The brazen child’s voice did not continue any further.

Their guardian had probably hurriedly clamped a hand over their mouth.

I……

‘Since possessing this body, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been this flustered. I can guarantee that.’

I’d never particularly thought of ‘Chris’ as a peerless beauty.

If anything, I had thought of her as a woman who looked damnably awful in dresses.

But, but still.

She’s not…… ugly, is she?

No, she’s got a bit of…… presence, and with those distinct features, doesn’t she at least give the impression of being handsome?

Is it because I had this thought while looking in the mirror after a bath? Is it excessive self-glorification?

Ah, of course.

She’d been maintaining the sickly roleplay and suffering under the Holy Emperor all this time, so she must be somewhat gaunt.

That should be taken into account. But doesn’t the world also have something called the beauty of frailty?

……No. Denying it any further would just be pathetic. Get a grip, Chris.

‘Above all, the one who spoke this time is a child. I cannot doubt that purity which dares to point fingers at the naked emperor.’

Right. Everyone has different standards of beauty, and this gloomy face might indeed be judged as ugly.

Accept it. And rather, use it as a stepping stone to further develop my roleplay.

Reaching a conclusion quickly, I was able to refocus my eyes, which had opened about 1mm wider than usual.

As expected, playing a roleplay is good for mental health.

* * *

“Mom! Why is that lady so ugly?”

The moment those words were heard, the crowd fell silent.

Judging by the remark alone, it wouldn’t have been strange for laughter to erupt.

But those who knew who the child’s finger was pointing at could barely muster a smile.

A woman reduced to skin and bones.

Lips crusted with scabs, visible beneath disheveled hair.

It was an appearance that clearly showed she had been subjected to severe torture.

The child had simply said “ugly” because they couldn’t find the words to describe that horrific sight.

Yet despite the situation, the woman maintained a defiant attitude.

Spine straight, head held high, as if she had done absolutely nothing wrong.

“Ahem, attention!”

At this rate, the atmosphere would shift entirely. A high priest who sensed this raised his voice.

“The crime of stealing precious Magic Stones and plotting nothing less than the destruction of the world! Before all the people of the continent, death is what you deserve. But His Holiness the Holy Emperor has graciously extended mercy and prepared a place for atonement.”

The Holy Emperor. He was looking down at Chris from the highest seat directly across from the execution platform.

Still wearing a gentle face. Despite the fact that his insides were boiling.

‘Stubborn thing. To still maintain such a defiant attitude.’

Contrary to the crowd’s expectations, the Holy Emperor had not subjected Chris to physical torture.

Her body was in such a state that it was a wonder she was alive at all.

The mana she currently possessed was struggling just to sustain her life functions.

If he handled her carelessly, she would clearly die before he could even discover the whereabouts of the heart.

‘So instead, I tormented her with mental magic, but she maintained complete silence to the very end……’

The wounds on her face were traces of self-harm that Chris had inflicted to endure the agony of mental magic torture.

He vividly remembered being on edge each time, fearing she might die from blood loss, and ordering the priests to cast recovery magic.

‘Of course, I like insolent ones that refuse to be tamed. However.’

When those things dared to covet what was his and acted as though they were playing above his head, that was unbearable.

Things that should perform tricks on the palm of his hand—if they didn’t know their place and crossed the line—

‘I simply hang them to death.’

“Let the criminal confess her sins with her own mouth. If she does, she shall be embraced in the Creator God’s arms, however belatedly.”

“……”

Chris did not open her mouth. She merely wore a bored expression, as if she had no idea why she was here.

‘Yes, that’s how you should play it. That way, my preparation of a gift won’t have been in vain.’

The Holy Emperor grinned and made a light gesture.

Soon, the priests who had received his command dragged out what they had prepared.

“Th-That’s……?!”

Gasps of horror erupted from here and there.

“……!”

A change finally appeared on ‘Chris’s’ expression as well. It was extremely subtle, but sufficient to delight the Holy Emperor.

His voice naturally began to rise with excitement.

“Well, how about it? Have you forgotten even these faces?”

It was truly a moving reunion between master and disciples.

Andante, Nika, Bell, Dolce, and even Gabana.

Despite having boldly infiltrated the Holy Kingdom, they now appeared, bound to racks without being able to resist even once.

The girl named Gabana in particular had her head hung low, as if she had lost consciousness from fear.

The others were no better off.

“T-Professor……”

“……Please help us.”

“Gurk……”

They merely trembled helplessly, looking at their teacher with frightened eyes.

“Why are you saying nothing? Are you trying to pretend you don’t even know your beloved disciples?”

“……They are people I’ve never seen before.”

“Haha! Clenching your teeth and insisting! How pitiful. They showed the courage to secretly infiltrate the Grand Temple to save their teacher. Well, they were caught by my ‘Gaze,’ of course.”

The Holy Emperor slowly walked toward the disciples. Then he reached out and grabbed Nika’s jaw.

“Ugh!”

“It’s because they’re still young. They simply couldn’t accept that their teacher’s goal was their friend’s heart from the very beginning, and that everything until now was groundwork for betrayal. Therefore, I wish to extend mercy to them.”

His softly smiling face turned toward Chris.

“They say in the world that a disciple’s fault is the teacher’s fault. If you stop this abominable acting, I shall release these children unharmed. Of course, if you ‘truly’ don’t know them, well…… you can simply watch from there. As criminals pay their due price.”

That was right. This was one of the reasons the Holy Emperor had deliberately held a public execution.

He knew that these foolish children would come running faster than anyone.

And if he took them hostage, Chris could no longer play games.

The Holy Emperor was not unaware that the look in Chris’s eyes when she watched her disciples was ‘special.’

“Now, Chris. What will you do? Can you say, ‘I don’t care what happens to those fools’? If you still find it difficult to move that tongue, I can help you.”

The Holy Emperor pressed his nails into Nika’s cheek and dragged them across. Then he slowly lowered his hand and began to grip his throat.

“Gah, aaagh……! T-Professor. I’m fine, so you must never give in! Never!”

“……”

At Nika’s desperate cry, Chris bit her lower lip hard.

And finally, she opened her mouth.

“Fine, now take your filthy hands off.”

“Professor!”

“……How easy. So easy. I suspected as much, but to give in this easily.”

The Holy Emperor narrowed his eyes, released his hand, and approached Chris. Then he bent down to look at her.

“I had wondered what could possibly tame you. But now I understand. It’s affection. Such a trivial, base emotion has tamed you.”

“Cut the nonsense and bring your ear here.”

“So cold.”

The Holy Emperor obediently brought his ear closer.

Chris couldn’t try any tricks on him here.

The disciples were still in the Holy Emperor’s grasp. There were high priests who moved like his arms and legs.

He had given instructions before coming here.

If Chris moved suspiciously, they were to tear off the disciples’ limbs one by one.

So there was no problem.

No problem……

“I just thought of one thing.”

Was there really no problem?

Wasn’t it too easy? This shouldn’t have been resolved so easily.

Surely not.

“It’s rather pathetic for a grown adult to do that to children.”

A chilling premonition crawled up his spine.

As the Holy Emperor slowly turned his head, there—

“How about you look at yourself first, you fool who doesn’t even know my name?”

The deepest part of the Grand Temple.

The massive Magic Stone where the ‘Gaze’ that the Holy Emperor had spread not only across the Holy Kingdom but the entire continent converged.

The countless scenes it projected were filling the public’s field of vision.

“Th-That’s impossible. How……?”

The Holy Emperor’s ‘Gaze’ monitored and recorded almost everything.

Therefore.

That meant it contained scenes of the Holy Emperor casting brainwashing magic, priests manipulating monster corpses, and all the schemes that had clouded people’s reason through false incitement and fabrication.

This was the Holy Emperor’s ‘confession.’

Though his own will was not reflected in it at all.

“What have you done, Chris, you wretch!”