Chapter 281: Interpretation (2)
The Imperial Palace held a greater contrast between day and night than even the desert of the Scarletborn. Before sunset, it was always bright and clear, filled with life. A warm breeze blew through the air as if to greet its guests, brushing against the skin, while streams and ponds sang with the dignity of royalty.
However, once the sun had set, a foreboding darkness blanketed the palace grounds more completely than anywhere else. The air, once warm and welcoming, turned cold, biting at the skin like polished steel. Even the garden, once serene, grew tense—its silence vigilant, as if guarding against unseen intruders.
Even on such an unforgiving night in the Imperial Palace, Ria remained caught in Deculein’s Telekinesis and his suspicious look, which never left her, and she had no one to blame but herself for blurting out the Holy Language in a panic, without reason or context.
“Let me ask you once more—how could someone like you possibly know the Holy Language?” Deculein inquired.
Deculein’s question dripped with contempt, perhaps because Ria stood out in neither class, rank, status, nor house. But even so, she didn’t shrink back—in fact, in terms of physical power, she was stronger than Deculein.
“... I’ve been to the Sanctuary of the Altar before,” Ria said, as if trying to explain herself.
“And you’re saying you learned the Holy Language there?” Deculein replied, his eyes as piercing as ever.
Ria remained silent.
“Even you must realize how absurd that sounds. The Altar has spent years searching for the Holy Language. They’ve never possessed it,” Deculein continued with a sneer.
Ria’s mouth went completely dry as Deculein’s crushing blue eyes drilled straight through her skull, the weight of his stare too much to bear, and silently she lowered her head.
Thud—!