The gazes of the nobles of the Second Prince’s faction towards Esika were naturally harsh.

Besides the reason that they followed the Empress, more than half of them had suffered losses due to the fall of the western stronghold of Zuchen.

The Empress had already pointed to Esika as the culprit for that.

The face of the witch in the puppet show clearly resembled Esika.

“It was quite entertaining, though……”

Esika’s prim lips moved, producing a clear voice.

“There was a flaw.”

At Esika’s words, the end of Bolan’s eyebrow twitched.

Breighton, Gaven, and all the nobles were looking at Esika.

She approached the sacred play device with a grin.

On the sacred play stage, about the size of a fairly large window, were puppets of a demon and witch with their heads fallen off, and a prince with their heads strung on his sword.

“……”

As Esika approached, the puppeteer standing behind flinched.

But he dared not stop the Crown Princess.

Esika reached out her hand towards the prince puppet.

And she grabbed it with her hand and unceremoniously twisted off its head.

“……!”

Everyone was greatly surprised by Esika’s sudden action.

Especially the Empress, who widened her eyes and pointed her finger, shouting angrily.

“What is this outrageous act!”

But Esika turned to face the audience with a smile, holding the prince puppet with its head and body separated.

People felt chills down their spines at that eerie smile.

“How dare you harm Breighton’s puppet like this, are you cursing the prince!”

The Empress shouted at Esika in a loud voice.

To the nobles, the Empress’s anger seemed justified.

“Your Majesty the Empress……”

But Esika frowned and chuckled before opening her mouth.

“Are you saying this puppet is His Highness the Second Prince?”

“……!”

“Surely not. If this were His Highness the Second Prince, then this demon would be His Highness the Crown Prince, and this witch would be me, I suppose you’d believe.”

The Empress’s eyes wavered at the words tinged with laughter.

She intended it, but it’s not something she can say is true.

The reason Marshal asks Esika about the sacred play is not to insult the royal family, but to roundabout put Esika down.

“Your Majesty the Empress. I’m merely talking about the sacred play, so don’t misunderstand. Even if this head somewhat resembles His Highness the Second Prince.”

The Empress ground her teeth hidden behind her lips.

Esika continued.

“I’ve read about the prince and witch of the sacred play in Tameron’s scriptures. The priest Eril Fuse, whom Your Majesty the Empress assigned to me, is having me transcribe scriptures.”

The end of Breighton’s eyebrow trembled as he looked at the puppet resembling himself in Esika’s hand.

As Esika said, it’s just a puppet from the sacred play, but seeing its head fallen off makes him feel bad.

“But it doesn’t end there, does it? The prince is one of the prophets who came down to earth for Tameron’s salvation. The end of a prophet… what is it?”

Most of the prophets in the Tameron scriptures met martyrdom.

“A holy sacrifice. There’s nothing but death.”

It was the same for the prince in the story of the prince and witch.

He killed the demon and witch, but in return, he gained the demon’s curse and met his death.

Tameron promised the prince salvation in the afterlife.

“……!”

The Empress’s fist clenched as she belatedly realized what Esika was saying.

‘How dare you!’

Bolan and Marshal exchanged uneasy glances.

It was a moment of intense regret, thinking they should have chosen a different story.

“The conclusion of the prince and witch story lies in the prince’s sacrifice to save the world and Tameron’s love for him, but leaving out this part……”

Esika raised the corners of her mouth, looking at Bolan and Marshal.

“To end it so childishly, His Highness the Prince who received such an interesting gift as a sacred play for his birthday must be disappointed.”

As Esika suddenly turned the topic to the prince while holding the headless puppet, everyone looked at the prince.

The Second Prince Breighton, who was already in a bad mood because Esika had torn off the head of his puppet, seemed unwilling to tolerate this provocation.

“Disappointed? I’m more disappointed in my sister-in-law who tore off the head of such a handsome puppet. Damn it.”

The Empress’s eyebrows rose at the sight of Breighton swallowing the poison Esika was feeding him.

Breighton came forward stumbling and said.

“I don’t care about Tameron or prophets or any of that. No, if he killed the witch and demon, that’s enough, why does he have to die?! Where is such a thing?”

Breighton snatched the puppet Esika was holding.

And he crumpled the head and body, trying to fit them back together.

“Ah, I put it on backwards.”

When the head and body were fitted in a reversed way, Breighton took the head out again and put it on properly.

Heat was rising to the Empress’s forehead.

Where is such a thing, indeed – it’s content that could be known if one had read the Tameron scriptures even once.

Moreover, since the course on the state religion is a mandatory part of royal education, Breighton’s denial of the scripture’s content is tantamount to admitting he didn’t study properly.

“I like the ending Lady Palmania and Lady Alhemitz made. Kill them all, that’s a real man’s job!”

Breighton, having fitted the puppet correctly, put it back into the sacred play device.

And in its hand, he placed the sword with the heads of the witch and demon strung on it.

“……”

“……”

The nobles in the banquet hall began to murmur with sour expressions.

They had all been immersed in the content of the sacred play, moved by it.

But the Crown Princess had advised the two ladies to be faithful to the scriptures regarding the ending… well, up to here there was no problem.

They were startled because they were identifying with the prince puppet, but the prince in the scriptures met his death and was saved by Tameron.

One could say the Crown Princess completed the story by taking the puppet and making it meet its death.

But the prince reacts as if he doesn’t care about the scriptures at all, as if he’s not interested in the original content.

Breighton’s image, which had been aligned with the prince in the sacred play who slayed the demon and witch as Tameron’s prophet, began to crumble again.

‘He’s breaking it. His Highness the Prince doesn’t care about the Tameron scriptures at all,’

‘If he doesn’t know such well-known content, how dull must he be?’

Among the quiet murmurs, there were many words that would make the Empress uncomfortable.

Whether Breighton knew the Empress’s feelings or not, he was looking at his well-made puppet very proudly.

He was clearly thinking things like how the prince puppet would look cooler if more corpse puppets were strung on that sword.

The Empress trembled her fist hidden in her sleeve.

She never expected that Esika, witch Esika of all people, would cite the Tameron scriptures in criticizing the sacred play.

She tore off the head of the puppet resembling Breighton with her own hands, as if declaring war.

The reason she couldn’t say anything to Esika despite this was because her argument was justified.

And compared to her, Breighton… truly responded like an idiot.

When the other side criticized that a pearl necklace was hung on a pig’s neck, instead of attacking the other side for being rude, he responded by making a ‘oink oink’ sound.

‘I see, you……”

The Empress thought, looking at Esika.

‘It seems you haven’t completely bowed your head.’

It was a misunderstanding to think she had become docile after the death of the maid last time.

Esika was determined never to lose and was sharpening her own blade.

The gazes of the Empress and Esika met in the air, creating a murderous current.

**

After the sacred play ended, the music for the ball began to flow.

It was time to dance.

Rather than being interested in dancing, Esika was just sipping wine and appreciating the scenery of the ball.

No one in this place approached Esika.

Firstly, because they feared the Empress, and secondly, because they were wary of Esika who unhesitatingly pulled off the prince puppet’s head.

“……”

Of course, even in this situation, there were people who glanced at her beautiful appearance.

Like Gaven Pellophe who couldn’t come to his senses even after having a hole in his hand.

Even now, thinking about how he clung to her stickily in the alley made her frown.

Gaven seemed to be pondering something deeply, then approached her as if he had made up his mind.

“Your Highness the Crown Princess.”

Esika shifted her gaze to Gaven with a grumpy look.

Not just anyone can go around making passes, though his face is decent enough to be considered handsome.

“What is it, Lord Pellophe?”

As she looked at him with cold eyes, Gaven’s shoulders flinched.

Her expression was as fine as a porcelain doll, but her blue eyes were intimidating just to meet.

It was a completely different feeling from when he saw her before the Klaus ducal family fell.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask for a dance.”

Gaven hoped to hear from Esika about the one who dared to attack him that day.

In the meantime, it would be nice to wrap his arm around her waist once.

A low voice that only Esika could hear came from his lips.

“The underworld is certainly not a place for Your Highness the Crown Princess to frequent. So I don’t want to talk about that incident with anyone else. Except Your Highness the Crown Princess.”

Is this a threat?

His white gloves were clean unlike his dirty private life, but Esika had no intention of taking them at all.

And she had an amusing thought that could drive him mad.