Chapter 27: Forming an Alliance
After the four of them had eaten, drunk, and rested for a bit, Eirya continued with the topic from before.
“I imagine that everyone in our class—not just me, Elise, and Wendymia, but the other six students as well—are all just pawns, thrown out to the Papal State as a supposed checkmate in the struggles between our royal families.”
The ice dragon princess’s words were as sharp as ever.
“But those old fools and their descendants, they think this is a victory. How stupid. Preserving our bloodlines was just a story the Pope made up to placate those old royals. In essence, it was just for the sake of forming an alliance. And as for us, while we all look like some of the strongest heirs, with direct bloodlines, aside from Wendymia, this Crown Princess, I don’t believe our royal families truly take us seriously.”
At this, everyone understood what Eirya meant.
On the surface, every student in Class 2-1 was a princess from a various kingdom, their status noble and respected. But in reality? It was all just a game played by political schemers, a well-staged performance. They had driven out the people they didn’t need so that the heirs those old folks supported could inherit the throne.
Perhaps long ago, when the Goddess of Light herself resided within the Holy Light Kingdom, high-ranking demons and yeling (Night Spirits) were indeed forbidden from entering. But who was Asier? Judging by the fact that Yier Meng, a high-ranking demon, could wake up in a church, it simply wouldn’t be Asier if she wasn’t stirring up trouble.
“However, our Ice Dragon clan is not to be trifled with. Since those old fools can reach an agreement, I naturally have my own methods.”
A mocking curve formed on her lips. It seemed that, just as Eirya had said, unlike the others who had no room to choose whether to come or not, Eirya had actively chosen to be here. Even if it wasn’t entirely of her own free will, after weighing her options, this was the best judgment she could make for herself.
So, she just gave a derisive laugh and continued to seriously analyze her findings, laying them out piece by piece for the other three to hear.
“I think that, aside from me, the princess of the Ice Dragon clan, the old royals of the other nations, out of fear of the current Pope, figured that simply placing a princess of direct lineage into the Holy Light Kingdom to study would be enough to avoid being targeted by such a terrifying woman. It was undoubtedly a worthwhile trade.”
“After all, just as our dragon race has seven clans, these great and powerful nations don’t just have a single heir of direct lineage. The word ‘princess’ doesn’t carry that much weight in some countries. Because their existence isn’t like that of the Holy Light Kingdom or the Kingdom of Alicia, where only a female can inherit the papal or royal throne.”
“If you place us on a political chessboard, we, the nominal heirs, are actually hostages, used to guard against suspicion. We are pawns that can be sacrificed at a critical moment.”
With a clear-headed person like Eirya here to analyze things, although Yier Meng still hadn’t had a proper talk with Asier, her situation was much clearer now than when she had first woken up, completely in the dark.
This was more about her class, and she still had questions about her former identity as Yueshen Guang, why she was killed, and how many were involved in her betrayal. But at the very least, she now not only understood why Asier wanted her to be a teacher at the Holy Light Academy, but she also knew that her students were here because of an agreement reached between their respective royal families and the Pope herself.
