Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 223 His Holiness the Pope
A flash of lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the palace. The nobles looked pale, like ducks with their necks pinched, standing there blankly.

Beatrice opened her eyes wide, looking at the absurd scene in front of her, unable to tell for a moment whether what she saw was an illusion.

Her Majesty is dead?

Her Majesty, who sat high on the Ironthorn Throne and let the empire's army crush the land, died just like that?

She fell in her own blood, her face filled with fear and confusion, just like every mortal facing death.

No one had ever thought that the weak and hypocritical "prince" would suddenly assassinate the queen.

Beatrice looked at the "Prince" with trembling eyes. His resolute eyes were full of hatred and anger. How could there be any weakness at all?
But he is not, he is not
Beatrice's pupils suddenly shrank, and she suddenly understood that the "Prince" had never betrayed the people of Tis. His followers might have sacrificed themselves voluntarily just for the moment when he could stand in front of the Queen. Tis was a weak country, and no matter how they resisted, they would only be crushed by the Queen's army. Everyone knew it.

But Her Majesty the Queen died here at this moment, died in her own palace, died in a pool of her own blood.

"Prince". Is he really such a noble person?
The "Prince" dropped his sword, panting heavily, and looked at the nobles around him with red eyes. Wherever his gaze swept, the people there retreated. The court councilor who was originally standing not far from him was so scared that he fell to the ground.

They were all the Queen's dogs, and their teeth had been pulled out long ago.

Suddenly, someone screamed.

"impossible!"

"Her Majesty is dead!?"

"Catch him, he's the murderer!"

"He actually killed Her Majesty the Queen!"

"Guards! Where are the guards!"

The crowd suddenly became noisy, and everyone pointed at the "prince" indignantly, gritting their teeth. Several noble ladies fainted on the spot, and the palace was in chaos for a while.

"Your Majesty! No—"

The Queen's Knight Commander pushed aside the nobles and rushed to the front of the crowd. He kicked away the court councilor who was blocking his way, knelt on the ground and touched the Queen in a pool of blood with trembling hands.

The court councilor rolled over a few times and came to the side. He suddenly reacted and turned to look at Beatrice, his face ferocious and he shouted:
"Aren't you one of those monsters from the Church?! Why didn't you protect the Queen?!"

Beatrice's face turned pale. She was indeed a superhuman, and the "prince" was just a mortal. His actions just now were not fast, and she had countless ways to save the queen.

But, but she just had an illusion, and she never thought that the "prince" would suddenly assassinate the queen. He should have been the queen's most loyal supporter, wasn't he?

She had indeed failed in her duty. The Ruoan family was once the most loyal cog in the royal family, but today it was stuck.

The Queen had arranged for her to sit beside her in order to provide protection. She was an [Investigator] and was absolutely safe against mortals.

The figure of Hughes inexplicably flashed through Beatrice's mind. She couldn't contact Castel, which led her to explore the Corridor of Truth. Excessive exploration of the Corridor of Truth caused her to have hallucinations. The hallucinations caused her to not see the assassination of the "Prince", which ultimately led to the death of the Queen. Everything was a coincidence.

Suddenly, a sentence flashed through her mind. It was what Uncle Jules had told her:

"Investigator is the strongest transcendental path of its level, and it doesn't even cost much. It just has a small drawback: your luck will be a little bad."

Luck, little by little, accumulated together, like a butterfly gently flapping its wings in Castels, but a storm blew up in the Rhine.

"She! She must be in cahoots with the assassins! She allowed the 'Prince' to assassinate Her Majesty the Queen!"

The crowd became agitated, and scrutinizing eyes fell on her. Some people even showed expressions of sudden enlightenment.

Beatrice took a step back. She was about to open her mouth to explain, but she stopped short when she saw the expressions of the nobles.

She is just naive, not stupid.

She had seen too many of the nobles' faces since returning to the Rhine. She knew they didn't care about the truth; they just wanted to find someone responsible. The figures before her stretched longer and longer, like a group of monsters ready to devour, pointing and talking as they surrounded her.

Their bodies were covered with mouths that couldn't be closed, and they kept whispering together. Their bodies were bloated like pigs, and their faces were covered with mosquito-like spikes, which were now pointing at her, ready to suck some blood out of her.

Why is the hallucination coming again!?

Beatrice took out pills from her clothes and swallowed a few of them at random, but she only felt her heart beating like a loud bell and the hallucinations could not be overcome.

【To escape】

The intuition in my heart gave the answer.

But why?
After escaping, wouldn't that completely prove that he was the accomplice in the assassination of the Queen? She looked around, countless thoughts huddled in her head, and she couldn't figure it out.

【To escape】

Her heartbeat was getting faster and faster, and her intuition was urging her on like crazy.

A sentence suddenly popped up in Beatrice's mind. It was in the letter her uncle Jules wrote to her.

“When reason can’t help you make a judgment, trust your intuition.”

Beatrice hesitated for only a moment before she gritted her teeth, threw away her red clothes and silver staff, and rushed to the door.

Beatrice didn't care what the Queen's Knight Commander scolded her for. She used her extraordinary abilities according to her intuition, and passed through the Knight Commander's obstruction like a gust of wind and rushed to the door.

The heavy wooden door shattered in an instant like two pieces of biscuits, without stopping her at all.

This was the first time she used her extraordinary abilities to fight against others. As expected, the investigator's extraordinary powers were so strong that she could easily overcome any soldiers or high walls that blocked her way.

As she used her ability, the hallucinations gradually faded, and she found that she had simply followed her intuition and had successfully rushed to the gate of the palace.

She looked back in confusion. The queen died in front of her, but she ran away directly. She was afraid that there was no place for her in the empire.

But why did her instinct tell her to run away?
Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore. Next, I will stay away from the Rhine and find a place to escape. Maybe I will go to find Count Hughes, but I have lost my noble status and have no value to him. Will he still be willing to take me in?
Beatrice was lost in thought as she climbed over the main gate of the palace and then froze in place.

Maybe there's no need to flee.

Her luck seems to be a little bad.

A dense crowd stood in front of the palace gate in an orderly and quiet manner.

A flash of lightning streaked across the sky, and the wind made their burqas rustle.

Beatrice's eyes fell on the robes they wore, the silver holy emblem clearly visible even in the heavy rain.

A faint candlelight, this is the Crusaders of the Holy See.

A nun came forward, her face covered with a light black veil, like smoke, not wet by the rain at all.

She held a triple crown in her hand and slowly walked to Beatrice. She used her hands to tidy up the girl's hair that was wet by the rain, gently lifted the crown, and placed it on Beatrice's head.

Beatrice stared at the face beneath her black veil—a face full of mechanical parts and gears.

"You left in such a hurry that you forgot to put on the crown."

"His Majesty the Pope."

(End of this chapter)