The villainess will survive!

Part 65: Decision

After that, I did not return to the tea party. 

I had a hunch that they understood that for whatever reason I would not come back. 

Instead, I decided to return to my room, which I hadn't been in since the house arrest. 

While the tea party did remove my worries for that time being, I still had to scrunch my head over a few things.

The first thing was Onii-sama and my decision to remove his guilt. 

He should at least have the freedom to live peacefully and happily....

I clenched my fists as my legs shook uncontrollably at what his expression would be when he learned that I was just someone who possessed his sister. 

I had no time or energy before to think of how disgusted he'd be with me, maybe even try to hire some exorcists. 

'It was for his own good, it was for his own happiness, it was so that he wouldn't be weighed down by me', I told myself. 

It was terribly wrong to be selfish in times like this, so I immediately stopped thinking about this issue and decided to lead my mind somewhere else instead. 

But what was the perfect time to tell him?

I decided that no matter what happened afterwards that I would spill the secrets to him after the trial. 

It didn't matter whether I failed the trial or not, the date was already mentally set down. 

I was resolute in this, and I refused to fail for the second time and miss this chance. 

I could also live without regret after this, I told myself. 

Telling him would give benefits to both of us. 

Deep inside me I knew that wasn't true, but I refused to openly think about it. 

I decided to revise over the trial that would decide the fate of the temple and Ivy. 

It was actually quite straightforward, no strings pulling in the back to manipulate anything.

We would present to the world the heavy evidence of them poisoning innocent citizens, and that alone would make this country reconsider the 'holy faction'. 

But their reason for doing it, it must have been because their power was reclining. 

If suddenly a hospital couldn't heal patients, wasn't it just a perfect coincidence that the Temple came right in that time?

Hospitals was an indirect branch of the government's powers, and the Temple also did heal people. 

Over the past decade, people have been more and more relying on the government, which could also be called the noble faction. 

The Temple was probably losing worshippers slowly over the decade, so they came up with this plan. 

Like a hero, secretly causing a problem but fixing it right away, would boost up their popularity.

Although natural healers in this decade were extremely rare, it's not like there weren't 'artificial' ways to heal faster. 

The Temple was a practitioner of such through different means, even if it could not be compared to Ivy or Nurse Molly's power. 

Having Ivy on their side was indeed a smart move, because healing was known as something that went alongside with the term of 'holiness'. 

With a saint that represented them and was bound to be known as blessed by God, more people would start believing in the Temple. 

Which would increase their power within the country, the noble faction and holy faction truly could not coexist in true peace. 

They were like water and oil; unable to mix together because they were the exact opposite of each other. 

With different faiths and ways, but in the end shared a similar goal in this country. 

The political side of the otome game had not been deeply explored, and it was known that Ivy was some sort of mend between the two parties.

But growing up as the daughter of a high-standing noble, I obviously willingly or not had to learn about society. 

Nobles were rotten with greed for money and power, that fact was crystal clear once you grew up beside them.

I truly thought that the Temple was somewhat better because of their faith in God and the righteousness behind that figure, but that turned out to be not true. 

Obviously there were exceptions for both sides when it came to the term "evil" itself, but those blinded by greed were more common. 

The Temple must have been sick of the nobles and their continuously increasing power and oppression, but they couldn't do anything against the King nor the faction underneath. 

Truth is, the nobles hadn't done any less dirty things if not more. 

But I had to remind myself that the Temple would be the foundation that pushed Ivy to the top, and once she got there, who knew if I could still keep this head of mine as easily. 

Ah, but, regarding the issue of denoting the Temple, my mind drifted to Albert. 

Albert's goal was to obviously raise Ivy into a higher position so the couple would be accepted more. 

If the Temple was beaten back down, even if they took Ivy in, with their reputation, it would do more harm to Ivy than support. 

Right now Ivy already had her position boosted by the sudden transformation of a baron's daughter to an earl's, but the Temple would undeniably give her the last push.

So my question was: how would Albert respond to the trial?

Even with the absolute authority of a crown prince, he couldn't be too careless and barge into the trial. 

The best he could do was bribe a bit here and there, and perhaps lessen the punishment on the Temple. 

If the evidence turned out to be true, there was no stopping the rumours around the country no matter how hard they tried. 

And if the crown prince was caught trying to ease the fall of the temple, his reputation would break. 

But knowing Albert, he would definitely twist the words to appear as a wise and forgiving crown prince. 

I knew that Albert wasn't like my brother, who was influenced by justice. 

Albert was the type that would go full out for something he wanted, if he had something he desired at all. 

One of his most famous lines in the otome game would be, "Ivy, I have never desired anything as much before I met you."

The thought of it made me want to cringe at the sappiness, but Albert was definitely not a normal person when it came to an obsession. 

That's right, obsession. 

Albert loved Ivy, but anybody reasonable could see the big picture and declare it as an obsession. 

He protected her from the shadows and destroyed anybody who wished her harm. 

His stereotype was obviously very popular, but it made me scared for my life now that he became a real-life figure. 

I gritted my teeth and lay down in bed to ease some stress for the upcoming trial. 

I really couldn't predict what his next move was, but he would always be a thorn in my side.