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Chapter: 16
When Sieta tried to take Rashita out of the temple, she was met with strong opposition, and she didn’t bother hiding her disbelief as she scanned the priests.
She clicked her tongue and muttered under her breath.
“Huh… look at these guys.”
They wouldn’t even treat her properly, yet they opposed taking Rashita out of the temple.
“This is ridiculous, really.”
Did they hate the idea of a princess interfering with the priests so much? Sure, that was possible.
But if they didn’t like it, they could at least do their job properly.
They couldn’t even use their sacred powers correctly, yet they freely exploited an ignorant child…
Now that Sieta wanted to take Rashita with her, they were stubbornly opposing it. That attitude was more than frustrating.
If they wanted to use a child for their purposes, they could at least treat her decently.
Corrupt as they were, doing nothing properly, yet leaping at the idea of anyone interfering with their authority—it was infuriating.
Sieta was so incredulous that she nearly scoffed, but managed to hold back.
They didn’t treat her properly and scolded her constantly, yet they opposed her taking Rashita under better conditions?
It meant they just wanted Rashita to crawl under their authority, forcibly using only healing or defense magic.
It was outright thievery.
No wonder the original Rashita had overhauled the priests under the pretext of temple reform.
“She cut off the heads of the corrupt ones, didn’t she?”
In reality, most priests didn’t actually possess true sacred power, so Rashita’s reasoning was accepted as valid.
“They were exploiting an eight-year-old like a slave and not even giving her proper clothes. And yet…”
Right now, Sieta was trying to prevent Rashita from being subjected to that.
And Sieta, unable to hold back any longer, finally spoke up.
“Uncles.”
She just blurted it out.
Not “priests,” but “uncles.”
For the priests, it was an extremely insulting tone.
“No matter that you are a princess, Your Highness, such rudeness cannot be tolerated.”
Yes. The priests were correct.
Secular and divine powers were strictly separated, and had long been in conflict to protect their respective rights.
Rashita, startled by Sieta’s boldness, struggled to catch her breath.
Sieta, meanwhile, firmly held Rashita’s trembling hand once again.
“Since ‘uncle’ is correct, then ‘uncle’ it is.”
She responded brazenly.
Enraged, the priests spat and shouted.
“This must be reported to His Majesty the Emperor! Even a young princess, whose succession is not yet confirmed, threatening priests so recklessly!”
It was a fair point.
Even though Sieta was the sole royal child and had captured the Blue Tiger, Rosiate had still been ambiguous in its stance toward her.
“His Majesty the Emperor will not look upon this favorably either!”
Despite the oppressive nature of their warning—enough to intimidate any child—Sieta remained utterly confident as she spoke.
“I just realized something about you all.”
From her blunt, rude, and insolent tone, she added,
“You can’t use your sacred powers, can you?”
Vicente showed a flicker of surprise at that observation.
The temple fell silent at the princess’s bombshell statement.
One priest, regaining his composure, spoke calmly.
“No matter that you are a princess, do you think you can get away with such nonsense?”
As he spoke, some priests glared at Rashita.
They seemed to have misjudged that Rashita had revealed their inability to wield sacred power.
Sieta, however, didn’t care, responding coolly.
“Is that so?”
Despite the pressure from several priests, Sieta remained unfazed. She continued,
“Then it’s fine if we conduct a sacred power test…”
It suddenly dawned on them.
The Sieta von Ariache before them was no ordinary child. At the age of six, she had captured the Blue Tiger—a feat only the legendary records had recognized as extraordinary.
When they first heard this, they thought Rosiate’s move was a desperate attempt to curb the temple priests’ power.
But when they saw the sacred beast confined in the cage, they realized their mistake.
Now fully aware, they found themselves discussing not Rashita’s treatment, but whether the priests could even wield sacred power.
This was entirely thanks to Sieta.
“Your Holiness the Pope! The princess is, after all, your bloodline.”
Somehow, they hoped the Pope would restrain their daughter.
Though the address was impolite, the kind-hearted Pope didn’t ignore it.
“And on what grounds would you prevent her?”
Even the other priests fell silent at that retort.
Even if Sieta was Vicente’s daughter, she belonged to the royal family.
Moreover, she had independently captured the Blue Tiger, proving her legitimacy.
Taking a capable child able to freely use sacred power, without restriction, would be a clear injustice.
Yet the priests also understood why Vicente would not intervene recklessly.
“If the Pope interferes here…”
It would draw the Emperor into the matter.
Ordinary people would dismiss Sieta’s childish words and scold her for disrespecting the temple.
But the princess before them was extraordinary.
Even the priests who had seen her briefly realized it. The Emperor, who had observed Sieta longer, would certainly know.
Therefore, Sieta’s argument was enough—at least to make Rosiate doubt the priests’ sacred powers.
Furthermore, if she insisted the priests had no sacred power, they might reluctantly conduct a sacred power test just to humor her.
If true, great. If not, they could simply scold the young princess’s whims.
Either way, it benefited Rosiate.
While the priests were stunned, Vicente smiled at his daughter.
“You’re just saying that, but aren’t you already convinced?”
With those words, he gently added,
“Our daughter, Sieta.”
With love in his tone, he spoke her name.
Hearing words that seemed to affirm Sieta’s confidence, the priests almost bristled but realized something.
They had only been thinking of Rosiate’s advantage.
Perhaps Sieta herself did not wish to report this to the Emperor.
Were they right to think so?
“But our daughter… seems unwilling to turn mere conjecture into certainty.”
He smiled as he spoke.
“Yes! Just think of it as conjecture. Nothing has been confirmed, right?”
Then she boldly added,
“Even her very existence.”
The audacity and sharpness of her statement finally made the priests realize.
They didn’t know where the information had leaked from.
But Princess Sieta already knew that Rashita before them was not officially registered in the temple.
She had cunningly calculated that no formal complaint could be made.
Perhaps sensing that the priests had realized this, Princess Sieta said,
“Now, I feel like we can actually communicate.”
A cold smile curved her lips.
“The negotiations are over, right? Yay, let’s play!”
She laughed brightly, as if she had never been serious, and pulled Rashita by the arm.
Though her young age caused her pronunciation to falter, no one present dared to underestimate her.
Using what she had wisely to get what she wanted.
At just six years old, she was already manipulating the surrounding power structures for her own benefit.
The priests shivered at her audacity but could not help thinking, every time they saw her…
“She truly is the Emperor’s daughter.”
