The Hero Becomes the Duke’s Eldest Son

Chapter 158

The once tense and hostile situation was swiftly diffused with the appearance of a third party, and some time had passed.

“Come now, let’s all sit down.”

“…….”

“…….”

An enigmatic individual who called themselves ‘Hermit.’

It was unclear whether the person was a man or a woman, but the glimpse of the neck revealed through the robe suggested a woman.

Princess Liliana, who used the alias ‘Kellid,’ Aden Remes, and Hermit brought out a new table and chairs, sitting across from each other.

Aden kept glancing at Hermit cautiously…

“Haha. What sharp eyes you have there. There’s no need to be so wary.”

“……Not really.”

When Aden nonchalantly averted his gaze, Hermit chuckled as if amused.

Though her tone was like that of an old person, her voice was that of a young woman.

‘It doesn’t seem like the mask she’s wearing has a voice modulation function… I really can’t figure her out.’

She seemed to both exist and not exist at the same time.

She appeared endlessly weak, yet her casual laughter gave the impression that she could easily take his life at any moment, without it seeming strange at all.

There was only one thing he was certain of.

‘She’s not someone I can defeat.’

Recognizing whether or not one could win against an opponent was a fundamental skill for a mercenary.

Though it stung his pride a bit, he wasn’t confident that he could win against her.

Since she didn’t seem to have any hostile intentions towards him, Aden decided to observe for now.

With a gentle, amused voice, she spoke.

“Let me introduce myself again. I go by many names, but for now, you can call me Hermit. By some twist of fate, I’ve taken on the role of this girl’s mentor and am co-managing ‘Nameless’ with her.”

Hermit was a leader within the thieves’ guild, Nameless.

That was the position she held here.

A mentor to a princess who had attained the rank of Saint Master.

Hearing this, Aden could somewhat understand how she had managed to approach him unnoticed.

“A mentor, huh. So, are you also a paladin?”

“No, I’m not. I don’t believe in any particular god. But even without faith, I can still offer advice and correct her stance.”

“Hah, so you say you made a Master with just a few words of advice? That’s quite impressive.”

“Her talent was exceptional, that’s all. I merely assisted from the side.”

“Ah, no, Master Hermit. If it weren’t for you, I would’ve…”

“Yes, yes, I know, child. I was just being modest. Haha!”

Hermit chuckled again, and Princess Liliana, who had taken off her mask, looked a bit embarrassed before turning her gaze to Aden.

She then calmly introduced herself, as if the previous excitement had been a lie.

“Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Liliana Ternia. I am the First Princess of the Holy Kingdom of Ternia, and as you can see, I am also the leader of the thieves’ guild ‘Nameless.'”

“Aden Remes. Well, I believe you already know the rest… By the way, how is your dislocated arm?”

“Oh, yes. Thanks to my master, it’s fine now.”

“That’s a relief.”

“I’m the one who should be grateful it ended with just that. I apologize for the trouble, Lord Remes.”

Her attitude was worlds apart from when she had regarded Aden as a thoroughly evil man.

‘Unexpected.’

He had imagined her to be arrogant and overbearing, but she had an unexpectedly decent personality.

“I’ll accept your apology, but you’re quite trusting. Didn’t you say I looked like I was filled with dark shadows?”

“…Yes, that’s true. To be honest, you still look that way.”

Through the princess’s ‘Holy Eyes,’ Aden indeed appeared to harbor an absurdly deep darkness.

Looking beyond Aden’s dark, pitch-black eyes, Liliana once again felt an eerie sense of dread but controlled her trembling with reason.

“But since Master Hermit vouched for you, saying you could be trusted, I won’t pry into the darkness. I’m sure you have your own deep story.”

“A story, huh… Well, yes, that’s true.”

There was indeed a dramatic story—how he had killed the Demon Lord in his past life, was cursed by a talkative demon, and then reincarnated.

From her words, Aden could sense that she had absolute trust in this woman called Hermit.

As if grateful, she added a bit hesitantly,

“Besides, you could have easily taken the lives of my subordinates, but you didn’t… That’s why I have no choice but to trust you.”

The five assassins who had attacked Aden.

Since he had avoided their vital points, all five were barely alive.

Now, thanks to the princess’s holy power, they were all in the process of recovery.

If someone of Aden’s caliber had wanted to, he could have easily killed them all, yet he didn’t. This was proof that he wasn’t an enemy.

‘Princess Liliana…’

As Aden looked at her, he recalled information from his past life.

There wasn’t much known about her back then.

‘All I know is that she was the troublesome daughter of the Holy Kingdom, and that she would eventually be confined.’

He had heard that she was confined by the Holy King himself to a remote mansion for causing a commotion at a shrine of the Holy Church.

‘There was some gossip about her at the time, but it quickly died down when no further news came out. But judging by the current situation, there seems to be a secret here that differs from what was publicly known.’

Aden had many questions he wanted to ask the two of them, but he decided to start with the one that intrigued him the most.

“So should I address you as Princess Liliana? Or… Kellid?”

She picked up her white mask and spoke firmly.

“Kellid is my name when I’m wearing this mask. But calling me by my full name might be cumbersome, so just call me Lilith.”

“Then, Princess Lilith, can you tell me? Why is the daughter of the Holy King, blessed by the God of Law, acting as the leader of a guild in the back alleys?”

Aden glanced at Hermit before continuing.

“I don’t know why your master called me a lifeline, but that means you need my help.”

In other words, it was a ‘request for assistance.’

He spoke firmly.

“I don’t take on jobs without knowing the full story. I reject transactions too. So if you want to make a deal, I demand a full explanation. The rewards I can expect, the reasons for creating ‘Nameless,’ the true state of the Holy Kingdom, and what you want from me—everything.”

“…….”

“Given that I was almost killed by assassins, I think it’s fair to demand this much, don’t you?”

As Aden shrugged and playfully jabbed at her, Hermit nodded.

“You’re right. Lilith, how about you tell him everything?”

At her master’s words, Liliana hesitated for a moment before nodding.

“…Alright. I will explain everything, Lord Remes. But could I ask you to promise that you won’t reveal what I’m about to tell you to anyone else?”

“I swear on the name of Ternia, the God of Law and Justice.”

Her eyes widened at his words.

Swearing on a god’s name meant that if he broke the promise, he would be branded as an untrustworthy person, subject to humiliation.

Yet, Aden swore without a trace of hesitation or reservation.

Her gaze became peculiar, but she nodded.

“Thank you. I also swear on the name of Ternia, the God of Law and Justice, that I will speak only the truth to you, Lord Remes.”

With this, there was no longer any reason for mutual suspicion.

Though for Aden, who possessed the power of *Insight*, it was an irrelevant matter.

“Lord Remes, what do you think of this country, the Holy Kingdom?”

“To be frank, I’d say it’s a country of crooks disguised as priests. A place that’s thoroughly rotten.”

A harsh evaluation, difficult to utter in front of someone who would one day rule the Holy Kingdom.

Yet, upon hearing this, Princess Liliana merely smiled bitterly.

“Yes, you are right. You see it accurately. This kingdom has festered and rotted completely.”

The future Holy King and the master of Nameless began to unburden the heavy truths she had been holding back.

What she spoke of were the shameful realities and the true state of the Holy Kingdom, things too humiliating to share with anyone else.

But she bore that shame.

“The Holy Kingdom is a city and a country steeped in greed. What was once known as the ‘City of God’ is now called the ‘City of Vice.’ The true rulers of this city are no longer the gods, but money and pleasure.”

Faith in the gods had become nothing more than a means to make money.

Sermons, once meant to spread the gospel, had turned into sophistry meant to deceive the citizens, and the interpretation of doctrine and law, once meant to better understand the will of the gods, had become discussions on how best to evade divine judgment and line their own pockets.

To them, faith and holy power had become mere symbols of power and wealth.

“Priests who are no longer priestly, paladins who are no longer knightly, and a High Priest who is no longer worthy of his title. But their atrocities don’t stop there—they’ve committed a sin against the very order of heaven.”

“They violated the order of heaven? What do you mean by that?”

“…

They turned my father, His Majesty the Holy King, into a ‘puppet.'”

“…What does that mean?”

“Exactly what it sounds like.”

She bit her lower lip, her body trembling slightly with anger.

“They used vile sorcery to control my father’s mind, imprisoning him in the temple.”

“…!”

She revealed a shocking truth.

“They turned my father into a puppet that follows their every command, to ensure that nothing stands in the way of their schemes. Yes, the cardinals and bishops have turned my father into a marionette! He only appears briefly at official events, and the rest of the time, he’s kept in the temple, drained of his holy power every day!”

Liliana tried to control her emotions, but she couldn’t stop her voice from rising or her eyes from reddening.

A coup by the cardinals and bishops.

Aden, learning of this, fell silent for a moment.

No matter how corrupt the Holy Kingdom was, this was beyond the pale—no, it was something that should have been impossible.

“How is that even possible? The priests of the Holy Church have all sworn oaths before the law, haven’t they?”

The Holy Saint of the God of Law and Justice was the ruler of Ternia.

The priests of the Holy Church all swore an oath, putting their holy power on the line, to abide by the law.

‘Obey the agents of the God of Law and Justice.’

‘Do not covet your king’s throne. Do not take it.’

‘Harbor no ill will towards your king and do not harm them, but serve them faithfully.’

These were part of the oaths they swore, making it impossible for them to stage such a coup.

In response to Aden’s question, she pulled something out from her bosom and placed it on the table.

It was a very small purple crystal shard.

“This is an item called the ‘Atonement Stone.’”

Atonement—a word that means to atone for sins.

Just from that, Aden felt like he had an inkling of what it was.

“If you grind this Atonement Stone and ingest it, you can escape divine punishment from the God of Law and Justice. Even if you break the law, you won’t lose your holy power.”

“…!”

Aden’s eyes widened slightly.

To deceive the gods and commit sins.

It was something hard to believe.

But she had sworn on the name of the god that she would speak only the truth.

So this story about the Atonement Stone must also be true.

“…So now I understand how they were able to commit such heinous acts. But where did they get this stone?”

“It’s being secretly distributed to the high-ranking priests of the Holy Church at a gambling house. Since the effects aren’t permanent, they have to keep buying more at a high price.”

“Gambling house… Now that you mention it, earlier you asked if I was sent by the owner of the gambling house.”

“Yes. This Atonement Stone is being distributed by that gambling house owner.”

The more sins they committed, and the more laws they broke, the more Atonement Stones they needed to avoid divine punishment.

At first, a single shard was enough, but soon they needed two, then three, then five, and eventually, they had to consume handfuls of them.

They became addicted to committing evil deeds and, simultaneously, addicted to the Atonement Stones.

The priests were utterly dependent on the Atonement Stones sold by the gambling house owner, and to obtain more, they had to spend large amounts of money.

“They started by embezzling donations to buy more Atonement Stones. But when that wasn’t enough, they began secretly capturing citizens and selling them to the gambling house. Nearly a hundred people are captured and sold every month, and the number keeps growing.”

It was truly a horrifying story.

They turned their own king into a puppet, sold their own citizens like livestock, and stuffed their pockets.

And as their sins accumulated, so did their need for more Atonement Stones.

They committed crimes to obtain the Atonement Stones, and needed more stones to cover up those crimes.

It was a vicious cycle of evil.

This was the reality of the corrupt Holy Church.

In the end, the Holy Kingdom had become entirely controlled by the gambling house owner.

Gritting her teeth, Liliana stared at the small Atonement Stone in front of her with hatred.

“For the sake of this small stone, they sold off the people they were supposed to protect, abandoned their faith, and destroyed my father. They ruined this country. All for the sake of a pathetic little stone…”

Tears welled up in her holy silver-gray eyes.

She looked directly at Aden.

The emotion in her eyes was one that was all too familiar to him.

“I will punish them all. Those who turned my father into that, those who capture the people, and that gambling house—I will make them all pay.”

It was a thirst for revenge.