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Chapter 375: Chapter 375: Sooner, rather than later
Chapter 375: Chapter 375: Sooner, rather than later
"Are you not going to get ready for the Banquet?" Eren asked, changing the topic. Even though he had calmed Zia a little, it was clear that she was still embarrassed.
"Is that even possible? Don't I need to be here to keep up the act so no one questions your absence?" Zia asked, lowering the blanket to reveal her face. Although her face was slightly red, she appeared much more serious.
Eren and the Holy Emperor were the same people now. If she attended the Banquet with Eren, the Holy Emperor was going to be absent. His absence was going to be questioned.
If she attended the Banquet alone, Eren's absence was going to be questioned instead. That was the entire reason she had to keep up the act to justify Eren's absence.
"The Banquet is for the envoys that came from the East. It would be more suspicious if none of us attended. As for my absence, I don't think you need to worry about it anymore." Eren smiled, having found a solution already.
Zia stared at Eren in confusion, wondering why he was so confident. Still, he didn't look like he was joking.
"Since you are so confident, I will get ready." She wrapped the bed sheet around her slender body and sat up.
She got off the bed and quickly rushed into the shower to clean herself. After a shower, she got properly dressed and stepped out of the bathroom, finding Eren sitting on the bed, gazing at her.
Under his gaze, she once again felt embarrassed but she tried to not make it so obvious. Although she was completely seen, at least it was by him.
"So what's your plan?" she asked Eren while draping the Great Elder's robe over her shoulder.
"Why would we need a plan? Don't we have him for that?" Eren answered, pointing behind Zia.
Curious, Zia turned around, growing even more surprised as she caught sight of Eren who was standing behind her. At the moment, there were two Eren in the room.
"Is this..." She looked back and forth between the two young men. "...a clone?"
No matter how much she tried, she couldn't find out which of them was the real one. Both of them looked and felt extremely real. Their auras were also completely identical.
"It's the effect of another treasure. With the clone, I can be at two places at the same time. So you don't have to worry about us being exposed."
Eren, who was behind Zia, started transforming into the Holy Emperor. With that, he finally exposed who the real one was.
After transforming into the Holy Emperor, he walked closer to the clone who was sitting on the bed
"That's right. We are both real for now," the clone said, his words and actions being controlled by the real Eren. "Isn't that right, Holy Emperor?"
"First, there is the treasure that allows you to disguise into someone else with such perfection. And now, a treasure to make a clone?" Zia asked, growing even more fascinated. "Just how many such treasures do you have?"
Eren shrugged innocently. Everything that he couldn't explain with simple martial skills, he blamed it on being the effect of artifacts to stop others from questioning him any further.
He could not just tell others that he had the abilities of Devourer and many more. Even though the people around him were somewhat trustworthy, it wasn't to the point that he could expose his deepest secrets.
"Elder Ren, would you please attend the Banquet that has been arranged for you?" Eren asked the Clone who carried the same prideful arrogance in his eyes that a Great Elder was supposed to possess.
"With pleasure," the Clone said, moving according to Eren's thoughts.
He left the room with Great Elder Zia, following after the Holy Emperor. As the three of them walked together, the Holy Emperor could often be seen talking with Great Elder Ren as if they were old friends.
....
Cardinal Treniel was still outside the sacred chamber of the Holy Priestess. From the moment there was an explosion, no one had stepped out of the room. Despite that, he was not worried.
The person inside the room was the Holy Priestess after all. He simply waited silently for the Holy Priestess to call out to him. It wasn't until the time for Banquet drew near that he called out to her.
"Your Holiness, it is time to attend the Banquet."
Soon, the door opened and a beautiful woman stepped out, dressed in perfectly clean clothes. There was no sign of the blood that had splashed all over her body merely a short time ago.
She was also much more calm, even though her heart was in turmoil. By now, she had received a lot of the answers that she wanted.
She understood why the Minister of War had exploded. At first, she had thought that it was because of something done by the Holy Emperor, but it turned out to be because of Great Elder Ren's medicine.
She even wondered if he did that because he knew that the Minister of War was going to be brought to her. Then again, she quickly shook that thought off.
There was no way for that man to know that the Minister of War was going to be brought here. It was most probably because he was angry at the Minister of War.
He wanted the Minister of War to suffer in pain. That's why, he didn't want anyone to heal him. To make sure that no one could heal him, he placed this poisonous pill in the Minister's heart.
That explanation also made sense. Despite that, something deep down in her was telling her that it was far too simple of an explanation.
"Did you find that sword?" she asked Cardinal Treniel, who shook his head. It was as if the Sword had simply disappeared into thin air.
"The appearance of that man who carries that disgusting aura, and then the disappearance of the sword. I suppose the answer lies with him..."
Sighing, the Holy Priestess made up her mind that she might have to make Eren disappear sooner than she thought.
That evening, the Holy Priestess left the Holy Church, accompanied by almost all the Cardinals. It was a force that could destroy even the greatest of kingdoms.