When Cleria woke up a day later, she immediately shot up, sitting on the bed.
The sheet covering her chest dropped down, and sensing her nakedness, she panicked.
To her relief, she discovered that she was still a maiden, and Raizel, even though he had assaulted her, had not proceeded to rape her after she lost her consciousness.
A myriad of emotions crossed her heart and mind, and along with them, a tear slipped out.
As the images of the moments before losing consciousness emerged in her mind, her fair cheeks burned in shame, and a burst of Demonic Power escaped her body, sending everything, including the sheets, flying all over the room, revealing to her that the Seal had been removed.
The rustle in the air made her look up, and she telekinetically grabbed the letter that bore Raizel's Demonic Mark on it.
She was quite agitated at the fact that she could recognise Raizel's Demonic Power now, which felt incredibly familiar to her. Before she even read the letter, she felt his taste in her mouth, and more shame washed over her.
"Am I this fickle?" She asked herself, now starting to feel more mad, but as she read through the words in the letter, her mind cleared up, and she truly realised the consequences of her naivety.
Her actions had even harmed her family, and the Bael were forcing the Belial to compensate them for the death of their servants and the two members of their Clan.
No matter how much she would try to clear her family's name now, it was going to prove futile.
The Bael had enough evidence against her, and every action that she took was whilst holding a Political Territory and Post in her Family.
She was a Belial, and her actions represented her Clan.
A tear slipped from her eyes when she read that her cousin, whom she looked up to as her older brother, Diehauser, had been threatened to hand her over. He refused them, and now they were even debating if they should revoke his status as the Champion of the Rating Games.
Even his future, where he had a great chance of replacing Falbium Asmodeus as Underworld's fourth Satan, was now in jeopardy.
He had always doted on her, and even after she let him down, he was still willing to protect her.
The guilt that gripped her heart now suffocated her, and then the faces of her Peerage, whom she had lost, flashed in her mind.
Yes, the Great King's Faction had misused and abused the Power of the illegal King Pieces and manipulated the results of Rating Games, but all their actions only amounted to serious corruption charges.
On the other hand, her actions were treason to the Devildom as they had put their Race in jeopardy.
The Head of the Bael Clan was a very cunning man, and he quickly assessed the issues and showed his willingness to bear the consequences of his Faction's crimes.
And his only request was that the Belial pay for their crimes as well.
The fine and punishment the Bael would receive from the Devil Council was incomparable to what the Belial were going to suffer. And when she read about the things and the amount of Territory the Belial would lose, along with their status as the Kings, Cleria nearly fainted.
All of this was the fault of her silly romance. All of this was her own fault.
Even her death would not save Belial from the charges that had been filed against them, and to let people read their minds to convince them of their innocence meant leaking Family Secrets, which they could not afford.
The Bael Clan had already returned all the five King Pieces that they had in possession, and now, Ajuka Beelzebub had eight of them. They had also handed over the Management Rights of Rating Game back to the Satan Beelzebub and told the Satan that the last King Piece was stolen by her, the Traitor of the Devil Race.
Her eyes landed on the King Piece that was still on the table, having survived her demonic outburst earlier, and a tear slipped out of her eyes.
Why did she even steal it? Just so she could present it as evidence? How silly was she?
Cleria felt dizzy as she imagined the consequences of the King Piece falling into the hands of the Church.
The Evil Pieces were the biggest trump card of the Devils, and giving away their secrets was going to harm the entire Devildom.
Thankfully, Raizel had arrived there at the last moment and snatched away the King Piece from the Exorcists, killing all of them.
Her grey eyes shifted to the letter again, and there was a question at the end.
"What are you going to do now, Princess?"
She could hear his playfulness as she read the question.
Cleria stared at the words for a good few minutes, and then she rushed up to her feet, walking inside the dressing room to find some magical clothes in the wardrobe for girls.
Thankfully, there were quite a few, and she magically adjusted them to her size.
After taking a quick shower, she dressed up and then left the room, walking aimlessly in the hallways of the Darcaedes Palace.
She was a little flustered as the passing maids stopped and bowed to her, but she took the opportunity to ask them to guide her to Raizel.
Nearly fifteen minutes later, she arrived at the door of the study where the Prince was having a chat with a family friend.
She knocked on the door and waited a second before she received an answer.
"Come in."
Taking a deep breath, Cleria opened the door and immediately frowned when she found who was sitting at the table with Raizel.
It was none other than the new Heiress of the Vapula Clan, Misla Vapula, and the woman only glanced at her before she took her eyes away, not questioning her presence there.
"Yes, Princess?" Raizel raised his brow at her, and she felt quite flustered under his gaze.
"May I speak with you in private?"
"No." He refused.
Cleria was honestly not expecting a blunt refusal, and now she stood there, not knowing how to proceed.
"You can say what you have to say in Heiress Vapula's presence. She won't speak about it with anyone outside this room." He told her, and she could not help but feel more flustered.
However, when she saw that both Raizel and Misla ignored her and continued with their chat, she walked up to the table and sat by the woman's side.
"So, Casca has taken a liking to Guts?" He smiled when Misla informed him what her Pawn and his Knight were doing lately.
"It's the same for him. I caught them kissing by the lake." Misla sweetly smiled.
"As long as they are happy." He shrugged and then turned to look her way. "Yes?"
Cleria did not know why, but she felt relieved at having his attention again.
"I want to see Lord Ajuka and Lord Falbium. I am willing to let them read my memories to clear my Family's name." She said, and Raizel just kept looking at her with a smile that she could not see through.
"They have already watched your memories, Princess Cleria." It was Misla who answered her. "We have just returned from the Capital, and Raizel showed your memories to them. All the Heads of the Major Families or their Heirs were present. It was a Devil Council meeting."
The words of the Heiress Vapula dismayed her, and then she recalled the moment he had bit her in her moment of ecstasy.
Did he do it to read her memories? Is that why he stopped and did not proceed to...
Cleria lowered her head, falling silent, and waves of shame and guilt washed over her again.
"I kept your private moments out of it." She heard him say, and grateful as she was, she could not raise her head to meet his eyes. "They know about your intentions, but it is not enough to exempt you from your crimes. Nothing would be enough." He bluntly told her. "Lord Sirzechs and I have already handled the matter with the Belial Clan, and the compensation they have to pay is not much now."
"What is my punishment?" She asked.
"You and your Bishop have been sentenced to death by a vote of Majority."
The words exploded in her mind like a bomb, and her body trembled in pain and fear.
She did not mind dying, but Aradia was innocent. Her only crime was that she was her Bishop and followed her orders.
However, Cleria was well aware of the Laws and knew why the Peerage had to be sentenced to death after their King's treason was proven.
"Can you save her?" She hopefully asked, clutching her dress, and Raizel smiled at the care she held for her Bishop.
"Is it out of guilt that you want to save her now?"
"I care for her..." She retorted, but her words sounded weak to even herself.
"Do you now?" He chuckled and then sank back into the chair. "You are a fool, Princess."
Cleria felt humiliated at his words, and she could not say anything because he was right.
"You don't even know what is happening and why everything happened to you." He smiled. "You have always been a Pawn on two Chessboards, Princess. And those that played the games were not truly targeting you, but Diehauser and your Clan. The Exorcist group that your dear boyfriend was part of was secretly controlled by Rizevim Lucifer. Even your boyfriend was unaware of it." He chuckled at the shock on Cleria and Misla's faces.
"What?"
"Yes." He nodded. "And Rizevim charmed Masaomi to approach you and to fall in love with you. His reasons? He wanted to shame your Belial Family by making you fall for a Human and have Half-Bloods with him, which would have ultimately forced you out of the Clan. But there is more. He wanted to test on your Half-Blood Child, who would still be in your womb at the time, and see if it could bind to the Artificial Sacred Gear that he has created."
Disbelief and horror were visible on their faces, and Cleria felt chills run up her spine.
"You are lucky you had not slept with him."
His words caused her to lower her head in shame again.
Even though Rizevim Lucifer was involved in everything, she was not the one who was influenced. She fell in love with a human on her own accord.
"And then you became a Pawn on another Chessboard. The Orchestrator? Lord Bael."
Misla frowned at the mention of her ex-husband, and then something clicked in her mind.
"He wanted her to find out about the King Piece?" She felt chills up her spine as she voiced the question.
"Yes." Raizel nodded his head. "It was all orchestrated by him. He had realised how dangerous the King Pieces were, and he wanted them returned to Ajuka. So, he decided to play a game and reap the benefits. You learned about King Piece because he let you learn about it. And you managed to steal one because he had put it out there for you to steal. Do you know why he did all of this?"
Cleria gritted her teeth but stayed quiet.
"It is no secret in the Devildom that Diehauser dotes on Cleria Belial, his dear cousin. But few know that Cleria Belial is not his cousin, but his daughter." He lightly said, and the Belial Princess felt dizzy at another shocking revelation.
She raised her head and looked at him as if trying to ascertain the truth, but in her heart, she already knew that he was not lying.
"Your father, or should we call him your Granduncle, is incapable of having children. When it was discovered, your mother was heartbroken, and they grew distant. Eventually, she fell in love with Diehauser, and you are the product of their love. Your Granduncle was not mad but was happy that you were born because he had a Heir of his own now. He and your mother are only husband and wife in name, and she is, in truth, Diehauser's Mistress. Lord Bael knows this, and I suspect that Rizevim Lucifer knows this as well." He said, and both Cleria and Misla could now guess the Bael's plan.
Diehauser was a potential future Satan, and Bael were eyeing to replace Falbium with one of their own and take control of the Military Affairs.
If something happened to Cleria, Diehauser would undoubtedly try to avenge or protect his child, which would put him at odds with the Devildom. This would make him lose his qualifications to ever become a Satan.
The Belial Princess had never felt so tired in her life, and now she did not even know what she could do to protect her father.
Her Death Sentence had already been issued by the Devil Council, and if her father opposed it, he would fall into the Bael's trap.
And she had to protect her Bishop too.
Cleria could not let Aradia die for her mistakes.