"Empress, I am Saintess Xul, the official Saintess of the Aquilonis Kingdom," the woman introduced herself with a saccharine smile as she addressed Ceres.
"We understand that you may not comprehend why we needed to perform the blood sacrifice. But whether you believe it or not, we did it with the well-being of the entire kingdom in mind."
Her smile widened when Ceres remained silent, listening with an unreadable expression.
"And we also understand why you cannot see things from our perspective… You may be the Empress, but you have never attended the Court. You have remained secluded in your palace. You have no experience in ruling people. That is why we wished to speak with you—"
"Oh my god!" Ceres suddenly interrupted, her tone laced with exasperation. "You really have a very irritating voice."
Gasps echoed across the table. The officials were frozen in shock. Even Saintess Xul looked momentarily stunned, her lips parting in disbelief.
Ceres turned to Delphine, her expression dead serious.
"You were wrong," she stated, making her personal maid frown in confusion.
"Wrong about what, Your Highness?" Delphine asked hesitantly.
Ceres sighed. "I don't want to slap her."
Delphine blinked. "You don't?"
"No," Ceres deadpanned. "I want to cut off her tongue instead, just to make sure she never speaks again."
"Your Highness!" Delphine gasped, scandalized.
Legion smirked in amusement, but Seiryu? He burst into laughter.
Ceres immediately shot him a sharp glare. "What the hell is so funny, Lizard?"
"Nothing, Your Highness," Seiryu managed to say between restrained chuckles, clearly struggling to keep his laughter in check.
Ceres returned her gaze to Saintess Xul, completely unfazed.
"Sorry for cutting you off," she said with a dismissive wave. "But please, continue."
She gestured for Xul to proceed as if she hadn't just insulted her to her face.
Xul took a shaky breath, forcing a composed expression. "As I was saying, we wanted to talk to you—"
"You know what?" Ceres cut in again. "Actually, just stop talking."
Xul stiffened, her hands clenching under the table.
"Can someone else tell me whatever it is you all want to say?" Ceres sighed dramatically. "I cannot focus on her words because her voice is too distracting. All I hear is the croaking sound of a frog."
Her expression remained completely serious.
Seiryu coughed into his fist, barely containing his laughter.
"Empress," Duke Aurelian finally spoke, his voice carrying a reprimanding tone.
"If you do not wish to listen to what the Saintess has to say, then just say so. But there is no need to insult her like this. She is still a Saintess. Show her some respect."
Ceres arched a brow, turning to him.
"You think I'm disrespecting her?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.
"Am I the only one hearing how awful her voice is?" She looked around the table, her gaze sharp as she studied their reactions. "Is there something wrong with my ears?"
"No, Your Highness," Seiryu replied way too cheerfully from behind her.
"That is the sound of her voice. However…" His lips twitched with amusement. "They don't understand what a frog sounds like. The North has no frogs."
The Knight Commanders exchanged uneasy glances.
"But there is another reason why they cannot hear what you hear," Seiryu added meaningfully.
Ceres's gaze flickered back to Xul, a knowing smirk forming on her lips.
"I already know that, Lizard," she said.
"Because right now, the Saintess is using her Charmed Conviction."
A horrified gasp escaped Xul's lips.
No one was supposed to know about her ability.
Ceres's smirk widened as she turned back to Aurelian, her piercing gaze never wavering.
"Did you order the Saintess to use her Charmed Conviction on me, hoping I'd blindly believe whatever bullshit was coming out of her mouth?"
"Charmed Conviction?" Aurelian repeated, his expression twisting in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"What?" Ceres feigned surprise. "Don't tell me you had no idea that your precious Saintess possesses a Charming ability?"
Aurelian's brows furrowed while Xul paled, her fingers gripping the edge of the table.
"Empress, I don't know what you mean," Xul said, but her voice lacked its previous confidence. A fragile smile played on her lips, but the slight tremble in her expression betrayed her anxiety.
Ceres tilted her head. "Oh? So you're saying I'm lying?"
She turned to Seiryu, her gaze never leaving Xul.
"Am I lying, Lizard?"
"No, Your Highness," Seiryu answered smoothly. "The Saintess does, in fact, possess the Charmed Conviction ability."
Ceres raised a brow at Xul, who now looked like a cornered prey.
"It's an ability, isn't it? A gift from the Celestials," Ceres mused. "So why are you denying you have it?"
Then, as if she had just realized something, she gasped dramatically, covering her mouth with both hands.
"Ah!" she exclaimed. "By any chance, Saintess, is it that kind of ability?"
Xul clenched her jaw, refusing to answer.
Seiryu, playing along, asked curiously, "What kind of ability are you talking about, Your Highness?"
"The kind that doesn't work if the person you're using it on already knows that you have it."
Xul's face drained of color as she quickly glanced at Aurelian.
"Your Majesty, I… I don't know what ability the Empress is referring to," she said, trying to sound composed.
But the moment she spoke, the people around the table stiffened.
Her voice, it was different.
Gone was the sweet, melodic tone that once lulled them into compliance. Instead, her words now carried a rough, grating edge, sharp and irritating.
"I don't know why—"
"Stop talking!" Aurelian's voice thundered across the tent.
Xul flinched, eyes widening in panic.
"Have you been using that ability on us, on me, this entire time?" Aurelian's tone was dangerous, his piercing gaze filled with betrayal.
Xul's entire body trembled as her complexion turned ghostly white.
Even Celion had murder in his eyes. He had always taken pride in his mental fortitude, believing himself immune to mind-control spells or manipulative magic. Yet, the realization hit him hard, he had been deceived all along.
Just when the tension in the room became suffocating, Ceres's voice broke through, her tone light and almost… comforting?
"Duke," she said smoothly, "you don't have to yell at her."
Everyone turned to her, startled by her unexpected words.
She shifted her gaze to Xul, and to everyone's surprise, her expression was filled with… pity.
"I'm sorry, Saintess," Ceres said, sighing regretfully. "I didn't know."
Xul blinked, confused.
"But don't worry," Ceres continued, her voice as soft as silk. "There's no need for you to be anxious. I won't tell anyone that the only reason you were declared the official Saintess of Aquilonis, despite only having a mediocre Light Magic Affinity, which limits your healing abilities to minor wounds, was because you used Charmed Conviction on the High Priest of the Holy Church of Solmara… I promise."
Xul's entire world collapsed.
The tent fell into a stunned silence.
And then, Seiryu burst into laughter.
"There is nothing funny here, Lizard!" Ceres snapped at him.
"Of course not, Your Highness," Seiryu choked out between barely restrained chuckles.
"Your Highness…" Delphine's hesitant voice cut in, genuine concern lacing her tone.
Ceres turned to her maid with a questioning look. "What?"
Delphine winced, glancing nervously at the high-ranking officials seated around the table.
"You just… broke a promise," Delphine murmured, pressing her lips together.
Ceres blinked.
Then, as if just now realizing it, Ceres turned back to the others, her eyes widening in mock horror.
She gasped. "Oh no!" she said dramatically. "I didn't mean to break my promise."
"I don't think that was a valid promise, Your Highness," Seiryu chuckled, still laughing behind her.
"Are you sure?" Ceres asked, tilting her head.
"Yes," Seiryu smirked. "After all, you broke it before even saying the word 'promise.'"
He laughed even harder, unable to contain himself. Even Legion, usually composed, allowed the corners of his lips to twitch in quiet amusement as he stood beside Delphine.
Ceres exhaled dramatically, placing a hand over her chest as if relieved.
"Thank goodness. Because I was just about to say, 'The Celestials can strike me dead if I break it.'"
A heavy silence settled over the table.
Aside from Seiryu's barely suppressed laughter, no one dared to say a word.
The weight of what had just been revealed, how their Saintess had played them for fools, was beginning to sink in.
Ceres turned her gaze back to Xul, her mocking smirk deepening.
She was no longer feigning innocence.
Her smile now carried the same icy amusement that had once infuriated and terrified her enemies in her first life back on Earth.
"Let me guess your plan, Saintess," she said, her voice deceptively soft, her eyes gleaming with danger.
"You spoke first, offering to 'explain' things to me, because you planned to use your Charm, didn't you?"
Xul's breath hitched.
"You wanted me to submit to your will, and by extension, control the Holy Beast, Seiryu," Ceres continued, eyes sharp as daggers. "By insinuating that I lack experience, because I never attended Court, because I have only stayed in my palace, you wanted to paint yourself as someone I need to rely on."
Xul sat frozen, unable to deny it.
Ceres smirked, taking a slow step forward, her presence suffocating.
"When other kingdoms hear about how the Saintess of Aquilonis has a strong influence over the Empress who currently owns a Holy Beast, they would surely be in awe of you."
Ceres tilted her head, her voice now dripping with mockery.
"And the fact that you can only perform weak, insignificant healing magic will no longer matter, because, hey, you have a Holy Beast."
Xul did not speak.
She couldn't.
Because that was exactly what she had planned, yet no one else at the table had known about it.
"You must be thinking right now," Ceres went on smoothly, "that I only saw through your Charm because of Seiryu."
Xul's fingers clenched into fists beneath the table.
"But you're wrong," Ceres smirked, taking another step toward her.
"Before I even called you a bitch earlier, during the chaos of your blood ritual, I already knew about your abilities. Or rather… your lack of them."
Xul sucked in a sharp breath, her whole body stiffening.
Ceres kept walking, slowly, deliberately, until she was standing beside Xul's chair.
"You see," Ceres murmured, her tone deceptively light, "I don't need Seiryu."
She leaned in slightly, her fingers reaching out to grasp Xul's chin, forcing the Saintess to look directly into her eyes.
"And I wasn't lying when I offered him to the family of the Knight Commander who would sacrifice himself, " Her grip tightened slightly, making Xul's breath hitch. "because he truly is useless to me."
Xul shuddered, her pulse hammering in her throat.
Ceres's smirk widened.
"Your pathetic Charm doesn't work on me," she whispered, "because I already know about it."
Then, she tilted her head slightly, as if contemplating something.
"But I," she said smoothly, "have a similar ability."
Xul's eyes widened.
Ceres let go of her, stepping back casually.
"It's called Silver Tongue."
A heavy silence fell upon the room.
"Whatever I say with intent, will happen."
Gasps echoed around the table.
"And unlike you," Ceres added, her smirk deepening, "I don't have to hide my ability."
Xul visibly paled.
"I can yell it to the world and it would still work."
Ceres turned her gaze to High Court Magician Celion.
The moment their eyes met, his breath hitched.
Ceres smiled.
"Make sure you strengthen your immunity against mind control, High Court Magician," she said, her tone eerily calm.
"Because I'm going to tell you to stab the Saintess, with Lady Layla's sword."