soldiers. Biting his lip hard, Emmett gave the order to assess the number of casualties.
"Wow, so this is war. It's really different from books."
Maya Arendt, with her hair tied tightly in one, approached Emmett's side and spoke nonchalantly. Although she would never have been in battle before, she had stubbornly insisted on coming to this place. Although she wasn't stopped because she was also a member of the rebel army, Emmett frowned at the Marquis's attitude that didn't match the situation.
"Do you have any measures to overcome the situation?"
"Well, tactics aren't really my specialty..."
"What, what are you talking about?"
Hayden approached them casually as they were conversing.
"Oh, Lord Schulze!"
Maya Arendt showed quite a favorable attitude towards Hayden. To Emmett, it seemed like simple curiosity. Maya Arendt was a woman who liked new things more than anyone else.
"Damn, I really thought I was going to die."
As he said that, Hayden's hands were streaming with blood and pus, with all the skin peeled off. He frowned as he shook his hands vigorously to overcome the pain.
"...Why on earth did you go so close to the castle walls?"
"Hey, I couldn't just sit back while the soldiers were there, could I?"
Emmett sighed at Hayden's attitude, trying to act lightly in a serious situation. In fact, it wasn't Emmett's business what happened to him, but he knew at least that Liv would be sad if he died.
"How are the soldiers doing?"
"Well, it'd be good for them to rest a bit. They're all half-unconscious now."
It was natural for the soldiers to be tired, having to fight the enemy while wearing heavy armor and people dying around them. After hearing about the exhausted and collapsed soldiers, Emmett finally made a decision.
"This won't do. We'll have to use the secret passage of the imperial palace."
"Secret passage?"
Maya's eyes widened at those words.
"How do you know about that, Duke?"
"I heard something from Lord Walter Hamelsvoort. Lord Schulze here also knows a little."
"Lord Schulze I can understand, but how does Lord Hamelsvoort know?"
That was because he had experienced divine punishment and had been Emperor once, but Emmett didn't bother to mention that fact.
"But why haven't you used it until now?"
"Well, it's a bit tricky to utilize."
Emmett answered in a troubled voice.
"Due to the nature of the narrow secret passage, only a small number of people can go in a crawling position, and if they're attacked in a situation where it's difficult to move, they all die just like that. I thought a frontal breakthrough was better because it's something that depends on luck, but now it seems like it's time to leave it to luck."
"They won't think we know about the secret passage from this side. Now, when all the soldiers in the imperial palace are focused on defending the castle walls, it's right to use the secret passage."
The Marquis of Arendt's following words helped Emmett make an even firmer decision.
"And above all, there's a high possibility that August doesn't know about that secret passage. He didn't succeed to the throne in a normal way."
He certainly won't be prepared for that passage at all.
"I'll send some knights from Lartman territory there."
Send trustworthy knights to infiltrate the imperial palace and open the gates. If intruders appear inside now when all the soldiers are out fighting, the imperial palace will soon collapse.
At that moment, Hayden grinned and raised his hand.
"I'd be perfect for this operation, wouldn't I?"
"...What?"
"Let me lead the knights through that secret passage."
Hayden's brown eyes shone brightly under his shaggy red hair as he said that. Emmett tried to stop him, but soon closed his mouth at his following words.
"That's a secret passage allowed to Schulze, so I should go in."
* * *
Even while the battle continued in the imperial palace, the capital was in a heated atmosphere.
"Wow, Lady Gracia!"
"Wow!"
Every time Liv walked down the street, people cheered as if welcoming a warrior returning after slaying a dragon. However, Liv herself, receiving the cheers of the crowd, was in a gloomy mood. Hildegard turned her head to glance at Liv's profile and then closed her mouth. Liv seemed lost in deep thought.
'What's the problem?'
Indeed, Liv was a very incomprehensible person. Well, even though she had changed a lot from before, her sister's way of thinking was different from ordinary humans to begin with.
'It's probably about Duke Lartman.'
The only thing that could touch Liv's emotions was about Duke Lartman. The words Walter had told her earlier must have been quite shocking. Still, Viscount Wolfe was someone who served Liv as his master. Because Liv was depressed, Walter and Hildegard walking beside her naturally lost energy too.
'It's gloomy...'
Thinking that, Hildegard turned her head and discovered a familiar place, then tightly closed her eyes.
"Ah."
The slums where Hildegard had lived. That alley was spread out in front of her.
Somehow it felt strange. Hildegard herself couldn't explain that emotion, but somehow she wanted to get away from this slum quickly.
'Why? I used to come here often even after entering the Count's family.'
Is she ashamed of her place because she's now in a fallen state without status? But Hildegard was grateful even for her current position. She thought she had no pride left since she had already experienced the worst in the slums...
Suddenly, Hildegard closed her eyes tightly as she realized the source of the emotion she was feeling.
This was an inferiority complex. Hildegard was now feeling an inferiority complex towards Liv.
It's not that she never felt any jealousy towards Liv before. She thought the position of Saintess was great, but wasn't there actually a separate person who was the real 'Child of God'? She had only been used to take on Liv's troublesome duties. Before, she had cared for and looked after Liv, but now their relationship had changed to Hildegard serving Liv.
But still, Hildegard was okay with it. Because the love of the gods that Liv served seemed so amazing, Hildegard rather thought Liv was great and admirable.
Only what she envied was...
'She's of a different birth than me.'
Although she had felt she was extraordinary from before, Liv was actually a descendant of the imperial family. On the other hand, Hildegard was an orphan from an insignificant slum.
Seeing the slum where she was born and raised reminded Hildegard even more of her circumstances.
As if someone was whispering to Hildegard that Liv, whom she had considered someone to be cared for in the past, was actually a great being fundamentally different from her, she lowered her head.
Ah, yes, what did I expect? There's no one of lower status than herself in this noble society. What's the use of becoming a Saintess? The label of being from the slums doesn't come off.
Yes, let's recognize my place. I almost lived mistaking myself for some great being. Looking at the slum in front of her, let's deeply engrave her birth. Hildegard thought that and smiled gloomily.