308

Inés groaned faintly, still enveloped by Cárcel's arms. "How...can a human being destroy a stone statue?"

He responded, "Fortunately, there happened to be a sacred object atop the altar."

"Fortunately, you say?"

"Indeed. So-"

She cut him off, her voice trembling in desperation. "Why... Why did you do it?"

There was a short pause. "I needed an answer, Inés. The one they gave to me like some kind of blessing... it wasn't enough. Not to mention...I despise the apostle."

She knew that his desire for an answer, as well as his hatred, had been created because of her.

"So... you sinned to get that answer?" she muttered in disbelief.

He nodded solemnly. "You must know the prophecy of the apocalypse."

Indeed, she did. It said, "On the day the sacred statues of the temple are destroyed, the apostles of war shall descend onto the earth." Although Cárcel's actions were akin to those of a madman, the prophecy did lend a semblance of reason to them. Still, she found his decision even more inexplicable, for this meant he had voluntarily committed that act while knowing it was outlined in the prophecy.

"That prophecy... it does not justify desecrating the holy statue..."

"That is exactly what Emiliano said to me," he responded insouciantly, but there was a hint of irritation in his voice.

She brushed it aside like dust and continued, "You dared to demand that the apostle descend upon the earth and give you an answer?"

He nodded, squeezing her even more tightly in his arms.

It was obvious that he had decided to embrace her in the first place because he knew she would attempt to smack him. Even without looking, she knew just how nonchalant his face was. Her chest felt tight with anger, and she tried to steady her breathing.

"And I got an answer," he said in a quiet voice.

"Unbelievable..."

"He told me that I would return if I went to war, without a doubt."

The lament of despair died in her throat, and she looked up at him with wide eyes.

His face remained stoic as he told her about the ancient letters that had been carved on the holy statue's feet, and that he had immediately known how they were pronounced and what they meant, even though this should have been impossible.

Later, he had tried to see if he could recognize any other words in the same ancient tongue, but he could not. Then he explained how the word had been "rewritten" inside his head during an argument with the duke regarding him going off to war. Initially, it had been "anistémi," the apostle's mission to resurrect. This had become "anastésetai," which was a prophecy that meant one would be resurrected.

She was familiar with this ancient tongue-it was one that she had learned from a priest to read the holy text written in its original language. The new meaning of the word that he had suddenly realized was entirely correct, as well as his interpretation of it. In fact, she could go even further than that.

There were many verbs with the meaning of resurrection that shared the same root as Anastasio's name. She obsessively recalled every single definition that she had learned: to raise, to awaken from sleep, to raise from the dead, to resurrect, to rebuild, to bring back, to raise up, to heal from illness, to make into a hero... A shaky breath escaped her lips.

It meant Cárcel would be raised from the dead, that he would return and rise to the top-that he would become a hero.

"All shall be restored," she whispered.

He stroked her back gently. "Did this prophecy help put your heart at ease?"

"Yes, and more." She wrapped her trembling arms around him in a heartfelt embrace.

Until that point, everything had been scattered and random-the strange memories in Cárcel's head, the apostle's answer, the eerie fragments of memories that Anastasio had been shoving into her head, and even Oscar's despair. However, now she felt like all of those pieces were finally coming together to form a single intention. Perhaps this time, we could...

A victorious laugh bubbled up in her throat, but she carefully quashed it by pressing her lips together. Instead, she placed featherlight kisses all over Cárcel's face. When he teasingly turned and caught her lips with his own, she reciprocated passionately and tightened her embrace.

He whispered, "It makes me glad to see you so happy upon hearing that I won't die, just as much as I enjoy listening to you threaten me with death. I have never seen you so excited, almost like a child..."

She was so excited that his last observation slipped past her without being perceived. "You have no idea just what I am willing to do now as I wait for your return."

"If you are planning on doing something dangerous

"I am not," she said firmly and pecked a kiss on his lips. "I simply meant that I would pray for you every day."

He gave her a dubious look, but she planted another kiss on him instead of responding.

For a moment, she stayed there with their lips barely touching. Then she let out a silent sigh, locking eyes with him. "I must talk about the man you saw in Bilbao."

"Emiliano?" he said immediately.

"No," she responded.

He frowned in confusion.

When she spoke again, her voice was so quiet that only Cárcel could hear her. "The emperor's son."

The perplexed look lingered on his face for another moment. Suddenly, his eyes widened in realization.

"Did you meet Lourdes as well?" she whispered.

No response came from him, but his face twisted until it resembled her reaction upon hearing that he had destroyed the sacred statue.

Inés smiled in satisfaction. She knew that Cárcel had probably noticed Lourdes even without realizing it, since he had a surprisingly keen eye for those things. This also meant that Lourdes resembled the emperor so closely that Cárcel was able to form an instant connection between the two, even though he had only seen Lourdes in passing without much interest, not to mention it had been quite a long time ago.

Though Lourdes was a plain man with the same red hair and blue eyes as Oscar, it would be easy to prove the truth of his birth. His mother was still alive and well, and the records of the palace were so detailed that they had written down everything about his appearance as a child, down to the very last mole. Furthermore, there would be testimonies from those who had known him at the time. Once she could gather a few archbishops who would be willing to claim that they could determine the truth of those statements through sacred prayers, everything would fall into place. But most of all, it would be crucial to have the emperor accept Lourdes as his biological child.

It had been more than twenty years since Lourdes-Matteo, or Regina Merillo's nameless child-had "died." It was quite unlikely that the emperor would ever accept him as his son, since Lourdes had grown into adulthood outside of any controlled environment such as a manor belonging to the emperor or a prison-like room within the palace. However, what many people did not understand was the crippling sense of inferiority that came with knowing that one had ascended to an unstable throne simply because they got lucky. Back when Oscar had put on the act of being a kind gentleman even when he was with her, he had occasionally gotten intoxicated and drowned himself in an endless pool of anxiety and suspicions, as if being stalked by an invisible mob. And this had been caused by none other than his conflicts with his father.

Inés thought the emperor's sense of inferiority would end up acting as his biggest obstacle. Even now, he occasionally became envious and wary of his only heir. Once Oscar was gone, he would surely revert to his younger years, forced to stand on unstable ground yet again. He wouldn't be able to withstand the anxiety that came with being an elderly emperor who didn't have a single son to call heir-after all, none of his subjects would consider his reign to be permanent if he was childless.

She planned on taking advantage of this anxiety. She would offer Lourdes as a replacement in Oscar's absence and wait until the emperor was driven by his fears to prove Lourdes's legitimacy himself. Of course, she had no doubt that the emperor would simply try to bide for time. He would want a "true" son who he could raise from birth, despite having such dismal results even after laying with so many women over the years. However, this was a feat that could take many years to achieve, and the empire would decide if they wanted Lourdes or not.

Once Oscar is gone... She smiled faintly, as if thinking of a beautiful line from a poem. The joy drained from her eyes after a few seconds, although the smile lingered. "Oscar does not know of his existence," she said.

"Good gracious, Inés..." he whispered in disbelief.

"If he ever does turn his eye to Bilbao, he will only direct his hatred at Emiliano, nobody else."

"Do you mean to say you took the emperor's love child under your wing... intentionally?"

She shrugged in total nonchalance. "It would have been quite astonishing if it had been a coincidence. I did stumble across him coincidentally, though."

His face crumpled. "Since when?"

"It has been quite a few years. I imagine it was around the same time that I began funding Emiliano."

At this, he narrowed his eyes. "Well, it has been quite some time since Oscar's attention turned to the painter, has it not?"

"Initially, I just wanted Lourdes and Emiliano in the same place so they would be easier to protect. Unlike what you may think, treason was never my intent. In fact, I only kept Lourdes as a precaution of sorts until Oscar told me all about his memories. I had no idea he would chase after me like some kind of ghoul..." She frowned in disgust for a moment. "Think about it, Cárcel. He has no idea that Lourdes exists. He only lives in the past, and he is blind to the shadows that exist in plain sight by his feet. It's the perfect combination."

For a long time, he simply stared at her with a scowl on his face.

She met his gaze steadily as she continued, "The new crown prince will be backed by Empress Cayetana and our houses. This will prove that we are only loyal to the throne, regardless of family ties, pride, or selfish interests." She reached out and gently brushed her fingers over his cheek.

Poor Cayetana would be robbed of her precious son, and Lourdes would become the new foundation of her power-the son of a lady-in-waiting who she had once treated like a dog bearing a useless pup. Oscar would finally meet his destined end, and his mother would feel the raw despair of having loved such a monstrous creature.

After a pause, Cárcel said, "Have you ever considered separating him from Emiliano?"

"No. It is safest for him to stay with Emiliano."

Once again, he fell silent, as if caught off guard by how she had referred to Emiliano in such impersonal terms.

Noting this, she added quietly, "This applies to Emiliano as well. He is where he belongs, and he'll be safe as long as he stays within the cathedral. There, he will most certainly have honor, and he'll be able to live a peaceful life without seeing me ever again."

Funnily enough, she and Emiliano had spent many years wishing for the very same thing-that they would never see each other again, for this would surely result in misery for both of them. She looked back on her own past, filled with suffocating pain. However, she no longer felt the suffering now that she knew their hearts aligned. She even allowed herself to believe that one day, there wouldn't be any grief weighing on her shoulders.

She continued, "Also, Oscar knows that you are my weakness, not him. That means he has no reason to hurt him, no matter how much Emiliano may irritate him. Therefore, you should be worried about no one else but yourself."

"So I am your weakness," he muttered under his breath. "A shameful word, but it still brings me joy... and excites me. Is this normal?"

"Most definitely not, but I love it, so it doesn't matter."

"Damn it, Inés..." he muttered.

"Now, there is no man in the world who has the right to make you jealous." She pushed his shoulder, and his body crumbled even though she had used the slightest force. Without pause, she straddled him and roughly pulled down her nightgown, which had already been slipping off her shoulders. His hand slid under the skirt of her dress and gripped her thigh tightly.

"The love child that you so insolently took under your wing..." he whispered. "He belonged to Valeztena, did he not?"

She smiled haughtily. "He always belonged to Inés Valeztena. Now, he simply belongs to Inés Escalante."

The way she spoke of a man they would eventually crown as emperor was playfully arrogant, but there was an undeniable authority to her words. Cárcel's eyes blazed with arousal, as they always did whenever she seemingly reigned over the rest of the world. The world flipped, and Inés didn't protest as he lifted and spread her legs. As he greedily grabbed at her breasts, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.

"And how do you plan to kill the crown prince?" Cárcel said.

"I suppose we can enlist the help of his loyal wife," she responded nonchalantly as she buried her fingers in his hair and ran her lips up his neck.

No complaints came from him as he nodded in agreement. Of course, he didn't forget to remind her to be safe.

She gave him a flippant response and bit on the soft skin underneath his chin. Groaning roughly, he flipped their bodies around to pull her back onto his stomach. Even with her nightgown slipped all the way down to her lower abdomen, she resembled an elegant rider who sat atop a horse in an immaculate uniform as she gazed down at Cárcel.

He swallowed a curse as he pushed his hand back in between her legs. "If I am being honest, I couldn't give less of a damn about any of those things."

"You wouldn't care if you became a traitor, albeit briefly?"

"No. You are my sovereign, Inés." Therefore, he had already committed treason.

Her lips curled up in a bright smile as she leaned forward for a kiss.