The kingdom of Permanent is broke. It survives only by borrowing money from the wealthy merchant house Cordias. The knightly house Hazard has lost its power, and Queen Elzard is desperate. The Cordias family is rising fast, and they plan to save Permanent's finances through a marriage between Prince Telius and Ellilite.
But Ellilite Cordias, 18, carries a secret. Her late mother left her a 'return-from-death' potion. It has brought her back 100 times. Now it is the last dose — the 101st run.
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The 101st Witch Trial - Episode 6: Not Tears, but Profit — The One-Eyed Emperor's Final Gamble
The corridor of the East Tower was submerged in the darkness before dawn.
The wall sconces remained unlit. No one was there. The cold air stung her skin, clad only in a thin chemise. The chill of the stone floor clung to the soles of her bare feet.
Elritte Cordeas walked with a hand braced against the wall.
(That voice was real.)
The man who had disguised himself as Elzard's page in the third episode. The words whispered as they passed each other echoed again and again in the depths of her ears.
"Tonight, at the East Tower."
That man had been one of the Mercurius Empire's military attachés. He'd said he was a comrade of the diver-spy who had saved her from the moat in her hundredth life.
(I want you to let me meet Emperor Gaius directly.)
She had made that demand.
How much time had passed since then?
Her knee wound ached. Her scraped palms stung. Her throat was parched dry, her lips cracked. Around her ankles, red marks remained from the rope she'd made by tearing her dress.
(Even so.)
Elritte took one step, then another.
Inside her head, a floor plan of the castle spread out. The memories of a hundred lifetimes guided her along the correct path. Which corridor had soldiers, which doors were open. She knew it all.
(The top floor of the East Tower.)
(The Mercurius residence chamber.)
Beyond that door, the Emperor was waiting.
Her heart pounded hard in the depths of her chest. Her fingertips trembled faintly.
(I'm afraid.)
(But I can't stop.)
She bit down on her back teeth.
She had abandoned her father. Marta had betrayed her. Telius had denounced her as a witch, smiling all the while. In this country, she had no allies left.
(That's exactly why.)
(I'll find my way out, outside.)
Elritte gripped the amulet at her chest.
The starburst amulet. Her mother Yulia's keepsake. The silver vial felt cold against her palm.
(Mother, watch over me.)
She raised her face.
Her deep emerald eyes glimmered quietly in the darkness.
Before long, a heavy wooden door came into view at the end of the corridor.
The crest of the Mercurius Empire. A golden eagle grasping the sun. The eagle's eyes seemed to glare at her.
Elritte stood before the door.
She steadied her breathing.
She clenched her trembling hands tight.
(I will not cry.)
(I offer not tears, but profit.)
She knocked on the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
A small but clear sound echoed through the silent corridor.
"Enter."
A low voice.
What she heard from beyond the door was a heavy sound that resonated in the pit of her stomach.
Elritte pushed the door open.
—There was the smell of blood.
The smell of iron. A raw, thick stench.
The room was dim.
Only a few candles burned on the walls. Their flames flickered and swayed, casting eerie, shifting shadows of the objects in the room.
On the floor were numerous black stains.
Old bloodstains.
Several swords hung on the walls. Every one of them was nicked. Blades that had actually cut people, no doubt.
(This room is—)
Elritte caught her breath.
(An interrogation room.)
(Or an execution ground.)
Even so, she did not stop her feet.
At the far end of the room.
A man sat in a large leather chair.
His black hair, mixed with white, was cropped short.
Sharp golden eyes. A piercing gaze that seemed to transfix whoever it looked upon.
An old battle scar ran across his left cheek. When he smiled, that scar twisted.
In his right hand, a wine glass.
The deep crimson liquid caught the candlelight, glistening thickly.
The man stared fixedly at Elritte.
With just that gaze, her body grew heavy as though turned to stone.
(This person is—)
Elritte murmured in her heart.
(The Emperor of the Mercurius Empire, Gaius Mercurius.)
He was a man she had never met once in a hundred lifetimes.
She had heard the rumors.
A cold-blooded schemer. A fearsome conqueror who had brought a third of the continent under his rule.
But seeing him in the flesh, the rumors were lukewarm by comparison.
This man dominated the very air by merely standing there.
An ordinary person would have fallen to their knees and ground their forehead against the floor.
Elritte's legs, too, were trembling.
(I'm afraid.)
(I want to run away right now.)
She scolded herself again and again in her heart.
(But if I run now, it's over.)
(My life ends here.)
She set one foot forward.
"What business does a Permana brat have with Us?"
Gaius's voice echoed through the room.
A low, dignified voice.
Just hearing it sent something cold running down her spine.
Even so, Elritte did not kneel.
She showed no tears, either.
She slowly brought her hand to her chest.
A single sheet of paper, sewn inside her chemise.
She carefully drew it out.
Parchment.
She held the folded document out before Gaius.
"I offer you not tears, but profit."
Her voice did not tremble.
"This is a draft deed transferring all territories and assets of the Cordeas family to the Mercurius Empire."
Gaius looked at the paper in her hand without a word.
His golden eyes narrowed.
"Protecting me will never be a loss for the Empire."
Elritte said, looking straight into Gaius's eyes.
"I know this country's finances better than anyone. The Cordeas family's assets amount to forty percent of Permana's national budget. If they become the Empire's, Permana will be, economically, no different from a vassal state of the Empire."
Her words did not falter.
In a hundred lifetimes, she had looked at this country's numbers over and over again.
As a merchant's daughter, she had read ledgers and learned trade.
That knowledge now became her weapon.
Silence fell over the room.
The candle flames flickered and swayed.
Gaius stared fixedly at Elritte.
No emotion surfaced on his face.
Before long.
"Interesting."
A low laugh echoed from deep in Gaius's throat.
"Interesting. Truly interesting."
He swirled his wine glass.
The deep crimson liquid crawled slowly along the inside of the glass.
"But it's not enough."
Gaius withdrew his laugh and spoke in a cold voice.
"It's not enough reason to protect a mere brat."
Elritte's heart clenched tight.
"The mere transfer of the Cordeas family is not a just cause to move Our armies."
Gaius turned his gaze away from Elritte.
"The fortune of a single merchant house. If We wanted it, We need only send soldiers and take it. There's no value in going so far as to shelter a brat denounced as a witch just to obtain it."
Words that thrust her away.
Elritte's fingertips grew cold.
(As I thought, this alone isn't enough.)
She bit her lip.
(But.)
(I'm not backing down yet.)
Elritte drew a deep breath.
And then she said:
"Then let us add a betrothal to the Fourth Prince, His Highness Paris, as a condition."
Gaius's golden eyes narrowed sharply.
"If I become a subject of the Empire, the Cordeas family's assets will pass to the Empire as a bond through legitimate marriage. The Empire will gain the just cause to dominate this country economically as Permana's largest creditor."
She stepped one pace forward.
"If Permana, ruled by Queen Elzard and Prince Telius, weakens, Mercurius's westward advance becomes all the easier. This is not a mere request for protection. It is a proposal directly tied to the Empire's national interests."
Once again, silence fell over the room.
Gaius looked at Elritte without a word.
That gaze was cold, as though appraising her worth.
Elritte met that gaze head-on.
Her legs trembled.
Her heart pounded like a racing bell.
Even so, she did not look away.
(I will not falter here.)
(I will not waste a hundred lifetimes of despair.)
She told herself this in her heart.
How much time had passed?
The candle flames swayed softly once more.
"Hahahahahaha!"
Suddenly, Gaius burst into loud laughter.
A hearty laugh that resonated from the pit of his stomach.
The scar on his left cheek twisted with each laugh.
"What a gutsy brat!"
He leaned back heavily against the chair's backrest.
"Very well. Your proposal is interesting. We like interesting things."
Something stirred faintly in the depths of Elritte's chest.
(No way.)
"However, there is a condition."
Gaius withdrew his laugh and spoke with a serious expression.
"At the trial, prove that you are not a witch."
Elritte caught her breath.
"If you can prove it, We shall take you as a daughter. As an adopted daughter of the Empire."
Gaius's golden eyes pierced through her.
"Well? Can you do it?"
Elritte bit down on her lip.
Water trial.
The method of a witch trial. Submerge in water—if you float, you're a witch; if you sink, you're innocent.
(If I don't survive, this entire bargain becomes void.)
(If I'm submerged and float up, I'm declared a witch.)
(If I sink, I drown.)
In her hundredth life, she had died at the bottom of that moat, sinking into the cold water.
The sensation of water flooding her lungs. The agony of being unable to breathe. Alone at the dark bottom of the water.
(That terror, once more.)
Her body trembled faintly.
(But.)
Elritte raised her face.
(I have a chance of winning.)
She was remembering.
The man she had met at the bottom of the moat in her hundredth life.
The diver-spy.
A special intelligence operative of the Mercurius Empire. A member of the Shadow Wings, specializing in underwater activity.
The Aqualung.
An underwater breathing apparatus developed by the Empire.
(If I have that.)
(I can survive in the water.)
Elritte bowed her head deeply.
"I will prove it, without fail."
Her voice was unshakable.
"As the Empire's adopted daughter, I will show you results that bring you no shame."
Gaius twisted his lips in satisfaction.
"You pass."
He drained his wine glass in one gulp.
"I've taken a liking to you. Struggle to your heart's content, brat."
—The negotiation was concluded.
Elritte took her leave from Gaius's presence.
She closed the door and stepped into the corridor.
In that instant.
Her knees gave out with a lurch.
She braced a hand against the wall.
(Ah.)
(My legs are laughing.)
She couldn't stand.
Her body trembled violently.
As though the taut thread that had held her together until now had snapped.
She let her back slide down the wall and sank to the floor.
The cold stone floor.
Its chill, conversely, pulled her back to reality.
(I did it.)
(I negotiated with the Emperor.)
(I carved open my own future with my own strength.)
She gripped the amulet at her chest with trembling hands.
The starburst amulet.
Her mother's keepsake.
The silver vial felt cool against her palm.
(Mother.)
(I've finally made it this far.)
Tears welled up.
But she did not cry.
(It's not over yet.)
(The trial still remains.)
Elritte bit down on her back teeth.
She thought of her father.
Her father, being whipped in the underground cell.
(Father is still in that cell.)
(Being tortured by Gunther.)
She bit her lip.
(If I go to save Father, everything collapses.)
(The escape, the bargain, all of it.)
She had already made the choice to abandon her father by her own will.
Even so.
(Forgive me.)
(Forgive me, Father.)
She apologized again and again in her heart.
Tears threatened to spill.
She wiped her eyes roughly with her sleeve.
(I will not cry.)
(I'll cry after everything is over.)
Elritte braced a hand against the wall and slowly stood up.
Her legs were still trembling.
But she had to stand.
(A few more hours until dawn.)
(A few more hours until the trial.)
She walked over to the window of the East Tower.
Outside was still dark.
The eastern sky had just barely begun to pale.
(Dawn is almost here.)
Elritte looked outside the window.
Below spread the streets of Luminas.
Streets radiating outward from the white chalk royal castle at the center.
In the distance, the deep moat surrounding the royal castle.
(I will dive into that moat.)
She struck her right arm three times.
Tap, tap, tap.
A prearranged signal.
When she stood at the edge of the moat, she would show this gesture to the diver.
(That way, he'll
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