☀️ Arselia and Akonia

– Now, tell me, why him, and not the countless other followers of various sects, did you consider a threat and a dagger pointed at our backs? Is he truly the only one in Margel? I find that hard to believe.

– ...Erephir, in your attempts to defend your betrothed, you seem to be deliberately trying to reach the bottom and then break through it. Otherwise, such childish arguments coming from an adult cannot be explained. The answer is simple – because the enemy is right in front of my eyes. It's like catching a criminal preparing to attack the Empress, and I justify him by saying that there are many others in the country who are dissatisfied with her for one reason or another.

And tell me, did I not try hard enough in that battle, is that why you lost faith in me? A real crisis was unfolding before your eyes, and although I didn't single-handedly overcome the singularity, it seems I didn't deserve your skepticism.

– Firstly, the ability to wield a sword and command people in no way justifies your shortsightedness, naivety, and favoritism. Secondly, this battle, to put it simply, was "meaningless" – even if we had all perished there, it would not have had any impact on our planet. The existence of heretics is far more dangerous to Anuzish than the whims of natural entities.

– If even this doesn't convince you, I'll say this: I know for sure that the time is not far off when the celestial threat can be almost completely disregarded, – she said more quietly. – And this breach in the defense will be eliminated, just as Patriarch Eugene, by appealing to Anuzish, prevented the Rinzeite curses from taking effect.

– Great! Let's write a petition to the imperial government to pardon every criminal, simply because there will be a time when these people will die and the threat from them will no longer need to be feared. Nonsense, absurdity, utter rubbish!

– You are also free to consult with someone about this, if my authority, or even the authority of the princess, is not enough...

– I don't need your permission. Matters of the Church are outside your or the princess's jurisdiction, that's one; right now, by covering up a heretic, you are acting against the interests of Carneol himself, that's two.