Chapter 5
I Trust You
1
In a place where just a few moments ago the ruined roof of the temple could be seen from between buildings, against the background of the night sky, a soaring ice tower sparkled like a giant icicle.
- Emilia-tan... - whispered Subaru, guessing that his beloved had frozen the entire building. He shuddered at the thought of what must have happened inside.
Sam explained to her that in order to neutralize Regulus' power, his kingdom had to be destroyed, which meant freeing his imprisoned wives. He hoped the girls would know how to do that. And if not... then there would only be one option left.
For a while, the boy was afraid that Emilia had missed her destination for some reason. Only the sight of the ice tower helped him calm down a bit.
So she made a choice...
- Hey... Whoa, whoa, whoa! You guys... didn't... no!
Shocked, Regulus stared at the ice towering over the rooftops. Even he, not particularly bright, could guess what it meant. In despair, he grabbed his head.
- So this was your plan?! This is inhuman! How can you just take away someone I love? How many more... how many more atrocities are you planning for me?!
He stomped on the ground like a child, and each stomp was followed by a long, wide crack in the sidewalk surface. In anger, he banged his head against the wall, which immediately collapsed. This only completed the picture of destruction.
- Are you satisfied! - The archbishop threw Subaru a hateful look. - Are you happy too0o! What kind of man rejoices at the thought that he killed dozens of innocent girls just to catch m....?!
Regulus did not finish his painful tirade. From across the street, ice spears spun on their axis and slammed into his slender body, jerking him around like a rag doll. The icicles completed the matter and pushed him directly into the canal, where the Archbishop froze on the surface of the water, turning into an ice figure standing in a dramatic pose.
- The girls are sending in the divorce papers! - Emilia announced.
She stepped onto the battlefield. The cobblestones she stepped on were covered in a thin layer of ice. Her silver hair glinted in the moonlight, and her violet eyes burned with anger and confidence.
Subaru immediately ran up to her.
- Emilia-tan!
- Subaru, you're hurt!
- It's nothing! Lots of blood from a little scratch. What about the girls?!
- They would have most gladly torn him apart on the spot, but... - Her gaze traveled to the temple, then she lowered her head.
She didn't have to finish her sentence. Subaru understood that she had made a very difficult choice. Fortunately, she was not alone.
- I'm sorry that such a terrible task has fallen on you. Now Lion’s Heart won't be a problem. It should be downhill from here.
- I don't know...
- What do you mean?
She merely furrowed her brows. Puzzled, Subaru followed her gaze, looking at the ice figure in the canal. A crack appeared on it: one, then two, and finally a whole mesh that widened all the way to the base of the figure and beyond, into the ice covering the destroyed channel. From the crust, first an arm broke free, followed by the entire Archbishop, dripping with water and yet still dry.
- What ridiculous arrogance! Hopeless vulgarity! Astonishing impotence! Incredible insolence!
The white outfit was impeccably clean, the hair in perfect order, the pale face without a trace of sweat or dirt. Emilia's attack had not left even a single abrasion on Regulus' skin. He looked as if from another world, as if from a nightmare.
- Then how? How will you answer for it? So much effort, so much shoe, and here we are... one big failure. You outdid yourselves. And the victims? How do you make it up to them?
Subaru looked at him stupefied.
All those attacks didn't do anything to him! So the Lion’s Heart still works? Shit... Our situation hasn't improved at all! Maybe I actually thought it through wrong and it was all in vain!
- No way! After all, you yourself spouted off how your authority works! And you're not one to bluff! You don't have enough brains, you don't have enough balls! - he shouted frankly, not even thinking that he might provoke Regulus.
The archbishop managed to return to his full mocking and nonchalant pose.
- Do you think I'm so nice as to pretend I didn't hear that? - He replied, combing through his hair. - How can you do that? That's just plain stupid. It is not even a question of empathy, but of upbringing and knowledge! Above all, knowledge! You should know that no one has the right to look down on others! Or maybe this fallen woman doesn't know how to count? Scary, what kind of mindless murderer one has to be to not even know how many innocent girls have been killed....
- Shut up! How can you...
- Don't change the subject! This has nothing to do with me. She did something unforgivable! There is no escaping the sins committed. Don't look away. You wish we wouldn't talk about it, don't you? Would you rather accuse me of this or that? It's obvious you have no conscience. Aren't you ashamed?
Regulus did not doubt for a moment the rightness of his words. He was firmly convinced that he had a right to feel anger. Subaru, on the other hand, was deeply impressed by how much hypocrisy Greed could pack into a single sentence. Every conversation he had with this weirdo was mentally exhausting for him. He even began to wonder if a sane person could ever get along with the Archbishop of Sin. However, one thing he was sure of - Regulus was not lying.
He doesn't know how to lie. To be a good con man, you have to empathize with the other person. Without this there is no deception, and this guy is completely devoid of empathy. He lives in his own world, in his own logic. To understand what he's about to do, you have to immerse yourself in his bizarre environment. All right, but if he wasn't lying, if Lion’s Heart works the way he said he did, then why is he still alive? !
- Shit... I think I got it wrong...
Regulus. A man who likes vows for the sake of drinking, speaks in mere generalities, can't really fight, and acts like evil incarnate. Archbishop Sin. Don't lie that the Lion’s Heart works in conjunction with, what I called, the "little kingdom", and key to this action are the wives.
- Fifty-three... - whispered Emilia suddenly, interrupting Subaru's feverish musings.
She's kind of quiet... Not surprising, actually. What happened at the temple must have been very difficult. She didn't respond to Regulus' talk. I thought she'd finally snap out of it, but...
To the Archbishop, her words apparently got on his nerves.
- What? - He muttered. - What did you say? What did you say? I'm sorry, but I don't think it sounds like a plea for forgiveness.
- Fifty-three girls. That's how many you forced into marriage. I certainly didn't count wrongly. I'm never wrong about such things," Emilia explained quietly.
- Phiiii. So? So what? Do you want to boast that you know how to count? Bravo, congratulations," he replied mockingly.
Subaru, the master of playing on his nose, was impressed, but Emilia did not react with anger.
- Relax, I understand everything now," she turned to her knight.
- Do you understand? - he repeated uncertainly.
- I'm mad at him. I will not let him get away with this.
The usually calm half elf now looked as if her face had been encased in ice. He had never seen her so angry before. A cold fire burned in her eyes.
- Regulus' heart is here. In me," she said, placing a hand on her chest.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login