Last Chance [Extra #2]

Part 2

"Mother!" Edgar suddenly barged into Elena's room, his face pale as a sheet as though he saw a ghost. "Father, you're here as well... There's an issue," he panted heavily.

"What is it? Why are you causing such a ruckus?" The Count scowled in distaste, glancing furtively at his still sleeping daughter. He half-expected her to wake up because of her brother's loud voice, but she didn't.

"The Imperial knights are here," Edgar frowned worriedly, then added, "along with Cardinal Kaplan."

"Why is the Cardinal here?" the Countess gasped in fear, her hold on Elena's hand tightening slightly. She had an idea as to why someone as esteemed as the Cardinal would come to see the fallen noble family whose daughter was ordered to be executed.

"I don't know. I only saw his carriage approach," Edgar ran his hand through his luscious blonde hair nervously, a habit he picked up from his father over the last year. The whole family was a nervous wreck because of the situation with Elena, but that didn't discourage them from holding onto the hope that they would once again be the happy family they used to be.

The three of them knew better than to ignore someone like Cardinal Kaplan, who was known for his orthodox beliefs when it came to magic, so they went out to see what he came for.

The Cardinal stood in front of the Count's house with a cold expression, disgusted by the fact that the Heroux family that used to be one of the most avid believers of god would fall so low as to go against the Temple's orders. They should have just given up their daughter to the Temple and continued their peaceful lives. Instead, they lost everything they had just to protect one woman. How reckless of them.

"How disgraceful..." he sighed, earning curious looks from the knights surrounding him. They knew of the Heroux family's situation, there's no one in the empire who didn't, but to hear someone like the Cardinal castigate a noble family so openly was still a little surprising. The priest weren't known to be scornful or cruel. The Cardinal was the exception to that rule, though.

He was someone who didn't deserve to be called a priest. There was nothing holy about him.

His deep belief was nothing but obsession. The knights knew it, although their position didn't allow them to say anything about it. Had the relationship between the Imperial family and the Temple been worse, they wouldn't have to act like Cardinal's personal guards. Alas, that was not the case. The Cardinal was just as much their superior as the members of the Imperial family.

Which was why they had no choice but to follow the Cardinal's orders.

"We greet His Holiness," the Count's family bowed their heads respectfully despite having no intention of doing so. The man before them wanted to kill Elena, he deserved no respect from them.

"I'm pretty sure you know why I'm here," the Cardinal sneered, not hiding his displeasure.

The Count couldn't help but falter when he understood the reason for the man's visit. He was there for his daughter. "I would like to see the lady," Cardinal added with a scowl. He wanted to confirm that the young lady Heroux was indeed a witch. He couldn't do that before as he was busy purifying a far away region struck by a sudden epidemic. He actually blamed lady Heroux for that. He was sure it was because of her that the empire was in such state lately.

There was one tragedy after another, and it was almost as if someone put a curse on the whole empire. And the Cardinal suspected that it could be young lady Heroux who did that.

He heard that High Priest Sol felt some suspicious power from the noble lady, however he didn't know what that power was. He wanted to feel it himself to decide whether it was truly dark magic or not.