ITIF Chapter 117

The Real and the Fake (1)

“What on earth is going on?”

The Empress rose from her seat and sternly reprimanded the knights who had burst into the Grand Temple.

Joshua also cast a sharp glare at the knights. However, the knights pushed into the Grand Temple without hesitation.

And the person leading them at the front was a face very familiar to both the Empress and Joshua.

“Knight Commander, what do you think you’re doing?”

Joshua glared at the Knight Commander and growled as if chewing his words.

His voice was clearly filled with anger. However, the knights paid no mind and stormed into the Grand Temple.

And their numbers were far from few.

“Count Court Anwarz, what’s going on? Why are the Emperor’s knights trying to apprehend my mother and me!”

Joshua shouted at Count Court Anwarz.

“I’m not sure either… W-well, for now, let’s get away from here…”

Count Court Anwarz, looking confused, tried to evacuate the Empress and Crown Prince.

While Joshua immediately turned around, the Empress stood as if nailed to the spot.

“Your Majesty the Empress. You should hurry and leave…”

The Empress cut off Count Court Anwarz’s urging words.

“Wait.”

And she calmly assessed the surrounding situation.

The knights currently surrounding the Grand Temple were those who had followed the Emperor.

She could guess why they were trying to apprehend her and Joshua.

‘It seems the physician has finally spoken.’

The corners of the Empress’s mouth twisted crookedly.

Now that the Emperor was dead, the next Emperor of the Phasis Empire would undoubtedly be Joshua.

However, if someone knew that the Emperor hadn’t died of natural causes, the situation could be reversed.

‘This has become troublesome.’

After being briefly intimidated by the ominous atmosphere, a different light appeared in the Empress’s eyes.

The Empress straightened her shoulders confidently and walked a few steps forward.

Then, lifting her chin slightly, she wore a solemn expression.

“This is a place to honor the late Emperor. What kind of impious disturbance is this? And… I hope you all haven’t forgotten.”

The Empress swept her gaze meaningfully over the people below the platform, then soon turned to Joshua.

“That Crown Prince Joshua has the Mark of the Heavenly Descendant! That he is the Emperor chosen by God!”

Her powerful voice echoed through the spacious hall of the Grand Temple.

Not only the nobles but also the commoners who had belatedly heard of the situation began to stir.

Neither the dead Emperor, nor the previous Emperor, nor those before them had ever revealed and proven the Mark of the Heavenly Descendant before everyone.

As generations passed this way, the Mark of the Heavenly Descendant came to be regarded as a fabricated story, or like a legend.

Then the mark proving him as a Heavenly Descendant appeared on Crown Prince Joshua’s body, and this happened right after Imperial Princess Trinity’s death.

So some said that Imperial Princess Trinity’s death was God’s will to distinguish the true Heavenly Descendant.

“This is the very proof!”

The Empress quickly rolled up Joshua’s sleeve.

And she made sure people could clearly see the mark on his wrist.

“Crown Prince Joshua has a mark on his wrist!”

“That must be the mark proving he’s the Heavenly Descendant…”

Several nobles close to Joshua raised their voices.

“I can’t see it from here…”

Those who had seen the mark on his wrist up close passed the word to the back.

“That’s what they say. On Crown Prince Joshua’s wrist…”

No one present could step forward to refute the Empress’s words.

If, as she said, Crown Prince Joshua was the true Heavenly Descendant, they couldn’t go against him.

It wasn’t only the mourners gathered in the Grand Temple who were thrown into confusion by the revealed evidence.

Even the knights, who had seemed ready to bind the Empress and Crown Prince at any moment, looked at each other uncertainly.

In fact, everyone already knew that Joshua had the Mark of the Heavenly Descendant.

However, there was a clear purpose in the Empress reminding them of this fact again at this very moment.

At first glance, the situation seemed to be turning according to the Empress’s intentions.

That’s when Giselle Grante and Kavelaseth stepped onto the platform.

“Lady Amaterasu, Duke Cardia. This is not a place for you to ascend.”

The Empress coldly declared.

However, the two had already succeeded in gaining people’s attention.

The gazes of those gathered in the Grand Temple focused on Giselle Grante and Kavelaseth, who had appeared unexpectedly.

“How very convenient.”

Giselle Grante spoke with a faint smile on her lips.

Joshua strode toward her and asked.

“What do you mean by that?”

Giselle Grante glanced at Joshua and then spoke to the people in front.

“I’m wondering if the Mark of the Heavenly Descendant can be passed to multiple people within a single generation.”

Joshua scoffed and retorted.

“It seems you don’t know much about it.”

“The Crown Prince is correct. The Heavenly Descendant bearing the mark may appear over several generations or may not appear at all. However, only one person bears the Mark of the Heavenly Descendant in a single generation. As you can see, the Crown Prince has the Mark of the Heavenly Descendant on his body. This is proof that the Crown Prince is special.”

The Empress smiled, curving her red lips, as she looked at Giselle Grante.

Her gaze was full of malice, as if mocking Giselle Grante’s ignorance.

Giselle Grante, undeterred by their mocking tone and looks, opened her mouth again.

“Then I’ll ask one presumptuous question. When did the mark on Crown Prince Joshua’s wrist manifest?”

“I think I’ve been asked that question before? Since you seem to have already forgotten, I’ll tell you one more time. After Imperial Princess Trinity, my sister, passed away, the faint mark gradually became clearer.”

His response was so brazenly convincing that someone who didn’t know Joshua well might have been fooled.

“…I see.”

Giselle Grante nodded slightly and opened her mouth again.

“Then what about this case? There is someone in the Phasis Empire who was born with the Mark of the Heavenly Descendant.”

“…!”

The Empress suddenly shouted.

“What nonsense! That’s completely…!”

It was an uncharacteristically intense reaction from her.

The Empress herself realized she had overreacted slightly and quickly composed her uncomfortable expression.

Thanks to that, it was clear the Empress had no peace of mind. Giselle Grante spoke with more confidence.

“If you don’t believe it, I can show you proof.”

The Empress laughed as if it were absurd and spoke challengingly to Giselle Grante.

“Fine. Prove it then. If there really is someone who was born bearing the Mark of the Heavenly Descendant from birth.”

The Empress’s gaze toward Giselle Grante was like that of someone admonishing an unreasonable person.

However, Giselle Grante looked at Kavelaseth with a faint smile on her lips.

“Duke Cardia, are you all right with this?”

“If that’s what you wish, by all means.”

Kavelaseth, who had been reaching for his neatly tied cravat, suddenly approached her.

Then he whispered softly enough for only Giselle Grante to hear.

“But will you be all right?”

“…?”

“With showing my naked body to everyone.”

Kavelaseth said as he loosened his cravat.

“Ah…”

As she understood his meaning, a small sigh escaped between Giselle Grante’s lips.

Gazing at her slightly parted lips, Kavelaseth whispered low.

“I’ll take that as permission.”

With those words, Kavelaseth pulled down the cravat he had been adjusting. Then he removed his shirt almost as if tearing it off.

“…!”

Soon exclamations burst out from here and there.

His thick yet long neck connected to broad shoulders, and beneath his deeply hollowed collarbones, his pectoral muscles bulged as if about to burst.

People’s gazes clung quite attentively to his sharply defined abs.

She couldn’t say she didn’t understand people’s reactions.

She too had once been entranced by Kavelaseth’s naked body.

And most importantly, there was the Mark of the Heavenly Descendant clearly positioned on Kavelaseth’s broad chest.

Giselle Grante walked toward Kavelaseth. And she said.

“Have you seen enough? That Duke Cardia has the Mark of the Heavenly Descendant on his chest.”

The Grand Temple, which had been quiet while eyes were drawn to Kavelaseth’s upper body, became noisy again.

Giselle Grante turned her head toward the Empress.

The Empress seemed greatly shocked by the unexpected attack.

Her eyes, wide with surprise, moved busily here and there. Joshua’s expression wasn’t much different either.

After rolling her eyes for a while as if looking for a way to solve the problem, the Empress pointed at Kavelaseth and shouted.

“That mark on Duke Cardia’s body is fake!”

Murmuring rose with the Empress’s statement. However, Giselle Grante, paying no mind to the surrounding reactions, asked.

“Your Majesty the Empress, you must have proper grounds to support that opinion, right?”

The Empress smiled at Giselle Grante and this time turned to those gathered in the Grand Temple to assert.

“This is a mark that hasn’t appeared even after several generations. Do you think it makes sense… for that mark to manifest in two people at once?”

Giselle Grante observed people’s reactions.

There were quite a few nodding their heads as if in agreement.

If the number of those agreeing with the Empress’s words increased, public opinion could change.

That’s when it happened. Kavelaseth opened his mouth with a meaningful expression.

“Then we should verify whether the mark is fake or real.”

“…!”

Seeing the flustered Empress and Joshua, Giselle Grante was certain.