Read Novel Full Chapter 467: Finally The Truth
Chapter 467: Finally The Truth
Selena stepped onto the high platform and quietly let out a breath she did not realize she had been holding. Her hands remained folded before her, calm on the outside, but her mind was somewhere far away. She lifted her eyes and looked across the Grand Plaza below.
Thousands upon thousands of people stared back at her.
The moment she appeared properly on the platform, the crowd that had remained restrained suddenly began stirring again. Whispers spread through the plaza like waves moving across water.
Voices raising one after another as people leaned toward each other, exchanging hurried words and guesses. Nobles quietly discussed among themselves while commoners stretched their necks trying to get a better view.
"SILENCE!"
A Platinum Holy Knight suddenly struck the end of his spear heavily against the platform floor.
Bang!
The sound echoed through the entire Grand Plaza.
His powerful voice followed immediately after, carrying far beyond what seemed possible.
"Behave yourselves. You stand in the presence of Her Holiness."
The effect was immediate.
The crowd instantly fell silent.
No hesitation.
No complaints
No resistance.
Nobles, merchants, church believers, commoners everyone lowered their voices at once. It became so quiet that the earlier noise almost felt like an illusion.
No one dared to step beyond the command of a Platinum Holy Knight.
Some even unconsciously straightened their backs. Others lowered their heads slightly. A few people looked tense enough that they did not even dare breathe too loudly, afraid of drawing attention to themselves.
The Platinum Knight did not react further. His duty had already been fulfilled.
He simply turned back toward Selena, placed a fist respectfully over his chest and bowed slightly before moving toward the far side of the platform, standing silently at guard once more.
Silence returned completely.
But Selena barely noticed any of it.
Her thoughts were still elsewhere.
"Your Grace...?"
A soft voice reached her ears.
Selena slowly turned her head.
Beside her stood Nyla.
The young woman wore pristine white cleric robes, untouched and neat despite the crowd and commotion. Her pink-framed glasses reflected faint light as she nervously adjusted them with one hand.
Worry was clear on her face.
Real worry.
"Your Grace... please tell me if something happened." Nyla lowered her voice so only Selena could hear. "I am your personal holy attendant. If there is anything troubling you, you can speak to me."
She hesitated briefly before continuing.
"Forgive me for stepping out of my place, but... I am worried about you."
Nyla looked at Selena carefully.
"For the last few weeks you’ve barely spoken to anyone. You haven’t allowed people to attend you properly, and you refused to meet almost everyone." Her brows knitted together. "And now suddenly... this gathering..." She looked toward the endless crowd below before looking back at Selena. "Please tell me what this is about, Your Grace."
She was trying very hard not to sound as though she were questioning Selena.
But she could not help it.
She had gone beyond worry already.
Stress, confusion, fear everything had piled up together.
Selena quietly looked back at her.
Those beautiful eyes held something complicated inside them.
Sadness.
Guilt.
Hesitation.
Maybe regret.
Because Selena knew something Nyla did not.
After today... things would change.
People would begin seeing her differently.
No
Not differently.
For the first time, they would see the real her.
The image they held of the Saintess... the perfect person everyone admired and worshipped... that image would crack.
And maybe after that... People would hate her.
Selena lowered her eyes slightly.
She had not told Nyla because she already knew exactly what would happen if she did.
Nyla was Nyla.
Kind, loyal and stubborn.
She would never allow it.
She would immediately inform the Platinum Knights and the Church. And the Church itself would never allow such a thing to happen.
Never.
The Saintess was not just a person.
She was the face of the Church.
A symbol of faith itself.
They would never allow dirt to stain that image before the masses.
Selena looked at Nyla quietly before speaking softly.
"Sorry, Nyla... but I have to do this."
Nyla blinked.
"What...?" she asked, becoming even more confused. "Do what, Your Grace?"
She looked at Selena, trying to understand what those words meant.
But before she could ask further
A figure suddenly descended gently from the sky behind her.
Her long platinum hair moving gently beneath the wind.
"So let’s do this..." Celestia murmured softly as she descended from the air and landed upon the platform.
The moment her feet touched the marble floor, a faint wave of air spread outward and her long platinum hair settled behind her shoulders.
Her eyes immediately moved toward Selena.
She looked different today.
Very different.
The coldness that usually sat within her gaze was gone. That distant, prideful expression she always carried had disappeared somewhere along the way. Even the confusion and conflict that had followed her these last days seemed absent now.
There was only clarity left.
And sadness.
A quiet sadness.
Selena looked at her for several seconds before slowly nodding.
Her lips pressed together tightly.
A small smile appeared on her face.
A difficult smile.
One that looked more painful than happy.
"I thought you wouldn’t come," Selena said after several moments, her voice soft.
Celestia heard her words and remained silent.
For a few seconds she simply looked back at Selena, saying nothing.
Then finally
"I..." she started softly before stopping briefly. "It took a slap to my face to wake me up.."
Quiet enough that only the few standing around them could hear.
Her eyes slowly lifted again.
"To understand what things really matter."
The wind moved gently through her hair.
"I am awake now."
Her voice sounded calm.
But the sadness beneath it remained there.
Clear.
Selena stared at her
For a few moments she said nothing.
Her golden eyes reflected Celestia’s face quietly.
The Celestia she had always known looked cold, Prideful distant
A woman who always looked as if she cared only for herself and no one else.
As if emotions and attachments were unnecessary burdens.
But today
Today that face looked different.
There was heaviness there.
Pain regret.. And something softer hidden beneath all of it.
Slowly Selena began walking toward her.
One step.
Then another.
Until she stood directly before her.
She gently reached out and held Celestia’s hand.
Her fingers slowly tightened around it.
"Let’s do this..."
Her voice softened.
"...together."
Her eyes carried sadness.
And something else.
Regret.
As if wishing they had reached this point much sooner.
As if wishing none of this had taken so long.
Celestia looked down at their joined hands.
Her eyes trembled slightly.
But she did not pull away.
Meanwhile, a few steps away
"S-slap...?"
Nyla muttered under her breath her eyes widened behind her pink-framed glasses.
Did... did she hear that correctly?
The Imperial Princess said... she got slapped?
Nyla slowly turned her head toward Celestia.
Very slowly.
Like some old machine forcing itself to move.
Her mind had already become a complete mess.
But just as she turned
Celestia, who had still been looking at Selena with a small sad smile, moved only her eyes toward Nyla without even turning her face.
Their eyes met.
Nyla instantly froze.
Her entire body stiffened.
Cold sweat almost immediately formed on her back.
"A-apologies!"
She bowed so quickly it almost looked painful her body trembled slightly as she lowered her head.
She immediately stepped backward after speaking, swallowing every bit of curiosity and shock back into her throat.
No.
Absolutely not.
She wanted no involvement with whatever she had just heard.
None at all.
Not with this woman.
Definitely not with this woman.
Meanwhile Selena and Celestia simply walked toward the front edge of the platform together.
Below them stretched an endless sea of people.
Thousands of eyes stared back at them.
The entire Grand Plaza remained silent.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
Everyone was waiting.
Waiting for them to finally explain why they had gathered the entire empire here.
Selena and Celestia stood side by side at the edge of the platform, looking over the crowd as people held their breaths in anticipation.
Then Selena slowly opened her mouth.
"Today..." Her soft voice spread across the Grand Plaza, carried by magic to every corner of the enormous gathering. Beneath the long sleeves of her robes, her hands had unknowingly tightened into fists.
"Both of us called everyone here because there is something that should have been said a long time ago."
Her voice remained gentle, as it always was, but there was something beneath it now.
A slight tremble.
A hesitation.
Something many people had never heard from the Saintess before.
Beside her, Celestia slowly stepped forward.
The movement itself immediately drew attention.
The Imperial Princess stood beside the Saintess and looked over the endless crowd below. Thousands upon thousands of eyes stared back at her.
Normally she would not care.
Normally she would not even bother looking twice.
People looking at her, praising her, fearing her it had never mattered.
But today felt strange.
Today those eyes felt heavier than they ever had before.
Her expression remained calm, though the usual coldness within her eyes was gone.
"First..." she said quietly, "Thank you for coming."
No one spoke.
No one dared interrupt.
Even the restless children who had been whispering earlier had gone silent.
"We know many of you are confused."
"We know many of you are wondering why such a gathering was suddenly called."
Her eyes slowly moved across the crowd.
Nobles.
Church believers.
Commoners.
Knights.
Families.
People from every part of the empire.
"And the answer is simple."
She paused.
For a brief moment her lips pressed together.
"We are here because we lied."
....
Silence.
Complete silence.
The words seemed to settle over the plaza without anyone understanding them immediately.
Many people simply stared.
Some blinked.
Some thought they had heard incorrectly.
Even Nyla froze behind them.
Her eyes widened behind her glasses as she stared at Selena and Celestia’s backs.
Lied?
Several Platinum Holy Knights standing guard frowned slightly beneath their helmets.
Their grips unconsciously tightened around their weapons.
Some nobles exchanged confused glances.
A few church elders frowned deeply.
Nobody understood.
Not yet.
Celestia lowered her eyes slightly.
"The truth we are about to speak..." she continued quietly, "...is regarding someone all of you know."
At those words, the attention of the crowd sharpened instantly.
Someone everyone knew?
People slowly began looking toward one another.
Small whispers almost threatened to start before dying immediately under the pressure of the atmosphere
Some people looked confused.
Some began guessing silently.
Some had already started feeling uneasy without knowing why.
Then Celestia spoke again.
"Someone all of you hate dearly."
Her voice remained calm.
"Someone all of you look at with disgust."
"Someone hated and loathed throughout the entire empire... because of us."
"Someone who was looked by disgust even by his own family.. because of us.."
"Kicked out of his own family.. Because of us"
This time visible reactions finally appeared.
Brows furrowed.
Eyes widened.
Even some nobles looked at one another with uncertainty.
Because suddenly...
There were not many people who fit that description.
Several names briefly passed through people’s minds.
Then they slowly disappeared.
Only one remained.
No...
People immediately rejected the thought.
It could not be him.
Lied about him?
No way.
No one said it aloud.
No one wanted to be the first.
Then
"The person called Razeal."
Instantly
Expressions changed.
Some frowned deeply.
Some narrowed their eyes.
Some looked genuinely confused.
Others simply stared at the platform.
Shock slowly spread through the crowd.
Because nobody had expected that name.
People stared at in silence.
Not to say what lie about him? Many had already formed guesses the moment Razeal’s name was spoken, but almost immediately they shook their heads.
No way.
No... that could not be what they were thinking.
Some looked toward one another with uncertainty. Others frowned deeply, trying to understand where all of this was leading. The nobles standing near the front had already begun exchanging quiet glances, while many church believers simply stood there with stiff expressions.
Celestia quietly lowered her gaze toward her own hands.
For the first time in a very long time...
She felt uncomfortable standing before so many people.
Not because of fear.
Not because she cared about their opinions.
But because today she stood before them without titles, without status, without the pride she had always hidden behind.
Just herself.
"...Years ago," she continued, her voice carrying across the Grand Plaza, "...During the hearing in the Imperial Court..."
Several people straightened slightly.
The Imperial Court.
Everyone knew what hearing she was referring to.
"...I declared him guilty."
Her expression did not change.
"...And everyone trusted my judgment and believed it."
Her voice remained steady.
Because they had.
No one had questioned her.
No one had doubted her.
She had been the Imperial Princess the empire’s pride, a genius blessed by fate itself.
Who would dare question her words?
But today...
Today she reveal it.
Celestia slowly raised her eyes and looked across the countless faces below her.
She could already see the changes happening.
Confusion.
Disbelief.
Uneasiness.
People were beginning to think of something they desperately did not want to believe.
"But today..." she said quietly, "...I will tell the truth."
Silence fell even deeper.
Then
"I lied."
Nothing happened.
Not immediately.
No gasps.
No shouting.
No movement.
Because people had stopped understanding what they were hearing.
The words entered their ears.
But their minds refused to accept them.
Even the crowd itself looked frozen.
Celestia slowly raised her eyes.
"The truth is..." she said quietly, "...I wanted to break my engagement with him."
Her voice had grown softer now.
"I liked him..." she admitted after a pause. "I think... maybe I even loved him.. I don’t know."
Her eyes lowered slightly.
"But the truth is he was weak and that was a fact."
The words felt heavier this time.
"And back then... I didn’t like that fact."
"I deemed him unworthy of standing beside someone like me."
She gave a faint breath.
"I thought the decision I made in childhood... to marry him... was wrong."
"I was confused."
Her fingers slowly moved against each other.
"I avoided him because I wanted distance."
Another pause.
"I found him annoying."
Then a small bitter smile appeared on her face.
A smile directed toward herself.
"...No."
She shook her head slightly.
"Maybe that isn’t true."
"Maybe I simply never bothered trying to understand him."
Her eyes reflected a quiet sadness now.
"I loathed him because of his weakness."
"Because he had no talent."
"Because he wasn’t standing at the same height as me.. Because he wasn’t worthy of me."
Below the platform, several people unconsciously lowered their eyes.
Because those thoughts...
Those ugly thoughts...
Many of them had shared them too.
Celestia slowly looked ahead again.
"And I wanted freedom."
"But our marriage had been arranged by my mother... Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress."
"I didn’t want to go against her."
"So I chose another path."
Her voice remained calm, but her fingers had slowly curled into her palms.
"I was selfish."
"And for that i didn even gave him the smallest amount of respect anyone should deserve at Veryyy least."
"...Not even that."
Silence covered the Grand Plaza.
Then after a few seconds
"...I chose the easiest path."
And finally she said it.
"I used him."
——