(City of Lunarian- Inner Region)
(Imperial Palace Complex)
In the western corner of the Imperial Palace was a massive area of land with hundreds of rare flowers and plants.
It was known as the royal garden and was a particularly popular meeting spot among the high noble ladies of society.
The queen would regularly hold tea gatherings and small parties in the garden. However today the garden was unusually empty.
A man and a woman wandered through the royal garden side by side. The man was extremely handsome with short black hair and a lean muscular physique.
He wore an expensive white shirt adorned with sparkling jewels and a sword made from jade was attached to his hip.
The passing maids whispered and giggled as they walked by, but none dared to stare for too long or approach the man.
His name was Raul Francis, and he was the crown prince of the Empire.
The crown prince would usually be the center of attention wherever he went but his companion stole most of his limelight.
Saintess Marie… an otherworldly beauty with a devilish figure, long hair that was completely silver and eyes that shone with a golden luster.
"This rose pales in comparison to your beauty," Prince Raul whispered lovingly as he stretched out his palm and plucked a red flower.
Saintess Marie giggled in delight and her soft bell-like laughter echoed through the garden.
The prince stared mesmerised as the saintess took the flower from his hand and placed it in her hair.
"My prince…" Saintess Marie spoke.
"Prince? No… please call me by my name," Prince Raul hoarsely spoke.
He glanced around to see if anyone was looking and then wrapped his arm around the saintess' waist.
A fearsome blush spread across Marie's cheeks as the young woman stared at the handsome prince with a lovestruck expression.
"Woman… you are mine!" the prince declared pridefully as he lifted Marie's chin using his fingers and leaned forward to press a kiss against her lips.
Pink bubbles filled the air as the atmosphere turned ambiguous.
The union of the church and the royal family was highly encouraged by the current king.
Prince Raul's position as the crown prince made him all but guaranteed to be the next successor especially if he managed to marry the next leader of the Varion Church.
But political reasons aside…. the prince genuinely loved the girl in his arms.
Saintess Marie's kind-heartedness and her purity resembled that of an angel.
She did not scheme like the other noble girls eager to bed him and produce a royal heir to help their families' interests.
Prince Raul could not believe that such a perfect woman existed in this world.
The saintess gently broke away from the prince's arms and took two steps forward while shyly smiling at him.
One would never think that the only thought running through Saintess Marie's mind was…
(Good… the prince seems to be falling deeper in love with me… the pope's plans will soon come to fruition…)
(He is certainly easy on the eyes… I suppose there could have been worse options…)
The most dangerous predators were the ones who disguised themselves as prey.
Wolves in sheep's clothing.
While Saintess Marie did have good feelings towards the crown prince, they weren't enough to stop her from completing her objective.
"Prince… I mean Raul… how have you been recently?" Saintess Marie asked with a gentle smile.
"Marie, every day without you by my side has been torture… the politics of the kingdom bore me…" Prince Raul replied softly.
"No one seems to understand me like you do… truly you are my only blessing in this dark world filled with boredom!"
"Sometimes I think that it would be better to be born a commoner than a prince!"
The smile on Saintess Marie's face briefly cracked as she listened to the prince rant and rave about his royal responsibilities and hardships.
(Yeah… the prince is… a fucking idiot. A commoner? Clearly someone has had little contact with his subjects outside of massive parades.)
(Being subjected to the whims of the nobles… treated as second class citizens… there is not a single one on this continent who wouldn't trade their miserable lives for that of royalty…)
(Hell, most would settle to become minor nobles…)
Saintess Marie quickly fixed her expression before the prince noticed and slowly guided the conversation towards her true goal.
"I heard rumors… that people have seen dark elves…" Saintess Marie's voice dropped to a whisper as she put a frightened expression on her face.
"There is nothing to fear…" Prince Raul comforted her as he puffed up his chest and stared off into the distance.
"Merely a few rats have been sneaking around the capitol… no one is sure of their true purpose, but they cannot stir up any waves."
"Dark elves and the other foreign races are mere remnants of their former selves while humanity has only gotten stronger."
Saintess Marie nodded occasionally during the conversation while a plan gradually began to form in her mind.
The prince said that no one knew about their true purpose, but it was quite obvious.
The sightings of dark elves were generally around noble families rumored to be keeping their kind as slaves or pets.
Wait a minute… perhaps this was an opportunity…
Saintess Marie put away her careful thoughts to the back of her mind and continued to accompany the prince through the royal garden while portraying the image of an innocent girl.
The midday sun gradually sank towards the horizon and the garden was illuminated by a dull orange light.
"My lady... it is time to depart," one of the paladins serving the saintess respectfully walked forward and knelt down.
Saintess Marie recognised the man as the former second in command of the previous saintess.
"Surely you can stay for longer?" Prince Raul warmly spoke.
"My apologies my prince but I must attend the evening service and worship the grace of the Lord of Light," Saintess Marie explained sweetly as her eyes sparkled.
The pair silently embraced before Marie followed her paladin and left the royal garden. She could feel the eyes of the prince watching her figure as she left.
The carriage and the rest of her personal guards were at the entrance to the Imperial Complex so there was still quite a long way to go.
Saintess Marie clasped her hands together and her golden eyes shone eerily with an emotion that was hard to understand.
"Paladin Markus…" Saintess Marie suddenly spoke and broke the silence between them.
"Yes milady?" the paladin replied immediately.
He avoided direct eye contact with the saintess since her good looks made his heart race.
"Tomorrow I will require a squad to accompany me to the Tower of Trials… I wish to pray for the lost souls trapped within…" Saintess Marie quietly requested.
"I also wish to thank the brave inquisitors for doing their jobs and ridding the world of all that is evil and vile…"