DRAGONBORN SORCERER-Chapter 33: Sin Of Royalty: Shrouded By Guilt [R18]
The revolutionaries were not easy to subdue, even with the church backed by Leonardo and his cadre of elite adventurers. Their numbers were overwhelming, and their conviction was unshakable.
Most of them were ordinary citizens— farmers, merchants, blacksmiths, and beggars, people who had been driven to rebellion by a force they did not fully understand. The rumors spoke of a hidden hand manipulating them, whispering false promises of freedom and justice.
But the church would not falter.
At the heart of the battlefield, Rosaline— now hidden behind the alias Rose, stood with her arms raised, channeling divine energy into shimmering golden barriers. Holy light engulfed the devoted, and shielded the priests, the paladins, and the warriors in radiant armors. The towering cathedral behind her remained untouched. A beacon of faith and authority amidst the sea of blood and screams.
Yet faith alone could not hold back the storm.
The revolutionaries fought like men possessed as if their desperation turned them into rabid beasts. Every moment, their resistance grew stronger, and their numbers swelling with each passing hour. And then, it began.
With the order of Father Fredric— the high priest of Rosevill Grand Church, the slaughter took place.
The streets became a river of crimson. Heads tumbled from shoulders, rolling across the cobblestone roads, eyes still frozen in shock. Severed limbs twitched, their owners long dead. Guts spilled from ruptured bellies, steaming in the cold air. The scent of iron, thick and suffocating, clung to the battlefield like a cursed fog.
Leonardo, the so-called hero, was at the center of it all. His blade gleamed under the crimson sky as it carved through flesh and bone with merciless precision.
He moved with inhuman grace. His strikes were swift and final. A child barely ten or so, lunged at him with a rusted dagger. Leonardo did not hesitate. One stroke, and the boy’s head fell from his shoulders, landing with a wet thud at his mother’s feet.
The woman screamed. The sound cut deeper than any blade.
The circumstances were too much for Rose to withstand any longer. Her breath caught in her throat.
’Is this what the goddess has wished?’ seeing the bloodshed, Rose thought as panic ran through her mind. Her face paled again. Her eyes shook too. ’No, this is all wrong. The goddess never would’ve wished to see bloodshed, even if they were being manipulated.’
Her innocent demeanour started turning into worry. She never anticipated the church to take such action, nor did she realize the revolutionaries would be this much desperate.
Fredric Wiseman, the High Priest, had been watching her carefully. Unlike the other priests who fought and prayed blindly, he saw and noticed her hesitation.
"Rose." Gently putting his hand on her shoulders, Fredric said, "This outcome is inevitable. We must take any step necessary if it means to protect our faiths and devotions."
"But, is the bloodshed really necessary?" Her voice trembled, "We could have used words instead of violence. I’m sure they would have listened."
"Your thoughts are usually correct. However..." Fredric replied pitifully, "They have already crossed the boundaries where their minds were still in their possession. And right now, we cannot do anything else but to moan on their pitiful fate. I hope you understand that."
"Yes." Her hands clenched into fists. She nodded. But deep inside her, something cracked.
Through sheer force and slaughtering almost one-third population of the nation, the revolutionaries submitted themselves. It got worse far beyond what they had anticipated, and could not bring themselves to continue their rebel. Their effort went in vein, looing their countless comrades.
Within the next ten days, everything went back to normal. As consequences, Leonardo received class ascension, and the leadership of the Risers Clan. Peace fell upon the church. and lastly, they citizens began forgetting the mass-murders that occurred not to long ago. To them, everything that happened, happened by the will of goddess of creation. They had nothing to complain about.
***********
Days passed yet Rose could not silence the screams still coming to her ears.
The memories of the slaughter clawed at her sanity, replaying in her mind with relentless cruelty. She had watched as Leonardo butchered entire families, as paladins burned homes with the people still inside, as priests stood over the dying and whispered, "May the goddess embrace your soul," before plunging their daggers into their hearts.
She could still smell the stench of burnt flesh, the scent of copper and death that refused to leave her nostrils.
Thus she, one the eve of a gentle day, visited the church. She was driven by guilt of letting countless people die when she was supposed to lead them into the light of truth. Her incompetency mocked her. She could not carry out her duties which kept irritating her like the gravest sin. And she could not find a better way but to atone for them.
The shine of the golden walls with sacred text curved on them, remained the same as it had always been. The place, Where the late Queen once kneeled, praying for a blessing to grant her a child, was the very place where Rose knelt. Her mind was lost in guilt.
"My child." Father Fredric said softly, "May I have the honour of knowing the reason of your sudden arrival?"
His eyes were as keen as Hyndall. His appearance, even the melody of his voice resembled too.
"Father, I want to atone." She replied, lowering her gaze.
"Atone? For what exactly? You have not done anything wrong, have you?"
"No father." She replied without hesitation, yet with a heavy burden on her shoulders, "But I still need to atone as I was incapable of fulfilling that one task bestowed upon me by the divine. I could not live upto our goddess’s expectation. I felt like I have defied her. And that is a sin for what I must atone."
Fredric’s eyes filled with malice. He stepped towards her slowly. As once Hyndall comforted Silica with his gentle demeanour, Fredric did the same for the young child, nearly at the age of thirteen.
Her look, her distress face as it appeared, resembled Silica as though Rose was nothing but a mere image of her mother.
"My child." He said, his tone dipping in the sweetest melody, "The atonement for defying the goddess is rather harsh and it requires a great deal of sacrifice and endurance. Do you wish to go through that...."
"Yes I do regardless what it requires."
"Then, let me guide you towards the atonement of your sins."
He outstretched his hands towards a door on the right. Rose stared at it for a moment. With guilt burning inside her, she walked behind father Fredric.
Each step they took through the golden hallway, the sound echoed to their ears. Fredric’s motion was smooth, so as Rose’s as she followed him. At the end of the corridor, there stood a pair of massive golden doors, adorned with intricate carvings of angels and chains.
Fredric pressed his palm against the surface. With a low groaning sound, the doors parted. Inside of that, there was the Sanctuary of Purification.
Pool of holy water stretched before them, so clear it reflected the ceiling like glass. Beyond it, there was a long stone pedestal, and golden shackles gleamed in the dim candlelight next to the pedestal.
The other priests, both men and women, were waiting for their arrival. Two of them— the nuns, came closure to Rose. They didn’t speak anything, just stood there until Fredric started explaining.
"Rose, to atone of the sins, you have to purify your soul." He gaze fell on her, his eyes containing a hint of malice, "For your soul to get purify, you need to go through three steps which are blood purification, body purification and mind purification. And then, only then.. your soul will be purified. And your atonement will be completed. Are you prepare?"
"Yes, Father Fredric." The blaze in her eyes didn’t flicked, "I am prepared."
"One final condition," he murmured. "You must accept this process without question. Doubt is the enemy of redemption. As long as you keep harbouring any questions or doubts, your atonement will not be fulfilled."
Rose nodded as the nuns came near her. Their face looked emotionless. They had devoted their everything to the goddess, even the basic emotions of a human.
The nuns stepped closer. Their voices were soft yet empty like a hollow person.
"Please," they said in unison. "Remove your garments." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
Rose was surprised. Their attitude was suspicious. Their words were even more. Immediately, so many thoughts, so many doubts started gathering on her mind. But her determination ignored all of. She decided to follow Fredric’s words, letting her second thought slide away.
She began to strip off her cloths. The majestic attire, fell on the ground, and her shiny, soft skin exposed to them. Her early teen body was still blooming, but the figure she already had that time, radiated brightly.
The air filled with her raw aroma, as she, with her naked body, prepared for her purification.
